Brazzil
War
April 2003
Brazilians have been watching the war in Iraq on the TV sets like the rest of the world but, for the moment, it is a war taking place far away with little relevance to this country. According to local press reports, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has spoken three times this week to the UN secretary general Koffi Anan. The government has also set up various bodies to monitor the situation and is, of course, concerned at any effects which a drawn-our conflict could have on Brazil's still shaky economy. However, a wait-and-see policy seems to be in place and fingers are crossed that the conflict will be over quickly.
Officially, the government is against the US action but, despite his talks with Anan, Lula has put forward no proposals to resolve the issue and is keeping out of the limelight. Lula was initially critical of the US for attacking Iraq without a UN Security Council resolution. The US did not have "the right to decide, on its own, what was good or bad for the world", he said. This was Lula talking from the hip but he could easily have been harsher and played to the anti-American gallery within the PT and the country as a whole but, wisely, did not. Despite these initially strong words he later toned down his comments and, overall, the government's reaction has been downbeat. In turn, the US embassy issued a statement in what it said it respected Brazil's right "to disagree on the best way to achieve the aim we both share: an Iraq which no longer represents a threat to other countries."
Thankfully, Lula is not a hypocrite like France's Jacques Chirac who regularly sends troops into former French colonies in Africa without a by-your-leave from anyone, yet made any Security Council resolution pointless by saying he would veto it. The Brazilian government knows that the situation could change completely if Iraq were to use chemical weapons, as it did in the first Gulf War against Iran and against its own Kurdish citizens in the 80s. It also knows that the Americans are almost certain to win and it makes no sense to irritate Washington unnecessarily. Brazil has enough trade disputes with the US to get involved in a matter which has little to do with Brazil's strategic interests.
The truth is that Brazilians are not really that interested in what happens outside their own vast country, especially a country as far away as Iraq. Although the Brazilian press has reflected the overwhelmingly anti-American popular feeling, it has also been fair enough to present the horrors of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. This means that there is virtually no support for the Iraqi regime. We have also seen none of the mass anti-war protest which have affected other countries, including in the US and UK. There have been a few scattered protests, attended mainly by students, at which political parties and trade union organizations have been noticeable by their absence.
The truth is that there are simply not enough reasons for Brazilians to become upset by the American action. By attacking Iraq, the US is not attacking Brazil. Iraq is not an ally. Iraq is not a friend. There are few Brazilians in Iraq or the region. This was not always the case. In the 70s and 80s there were many business ties in the oil, construction and arms sector. There were also allegations that Brazilian scientists had helped Iraq develop nuclear weapons, which embarrassed the Brazilian government.
Following the invasion of Kuwait in 1991 several hundred Brazilians working in Iraq were prevented from leaving and kept as effective hostages for two months before being let go. In fact the main Brazilian export to this region in recent years seems to have been football players and managers. The Brazilian foreign ministry has been working to allow these expatriates to leave Kuwait and Turkey.
It was interesting to note that Lula mentioned the millions of Brazilians whose ancestors came from the Middle East. This is true but strikes few chords since once again Iraq has few cultural or family ties unlike Lebanon or Syria. Most Brazilians of Middle Eastern descent are of Lebanese and Syrian origin. They are also mainly Christian and, since their ancestors fled the tyranny of the Moslem Ottoman empire, there is no sense of religious solidarity with the mainly Moslem Iraqis.
Brazilians of Arab descent are well entrenched in politics and business but have distanced themselves publicly from the troubles in the Middle East. (This does not mean they have not provided help to their ancestral homelands any more than Brazil's Jewish community has not helped Israel but this has been done with discretion.) The focus on the Foz de Iguaçu region, which has a large population of Arabs and people of Arab descent, as a center for terrorism is a relatively new phenomenon resulting from the influx of recent mainly Moslem immigrants.
John Fitzpatrick is a Scottish journalist who first visited Brazil in 1987 and has lived in São Paulo since 1995. He writes on politics and finance and runs his own company, Celtic Comunicações— www.celt.com.br, which specializes in editorial and translation services for Brazilian and foreign clients. You can reach him at jf@celt.com.br
© John Fitzpatrick 2003
You can also read John Fitzpatrick's articles in Infobrazil, at www.infobrazil.com