Brazil’s Rise to International Power: Insights from Diplomat Celso Amorim and President Lula da Silva

In diplomacy as well as in soccer, Brazil He likes to play in the first division. He does it not just because of his resources, but because he has the will to do it. He is behaving more and more like a power, from China in the East to Africa in the West.

Just as Brazilians have developed generations of soccer players, it is possible to identify experts from the international arena. Perhaps the most representative is Celso Amorimchief adviser to the president Lula da Silva.

When you talk to Don Celso it seems that you are talking to someone who has a world map in his head. He turns his eyes to the north, the south and the horizon. He talks warmly and seeks to learn from you when he listens. He knows how to make Brazil bigger than it is and enjoys geopolitics. He would like to go down in history as the Kissinger Latin American.

Let’s remember the recent visit of Amorim to Moscow and President Putin. He was received as an international security leader. He showed that Brazil is not conceived only as a regional economic power or trade partner, but as a protagonist of war and peace, perhaps the only Latin American to receive that category in Europe. Upon reception, Amorim’s conclusion was that the time to negotiate peace in Ukraine has not come, but you have to be ready because it can happen at any time.

Lula summoned the South American leaders on May 30 in Brasilia. The meeting confirmed the Brazilian intention to be the main regional voice, because: “a strong south america, safe and politically organized expands the possibilities of affirming, at the international level, a true Latin American and Caribbean identity”. In case there were any doubts, he affirmed: “When I assumed the Presidency, on January 1 of this year, South America returned to the center of Brazilian diplomatic activity.”

In addition, he criticized the violence against institutions: “In Brazil and in other countries, the recent attacks on democratic institutions, including the headquarters of constitutional powers, have offered us a tragic synthesis of the violence of extremist groups, which use the digital platforms to promote disinformation campaigns and hate speech.”

The Brazilian reconsidered: what role do we want for South America? “We have the largest and most varied energy potential in the world, if we take into account oil and gas reserves, hydroelectricity, biofuels, and nuclear, wind, solar, and green hydrogen.”

Its agenda is clear: “In the coming years, we will host events for the main global governance forums, such as the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Peru, the G20 Summit, the meeting of the BRICS and the COP 30about the climate, in Brazil”.

While the Chinese have defined their silk route in foreign policy, it could be said that Brazil has planned its own “world championship.” It begins at Latin America. Africa travels, China and approaches Germany, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union.

To conclude, the Brazilian president quoted Ambassador Samuel Pinheiro Guimarães, former head of Itamaraty, his diplomatic school: “We have to refuse to spend another five hundred years in the periphery.”