“Brazil is back! » It was with these words that Mauro Vieira began his new mission. At 71, this diplomat is now watching, and for the second time, the destinies of Itamaraty, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations, which, with more than 220 representations abroad, has the eighth diplomatic service on the planet. Precise, courteous, Francophile and French-speaking, this close friend of the new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has chosen to book at World his first interview with a foreign media since taking office.
Under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil has become an international pariah. What conclusions do you draw from this period?
I would prefer that we talk about the future, about all the projects that we are going to carry out. The previous government is a thing of the past, and we are obviously the opposite of it. Our policy is to reintegrate Brazil into the international arena. In recent years we have been absent, we have distanced ourselves and moved away from our neighbors – including France, which shares with us its longest land border. [avec la Guyane] ! It is about restoring our relations with the rest of the world to where they were previously. With Latin America, the Caribbean, the European Union, China, the United States, of course, but also Africa, which has been totally forgotten for the past four years. It is a question of rediscovering our role, but also our image. President Lula said it during his trip to COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh [en Egypte] : Brazil is back! And we feel it: the world was waiting for us impatiently. This was seen on the day of the investiture, the 1er January: 67 delegations made the trip to Brasilia. A record.
In May 2022, in an interview with the American magazine Time, Lula said of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “This guy is also responsible [de la guerre] than Putin. » What is your position on the conflict?
Our position is very clear: Brazil condemns the invasion of Ukrainian territory and the violation of international law. President Lula’s sentence may have been misunderstood because of a translation problem… Anyway, my interpretation is that both parties, and the two heads of state, have the responsibility to seek a solution to this conflict. On the day of his inauguration, President Lula was visited by the President of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, and the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko. In front of each, he insisted on the importance of finding a climate and a space for dialogue between the two governments. Bilateral and sectoral meetings must take place to allow the export of cereals or humanitarian operations. All of this should make it possible to start negotiating peace, which is essential for Ukraine, Russia, Europe, but also for the rest of the world.
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