Upon arriving in Johannesburg for the Brics summit this Monday (21), President Lula (PT) had at his side not only the first lady, Janja, who frequently accompanies him on his international trips, but also the former -President Dilma Rousseff.
The presence of the former representative is justified by two factors. The first is her position as director of the so-called Brics bank, the NDB (New Development Bank), a position she assumed in April of this year. The second is the fact that, although she lives in Shanghai, China, where the financial institution is headquartered, she was also in Brazil and was able to catch a ride on the president’s plane.
However, the image projected by the union of PT members differs from that of when the former president visited Russia in July of this year as head of the NDB. So, Itamaraty did not comment on the visit, and the Brazilian embassy was not even alerted that Dilma was in the country.
At the time, government interlocutors saw the movement as an attempt to keep their image separate from that of Lula. The Brazilian president has been walking on eggshells in relation to Russia due to criticism from the international community of his comments on the Ukraine War.
The Brics summit takes place between Tuesday (22) and Thursday (24), and brings together, in addition to Lula, the South African leaders, Cyril Ramaphosa; Chinese, Xi Jinping; and Indian, Narendra Modi. Russian President Vladimir Putin did not travel to Johannesburg due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes against Ukraine.
The main topic under discussion is the possible expansion of the block. China, Russia and South Africa are in favor of expanding the group, while India and Brazil adopt a more defensive position. These countries say they do not disregard the idea, but ask for well-defined criteria that guide the expansion.
