Why U.S. Sent Low-Level Delegation To Presidential Inauguration In Brazil If Projecting Democracy, Environment So Important? Not Worth Vice President Harris? Using Twitter And Blaming Use Of Twitter.
Brazil Statistics
5th Largest By Size
Borders Ten Countries (Including Venezuela, Colombia)
6th Largest By Population- 217 Million
12th Largest Economy
Member of G20 (Group of Twenty Largest Industrialized Nations)
Given the importance globally of the Federative Republic of Brazil- commercially, economically, politically, and militarily; and the contentiousness exhibited by both candidates during the two-stage presidential election process with the first round of voting on 2 October 2022 and the second round of voting on 30 October 2022, along with the certified outcome where the winner had 50.9% and the loser had 49.1%, surprising countries which hold themselves as pillars and protectors of “democracy” would have such an anemic presence at the presidential inaugural on 1 January 2023.
The government of Brazil reported that the 1 January 2023 inaugural would be the largest event with high-level international representations since the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro.
A reported thirty heads of state and heads of government were confirmed to attend the inauguration.
The United States “Presidential Delegation to the Federative Republic of Brazil to attend the Presidential Inauguration of His Excellency Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on January 1, 2023, in Brasília: The Honorable Deb Haaland, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, will lead the delegation. Mr. Douglas A. Koneff, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Brasília; The Honorable Juan Gonzalez, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, National Security Council.” The Order of Precedence of the United States of America ranks fifth the Secretary of the Interior among the sixteen members of the Cabinet.
Traditionally, the Vice President of the United States attends high-level inaugurals and funerals for heads of state and heads of government. There was no Kamala Harris in Brasilia., the capital of Brazil. Also, there were no members of the United States Congress.
Given then former president and eventual president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had centered his 2022 campaign around issues relating to the environment (particularly the importance of the Amazon River and Amazon Rainforest), logical to expect the Presidential Delegation to include John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy For Climate, who is also a former United States Secretary of State and member of the United States Senate. Mr. Kerry was not in attendance.
From the Dominion of Canada, there was in attendance the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Not a significant envoy.
From the United Mexican States, there was the wife of the President of the United Mexican States. While spouses are certainly “connective” to a head of state or head of government, a wife is not a government official.
From the Russian Federation, there were the Federation Council Speaker, Vice-Speaker, and House Chief of Staff.
From Ukraine was the Deputy Prime Minister, a high-level surprise and demonstrating travel-related effort.
From the Republic of Turkiye, there was the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Rather than publish official statements about the 8 January 2023 assault upon institutional infrastructure in Brasilia, the capital of the Federative Republic of Brazil, which have gravitas, statements were issued through privately-owned San Francisco, California-based Twitter, Inc. by Joseph Biden, President of the United States; Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State; and Jacob Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Biden: Using Twitter- "I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil. Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined,” Earlier on Sunday, President Biden said the situation was "outrageous."
Blinken: Using Twitter- “Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable. We join @LulaOficial in urging an immediate end to these actions,” tagging President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Sullivan: Using Twitter- “President Biden is following the situation closely and our support for Brazil’s democratic institutions is unwavering. Brazil’s democracy will not be shaken by violence.”
Joint Statement issued by The White House on 9 January 2023 by President Biden; Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of Mexico; and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada- “Canada, Mexico, and the United States condemn the January 8 attacks on Brazil’s democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power. We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions. Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil. We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the twenty-seven-member country Brussels, Belgium-based European Commission (EC) on 9 January 2023: Using Twitter- “I strongly condemn the assault on democracy in Brasil. This is a major concern to all of us, the defenders of democracy. My full support to President @LulaOficial, who was elected freely and fairly.”
Joint Statement by President Joe Biden and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Following Call (9 January 2023): President Biden and President Lula spoke by telephone this afternoon. President Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazil’s democracy and for the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazil’s recent presidential election, which President Lula won. President Biden condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power. The two leaders pledged to work closely together on the issues confronting the United States and Brazil, including climate change, economic development, and peace and security. President Biden invited President Lula to visit Washington in early February for in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda, and President Lula accepted the invitation.
Officials of the government of Brazil maintain that citizens participating in the assaults were instigated by and communicated using platforms including Twitter, a privately-owned company owned by a United States national; Facebook, a publicly-held company which is controlled by US national; and Telegram, a privately-held company controlled by Russian Federation nationals.
Instructive that the three most accessed global communicative Internet-based platforms are controlled the Americans and Russians while the governments of the United States and the Russian Federation continue to have issues with… communicating.
Is the “democracy experiment” in peril? No. The actions and reactions by citizens toward their government is less influenced by the process of governing than by personalities.
When individuals elected and appointed to decision-making positions determine that to create a sphere of attention and then maintain that relevance requires stoking incessantly and without regard for accuracy the courage arising from ignorance, the result is stress points, fractures, to the infrastructure for governance- including collapse or near collapse in confidence by those governed upon the governing.
