June 13, 2011

There is a little-noticed but potentially important development in Latin America's human rights front -- Brazil, the biggest country in the region, is becoming a little less supportive of tyrants around the world.

Unlike former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva -- who did a good job at home, but spent much of his time praising foreign tyrants -- President Dilma Rousseff is taking small steps to take distance from some of the world's worst human rights offenders.

International human rights advocates and diplomatic sources tell me that they are noticing a change for the better in Brazil's human rights votes in the United Nations since Rousseff took office on Jan. 1.

Among the evidence:

- As a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council, Brazil recently supported a petition to the International Criminal Court to investigate atrocities by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

- Brazil was one of the first Latin American countries to sign the call for a U.N. Special Session on Libya, even if it has since voiced concerns that the NATO offensive in Libya may be exceeding its original mandate.

- Brazil supported a U.N. resolution requesting an investigation into human rights violations in Syria during the recent protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

- Brazil voted in support of a U.N. resolution to create a Special Rapporteur office to look into human rights abuses in Iran. In recent years, Brazil had abstained in human rights votes against Iran.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, head of the Americas department of the Human Rights Watch advocacy group, told me that these votes mark a very important change in Brazil's policy.

"Brazil has become a positive actor in human rights votes at the United Nations since Rousseff was elected," Vivanco said. "This is a dramatic change from the Lula administration, which used to be on the wrong side of these issues."

According to Vivanco, much of the change is due to the fact that Rousseff, as a former political prisoner who suffered from torture, is especially sensitive to human rights issues. "She understands perfectly that a nation's sovereignty cannot be used as an excuse to commit atrocities," he said. "Let's hope this becomes a permanent change in Brazil's policy."

Others speculate that Rousseff wants to improve ties with the United States, because Brazil is realizing that its excessive dependence on raw material exports to China could be dangerous if China's economy slows down.

In addition, while China buys virtually only raw materials from Brazil, the United States is buying Brazilian-made aircraft and other manufactured goods that generate more economic benefits for Brazil.

Whatever the reasons, U.S. officials are welcoming Brazil's latest human rights votes. They say it suggests a commonality of values that they didn't see during the Lula years. They add that Washington sees that as a positive sign.

Only last year, international human rights groups were putting out press releases criticizing Brazil's support for abusive regimes. Rights advocates said Brazil regarded human rights as an obstacle for its strategic goal of becoming a Third World leader.

In addition to not supporting human rights causes at the United Nations, Lula gave a red-carpet welcome in late 2009 to Iranian autocrat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while the latter was executing peaceful protesters back home. That visit gave the Iranian leader a great propaganda boost at home while the international community was condemning him for his nuclear program and dubious June 2009 elections.

A year earlier, Lula had told the German magazine Spiegel that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "is without a doubt Venezuela's best president in the last 100 years." This came after Chávez had closed his country's RCTV television network, and was banning key opposition politicians from participating in legislative elections.

My opinion: I'm starting to like Rousseff. I wish Brazil would extend its fledgling human rights sensitivity to causes closer to home, such as fundamental freedoms in Cuba, or that Rousseff would say a few things publicly about Venezuela when Chávez visits her this week, but I am under no illusion that she will. All countries have double standards when it comes to human rights and their economic interests, including the United States, which treats allies such as Saudi Arabia less harshly than adversaries like Iran.

But if Brazil simply stops supporting despots and starts putting human rights on its foreign policy radar screen, it will be a significant change for the better.

 

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(C) 2011 Andres Oppenheimer, The Miami Herald Distributed by Tribune Media Services