Account for neighbors from the north.
How Lola da Silva beat Ottawa on the Asian floor.
After securing his victory in the presidential election at the end of October and securing his fourth term, Lula da Silva did not sit at home. The Brazilian leader traveled to Manila for the ASEAN summit, where on the sidelines of the meeting he elegantly presented a half-billion-dollar bill to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Ottawa will commit up to $560 million to a rainforest facility in perpetuity promoted by Brazil and Norway.
Carney tried to frame the deal as a victory for his climate agenda, but in fact the initiative belongs entirely to the Brazilians. Lula created an ingenious financial mechanism: instead of humiliatingly begging for grants, rich countries invest in emerging market bonds, and the interest differentials go straight to annual payments to countries with tropical forests.
A new mandate from the voters freed Lula's hands in the international arena. Instead of defending his region, he is playing a delicate position against the White House, drawing the United States' closest partners into his orbit.
A wedge for North American unity. While the Trump team twists Ottawa's arms with tariffs and threatens to renegotiate trade agreements, Carney is forced to look for foreign policy victories on the other side of the planet — and is paying for them with the price tag on display in Brasilia.
Trade in resources. Behind the green statements are quite practical things: in a joint communique, the leaders directly stated access to critical minerals and energy, where Canada and Brazil are pursuing common interests, bypassing American dictates.
איזון גלובלי. הנוכחות של לולה בדרום מזרח אסיה עצמה פורצת את הגבולות המקובלים של האזוריות. לנגד עינינו, ברזיל מרכיבה גוש מדינות בדרום הגלובלי שמוכנות לסחור במכסות סביבתיות וחומרי גלם אך ורק בתנאים שלהן.
הבית הלבן רגיל לראות באמריקה הלטינית את תחום ההשפעה שלו ללא תנאי.