Mar 30 2024 | Nº. 119

Editorial

In a move that seemed to confirm many concerns about the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration’s relationship with the legislative branch, Congress this week defeated several items favored by the president. Most emblematically perhaps was the vote to override Lula’s veto of a measure that would ban certain non-violent inmates from leaving prison temporarily on holidays, a practice known as saidinha. Proponents argue that allowing inmates to spend time with their families helps maintain family bonds and mitigate recidivism. They also assert that the prospect of participating in saidinha serves as an incentive for inmates to exhibit good behavior and adhere to the rules of the prison system. Knowing that holiday leave is contingent upon maintaining discipline can contribute to a more orderly and manageable prison environment. In a political climate largely defined by fears of rising violent crime, however, many legislators—even several in political parties that make up Lula’s base—voted to end the policy on holidays. Congress also sustained former president Jair Bolsonaro’s veto of a move to criminalize "misleading mass communication.” 

Hours before the series of votes that represented a clear setback for the Lula government, Congressman José Guimarães, a leading member of Lula’s Workers’ Party, called for a reorganization of Lula’s cabinet: “Every renewal is welcome. Obviously, the president is the one who puts it forward. But sometimes we have to avoid accommodation in any government, the feeling that everything is fine. If everything were fine, Lula would have 80% approval. Everything is not fine.” Guimarães was stating on the record a position that has been widely shared, often off the record, by people within the government and beyond. Critiques have centered especially on Rui Costa and Alexandre Padilha, Lula’s chief of staff and minister of institutional relations, respectively. A shakeup of Lula’s cabinet is indeed widely expected, though likely not until early next year. 

On a brighter note for the government, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad participated in a congressional hearing this week to discuss the administration’s economic policies. While it was a mostly congenial event, with Haddad thanking and celebrating legislators for taking on the major policy changes he has proposed, he was harshly criticized by a handful of conservative lawmakers. In response, Haddad delivered what was widely seen as a masterful political performance, dismantling the arguments of pro-Bolsonaro members. This was a reminder to many of the need to more directly confront the weak and often misleading criticisms of the opposition. Surely the administration will want to sustain that approach.

Highlights

• MORE OIL. Magda Chambriard, the new president of Petrobras, appointed to the position by Lula a week ago, said in her first interview that the Brazilian oil company must continue to seek new reserves and explore oil, including in Foz do Amazonas, which contradicts the position of environmentalists. At a time when the south of Brazil is experiencing a devastating climate catastrophe, Chambriard said that it is necessary to “take great care with the replacement of (oil) reserves” and that the exploratory effort “must be accelerated.” Asked about the impact of fossil fuels on climate change related to extreme weather phenomena, the president of Petrobras said: “We are not going to blame the pre-salt,” referring to the largest Brazilian oil reserve, explored at great sea depths.

   

• FLOODING IN THE SOUTH. A month after the tragedy with the rains that left at least 169 dead and 56 missing in Rio Grande do Sul, a state that has the fourth largest GDP in Brazil and is on the border with Argentina and Uruguay, the water level has yet to fall in my towns and cities, including the capital, Porto Alegre. Trash and rubble have accumulated in the streets along with mud. Deaths from leptospirosis are on the rise. Of the 497 towns and cities in the state, 496 were affected by floods. The government has been releasing resources so that affected families can replace assets lost in the tragedy, but hundreds of people now don't even have a house to live in. The governor says that reconstruction could take a year.

   

• BRAZIL VS ISRAEL. Frederico Meyer, Brazil's ambassador to Israel, was removed from his position by a decision of President Lula that was announced on Wednesday, May 29. Meyer will assume the role of Brazil's representative at the UN Deforestation Conference. The chargé d’affaires will oversee the Brazilian Embassy in Israel, which reduces the profile of diplomatic representation. In February, the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Lula persona non grata after the Brazilian president alluded to the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler to critically compare Israeli actions against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Ambassador Meyer has since been removed from the Embassy. Now, his formal appointment to a new position adds even greater distance in Brazil-Israel relations.

   

• MILITARY RETIREMENT. The Lula government has been showing signs that it might promote changes to the military retirement system. This week, Bruno Dantas, the president of the Federal Accounting Office (Tribunal de Contas da União), revealed that he had presented to Minister of Finance Fernando Haddad spreadsheets that show the weight of military pensions in the general deficit of the Brazilian Social Security system. The deficit per capita among military personnel is more than double the deficit among civilians. The military opposes any loss of benefits. The topic was discussed by the military leadership in a meeting of the Army High Command on May 13 and 17. The Lula government is in a dilemma with this issue because at the same time as it needs to balance expenditures, it also needs to avoid new friction with a sector closely linked to Bolsonarism and the recent frustrated coup attempts in the country.

• STILL INELIGIBLE. Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes denied an appeal presented this week by the defense lawyer for former President Jair Bolsonaro and former Minister of Defense Walter Braga Netto. The two were declared ineligible after conviction in a case that judged the abuse of political and economic power of the two who ran as presidential and vice-presidential candidates on the same ticket in the 2022 elections. The two used the parades of the Brazilian Independence celebration on September 7th, 2022 as an electoral rally for their own benefit. Bolsonaro also has a second conviction making him ineligible to run for public office that is linked to the meeting he held with foreign ambassadors to attack, without foundations, the country's electoral system. The conviction came with the vote of five justices of the Superior Electoral Court, while only two voted at the time in favor of Bolsonaro and Braga Netto.

• PUBLIC HEALTH. Brazil has been recording high rates of infection and death from two serious diseases: Covid-19 and dengue. From January 1 to May 18, 3,567 deaths from COVID and 2,899 deaths from dengue were recorded. Most deaths from COVID are among unimmunized people, children, the elderly, and people with comorbidities. Vaccination against dengue is only given to youth aged 10 to 14 years. The Ministry of Health has already acquired the entire available stock of dengue vaccines. The expectation is that a new national vaccine will begin to circulate in 2025.

NEWS FROM WBO, ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS:

200 YEARS. On May 26, Brazil and the United celebrated 200 years of bilateral diplomatic relations. To mark the date, the WBO published articles written especially by the US ambassador in Brasília, Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, and the Brazilian ambassador in Washington, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti. In April, the organization promoted in partnership with George Washington University the event “Tightening Ties: A Reflection on 200 years of Brazil-USA Relations,” with the participation of U.S. and Brazilian diplomats and researchers. To discuss the importance of the date, James N. Green welcomed Democratic congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove as a guest on the WBO podcast, Brazil Unfiltered.

PARTNERSHIP. The Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) announced this week the formalization of a partnership with the Washington Brazil Office. The organization, created in 1992, during a congress of the Latin American Studies Associations (LASA) held in Los Angeles, is dedicated to strengthening ties between those who study Brazil in the United States, Brazil, and other countries of Latin America. In addition to the partnership with BRASA, the WBO also works jointly with 64 affiliated organizations.

MEETING IN MANAUS. On May 27 and 28, the WBO, the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (REDESCA) and the Instituto Clima e Sociedade (ICS) promoted in Manaus three discussion panels on climate justice and human rights. The event has the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation. The objective was to debate the integration of international and regional human rights standards into climate change policies, focusing on how accords, such as Paris Agreement, are being implemented in national legislation, in addition to the challenges of climate litigation.

CEDAW. The WBO supported its affiliates and partners in the process of verifying commitments made by the Brazilian State in relation to combating all forms of discrimination against women. These commitments derive from Brazil's adherence to Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Thematic explanatory meetings were held on the topic and dynamics of this form of discrimination. A full agenda and logistical support were prepared for people who traveled to Geneva to attend the session. Currently, work is being carried out with Brazilian parliamentarians so that their offices can work on the issues that have been identified throughout this process. The initiative is from the WBO and is carried out with support from Fundo Elas and facilitated by Awelle.

INTERPARLIAMENTARY ACTION. U.S. and Brazilian congressional representatives signed a joint letter in defense of democracy and against anti-democratic actions undertaken by the extreme right in both countries. The document is the result of the trip of a Brazilian parliamentary delegation to Washington, which was led by Senator Eliziane Gama, and was organized by the Vladimir Herozg Institute and the WBO. In Brazil, the document was delivered to Authur Lira, the president of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil’s lower house), and to ministers in Lula's cabinet. The group is now talking about extending similar actions in Argentina, Colombia and Chile.

Feature Article

Medicine as a Tool for the Protection of Human Rights

By Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng (MBChB)*

I view the practice of medicine in itself as a tool for the promotion and protection of human rights. 

When I was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, appointed during the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to spotlight and foster an understanding of how coloniality, racismo, and structural discrimination have an impact on the right to health; in clinical care, at the level of health systems and in underlying determinants of health. Coloniality, a concept coined by Walter Mignolo around 1995, refers to the living legacies of European colonialism in social orders and knowledge systems, which created racial hierarchies that enable the social discrimination that has outlived formal colonialism. It is with this in mind that advocating for the intentional institutionalization of anti-racism in the public health architecture systems – and therefore, equality in the opportunity to realize the right to health for all – become one of the primary focuses of the legacy I want to leave as Special Rapporteur.

Eliminating discrimination in the practice of medicine requires paying sufficient attention to groups of individuals that suffer historical or persistent prejudice instead of merely comparing the formal treatment of individuals in similar situations. I advocate for the application of the right to health framework that is, acceptability, accessibility, affordability and quality care, to deepen understanding of the negative impact of coloniality, racism and the oppressive structures embedded in the global health architecture, which disproportionately affects Black people, Indigenous communities and other groups who are racially discriminated against in the global South.

This is a necessary measure to ensure a nuanced understanding and the use of collective power to win freedom for all oppressed people. 

I also reflect further on what the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance discussed in a report of 2018. In that report, the Special Rapporteur discussed the importance of an intersectional approach to racial discrimination in the context of citizenship, nationality and immigration laws that accounted for the compounding and differential effects of sex and gender, among other factors, and noted that States continued to enforce patriarchal laws that used gender-based discrimination to achieve racial, ethnic, and religious exclusion. 

States should comply with international human rights standards when implementing laws and policies regarding citizenship, nationality, and immigration, and that they should fulfill their obligations to achieve substantive racial equality.

I emphasize the need to place substantive equality in the center of the operationalization of the right to health. This requires an unequivocal commitment to the realization of universal human rights principles as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. 

Substantive equality seeks to address structural and indirect discrimination and takes into account power relations. It acknowledges that the “dilemma of difference” entails both ignoring and acknowledging differences among human beings in order to achieve equality. 

In my mandate, I look into how “gender reaches into disability; disability wraps around class; class strains against abuse; abuse snarls into sexual orientation; and sexual orientation folds on top of race, with everything finally piling into a single human body”. In particular, I pay attention and name how power moves and shifts through people leading to a differential access to goods, facilities and services and therefore understand with nuance the obstacles that stand between individuals and their enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health rights. These obstacles are interrelated and entrenched, operating at different levels: in clinical care, at the level of health systems, and in the underlying and social determinants of health.

I apply a life-cycle approach to my work, paying special attention to groups in vulnerable situations, or that have historically been subjected to discrimination. In addition, I will continue to pay attention to the issue of criminalization of: same-sex relations; being trans-diverse or transgender; abortion; sex work; and health status, such as being HIV-positive or being diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. 

The right to health is closely related to and dependent upon the realization of other human rights, including the rights to life, non-discrimination, equality, the prohibition against torture, privacy, access to information, and the freedoms of association, assembly, and movement. These and other rights and freedoms address integral components of the right to health.

Every single one of us deserves to have our rights respected, protected, and upheld. To that end, we must make sure that every solution we devise – from clinical care, research, legislative and policy reforms to changes in procurement practices, public-health initiatives, and financing – is centered on the restoration of dignity of people.

* UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health

Feature articles express the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or WBO.