by Cat
Tue Sep 3rd, 2019 at 11:12:10 AM EST
As the COP-15 tenth anniversary approaches one might reflect with certain satisfaction, that conference mobilized "climate change" alignment for which First World historicity was unprepared. Yet divisions traveled north to south and circled the rim of keynote speakers and lassitude of G7 templates designed to re-capitalize "markets". I followed reports from Copenhagen with low-tech media, radio. Those weeks were a cynical affair for Third World delegates, capped by the impudent, "last minute" appearance of the US president with a $100B pledge due 2020. I recall. I dropped a diary entry to memorialize pledges that beggared belief in humanitarian USAID and reparations. That conference broke the mold. To my ears, World War III started 31 December 2009 with the institutional foundation of the BRICS revolution.
Truth be told, the Paris Treaty would not exist for Trump to turn his back on, but for the vanguard that marshaled cooperation and exploited market power to disrupt status quo diplomacy and rents. BRICS was Created as a Tool of Attack, Says an Imprisoned Lula. Galling for some.
Lula, Obama and China
"Ahmadinejad did not go to our dinner, so there was no meeting. But then, we were discussing, discussing, and I told Celso, 'Look, Celso, there's a problem, this meeting will end without an agreement, and they are going to blame Brazil, China, India, Russia. We need to find a solution.' Then I proposed that Celso call the Chinese and set up a parallel meeting. That was between Brazil, China, India and perhaps South Africa. Russia, I think, was not there. And in this meeting, imagine our surprise when Hillary Clinton finds out about it and tries to get inside the meeting. The Chinese didn't let her. All these Chinese, so nervous behind the door, and then comes Obama. Obama wanted to get in and the Chinese didn't let him. ...
Yes, the Amazon is afire in the imaginations of carbon credit accountants and traders. But "disaster capitalism" is not inevitable.
Lula's re-appearance is a bit like Phoenix. His origin story has surfaced before. Yet I never tire of insight to the formation of BRICS, because it wasn't accidental. It is especially gratifying in light of ten years of surreal Anglo-american propaganda to discredit and depose the combined determination of those politicians--Putin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, Singh and Modi, and the string of South African presidents from Mbeki to Zuma; its living constitution, a parallel universe of industry and banking established to replace imperial measures of "growth"; and unlikely, impoverished constituencies.
The G7 did nothing but echo Lula's words, with French President Emmanuel Macron stressing how NGOs and multiple judicial actors, for years, have been raising the question of defining an international statute for the Amazon - which Bolsonaro's policies, single-handedly, have propelled to the top of the global agenda.
At the same time, this interview is the précis of the memoir of a survivor, a POW. For now, find the first cut of Exclusivo: Entrevista de Lula ŕ TV 247 (PT). The release of a full edited version with English subtitles is scheduled on or about 6 Sep 2019.
