Serra's legacy: conflicts in Latin America and disdain from the USA.
During his brief tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs – just nine months – José Serra's performance was a complete failure. He attempted to use the Brazilian chancellery as an ideological platform, a discourse that not only failed to sustain him in the spotlight for long but also stagnated national foreign policy. Without the attention from the United States that he so desired and weakened in Latin America, the former minister leaves one of the worst legacies in recent years in that role; report by Mariana Serafini, on the Vermelho website.
By Mariana Serafini, in Red Portal - On Wednesday night (22) the senator for PSDB of São Paulo sent a letter to President Michel Temer to request his resignation from the ministry. In the document he cited health problems and said he was “honored” to play this role, even if for a short period.
According to Reginaldo Nasser, a professor of International Relations at PUC-SP, Serra's performance in the ministry was a complete failure. "He gambled everything when he took office, but he has no foreign policy whatsoever. He made a series of speeches to please a right-wing audience, spoke ill of the São Paulo Forum and Venezuela, but he never had any concrete plan, he didn't develop anything."
Serra leaves the ministry after failing in his offensive against Venezuela in Mercosur, failing to achieve the desired rapprochement with the United States, especially under the leadership of Donald Trump, and losing prominence in BRICS.
Regarding Venezuela, Serra demonstrated a lack of diplomatic skill by being the linchpin of a poorly conceived plot. After a series of unsuccessful attempts, he secured the votes of the other countries in the bloc to expel Caracas. However, this week, the Mercosur Parliament unanimously rejected the foreign ministers' proposal and will appeal to the competent court to keep Nicolás Maduro's country in power.
After playing a leading role in handing over pre-salt oil exploration rights to the foreign market, the former minister also failed to maintain the promised close ties with the United States. And in Latin America, he only managed to forge partnerships with Argentina, his ideological ally.
If the goal of the politician in the ministry was to create a political platform, he also failed. After a series of exaggerated speeches, lacking any basis for action, he lost the attention of the press and political allies. "Perhaps he thought he would have more stamina to turn the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into a platform, creating sensationalist stories around the issue of the left in Latin America, but these are speeches that lack durability. He doesn't have a plan and made many gaffes; it was a failure," says the professor.
The former chancellor Celso Amorim also does not view Serra's performance favorably.According to him, Brazil's active and assertive political stance was quickly dismantled after the coup against Dilma Rousseff. "Brazil has isolated itself, only maintaining close ties with countries of ideological similarity, such as Argentina, but no longer has a presence in Latin America, nor in the world." He emphasizes that Brazil was a protagonist in continental integration and played a fundamental role in BRICS, but has now lost ground.
According to Nasser, Serra's performance in the ministry is closely linked to the poor administration of Temer's government. "Brazil's loss of prominence is a failure of the Temer government. Serra is one of the representatives of this. But it doesn't mean that if a more articulate person comes in, the scenario will change now; it depends on the government."
If Serra's goal was to pave a path to the executive branch in the 2018 elections, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs certainly didn't provide him with the necessary space after this political isolation. "Serra's profile is always to look ahead from where he is. And [in the ministry] he didn't present anything. He only made speeches and gaffes."