The founder of Gávea Investimentos and former director of the Central Bank, Armínio Fraga, said this Wednesday (23) that Brazil needs to be clear in its alignment with Western ideals of democracy and human rights, especially in a divided global scenario.
The country’s strategy of trying to be nice to everyone is not sustainable, said Fraga during the Bloomberg New Economy at B20 event, in São Paulo. While it is good for Brazil to negotiate with countries around the world, its central positions must still be clear, Fraga said.
“Over the years, we have demonstrated questionable taste in the people we spend time with and take photos with,” said Fraga. “I think we should be very clear in our minds that we are a Western country.”
Brazil’s government and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have faced criticism for not doing enough to pressure Nicolas Maduro following Venezuela’s disputed elections in July. Lula defended a diplomatic solution after years of arguing that the US-led campaign of heavy sanctions had disproportionately harmed that country’s ordinary citizens.
On the same panel, Stefan Simon, member of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Bank and CEO for the Americas, said that the world is back to “pre-World Trade Organization times” in terms of politics and trade.
The challenge now, Simon said, is to face geopolitical challenges in a more divided world, understand what the risks are and be able to “act quickly”.
As a long-time investor in Latin America, Simon added that the bank is “very optimistic” about the region.
