Lula skips Biden’s summit, reaffirming non-alignment stance

The U.S., Zambia, South Korea, the Netherlands, and Costa Rica kicked off the second edition of the global Summit for Democracy on Wednesday. Leaders from many of the world’s democracies, large and small, have participated in the plenary session — which was held remotely. Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not among them.

Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Office last week told The Brazilian Report that Lula would record a statement reinforcing the country’s “commitment to working to strengthen democracy,” a pledge he made during his visit to Washington in February. The president’s press office claims he was unable to record his remarks due to his diagnosis of pneumonia and influenza, which kept him from visiting Beijing this week.

Still, Lula has kept a busy schedule. On Tuesday, he had several meetings with cabinet members and the chair of his Workers’ Party — raising eyebrows among observers who believe the Brazilian leftist leader was unwilling to participate in the U.S.-led event.

Created in 2021, the Summit for Democracy has received criticism for its lack of focus on fighting authoritarianism and its emphasis on promoting U.S. foreign policy interests. Both editions of the event included countries ranked only as “partly free” by...