Finalmente a ficha caiu e a imprensa internacional se apercebeu o que Lula é. No artigo que segue abaixo, publicado no Washington Post, o jornalista Jackson Diehl chama Lula de melhor amigo de tiranos, idiota útil e ainda sobra para sua criatura, Dilma Rousseff, que é chamada corretamente de guerrilheira marxista que como Lula tem uma grande afeição pelos ditadores anti-americanos.
Lula: Stonewalled by Iran
The best friend of tyrants in the democratic world -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- has once again been humiliated by one of his clients.
That would be Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the sponsor of terrorism and Holocaust denier whom Lula has publicly embraced -- literally. Over the weekend, under pressure from domestic protesters, Lula appealed to the Iranian president to free Sakineh Ashtiani, an Iranian women condemned to death by stoning on charges of adultery, and allow her to go into exile in Brazil.
"If my friendship and affection for the president of Iran matters, and if this woman is causing problems there, we will welcome her here in Brazil," Lula proclaimed.
On Tuesday the Brazilian leader got his answer: a direct rebuff from Ahmadinejad's government, which, with exquisite condescension, described Lula as soft in the head. "As far as we know, he is a very humane and emotional person who probably has not received enough information about the case," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast. "What can be done is to let him know about the details of the case of this person who has committed a crime and has been convicted accordingly."
The details are these: Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was found guilty in 2006 of having "an illicit relationship" with two men. She was punished with 99 lashes. Then a court changed the charge to adultery and sentenced her to death by stoning. She has been the subject of an international campaign -- including in Brazil, where a petition questioning Lula's failure to speak up about human rights in Iran has received more than 100,000 signatures.
This is not the first time Lula has been embarrassed by his Iranian "friend." In May, Ahmadinejad lured him into playing the role of useful idiot on the eve of a U.N. Security Council vote on sanctions. In Tehran, the Brazilian president signed a memorandum outlining a supposed compromise on Iran's nuclear program -- one that was instantly revealed to be a steal for Tehran and a non-starter for the Security Council's permanent members. The sanctions vote went ahead.
Ahmadinejad is also not the only dictator to exploit Lula's unconditional support. Lula was busy stroking Raul and Fidel Castro in Cuba last February when the regime announced that an imprisoned dissident, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, had died of a hunger strike. Lula said he "lamented" the death, but went on with his visit -- even as the regime mounted a propaganda campaign to excuse itself for Zapata's death.
Lula's term as Brazilian president is coming to a close; he is campaigning hard for his chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla who shares his affection for anti-American dictators. Brazilian accounts say Lula also dreams of serving as the next secretary general of the United Nations. Hence his desire to demonstrate that he can persuade rulers like Ahmadinejad to listen to reason. Only -- apparently, he can't.
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