Itamaraty released a diplomatic note on Tuesday (2) in which it does not qualify the coup in Myanmar as a coup, nor does it mention opponents arrested by the military junta, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung. San Suu Kyi, leader of the country’s de facto civil status.
In the note, the ministry says it is “closely following the development of the Myanmar state of emergency decree” and said Brazil expects “a rapid return of the country to democratic normality and preservation of the rule of law ”.
On Monday, the military toppled the democratic government of the Asian country and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s president, authorities and opposition politicians.
The United States formally determined on Tuesday that the military takeover constituted a “coup,” a designation that requires the country to cut all foreign aid to the Asian nation. “After careful analysis of the facts, we came to the conclusion that Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the ruling Myanmar party, was overthrown in a military coup on February 1,” State Department spokesperson to reporters. military leaders immediately release all members of civil society and political leaders. “
Asked whether it viewed Myanmar’s takeover as a military coup, the Foreign Ministry said it only hoped for “a speedy return of the country to democratic normality and preservation of the state. of right “, repeating the language of the note.
According to diplomats, Itamaraty by tradition does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and, therefore, does not use strong terms such as coup d’état and political prisoners.
However, in diplomatic notes on Venezuela and Bolivia, for example, the ministry used assertive language. “Popular revulsion after the attempted electoral fraud (verified by the OAS), which would favor Evo Morales, led to his delegitimization as president and the resulting outcry from broad sectors of Bolivian society for his resignation” , Itamaraty said in a December 12, 2019 memo, denying that Morales’s deposition was a “coup”. And he continues: “The resignation of Evo Morales paved the way for the maintenance of democratic order, which would be threatened by the permanence in power of a president benefiting from electoral fraud.”
On the dictatorship in Venezuela, in an April 2019 Lima Group memo, the Foreign Ministry called for “the immediate release of political prisoners”.
The note is subject to criticism from human rights organizations.
“The Brazilian Constitution determines that when conducting international relations there must be a prevalence of human rights,” said Juana Kweitel, executive director of Conectas Human Rights. “The official note from the Foreign Ministry on the situation in Myanmar, by not condemning the military coup and the arrest of activists and opposing voices, runs counter to this constitutional determination.
