Oh Lula, how could you?

This is what vacillation looks like…

Maybe this is just resignation, or maybe it’s an attempt to play peacemaker, but it sure as hell smells like betrayal to me…

The president of Brazil, Luiz inácio Lula da Silva, is studying the different possible ways of recognizing the new government of Honduras, according his advisor for international affairs, Marco Aurelio García.

Lula’s objective is to unite with other countries in the region who have recognized the new president, Porfirio Lobo, who won the elections of last November. The results have already been recognized by Colombia, Panama, Peru, Guatemala and Costa Rica, but were rejected by the countries of the ALBA bloc.

According to García, Lula would be disposed to send a favorable signal to Lobo’s executive in the next Latin American-Caribbean summit, which will take place in late February in Mexico. “We’re evaluating the situation and waiting on the initiatives of the new government”, said García to Reuters.

“Brazil should not remain isolated,” García added. For that reason, the Brazilian president will wait until the summit in Mexico, in order to see if the countries of the region adopt a common posture with respect to Honduras. “The decision should be taken together,” he added, and assured that “there’s no hurry.”

Or maybe it’s just cynical triangulation, or an attempt to have one’s cake and eat it, too. Always so many possibilities to leave one guessing, eh?

Contrast that with the unambiguous stance of Lula’s counterpart from Ecuador:

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, who landed in the Dominican Republic after his trip to Haiti, met on Saturday with the former president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, in the Ecuadorian embassy in Santo Domingo. He insisted that Ecuador would not recognize the recently inaugurated president, Porfirio Lobo.

“We won’t legitimize a government whose origin is illegitimate,” said Correa, referring to the Honduran presidential elections, which were organized by the “de facto” government installed after the coup d’état which removed Zelaya from office.

However, Correa added that the situation would not mean any kind of break with the Honduran people, according to a press release from the office of the presidency of Ecuador.

“He needs no invitation, he can come anytime he wants,” said Correa when asked about a possible visit by Zelaya to Ecuador.

Translations both mine.

This is what solidarity looks like:

Lula, take note. And don’t sell yourself out, because this one will surely come back to bite you after all you did for Mel. Remember whose embassy gave him shelter from the fascist thugs who wanted to kill him? Why, then, make peace with those thugs–or their illegitimate successors–as long as they remain unpunished for their antidemocratic move?

Or, to put it a different way: Lula, how the hell could you give democracy lip service, only to follow it up with a shank in the ribs? How could you even contemplate it?