This is John Bachelor. In conversation with my colleague, Mariana Stasio Grady of the Wall Street Journal

editorial page, the America's Editor, I asked why it is that Lula de Silva, the new president of

Brazil, although he has been two-term before many years ago, traveled to Beijing for trade deals

and then speaking of peace, peace between Ukraine and Russia. At the puzzle here is, what does

peace in Europe, in Eastern Europe, mean for Brazil? Why is Lula de Silva putting himself forward

as an arbitrator? Mary explained. Yeah, I think he's trying to make Brazil important

and himself important. So what he's proposing is that he will be the mediator between the two parties.

And the problem with that argument is that it requires moral relativism. You know, he's basically

looked at Russia invading Ukraine and said, well, both sides are a fault. They have to come to an

agreement. And you know, that's pretty lame. I mean, how can you assign blame for the country

that was invaded? Sovereignty is a very basic principle in international relations and that was

violated. So it's hard for him to make that case, but he's trying to make that case that he would

act at, you know, Brazil would be important in that sense. And I think that goes to a longer term,

sort of Brazilian goal for many, many years is that Brazil would become a hegemon in South America.

You know, the US has for many, many years considered self sort of the hegemon or people

consider it the hegemon in the Western hemisphere. And Brazil, because the large country with many

good businessmen and, you know, capable, capable population and so forth, has this aspiration to have

leading role at geopolitics in the Western hemisphere. And I think that's what he's striving for here

in part is to increase the importance of Brazil in the geopolitical arena. This is John Bachelor.