Brazil handed over power infrastructure, market share and even its agricultural production to China

When President Lula met Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 14 with a large delegation of businessmen, politicians and even trade unionists, the Brazilian government hailed the visit as the beginning of an era in relations with China after the Bolsonaro era. Celebrated as the beginning of change. , On that occasion, the two Presidents signed 15 cooperation agreements. Apart from the general topics announced at the signing ceremony, such as a “Memorandum of Understanding to Promote Investment and Industrial Cooperation” and a “Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Investment Cooperation in the Digital Economy”, the details of those agreements were never revealed. , The tone also remained moderate regarding the possibility and discussion of Brazil’s involvement in the so-called New Silk Road. It remained in the background, at least in the narrative proposed to the general public, perhaps out of Brazil’s fear of upsetting Washington. “Brazil and China expressed interest in deepening synergy between South American integration efforts and China’s development policies and Brazil’s development policies and investment programs, including international initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative,” Lula and Xi said in their joint statement. Is.” statement.

by infobay

However, eight months later, in fact, Brazil appears to have fully embraced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as evidenced by a number of initiatives that have generated controversy and public debate. The BRI, launched in 2013, has so far been Beijing’s main foreign policy strategy, using its state-owned companies to finance infrastructure networks abroad based on its political and economic agenda. China’s goal is to achieve global leadership. In 2015, Xi complemented the BRI with a Digital Silk Road (DSR) focused on infrastructure such as telecommunications, e-commerce and digital technologies to show how China’s conquest of the world is truly moving 360 degrees. Is. But the BRI has been criticized around the world and many countries have rejected it or backed out at the last minute, as was the case with Italy recently. Let’s remember, China, ruled by a dictatorial regime, uses the BRI to expand its monopoly, create political dependence, and take advantage of the resources of countries that follow the program. The greatest threat is the threat to so-called Golden Power, that is, the ability and will of a state to protect assets it considers strategic to its national security, such as its electrical infrastructure.

That’s why it was an earthquake when, in mid-December, Chinese energy giant State Grid won the largest auction in Brazilian history for the country’s transmission network, with a total investment value of 21.7 billion reais, or 4,472 million reais. Of dollars. Thus, the main Chinese state energy company, which covers 88% of the territory of the Asian country, will build 1,468 kilometers of lines in 72 months, including an 800 kV DC extra-high voltage line that will connect the northern states of Maranhão, Tocantins and Is in Goiás. , Other participants complained and accused the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) of favoritism toward the state grid, according to economic news site Brazil Journal. “Lot 1, the largest of the three for sale, was designed to win over the Chinese,” an investor tracking the sector told Brazil Journal. “A type of technology was imposed in the bidding rules and the only suppliers of this technology in Brazil are Chinese companies.” It is a direct current system known as HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current). “But the system chosen by ANEEL was an old HVDC technology, which is rarely used in new transmission projects and is only used by the Chinese,” the investor explained.

To read the full note, Here