We publish an unofficial translation on the article published on A Nova Democracia on the 28th of March.

On a visit to the Amazonia, Macron was received by Luiz Inácio and some indigenous leaders to announce an investment program that could exceed the value of 1 billion euros in areas of research, private investment and scientific agreements.

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, was on a diplomatic visit to Brazil between March 26th and March 28th. On a visit to the Amazonia, Macron was received by Luiz Inácio and some indigenous leaders to announce an investment program that could exceed the value of 1 billion euros in areas of research, private investment and scientific agreements.

While visiting Rio de Janeiro, Macron was with Cláudio Castro, as well as President Luiz Inácio, for the launch of the Tonelero submarine, at the Itaguaí naval base. This afternoon, Macron met with big bourgeois industry figures at Fiesp and made statements critical of the Mercosur – European Union agreement.

Investments in the Amazonia

During the first day, Macron announced, together with Luiz Inácio, a program that intends to invest over the next four years more than 1 billion euros in projects in the Amazonia region close to French Guiana, a French territory in South America. The announcement took place in Belém, host city of the next meeting of the so-called COP-30 climate summit, which will take place next year.

The investment by French imperialism, however, will be for specific projects aimed by colonial interests: a partnership between public banks from Brazil and France was announced and several projects aimed on research and economic exploitation of the natural riches of the Amazonia forest were also announced – the so-called “ bioeconomy”.

Therefore, France should not direct resources to the so-called “Amazon Fund”, a platform run by Luiz Inácio’s government, but rather towards its own projects in the Amazonia region. France had already indicated that the sending of resources to the Amazon Fund would not be implemented, despite counting on an annual funding of R$3.5 billion from Germany, Norway, Switzerland, the United States, in addition to Petrobras.

The French president is recognized as one of the opponents of so-called “predatory exploitation”. During Jair Bolsonaro’s government, France was one of the first countries to criticize the fires. It turns out that it cannot be said that Macron is exactly a “friend of the people of the forest”, after all, French companies are routinely denounced for patenting substances originating from the Amazonia. One of these substances is found in the venom of a frog that only exists in the Amazonia. The venom produced by Phyllomedusa bicolor is found in 11 countries, including France.

Professor and researcher Marcos Vinicio, from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, has research on the topic and stated, in an interview with the portal “Brasil Amazônia Agora” that the damage is that, after foreign countries patent substances found in Brazilian territory, “We lost control over that product in the way it was patented and ended up, later, becoming consumers of something existing in our biodiversity and part of the knowledge of our native peoples. Anyway, any similarity with the colonial process from which we have not yet freed ourselves does not seem to be a mere coincidence. International actors change, but perverse colonial practices remain.”

This is why imperialist powers such as France also finance some “sustainability” and preservation of the natural environment. By financing conservation areas and certain “reserves” with leonine agreements that guarantee access to some privileges, imperialism guarantees for itself the exploitation of animal and plant species at risk of extinction, but which are of interest to biotechnology magnates.

Macron waved to the military

On March 28, the French president was in Rio de Janeiro together with Luiz Inácio and governor Cláudio Castro for the launch event of the Tonelero submarine, at the Itaguaí naval base. This is the third submarine manufactured through the cooperation agreement between the two countries. The fourth submarine should be launched next year and, after this stage is completed, the partnership for the construction of the first nuclear-powered submarine in Brazil will begin. During the event, Macron pledged French support for a submarine project of this type. The Brazilian government approved:

“President Macron, when you return to France, tell the French that Brazil wants knowledge of nuclear technology, not to have war, but to guarantee countries that want peace, that Brazil will be alongside them all.” At another point, he added: “we know that this partnership with France will allow two important countries to prepare so that we can live with this diversity without worrying about war because we are defenders of peace”, he said.

The speech was somewhat unfortunate. Just take as a basis the international position of opposition that Luiz Inácio himself had to the genocide perpetrated by the Zionist State of Israel in Gaza. It was also not taken good internally: just look at the level of murders of black and poor people by the repressive troops of the military police and army in the favelas and outskirts of Brazil to see that, after all, the entire military apparatus is used in the not declared war against the Brazilian people.

Macron also highlighted that the partnership represents an “unparalleled transfer of technologies” for France that generates “a lot of pride”. And he hoped that new agreements could be reached, including nuclear agreements.

“In this increasingly disorganized world, we have to be able to talk about firmness, strength. Because we are powers that don’t want to be other people’s lackeys. We have to know how to credibly defend the international order. This geopolitical vision that is ours, that of great powers that cooperate for an international order with its balances, that reject this division of the world,” said Macron.

France wants to overcome internal and external defeats

Firstly, French imperialism is experiencing internal and external difficulties. Domestically, strikes by peasants and rural producers have severely damaged the legitimacy of Macron’s government. On February 24, Macron was attacked by producers during an important agricultural fair in the country. And, on the external front, French imperialism lost important bases in Africa, after military coups, mostly aligned with Russian imperialism, took place in the Sahel, in West Africa, and put an end to many regimes that for decades represented colonial or semi-colonial benefit to France.

However, feeling the defeats, France seeks to advance further and further on the international stage. At the beginning of the year, Macron increased tensions against the imperialist superpower Russia, due to the invasion of Ukraine. Now, with his visit to Brazil, Macron also hints at new economic agreements in the Amazonia and military agreements with the government.

Secondly, we cannot expect how sensitive the issue of nuclear military technology is to the military. The objective of the representative of French imperialism is to signal that there is an open door. The question, however, is whether the counterpart offered by Macron is not so bitter for military commanders – known for accusing France of wanting to dominate the Amazonia.

Criticizing Mercosur, Macron wants direct relations with Latin American governments

In the afternoon, while visiting São Paulo, Macron met with representatives of the industrial sector at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp). During the meeting, which lasted hours, representatives of the federal government (such as Geraldo Alckmin, Fernando Haddad and Jorge Viana, president of Apex-Brasil) and the big bourgeoisie of the industrial sector made calls for taking back the negotiations on the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, which is a project that also has the support of Luiz Inácio.

Brazilians from the ruling classes present there wanted more space for Brazilian companies, given that Brazil is only the 36th largest supplier to France, while the European country is the 9th that sells the most to Brazil.

Emmanuel Macron, however, went in the opposite direction and harshly criticized the agreement: he stated that the agreement is outdated because the text is from 20 years ago, and that it ignores the current global debate, especially on the issue of “sustainability” and “ climate changes”. Macron reportedly said the following: “Let’s leave this agreement behind, let’s build a new one, enlightened by new ideas.”

There is nothing new here: Macron had already defended the end of negotiations with Mercosur during a meeting with the European Commission.

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