Denise Gregory is executive director of the Centro Brasileiro de Relacoes Internacionais (CEBRI).

Georges Landau is regional director of Menas Associates for Brazil and the Mercosul countries and a board member of the Centro Brasileiro de Relacoes Internacionais (CEBRI).

Economic Interests 

The editorial opinions in Brazil celebrated the Pittsburgh G20 Summit´s historic decision to replace the G8 with the G20 as the decision-making body for international economic cooperation, as well as the decision to give more power to the emerging powers in the IMF and the World Bank, increase their voting shares. The leaders also agreed to revive talks to complete the Doha Round by the end of 2010. Those were the issues on the agenda of Pittsburgh Summit that President Lula´s administration had put top priority.

Lula himself called the summit “historic,” which reflected a shift in world power. And in his opinion, the BRICs achieved a remarkable and historical victory reflected in the G20 Summit’s final Communiqué. The rising of the emerging countries, the increase in their international representation, role and weight come as a result from the global financial crisis.

Small media coverage was given to other summit issues.

There are relatively few direct implications for Brazil from the Pittsburgh G20 Summit, even if President Lula played a prominent role. It is perceived that the country will benefit from enhanced representation on the boards of the IMF and World Bank, and the incidental reference to resumption of the Doha Round will benefit Brazil as a staunch advocate of multilateralism and international trade. Moreover, the country will benefit from being a full-fledged member of the G20, rather than an invited guest at the G8 deliberations. However, with regard to the elimination of protectionism, the G20´s pious exhortations will not actually benefit Brazil in the absence of effective sanctions.

Domestic Political Interests 

Lula, in his seventh year in office enjoys a staggering (80 percent) popularity and enviable performance. His very visible stance in international fora reinforces his statesmanlike image, even if, in fact, what he actually said in Pittsburgh were platitudes and generalities. To the extent that his view points were echoed by other national leaders, his domestic image is correspondingly enhanced.

Media coverage on the summit was divided with various other international events, such as the UN General Assembly, the UN Climate Change meeting, Lula´s meeting with Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the return of ousted President Mel Zelaya to Honduras (to the Brazilian Embassy).

International Interests

Brazil´s stature has been bolstered by the Pittsburgh G20 Summit, which was a distinct progress over the London meeting. Advances were made vis-à-vis representation of the emerging economies in the multilateral financial institutions, as well as in respect of commitments by industrialized nations to honour climate change targets.

Global Leadership

Perceptions in Brazil about these twin issues are confined to a small informed segment of society and to selected media. The Congress, for instance, is blissfully indifferent to developments at the G20 Summit. Brazil was relatively less affected than the other BRICs by the global crisis, and early on adopted counter-cyclical policies that mitigated its effects. Thus, the amount of public unrest was minimal. It appears unlikely that the Pittsburgh G20 Summit contributed to that result. What is clear, however, is that Lula´s leadership took Brazil´s role in multilateral fora to a new and higher level, contributing to the country´s enhanced participation in such arenas.