In the sixth pit of the eighth circle of his hell, Dante describes the sad end of the hypocrites. They are in the worst part of the underworld, the one in which the fraudulent suffer, those who did evil using reason – in this case deceiving their neighbors -, not due to a mere lack of restraint. A mass of souls wanders very slowly, prostrated by the serious condemnation that the poet imagines for them: for eternity they remain wrapped in layers that look golden on the outside, but made inside of a very heavy lead that turns their walk into an ordeal. All of this is addressed in song XXIII, one with a strong political flavor. In today’s Europe there are several profiles that perhaps the poet would consider to be labeled as hypocrites.
Several potential candidates of varying severity paraded at the eastern end of the continent, in the Russian city of Kazan, where the annual BRICS+ summit was held. Little needs to be said about the abyss between the golden rhetoric and the lead actions of the host, Vladimir Putin. Nor does it seem necessary to highlight the distance between the statements of his great colleague, Xi Jinping, who loves to present his country as a stabilizing force while supporting lawless aggressors or ignoring firm international rulings when it suits him, such as one regarding a dispute. territorial with the Philippines.
Perhaps some more line deserves the timidity – let’s call it that – with which some democracies gathered at that summit address the aggression against Ukraine. It is worth remembering Lula’s position on the matter: “Zelensky is as responsible as Putin for the war” (Time, May 2022). A much better reference for the progressive Latin American world is Gabriel Boric, bearer of another moral clarity. Lula, who presents himself as a champion of democracy, did veto the entry of Venezuela into the club. It is appreciated, after years of ambiguity in the face of that dictatorship. In May 2023, he still received Maduro with honors and declared that “there are many prejudices about Venezuela.” It should, however, be noted that he vetoed Caracas, but not because of dictatorship. His great foreign advisor, Celso Amorim, explained it this way: “The problem with Venezuela [en los BRICS+] It has nothing to do with democracy, but with an abuse of trust. The breach of trust was serious. “They told us something and it was not done,” he declared. The problem is to disrespect by breaking the word given – in this case, promises about the exhibition of electoral records -, not to destroy democracy. For this reason, Brazil did not veto the entry of other regimes or maneuver in the past to hold off diplomatic statements from the OAS on Nicaragua.
They perplex other BRICS+ democracies, such as India and South Africa, anti-colonial champions, who shake hands and smile cordially at the greatest colonialist subjugator in decades, Vladimir Putin. The final communiqué of the summit expresses the deep concern of the members about “illegal unilateral coercive measures” but, of course, it cannot express the same due to the brutal outrage that motivates them. Benefits of joining certain parties.
Nobody says that you can never cooperate with regimes – the West, of course, not only does it, but sometimes unfortunately supports them – and it is not even intended that everyone helps the attacked, but at least bilaterally one could expect a little more firmness in the face of aggressors. The BRICS+ are, of course, completely right to denounce certain abuses and hypocrisies of the West, but their democratic members could act with greater coherence between certain values and their actions. However, they are more interested in pursuing their interests, just like those they criticize. Thus, they play both sides, interacting with Western and Eastern powers, as appropriate. It is not an altar from which the preachings resonate crystal clear.
Let’s now look at other parts of the continent. From Berlin we learned this Thursday that the German Government has authorized the supply of military material to Israel worth 94 million euros in the last three months. The day before, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had said that her government faces a dilemma: “On the one hand, Israel is attacked every day and not supporting it means that its citizens are left unprotected. On the other hand, it is also Germany’s responsibility to support international humanitarian law.” But reality, with the abysmal disproportion of the Israeli war action, turns that dilemma that it equates into a hypocritical act on the part of a leader of a country that manifests, actively and passively, its attachment to international legality. The laudable will to atone for past faults leads to the inexplicable present disgrace of permissiveness, even help, in the face of an intolerable abuse of force. In this section, outside of Europe, Joe Biden and the discrepancy between his pro-human rights speech and his support for Israel deserve special mention.
Further to the West we find another feast of hypocrisy. An interesting interview given by Bernard Cazeneuve, former Prime Minister of François Hollande, (Le Monde, October 3) portrays her with great precision. Cazeneuve points out that, after the legislative elections in July, Macron never wanted to appoint a left-wing representative who questioned his reforms as prime minister. At the same time, Cazeneuve says, the leftist Mélenchon never wanted the progressive coalition to govern, because he prefers to prepare another assault on the presidency from the opposition. With this objective, he demanded the comprehensive application of the coalition program, when it lacked 100 seats to have a majority in the National Assembly. Faced with this absurd maximalist approach, once again, Cazeneuve laments, the leadership of the Socialist Party adopted a submissive position. That ended up opening the door to the appointment of Michel Barnier, whose Government is under the tutelage of Le Pen. Neither the left nor Macron worked in good faith to isolate the extreme right, the objective they had proclaimed they wanted to pursue, and the president ended up enthroning a Government that can only survive with ultra approval and led by a party beaten at the polls. Hypocrisy on multiple sides.
On another level, in Spain, serious allegations of abuse against women by a politician who was a champion of the feminist cause emerged. The ultimate consequences must be clarified at the judicial and political level.
These are just some of the hypocrisies in the political market. The European panorama is full. Just as important as detecting them is weighing them, because they are not all the same – that is populism and antipolitics. Everyone has the right and duty to judge. This column believes that Putin is responsible for the biggest outrage of this time, without any justification. Netanyahu follows him not far behind, with the difference of having suffered a terrible attack, which, however, he had encouraged with years of abusive oppression. Others follow, by action or omission. In democracies, the greatest threat comes from the right, but various lefts contribute a lot to building a worse world. Likewise, the countries of the South have been victims of many abuses that must be recognized, but this does not exempt them from having to assume their responsibilities – and many are full of criticism of others and short on their own coherence.
Canto XXIII ends with some prophetic verses in which Dante and Virgil discover that in the sixth pit there is no bridge left standing. Perhaps, a warning of the consequences of the fraudulent use of intelligence, of its abuse to deceive others.
