Italy wants to invest in military, infrastructure and energy projects in the country
With the outcome of the Cesare Battisti case, the political relationship between Brazil and Italy has been eliminated from its biggest obstacle of the last twelve years. The end of this divergence, which caused visits by Italian authorities to the country to be practically suspended, should boost trade and military agreements.
Two weeks ago, the Italian Defense Minister was in Brazil after seven years. The Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, is expected to arrive in March and President Bolsonaro has already confirmed that he will go to Italy later this year. Political rapprochement should facilitate new trade and military agreements and Italy sees opportunities in the areas of military, infrastructure, energy and satellite solutions. Italian satellite giant Telespazio is already doing work in Brumadinho and could map dams. But there are other opportunities on the horizon, the construction of corvettes for the Brazilian Navy, railway and energy projects. The information comes from the Italian ambassador to Brazil, Antonio Bernardini, in an interview with the R7 portal.
What was the biggest problem in the Battisti case?
The biggest problem was the difficulty of explaining the difference in perception between the Brazilian PT government and the Italian governments of both the left and right regarding the nature of Battisti. It's very interesting because it seems that in Brazil it was a political battle between the left and the right. The newspapers spoke of Battisti as an activist, which is a problematic definition. Because activist means he is a political refugee, who has a problem with different political ideas. In the case of Italy, this difference in Italian politics did not exist. Because right-wing and left-wing governments had the same vision. Battisti's case was that of a terrorist, a common criminal, who was convicted after legal proceedings.
I was asked on television “what do you think of the statements made by former minister Tarso Genro that when Battisti was in Italy it was a dictatorship?” All of this is a totally wrong perception of the Italian situation. This was actually a very difficult period. Italy's problem was, how can a democracy resist, combat terrorism without changing the rules of a democracy. That was the question. When members of the unions and the communist party were killed by the red brigades, this increased the democratic forces to combat all this. This very tragic historical experience of Italy in the Brazilian debate does not exist, it did not enter into it. There was also a problem for the Italian left to talk to the Brazilian left, to explain the situation. The President of the Republic, who was Giorgio Napolitano, from the left, communist, wrote letters to Lula explaining the feeling of the Italian people about Battisti's story, but that was of no use. This began to change with the departure of Dilma Rousseff. With President Temer, the perception was very clear that Brazil was ready to change this perception in relation to Battisti.
And did this have important economic effects?
If we look at the history of the Italian presence in Brazil, we cannot say that the Battisti effect was so significant because companies that had investments in Brazil continued their activities. It was more of a political problem. But it is clear that all governments have a role in stimulating economic and business activity abroad. And, of course, when there is a political problem there is an impact.
But can we already see changes, with the visit of the Minister of Defense and the project to build corvettes for the Brazilian Navy?
The issue of corvettes has been talked about for many years. There is a need for the Navy to have these corvettes. There is a perception that military investment in Brazil will increase because there are many military personnel in the government, but every government has to look at its budget, it needs to have the money. The corvette program is previous, it does not start with this government. This government will decide which company will build the corvettes.
The purpose of Minister Trenta's visit was to bring a menu of possibilities for rapprochement between Brazil and Italy. The idea is very simple. Countries like Italy and Brazil are not military superpowers like the USA, Russia and China, which have the advantage of having a national military development program. We look at specific partners and programs. Looking at the needs of the Italian armed forces and the Brazilian armed forces. We have a positive experience with the program with AMX, an Italo Brazilian co-production that created Embraer. We believe that we will have other opportunities to expand this partnership that involves technology transfer and we can also look together at opportunities in the international market. Certainly in the field of satellite space, satellites, we are sure that there are possibilities and interests.
In the recent case of the Brumadinho disaster, Italian technologies are used to monitor the environmental situation and dam safety. In fact, Telespazio is now mapping the area. This technology is very important to be used in the environment. It is not an optical technology, it is a radar technology, which also works when there are clouds. Telespazio has been in Brazil for twenty years. And in the field of aviation there is also the possibility of cooperation, not selling.
The case of the defense minister's visit is emblematic because it takes place at the beginning of the Bolsonaro government's activity. In February in Rio we will organize a seminar on electrical energy. Because last year an Italian company bought Eletropaulo, Enel, it is now the largest distributor of electricity in Brazil. Because it distributes energy in the states of Rio, São Paulo, Goiás and Ceará. And it is a leader in solar and wind production. It is a very advanced company, a world leader in digital control systems. And it will be interesting in a reality in São Paulo. It is a new vision of electrical energy production entirely based on renewable energy with the application of digital technologies. The CEO at Enel is in nuclear energy, so it is interesting to move away from nuclear energy and become a leader in renewable energy.
The Brazilian government is looking at an infrastructure development program in the country. I find it very interesting, as Italian companies have a relevant presence, such as in concessionaires, Ecorodovias in São Paulo and now there is Abertis [Spanish] bought by Atlantia [Italian], but also the speech of the railways. I don't know if it's a bullet train, we'd really like to work on that. Italy is one of the few countries that has two companies that use the same railway infrastructure in competition.
But would the Brazilian network have to be improved before, which was abandoned for years?
It's very interesting in São Paulo, there are testimonies from immigrants who arrived in the 1800s who say that they came here by train for the first time. That didn't exist in Europe, not everywhere, but it existed in Brazil. I spoke to the Minister of Infrastructure and he told me about the priorities for railways, especially for crop transport. And we are also looking at the possibility of revitalizing the transnordestina project with Italian companies. A project that was not very well structured. Railways will be strategic in the country.
How could Italy help Brazil in negotiations with the European Union?
The EU-Mercosur agreement is very important, it needs to have a dimension of what it could provide. They are very close and there are critical points, historically in agriculture, delicate points in negotiations. Like Parma ham, in Italy, we have been waiting for the designation of origin for more than 20 years. There is a good vision of the possibilities in the future. Italy has to facilitate and work on relations with Brazil to create a consensus, but bearing in mind that some things are very delicate. We are in a period of low popularity of multilateral agreements in the world.
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