The Carvalho Dialogue: A Continent at the Crossroads

“Friends and allies from across the United States and the Ibero-sphere who share a commitment to advancing freedom, security, and prosperity” so begins the Miami Statement published on August 31st by the Carvalho Dialogue.

Its formulators, including many of its signatories—figures from throughout the Ibero-Sphere (Spain, Portugal, and Latin America) and the United States—met in Miami this July, inspired by the legacy of Olavo de Carvalho, the late Brazilian teacher and philosopher.

As early as 2009, Carvalho warned that the Sao Paulo Forum, a broad coalition of communist and quasi-communist groups in the Americas, made it necessary for their opponents to develop a new, multilateral perspective if they were to defend their countries.

Political freedom, economic prosperity, and law and order were on the agenda for representatives of a region suffering the ravages of long-term, far-left rapine, although the continent is seeing some significant pushback. “Many nations are 50-50 or even more in support of traditional values and other conservative principles, so I actually believe the prospects are very good,” opined James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation, adding that the question is more one of delivering on victories:

My observation is that if conservatives want to get and hold power, they need to deliver. They need to deliver on the promises they make and govern as conservatives. That’s likely to deliver better outcomes for people and more likely to build and sustain the momentum towards conservative governance. Conservatives need to support each other.  

A shadowy factor highlighted in the Miami Statement that followed the Carvalho Dialogue—a shadow long enough to reach Europe and dark enough to affect her politics—is that of the criminal connection in the politics of the Americas, specifically as it concerns drug money. Hermann Tertsch of VOX and others have described this nexus as narco-communism, intimating its presence in the funding of parties like Podemos. According to Carafano:

Corruption is always a challenge. Today, transnational criminal cartels have deep pockets, and they are not afraid to use them. I worry more about the political collusion aimed at attacking principled conservative leaders, particularly state actors, who often work in tandem with criminal interests, particularly the network of the Sao Paulo Forum.

The Carvalho Dialogue also featured criticism of the Biden administration for promoting typically anti-traditional, divisive ideological discourse around gender and race, and foreign influences from Russia, Iran, and China, as well as, within the Americas, from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Bolivia, were discussed. In this context, the lack of journalistic and political freedom in the latter countries, as well as in Brazil, was also highlighted.

Of particular importance is the issue of foreign-funded, ideologically committed, and politically weaponized NGOs. Speakers pointed out how these will often distort perceptions regarding the region’s cultural, ethnic, and social reality, or the state of its judiciaries and politics in general.

Carafano emphasized the centrality of the convergence being Western NGOs and certain foreign interests (including Russian support for the Sao Paulo Forum):

I think this network is the single greatest threat to freedom and prosperity in our space. Not only is the [Sao Paulo] Forum a threat, but its cooperation with odious regimes in Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran is extremely dangerous. Fighting back starts with the most important step—recognizing the scope of the threat and exposing it. 

Along with the Madrid Forum, the Carvalho Dialogue is an attempt to create something like a united front against the long-united and highly-effective communist and post-communist Left in Latin America.