A New Independence

Independence cannot remain a cry preserved in the past. In the contemporary world, it has become a permanent struggle, the article argues.

The reflection, published around Independence Day, begins with a world shaped by rapid technological change, unprecedented concentrations of wealth, growing geopolitical and military conflicts, and increasingly extreme climate events. The 1822 declaration remains important, but military control and self-government over territory no longer define independence on their own.

Digital sovereignty now forms part of national autonomy. Governments, the article says, cannot depend on sensitive data stored in clouds operated by private corporations whose owners and governing bodies sit outside the country. Nor can they rely on satellites operated by foreign organizations to transmit that information.

Electoral records, tax collection data and medical records are among the essential information needed to run democratic institutions and public policy. Their flows should not be vulnerable to unilateral decisions by the owners of the satellites and cloud systems needed to store and communicate them. The concentration of capital, technological infrastructure and investment capacity in a few megacompanies can become political power, allowing those companies to set rules and pressure sovereign states.

The article also links independence to the ability to set domestic laws without outside pressure. It points to lobbying by foreign technology companies against stricter regulation of digital platforms and to opposition from global financial giants toward Pix, Brazil’s fast, secure and free payment system. Such demands, it says, have been supported by the governments of the countries where those companies are based, while some domestic groups promote agendas that do not serve Brazil’s interests.

Strategic minerals and rare earth elements form another crucial part of the argument. They provide the physical foundation for the digital economy, national defense and the energy transition. Without them, the article says, there would be no semiconductors, high-performance batteries, lasers, electric motors, guidance systems, advanced telecommunications or precision medical equipment.