The grand failure of South to South diplomacy

I hate to say it but the current tragedy in libya has exposed the weakness of south to south diplomacy. That is sad indeed for the "south" and BRIC nations in particular provide an important counter weight to the hegemony of the west which at times is driven by national self interest (not just of the elite but also of ordinary voters).
Am not surprised by the support given to Gaddafi by the African Union (for their latest ceasefire offer would have effectively resulted in capitulation to the regime) which is mostly composed of dictators with a horrible human rights record. Am not surprised by Ortega and Chavez, two authoritarian populists who have betrayed the popular struggles in their own country by resorting to thugs to repress opposition.
The greatest disappointment came from countries like Brazil and South Africa who while effectively not opposing the no fly zone (Brazil abstained while South Africa votes in favour) have washed their hands of the Libyan people's struggle for humanity and freedom.
South Africa has already made a mess in Zimbabwe by intervening diplomatically to keep a mad villian like Mugabe in power. Mugabe stands as a monument to South African impotence and lip service to the emancipation of fellow Africans.
While I expect Brazil and South Africa to guard against western double standards-having been victim of hypocrisy of cold war diplomacy, their experience should also make them more sensitive to human rights issues.
Instead of offering their support to the heroic people of Misrata who have been besieged for a month, they seem more interested in carving their own sphere of influence, teaming up with china, to promote a diplomacy where human rights are not even an issue.
The reaction of these countries contained a good dose of cynicism as well as old fashioned allergic reactions to the "west".
While this Europe is in a very bad shape right now because of the triumph of national egoisms (with the Libyan intervention being the sole redeeming factor after past support for the same regime), the emerging third world economies are proving to be not that different when it comes to self interest and worse when it comes to putting human rights on the agenda. On its part the other main player the US has walked on a tightrope between honking for freedom and supporting "friends." Despite his great limitations especially when it comes to putting pressure on oppressive gulf states like Bahrain, Obama has at least moved away from traditional US policy by ditching Mubarak in Egypt...a grand feat by US standards.
What is most disappointing is Europe's failure to seize the moment in proposing a vision of cooperation which for the first time breaks the barriers between north and south, something which would break traditional schemes which had seen western democracies propping dictatorial client states...
This would be the best answer to the cynicism of southern diplomacy and the resurgence of chinese style autocracy.