President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva once again expressed concern about the escalation of tensions between the United States and Venezuela. This Thursday (18), in Brasília, he said that he will speak again with the North American president, Donald Trump, until next week, in search of a solution that avoids a military invasion in the neighboring country. Today, US troops surround the Caribbean Sea on the Venezuelan border, allegedly fighting drug trafficking. 
“I’m thinking, before Christmas, about talking to Trump again to find out what Brazil can contribute to so that we have an agreement and not a war”, he stated, at breakfast, with journalists, at Palácio do Planalto.
“It was possible to negotiate without war. So, I’m always worried about what’s behind. Because it can’t just be the question of overthrowing Maduro. What are the other interests that we have and haven’t yet [se] you know?” said the president about the North American motivations for the military threat.
Lula had already said, during a ministerial meeting, about the risk of a conflict and now he has revealed a conversation he had with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last week, when he also spoke with Trump.
“I told President Maduro that if he wanted Brazil to help something he had to say what he would like us to do. And I told Trump: ‘If you think Brazil can contribute, we would be interested in talking to Venezuela, talking to you, talking to other countries so that we can avoid an armed confrontation here in Latin America and in our beloved South America. And Brazil is very appreciative of this, because we have many kilometers of border with Venezuela”, he noted.
US tariff
Lula also commented on maintaining the 40% US tariff on Brazilian exports, which still affect 22% of national sales to Americans, even after the White House excluded hundreds of products from extra taxation last month.
“From the moment President Trump introduced taxation, I have always defended that it is the sovereign right of any country to tax products from abroad that enter their country if they understand that that country is suffering development losses due to imports. Here in Brazil we live taxing products. So, I am not against him taking the step of taxing. What I was against and said publicly is that the reasons for taxation were not the real ones. I think President Trump has already recognized this and there are still some things left that we will achieve [reverter]”, he indicated.
Lula reinforced that Brazil remains at the negotiating table, under the coordination of vice-president Geraldo Alckmin and ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance) and Mauro Vieira (Foreign Affairs), but that he is personally committed to directly demanding the North American president’s decision regarding Brazil’s claim.
“Every 15 days I’m taking the action of sending a personal message to Trump, ‘something else is missing, something is slow’. Because here’s the thing, it’s the owner’s eye that fattens the pig. If I pretend that I forget, I’m the one who’s interested, he thinks everything is resolved and no, I have to demand it, I’m interested”, he assured.
