President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, in the early hours of this Friday (24), that he wants to discuss with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, the application of punishments in the North American country for ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Lula spoke to journalists at the end of his trip to Indonesia. Next, the president will go to Malaysia, where Trump will also be.
“I have every interest in having this meeting, every willingness to defend Brazil’s interests, to show that there was a mistake in the taxation of Brazil. And I want to prove this with numbers. And I want to discuss the punishment that was given to ministers of the Supreme Court of Brazil, [algo que] There is no explanation, no understanding.”said the president.
Seven STF ministers were the target of sanctions from the United States for the Court’s actions in the trial of the coup plot that took place during the government of Jair Bolsonaro.
Meeting
Lula and Trump will be in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit and the East Asian (EAS) leaders’ meeting. It will be the first meeting between the two since their brief contact at the UN General Assembly in New York in September. On that occasion, the two met as the Brazilian president left the stage and his North American counterpart continued to give his speech.
The meeting was brief but left a good impression on both. During his speech at the UN General Assembly, Trump cited the quick meeting with Lulasaid that the Brazilian leader seemed to “be a very pleasant man” and that there had been “excellent chemistry” between the two. Days later, the two presidents talked on the phone and Lula requested the removal of the 50% surcharge imposed by the North American government on Brazilian products.
“I want to have the opportunity to tell Trump what Brazil expects from the United States and what Brazil has to offer. I already said on the phone: there is no veto on any topic”, Lula added to journalists in Indonesia. “There is no forbidden topic for a country the size of Brazil to talk to a country the size of the USA. There is no veto. It will be a free meeting and we will be able to say what we want and hear what we want and what we don’t want too.”
Indonesia
During his stay in Indonesia, Lula participated in meetings with businesspeople, in addition to meeting with the president of that country, Prabowo Subianto, and sign bilateral agreements. He defended the expansion of trade relations between Brazil and other countries, including Indonesia.
“The world is demanding from political leaders much more willingness to negotiate and make things happen. We cannot stay in Brazil waiting for people to arrive. We, who are interested, have to look for people, we have to offer what Brazil has to offer”
