President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva again said he is concerned about the Unilateral decisions of the United States to apply rates on products from all business partners on the planet and pointed out risks of a “devastating effect” on the world economy.
“We do not know what will be the devastating effect of this on the economy. We need to know how much it will cost from the point of view of the products, multilateral relationship,” criticized Lula on Wednesday (9), in an interview with Brazilian journalists, after participation in the summit of the community of Latin American and Caribbean states (Celac), in Tegucigalpa, Honduras capital.
The president observed the new decision of the president of the United States (USA), who further increased the rates against China, while reducing additional charges to Another 75 countries. For Lula, the method signals the intention of direct confrontation with the Asians and puts in check the sustainability of multilateralism and balance between countries
“It seems to me that it is getting more and more visible that it is a personal fight [de Trump] with China. Now, wanting to make individual negotiation is to put an end to multilateralism. And multilateralism is very important to the economic tranquility the world needs. The hegemony of a country, neither military, nor cultural, industrial nor technological nor economic over others is not acceptable, “he said.
In a speech during the summit, he had already the adoption of unilateral tariffs criticized.
About the posture of the Brazilian government in the face of this pressure, Lula said that there will be reciprocity, in case, at the end of the negotiations, the rates remain.
“We will use all the negotiation words that the dictionary allows. Once it is over, we will make the decisions that we understand to be appropriate,” he said.
Veto attempt
Still on the Celac summit, Lula criticized the stance of countries that tried to block the approval of the final statement. At the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, the delegations of Paraguay and Argentina tried to veto the final text, but he was approved with the indication of contradiction of the two countries.
“It is very important that we always distribute the idea of consensus, but the consensus cannot be the right to veto. You cannot have 40 countries and one decide that you do not like something and not sign a document. You better sign the document and put in the footer that such a country did not want to sign. It is more democratic and things walk, evolve.”
UN Woman
In relation to Brazil’s proposal for Celac to propose a single candidacy for a Latin American and Caribbean woman for the position of Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), in 2026, Lula showed confidence with the initiative and highlighted the role of women’s world leaders.
“I think it will work because women are rising, taking up better and better space, women are proving that they are more competent than men in many things, they have more sensitivity. The 21st century can truly be the century of women,” he said.
After the Celac summit, Lula is returning to Brazil, where he should land at dawn on Thursday (10), in Brasilia.
