Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told United States President Donald Trump that he has no right to impose his will on other countries, arguing that nations should be allowed to protect their sovereignty and pursue their own interests.
Lula made the remarks in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour ahead of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The Brazilian president said Trump’s approach to international relations appeared to be based on the idea that the strongest country should dictate terms to others.
“President Trump was elected to be the US president. He has the right to govern the US, but he doesn’t have the right to govern other countries,” Lula said.
“He doesn’t have the right to impose his will. He has to have the willingness to negotiate.”
Lula said every country had the right to determine its own affairs, adding that the United States should not impose its rules on other nations.
“We just want to say that every country has their own sovereignty. They take care of their own interests and the US cannot impose their rules over the others,” he said.
The Brazilian leader also criticised tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Brazilian imports.
According to the account of the interview, the United States imposed a 25 per cent tariff on certain Brazilian goods in July following an investigation by the US Trade Representative. Washington said the measures were in response to what it described as Brazilian policies affecting digital trade, electronic payments, intellectual property, ethanol market access, anti-corruption enforcement and illegal deforestation.
Lula rejected the justification for the tariffs, describing them as based on “lies”, and said Brazil had responded by seeking to strengthen trade relations with other countries.
He said Brazil’s exports to the US had fallen by nine per cent, while imports from the US declined by 8.5 per cent following the tariffs. Lula also cited increased trade with China, Japan, Germany and the European Union.
“So I’m not going to just try to cry out about the milk that was spilled on the floor. I’m going to seek other partners to try to buy and sell,” he said.
Lula added that Brazil was still negotiating with the US and would consider retaliatory measures only if the talks failed.
“I don’t want to go to a tariff war with the US and neither with any other country,” he said.
Lula warns against election interference
The Brazilian president also expressed concern about possible US interference in Brazil’s elections, while acknowledging that there was no concrete evidence.
Lula said there were “some clues” involving interference and artificial intelligence, and mentioned US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s relationship with the Bolsonaro family.
“But for the meanwhile, we just have suspicion. There’s nothing concrete,” he said.
Lula criticises US role in Venezuela
Lula also criticised the Trump administration’s role in Venezuela, saying Washington’s actions had created the impression that the United States was governing the South American country.
The comments followed the US military operation that resulted in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and the subsequent emergence of Delcy Rodríguez as interim president. Reuters reported earlier this month that Rodríguez was leading Venezuela’s interim government and had been engaging with US officials on economic and energy matters.
“The US conveys the idea that they’re governing Venezuela,” Lula said.
“Every document that we read, the agreements, it looks like the US is the big boss of Venezuela, the sovereignty of the country has ended.”
Lula said the situation was not good for Venezuela, the United States or democracy, arguing that Venezuelans should be allowed to determine their political future through elections.
“If I was Delcy, the president, I would call for election, national election, so that people could choose who’s going to be the next president of the country,” he said.
Lula’s comments come as Trump has continued to defend an expanded US role in Venezuela and the wider Western Hemisphere. In his September 22 address to the UN General Assembly, Trump cited the Venezuela operation while calling for greater US military dominance in the region.
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