Published 07/07/2025 18:01 | Edited 07/07/2025 18:05
President Lula countered, on Monday (7), the threat of Donald Trump of retaliation with tariffs with the countries that adhere to the “anti-American” policies of BRICS, as the US President.
In a press conference after the close of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Lula said he should not even comment, as he classifies the stance of Trump little responsible and not serious. In addition, he stressed that the groups of the group, as well as the rest of the world, do not need a “emperor” and have the right to reciprocity in the measures.
“I honestly don’t even think I should comment, because I don’t think it’s a very responsible and serious thing a president of a country the size of the United States to threaten the world through the internet. It’s not right. The world has changed: we don’t want to be emperor. We are sovereign countries. If he thinks he can tax, countries have the right to tax too. That learning that respect is good.
read more: Strengthening of BRICS under Lula’s leadership causes aggressive reaction from the USA
When asked about the defense that the US representative made of former President Jair Bolsonaro, Lula said that Brazil “has law, has a rule and has an owner called Brazilian people, so give guess in the affairs of his country and not ours,” he says.
Regarding the repercussion of the tariff theme within the summit, the president made the indication that no one touched the subject: “We gave no importance to it.”
Transaction in local currencies
When asked about the advance in the debate on transaction between the groups of the group in their own currencies, leaving the dollar aside, Lula says this is a path without return.
“The world needs to find a way so that our business relationship doesn’t have to go through the dollar. When you go with the United States it goes through the dollar. But when you go with Argentina, with China, with India, you don’t have to pass. When you go with Europe discusses in euro. […] And obviously we have all the responsibility to do this very carefully, with the participation of central banks. It’s something that has no return. This happens gradually until it is consolidated, ”he stresses.
IOF
It was also asked about the issue of IOF (Tax on Financial Operations). The Brazilian president classifies the performance of Congress as “totally antichonstitutional” by blocking a decree of the executive, and cited examples of other governments in which similar measures were not questioned.
Despite the clash, it understands that it is a “political divergence of democracy” and that it intends to resolve the theme by seeking consensus during the week.
BRICS and a new approach to multilateralism
Before the journalists’ questions, Lula took stock of the BRICS meeting. According to the president, the meeting was one of the most significant, as well as the G20, also in Rio de Janeiro, in November 2024.
In its assessment, the block offers a new approach to international multilateralism: “We are convinced that we no longer want a tutelage world. We no longer want cold war or disrespect to sovereignty. We no longer want war and, therefore, we are deeply discussing the need for structural changes, including the UN statute, to recreate something based on current events, not those in 1945. Fascism and Nazism are not in BRICS. In the group we seek to strengthen the democratic process, multilateralism, peace, development and social participation.
The Brazilian leader even reinforces the request for changes in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a way to reflect the desire for an investment bank that meets the needs of the poorest countries, without leading them to bankruptcy, as has happened: “The austerity model makes debts unlawful,” he warns.
“War against Hamas and only kill innocents, women and children?”
Lula also points out that, within the milestone of the 80th anniversary of World War II, a period after which international organizations were created, it is necessary to reinforce multilateralism and not destroy it in a world again in seizure.
“We are living today, possibly, after World War II, the longest conflict between countries. It is a sparked war for all that is side. And the most serious is that the UN security council countries, which should be the paradigm to try to avoid these wars, are the promoters,” he criticizes.
Read more: Annoyed with Brics, Trump tries to get into internal affairs in Brazil
In addressing all conflicts ongoing, the president reiterated criticism of what happens in Gaza: “To say that this is a war against Hamas and only kill innocents, women and children? And where’s the multilateral institution to put an end to it? It doesn’t exist! The UN should be condemning, but the UN cannot condemn it because it is involved in it. Excluding China, but the rest is involved, both from Europe and the United States, ”Lula explains by indicating the reason for no interlocution for an alternative proposal to what we have, which shows the need to strengthen the group in this context.
“Brics was not born to face anyone”
In speech, the president also advocates changes in world governance to equitably represent countries from all regions of the world.
“BRICS, who was not born to face anyone, is a new way of doing politics. A more joint solidarity. In which the bank is much more concerned with helping developing countries develop. And that in the environmental we are aware that the climate issue is very serious,” Lula mentions by recalling the disasters in Rio Grande do Sul and the latest in Texas, in the United States.
At this point, Lula accentuates the strength of the group as a promoter of a new reality: “It is a new model, a new approach, something that is much more careful, not a closed thing, not a privileged club, it is a set of countries wanting to create another way to organize the world, from the economic point of view, from the point of view of human relationship.”
At the end of the exhibition about the meeting, he stressed his joy because “BRICS is becoming champion of the world in environmental policies, artificial intelligence, development and involvement of society in the debate.”
Source: vermelho.org.br
