Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says US President Donald Trump has no right to govern other countries.
Lula spoke in an exclusive interview with Christiane
Amanpour of CNN, ahead of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in
New York.
Lula said Trump’s approach to international relations is
based on the belief 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.
“He has a way of governing that I’m stronger, I’m the
mightiest, I’m the richest, I can do everything, and all the others have to
obey. I don’t agree with that. It’s the stronger law.”
The Brazilian president said countries should be allowed to
protect their sovereignty and pursue their own interests without interference
from the US.
“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 added.
Lula also criticised the tariffs imposed by the Trump
administration on Brazilian imports.
In July, the US imposed a 25 percent tariff on certain
Brazilian goods following a year-long investigation by the US Trade
Representative (USTR).
The US said the measures were in response to “unreasonable
Brazilian policies affecting digital trade, electronic payments, intellectual
property, ethanol market access, anti-corruption enforcement and illegal
deforestation”.
Lula, however, said the tariffs were “based on lies”, adding
that his government has responded by seeking stronger trade relations with
other countries.
Lula said Brazil’s exports to the US had fallen by nine
percent, while imports from the US declined by 8.5 percent following the
tariffs.
He noted that trade with China increased by 20 percent,
while trade with Japan rose by 18 percent and trade with Germany increased by
60 percent.
Lula said Brazil’s trade with the European Union also grew
by 23 percent.
“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.
He added that Brazil is 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,” Lula said.
The Brazilian president also warned Trump against
interfering in Brazil’s elections.
Lula said he is concerned about suspected interference in
Brazil’s elections but acknowledged that there was no concrete evidence.
“There’s some clues of interference, of artificial
intelligence going on. I’m a little bit concerned with Marco Rubio, because
Marco Rubio is very close to the Bolsonaro’s family,” he said.
“But for the meanwhile, we just have suspicion. There’s
nothing concrete.”
‘US GIVING THE IMPRESSION OF GOVERNING VENEZUELA’
Lula also criticised the Trump administration’s actions in
Venezuela.
In January, the US captured former Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro during a military operation.
Delcy RodrÃguez, who served as Maduro’s vice-president, was
subsequently sworn in as interim president.
After Maduro’s capture, Trump said the US would temporarily
oversee the Venezuela administration.
However, Lula said the US had given the impression that it
was now governing Venezuela.
“The US conveys the idea that they’re governing Venezuela,”
he 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.”
The Brazilian leader said the situation is not good for
Venezuela, the US or democracy.
He noted that Venezuela should be allowed to determine its
political future through elections rather than having its affairs directed by
another country.
“If I was Delsi, 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,” Lula said.
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