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Lula Blasts ‘Unjustifiable’ Israeli Detention of Gaza Flotilla Pair Amid More Reports of Torture

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Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Global Sumud Flotilla members Saif Abu Keshek (left) and Thiago Ávila (right) are seen during a May 5, 2026 court appearance in Ashkelon, Israel.(Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/AFP via Getty Images)

Brazil’s president called Israel’s continued detention of Brazilian Thiago Ávila and Spanish-Swedish national Saif Abu Keshek “a serious affront to international law.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday condemned Israel’s twice-extended detention of two Global Sumud Flotilla members abducted last week off the coast of Greece while attempting to break the decadeslong Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to its people amid an ongoing genocide.

“Maintaining the imprisonment of Brazilian citizen Thiago Ávila, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla, is an unjustifiable action by the Israeli government, causes great concern, and must be condemned by all,” Lula said on X.

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“The detention of the flotilla activists in international waters had already represented a serious affront to international law,” he added. “For this reason, our government, together with that of Spain, which also had a citizen detained, demands that they receive full guarantees of safety and be immediately released.”

Spain’s government has also condemned Israel’s capture of Abu Keshek and demanded his immediate release, and like Lula, called the detention illegal because it occurred in international waters. Abu Keshek is also a citizen of Sweden, which has not condemned his detention—or even mentioned him by name—but has asked that “the rights of any Swedish citizens will be respected.”

Adalah Legal Center, the Palestinian group in Israel representing Ávila and Abu Keshek, said Tuesday that the Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court approved Israel’s request to extend the pair’s detention through May 10. This, after the court on Sunday prolonged their detention by two days.

“The court’s decision to extend the detention of humanitarian activists abducted in international waters amounts to judicial validation of the state’s lawlessness,” Adalah assertedad, vowing to appeal the decision, which the group said was based on “secret evidence.”

Adalah noted that “because the activists were abducted over 1,000 kilometers away from Gaza and are not Israeli citizens, Israeli domestic law does not apply to them.”

Israel contends that it is enforcing a lawful naval blockade of Gaza Strip, and that under the laws of naval warfare, that blockade can be enforced not only in its territorial waters, but also on the high seas.

Adalah said, “Crucially, the court granted the full six-day extension requested by the state without imposing any limitations or judicial constraints on the interrogation period,” adding that the stated purpose of their continued detention is further interrogation.

“Ávila reported being subjected to repeated interrogations lasting up to eight hours,” the group reported. “Interrogators have explicitly threatened him, stating he would either be ‘killed’ or ‘spend 100 years in jail.’”

“Both activists remain in total isolation, subjected to 24/7 high-intensity lighting in their cells, and kept blindfolded whenever they are moved, including during medical examinations,” Adalah said, accusing interrogators of “trying all the time to connect the humanitarian aid with Hamas to present it as a service to Hamas.”

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that both men were affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, which the US government accuses of “clandestinely acting on behalf of” Hamas, the militant Palestinian resistance group that led the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

Still, no charges have been filed against the pair, who Adalah said have been on hunger strike since April 30 in protest of their detention.

Abu Keshek and Ávila were among the more than 170 Global Sumud Flotilla members intercepted and seized last week in international waters 45 nautical miles west of the Greek island Kythira and 600 nautical miles from Gaza in what many critics have called an act of piracy.

All of the other flotilla members have been released. Many said they brutally abused by their Israeli captors, who threatened to kill them. The Washington Post reported 34 people—including citizens of Australia, Colombia, Italy, Ukraine, and the United States—required medical attention for broken ribs, noses, and other injuries. Detained activists also said they were denied food and water, and were forced to sleep on deliberately flooded floors. Both Abu Keshek and Ávila had visible facial injuries during their first court appearances.

In a statement issued on Monday, Global Sumud Flotilla said Abu Keshek and Ávila “are being subjected to systemic psychological torture and explicit threats to the lives of their families.”

The statement also noted the growing calls for their release from advocacy organizations and governments.

“We urge the international community and their representatives to immediately take action for the safety and freedom of Saif and Thiago, the freedom of all Palestinian hostages, and the end of Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza and its genocide,” Global Sumud added.

American journalist Alex Colston, who was aboard the flotilla on assignment for Zeteo, said he was beaten by his captors, and corroborated accounts of broken bones, concussion symptoms, and other signs of abuse inflicted by Israeli forces on flotilla members, as well as death threats, property theft, and other mistreatment.

Hannah Smith, a representative of the flotilla’s public affairs team who was also aboard one of the vessels, told Democracy Now! on Monday that, after intercepting the boats, Israeli forces “pointed guns at us. They had lasers pointed at us. We had our hands in the air. They threatened lethal force.”

“Many people were subject to aggressive physical force,” she said. “We were denied access to adequate water. We were denied access to sanitary supplies.”

Smith continued:

The nights were extremely cold. People’s jackets were stolen. When I advocated for one of the participants, who’s a doctor, who was pacing for two hours trying to stay warm—she had a short-sleeve shirt in like 50-degree weather that was cold and damp. When I advocated for blankets, they flooded the sleeping area. And then we had a dozen people pacing, trying to stay warm, trying not to get hypothermia.

When we nonviolently resisted, many people were beat. Many people were dragged. I was held in a stress position for many hours… I heard people screaming. I heard people being dragged around. And it was absolutely horrifying.

The reports of torture and other abuse are consistent with Israeli forces’ brutal treatment of members of past Gaza flotillas, including Ávila, who has taken part in at least three such missions. Victims have included Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, who was allegedly dragged, beaten, and made to kiss an Israeli flag in which she was allegedly wrapped after Israeli forces intercepted last October’s Global Sumud mission.

It’s not just activists who reported Israeli brutality. Journalist Noa Avishag Schnal—who was covering last October’s flotilla—described rape threats and being “hung from the metal shackles on my wrists and ankles and beaten in the stomach, back, face, ear, and skull by a group of men and women guards, one of whom sat on my neck and face, blocking my airways.”

In 2010, Israeli forces raided one of the first Freedom Flotilla Coalition convoys carrying humanitarian aid intended for Gaza, which Israel blockaded three years earlier. The Israeli attackers killed nine volunteers aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, including Turkish-American teenager Furkan Doğan.

In a letter to his daughter dictated to his lawyer from prison, Ávila said, “I’m sorry for not being home with you right now.”

“Today over a million children are suffering a genocide, being starved to death, being amputated without anesthesia, and suffering from horrific, hateful ideas, despite not knowing what Zionism and Imperialism is,” he continued.

More than 250,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023. Around 2 million others have been forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and Israel is facing an International Court of Justice genocide case filed by South Africa and formally supported by numerous nations, including Brazil and Spain.

“Your world will be safer because many parents decided to give everything to build this better world for you,” Ávila added. “I hope someday you understand that because I love you so much there was nothing more dangerous for you and for other children than living in a world that accepts genocide.”

Article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue ReadingLula Blasts ‘Unjustifiable’ Israeli Detention of Gaza Flotilla Pair Amid More Reports of Torture

Campaigners Urge Countries to Seize ‘Momentum’ at COP30 and Deliver Roadmap for Green Transition

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Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

A projection urges leaders to “get serious” about drawing down fossil fuel emissions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference on November 5, 2025. (Photo by Fabio Teixeira/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We need to make sure that any and all plans towards a fossil fuel-free future are built with community and frontline needs at the heart, and implemented in a way that does not leave vulnerable communities behind.”

Despite concerns over the presence of hundreds of corporate lobbyists peddling “false solutions” at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil, campaigners on Monday expressed optimism about the “remarkable speed” with which global support has grown at the summit for a Transition Away From Fossil Fuels Roadmap.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the Leader’s Summit on November 6 with a call for the TAFF Roadmap, which would build on the 2023 conference’s (COP28) promise to “transition away from fossil fuels” in a “just, orderly, and equitable manner.”

He urged leaders to map out how their countries will “overcome dependence on fossil fuels,” reverse deforestation, and mobilize resources to achieve those goals, as the presidencies of this year’s conference (COP30) and last year’s released a Baku to Belém Roadmap with a plan to mobilize $1.3 trillion per year in climate finance for developing countries.

350.org found on Monday that within nine days, support for the TAFF Roadmap grew from one to 62 countries.

Suluafi Brianna Fruean, a 350.org Pacific Council elder, acknowledged that a call for “a transition away from fossil fuels is not a new concept for the Pacific, it’s a demand we’ve made at every COP and every room we’ve been in.”

Still, she said, “the growing support for a roadmap to this reality is a sign that the age of fossil fuels is over. We need to make sure that any and all plans towards a fossil fuel-free future are built with community and frontline needs at the heart, and implemented in a way that does not leave vulnerable communities behind.”

“The presidency calls on developing countries to lead, prioritize public, grant-based, concessional finance to protect the world’s most vulnerable, and break the vicious debt cycle. However, it misses the urgency to simplify direct access to finance for communities, especially Indigenous peoples.”

350.org analyzed public statements and written inputs from countries and country groups to the COP30 presidency, and released its analysis of the conference’s momentum as the Brazil presidency released its “consultation text.”

That document lays out options for a final agreement at COP30, including “the ingredients for a highly ambitious outcome,” said 350.org.

Options in the text include establishing a three-year program to implement Article 9.1 in the Paris Agreement, which requires wealthy countries to finance adaptation and a transition away from fossil fuels for the Global South; tripling adaptation finance; and implementing Article 3.5 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which requires parties to support an economic system that leads “to sustainable economic growth and development in all parties… thus enabling them better to address the problems of climate change.”

“Finance is the engine of climate action. The presidency calls on developing countries to lead, prioritize public, grant-based, concessional finance to protect the world’s most vulnerable, and break the vicious debt cycle,” said Fanny Petitbon, France team lead for 350.org. “However, it misses the urgency to simplify direct access to finance for communities, especially Indigenous peoples, who hold solutions on the ground yet face enormous barriers to securing the funds needed to scale them up.”

A second package of options is set to be released in the coming days and “will cover the more technical negotiating areas,” according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org, credited Lula with injecting “real momentum into a global roadmap to move away from fossil fuels.”

But Sieber noted that Brazil recently gave its state-owned oil and gas company, Petrobras, license to drill a well in the Amazon rainforest, and Brazil is still one of the top 10 producers of crude oil globally.

“Lula spoke powerfully about justice and cooperation in a divided world, highlighting the need to get rid of fossil fuels and accelerate the energy transition,” Sieber told Argus Media after the Leaders’ Summit. “But he cannot be both a champion of climate justice and one of the world’s biggest oil expanders.”

350.org added that in a TAFF Roadmap, “finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building must be central pillars—not peripheral details—if the transition is to lift up communities rather than deepen inequality.”

WWF also applauded the “momentum” at COP30, and urged “decisive political leadership” in order to “get back on track to the 1.5°C Paris Agreement temperature limit.”

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF global climate and energy lead, and the president of COP20, said that “COP30 could make history by agreeing on roadmaps for both a transition away from fossil fuels and to combat deforestation. It must also respond to the emissions gap in national climate plans, and make advances on finance, including to help countries adapt to climate change.”

Original article by Julia Conley republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Continue ReadingCampaigners Urge Countries to Seize ‘Momentum’ at COP30 and Deliver Roadmap for Green Transition

Less arguing, more action: will Brazil’s unorthodox approach to Cop30 work?

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/08/brazil-unorthodox-cop30-approach-no-agenda

People meeting during the Cop30 local leaders’ forum at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro . Photograph: Tita Barros/Reuters

Host uses Indigenous concepts and changes agenda to help delegates agree on ways to meet existing climate goals

…

From the very beginning, Brazil poured wide-ranging diplomatic effort into using the event to forge connections and foster climate networks, drawing on the Brazilian concept of the mutirão. Adapted from Indigenous practice, a mutirao “refers to a community coming together to work on a shared task, whether harvesting, building, or supporting one another”, said André Corrêa do Lago, the Cop30 president.

“By sharing this invaluable ancestral wisdom and social technology, the incoming Cop30 presidency invites the international community to join Brazil in a global mutirão against climate change, a global effort of cooperation among peoples for the progress of humanity.” (Writing to participants, he could not resist mentioning another of Brazil’s passions: “As the nation of football, Brazil believes we can win by virada. This means fighting back to turn the game around when defeat seems almost certain.”)

Dozens of senior diplomats, community leaders and statespeople from around the world were recruited to be Cop30 envoys and ambassadors; as were a “circle” of previous Cop presidents, including the UK’s Alok Sharma; a circle of finance ministers; a people’s circle for Indigenous communities; and special envoys for energy, agriculture and business.

“Brazil have put a lot of preparation into this Cop over two years,” says Nicholas Stern, an economics professor at the London School of Economics. “Whatever comes out will be more considered than a rush job would have been. They have taken very important steps [in bringing experts together].”

Some of the circles have already borne fruit; the finance ministers’ meeting facilitated introductions not only among countries, but in some cases between finance and environment ministers within the same government. “Some of them appeared not to have known each other before,” one participant observed.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wanted social issues high on the agenda, so his environment minister, Marina Silva, set up an initiative called the global ethical stocktake (GES), which will pursue climate justice. Bringing together Indigenous people – who have been promised a much bigger role in this summit than previous ones – and representatives for poor communities, vulnerable people, workers and marginalised groups, the GES aims to ensure fairness and equity are key considerations in any climate policy.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/08/brazil-unorthodox-cop30-approach-no-agenda

Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Continue ReadingLess arguing, more action: will Brazil’s unorthodox approach to Cop30 work?

Amid tension between Venezuela and the US, Lula criticizes “foreign interventions in Latin America”

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Original article by Brasil de Fato republished from peoples dispatch under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

President Luiz Inácio da Silva. Photo: X

Washington has launched a “counter-narcotics operation” with seven warships in international waters in the Caribbean.

President Luiz Inácio da Silva said on Monday, October 20, that foreign interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean could cause “greater damage than what is intended to be avoided” amid the escalation of tension between Venezuela and the United States. 

During his speech at the ceremony to hand over credentials to ambassadors at the Itamaraty Palace, Lula did not directly mention Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or US President Donald Trump, but said that maintaining peace in a region experiencing a period of instability is a priority for Brazil.

“In Latin America and the Caribbean, we are also experiencing a time of growing polarization and instability. Maintaining the region as a zone of peace is our priority. We are a continent free of weapons of mass destruction, without ethnic or religious conflicts. Foreign interventions can cause greater damage than intended,” the president stated.

Last Thursday, October 16, the president publicly defended the neighboring country. “Everyone says that we are going to turn Brazil into Venezuela, and Brazil will never be Venezuela, and Venezuela will never be Brazil, each one will be themselves. What we defend is that the Venezuelan people are the masters of their destiny, and it is not any president of another country who has to give advice on what Venezuela or Cuba will be like,” he said without naming Trump.

In August, Washington launched what they describe as a “counter-narcotics operation” with seven warships in international waters in the Caribbean, near the Venezuelan coast, after accusing Maduro of leading drug cartels. To date, at least six vessels have been attacked by the US, leaving more than 30 dead.

Read more: As Trump wages war on the Caribbean, its peoples rise to defend peace

In response, Maduro, who considers the action a “threat” to pressure “regime change,” ordered military exercises along the borders. The head of state also announced the activation of three new Comprehensive Defense Operational Zones (ZODI) in the states of Nueva Esparta, Sucre, and Delta Amacuro.

“This is how we are concluding all the necessary preparations, reaching the ideal state for the comprehensive defense of the Homeland,” Maduro said on his Telegram channel.

Venezuelan deputy Raúl Campos, who was in Brazil last Friday, October 17, to discuss the current situation, said that the population is organizing to defeat the “imperialist maneuver”.

“In Venezuela, we are experiencing an unprecedented aggression from US imperialism, which is desperate. It is desperate because all attempts to defeat the Bolivarian government have failed. Right now, the people enjoy complete tranquility and peace. They are dedicated to studying, working, and preparing for the Christmas holidays, but we are also preparing to defend the territory,” Campos declared. 

This article was first published by Brasil de Fato in Portuguese.

Original article by Brasil de Fato republished from peoples dispatch under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn't bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.
Continue ReadingAmid tension between Venezuela and the US, Lula criticizes “foreign interventions in Latin America”

Lula to Trump: If you charge us 50%, we’ll charge you 50%. Brazil must be respected!

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Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva wearing hat “Brazil is for the Brazilians”. Photo: Lula / X

The diplomatic row devolved into a potential trade crisis when Trump threatened Brazil with higher tariffs on Brazilian products if it did not cease the alleged persecution of the ultra-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Tensions between Washington and Brasília persist. On July 7, Trump sent a letter to the Brazilian government urging an end to the alleged persecution of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and threatening a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods.

Lula responds

Brazilian President Lula da Silva swiftly responded to Bolsonaro’s close friend and ally, asserting that Brazil’s decisions and its judiciary are sovereign and that they reject any interference whatsoever. He announced reciprocity in the measures taken by Trump: “If he charges us 50%, we will charge him 50% … Brazil is respected!”

In a post on X, Lula wrote: “Brazil is a sovereign country with independent institutions that will not accept being tutored by anyone. The judicial process against those who planned the coup d’état is the sole responsibility of the Brazilian justice system and is therefore not subject to any interference or threat that would harm the independence of national institutions.”

Lula stated that the information about the “alleged US deficit is false”, pointing out the fact that the US is not currently the main country to which Brazilian products are sold. In other words, the United States sells more to Brazil than it buys from it, meaning the US may stand to lose more from a trade war.

The Brazilian president noted: “The US government’s statistics show a surplus in trade in goods and services with Brazil of around 410 billion dollars over the last 15 years. In this sense, any measure to raise tariffs unilaterally will be responded to in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity. Sovereignty, respect, and the uncompromising defense of the interests of the Brazilian people are the values that guide our relationship with the world.”

However, it is important to emphasize that Lula is not closed to talks with the Trump administration: “We have several options. We can go to the WTO [World Trade Organization], initiate international investigations, and demand explanations [from the White House]. But the main thing is to show that Brazil is respected.”

The crisis has also involved other institutions of both countries. On July 9, the US Embassy released a public statement defending Bolsonaro: “Jair Bolsonaro and his family have been strong partners of the United States … The political persecution against him, his family, and his supporters is shameful and disrespectful of Brazil’s democratic traditions.”

In response, the Brazilian Secretariat of State, which called the statement “undue meddling” in Brazil’s internal affairs, summoned the US chargé d’affaires, Gabriel Escobar, in an expression of diplomatic displeasure.

Lula’s progressive government has now taken further concrete measures to respond to Trump’s threats. On Monday, July 14, Lula signed a decree regulating the country’s Reciprocity Law. According to the announcement by the President’s office, the decree, “establishes criteria for suspending trade concessions, investments, and obligations related to intellectual property rights in response to unilateral measures adopted by countries or economic blocs that negatively impact Brazil’s international competitiveness.”

The decree also calls for the creation of a committee which will be responsible for “deciding on the application of provisional countermeasures and monitoring negotiations to overcome the unilaterally imposed measures.”

Read more: Beijing denounces Trump’s use of “coercive tariffs” to pressure Global South to isolate China

Bolsonaro’s case

Bolsonaro, together with several generals and civilians aligned with his ultra-right program, is accused of participating in a plot to overturn the election that he lost to Lula at the end of 2022. According to the prosecutor’s office, part of this plot was the coup attempt on January 8 in Brasília, when thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Three Powers Square and other Brazilian government buildings, and vandalized and destroyed them.

Read more: Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial for coup attempt

The episode on January 8, 2023 somewhat resembled January 6, 2021, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building to protest the allegedly “stolen elections” in November 2020. Though hundreds were prosecuted for their participation in the January 6 riots, Trump pardoned 1,500 of those convicted, in one of his first actions in office.

People’s movements in Brazil and left groups have demanded that the Lula government hold those responsible for the January 8 coup attempt responsible to ensure it does not happen again  .

Mobilizations in Brazil

Social and trade union movements in Brazil organized a mass mobilization on July 10 in São Paulo against a veto by the Brazilian congress that aimed to thwart Lula’s project to increase taxes on the richest and most powerful companies.

The protest soon incorporated the tension between Washington and Brasília, with demonstrators rejecting Trump’s threats: “The demonstration had been born as a response to the Congress veto against Lula’s government projects that sought to charge more taxes on large companies and banking transactions, but given the situation it became a march to repudiate the tariffs imposed by Trump against Brazil,” said journalist Nacho Lemus on X.

In this way, it is entirely possible that Washington’s measures could backfire: not only could they deepen the unity around a sovereigntist sentiment and behind Lula as a defender of the nation’s interests, but many businessmen may even distance themselves from a crisis that carries risks for them as well.

Geopolitical implications

Brazil is South America’s leading economy and is currently part of the BRICS. Its main trading partner is China, far ahead of the United States. Some analysts have seen in Trump’s statements more than a simple gesture of generosity to Jair Bolsonaro, but rather a tactic to enter negotiations from a stronger position with one of the largest economies in the Global South and one of the fundamental nations involved in building a multipolar world not subordinated to US financial hegemony.

It is a surprise to no one that Lula, for the moment, has not approached the second Trump administration for negotiations, so there has been a kind of tense calm for the last six months between the countries. The calm, however, was abruptly ended with the back and forth messages from the top officials in the public and on social media.

For now, it seems that Brasilia has extended its hand to negotiate a “ceasefire” on social media. Fernando Hadad, secretary of finance, has reiterated his government’s willingness to engage in dialogue with the US government. For now, it is unclear if Washington has responded to this gesture, although it is likely that the economic advisors of the White House would caution the president against ignoring the clear geo-economic reality.

Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingLula to Trump: If you charge us 50%, we’ll charge you 50%. Brazil must be respected!