Brazil’s president pushes back against tariff, tells Donald Trump the country’s democracy ‘is not on the table’ – Chicago Tribune
Brasilia, Brazil – Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, pushed a 50% rate of Brazilian imported goods in the United States on Sunday, arguing that it was “political” and “illogical”.
Lula said in an editorial in the New York Times that his government was open to negotiating everything that can bring mutual benefits. “But Brazil’s democracy and sovereignty are not on the table,” he said.
US President Donald Trump imposed the price in Brazil in July, citing what he called a “witch hunt” against former president Jair Bolsonaro, who at the time was accused of trying to cling to power illegally.
The trial ended on Thursday after a panel of judges of the Supreme Court judged that Bolsonaro had tried a coup after his electoral defeat in 2022 against Lula, arousing fears of new American measures against Brazil.
Lula said he was proud of the Supreme Court for his “historic decision” which protects the institutions of Brazil, the rule of democratic law and is not a “witch hunt”.
“(The decision) followed months of surveys that discovered plans to sit, the vice-president and a judge of the Supreme Court,” said Lula.
Lula added that the rate increase was “not only wrong but illogical”, citing the surplus of $ 410 billion in bilateral trade in goods and services that the United States has accumulated in the past 15 years.
Opinion is a sign that Brazil is preparing for more possible sanctions after the decision of the Supreme Court.
After Thursday’s decision, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that Trump’s government “will reply.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil described Rubio’s comments an inappropriate threat that would not intimidate the government, saying that the country’s judicial power is independent and that Bolsonaro has obtained regular procedure.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro briefly left his home in Brasilia where he was under house arrest to undergo medical procedure in a neighboring hospital, his first public appearance since Thursday’s decision.
Escorted by police, Bolsonaro went to Star DF hospital in the Brazilian capital in the morning for procedures related to skin lesions – a temporary liberation granted by judge Alexandre de Moraes on September 8.
He was then released, said hospital doctors in a statement. Medical staff have deleted eight skin lesions which will be sent for analysis to establish a final diagnosis and assess the need for subsequent treatment.
The 70 -year -old far -right politician was placed under house arrest in early August, after Moraes said Bolsonaro had violated precautionary measures imposed on him in the context of the trial. He already wore an ankle instructor.
At the end of August, Moraes increased security measures more and ordered the police to carry out inspections from all vehicles leaving the Bolsonaro residence and monitored the exterior of the house.
After the medical examination, Bolsonaro must file a certificate of attendance, indicating the date and hours of appointments, at the Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro’s son Carlos went to social networks to complain about what he considered an excessive police against his father’s trip to the hospital.
“I am with my father and I witness the continuation of the greatest circus in Brazilian history,” he wrote on X. “A convoy with more than 20 armed armed men (…) just to promote the humiliation of an honest man.”
Bolsonaro’s hard supporters waited for the ex-president when he arrived at the hospital on Sunday and praised him with amnesty cries now! “The song refers to the thrust of the Bolsonaro allies to the congress to grant the former president a kind of amnesty.
“We are here to provide spiritual and psychological support,” said Deuselis Filho, 46, president of a group of Bolsonaro supporters called influencers from Brazil.
Thursday’s sentence does not mean that Bolsonaro will immediately go to prison. The judicial committee now has up to 60 days to publish the decision. Once the case, Bolsonaro lawyers have five days to deposit requests for clarification.
His lawyers said they will try to appeal both the conviction and the sentence before the complete Supreme Court of 11 judges, although some experts think that it is unlikely to be accepted.
Eléonore Hughes reported Rio de Janeiro.
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