Spanish
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated this Wednesday that, if the opportunity arose, he is willing to have a civilized conversation with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, within the framework of the UN General Assembly that will begin next week in New York, although he stressed that the Republican politician is only the president of the US and "not the emperor of the world".
"I've been to the UN many times, and there are presidents I meet with and others I don't, and it will be the same with Trump. [...] If he passes by me, I will greet him because I am a civilized citizen. I speak to everyone. I shake hands with everyone. I was born in politics negotiating. I have no personal problem with President Trump. The only thing I know is that he is the president of the USA, he is not the emperor of the world. The only thing I want from him is that he has a civilized relationship with Brazil, and that Brazil has a civilized relationship with him," Lula said in an interview with the BBC when asked about the subject.
In the same vein, he assured that, if it was necessary to "negotiate immediately" with the Republican politician, he would do so without any problem, but in return he demands that "Brazil be treated with respect" which, until now, has not happened.
"After we sent a letter asking them to decide whether or not they accepted our proposals, they published the tax in the Brazilian press. This is unacceptable. A tax based on lies that say we cannot regulate the big American tech companies. Nobody will regulate the big tech companies in the US. What we will regulate are the big tech companies operating in Brazil, which is what everyone should do," he illustrated.
Differences with recognition
Da Silva did not spare any effort in distancing himself from Trump, by pointing out that "his behavior is very detrimental to democracy" and accusing him of having "denied" what is usually recognized "as respect for global democratic institutions". "He has behaved very badly and has supported anti-democratic people all over the world," he said.
Despite this, he stressed that these differences "do not affect Brazil's relationship with the U.S.", because "two presidents of two countries do not need to be ideologically aligned" but rather "have presidential responsibility".
"He is president of one country and I am of another. The relationship between heads of state has no ideology. What matters are the interests of those we represent. I have had relationships with all the prime ministers of England without any problem. I don't care if they are right-wing or left-wing. I care if they are prime minister, if they have a vote. My relationship with Trump is the same," he added, and then highlighted that Trump was elected by the American people and it is his duty to relate to him.
"And he has to relate to me. He may sympathize with Bolsonaro, but I am the president. He has to negotiate with Brazil. That's how two heads of state behave," he added.
Civilized relationship
He also pointed out that his country "has a history" and called for remembering that the last war in which it was involved dates back to "almost 200 years ago" against its neighbor Paraguay. Instead, he said, he is only interested in "maintaining a civilized relationship with the Americans", despite the fact that Washington's hand was behind the 1964 coup, in which the military ousted President João Goulart.
"The statements I see from some spokespersons are disrespectful to a sovereign country. Right now, a citizen [Secretary of State, Marco Rubio] said they will increase sanctions against Brazil and revoke the visas of the judges of the Brazilian Supreme Court," he commented, regarding the reprisals announced by Rubio after learning of the 27-year prison sentence against former President Jair Bolsonaro for leading a coup plot.
