247 - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva launched harsh criticism, this Wednesday (13), to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to the former President Jair Bolsonaro and to representatives of the extreme right who articulated the 50% tariff increase of the North American country against Brazilian products.

Speaking at the"4th National Conference on Popular and Solidarity Economy" at the Planalto Palace, Lula, without mentioning Eduardo Bolsonaro, criticized the former president's son, the parliamentarian, for"instigating" the taxation.

Lula stated that he prefers a negotiated exit, even though Brazil has endured malign foreign interference from the US."An important president like the one in the US cannot behave like this toward Brazil. We have 200 years of relations, and we even forgave their participation in the 1964 coup," Lula said.

Lula reiterated that, according to the logic presented by the White House to justify the tariff hike, it was Brazil that should tax the US, considering that the country has a deficit in its trade relations with the North Americans.

"Now, it's not possible that, with the growth of the fascist far right in the world, we have a president of the country that is our biggest partner in the Americas saying he would tax us because of a false deficit. We should be the ones taxing them," he said.

Lula also challenged the US, facing threats against Brazil, and promised to defend national sovereignty in strategic areas, such as communication via social platforms."They said we can't regulate big tech, but we will, because those in Brazil must comply with our laws. If the company is in Brazil, it will be regulated. The other absurdity is to say that there is persecution against the former president and that Brazil doesn't respect human rights. The justice system was unfair to me," he stated.

Regarding his political imprisonment during the late Lava Jato investigation, Lula reiterated his criticisms of the period, but reaffirmed that, in the case of Jair Bolsonaro, the process against the former president is taking place in accordance with established legal standards.

"I wasn't entitled to the presumption of innocence. If this citizen is under investigation, he will be tried not because of a complaint from you or the government. What happened to him is that his own peers, like his aide-de-camp, denounced him. He tried to carry out the coup," he said.

Addressing Trump, President Lula criticized the White House leader's behavior and asked him to present negotiators. Lula also stated that Brazil is more democratic than the US in many respects, criticizing a Washington report on alleged"human rights violations" in Brazil.

"This is not a form of behavior, civility, it's a bad example for humanity. In many ways, Brazil is more democratic than the US. It leaves me astonished," he said."We want to negotiate, but there's no one to talk to," he added.

Lula also accused Trump of trying to"destroy multilateralism" and promised to expand international relations with BRICS countries and beyond against the global tariff hike, demanding respect from Trump.

The president appealed to the population to see the current"crisis" as a historic moment of unique opportunities for Brazil's affirmation as a truly sovereign country.

"I've spoken with the presidents of China, India, and Russia, and I'll speak with Germany, France, and Mexico. It's not right, fair, or honest. I just want him to respect me as president of my country," Lula said.

"This crisis is a challenge to our intelligence, our capacity, our financial system, our credit system, our solidarity economy. It is a challenge to do new things," he said."Every crisis is an opportunity to emerge stronger," he emphasized.

Finally, addressing Trump, Lula delivered a message and highlighted Brazil's strength:"A kilo of steak is expensive there. Here it's going down. All that's left is for coffee prices to go down. Things will happen. Unemployment is the lowest in history."