247 - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party) stated that he is working with the BRICS to coordinate a response to the sanctions imposed by the United States and emphasized that the trade relationship with China represents"twice the size of ours with the United States." The statements were made at the same event that marked the signing of the provisional measure "MP Brasil Soberano," in which Lula advocated calm in the face of the crisis and the search for new markets.

According to Lula, Brazil's response will combine innovation, diplomacy, and collaborative work with Congress."The government team is passing the ball to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The ball is in your court," he said, praising the teams of Geraldo Alckmin and Fernando Haddad. For him, moments of tension require creativity:"Crisis exists for us to create new things. Humanity has created great things in times of crisis."

“Unreasonable sanctions” and defense of the rule of law

Lula challenged the economic and political rationale behind the US measure."In this case, what's unpleasant is that the justified reasons for imposing sanctions on Brazil don't exist," he stated, citing the history of bilateral trade:"On the trade issue, for example, it's unacceptable for someone to say they have a deficit with Brazil when, over the last 15 years, their surplus was US$410 billion. The second thing is that here in Brazil, we have an autonomous judiciary, which is guaranteed by our 1988 Constitution, and neither the Executive nor the Legislative branches have any influence on the judgment currently taking place in the Supreme Court."

The president also condemned narratives about human rights violations."And no one is disregarding human rights rules as they are trying to portray to the world," he said, before criticizing Washington's rhetorical strategy:"Our American friends, every time they decide to fight someone, try to create a demonic image against the people they want to fight."

Democracy, January 8th and a message to Trump

When addressing the country's judicial proceedings, Lula defended the institutions' actions."Brazil had no real reason to be criticized, nor will we accept any accusation that we don't respect human rights and that [Jair Bolsonaro's] trial is being conducted arbitrarily," he stated."In fact, what we are doing is what only democratic countries do: judging someone based on evidence collected and witnesses, with the full presumption of innocence. This is democracy raised to the fifth power."

Lula said he raised this point with the US president."I told President Trump: whatever happened in Brazil, whatever happened in the Capitol, would be on trial here too," he declared."Here, after the 1988 Constitution, (...) justice in this country must be for everyone, for Brazilians and foreigners residing in Brazil, for Brazilian companies and foreign companies based in Brazil."

BRICS in teleconference and strategic partnership with China

Lula stated that he will mobilize the bloc's partners."I've already spoken with India, China, Russia, I'll speak with South Africa, France, Germany... I'll speak with everyone (...) and, together with the BRICS, we'll hold a teleconference—which is currently being organized—so that we can discuss within the BRICS what we can do to improve our relations among all the countries that have been affected."

He highlighted the importance of trade with Beijing: "It's important to remember that this BRICS guy who scares them is simply a country with which Brazil has a trade balance of US$160 billion, double what we have with the United States. And we want to grow more, buy more, and sell more. We want to learn more and teach more."

Commercial diversification and sovereignty

Lula said the response will include opening new markets and protecting sovereignty."It's impossible to imagine the government replacing our trading partners. We'll have to look for other partners," he said."I called Xi Jinping this week, and one of the things I mentioned was chicken feet. We'll keep selling... If the United States doesn't want to buy, we'll look elsewhere. Instead of mourning what we've lost, we'll keep looking for gains elsewhere."

For the president, the sanctions aren't economically motivated."I think there's a huge underlying need to destroy something called 'multilateralism' (...) We're in a debate that's not economic. It's a political debate with ideological overtones," he said."That's how we'll try to find our alternatives, so that the US learns that democracy, respect for trade, and multilateralism are valid for us and should be valid for them."

Domestic market, production and new opportunities

Lula stated that the country will continue expanding its production base and taking advantage of domestic consumption."If the Americans don't want to buy, we'll sell to someone else. If someone else doesn't want to, we'll sell to our domestic market. We have a powerful domestic market," he declared, also citing good news:"I've just been informed that we're making 400 new trade agreements in two and a half years, selling beef and beef offal to the Philippines."

The president mentioned possibilities on the biofuels agenda."If they want to negotiate ethanol, we will negotiate (...) We produce more and better than them. Now, they're the ones who don't want to negotiate. They're the ones acting bravado."