Is Trump's Africa deal everything he advertised?
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Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Brazil requests World Trade Organization consultation over Trump tariffs
The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has petitioned the World Trade Organization for consultations to help alleviate the steep tariffs imposed on Brazil by the United States. Sources within the Brazilian government confirmed the petition on Wednesday to news outlets like AFP and The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity. The aim is to seek relief from the 50 percent tariff that US President Donald Trump slapped on Brazilian exports in response to the country's prosecution of a former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. That tariff — the highest Trump has imposed on any country in August — took effect on Wednesday. India, meanwhile, is expected to face 50 percent tariffs later this month, unless a deal is struck beforehand. A request for consultations is usually the first step in the World Trade Organization's trade dispute process. The organisation functions as an international arbiter in economic disputes, though its procedures for negotiating settlements can be lengthy and inconclusive. Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin has estimated that 35.9 percent of the country's exports to the US will be subject to the stiff taxes. That equals about 4 percent of Brazil's total exports worldwide. Retaliation over Bolsonaro prosecution Trump unveiled the current tariff rate on July 9, in a letter addressed to Lula and published online. Unlike other tariff-related letters at the time, Trump used the correspondence to launch into a barbed attack on the Brazilian government for its decision to prosecute Bolsonaro, an ally, over an alleged coup attempt. 'The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,' Trump wrote. Just as Trump did after his 2020 electoral defeat, Bolsonaro had publicly cast doubt on the results of a 2022 presidential race that saw him lose to Lula. But behind the scenes, police and prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro conspired with his associates to overturn the results of the election. One possible scenario was to declare a 'state of siege' during Bolsonaro's final days as president, as a means of calling up the military and suspending civil rights. Then, a new election would have been called, according to prosecutors. Another idea allegedly floated among Bolsonaro's allies was to poison Lula. But Trump, who likewise faced criminal charges in the past for allegedly attempting to subvert the outcome of a vote, has defended Bolsonaro, calling the prosecution politically biased. 'This trial should not be taking place,' he wrote in the July 9 letter. 'It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Several weeks later, on July 30, Trump followed up his tariff threat with an executive order that doubled down on his accusations. Not only did Trump accuse Brazil of 'politically persecuting' Bolsonaro, but he added that Brazil was guilty of 'human rights abuses', including the suppression of free speech, through its efforts to stem disinformation on social media. 'Recent policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Brazil threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,' Trump wrote. 'Members of the Government of Brazil have taken actions that interfere with the economy of the United States, infringe the free expression rights of United States persons, violate human rights, and undermine the interest the United States has in protecting its citizens and companies.' Lula speaks out The executive order, however, included an annex that indicated certain products would not be subject to the new US tariffs. They included nuts, orange juice, coal, iron, tin and petroleum products. Lula has claimed that Trump is impeding attempts to negotiate a trade deal between their two countries, a sentiment he repeated in an interview on Wednesday with the news agency Reuters. 'The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him,' Lula told Reuters. 'But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I'm not going to humiliate myself.' The three-term, left-wing president explained that he saw Trump's tariff threats as part of a long history of US intervention in Brazil and Latin America more broadly. 'We had already pardoned the US intervention in the 1964 coup,' Lula said, referencing the overthrow of a Brazilian president that sparked a two-decade-long military dictatorship 'But this now is not a small intervention. It's the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It's unacceptable.' Lula added that he plans to bolster Brazil's 'national sovereignty' by reforming its mineral extraction policy to boost the local economy. With the US tariffs in play, Lula also explained that he would reach out to members of the BRICS economic trading bloc, named for its founding members: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Trump, however, has threatened any BRICS-affiliated country with an additional 10-percent tariff. Lula has been on an English-language media blitz since Trump announced the latest his latest slate of tariffs in July, warning that consumers across the world will be penalised. Late last month, for instance, Lula gave his first interview to The New York Times newspaper in nearly 13 years. When the Times asked what his reaction would be to the tariffs taking effect, Lula expressed ambivalence. 'I'm not going to cry over spilled milk,' he said. 'If the United States doesn't want to buy something of ours, we are going to look for someone who will.'
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Ghana's defence, environment ministers among 8 killed in helicopter crash
A helicopter crash has killed all eight people on board, including the nation's defence and environment ministers, according to Ghana's government. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the victims of the crash in the southern Ashanti region of the country, said Julius Debrah, chief of staff to President John Mahama, on Wednesday. 'The president and the government extend their condolences and solidarity to the families of our comrades and soldiers who fell in their service to the nation,' said Debrah. Also among the victims were Alhaji Mohammad Muniru Limuna, deputy national security coordinator and former minister of agriculture, and Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama's National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. Boamah was helming Ghana's defence ministry at a time when armed groups across its northern border in Burkina Faso had become increasingly restive. While Ghana has so far avoided a rebel spillover from the Sahel – unlike neighbours Togo and Benin – observers have warned of increased arms trafficking and of fighters from Burkina Faso crossing the porous border to use Ghana as a rear base. A medical doctor by training, Boamah's career in government included stints as communications minister during Mahama's previous 2012-2017 tenure. Before that, he was the deputy minister for the environment. As Ghana has pursued increased diplomacy with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – all ruled by military governments who have broken with the ECOWAS West African regional bloc – Boamah led a delegation to Ouagadougou in May. He had been set to release a book titled, A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy, about former President John Atta Mills, who died in 2012. The Ghanaian Armed Forces had reported earlier Wednesday that an air force helicopter had fallen off radar after taking off from Accra just after 9:00am (09:00 GMT). It had been headed towards the town of Obuasi, northwest of the capital. The statement had said that three crew and five passengers were on board, without specifying at the time that the ministers were among them. All flags were to be flown at half-staff, Debrah said, while the presidency said Mahama had cancelled his official activities for the day.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
M23 rebels killed 319 civilians in east DR Congo in July, UN says
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels killed at least 319 civilians, including 48 women and 19 children, last month in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Volker Turk, UN high commissioner for human rights, said, citing 'first-hand accounts'. The violence in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu Province produced 'one of the largest documented death tolls in such attacks since the M23's resurgence in 2022,' Turk said in a statement on Wednesday. With Rwanda's support, the M23 has seized swaths of the mineral-rich Congolese east from the DRC's army since its resurgence in 2021, triggering a spiralling humanitarian crisis in a region already riven by three decades of conflict. July's violence came only weeks after the Congolese government and the M23 signed a declaration of principle on June 19 reaffirming their commitment to a permanent ceasefire, following months of broken truces. 'I am appalled by the attacks on civilians by the M23 and other armed groups in eastern DRC amid continued fighting, despite the ceasefire that was recently signed in Doha,' Turk said in a statement. 'All attacks against civilians must stop immediately, and all those responsible must be held to account,' he added. Turk's UN Human Rights Office said it had documented multiple attacks in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces, in the conflict-ridden east of the country bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. In the agreement signed in Doha, the warring parties agreed to 'uphold their commitment to a permanent ceasefire', refraining from 'hate propaganda' and 'any attempt to seize by force new positions'. The deal includes a roadmap for restoring state authority in eastern DRC, and an agreement for the two sides to open direct talks towards a comprehensive peace agreement. It followed a separate agreement signed in Washington by the Congolese government and Rwanda, which has a history of intervention in the eastern DRC stretching back to the 1990s. Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to meet in the coming months to firm up the Washington agreement, whose terms have not yet been implemented. Last week, the two countries agreed to a US State Department-brokered economic framework outline as part of the peace deal. 'I urge the signatories and facilitators of both the Doha and Washington agreements to ensure that they rapidly translate into safety, security and real progress for civilians in the DRC, who continue to endure the devastating consequences of these conflicts,' said Turk. Rich in key minerals such as gold and coltan, the Congolese east has been riven by fighting between rival armed groups and interference by foreign powers for more than 30 years. Dozens of ceasefires and truces have been brokered and broken in recent years without providing a lasting end to the conflict.
