Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro placed under house arrest
It appears that, from Washington, President Trump is keeping a close eye on what's going on and is making his opinion on the matter keenly felt by condemning the current government for its actions and enforcing some of the US's most punitive tariffs on the country.
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Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: Lula plans new 'national sovereignty' policy for strategic minerals
BRASILIA, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters on Wednesday of his plans for a new national policy treating strategic minerals as a matter of "national sovereignty" in order to avoid exporting minerals without adding value locally. "We won't allow what happened in the last century to happen again, where Brazil exports raw minerals and then buys products with very high added value," the president, known as Lula, said in the interview. "We want to add value in Brazil." Lula's comments came as a new 50% tariff hit U.S. imports from Brazil amid a political spat between the two countries linked to an investigation against the South American country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro, under house arrest since late Monday, is standing trial on charges of plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 electoral defeat. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing. U.S. President Donald Trump, seen as a Bolsonaro ally, has decried what he calls persecution of Brazil's former leader. Trump has long sought to secure U.S. supplies of critical minerals, complaining of China's near-total control of the industry and striking deals with Ukraine to secure critical minerals in exchange for defense help. Currently, Brazil lacks a complete mapping of its mineral wealth, Lula said, adding that his government would start this process by setting up the national council on mineral materials and standards. The council will safeguard Brazil's control of its mineral wealth, allowing the country to become a global leader in the energy transition, Lula said, adding that businesses will not face difficulties following the council's creation. "Few countries in the world have the opportunity that Brazil has in this area," Lula said.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: Lula rejects 'humiliation' of calling Trump over US-Brazil tariff
BRASILIA, Aug 6 (Reuters) - As U.S. tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50% on Wednesday, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview that he saw no room for direct talks with U.S. President Donald Trump which he believes would turn into a "humiliation" for him. Brazil is not about to announce reciprocal tariffs, he said. Nor will his government give up on cabinet-level talks. But Lula himself is in no rush to ring the White House. "The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him," Lula said in an interview from his presidential residence in Brasilia. "But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I'm not going to humiliate myself." Despite Brazil's exports facing one of the highest tariffs imposed by Trump, the new U.S. trade barriers look unlikely to derail Latin America's largest economy, giving Lula more room to stand his ground against Trump than most Western leaders. Lula described U.S.-Brazil relations at a 200-year nadir after Trump tied the new tariff to his demand for an end to the prosecution of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is standing trial for plotting to overturn the 2022 election. The president said Brazil's Supreme Court, which is hearing the case against Bolsonaro, "does not care what Trump says and it should not," adding that Bolsonaro should face another trial for provoking Trump's intervention, calling the right-wing former president a "traitor to the homeland." "We had already pardoned the U.S. intervention in the 1964 coup," said Lula, who got his political start as a union leader protesting against the military government that followed. "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 said his ministers were struggling to open talks with U.S. peers, so his government was focused on domestic measures to cushion the economic blow of U.S. tariffs, while maintaining "fiscal responsibility." He also said he was planning to call leaders from the BRICS group of developing nations, starting with India and China, to discuss the possibility of a joint response to U.S. tariffs. Lula also described plans to create a new national policy for Brazil's strategic mineral resources, treating them as a matter of "national sovereignty" to break with a history of mining exports that added little value in Brazil.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Brazil judge eases Jair Bolsonaro house arrest to allow family visits
A Brazilian supreme court judge has eased the terms of Jair Bolsonaro's house arrest, allowing the far-right former president to receive visits from family members without prior judicial approval. The former paratrooper turned populist has been under house arrest since Monday, when Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the measure on the grounds that Bolsonaro had allegedly violated court orders. In his initial ruling, Moraes permitted Bolsonaro to receive only his lawyers and the family members he lives with at a mansion in Brasília: his wife, Michelle, his daughter and his stepdaughter. All other relatives were required to seek judicial authorisation, a restriction that has now been lifted. 'I authorise visits from the detainee's sons, daughters-in-law, granddaughters and grandsons without prior notice,' Moraes wrote, stressing that all visitors must still comply with the ban on using mobile phones or taking photos and videos of the former president. Bolsonaro also remains barred from contacting his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman who has been in the United States since March and claims to have played a key role in persuading Donald Trump to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports – a move the US president justified as a response to what he called a 'witch-hunt' against Bolsonaro. Two weeks ago, Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle tag to prevent a potential escape attempt. In justifying last Monday's house arrest, the justice argued that Bolsonaro had flouted a court order prohibiting the use of social media – including by third parties – by appearing via video call at Sunday rallies, a recording of which was later posted by one of his politician sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Although legal experts broadly agree that the case accusing Bolsonaro of leading a coup attempt in 2022 is strong, the house arrest order has sparked a more contentious debate. Some have defended the judge's decision, arguing he had been 'patient' with Bolsonaro's repeated breaches of court rulings. But other legal scholars argue that it is unclear what precise violation Bolsonaro committed, noting that he was not explicitly banned from speaking at public events. In response to Moraes's latest ruling, politicians aligned with Bolsonaro have blocked congressional proceedings, demanding that lawmakers vote to impeach the supreme court justice and grant amnesty to the hundreds accused of involvement in the alleged coup attempt – including the ransacking of Brasília on 8 January 2023. The case against the 70-year-old politician is at an advanced stage and a verdict is expected as early as next month, with Bolsonaro facing a potential sentence of more than 40 years in prison.
