Socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in New York on Sunday to open the U.N. General Assembly’s annual “high-level debate” and, according to multiple Brazilian outlets, challenge President Donald Trump’s conservative agenda.
Lula, a convicted felon on charges of corruption, has created a massive diplomatic crisis for his country through repeatedly antagonizing President Trump. While traditionally friendly neighbors and allies, America and Brazil are currently experiencing their worst bilateral ties in the 200-year history of their relationship, the product of Lula aligning Brazil’s foreign policy with rivals of the United States, such as China and Russia, and of Lula’s rampant persecution of conservatives at home.
Reports out of Brazil indicate that Lula is planning on playing a direct “antagonist” role to Trump and neither the White House nor Brazil’s Planalto Palace is requesting a bilateral meeting between Trump and Lula, a rarity during a United Nations General Assembly week for two friendly countries.
“There are no requests for a bilateral meeting, which could be interpreted as humiliating Brazil,” the Brazilian outlet Jovem Pan reported. “The most experienced former Brazilian ambassadors in Washington rated the current moment as the worst in 200 years of diplomatic relations.”
Trump has particularly objected to the persecution of Lula’s predecessor, conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest after being convicted of “crimes against democracy” following his loss to Lula in the 2022 presidential election. Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison and banned from running for public office for eight more years after his sentence, which would make the 70-year-old 105 years old before he could run for office again. Following the sentence the Brazilian judiciary also opened a separate police investigation into Bolsonaro for his handling of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, and a lower court issued a heavy fine on Bolsonaro for the alleged crime of “recreational racism.”
In response to Lula’s persecution of Bolsonaro and other prominent conservatives in the country, Trump issued an executive order in July declaring Brazil a “national security threat,” imposing a 50-percent tariff on Brazilian goods entering the United States, and imposing sanctions on Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes, the architect of much of Brazil’s persecution of conservatives.
The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported on Monday, citing “government interlocutors familiar” with Lula’s plans at the United Nations, that the Brazilian leader is planning on using his speech to the General Assembly to condemn “unilateral sanctions and the use of economic and military threats,” but will “avoid direct friction” with Trump. Trump is expected to speak directly after Lula as per tradition. It added, however, that Lula’s visit generally will present a “script of counterpoints” to Trump’s main political positions, from challenging Trump’s support of Israel and opposition to Hamas to calls for wider censorship of conservatives. Lula is also expected to make an impassioned plea at the United Nations for countries to spend more money fighting the alleged “climate crisis,” in direct opposition to Trump prioritizing cutting American public spending on international aid.
Last year, while Lula-friendly Joe Biden remained president of the United States, the Brazilian leader used his remarks at the General Assembly to condemn Israel for its self-defense operations against Hamas, declare that the world is “doomed to the interdependence of climate change,” and call for repression of thoughts that dissent from leftist orthodoxy.
“The defense of democracy implies permanent action against extremist, messianic and totalitarian attacks, which spread hatred, intolerance and resentment,” he declared, shortly after defending Hamas. “In a globalized world, it makes no sense to resort to false patriots and isolationists.”
The General Assembly became a traditional annual platform to allow world leaders to address topics of their interest in the aftermath of World War II. In 1955, when many of the countries that held protagonist roles in that war were hesitant to speak first, Brazil volunteered to open the event, and in gratitude for that gesture, Brazil has opened the General Assembly’s debate annually since. The United States speaks second in appreciation for its role as the host of the United Nations headquarters.
In addition to his speech, Lula is expected to defy Trump’s condemnation of his authoritarianism at an event titled “In Defense of Democracy: Fighting Extremism,” which he will co-chair. Lula pointedly did not invite the United States to participate in the event, the Brazilian outlet Jovem Pan observed, nor did he invite any country that participated in the 2024 edition but had a change in federal leadership.
“This year, all 2024 guests were called again, with the exception of nations that had government changes to the right,” it noted.
O Globo listed the invited guests as including radical leftist presidents Gustavo Petro of Colombia, Gabriel Boric of Chile, and radical leftist Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez.
Lula has given no indication prior to arriving in New York that he will seek reconciliation with Washington. On the contrary, during an interview with the BBC, he reiterated that he would have prosecuted Trump for his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot if it had happened in Brazil. Brasilia experienced a similar event shortly after Lula’s third inauguration, which formed the basis of the prosecution of Bolsonaro on “coup” charges. Bolsonaro was in the United States at the time and played no overt role in the riot.
“If President Trump had done here in Brazil what he did in the Capitol, he would also be judged because here there is justice for everyone,” Lula said in the interview.
Lula went on to complain that Trump “has had a really bad behavior and has supported anti-democratic people around the world,” without elaborating.
The Brazilian president’s visit to New York opened on a sour note as protesters welcomed him following his flight, wearing yellow and green sports jerseys and shouting “Lula thief!” and “terrorist!”
A small contingent of leftist supporters also appeared on the other side of the street to welcome Lula, holding up a flag of his leftist Workers’ Party (PT).
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