Lula da Silva Criticizes Brazil’s Support for the US in the Crisis with Iran

January 9, 2020

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has stated that his country should not “kneel down” to Trump’s stance on the US-Iranian crisis.

“What is the role of Brazil? Not to get involved in that (…) Brazil can be a partner of Iran and the U.S., it would not have to kneel before Trump and agree to the attack on the general, it was a terrorist act, because in fact he was an official general of the government of Iran. It’s very bad for Brazil,” Lula da Silva said Wednesday in an interview with local media.

His declaration came after the Brazilian Foreign Ministry issued a statement supporting the terrorist attack committed by the United States against the commander of the Quds Force of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (CGRI) of Iran, Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani, in Iraqi territory, alluding to the fact that Brasilia will always fight against “the scourge of terrorism”, which was interpreted as a total alignment with Washington.

Soleimani was martyred along with the deputy commander of the Iraqi People’s Mobilization Units, (Al-Hashad Al-Shabi, in Arabic), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and other military personnel early Friday morning in the vicinity of the Baghdad International Airport, in the Iraqi capital.

The leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) pointed out that US President Donald Trump ordered such an assassination because of his electoral ambitions in order to achieve an advantage for next November’s presidential elections. “It smells like an election campaign because Trump is surrounded by problems and a war helps a lot to win the elections,” he added.

The former president of Brazil between 2003 and 2010 has lamented that the country’s current leader, Jair Bolsonaro, “does not measure things” except to present himself as a “bootlicker” for the current tenant of the White House.

In his opinion, Bolsonaro places the Brazilian nation in a situation of submission that damages its sovereignty. In this sense, he has argued that Brazil must promote a diplomacy based on mutual respect among nations instead of acting arbitrarily.

“Brazil does not have to speak harshly with Bolivia and meekly with the U.S. Brazil has to be respected by Bolivia and the U.S.; by China and Uruguay; by Paraguay and Russia, this is how you build a sovereign country, a country capable of being helpful and not unhelpful as the current Brazilian government officials are doing,” he said.

Source: Hispan TV, translation Resumen Latinoamericano, North America bureau