Posted on 09/15/2025 5:58:30 PM PDT by fluorescence
Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has defended the trial which saw his predecessor in office, Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a coup.
In an opinion piece published in the New York Times, Lula dismissed the description by US President Donald Trump of the trial as a "witch hunt", saying that it was a "historic decision which safeguard's our institutions and the democratic rule of law".
The Brazilian leader said he had written the essay to establish an open and frank dialogue with US President Donald Trump, who has imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports.
Lula called the tariff hike "not only misguided but illogical".
Relations have been tense between the US and Brazil in recent months, in stark contrast to the times when Trump's counterpart in Brazil was Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro often expressed his admiration for Trump, who hosted him at his Mar-a Lago resort in 2020.
Lula, a left-wing leader, who is known for his direct tone, did not mince his words in his New York Times editorial.
He said that over the past 15 years the US had "accumulated a surplus of $410bn (£302bn) in bilateral trade in goods and services", adding the decision to impose the tariffs could only be political.
"The US government is using tariffs and the Magnitsky Act to seek impunity for former President Jair Bolsonaro," Lula wrote, referring to the sanctions which the US has imposed on the Supreme Court justice who led the trial against Bolsonaro.
The trial concluded on Thursday when four out of the five Supreme Court justices on the panel tasked with judging Bolsonaro found him guilty of all five charges he was facing. A simple majority was needed to convict him.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Pure unadulterated crap coming from a leftist Commie. NONSENSE!!
It’s time for US Customs to do 100% inspection on goods imported from Brazil.
..typical commie bull shit posted by the commie mouthpiece in the USA, the NY Slimes.
My name is Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
You killed my economy.
Prepare to...uh, whatever.
“...New York Times editorial...”
It figures that the New York Homosexual Times would give this corrupt leftist Lula a column for propaganda. Bolsonaro was railroaded, just like Trump in 2020.
We will see how Brazil proceeds economically without unimpeded access to our markets. Lula and his corrupt judges are going to pay a very hefty price for their malfeasance. /spit
If your goal was to piss off a bunch of communists in charge in Brasil it sounds really logical to me. It seems to have worked.
That’ll be just great when Brazil and surrounding South American nations become part of the Chinese “Belt and Road” plan, after we antagonize them fully.
Brazil is already the "B" in BRICS.
Raise that tariff to 75%.
It was obviously corrupt lawfare and we need to embargo Brazil for it.
OK Rino.
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