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Lula: Brazil won't forget US 'helped stage a coup'

Iran Press TV

Monday, 04 August 2025 6:41 AM

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says his country will not forget that the United States "helped stage a coup" in Brazil, condemning Washington's attempt to exert political pressure and impose economic punishment.

Speaking at a Workers' Party event in Brasília on Sunday, Lula de Silva warned that Brazil would not accept unequal treatment from the US and is ready to defend its interests on the global stage.

"Trying to use a political issue to economically sanction us is unacceptable," Lula de Silva said, referring to recent US threats to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports.

"I won't forget that they have already helped stage a coup here," he added. He did not specify whether he was referring to the 1964 Operation Brother Sam, the 2016 impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff, or the recent attempt by ex-President Jair Messias Bolsonaro to overturn the 2022 election results.

US President Donald Trump has linked the tariff threat to what he called a "witch hunt" against his ally Bolsonaro, who stands accused of attempting a coup to stay in power.

The US has imposed sanctions on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing Bolsonaro's case.

On Wednesday, the US State Department released a press statement, saying, "Moraes abused his authority by engaging in a targeted and politically motivated effort designed to silence political critics through the issuance of secret orders compelling online platforms, including US social media companies, to ban the accounts of individuals for posting protected speech."

The statement claimed "Moraes further abused his position to authorize unjust pre-trial detentions and undermine freedom of expression."

In response, Lula da Silva condemned the Trump administration's decision and said that his government stood firm in the face of foreign interference.

Pointing to the current US administration's economic practices, Lula da Silva said, "They want to end multilateralism ... They want to go back to country-to-country deals where the big dominate the small ... In other words, a small country negotiating with the United States is like a factory worker with 80,000 coworkers negotiating alone with the boss. The agreement is lopsided; you won't gain anything."

Lula de Silva emphasized that his country had the necessary economic and political weight to negotiate with the US on equal terms, but his government would be forced to retaliate if the US continued to use tariffs as political leverage.

At 50%, Brazil would face the highest US import tariffs globally. In addition, Trump has previously threatened an extra 10% tariff against BRICS members, and has accused them of trying to "destroy the dollar as the global standard."

Brazil is a founding member of BRICS, formed in 2006 with China, India, and Russia. The bloc has since expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

The bloc's leaders have consistently stated that they have no intention of weakening the dollar, and argued that the US itself undermines it through political misuse.