Brazil’s and Chile’s presidents, respectively Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Gabriel Boric, have criticized the extra tariffs US President Donald Trump imposed on most countries in the world. The Latin American leaders also defended greater integration as a way of shielding the region’s economies. The statements were made on Tuesday (22) during the Chilean president’s visit to Brasilia, Brazil’s capital.
“I think that we, the presidents of South American countries, should understand that we are very weak if we are isolated,” said Lula, arguing that most governments in the region have privileged only part of their populations. “After building up the United States wealth, now comes a president who treats Latin Americans like enemies,” he criticized.
Lula also criticized US pressure to isolate China, Brazil’s biggest trading partner.
“I don’t want to choose between the US or China. I want to have relations with the United States and China. I don’t want to have a preference between one or the other. Brazilian businessmen are the ones free to have preferences about partners. I want to do business with everyone. I want to sell and buy, build partnerships,” he said.
The Chilean president advocated greater unity between South American countries. “Today, in a scenario of global uncertainty – especially in economic matters, but not limited to that – it is more important than ever to reaffirm our bond and say that here, in South America, we are friendly countries, and we will continue to work together in defense of principles that matter to us, to Chile and the world: democracy, multilateralism and the importance of free trade for the benefit of our peoples,” he said.
“Chile is against a trade war and the arbitrary politicization of trade. We strongly defend our strategic autonomy in the world, having relations with different countries and regions without choosing between one or the other,” he added.
During the visit, more than 20 cooperation agreements were signed between the two countries in areas such as agroecology, security, artificial intelligence, cinema and defense. The trade balance favors Brazil, which has already accumulated almost US$15 billion this year.
