MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula and Trump make progress in Malaysian gathering

Lula, who is turning 80 on Monday, stressed that “I have never felt so alive and so eager to live”

Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Donald Trump of the United States met this weekend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit. Both leaders agreed to lower economic tensions between their two countries. In addition, Lula volunteered to mediate with Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira announced that President Lula had offered to serve as an “interlocutor” to seek mutually acceptable solutions between the United States and Venezuela. Lula emphasized that Latin America was a “region of peace.”

Lula and Trump would also have their teams work on finding solutions to the 50% tariffs imposed by Washington on Brazilian products and related sanctions. Lula called the tariffs “unfair” because Brazil runs a trade deficit with the US.

The Workers' Party leader also addressed the US application of the Magnitsky Act sanctions against Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF)judges following the conviction of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Lula defended the court's decision, asserting that “due process was respected and there was no persecution.”

The meeting took place amid regional tensions, including US military actions against alleged drug trafficking in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which had drawn criticism from South American governments like Venezuela and Colombia.

In a post-meeting press conference covered by Agencia Brasil, Lula said on Monday that he was optimistic about the suspension of the tariffs. In a few days, he expected an understanding to be reached.

“Yesterday, at the meeting [with President Donald Trump], I got the impression that soon there will be no problem between the United States and Brazil,” Lula said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 11 a.m. on Monday local time.

“I am convinced that, in a few days, we will have a definitive solution between the United States and Brazil so that life can continue to be good and joyful, as Gonzaguinha said in his song,” he added.

“I am not demanding anything that is not fair to Brazil, and I have on my side the truest and most absolute truth in the world: the United States does not have a deficit with Brazil, which was the explanation for the famous taxation to the world, that the United States would only tax countries with which they had a trade deficit,” he also pointed out.

Lula also noted that Trump had committed “to reaching a very good agreement with Brazil.”

Vieira also explained that “we have agreed to work toward a satisfactory agreement for both parties. In the coming weeks, we have agreed on a schedule of meetings between the negotiating teams to discuss the negotiations of both countries, focusing on the sectors most affected by the tariffs.”

Lula also said that he reinforced his invitation for Trump to participate in the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which will take place in November in Belém. The US president announced his country's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, in which countries commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, among other measures to reduce global warming.

“I invited him to go to COP again, I told him: 'It's important that you go to say what you think. If you don't believe in things, go there so you can say what you think. We can't pretend that there is no climate situation,” he further argued.

Lula, who is turning 80 on Monday, stressed that “I have never felt so alive and so eager to live.”