MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula warns against foreign interference in Brazil's election at the UN Assembly

“Brazilian democracy belongs to Brazilians,” he said towards the end of his address

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that his country will not allow domestic or foreign actors to undermine the October 4 election, in a speech combining a defence of national sovereignty with a broader critique of the multilateral system.

“Brazilian democracy belongs to Brazilians,” he said towards the end of his address. “Brazil will remain a sovereign country.” Earlier he argued that Latin America faces a resurgence of “hegemonic ambitions” and foreign interference in elections, that “Brazil does not belong in anyone's backyard”, and that attempts to divide the world into spheres of influence are “anachronistic”. He did not mention Donald Trump by name. On regional security he said: “We do not need aircraft carriers watching our waters. We need cooperation to stop the flow of weapons and money that fuels crime.”

Trump spoke immediately afterwards, under the protocol assigning Brazil the opening of the general debate since 1955 and the host country the second slot. In his address he said “our actions in Venezuela prove that the United States will not allow any threat against America anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, and if necessary, we will use our unmatched military might to secure the vital national interests of the United States”. He also announced negotiations with Cuba led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during which passage the Cuban delegation walked out of the hall, praised cooperation with Delcy Rodríguez's interim government in Venezuela, and framed the Iran question as a choice between a deal and “annihilating the Islamic Republic”.

No bilateral meeting between the two leaders was scheduled. Brazilian diplomat Carlos Márcio Cozendey confirmed on September 16 that neither side had requested one, though an informal encounter of the kind held in September 2025 remains possible. Lula had said last week he intended to tell Trump directly not to interfere in the vote.

Trade tensions remain unresolved. Since July 22, certain Brazilian goods have paid an additional 25% under Section 301 of the US trade act, with exemptions including aircraft, coffee, beef and orange juice; a separate 12.5% forced-labour duty has applied since July 24, covering dozens of other economies as well. Brazil's trade ministry calculates that 23.1% of exports to the United States face the new duties, mostly cumulatively, for 37.5%. Brazil has held off on retaliation while negotiations continue, though Lula told CNN on Monday it could still invoke its reciprocity law if talks fail.

On the multilateral front, Lula said the UN is going through one of its most critical moments and that it “is failing” in its mission to prevent wars. “The feeling that moves me today is indignation,” he said, attributing the paralysis to the Security Council and the use of the veto by its permanent members, a practice Brazil has objected to since the first General Assembly in 1946. On the Middle East he said generations of Palestinians will carry the pain of the “genocide of women and children”, a characterisation contested in international legal debate, and criticised the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. On Ukraine he said there would be “no winners on the battlefield”. He also called for regulation of large technology companies and artificial intelligence, and defended scientific evidence against climate disinformation.