Speaking about the evolution of global trade, Lula discussed the economic debates on free trade and mentioned, without naming them, the shifts of major powers facing the rise of emerging economies. The Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, on a tour in Europe, once again defended multilateralism in Lisbon on Tuesday, stating that Brazil wants “to have relations with China, the United States, Russia, or France,” without preference. “Since we are not in favor of a second Cold War, we do not have a commercial preference,” said the Brazilian president after meeting with the Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
“We want to have relations with China, the United States, Russia, France. We want relations with everyone without preference. What we want is multilateralism and a lot of peace to be able to negotiate,” he added.
When talking about the evolution of global trade, Lula mentioned the economic debates on free trade and the above-mentioned shifts of major powers facing the rise of emerging economies. In the 80s, “we were told that free trade and globalization were the most fantastic thing and in Brazil we were rather against it,” as we were not competitive, he recalled.
“But when we started to become competitive (…), those who advocated free trade became protectionist,” he continued.
The Brazilian head of state was then scheduled to meet with his Portuguese counterpart, José Seguro, for their first meeting since the latter took office in March. Outside the presidential palace, the leader of the Portuguese far-right, André Ventura, wearing a white T-shirt with his party’s logo, joined a small group of protesters on Tuesday to protest against the visit of the Brazilian head of state, whom he accuses of “corruption.”
In parallel, a counter-demonstration in support of the Brazilian president was also held nearby, organized by the Portuguese section of the Workers’ Party (PT), Lula’s political party. The 80-year-old left-wing Brazilian president embarked last week on a European tour, with stops in Spain and Germany.
