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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticised what helium called the instrumentality of a assemblage attack toward processing nations during a acme successful Colombia connected Saturday (March 21, 2026), pointing to the disposal of ex-Venezuelan leaderc and the substance blockade of Cuba.
“It’s not imaginable for idiosyncratic to deliberation that they ain different countries,” Mr. Lula said, successful an evident notation to U.S. argumentation successful the region, astatine a high-level forum with delegates from Africa and a acme of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. “What are they doing with Cuba now? What did they bash with Venezuela? Is that democratic?”
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The left-wing president besides criticized the warfare launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran connected Feb. 28 and drew a parallel with thec. “Iran has been invaded nether the pretext that Iran was gathering a atomic bomb. Where are Saddam Hussein’s chemic weapons? Where are they? Who recovered them?”
Mr. Lula said that each countries contiguous had already experienced being plundered for gold, silver, diamonds and minerals. He accused an unspecified “they” of seeking to ain processing countries’ captious minerals and uncommon world deposits.
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“After taking everything we had, present they privation to ain the captious minerals and uncommon earths that we have,” Mr. Lula said. “They privation to colonize america again.”
Washington’s past of involution successful Latin America goes backmost a agelong mode — to erstwhile President James Monroe claimed the hemisphere arsenic portion of the U.S. sphere of power much than 200 years ago.
While large-scale, overt U.S. engagement successful the portion mostly petered retired aft the Cold War, Mr. Trump has rekindled the legacy.
Since assuming bureau past year, Mr. Trump launched vessel strikes against alleged cause traffickers successful the Caribbean, ordered a naval blockade connected Venezuelan lipid exports and got progressive successful electoral authorities successful Honduras and Argentina.
And successful Brazil, Mr. Trump imposed a 50% tariff connected Brazilian goods past year, citing a ‘witch hunt’ proceedings against the country’s erstwhile president Jair Bolsonaro. The U.S. has besides shown keen involvement successful Brazil’s uncommon world deposits.
Then, connected Jan. 3, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan strongman person Nicolás Maduro, flying him to the U.S. to look cause and weapons charges.
While specified actions person thrilled right-wing leaders crossed the continent, they person raised fears among left-wing politicians who person voiced sedate concerns implicit what they spot arsenic U.S. bullying.
“We cannot let anyone to interfere and interruption the territorial integrity of each country,” Mr. Lula said Saturday (March 21, 2026).
Mr. Lula, who has said helium volition tally for a fourth, nonconsecutive word successful the upcoming October elections, besides criticised the United Nations’ inability to halt aggregate conflicts astir the world.
“What we are witnessing is the full and implicit nonaccomplishment of the United Nations,” said Mr. Lula, pointing to the situations successful Gaza, Ukraine and Iran and erstwhile again calling for betterment of the body’s Security Council.
The Security Council is mandated successful the U.N. Charter with ensuring planetary bid and security, but it has failed successful large conflicts due to the fact that of the veto powerfulness of 5 imperishable members: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
There person been decades of efforts to betterment the Security Council to bespeak the geopolitical realities of the satellite successful 2026, not of the post-World War II epoch 80 years ago, erstwhile the United Nations was established. But they person each been unsuccessful.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has designated a “ precedence target,” echoed Lula’s condemnation of the United Nations.
The assemblage “is acting successful impotence, and that is not what it was created for. It was created aft World War II precisely to forestall wars. And yet, what we person contiguous is war,” Mr. Petro said.
But the satellite needs the United Nations to supply clime solutions and curb planetary warming, Mr. Petro said. “The much superior humanity’s problems become, the less tools we person for corporate action. And that way leads lone to barbarism.”
Mr. Petro accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of defending Western civilization and urged him to alternatively prosecute dialogue.
Relatively fewer Presidents andPPrime Ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean attended the acme successful Colombia, a motion of the continent's heavy divisions.
Those contiguous included the presidents of Brazil, Uruguay, Burundi and Colombia, arsenic good arsenic the Prime Ministers of Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, on with lawman ministers, overseas ministers, and ambassadors.
