BRAZIL PERSPECTIVE

Brasília steps out of the economic frame and into political drama. Lula delivers Wednesday morning a speech opening the ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace that instantly becomes a sovereignty manifesto. 'We are big, we have great history, and we cannot accept the treatment the United States gave Brazil this week', he declares according to Veja. Lula proposes Trump a 30-day window for the ministers to reach an agreement — a meeting that never took place. He personally attacks Marco Rubio, Secretary of State close to the Bolsonaro clan, called a 'frustrated Latino' in Brazilian media. The central slogan: 'Trump was not elected emperor of Latin America'. The economic angle is just as devastating. According to Minister Márcio Elias Rosa quoted in Veja, the potential cumulative threat reaches 37.5% — 25% from the first investigation + 12.5% from Section 301 forced labor — and directly threatens 21% of Brazilian exports to the US. Machinery, footwear, plastics and wood products are on the front line. Former ambassador Rubens Barbosa sums it up in Veja em Foco: 'This is not a negotiation'. But the most significant political gesture is elsewhere: Lula publicly thanks China for recognizing Brazil as foot-and-mouth-disease free, opening the world's biggest beef market to Brazilian exporters. 'If you don't want to buy from me, keep your things and I'll sell to someone else', he says in reference to Washington. The SCMP translates the line for the Sinophone world. Bolsonaro and his son Flavio plead for moderation — will they get an audience with Trump?