Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he would tell U.S. President Donald Trump not to interfere in Brazil’s elections when he travels to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Speaking at an election rally attended by thousands of supporters in Ceilandia, Lula said he would board a plane at 10 a.m. Sunday to attend the United Nations meeting. He said that, if he met Trump, he would deliver the message directly, adding that Brazil did not want to become a colony of any country and that Brazilians would determine the country’s future.
In the same speech, the Brazilian leader also criticized opposition candidate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro. Lula said politicians who display the national flag during the day but bow to the United States and the American flag at night were not accepted in Brazil.
Possible encounter during the New York program
Lula is expected to deliver the opening address at the United Nations General Assembly next Tuesday, with Trump scheduled to take the podium immediately afterward. No official bilateral meeting has been planned for the two leaders, but they are expected to encounter each other in New York.
Ambassador Carlos Bicalho Cozendey, secretary for multilateral political affairs at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said no private bilateral meeting had been arranged between the leaders, but that the two were expected to meet in New York. The two leaders also met during the previous year’s General Assembly.
Tensions with Washington spill into the election race
Unresolved trade disputes, tariff pressure and security policies have fueled the political tension between Brasilia and Washington in recent months. Trump’s open political support for former President Jair Bolsonaro and his son, Flavio Bolsonaro, has also contributed to tensions between the two countries.
An AtlasIntel/Bloomberg poll published Thursday showed Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro statistically tied ahead of a likely runoff on October 25.
Under Brazil’s electoral law, if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the valid votes in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in a runoff at the end of the month. The first round will be held on October 4.
