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🇧🇷 Brazil /Elections & Politics

Lula Defends Sovereignty in TV Address: ‘We Are Not and Will Not Be Anyone’s Colony’

From Estadão · () Portuguese

Translated from Portuguese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used a televised address ahead of Brazil’s Independence Day to defend national sovereignty and criticize foreign pressure, including from the United States.
  • Lula said Brazil should control decisions over trade and use its natural resources, including rare earths, oil and freshwater, for domestic development and jobs.
  • Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court authorized the address, ruling that its subject was in the public interest despite restrictions on institutional publicity before elections.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used his Independence Day address to deliver a direct message about Brazil’s sovereignty. Speaking on national radio and television on the eve of September 7, he said the country must not bow to foreign powers seeking to turn Brazil into a colony again.

“We cannot bow our heads to foreign powers that want to turn Brazil into a colony again. We are not a colony and we will not be anyone’s colony,” Lula said. The speech came as sovereignty became a recurring theme in his campaign for re-election amid new tariffs imposed on Brazil by the government of U.S. President Donald Trump.

We cannot bow our heads to foreign powers that want to turn Brazil into a colony again. We are not a colony and we will not be anyone’s colony.

· Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaLula used the Independence Day address to defend Brazil’s sovereignty and respond to foreign pressure.

In the roughly three-minute address, Lula linked independence with sovereignty and democracy. He cited Brazil’s reserves of rare earths, its legal framework for critical minerals, oil found along the Equatorial Margin and what he described as the world’s largest source of fresh water.

Defending Brazil’s independence means defending our sovereignty and our democracy.

· Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaHe linked the country’s Independence Day to sovereignty and democratic self-government.

The president said these natural resources should serve the future of the Brazilian people. He argued that they should help develop technology, create wealth and generate jobs in Brazil. “A sovereign country is one capable of defending its territory, its borders, its environment, its wealth and its people from any foreign interests,” he said.

Lula also defended free trade and rejected the idea that a foreign leader could dictate with whom Brazil may buy or sell. “We are a sovereign country, and our decisions belong to us and no one else,” he said. He cited the Amazon, Brazil’s cultural wealth and the energy transition as sources of national pride before ending with a blessing for the country.

A sovereign country is one capable of defending its territory, its borders, its environment, its wealth and its people from any foreign interests.

· Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaThe president defined sovereignty in terms of national control and protection.

The president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, Kássio Nunes Marques, authorized the address on Friday after determining that its subject involved public interest. Institutional advertising by public officials is generally prohibited during the three months before elections.

We are a sovereign country, and our decisions belong to us and no one else.

· Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaLula defended Brazil’s right to decide independently with whom it trades.
About this summary

Originally published by Estadão in Portuguese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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