Lula: 'You think I want to fight China and the U.S.? I'm not crazy'

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared he is not "crazy" to pick fights with global powers like the United States and China. Facing existing trade disputes, particularly with the U.S. over product tariffs, Lula expressed a preference for competition through advancement rather than confrontation.

“

I don't have the planes, the tanks, the bombs, and the money they have, nor the scientific and technological knowledge they possess. And instead of fighting, I want to defeat them by studying, investing, and researching more than they do.

"I don't have the planes, the tanks, the bombs, and the money they have, nor the scientific and technological knowledge they possess," Lula said Tuesday at the 78th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC) in Niterói. "Instead of fighting, I want to defeat them by studying, investing, and researching more than they do."

During the same event, Lula addressed his stance on re-election campaigns, stating he would not make promises to voters. "I am the President of the Republic; I cannot make promises in a campaign," he asserted. "If you have to vote, vote based on what I have done, not on what I will do. Because what I have done is certain; what I will do is not. Certainty is a relationship of trust."

“

I am the President of the Republic; I cannot make promises in a campaign. If you have to vote, vote based on what I have done, not on what I will do. Because what I have done is certain; what I will do is not. Certainty is a relationship of trust.

Lula also commented on the political situation in Rio de Janeiro, praising interim governor Ricardo Couto. He suggested that Couto, in his temporary role, could achieve what elected officials might not, calling it "the miracle of politics." Lula noted that many elected governors and presidential candidates might lack the courage to attend such scientific gatherings, highlighting Couto's presence at the SBPC event.

“

It is the miracle of politics, it is the improbable happening in our lives. Many elected governors would never have the courage to come to an SBPC. And many presidential and gubernatorial candidates will also not have the courage to come.