Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday for 40 minutes in a call made at the Brazilian’s initiative, the State Department said in a memo. The conversation takes place in the midst of an unprecedented US military deployment to pressure Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro and days after Lula publicly offered to intercede with Trump to reduce tensions in the Caribbean. But in Brasilia’s statement, Venezuela did not appear among the issues discussed by the leaders, namely US tariffs and cooperation in the fight against organized crime. It would be extremely shocking if the two leaders ignored the region’s most pressing and serious issue in a personal call.
President Lula described the conversation as “very productive.” The Brazilian thanked his counterpart for the recent reduction in customs tariffs from 50% to 10% on some products that Brazil exports most to the United States, such as coffee, meat and fruits. He also urged that negotiations to eliminate the remaining additional taxes move quickly.
“President Lula also stressed the urgent need to strengthen cooperation with the United States to combat international organized crime,” says the memo, which is reminiscent of a recent police operation led by the federal government to stifle Brazil’s main organized crime group, the Primeiro Comando de la Capital (PCC). The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “President Trump reaffirmed his full readiness to work with Brazil and his full support for joint initiatives between the two countries to confront these criminal organizations.”
Lula’s government has resisted allying with Trump when it comes to combating drug trafficking. The veteran leftist politician does not agree that the organizations that traffic drugs in his country are terrorist groups that must be fought by military means, and he rejected Trump’s pressure along these lines.
The Venezuelan crisis is a headache for Lula, who froze his government’s relations with Chavismo after the 2024 presidential elections, in which Maduro remained in power despite strong signs of fraud. Brazil and Venezuela share a 2,200 km border.
The presidents of the United States and Brazil met in person for the first time last October after Lula tried for months to open a line of dialogue with Trump to get him to lift sanctions. duty. Lula has succeeded in keeping the Bolsonaro issue out of the dialogue with Washington.