First posted on Instagram · @profilopolitics
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Friday that Brazil must stop depending on China and the United States and strive to become their economic equal — or even surpass them — declaring that the country's population and resources give it the potential to become a global economic powerhouse. Lula made the remarks at a meeting of the National Energy Policy Council in Brasília, broadcast live by the government's Canal Gov channel.
"We don't want to depend on China, on the United States. We want to be equal to them or better," Lula said, arguing that Brazil should build its own economic strength rather than rely on the world's two largest economies.
The remarks came at the first meeting of the energy policy council since Lula won re-election on October 25, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro with 51.79 percent of the valid vote to secure a fourth term as president. They also follow a week in which his government moved to tighten control over Brazil's critical minerals: the new National Council for the Industrialization of Critical and Strategic Minerals held its first meeting on Thursday, attended by Lula, and the government plans new rules that will prioritise processing rare earths inside Brazil rather than exporting them as raw materials.
Brazil holds the world's second-largest reserves of rare earths, the minerals essential to smartphones, electric vehicles and jet engines, and the United States and China are competing for access to them. Lula has warned repeatedly against a colonial-style scramble for Brazil's natural resources, saying the country must process, manufacture and add value at home. Foreign investment will still be welcome, his government says, but on terms that build industry in Brazil.
At the same council meeting, Lula also pushed back against pressure from the financial markets for spending cuts, saying fiscal adjustments will not harm the poorest Brazilians or compromise social policies, and he acknowledged that 2026 will end with economic performance below the government's expectations. Lula is due to travel to Turkey and the Philippines next week, remaining abroad until November 15, ahead of the COP31 climate summit opening in Antalya on November 9.
Join us on Telegram — t.me/profilopoliticsnews