President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) sent messages to US President Donald Trump during his speech at the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France. At the meeting in which both participated, Lula said that the fight against organized crime must take into account the sovereignty of states.
"Other issues, such as the fight against transnational crimes, should also be part of the development agenda. One of them is the challenge of organized crime, which terrorizes communities and diverts public resources that should be directed to building schools, hospitals, and roads. This effort must take into account respect for the sovereignty of states," Lula said on Tuesday, the 16th.
Lula also mentioned that drug trafficking cannot be separated from crimes such as money laundering and arms trafficking. In speeches in Brazil, the president often states that a large portion of smuggled weapons come from the United States. He also criticizes the fact that the US state of Delaware is the scene of Brazilian financial crimes.
"The fight against drug trafficking cannot be dissociated from other illicit activities such as money laundering and arms trafficking. Valuing dialogue and institutional cooperation, including through Interpol, will contribute to locating assets and individuals linked to these criminal activities," Lula said.
President Lula also attacked neoliberalism, stating that the economic model worsened inequalities and corroborated political crises around the world. The president also said that unilateralism is a "fallacious response" to the present day.
"We have been trapped in dogmas that defend market deregulation, minimal state, and fiscal austerity as ends in themselves. Neoliberalism has worsened economic inequality and the political crisis that now plagues democracies. Now, protectionism and unilateralism re-emerge as fallacious responses to the complexity of our problems," he declared.
The president also criticized the international financial system, stating that countries cannot have to choose between "paying their creditors or feeding their children."
Arguing that inequality between countries is increasing, Lula mentioned that the world's first trillionaire (without mentioning Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX) has an income greater than that of the poorest 46% of the global population and criticized what he called "pro-billionaire policies."
"The distance that separates the prosperity of Évian from the reality faced by billions of people in the Global South is not shrinking. In recent years, inequality between rich and poor countries has increased. The world's first trillionaire is richer than the poorest 46% of the world's population. The extreme concentration of wealth stems from decades of pro-billionaire policies," Lula said.
Without naming global actors, the president also said that current wars divert focus from the development agenda.
The Brazilian president also criticized the reduction of resources for entities dear to developing countries, such as Official Development Assistance, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF. "They directly impact the daily lives of inhabitants of developing countries," he said.
Regarding critical minerals, Lula stated in his speech that the countries that hold them should participate in the higher value-added stages of the chain "through industrialization, technology transfer, and capacity building." On the energy and digital transition, the president assessed that there cannot be a concentration of economic benefits in a few actors.
