South American leftist Lula takes indirect swipes at Trump in speech and warns that global threat of ‘anti-democratic forces’ persists
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, has launched an impassioned defence of his country’s democracy, claiming the recent conviction of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had shown the world how “would-be autocrats” could be brought to heel.
Speaking at the opening of the United Nations general assembly in New York, Lula hailed Brazil’s successful effort to repel “an unprecedented attack” from Bolsonaro’s extreme right movement. On 11 September, the former paratrooper was sentenced to 27 years in jail for trying to stage a military coup after he lost the 2022 election to Lula.
But the South American leftist warned the global threat persisted. “All around the world, anti-democratic forces are trying to subjugate institutions and suffocate freedoms. They worship violence, glorify ignorance, act as physical and digital militias, and restrict the press,” Lula said.
In an unmistakable but indirect reference to the Trump administration, Lula slammed foreign attempts to meddle in Bolsonaro’s recent trial with a pressure campaign of tariffs and “arbitrary sanctions”.
