Radical leftist President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that former President Jair Bolsonaro must “pay for the shit he did,” referring to the ongoing “coup” trial against Bolsonaro.
Lula also criticized Donald Trump for supporting Bolsonaro against what the American president called a “witch hunt” by Lula’s government and accused Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo of influencing the United States to impose sanctions on Brazil.
Lula delivered his rant during a government event in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais — reportedly marking the first time that Lula directly has spoken on the possibility of a prison sentence for Bolsonaro. The conservative former president stands accused alongside others of plotting to stage a “coup” and overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election, which Bolsonaro narrowly lost against Lula.
“Unlike our opponent [Bolsonaro], the guy who tried to pull a fast one to keep me from taking office, he didn’t have the guts to wait for me,” Lula said. “Like a rat running away, he did the stupid things he did, and now he’s sent his son to leave his job as a federal congressman and go to Washington to ask President Trump to intervene in Brazil.”
“It’s a disgrace. It shows a lack of character and courage. He did the shit he did, so he should pay for it and respect the Brazilian people. There is justice here,” he continued.
President Trump cited the “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro as one of the reasons for imposing a 50-percent tariff on Brazilian goods, which will go into effect on August 1. Lula, whose government denounced the upcoming tariffs as “arbitrary” and “chaotic” at the World Trade Organization (WTO), reportedly criticized Trump over his “disrespectful” remarks.
“Does he [Trump] believe in witches? Does anyone here believe in witches to have witch hunts? He sent a letter asking them to stop persecuting Bolsonaro. A disrespectful affront to Brazil and the Brazilian justice system,” Lula said, apparently misinterpreting the common American idiom “witch hunt.”
Although Lula criticized Trump, he reportedly said that he is “open to dialogue” with the U.S. government and claimed that Trump “doesn’t want to talk, if he wanted to talk he would pick up the phone and call me.”
“If they want to negotiate, we will negotiate. We have the best negotiators in the world,” Lula said, adding that “Lulinha [himself] will be ready to negotiate.”
“But he didn’t want to talk. He gave us until the 1st [of August]. If we don’t respond by the 1st, he will impose a 50-percent tariff on our trade,” he said at another point of his speech. “I’ll tell you something, I’m not from Minas Gerais, but I’m good at truco [“trick,” a card game]. If Trump is playing truco, he’s going to get a six [low-value card in the game.]”
Last week, hours after President Trump published a letter expressing his support to Bolsonaro, Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes accused Bolsonaro of engaging in “extortion” against the STF by allegedly seeking to obtain amnesty for himself in exchange for purported U.S. tariff relief. Bolsonaro had publicly expressed willingness to intercede on behalf of Brazil to negotiate on tariffs, citing his friendly ties with Trump.
Bolsonaro responded to Trump’s letter to him by posting it on h