Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rejected US President Donald Trump's proposal for the US to establish control over the Gaza Strip and condemned his expansionist ambitions and threats to impose tariffs as "show-off", Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"No country, no matter how important, can fight the whole world all the time", the Brazilian leader said today in an interview with a local radio station.
Yesterday, Trump suggested that the US establish control over Gaza and turn the strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East" after the Palestinians are resettled somewhere else. His statement was widely criticized by the international community.
"This makes no sense... Where will the Palestinians live? This is irresponsible for any human being," Lula said. He defended the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and again condemned Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide". "The Palestinians are the ones who have to take care of Gaza," the Brazilian president added.
Trump's plan builds on the expansionist goals that the new US president has set for himself in recent times, Reuters notes. Trump has raised the issue of the US regaining the Panama Canal, taking Greenland from Denmark and repeatedly proposed that Canada become the 51st US state. At the same time, he has threatened Canada and Mexico with economic sanctions, imposed tariffs on China and threatened tariffs on other trading partners, including the European Union and the BRICS countries.
"The United States also needs the world. It must live in harmony with Brazil, Mexico and China. No one can live all the time with bragging and threats," Lula said today.
Last week, Trump again warned the BRICS countries that he would impose 100 percent tariffs on them if they tried to replace the dollar with another reserve currency.
"We have the right to discuss establishing trade routes that do not make us completely dependent on the dollar," the Brazilian president said. He had previously vowed to take retaliatory measures if Trump decided to impose tariffs on Brazil.
Since 2008 The US has a trade surplus with Brazil, which reached $253 million last year on bilateral trade of over $80 billion.