Brazilian radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made calls on Wednesday for the South American trade bloc Mercosur, which Brazil helped establish, to “urgently” seal a long-awaited trade deal with the European Union so that it can move on to the same with communist China.
The government of Paraguay confirmed on Wednesday that it did not accept a request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address Thursday’s Mercosur summit, a rare rejection of a head of state who has made video appearances at international events critical to war efforts against invading Russia.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro cited President Donald Trump’s “make America great again” slogan during a speech to the South American trading bloc Mercosur on Wednesday, defending regional sovereignty and insisting that he wanted Brazil and the other members of the bloc to be “great” individually, as well.
The progressive president of France Emmanuel Macron has threatened to veto the European Union-South American trade deal if Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) indicated in a Spanish-language interview with Univisión last week that the United States should consider a military intervention in Venezuela.
