French newspaper calls Lula a “disappointment” and “false friend of the West”

This Friday’s edition (23) of the French newspaper Liberation shows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on the cover, calling him “a disappointment” and a “false friend of the West”.

According to the newspaper, Lula “was expected as a messiah, but his image was a little tarnished”. The publication takes place during a visit by Lula to Paris this week, where he is participating in the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact and is due to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron this Friday.

The criticisms are mainly based on Lula’s position regarding the war in Ukraine.

“The Brazilian president is not the precious ally we imagined. Especially when it comes to ostracizing the West’s new pariah: Russia, blamed for an intolerable invasion of Ukraine. Like the rest of Latin America, which he intends to represent on the international stage, Lula condemns but does not sanction. Worse: he assures that the responsibility also lies in the fact that the West claims unconditional support for Kiev”, says the publication.

O Liberation he also criticized Lula’s invitation in May to the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, for a meeting between South American leaders in Brasilia.

According to the newspaper: “Despite these diplomatic clashes, the relationship remains much calmer than with former President Jair Bolsonaro. Although the results of the renewed cooperation between Europeans and Brazilians are not consolidated, it revolves mainly around two opposing themes: environment and free trade.”

The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, strongly defended by Lula, was also cited by the publication, which says that promoting agricultural exports goes against the Brazilian president’s commitment to preserving the environment.

*Posted by Fernanda Pinotti