He President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, assured that the US president, Donald Trump, told him directly during their meeting in Washington that the United States has no intention of invading Cubaamid growing regional tensions over the White House’s policy towards the island.
“If I understood the translation correctly, he told me that he does not plan to invade Cuba,” Lula declared during a press conference held at the Brazilian embassy in Washington, after holding a meeting of almost three hours with Trump at the White House.
The Brazilian president explained that he took advantage of the meeting to offer himself as a mediator regarding the Cuban situation and affirmed that he is “fully available” if Washington requires diplomatic help to address the crisis on the island.
“Cuba wants to dialogue and find a solution to end the blockade,” said Lula, who described the US sanctions as “the longest blockade in modern history.”
The statements come at a time of strong tension between Washington and Havana, after Trump recently toughened his speech towards Cuba. after the US operation that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
In recent weeks, the US government announced new economic restrictions and an oil blockade that, according to Cuban authorities, further aggravated the energy and social crisis on the island.
Trump and Lula seek to rebuild the bilateral relationship
The meeting marked the first official meeting between the two leaders in the White House since Trump’s return to power and came after months of diplomatic tensions between Brazil and the United States.
Despite the political differences, Lula described the meeting as cordial and assured that both nations took “an important step” to rebuild the bilateral relationship.
“The good relationship between Brazil and the United States shows that the two largest democracies on the continent can serve as an example for the world,” said the Brazilian leader.
Trump also called the meeting positive in a post on Truth Socialwhere he described Lula as a “dynamic president” and assured that the talks progressed favorably.
Although both leaders were scheduled to appear together before the press in the Oval Office, the appearance was canceled at the request of the Brazilian president.
According to officials from both governments, the agenda included trade issues, security cooperation, strategic minerals and the conflict in Iran.
One of the main points of discussion were US tariffs on Brazilian products, imposed after the tensions arising from the judicial process against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Trump’s political ally.
Cuba, Iran and Venezuela dominated part of the conversation
In addition to economic issues, Lula expressed concern about the growing climate of international confrontation promoted by Washington in Latin America and the Middle East.
The Brazilian president pointed out that Brazil maintains differences with the United States regarding the strategy towards Venezuela, Cuba and Iranalthough he insisted that the dialogue remains open.
Trump and Lula agreed in rejecting Iran developing nuclear weapons, although the Brazilian president once again defended the diplomatic route and recalled the nuclear agreement promoted by Brazil and Türkiye in 2010.
Regarding Cuba, Lula’s statements come after Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel recently accused Trump of raising military threats “to unprecedented levels.”
The White House did not officially confirm the words attributed by Lula to the US president regarding an eventual invasion of Cuba.
However, the meeting between both leaders left signs of detente in a relationship marked by political and commercial disagreements, at a time when Latin America once again occupies a priority place in Washington’s foreign policy.
Keep reading:
- Mexico, Spain and Brazil express their “enormous concern” about the humanitarian crisis in Cuba
- Trump says that meeting with Lula was “very good” and that they talked mainly about tariffs
- Brazilian Congress approves the reduction of the sentence of former president Jair Bolsonaro
