‘Definitive solution’ on Brazil-US trade within days: Lula
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday a trade deal with the United States could happen within days, possibly easing punitive tariffs after months of animosity.Lula met President Donald Trump at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on Sunday, after urging the US leader earlier this month to lift punitive 50 percent trade tariffs.”I’m convinced that in a few days we’ll have a definitive solution…. so that life can continue well and happily,” Lula told reporters in Malaysia on Monday.The two leaders of the Americas’ largest economies stand on polar opposite sides on issues such as multilateralism, international trade and the fight against climate change.Trump has instituted a 50 percent tariff on many Brazilian products.He has also imposed sanctions on several top officials, including a Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against former president and ally Jair Bolsonaro.In September, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.Trump again on Sunday told reporters he felt “very badly about what happened” to Bolsonaro.”I’ve always thought he was a straight-shooter, but you know, he’s going through a lot”, Trump said.Asked by a reporter whether Bolsonaro would form part of Trump’s discussions with Lula, Trump replied: “None of your business.”- ‘Surprisingly good’ -Lula, who turned 80 on Monday, stressed that the issue about Bolsonaro had ended after his talks with Trump, saying the jailed politician “is part of the past of Brazilian politics.”Relations between Trump and Lula first began to thaw when the leaders had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.They then spoke by phone on October 6.On Monday, Lula said his meeting with Trump had been “surprisingly good”.”He (Trump) assured me that we are going to have an agreement,” he said.Brazilian officials on Monday added they were in a “much more positive scenario” than a few weeks ago.”We are making spectacular progress,” said Marcio Rosa, executive secretary for Brazil’s foreign ministry.Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said he and other officials had met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.”We agreed to work towards building a satisfactory agreement for both parties in the coming weeks,” Viera said.Lula is returning to Brazil on Tuesday, after visits to Indonesia and his first attendance at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, highlighting Brazil’s growing partnership with the region.
Venezuela says US military exercises on nearby island a ‘provocation’
Venezuela on Sunday blasted the arrival in nearby Trinidad and Tobago of a US warship as a dangerous “provocation,” amid mounting fears of potential attacks against the Venezuelan mainland.The USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, docked Sunday in the Trinidadian capital Port of Spain for a four-day visit, which will include joint training with local defense forces.The ship’s arrival comes amid a mounting military campaign by US President Donald Trump against alleged drug-traffickers in Latin America, which has largely targeted Venezuelans and thus far been limited to deadly strikes in international waters.Trump has increasingly threatened in recent days to take the campaign on land, while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims Washington is plotting his ouster.Trinidad and Tobago, which is situated just 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from the Venezuelan coast at its closest point, has sided with Washington against its neighbor.Venezuela angrily denounced “the military provocation of Trinidad and Tobago, in coordination with the CIA, aimed at provoking a war in the Caribbean.”Caracas added that it had arrested “a group of mercenaries” with links to the CIA, days after Trump said he had authorized covert CIA operations against Venezuela.Maduro’s government claimed the alleged mercenaries were mounting a “false flag attack” aimed at provoking a full-blown war, without giving details.Venezuela regularly claims to have arrested US-backed mercenaries working to destabilize Maduro’s administration.- US strikes on boats -The USS Gravely is one of several warships Washington deployed to the Caribbean in August as part of an anti-drugs campaign that Venezuela sees as a front for trying to topple Maduro, whose reelection Washington rejects as fraudulent.Tensions escalated sharply on Friday, when the Pentagon also ordered the deployment of the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, to the region.US forces have blown up at least 10 boats they claimed were smuggling narcotics, killing at least 43 people, since September.The standoff has pulled in Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, a sharp critic of the US strikes who was sanctioned by Washington on Friday for allegedly allowing drug production to flourish.Caracas has accused Trinidad and Tobago, a laid-back twin-island nation of 1.4 million people whose Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is fiercely critical of Maduro, of serving as “a US aircraft carrier.”The Trinidad and Tobago government said the USS Gravely’s visit “aims to bolster the fight against transnational crime and build resilience through training, humanitarian activities, and security cooperation.”It values its relationship “with the people of Venezuela” and remains committed to “the creation of a safer, stronger and more prosperous region,” a government statement said.- ‘Getting a lash’ -In Port of Spain, some people welcomed the government’s show of support for Trump’s campaign but others worried about getting caught up in a regional conflict.”If anything should happen with Venezuela and America, we as people who live on the outskirts of it… could end up getting a lash any time,” 64-year-old Daniel Holder, a Rastafarian who wore a white turban, told AFP.”I am against my country being part of this,” he added.Victor Rojas, a 38-year-old carpenter who has been living in Trinidad and Tobago for the past eight years, said he was worried for his family back home.”Venezuela is not in a position to weather an attack right now,” he said, referring to the country’s economic collapse under Maduro.Trinidad and Tobago, which acts as a hub in the Caribbean drug trade, has itself been caught up in the US campaign of strikes on suspected drug boats.Two Trinidadian men were killed in a strike on a vessel that set out from Venezuela in mid-October, according to their families. The mother of one of the victims insisted he was a fisherman, not a drug trafficker.Local authorities have not yet confirmed their deaths.
Argentine: Milei promet plus de réformes après sa victoire aux législatives de mi-mandat
Le président ultralibéral argentin Javier Milei a obtenu un éclatant vote de confiance pour poursuivre ses réformes, après son large succès aux législatives de mi-mandat dimanche, avec un peu plus de 40% des voix au niveau national.Ces élections sont “la confirmation du mandat que nous avons reçu en 2023” à la présidentielle, pour “avancer sur la voie réformiste” a lancé un Javier Milei triomphant, mais sans excès ni outrances, à ses partisans dans son QG électoral, dans un hôtel de Buenos Aires.Le résultat, qui dément bien des sondages, est un immense soulagement pour l’exécutif, alors que l’incertitude liée au scrutin avait placé l’économie argentine, et sa monnaie, sous une intense pression depuis deux mois. Déclenchant la promesse d’une aide massive de son allié américain Donald Trump, jusqu’à 40 milliards de dollars.”Félicitations au président Javier Milei pour sa Victoire Ecrasante en Argentine. Il fait un travail formidable! Notre confiance en lui a été justifiée par le peuple argentin”, a réagi le président américain sur son réseau Truth Social.La Libertad Avanza, le parti de Javier Milei, a recueilli 40,7% des voix au niveau national, selon des résultats officiels à 97% du décompte, et est voué a quasi-tripler sa base parlementaire, sans pour autant atteindre la majorité absolue.- Plus musclé au Parlement -Suffisant, toutefois, pour accroître la capacité du président “anarcho-capitaliste” à réformer et déréguler – sur ses deux ans restants de présidence – une économie fragile aux faibles réserves de changes et sujette aux turbulences financières.Selon des projections exprimées dimanche par Javier Milei lui-même, mais non confirmées par l’autorité électorale, son bloc de députés passerait de 37 à 101 (sur 257 députés), et ses sénateurs de six à 20, sur un total de 72 sénateurs.Javier Milei avait estimé qu’obtenir un tiers des sièges, serait un “bon chiffre”, seuil lui permettant en particulier d’imposer ses vetos aux parlementaires le cas échéant.”J’ai crié comme si c’était le but du dernier Mondial quand l’Argentine a été championne!”, déclarait à l’AFP Facundo Campos, consultant marketing de 38 ans, à l’éxtérieur du QG de Javier Milei. “Je ressens tellement de bonheur, d’enthousiasme. Je ne m’attendais pas à un chiffre si élevé!””Une victoire sans appel, surprenante”, a convenu pour l’AFP le politologue Sergio Berensztein. “L’Argentine a donné un soutien très fort au président, qui a maintenant l’opportunité de démontrer qu’avec un Parlement plus favorable, il est effectivement en mesure de tenir ses promesses.” Comme celle maintes fois répétée “d’éradiquer” l’inflation totalement d’ici mi-2026.Javier Milei arrivait au scrutin déjà auréolé d’un succès contre l’inflation, ramenée en 20 mois de plus de 200% à 31,8% en interannuel, et d’un équilibre budgétaire inédit depuis 14 ans.Mais son “plus grand ajustement budgétaire de l’histoire” — comme il aime à répéter — a vu plus de 200.000 emplois perdus, une activité anémiée, en contraction de 1,8% en 2024, une reprise en 2025 qui s’essouffle. Et une société plus que jamais à deux vitesses.Depuis 2023, le chef de l’Etat a beaucoup légiféré par décrets, ou accords législatifs ponctuels dans l’hémicycle. Mais il s’était vu de plus en plus entravé par un Parlement braqué par sa rigidité, voire ses insultes: “nid à rats”, “dégénérés”…- L’heure de la flexibilité ? -L’opposition modérée, des secteurs de l’économie productive mais aussi des bailleurs internationaux, à l’instar du FMI, demandaient avec insistance à l’exécutif “de renforcer le soutien politique et social” à ses réformes.Et nombre d’analystes estiment qu’au-delà du scrutin, Javier Milei devra prendre un virage pragmatique. “Faire preuve de flexibilité, d’humilité et de disposition à des accords avec les gouverneurs de province, des forces d’opposition en vue de majorités fortes lui permettant d’adopter des lois”, estime Sergio Berensztein.Javier Milei a paru dimanche soir tendre une main, affirmant qu'”il y a des dizaines de députés et de sénateurs avec lesquels nous pouvons arriver à des accords de base” sur des réformes.Dans son viseur d’ici 2027: des réformes fiscales, de flexibilisation du marché du travail, et du système de protection sociale.Dans l’opposition péroniste, régnaient le dépit et “le sentiment que ce qui est en train de gagner, c’est l’indifférence”, se désolait Mariano, 61 ans, un des militants réunis sous les fenêtres de l’ex-présidente (2007-2015) Cristina Kirchner, 72 ans, désormais condamnée et inéligible.La participation dimanche, de 67,9% était quasiment la plus faible de toutes les élections depuis le retour de la démocratie en 1983.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan: discrete but ruthlessMon, 27 Oct 2025 04:21:48 GMT
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, a soft-spoken politician who unexpectedly found herself Tanzania’s first female leader, is now accused of overseeing heavy repression in the east African nation. Hassan, 65, is seeking to cement her status with a resounding victory in Wednesday’s election and has taken no chances, with the main opposition candidates jailed or barred from …
Murder, kidnap, censorship: the ‘new normal’ of Tanzania politicsMon, 27 Oct 2025 04:06:34 GMT
A priest attacked after a meeting about democracy with faith leaders, an opposition official’s corpse found doused in acid, an ex-ambassador missing from his blood-stained home — this is the “new normal” in Tanzania, say critics.The grim assessment comes as the country readies to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Wednesday, amid what Amnesty International …