Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticised what he called the return of a colonial approach toward developing nations during a summit in Colombia on Saturday (March 21, 2026), pointing to the disposal of ex-Venezuelan leaderc and the fuel blockade of Cuba.
asserted
he → criticise → Cuba
“It’s not possible for someone to think that they own other countries,” Mr. Lula said, in an apparent reference to U.S. policy in the region, at a high-level forum with delegates from Africa and a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.
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Lula → ’ → States
“What are they doing with Cuba now?
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they → do → Cuba
What did they do with Venezuela?
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they → do → Venezuela
The left-wing president also criticized the war launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28 and drew a parallel with thec.
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president → criticize → thec
“Iran has been invaded under the pretext that Iran was building a nuclear bomb.
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Iran → invade → bomb
Who found them?”
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Who → find → them
Mr. Lula said that all countries present had already experienced being plundered for gold, silver, diamonds and minerals.
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countries → say → gold
He accused an unspecified “they” of seeking to own developing countries’ critical minerals and rare earth deposits.
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He → accuse → minerals
“After taking everything we had, now they want to own the critical minerals and rare earths that we have,” Mr. Lula said.
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Lula → take → that
“They want to colonize us again.”
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They → want → us
Washington’s history of intervention in Latin America goes back a long way — to when President James Monroe claimed the hemisphere as part of the U.S. sphere of influence more than 200 years ago.
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Monroe → go → influence
While large-scale, overt U.S. involvement in the region mostly petered out after the Cold War, Mr. Trump has rekindled the legacy.
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Trump → petere → legacy
Since assuming office last year, Mr. Trump launched boat strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean, ordered a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil exports and got involved in electoral politics in Honduras and Argentina.
And in Brazil, Mr. Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods last year, citing a ‘witch hunt’ trial against the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro.
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Trump → assume → president
The U.S. has also shown keen interest in Brazil’s rare earth deposits.
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U.S. → show → deposits
Then, on Jan. 3, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan strongman leader Nicolás Maduro, flying him to the U.S. to face drug and weapons charges.
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forces → capture → charges
While such actions have thrilled right-wing leaders across the continent, they have raised fears among left-wing politicians who have voiced grave concerns over what they see as U.S. bullying.
“We cannot allow anyone to interfere and violate the territorial integrity of each country,” Mr. Lula said Saturday (March 21, 2026).
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Lula → thrill → country
Mr. Lula, who has said he will run for a fourth, nonconsecutive term in the upcoming October elections, also criticised the United Nations’ inability to stop multiple conflicts around the world.
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he → say → world
“What we are witnessing is the total and absolute failure of the United Nations,” said Mr. Lula, pointing to the situations in Gaza, Ukraine and Iran and once again calling for reform of the body’s Security Council.
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Lula → witness → Council
The Security Council is mandated in the U.N. Charter with ensuring international peace and security, but it has failed in major conflicts because of the veto power of five permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
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it → mandate → members
There have been decades of efforts to reform the Security Council to reflect the geopolitical realities of the world in 2026, not of the post-World War II era 80 years ago, when the United Nations was established.
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Nations → reform → era
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has designated a “ priority target,” echoed Lula’s condemnation of the United Nations.
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Administration → designate → Nations
The body “is acting in impotence, and that is not what it was created for.
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it → act → what
It was created after World War II precisely to prevent wars.
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It → create → wars
And yet, what we have today is war,” Mr. Petro said.
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Petro → say → what
But the world needs the United Nations to provide climate solutions and curb global warming, Mr. Petro said.
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Petro → need → warming
“The more serious humanity’s problems become, the fewer tools we have for collective action.
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we → become → action
And that path leads only to barbarism.”
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path → lead → barbarism
Mr. Petro accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio of defending Western civilization and urged him to instead pursue dialogue.
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Petro → accuse → dialogue
Relatively few Presidents andPPrime Ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean attended the summit in Colombia, a sign of the continent's deep divisions.
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Presidents → attend → divisions
Those present included the presidents of Brazil, Uruguay, Burundi and Colombia, as well as the Prime Ministers of Guyana and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, along with deputy ministers, foreign ministers, and ambassadors.
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Those → include → ministers
The Aporia
