Photo Credit: Credit: Ricardo Stuckert/ REUTERS

NNA News – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, following recent phone calls with heads of state who are members of the United Nations Security Council, is seeking a conversation with US President Donald Trump to discuss issues related to the agenda of the UN’s highest decision-making body, according to a Brasil 247 report citing a high-level source at the presidential palace.

The attempt to establish contact with Trump comes amid commercial and political tensions between the two countries, issues that could naturally arise in any eventual conversation. There is still no indication, however, of when the phone call could take place, nor are there any concrete preparations for it. External factors requiring greater attention from the White House, such as the conflict in the Middle East, reduce the possibility of a conversation in the short term. For the Planalto Palace, coordinating the two presidents’ agendas as the situation in the region develops will not be a simple task.

Earlier, Lula said in an interview with the press that he was seeking a conversation with Trump in order to prevent possible interference by Washington in Brazil’s upcoming presidential elections. The statement came after recent phone calls between Lula and his counterparts in China and Russia, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, respectively.

At the Planalto Palace, the prevailing assessment is that relations with the United States, given the increased pressure exerted by the Trump administration not only on Brazil but also on other countries in the region, will be “the great challenge” of a possible fourth Lula term. For now, there are no signs that Washington is willing to abandon its policy of “stick” toward what the White House considers its Latin American “backyard,” the source said.

In this context, one of the Planalto Palace’s main concerns is the possibility of foreign interference in the presidential elections. According to people close to the presidential palace, Washington’s interest in Brazil’s electoral process is enormous, second only to the crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.

The specific form that possible interference attempts could take remains an open question. For now, the expectation is that they would occur through the activation of extremist sectors of the underworld on social media platforms. In the face of Washington’s offensive, relations are expected to be “difficult,” according to the assessment at the Planalto Palace. One point of divergence is security cooperation. In recent months, Washington has turned to military cooperation agreements with countries in the region governed by far-right leaders to promote interference in anti-narcotics operations.

Brazil, alongside Mexico, has adopted a more cautious approach, almost exceptional in Latin America, toward an offensive strategy in cooperation with the United States, while maintaining active cooperation with Washington through the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and the Federal Police.

No scenario is ruled out, however, including the possibility of direct military intervention, which is advocated by sectors of Brazil’s far right. The possibility of military pressure is treated as a reality, although the current assessment is that the scenario points to interference limited to the sphere of social media, according to the source.

In this context, President Lula remains, according to those around him, a bastion of the defense of regional sovereignty. The government platforms of right-wing presidential candidates and their varying degrees of alignment with the United States are enough to illustrate Lula’s role in defending national sovereignty.

Balancing the defense of sovereignty with maintaining relations with Trump, particularly in a scenario in which Republicans eventually gain a majority in the US legislature and adopt an even more offensive foreign policy, will be “the great challenge” of a possible Lula 4 government, the source assessed.