Category: Politics

China’s Xi promises to lower tariffs this year, open economy further

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday promised to open the country’s economy further and lower import tariffs on products including cars, in a speech that comes amid rising trade tensions between China and the United States.

Xi also said China would raise the foreign ownership limit in the automobile sector “as soon as possible” and push previously announced measures to open the financial sector.

“This year, we will considerably reduce auto import tariffs, and at the same time reduce import tariffs on some other products,” Xi said at the Chinese Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province.

The comments sent U.S. stock futures, the dollar and Asian shares higher.

They come amid rising trade tensions between China and the United States following a week of escalating tariff threats sparked by U.S. frustration with China’s trade and intellectual property policies.

Xi said that China will take measures to sharply widen market access for foreign investors.

China will also speed up opening of its insurance sector to foreign investors, Xi said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India to urge US exemption on steel, aluminium tariffs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India will shortly engage with the US on the issue of America’s latest protectionist measures that have unfolded the prospects of an all-out global trade war with potential to damage Indian exports, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Monday.

US President Donald Trump slapped import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium in March. China retaliated last week increasing tariffs by up to 25% on 128 US products, from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts.

US Assistant Trade Representative (USTR) Mark Limscott arrives here for talks later this week to provide India the first opportunity to put across its case for an exemption along the lines of the ones the US has allowed to the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.

Following a World Trade Organisation (WTO) mini-ministerial held here in March, Prabhu had announced that India would bilaterally take up the issue of trade protectionism measures imposed by the US.

Addressing industry chamber CII’s annual meeting here on Monday, Prabhu also said the current challenges posed to globalisation and the multilateral trade system could be turned into opportunities for India with the help of a “well thought out strategy”.

“Today, globalisation which had become accepted, is being questioned by countries we never expected… but we must convert this challenge to opportunity,” he said.

“India’s opportunity is that we have excellent relationship with all major countries and groupings of the world like Asean, EU.

“We can meet these new challenges by working out a detailed well-thought out strategy.”

In March, Prabhu had said: “We will take it up with the US, with whom we have a huge trade surplus and we have a very good political relationship. We will take up this with them bilaterally.”

Following the US imposition of duties, Indian industry chamber Assocham had said that an annual trade deficit of $150 billion with the US alone does not allow India room to retaliate in the event of a global trade war since the country’s imports are mostly of an essential nature.

“We cannot flex too much of our importing muscle, even if our exports face consequences of trade war and are subjected to tariff barriers.

“So, the best course would be to keep engaged with the major trading partners, without aligning ourselves too much into a single bloc,” an Assocham statement said.

The industry lobby suggested that in cases where exports are affected, India must engage bilaterally and use the channel of the World Trade Organisation.

“However, the WTO route could be time consuming. So, the best course would be to stay bilaterally engaged,” it said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Amid trade fight, Trump says he’ll ‘make it up’ to farmers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump acknowledged Monday that farmers could be adversely affected by the escalating tariff dispute with China, but promised to make it up to them, saying they “will be better off than they ever were.”

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump addressed the Chinese threat to slap tariffs on soybeans and other agriculture staples grown in rural America, a move that could hit Midwestern farmers, many of whom are strong supporters of the president.

“If during the course of the negotiation they want to hit the farmers because they think that hits me. I wouldn’t say that’s nice, but I tell you our farmers are great patriots,” Trump said. “They understand that they’re doing this for the country. We’ll make it up to them. In the end they’re going to be much stronger than they are right now.”

China is threatening the tariffs in response to Trump moving to enact protectionist measures as punishment for Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property. The U.S. bought more than $500 billion in goods from China last year and now is planning or considering penalties on some $150 billion of those imports. The U.S. sold about $130 billion in goods to China in 2017 and faces a potentially devastating hit if China responds in kind.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was working with his team “to determine how best to respond to China’s attack on American farmers” and had asked the Agriculture Department to provide him with a plan to protect U.S. farmers.

As the economic saber-rattling shakes global markets, Trump said Monday he had a good relationship with China and with President Xi Jinping, but repeated his claim that China has been “taking advantage of the United States for many years.” He added that he doesn’t blame China, but American leaders for creating a “lopsided” set of trade rules.

Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted about the “STUPID TRADE” with China, saying that when a Chinese-made vehicle is sent to the U.S., the tariff is only 2.5 percent, while American cars exported to China are slapped with a 25 percent tariff.

China charges total duties of 25 percent on most imported cars — a 10 percent customs tariff plus a 15 percent auto tax. Since December 2016, Beijing also has charged an additional 10 percent on “super-luxury” vehicles priced above 1.3 million yuan ($200,000).

The president made fixing the trade imbalance with China a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, where he frequently used incendiary language to describe how Beijing would “rape” the U.S. economically. But even as Trump cozied up to Xi and pressed China for help with derailing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, he has ratcheted up the economic pressure and threatened tariffs, a move opposed by many fellow Republicans.

China has pledged to “counterattack with great strength” if Trump decides to follow through on his latest threat to impose tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese goods — after an earlier announcement that targeted $50 billion. Beijing also declared that the current rhetoric made negotiations impossible, even as the White House suggested that the tariff talk was a way to spur China to the bargaining table.

The new White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said Sunday that a “coalition of the willing” — including Canada, much of Europe and Australia — was being formed to pressure China and that the U.S. would demand that the World Trade Organization, an arbiter of trade disputes, be stricter on Beijing. And he said that although the U.S. hoped to avoid taking action, Trump “was not bluffing.”

“This is a problem caused by China, not a problem caused by President Trump,” Kudlow said on “Fox News Sunday.”

But he also downplayed the tariff threat as “part of the process,” suggesting on CNN that the impact would be “benign” and said he was hopeful that China would enter negotiations. Kudlow, who started his job a week ago after his predecessor, Gary Cohn, quit over the tariff plan, brushed aside the possibility of economic repercussions.

“I don’t think there’s any trade war in sight,” Kudlow told Fox.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he didn’t expect the tariffs to have a “meaningful impact on the economy” even as he left the door open for disruption. He allowed that there “could be” a trade war but said he didn’t anticipate one.

Trump’s latest proposal intensified what was already shaping up to be the biggest trade battle in more than a half century.

Trump told advisers last week that he was unhappy with China’s decision to tax $50 billion in American products, including soybeans and small aircraft, in response to a U.S. move to impose tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods. Rather than waiting weeks for the U.S. tariffs to be implemented, Trump backed a plan by Robert Lighthizer, his trade representative, to seek the enhanced tariffs.

Further escalation could be in the offing. The U.S. Treasury Department is working on plans to restrict Chinese technology investments in the U.S. And there is talk that the U.S. could also put limits on visas for Chinese who want to visit or study in this country.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Big US participation in Chennai DefExpo

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a significant reflection of the US designating India as its Major Defence Partner, a large and diverse delegation from the US led by the country’s Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster will participate in India’s premier defence trade event to be held in Chennai later this month, it was announced on Monday.

“A large and diverse US delegation will attend DefExpo 2018, a key defence trade event in India and the region,” the US Consulate in Chennai said in a statement.

“The delegation will include active duty military officers, government officials, and industry executives – demonstrating the depth and breadth of the commitment of the US to the US-India Major Defence Partner relationship,” it stated.

“The US government delegation will be led by Kenneth I. Juster, US Ambassador to India, and Major General Bryan Suntheimer, Deputy Commanding General of US Army Pacific.”

The 10th edition of defence manufacturing exhibition DefExpo will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 12.

DefExpo 2018 — being held around 35 km off Chennai — would be spread over 290,000 square feet area and also have a live demonstration area.

According to Defence Production Secretary Ajay Kumar, there are 154 foreign companies participating in the DefExpo this year.

“The US designation of India as a Major Defence Partner marked a milestone in US-India defence cooperation,” Juster said in the Consulate statement.

He said that US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi “are driving forward this Major Defence Partnership and our broader strategic relationship with a shared vision for peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region”.

During the visit of Modi to Washington in June 2016, the US recognised India as a Major Defence Partner, which commits the US to facilitate technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners, and industry collaboration for defence co-production and co-development.

India and the US are part of the recently revived quad, that also includes Australia and Japan, that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

According to Monday’s Consulate statement, the US and India “are building a dynamic defence relationship through the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, military exercises, official visits and exchanges, and the sales of military systems and platforms”.

“In addition, the US defence industry has demonstrated its commitment to partnering with India to provide the highest quality, most reliable, and most technologically-advanced defence equipment and systems in the world – from small arms, to unmanned aerial systems, to helicopters and fighter aircraft,”it stated.

DefExpo 2018 will see 19 US companies exhibiting while many more will be participating, according to the statement.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Zuckerberg issues mea culpa ahead of US Congress hearing

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a prepared testimony ahead of Wednesday’s hearing before the US Congress, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the social network didn’t do enough to prevent its tools from being used for harm.

Facebook has faced a storm of criticism globally over its failure to prevent the misuse of user data and for violating the privacy and safety of users as well as subverting democracy after news surfaced that it shared information with third party companies such as Cambridge Analytica.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” he said. “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

Zuckerberg said Facebook is now improving the way it protects people’s information and safeguard elections around the world.

In 2014, the company dramatically restricted the amount of data that developers can access and to proactively review the apps on the network, he said, adding that it is also removing developers’ access to user data if they haven’t used their app in three months.

Here are the other steps, according to Zuckerberg:

Facebook is also reducing the data that users give an app when they approve it to only their name, profile photo, and email address.

Developers are required to not only get approval but also to sign a contract that imposes strict requirements in order to ask anyone for access to their posts or other private data.

Facebook is also restricting more APIs like groups and events. Users should be able to sign into apps and share public information easily, but anything that might also share other people’s information — like other posts in groups they’re in or other people going to events you’re going to — will be much more restricted.

Zuckerberg said two weeks ago, the company found out that a feature that lets users look someone up by their phone number and email was abused. “This feature is useful in cases where people have the same name, but it was abused to link people’s public Facebook information to a phone number they already had. When we found out about the abuse, we shut this feature down.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Few surprises in BJP’s first list of candidates for Karnataka assembly elections

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for chief minister, BS Yedyurappa, will contest from his bastion Shikaripura while veterans KS Eshwarappa and Jagdish Shettar will seek victories from Shivamogga  and Hubli-Dharwad– Central, respectively, according to the first list of candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections that the party released on Monday.

The BJP list for the election in Karantaka, which goes to polls on May 12, contained 72 names and had few surprises.

The only exception was that B Sriramulu, a close aide of disgraced mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, has been given the ticket from Molkalmuru instead of his stronghold Bellary, from where he had contested both in 2013 and 2008.

Sriramulu’s supporters are upset by the decision as is the incumbent MLA S Thippeawamy of the BJP.

The list also contained names of defectors such as Malikayya Guttedar and AS Patil Nadahalli, candidates from Afzalpur and Muddebihal respectively, who moved to the party from the Congress recently.

Mallikarjun Khuba, Manappa Vajjal and Shivraj Patil joined the BJP from the Janata Dal (Secular) have also bagged BJP tickets.

The BJP has retained nearly half of the candidates of the 28 consituencies in Bengaluru \. Candidates such as Sureshkumar, Arvinda Limbavali,  V Somanna, Satish Reddy, BN Vijaykumar will again contest from their respective seats.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Trump predicts trade concessions by China, despite rising tensions

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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U.S. President Donald Trump predicted on Sunday that China would take down its trade barriers, expressing optimism despite escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies that have roiled global markets in the past week.

The two countries have threatened each other with tens of billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs in recent days and Chinese officials have said this is not the time for negotiations.

But Trump administration officials have stressed that the tariffs are not yet in place and the dispute could be resolved through talks.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Trump echoed this, saying “China will take down its trade barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become reciprocal and a deal will be made on intellectual property.”

He referred to his personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said the two men would always be friends, adding, “Great future for both countries!”

There has been no indication that Trump and Xi have had any conversations since the trade conflict erupted last week and no formal trade talks between the United States and China have been scheduled yet.

On Tuesday, Washington unveiled some $50 billion worth of proposed tariffs on Chinese imports and on Thursday Trump upped the ante, directing U.S. trade officials to identify tariffs on another $100 billion of Chinese imports. He said this was “in light of China’s unfair retaliation” against the earlier U.S. trade action.

China responded by saying it was fully prepared to respond with a “fierce counter strike” if the United States followed through on the new threat.

China’s Commerce Ministry spokesman, Gao Feng, said on Friday that Trump’s threat of another package of tariffs was “extremely mistaken” and unjustified, adding no negotiations were likely in the current circumstances.

Crude oil and global equity markets tumbled on Friday on investor worries about the impact a tariff war could have on the world economy.

‘FIRMLY ATTACKED’

China’s state media has sharply criticized the United States, saying its trade protectionism actions will end in defeat. “If the U.S. says that it will pay any price, it must be firmly attacked,” China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

On Sunday, the state People’s Daily newspaper sought to tap into concern among some U.S. business leaders over the impact of Washington’s planned tariffs.

“We call on the international business community including the United States industrial and commercial circles to take prompt and effective measures and urge the U.S. government to correct its errors,” it said.

Trump’s chief economic adviser, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow, has repeatedly sought in recent days to soothe concerns about a trade war, stressing that no tariffs have yet been implemented.

He reiterated that in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union show on Sunday, saying, “This process might turn out to be very benign … Maybe China will want to come round and talk in earnest – so far it hasn’t, I hope it does.”

The United States, charging China with unfair trade practices and theft of intellectual property, proposed some $50 billion in tariffs on Tuesday – 25 percent tariffs on more than 1,300 Chinese industrial and other products from flat-panel televisions to electronic components.

China shot back within hours with its own list of proposed duties on $50 billion of American imports, including soybeans, aircraft, cars, beef and chemicals.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on the CBS program Face The Nation there was a risk of a trade war between the United States and China but that he did not expect one.

He added that Trump and Xi have a “very close relationship” and that the United States and China would continue to discuss trade issues

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

North Korea tells US that Kim Jong Un ready to discuss nukes

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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North Korea’s government has communicated with the United States to say that leader Kim Jong Un is ready to discuss his nuclear weapons program with President Donald Trump, officials said Sunday, increasing the likelihood that the unprecedented summit will actually occur.

The confirmation from Pyongyang directly, rather than from third countries like South Korea, has created more confidence within Trump’s administration about the wisdom of holding such a meeting, as U.S. officials make secretive preparations. The Trump administration has long said that if the North Koreans weren’t ready to discuss giving up their nuclear program, there was no reason for the two countries to hold negotiations.

Trump took his own administration and other countries by surprise last month when he accepted an unusual offer from Kim to hold a meeting. The North had conveyed the invitation to a visiting delegation from South Korea, which in turn traveled to Washington and relayed the message to Trump.

The president said yes to the meeting on the spot, even though the U.S. had not yet heard directly from North Korea about Kim’s intentions. The U.S. later heard from other countries including China, where Kim paid a rare visit, that the North was serious about the offer.

Still, North Korea’s government has not said anything publicly at all about a meeting with Trump, and the lack of known contact between Pyongyang and Washington about the meeting has fueled further speculation about the seriousness of Kim’s offer.

A Trump administration official on Sunday said that the U.S. had “confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?.” A second official said that confirmation had come through direct contact between American and North Korean officials.

Neither of the officials would say when or how the contact took place, nor in what location. The officials weren’t authorized to comment by name and demanded anonymity.

Previously, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said there were at least two or three channels through which U.S. and North Korean officials communicate from time to time.

The Trump administration has not said where the meeting will place or whether a location has been determined, nor has an exact date been set. Initially, the White House said it expected the meeting to take place by the end of May. It’s unclear whether a date that early could be achieved or whether it might be delayed.

The contacts between Pyongyang and Washington come as Trump’s new national security adviser, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, prepares to start work at the White House formally on Monday. Prior to being named to the post, Bolton had long expressed hawkish views about North Korea, even advocating a pre-emptive military strike.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Van crash leaves two dead in Germany

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A van crashed into people drinking outside a popular bar Saturday in the German city of Muenster, killing two people and injuring 20 others before the driver of the vehicle shot and killed himself inside it, police said.

A top German security official said there was no indication of an Islamic extremist motive but officials were investigating all possibilities in the deadly crash that took place at 3:27 p.m. on a warm spring day.

Witnesses said people ran away screaming from the city square after the crash. Police quickly set up a large cordoned-off area for their investigation and ambulances rushed to the site.

Six of the 20 injured were in severe condition, according to police spokesman Andreas Bode.

Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Muenster is located, said the driver of the gray van was a German citizen. He stressed that the investigation was at an early stage but said “at the moment, nothing speaks for there being any Islamist background.”

“We have to wait, and we are investigating in all directions,” Reul said, adding that it was clearly not an accident.

Reul said two people were killed in the crash and the driver killed himself — lower than the earlier police toll of three dead plus the driver.

Police spokesman Peter Nuessmeyer told The Associated Press that he could not confirm German media reports that the perpetrator reportedly had psychological issues.

Bode told reporters that police were checking witness reports that other perpetrators might have fled from the van at the scene. Hours later, police spokeswoman Vanessa Arlt said “we didn’t find anything (to those reports) but we’re still investigating in all directions and not excluding anything.”

Police tweeted that residents should “avoid the area near the Kiepenkerl pub” in the city’s historic downtown area where a large-scale police operation was underway.

Police also said they found a suspicious object in the van that they were examining to see if it was dangerous. They told German news agency dpa that was the reason authorities cordoned off such a large area.

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said the suspect’s apartment was being searched Saturday night for possible explosives.

The Muenster University Hospital put out an urgent call for citizens to donate blood — and so many people rushed to help that long lines of donors formed. Jan Schoessler, who was among those in line, said dozens of people were waiting shortly after doors opened at 7 p.m.

The university cancelled the call after only an hour and thanked everyone on Twitter “for your overwhelming support.”

A statement from the White House press secretary said that President Donald Trump has been briefed on the vehicle attack.

“While the German authorities have not yet announced a motive for this cowardly attack on innocent people, we condemn it regardless, and pledge any support from the United States Government that Germany may need,” the statement said.

Muenster, a major university city, has about 300,000 residents and an attractive medieval city center that was rebuilt after World War II. TV footage showed a narrow street sealed off Saturday with red-and-white police tape. Dozens of ambulances were near the cordoned-off area and helicopters were flying overhead.

The Kiepenkerl is not only one of the city’s best-known traditional pubs, but also the emblem of the city, depicting a traveling salesman with a long pipe in his mouth and a big backpack on his back.

Ugur Hur was working at a nearby cafe in downtown Muenster when the crash took place.

“I heard a loud bang, screaming. And the police arrived and everyone was sent out,” he said. “A lot of people were running away screaming.”

Lino Baldi, who owns an Italian restaurant near the scene of the crash, told Sky TG24 that the city center had been packed with people out enjoying a Saturday market and summer-like temperatures, which had risen to 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) from just 12 degrees (54 degrees F) a day earlier.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “deeply shocked by the terrible events in Muenster.”

“Everything conceivable is being done to investigate the crime and to support the victims and their relatives,” Merkel said in a statement. “My thanks go to all the responders at the scene.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ex-President Lula da Silva surrenders to Brazilian police

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva turned himself in to police on Saturday, ending a day-long standoff to begin serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption that derails his bid to return to power.

Lula was flown by police to the southern city of Curitiba, where he was tried and convicted late last year, and taken to the federal police headquarters there to serve his sentence. Protesters supporting Lula clashed with police outside the walls of the building. Officers used stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

In a fiery speech hours earlier to a crowd of supporters of his Workers Party outside the union building in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s first working class president insisted on his innocence and called his bribery conviction a political crime, but said he would turn himself in.

“I will comply with the order,” he told the cheering crowd. “I’m not above the law. If I didn’t believe in the law, I wouldn’t have started a political party. I would have started a revolution.”

Lula, who faces six more trials on corruption charges, finally ended the standoff when he moved out in a convoy of black police SUVs after pushing his way out of the steel workers union headquarters where he had taken refuge. He entered police custody more than 24 hours after a court deadline on Friday afternoon.

Lula‘s imprisonment removes Brazil’s most influential political figure and front-runner from this year’s presidential campaign, throwing the race wide open and strengthening the odds of a more centrist candidate prevailing, according to analysts and political foes.

It also marks the end of an era for Brazil’s left, which was out in force in the streets outside of the union headquarters in the industrial suburb of Sao Paulo where Lula‘s political career began four decades ago as a union organizer.

The throngs of supporters, which began gathering when he arrived late on Thursday night, dissuaded police from trying to take him into custody and heightened concerns about a violent showdown.

Supporters blocked Lula‘s first attempt to leave the union building on Saturday afternoon, pushing back against fellow party members trying to open the gate for his car to leave. Workers Party chief Gleisi Hoffmann pleaded with supporters to let him exit.

Lula was convicted of taking bribes, including renovation of a three-story seaside apartment that he denies ever owning, from an engineering firm in return for help landing public contracts.

“I’m the only person being prosecuted over an apartment that isn’t mine,” insisted Lula, standing on a sound truck alongside his impeached handpicked successor Dilma Rousseff and leaders of other left-wing parties.

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Saturday rejected the latest plea by Lula‘s legal team, which argued they had not exhausted procedural appeals when a judge issued the order to turn himself in.

Under Brazilian electoral law, a candidate is forbidden from running for office for eight years after being found guilty of a crime. Rare exceptions have been made in the past, and the final decision would be made by the top electoral court if and when Lula officially files to be a candidate.

The union where Lula, 72, sought refuge was the launch pad for his career in the late 1970s leading nationwide strikes that helped to end Brazil’s 1964-85 military dictatorship.

Lula‘s everyman style and unvarnished speeches electrified masses and eventually won him two terms as president, from 2003 to 2011, when he oversaw robust economic growth and falling inequality amid a commodities boom.

“Those who condemn me without proof know that I am innocent and I governed honestly,” Lula said in a video message to his supporters. “Those who persecute me can do what they want to me, but they will never imprison our dreams.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow