Brazilian president slams US' Marco Rubio as ‘mortal enemy’ of Latin America

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday launched a verbal attack on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, branding him a "mortal enemy" of Latin America who holds a deep-seated animosity toward Brazil.

The rhetorical explosion follows a severe diplomatic downturn after Washington threatened to slap a blanket 25% tariff on Brazilian imports, accusing the region's largest economy of engaging in unfair trade practices.

"This Marco Rubio doesn't like Latin America, much less Brazil. He's a frustrated Latin American," Lula told reporters, evidently referring to Rubio's parents, both of them Cuban immigrants.

The escalating trade war abruptly derailed the diplomatic progress made just weeks ago, when Lula and US President Donald Trump held a three-hour meeting in Washington that both administrations described as positive and constructive.

On Monday, the Office of the US Trade Representative formally accused Brazil of unfair trade practices spanning several key sectors, including digital trade policies and social media regulations, intellectual property protection, and commercial deforestation, after which Washington threatened to move forward with a punishing 25% import levy.

The diplomatic rift widened on Tuesday during a US Senate hearing, where Rubio delivered an assessment of Western Hemisphere geopolitics.

While Rubio celebrated what he viewed as a pro-Washington shift across the Americas following two decades of US "neglect," a vacuum he said China capitalized on, he pointedly isolated Brazil and Colombia from regional democratic partners.

"Generally speaking, the region is now filled with US allies, US-friendly leaders, and a pro-US stance," Rubio told the Senate panel, calling the realignment a "significant achievement."

The exceptions, he added, are Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia ("to some extent"), and "of course, Brazil, although it is in the midst of an election cycle."

Lula, who is currently seeking a historic fourth presidential term in elections this October, claimed Rubio's hostile posture is being orchestrated with Brazil's opposition.

Lula's primary electoral rival is conservative Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of the Trump administration. Just last week, Flavio Bolsonaro traveled to Washington, securing high-profile meetings with both Trump and Rubio.