The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stated on Thursday that he does not know when the conflict in the Middle East, initiated by the United States and Israel against Iran, will end, but he reaffirmed that his government will not allow the economic consequences to fall upon the Brazilian population. In an interview with TV Record Bahia, reported by the Argentine News Agency, Lula da Silva questioned the expectations about the duration of the conflict, emphasizing the uncertainty surrounding its outcome. “Trump said it would end in one day,” he said. “The war continues because Trump said it would end in one day, and it won’t end even in one day. The concrete fact I can tell you is that we are making every possible effort not to allow the irresponsible war of Iran to reach the people’s pockets,” he emphasized. The head of state continued: “We are not going to allow the international price to reach the truck driver’s pocket, to reach the people, to reach the housewife’s pocket. We are in a very serious process of supervision in Brazil.” Speculative Maneuvers The president of Brazil warned about speculative maneuvers in the domestic fuel market and announced the reinforcement of controls to prevent price abuses, stating that security forces are involved in supervision tasks to detect possible irregularities in the distribution chain. He also addressed the need to strengthen the national productive capacity and mentioned the possibility of the state-owned oil company Petrobras acquiring a refinery again in Bahia, in addition to explaining the partial dependence on diesel imports, which exposes the country to international prices. In this regard, he stated that tax exemptions have been implemented to contain fuel price increases and a subsidy policy aimed at compensating for the difference between that tax reduction and the price of Petrobras's product. “I don't even know in how much time it will end. That's why we are taking many measures.”
