Brazil's left-wing Prez Lula slams 'neoliberalism', pushes taxing the super-rich ahead of G20 summit

Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva issued a scathing broadside against “neoliberalism” on Saturday, ahead of hosting leaders at a G20 summit aimed at economic cooperation.

“Neoliberalism has worsened the economic and political inequality that is currently plaguing democracies,” Lula said at the close of a pre-summit event bringing together NGOs, minority groups and climate activists.

On Monday, the Brazilian president will greet leaders including US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Argentina’s Javier Milei for a two-day G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.

The gathering will discuss numerous issues, including ones being promoted by Lula such as forging a global alliance against hunger, taxing the super-rich and seeking to reform the UN system to make decision-making more inclusive.

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“To reach the hearts of citizens, governments need to break with the increasingly dissonant gap between the voice of the markets and the voice of the streets,” Lula said at the G20 Social event, which focused on left-wing issues.

While Lula’s position will find support in some quarters at the G20 summit, his criticism of neoliberalism could find opposition from Milei – who has taken radical steps to curb inflation at home – and distance from others preparing for Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Lula’s comments pointed to the political weakness of leaders of some democracies whose political fortunes have dwindled recently, in part because of economic hardships voters feel they are suffering.

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Among those are Biden, seen as a lame duck attendee at the summit, and Macron and Scholz, whose electoral support has been evaporating.

In contrast, China’s Xi is viewed as a dominant figure at the G20, as he was at an APEC summit in Peru that took place just before.

Lula told civil society groups at the G20 Social event that they needed to press their agenda to be heard by the governments participating at the summit.

“If leaders don’t act, you must make a difference – shout, protest, demand. Change comes through pressure,” said the 79-year-old president, who rose from being a union leader to run Latin America’s biggest economy.

Lula received a list of demands from G20 Social participants he pledged to carry into the summit.

It included appeals to help fight hunger in the world, backed measures to curb climate change, urged a tax on the world’s ultra-wealthy, and regulations against disinformation and hate speech when “extreme-right forces” sought to undermine democracy.