Quotable: Lula on the WTO

Outgoing Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva let fly yesterday about Brazilian litigating prowess at the World Trade Organization: ‘We had a fight with the United States in the WTO on cotton and we won. We had a fight with them on sugar and we won,’ Lula said, referring to two cases in which ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Outgoing Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva let fly yesterday about Brazilian litigating prowess at the World Trade Organization:

Outgoing Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva let fly yesterday about Brazilian litigating prowess at the World Trade Organization:

‘We had a fight with the United States in the WTO on cotton and we won. We had a fight with them on sugar and we won,’ Lula said, referring to two cases in which the World Trade Organisation had ruled in favour of Brazil and against U.S. farm aid. ‘In the olden days, they said don’t fight with the United States, they are very big,’ Lula said during a public works inauguration in the central Minas Gerais state. ‘Look, an elephant has a certain size. The trunk is as big as 10 rats but put a mouse near the elephant and see how the beast trembles and wets itself,’ he added.

The sight of a left-leaning, populist-inclined Latin American leader celebrating the WTO rather than railing against it will no doubt bring smiles to a few faces in Geneva. 

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

More from Foreign Policy

Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.
Newspapers in Tehran feature on their front page news about the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023.

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America

The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.
Austin and Gallant stand at podiums side by side next to each others' national flags.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense

If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the Moscow Kremlin Wall in the Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War

Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.
An Iranian man holds a newspaper reporting the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, in Tehran on March 11.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests

And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.