Government’s priority in 2025 is to make food cheaper, says Lula
One of the government’s priorities in 2025 is to reduce the price of food reaching the Brazilian table, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told his team Monday (Jan. 20), during their first meeting of the year.
Brazilians this year, he said, should see the fruit of a number of the public policies initiated after what he termed the reconstitution of a number of ministries, which he said had been dismantled during the previous government. He asked cabinet members to make an ever greater effort to advance the policies that have been implemented.
“We now have a major topic—reconstruction, unity, and cheap food on the workers’ table, because food has been pricey. All the ministers know that. It’s our task to ensure that food reaches the tables of working people, housewives, and the Brazilian people in conditions compatible with their wages,” he declared during his opening speech at the meeting.
Fighting disinformation
President Lula said he made a quick recovery from head surgery after a fall and reiterated the government’s commitment to protecting democracy. He urged his ministers to be vigilant and not to feed arguments to opponents who, he claimed, have started campaigning for next year’s presidential elections early.
The 2026 elections have already begun for his opponents, he said. “Just go online and you’ll see—they’re already campaigning. But we can’t bring the campaign forward ourselves; we have to work to give the people what they need,” he stated.
“I have a cause, and that’s my motivator in 2025: not to allow this country, under any circumstances, to return to the horror of my predecessor’s administration, and to ensure that democracy remains in this country. We don’t want to hand this country back to neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, or authoritarianism. We need to say it loud and clear: we want to elect a government that continues the democratic process in this country,” he argued.
The US
Lula also talked about his hopes of maintaining good relations with the US.
“Some people say that Trump’s election could cause problems for world democracy. Trump was elected to govern the US. I, as president of Brazil, hope that he has a fruitful administration, that the Brazilian and American people improve, and that the Americans continue to be Brazil’s historic partner,” he said. Lula added that he is aiming for peace, harmony, and diplomacy among all countries.
