Brazil wants to teach peace by producing food, not wage war
Em meio a um esfriamento diplomático entre Brasília e Washington — alimentado por disputas sobre cooperação policial e divergências sobre o conflito no Oriente Médio — o presidente Lula escolheu o humor como linguagem diplomática, prometendo levar jabuticaba a Trump para 'acalmá-lo'. O gesto, aparentemente descontraído, carregava uma mensagem mais profunda: a de um país que busca reafirmar sua soberania e redirecionar seu olhar para mercados próprios e parcerias alternativas. Na longa história das relações hemisféricas, há momentos em que uma fruta tropical diz mais do que um comunicado oficial.
- A relação entre Brasil e Estados Unidos azedou após a expulsão recíproca de agentes de segurança e críticas abertas do governo brasileiro aos ataques militares americanos e israelenses no Oriente Médio.
- O que poderia ser um incidente diplomático menor se transformou em símbolo de um distanciamento mais profundo entre dois parceiros históricos do hemisfério.
- Lula respondeu à tensão não com confronto, mas com ironia — prometendo levar jabuticaba e maracujá a Trump como remédio natural para a irritabilidade geopolítica.
- Por trás da piada, o presidente lançou um argumento estratégico: o Brasil tem um mercado interno maior do que muitos países europeus e não precisa orbitar em torno de Washington para prosperar.
- A África surge como novo eixo da ambição agrícola brasileira, contrapondo a lógica da guerra com a da produção de alimentos e cooperação Sul-Sul.
Na quinta-feira, durante uma feira agrícola em Planaltina, o presidente Lula chegou com humor e recado. Em meio a um clima diplomático tenso com os Estados Unidos, ele prometeu levar uma jabuticabeira a Trump — e outra a Xi Jinping — como gesto de apaziguamento. "Digam a ele que a jabuticaba acalma. Levem também maracujá", disse, arrancando risos no evento da Embrapa.
A piada, porém, tinha contexto pesado. Nas semanas anteriores, um delegado da Polícia Federal que colaborava com o governo americano retornou ao Brasil, levando Washington a exigir a saída de seu próprio agente de ligação. O Brasil respondeu com reciprocidade. A isso se somaram divergências sérias sobre os ataques militares dos EUA e de Israel ao Irã — o governo brasileiro defendeu negociação e criticou a escalada bélica. A distância entre os dois países, parceiros históricos nas Américas, havia crescido de forma visível.
Mas Lula não ficou apenas na diplomacia da fruta. Ele aproveitou o palco agrícola para fazer um argumento mais amplo: o Brasil subestima seu próprio potencial. Só São Paulo, disse ele, representa um mercado maior do que muitas nações europeias, mas os produtores brasileiros frequentemente ignoram o consumo doméstico em favor das exportações.
A África também entrou no discurso como contraponto moral e estratégico. "Enquanto Trump quer fazer guerra, o Brasil quer ensinar os africanos a fazer paz produzindo alimentos", afirmou, referindo-se aos investimentos agrícolas planejados no continente. Era uma distinção deliberada entre dois modelos de influência global.
A jabuticaba — fruta doce, escura, inconfundivelmente brasileira — tornou-se, naquele discurso, símbolo de algo maior: a recusa silenciosa de um país em trocar sua abundância por deferência.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived at a Brazilian agricultural fair in Planaltina on Thursday with something on his mind: how to smooth over the fraying relationship between Brazil and the United States. His solution, delivered with a wry smile, was to bring tropical fruit to Washington.
"When I travel, I'm going to try to bring a jabuticaba tree to Xi Jinping, and I'm going to try to bring one to Trump to calm him down," Lula said at the Brasil na Mesa event, hosted by Embrapa, the country's agricultural research agency. "Tell him that jabuticaba is calming. Bring passion fruit too." The comment came just days after returning from a European tour, and it landed in the middle of a genuine diplomatic chill between Brasília and Washington.
The tension had been building for weeks. A federal police delegate who had been working with the U.S. government returned to Brazil, prompting the Americans to demand the departure of their own law enforcement liaison. Brazil responded in kind, invoking the principle of reciprocity. The standoff was compounded by deeper disagreements over military strategy in the Middle East—the Brazilian government had publicly criticized American and Israeli strikes on Iran, advocating instead for negotiated solutions and an end to military escalation. These were not small disagreements. They represented a widening gap between two countries that had long counted on each other as hemispheric partners.
But Lula's remarks at the agricultural fair were not really about fruit, or at least not only about fruit. He was making a larger argument about Brazil's own potential, one that seemed designed to reorient the country's gaze inward and outward—but away from Washington's orbit. "Brazil has extraordinary potential, but many times we don't know how to take advantage of it," he said. The president pointed out that São Paulo alone represented a market larger than many European nations, yet Brazilian producers spent their energy chasing exports while neglecting domestic consumption. "We Brazilians worry so much about exporting our products, but often we forget we have an extraordinary market in our own country," he argued.
Lula also invoked Africa, framing Brazil's agricultural ambitions there as a counterweight to American military adventurism. "While Trump wants to wage war, Brazil wants to teach African people to make peace by producing food," he said, referencing the government's planned investments on the continent and Brazil's historical reckoning with slavery. It was a pointed contrast—one nation choosing conflict, another choosing cultivation.
The jabuticaba joke, then, was more than a lighthearted aside. It was Lula signaling that Brazil would not be lectured or pressured by Washington, that the relationship could be managed with humor and grace, and that Brazil had other options, other markets, other friends. The fruit itself—sweet, dark, distinctly Brazilian—became a symbol of what the president believed his country should be selling: not deference, but its own abundance.
Notable Quotes
When I travel, I'm going to try to bring a jabuticaba tree to Trump to calm him down. Tell him that jabuticaba is calming.— President Lula, at Brasil na Mesa event
While Trump wants to wage war, Brazil wants to teach African people to make peace by producing food.— President Lula
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did Lula choose to make this joke now, in public, rather than handle the tensions quietly through diplomatic channels?
Because the tensions were already public. Trump and Lula had been trading criticism over the Middle East for weeks. By joking about it at a farm fair, Lula was doing something clever—he was acknowledging the strain without escalating it, while also shifting the conversation to what Brazil actually cares about: its own agricultural power.
But isn't there a risk that Trump takes offense? That he sees it as mockery?
Perhaps. But Lula seemed to be betting that humor could defuse what anger might inflame. He was also signaling that Brazil doesn't need to grovel. The jabuticaba is a gift, yes, but it's a gift on Brazil's terms—something Brazil produces, something distinctly Brazilian.
The comment about Africa and peace versus Trump's war—that felt pointed.
It was. Lula was drawing a line. He was saying: we have a different vision for how to use our influence in the world. Not military, not coercive. Agricultural, developmental, rooted in shared history and mutual benefit.
Does this suggest Brazil is moving away from the United States?
Not necessarily away. But toward a more independent posture. Lula is saying Brazil has options—China, Africa, its own domestic market. The relationship with Washington doesn't have to be the center of everything.
What about the federal police delegate? That seems like a real breach of trust.
It is. That's why the joke matters. It's a way of saying: we can disagree on operational matters, we can enforce our sovereignty, and we can still talk to each other. The fruit is the olive branch.