Wall Street and City of London financiers have launched a preemptive strike against Brazil, just days before it assumes the chairmanship of the BRICS on Jan. 1, 2025. President Lula da Silva has been outspoken that the BRICS group has the right and the need to take measures to defend the economic development of its members and all Global South countries. He is adamant that Africa must be relieved of its debt burden, mechanisms for BRICS nations to trade and invest in their own national currencies be created, and vigorous action taken to eradicate hunger worldwide.
International financial ghouls put out the word at the end of November that the Lula government has to impose more austerity on Brazil’s people, “or else.” Their media threatened that unless the government adopts more drastic budget cuts and dumps its announced tax plan, they would make sure that Brazil’s central bank raises Brazil’s already-usurious interest rate and the “markets” would drive down the value of the national currency, the Real, even further. Were the government to capitulate to the demanded austerity, the economy will be thrown into a tailspin and social unrest will grow.
Both threatened attacks are already underway:
• On Dec. 11, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM) raised the basic SELIC rate, already a whopping 11.25%, by a full percentage point to 12.25%, and announced that unless conditions change, it will raise the interest rate by another 1% when they meet in January and then again in March, bringing the rate to 14.25% and crippling the productive economy even further. According to The Economist magazine yesterday, Brazil’s two-year government bonds “now yield more than 15%, up from just under 10% at the end of 2023.”
