Brazil’s president has blasted the monstrous role of the US dollar in the global economy during a formal visit to China after the two nations forged a recent pact to replace the dollar with their own currencies in trade deals.
"Why should every country have to be tied to the dollar for trade? Who decided the dollar would be the world's currency?" asked President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a Thursday ceremony in China’s largest city and global financial hub, Shanghai, to inaugurate his political ally Dilma Rousseff as president of the New Development Bank set up by the BRICS member nations -- Brazil, China, Russia, India and South Africa.
"Why can't a bank like the BRICS bank have a currency to finance trade between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other BRICS countries? Today, countries have to chase after dollars to export, when they could be exporting in their own currencies," added visiting Lula, who is currently touring China aiming to further expand ties with his country’s top trading partner.
The 77-year-old president, who is due to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, intends to reposition Brazil as a global go-between and deal broker, spreading a message that "Brazil is back" as a key player on the global stage.
Lula’s administration declared last month that China and Brazil had reached a deal to trade in their own currencies, ditching the US dollar as an intermediary.
Under the currency deal, Brazil and China named two banks – one in each country – to conduct their massive trade and financial transactions by directly exchanging yuan for reais and vice versa, rather than going through the dollar.
China is Brazil's biggest trading partner, with a record $150.5 billion in bilateral trade last year.....more below
eurofascism
The European Union is out of control and out of touch with reality. They announced a new round of sanctions on individuals and groups who refuse to drink the EU kool-aid on Ukriane. I was particularly shocked and angered by their decision to punish Colonel Jacques Baud:
Jacques Baud, a former Swiss army colonel and strategic analyst, is a regular guest on pro-Russian television and radio programmes. He acts as a mouthpiece for pro-Russian propaganda and makes conspiracy theories, for example accusing Ukraine of orchestrating its own invasion in order to join NATO.
Therefore, Jacques Baud is responsible for, implementing or supporting actions or policies attributable to the Government of the Russian Federation which undermine or threaten stability or security in a third country (Ukraine) by engaging in the use of information manipulation and interference.”
You know it is a serious matter of egregious abuse of power when Dr. Gilbert Doctorow and I are in firm agreement… Here ...
Volkswagen is shutting down its Dresden plant—the first closure in its 88-year history—due to skyrocketing energy costs, plummeting sales and geopolitical pressures. The "Transparent Factory" was once a symbol of VW's EV ambitions but failed commercially, producing fewer than 200,000 vehicles since 2001.
Up to 35,000 German jobs could be slashed by 2030, including thousands in R&D, as part of a brutal restructuring. Germany's economy is in a "structural crisis" due to disastrous energy policies (anti-Russia sanctions), rising production costs and collapsing competitiveness.
The European Union's rejection of Russian oil/gas crippled German industry, while China dominates EV sales and U.S. tariffs hurt exports. Analysts warn Volkswagen faces severe cash flow pressures by 2026, forcing cuts to gasoline R&D despite weak EV demand.
The Dresden plant will be repurposed into an AI, robotics and microchip research hub, aligning with the globalist agenda: Centralized control by elites, ...
Sanctions aimed at weakening Russia have backfired spectacularly, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told Corriere della Sera.
19 rounds of sanctions cobbled together in nearly four years have boomeranged, bringing the West’s economies “to their knees,” Matteo Salvini emphasized, adding that they sent Italian household energy bills “soaring.”
Salvini also urged caution amid Europe’s growing militarization, fueled by what he described as an alleged “phantom threat” from Russia.
After all, “if Hitler and Napoleon couldn’t conquer Moscow through military campaigns,” he noted, it’s "hardly likely" that people like European Commission Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas, French President Macron, UK Prime Minister Starmer, or German Chancellor Merz would succeed either, Salvini added.....more below