Lula Denounces UN Failures and Pushes Minerals Sovereignty at CELAC–Africa Forum in Bogotá

Overview

• Lula told CELAC–Africa delegates that the UN Security Council is failing to keep peace, declaring that its permanent members are the ones waging wars and urging reform to expand Latin American and African representation.
• He warned of “neoextractivist” pressures over rare earths and other critical minerals, calling for South–South cooperation to add value locally and reiterating that Brazil will require domestic processing.
• Brazil–U.S. talks on access to rare earths remain active, with U.S. diplomats publicly awaiting a formal Brazilian response as Brasília insists on conditions for in‑country processing.
• Turnout by heads of state at the CELAC summit was limited and, after delays, Lula returned to Brazil before the leaders’ meeting, which Brazil’s foreign minister Mauro Vieira attended as Colombia handed the rotating presidency to Uruguay.
• On the sidelines, Lula met Colombia’s Gustavo Petro and Burundi’s Évariste Ndayishimiye, advanced cooperation including an Embrapa office in Addis Ababa, and discussed UN leadership bids such as Brazil’s backing of Michelle Bachelet.