Brazilian President Lula indirectly calls out Elon Musk on climate crisis, further fueling tensions
By Heather Law and Julia Vargas Jones, CNN
New York (CNN) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva indirectly called out Elon Musk on the climate crisis on Tuesday, further increasing tensions between the country’s leaders and the billionaire businessman.
Speaking at a launch event for the Union with Municipalities to Reduce Deforestation and Forest Fires in the Amazon, Lula spoke of “billionaires trying to build a rocket to find something in space,” alluding to several comments Musk has made in the past on colonizing Mars, Brazilian media reported.
Lula published the same comments in a post on X, the social media platform that Musk owns, further adding, “He will have to learn to live here. He will have to use his money to help preserve the environment,” without explicitly mentioning Musk’s name.
Lula’s comments come as tensions between Musk and Brazil steadily escalate.
Brazil’s attorney general called for social media platforms in the country to be regulated after Musk threatened to disobey a court order banning certain accounts on X and lashed out against “aggressive censorship.”
In a recent post on X, Attorney General Jorge Messias wrote: “It is urgent to regulate social networks. We cannot live in a society in which billionaires domiciled abroad have control of social networks and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, failing to comply with court orders and threatening our authorities.”
In a statement, Brazil’s Supreme Court described Musk’s defiance as a “flagrant” obstruction of justice and said he should be investigated by the police. Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes also announced he would open an inquiry into Musk.
Musk, expressing his discontent, made numerous posts on X in recent days, taunting de Moraes and going as far as to demand his resignation or impeachment, citing a violation of the Brazilian constitution.
“How did @Alexandre de Moraes become the dictator of Brazil? He has Lula on a leash,” one post read, with a laughing-crying emoji tacked at the end.
Musk suggested that Moraes was behind the ban on certain accounts, writing Sunday on X that the judge had “brazenly and repeatedly betrayed the constitution and people of Brazil. He should resign or be impeached.”
On Saturday, X’s global government affairs team posted that it had been “forced by court decisions to block certain popular accounts in Brazil” and threatened with “daily fines” for non-compliance.
“We do not know which posts are alleged to violate the law. We are prohibited from saying which court or judge issued the order, or on what grounds,” the team wrote. The team indicated it does not believe the orders are constitutional and will challenge them legally where possible.
Musk is expected to meet with far-right Argentine leader Javier Milei, an ally of Lula’s rival and predecessor, former President Jair Bolsonaro, at a Tesla factory in Texas on Saturday, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said Tuesday, Reuters reports.
Social media platforms have been widely viewed as a catalyst for riots in Brazil that took place on January 8 last year, when hundreds of protesters broke into federal government buildings in the capital Brasilia, in scenes reminiscent of the January 6, 2021, insurrection in the United States.
– CNN’s Hanna Ziady, Duarte Mendonca and Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.
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