Brazil's Lula vows to veto bill cutting Bolsonaro's 27-year prison sentence
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Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a press conference at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, December 18, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
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BRASILIA, Dec 18 - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday said he will veto a bill passed by the country's Congress to cut former President Jair Bolsonaro's 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup and also told journalists he wanted to reduce tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
Brazil's Senate on Wednesday voted to approve the bill - which was passed by the country's lower house last week - after Bolsonaro began serving his sentence in November for plotting a coup against Lula after losing the 2022 election.
"With all due respect to Congress, when it gets to my table, I will veto it," Lula told a press conference. "I have the right to veto it, and then they have the right to overturn my veto or not."
Lula also said he is willing to mediate talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a bid to de-escalate tensions in the region amid a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean.
"Before Christmas arrives, I might have to speak with President Trump again to find out how Brazil can contribute to achieving a diplomatic agreement and not a fratricidal war," Lula told journalists.
Trump on Tuesday ordered a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela as Washington tries to increase pressure on Maduro's government.
Last year, Brazil pushed for negotiations between Maduro’s government and the opposition led by Maria Corina Machado after contested elections in the South American country, but to no avail.
Lula also said that Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had told him that while she supported the trade deal between the European Union and South America's Mercosur trade bloc, patience was needed to give EU governments time to ensure domestic support.
The deal, approved last December some 25 years after negotiations first launched, has proven contentious. On Wednesday, France and Italy said they were not ready to back the agreement, prompting a pushback from Lula.
Lula will convey Meloni’s position to his fellow Mercosur leaders, he said.
“(EU countries) approved safeguards, and we agreed with their safeguards. The Europeans lose nothing with this agreement,” he said. REUTERS
