Lula proposes himself in Malaysia as an interlocutor between Trump and Maduro

The presidents of the two American giants are the same age, but their political ideas are as antagonistic as their life histories. However, both Brazil's Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump demonstrated a level playing field this Sunday in Kuala Lumpur in their first 50-minute meeting, in which they underscored their desire to move on.

So much so that Lula offered to act as an intermediary between the US and Nicolás Maduro's Venezuela, while the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford , sails toward the Caribbean. It's unclear whether the offer will be welcomed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was present during the talks held in the heat of the ASEAN summit.

Sparks have been flying between Washington and Brasilia in recent months over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump supporter from the very beginning. Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian products, including beef and coffee, as punishment in July.

After Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for being a coup plotter, the "tarifaço" (as it's known in Brazil) has become a stumbling block for both sides. Lula has said the conversation was "optimal" and that there's no reason for the two most populous countries in the Americas to get along. "There will be good news soon."

Lula has, however, asked the United States to revoke the sanctions it imposed against most of the Brazilian Supreme Court justices. "President Lula stated that Latin America is a region of peace," added Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.

It's worth remembering that Lula was imprisoned between 2018 and 2019—a total of 580 days—while the Trump-Bolsonaro duo was in power. This was the result of a process that many Brazilians considered textbook lawfare, like the one that had recently served to remove President Dilma Rousseff.

In Malaysia, Bolsonaro wasn't even summoned, according to a senior Brazilian official. Meanwhile, Rousseff, Lula's co-religionist, has been president of the New Development Bank, the BRICS bank, in Shanghai for several years, a sign of the times.

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Brazil's tariff abuse is unparalleled. Unexpectedly, Trump also slapped his "friend" Narendra Modi's India with a 50% tariff. Modi understandably chose not to attend the Kuala Lumpur summit. And this very Sunday was the day chosen by India and China to resume direct flights, after a hiatus of more than five years. The first flight flew between Kolkata and Guangzhou, and the next between Delhi and Shanghai.

The 50% tariff Trump imposed on Brazil following the Bolsonaro trial is on its last legs.

It's worth noting that ASEAN was founded in 1967 as an association of US allies in Southeast Asia, fighting the spread of communism. These included Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei later joined, and after the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, the countries that had been on the opposing side joined: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma.

Today, the world is different, and ASEAN's largest trading partner is China, although the US remains its largest investor. ASEAN's eleven members—following the accession of East Timor yesterday—constitute a population of 700 million, 250 million more than the EU. Their move could tip the needle in Asia.