President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered a fiercely nationalistic message on Brazil’s Independence Day, September 7, asserting the country’s right to determine its own trade policy and control its vast natural resources without foreign interference. In his address, President Lula stated flatly that Brazil “will not be a colony” and will not “bow its head to foreign powers,” framing his administration's economic policy around the principle of full national sovereignty. The speech, broadcast across the country, used the annual commemoration to reinforce a stance of geopolitical non-alignment amid rising friction with major global trade partners.