The US Senator Ted Cruz, ranking member of the senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation and member of the senate foreign relations committee, issued a statement on Tuesday, February 28th, threatening to impose sanctions on Brazil.
“The docking of Iranian warships in Brazil is a dangerous development and a direct threat to the safety and security of Americans. The United States has sanctions and antiterrorism laws designed exactly to deter and respond to these threats.” Cruz said.
He also said that the US administration should re-evaluate whether Brazil is cooperating sufficiently with the United States. If the administration won’t do it, Congress should force it to do so.
The Iranian navy frigate ‘Dena’ and the supply ship ‘Makran’ are on a mission to sail around the world. These two ships arrived at the port of Rio on Sunday, February 26, before heading to the Panama Canal. In the wake of the arrival of the Iranian naval ships to Brazil, the US government urged Brazil to deny the ships permission to anchor.
Cruz described Brazilian President Lula da Silva as “aligned against the US and our interests” and added that Biden either did not convey the US concerns while hosting Lula at the White House or “the Brazilians didn’t care.”
Glenn Greenwald, an American journalist based in Brazil, said that Cruz’s speech exposed US hypocrisy in front of the world.
“The United States officially considers all of South America its possession, and sees itself as the supreme ruler of the entire region,” Greenwald tweeted.
“If Ukraine has the right to host all of NATO right on the Russian border, then Brazil can host whichever ships it wants,” Greenwald added.
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