Xi assures Brazil's Lula of China's support in 'turbulent' times

Chinese leader Xi Jinping assured his Brazilian counterpart on Friday that China would stand by Latin America's biggest economy and the Global South, and called for both nations to maintain the role of the United Nations, state news agency Xinhua said.



Xi's comments in a telephone call with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva followed the latter's criticism of the U.S. attack on Venezuela in an opinion piece in the New York Times this week.



China and Brazil should safeguard the shared interests of the Global South and jointly maintain the role of the United Nations in the "current turbulent international situation", Xi added, the agency said.



The remarks came weeks after the Trump administration seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to be prosecuted in the United States on narcotics charges, throwing Caracas into political uncertainty.



That action stoked worries among Latin American countries about the risk of similar interventions by force on their turf, and prompted criticism from the United Nations.