President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended fiscal and legal responsibility as the way to attract foreign investment to Brazil. He spoke on Thursday, 5 November 2026, at a meeting of the National Council for Industrialization of Critical and Strategic Minerals (CIMCE), his first official event since re-election.
Lula said investors would not be drawn by personal appeal. “If we want to attract capital, we must be serious,” he said. “Nobody will put money here because of the beautiful hair of Lula and Alckmin or the eyes of Dario [Durigan, Finance Minister].”
Priority minerals defined
Council members set 27 critical and strategic minerals as priorities. The list is divided into three classes.
Class 1 includes rare earths, graphite, lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, silicon and uranium. Class 2 includes tungsten, chromium, vanadium, tantalum, titanium, phosphate, potassium and sulfur. Class 3 includes niobium, tin, iron, zinc, gold, magnesium, molybdenum, thorium, aluminium and the platinum group.
Pressure on public accounts
The Lula government faces criticism over its management of public accounts. Concerns centre on the sustainability of public debt, budget management and the pace of spending cuts.
The council, also known as the Conselhão, was created on 16 September 2026 as part of the government’s initiative on critical and strategic minerals.
