Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on Tuesday for increased investment in national defense during a ceremony marking Soldier's Day at the Army Headquarters in Brasília. According to G1, Lula said the defense sector needs resources to 'protect the country's territory and wealth.'

Soldier's Day is an annual Brazilian military commemoration honoring the army. Lula spoke alongside Army commander General Tomás Ribeiro Paiva and Defense Minister José Múcio. Per R7, Lula said defense spending cannot be something left for whenever there's money left over and argued Brazil should prepare not for war, but for peace in order to protect its territory, natural resources and people.

This is a country with land and maritime borders, forest reserves, critical minerals. We don't even know everything we have, oil included. Defense can't wait until there's spare money. We have to prepare the country, not for war, but for peace, and defend our territory and our wealth, the president said, according to G1.

The push for higher military spending is not new. According to R7, during a visit to the Aramar Nuclear Industrial Center in the interior of São Paulo state the previous week, Lula had already pledged to seek funding to complete Brazil's first nuclear-powered submarine and criticized the lack of continuity in financing projects considered strategic for national sovereignty.

Courting the military, dodging other questions

At Tuesday's ceremony, Lula also highlighted the first-ever participation of women soldiers in the military parade. These are the Army's first female recruits who joined this year, and they are ready to show that women can be anywhere, he said, according to R7. G1 noted the ceremony took place in Brasília's Urban Military Sector, the same area where pro-coup encampments gathered after the 2022 election.

Reporters at the event pressed Lula about a Federal Police investigation involving his son, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, and his former chief of staff, Marco Aurélio Santana Ribeiro, known as Marcola. According to G1, Lula did not answer the questions and left shortly after his remarks on defense. In an interview with TV Record on Sunday, the president had said no one would go unpunished 'if they made a mistake' and that Lulinha would have to 'prove his innocence.'