Lula traveled to the US capital on Thursday, where he will arrive just 40 days after his inauguration, on January 1.
Text: yeny garcia
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will meet this Friday in Washington to discuss common issues such as climate change, national security and the protection of democracy, in a meeting that will serve to “relaunch a new era” in bilateral relations, official sources reported.
Lula traveled to the US capital on Thursday, where he will arrive just 40 days after taking office on January 1. Biden had already invited him to the White House in December.
“We want to build relationships of association and growth between our countries, for the development of our region, to discuss actions for peace in the world and against fake news,” the Brazilian head of state tweeted upon leaving Brasilia.
For the diplomat and advisor to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Filipe Nasser, Lula’s visit to Washington “reflects how great this moment is for relations between Brazil and the US.”
Nasser, the first secretary of the Brazilian mission to the United Nations, stressed that an invitation from Biden “so early in the administration” of Lula, “demonstrates the importance he attaches to this relationship.”
“This is an opportunity for the leaders to reestablish an understanding, a personal rapport between the two and really relaunch a new era in Brazil-US relations,” he said during a panel sponsored by the Quincy Institute, a think tank dedicated to the study of the Washington-based foreign policy
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sensitive topics
The meeting will take place after Biden described the situation in Brazil as “unacceptable” and expressed his support for Lula after the attack by followers of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on public institutions in the South American capital, on January 8, seven days later. of the inauguration of the veteran ruler.
The leftist Lula assumed the presidency of Brazil for the third time after defeating Bolsonaro in a close election, marked by the extreme polarization of the country and over which the specter of mistrust in the electoral process weighed, encouraged by far-right Bolsonaro supporters.
In addition to common issues such as the environment, the defense of peace and the economy, there are issues that experts identify as “sensitive” in view of the bilateral meeting at the White House.
Brazil’s relationship with China and Russia, both in open antagonism with the United States, could be one of those complex issues, however analysts such as Quincy Institute researcher Andre Pagliarini affirm that Lula is very careful when declaring alliances. .
According to Pagliarini, the veteran president intends to return Brazil to the center of the international scene after Bolsonaro “isolated” the country.
«We are in an era that many identify as a great emerging power dispute between the US and China, and Lula has made it clear, very early but also during his campaign; that Brazil has no interest in declaring sides. Brazil has its own interests », he insisted.
On January 31, during a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Sao Paulo, Lula explained that he had decided “not to send ammunition (to Ukraine) because we don’t want the war with Russia to continue. It is necessary to urgently find those who can mediate peace, a word that is rarely used in this conflict”, he said.
«When we talk about a mature relationship with the US, it means that we are willing to agree on a wide variety of issues and issues including climate change, environmental protection, the fight against hunger, racial discrimination, indigenous peoples, but also in that we can see different global issues in a different light,” Nasser remarked.
The diplomat insisted that “that is why the leaders (Biden and Lula) are meeting, to determine what they agree on and see if they find a ground of convergence in those that do not.”
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Bolsonaro, an uncomfortable guest
At the moment it has not been revealed whether both leaders discussed the presence in Florida of Jair Bolsonaro, who was not at Lula’s inauguration and has requested a six-month visitor visa in the US.
Bolsonaro is in the midst of controversy in Brazil due to his alleged relationship with the attack in Brasilia and his involvement in what is already considered “genocide” against the indigenous Yanomami community, decimated by curable diseases and malnutrition related to illegal mining. of gold.
Recently, a Brazilian magazine released an audio recording of a senator allied to Bolsonaro who claims that the then president sought help to carry out a plan to annul the October elections and remain in power.
Lula said shortly after that Bolsonaro tried to prevent him from taking office. “Now I know, and I will say it loud and clear: that man set up the coup. They wanted to make that mess on January 1, but they realized they couldn’t because there were too many police, too many people on the street,” Lula told the local RedeTV television network.
Bolsonaro, who no longer has legal protection privileges for the first time in his long career as a legislator and later president. No known visa category entered the United States. Authorities of the northern country have not commented on the subject either.
The former president has been seen shopping at a Florida supermarket, according to videos posted on social media. Several of his followers have gathered in front of the house where he resides in the state hoping to see him and ask for his autograph.
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