Havana Cuba. – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was received at the White House by his counterpart Joe Biden in his first visit to the American Union after having defeated Jair Bolsonaro at the polls. The bilateral exchange revolved around topics such as political radicalization and hate speech in the virtual space, the commitment to environmental conservation and a greater involvement of developed countries in complying with financing agreements in the climate section.
Prior to his meeting with Biden, the South American president met with important politicians from the US left, such as Bernie Sanders, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the Democratic Party and union representatives.
Lula warned about the emergence of a supposedly organized ultra-right, to which attention should be paid in order to avoid “Nazi attitudes.” Likewise, he addressed the acts of violence on January 8 in Brazil, when supporters of Bolsonaro invaded the National Congress and the Superior Court of Justice in rejection of the result of the presidential elections.
Regarding those events, Lula assured that democracy will prevail, and announced that he will not request the extradition of Jair Bolsonaro, who has been in the United States since the end of 2021. The leader of the Workers’ Party has decided to leave the matter in the hands of the courts , where there are already several investigations open against the former president, whom he described as a “faithful imitator of Trump”, and who “does not like unions, women or blacks.”
Regarding the environmental problems that plague Brazil, Lula recognized that there is a lot of work ahead and blamed the previous government for the setbacks in this vitally important issue. For now, he has promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 39% and fight deforestation.
As to the war in Ukraine that has lasted for almost a year, Lula reaffirmed his critical position on the Western powers and assured that Brazil will not support any war. However, he recognized Ukraine’s right to defend itself and reiterated its willingness to continue acting as a mediator in the conflict.
