President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Tuesday (27) that he will travel to the United States in March for a bilateral meeting with the country’s president, Donald Trump. The meeting will take place at the White House in Washington. Lula confirmed the trip upon arriving in Panama, in Central America, where he will participate as a special guest at the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbeanat the invitation of the host country. The event will be this Wednesday (28). 
“At the beginning of March I’m going to take a trip to Washington because the United States and Brazil are the two main democracies in the West and I think that two heads of state need to talk looking into each other’s eyes, so that we can discuss good relations between Brazil and the United States”, said the president in a quick conversation with journalists upon arrival at the hotel in Panama City.
“I am convinced that we will return to normality soon, that we will strengthen multilateralism and that we will make economies grow again, because that is what the people expect from all of us”, he added. Lula and Trump spoke by phone on Monday and discussed several issues, including the situation in Venezuela, the peace plan for the Gaza Strip and the fight against organized crimeaccording to an official note from Palácio do Planalto.
In Panama, Lula was also asked about the crisis in Venezuela and the US military presence in the Caribbean. He said he spoke twice with the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, in the days following the US military invasion in Caracas, but that he will call Nicolás Maduro’s successor again.
“I spoke to President Delcy twice, but I didn’t go into detail because she was very concerned about the events that were very recent. I will speak to President Delcy soon. I hope she can get the job done. It is important that President Trump allows Venezuela to take care of its sovereignty, take care of Venezuela’s democratic interests and let’s see what will happen. It’s all very recent and I think we have to have a little patience because those who will find a solution for the people of Venezuela are the Venezuelan people themselves,” said Lula.
Lula said that he has been talking to different international leaders in defense of multilateralism, citing the conversation he had this Monday with the French Emmanuel Macronwith the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, and with Trump himself, the day before.
