Lula adapts ‘two Brazils’ at COP27, maintains ties but eclipses jet travel

President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) began to reposition Brazil on the international stage by attending the 27th United Nations Climate Conference COP27, held in Egypt, on his first overseas trip after winning the polls.

Lula’s attendance at the event started off controversial as she arrived on a businessman’s private jet (14) on Monday. But today the PT has come forward with promising changes in the country’s stance, especially in the environmental field, and held private meetings with representatives of the largest economies on the planet, the USA and China.

How was Lula’s participation in COP27? The president-elect arrived in Egypt hoping to present a change in the direction of the country regarding President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) government at COP27.

The Bolsonarist government was marked by statements that minimized problems such as deforestation in the Amazon and Brazil’s responsibility for climate change.

While criticizing the Bolsonaro administration, Lula also gave messages in his speech that lasted for about 30 minutes (read the full text):

• urged rich countries to invest in the fight against global warming,
• declared that international climate agreements “must get off the ground”,
• and preached the strengthening of global alliances.

Lula recalled that after announcing his election victory on October 30, he delivered a speech emphasizing the need to unite Brazil “divided by the mass spread of fake news and hate speech”. He then drew a parallel between the situation in Brazil and that of the world:

on this occasion [o discurso após a vitória]I said, there are not two Brazils. Now I want to say that there are not two Earth planets. We are one species called Humanity, and there will be no future as long as we continue to dig a bottomless pit of inequality between rich and poor.
Lula in his speech at COP27

Restoration of loops. Lula’s death also marked the resumption of ties with the biggest economic powers on the planet. Shortly before speaking at the COP, the PT member announced that he had met with special climate ambassadors from the US and China, John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua.

Relations with the two countries were tense. Bolsonaro and his allies have launched attacks on the Asian country, especially due to the pandemic, which has caused friction with Chinese diplomats. In the USA, the closeness that existed during the period of former President Donald Trump broke down with the election of Joe Biden.

Details of the content of Lula’s meeting with Chinese and US representatives were not disclosed, but there were already signs that the meeting would revolve around the fight against deforestation, among other topics.

In his last 10 years, prior to Lula’s arrival at the COP, Kerry met with Marina Silva (Rede-SP), former Minister of the Environment and slated to return to office. In conversation, Marina suggested to the American that the country donate to the Amazon Fund, currently funded by Germany and Norway.

In addition to these talks, Lula also spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with Senate chairman Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD), where he discussed the possibility of leaving Marina and the Bolsa Familia. outside the spending ceiling for the next 4 years.

Jet controversy. Lula made her mark as soon as she arrived in Egypt, traveling on a plane owned by businessman José Seripieri Junior, founder of Qualicorp and owner of Qsaúde. The Gulfstream model aircraft has the capacity to carry 12 people and has the autonomy to fly directly to the African country.

Gezi provoked negative reactions and even a request for an investigation to the PGR (Prosecutor General of the Republic) by the deputy of the party’s Bolsonarist wing, Ubiratan Sanderson (PL-RS).

In a statement to PGR, Sanderson recalled that Seripiri Júnior closed a bounty deal in 2020 with a “200 million BRL fine”, in which he admitted to making election donations through slush funds in a lawsuit involving Senator José. Serra (PSDB-SP).

Lula did not directly comment on the trip, but did speak up when the vice president-elect Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) was questioned. “The knowledge I have is that [o avião] cannot be borrowed. The owner is leaving,” he said. “No credit. And more people are leaving: ex-governor, political and environmental leaders,” he said.

Lula concludes her trip to Egypt tomorrow by attending the International Indigenous Peoples Forum and meeting with representatives of Brazilian civil society.