The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrived in Washington to visit this Friday at the White House to President Joe Biden and said he wanted to build a “cooperative and growing” relationship with the United States.
Lula arrived accompanied by his wife Rosangela and a delegation of officials at the end of the afternoon and stayed at the “Blair house”, the official residence for visitors which is located just in front of the presidential palace.
He will just have to cross Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday at 3 p.m. local time to meet Biden, who will be receiving guests along with his wife Jill. The first ladies will have a separate meeting.
As he expressed before boarding the plane on his social networks, Lula will discuss some issues with Biden such as the development of our regionactions for peace in the world and against fake news”.
I raise
Lula is trying to revive relations with the United States, Brazil’s second trading partner after China, after his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, had a very cold relationship with Biden since he admired Donald Trump and his policies to the point of being called the “Tropical Trump”.
The Planalto Palace stated that “the meeting will provide an opportunity to give new impetus to relations between Brazil and the United States, based on the defense of democratic institutions, the fight against incitement to hatred and disinformation, the promotion of human rights And the fight against climate change”. There will also be production and trade issues on the agenda.
This was stated by Rafael Ioris, professor of Latin American history and politics at the University of Denver clarion that “the Biden government seeks to restore normalcy” in the link.
“Now that Bolsonaro (like Trump) is gone, Biden sees this meeting as a great opportunity to engage with Brazil (but also with Latin America) on more normal terms. That includes the usual issues of trade, immigration, as well as, especially in Lula’s case, advocacy for democratic institutions in the hemisphere and beyond,” he added.
The context
Ioris also added that “given the importance of Brazil for the government of the Amazon, the meeting will certainly include environmental issues. So even if the meaning is two-sided, it is a hemispheric meeting since both countries have the opportunity to address issues that affect most of the countries of the continent”.
This was stated by Bruna Santos, a senior consultant at the Brazilian Institute of the Wilson Center clarion that “with Lula, Biden now has a new partner in the region” and that the summit is an opportunity for the Brazilian to show “his leadership and his commitment to democratic values”.
“Given the events of the past month and a half in Brazil, Lula has an opportunity to be seen as a champion of democracy,” he said. However, the expert believes that beyond these symbolic gestures, “this summit is not expected to produce many concrete results” that Brazil hopes for, such as gaining the status of a major US ally outside NATO, or approving Brazil’s candidacy for OECD membership.
Before meeting with Biden, Lula will meet with Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Bernie Sanders, and union representatives in the morning.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.