President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) trip to the United States for a meeting with President Joe Biden should be delayed until after his inauguration, scheduled for January 1, 2023, said this Monday (5) the former president Chancellor Celso Amorim.
Lula’s main advisor for foreign policy, the former minister participated in Lula’s meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“The president commented on the internal situation, various negotiations that are still taking place and said that perhaps it would not [para ir aos EUA antes de assumir]🇧🇷 I didn’t say no, but maybe I wouldn’t. He really appreciated the fact that the invitation was made that way, but that maybe it wouldn’t be possible to be there before the inauguration”, stated Amorim. “He thinks it’s possible to go at the beginning of the year [2023] also, already on an official visit as president.”
Sullivan traveled to Brazil to invite Lula and discuss “common challenges” for both countries, including the climate crisis, food security, democracy and immigration.
According to Amorim’s report, Lula’s conversation with Biden’s representative was “very broad, including regional, global and world themes”.
The pacification of Haiti was one of the themes contemplated. According to the former chancellor, both Lula and Sullivan showed concern with the situation in the country, but the American adviser did not make any special requests to the future Brazilian government.
“The President himself [eleito] Lula recalled the effort that Brazil had in the past on the issue of Haiti, sometimes even facing internal opposition. And the concern he has because the current situation is apparently much worse than 14, 15 years ago”, he commented. The Brazilian military participated in the UN mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2017.
The crisis in Venezuela was another subject on the agenda. For Americans, it is essential that there be an election that is considered fair in the Venezuelan country. Lula, in turn, spoke of the importance of recognizing realities, recalling past experiences and preaching dialogue.
The meeting was also attended by the former mayor of São Paulo Fernando Haddad (PT), a member of the technical group for the transition economy and quoted to take over the Ministry of Finance, and Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA).
On the American side, the senior director for the Western Hemisphere of the National Security Council Juan González, who handles matters related to Latin America, Ricardo Zúniga, assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere at the State Department and former consul in São Paulo, and the chargé d’affaires of the American Embassy in Brazil, Douglas Koneff.
The meeting with Biden’s emissary with Lula had already been announced by the president-elect on Friday (2), during an interview with journalists at the CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil), where the transition office is located. On the occasion, Lula stated that he would settle the details of his trip to the US, but that the eventual trip would only take place after his diplomacy, on the 12th.
Lula said he wanted to discuss issues with Biden that ranged from Brazil’s geopolitical role, democracy in both countries, to the war in Ukraine.
“I think we have a lot to talk about, because the US suffers from a democratic need as much as Brazil. [Donald] Trump did in American democracy is the same as Bolsonaro did in Brazil,” Lula said at the time.
The president-elect received the American delegation this Monday at the hotel where he is staying in Brasília, during the activities of the transitional cabinet. The meeting lasted nearly two hours. Earlier, a team from the Federal Police bomb squad carried out a sweep of the site. This is a routine procedure.
Before talking to Lula, Sullivan had already met PT senator Jaques Wagner. This Monday afternoon, Biden’s representative will also meet with Admiral Flávio Rocha, special secretary for Strategic Affairs of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government.
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