MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula plans to rebuild bridges with South America

Lula's first trip after his inauguration will be to Argentina

Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will seek to rebuild ties with its South American neighbors and regain a leading role in the fight against climate change under future Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Agencia Brasil reported Monday.

The first step in this direction occurred when Lula went to Egypt to participate in COP27, the United Nations Climate Conference, and said that Brazil was “back” while proposing a new climate conference being held in the Amazon.

The new government also plans to strengthen mechanisms such as the Mercosur and the BRICS, in addition to pushing for structural reforms to the United Nations Organization (UNO) and the conquest of a seat on the entity's Security Council.

Lula will also seek to strengthen strategic commercial partnerships, such as the one with China. The Asian country accounted for the largest share of Brazilian exports in 2021: 31.28% of the total, or US$ 87.7 billion.

Lula's first international trip after taking office as President of the Republic will be to Argentina, where he will participate in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

According to Vieira, Lula intends to implement a policy of rebuilding bridges, first with South American neighbors, reestablishing all mechanisms of contact and negotiation, and also with Latin America in general. Lula's trips to the United States and China are also planned for the first quarter.

Soon after the confirmation of Lula's victory in the second round, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, sent a letter of congratulations to the elected president. “I was pleased to receive a letter from President Xi Jinping, reinforcing the congratulations for the electoral result, the friendship and global strategic partnership between our countries, and the long-term vision of relations between Brazil and China,” he said in a message on Twitter.

In November, the United States (US) government also made a gesture of rapprochement with Brazil. Lula had a meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other representatives of Joe Biden's administration in Brasilia. At the meeting, Lula was invited for a visit to Washington, even before he was sworn in, which was not possible.

Jake Sullivan told the president-elect that Joe Biden intends to meet with him personally to express a real commitment and motivation to protect the Amazon and to talk about a variety of support that his country can provide, ”not only technical but also financial.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)