MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Blinken to tour Brazil and Argentina next week

Blinken will be meeting with Lula and Milei to discuss global affairs

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning a trip to Brazil and Argentina next week, during which he will meet with local authorities to discuss regional matters in addition to participating in G20 engagements in Rio de Janeiro. In Buenos Aires, he will be welcomed by President Javier Milei, who will be traveling to the US the same week, it was also announced.

 Blinken will be in South America between Feb. 20 and 23. In Brasilia, he will talk with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and, in Rio de Janeiro, he will attend a meeting of G20 Foreign Ministers to review climate change, workers' rights, and the defense of democracy and other issues. After that, he will travel to the Argentine capital, according to a statement from the US State Department. It will be the first visit in years by a Secretary of State to these two countries.

Brazil was ruled until Dec. 31, 2022, by Jair Bolsonaro, who is very close to former Republican President Donald Trump. With Lula's return to power, bilateral relations with the Democratic administration became much closer. However, on some international issues important to Washington, such as the war in Ukraine and the political crisis in Venezuela, there seems to be no full understanding. Lula accuses the West of bearing some responsibility for the war in Ukraine.

At the Rio gathering on Feb. 21 and 22, Blinken will seek to engage world leaders in “increasing peace and stability, promoting social inclusion, reducing inequality, ending hunger, countering the climate crisis, promoting the transition to clean energy and sustainable development, and making global governance more effective,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Friday. In Brasilia, Blinken will meet with Lula on February 20 to address “bilateral and global issues,” he added.

Among the issues Blinken will discuss with Milei are “bilateral and global issues, including sustainable economic growth, our shared commitment to human rights and democratic governance, critical minerals, and enhancing trade and investment that benefits both countries,” it was explained by US diplomatic sources.

Milei, on the other hand, plans to travel next week to Washington DC to participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual meeting bringing together right-wing leaders between Feb 21 and 24, during which he is expected to meet with Trump and with Spain's Vox Party leader Santiago Abascal.

Also attending the event will be Brexit champion Nigel Farage and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, among other world leaders.