President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) is having an intense diplomatic agenda this Friday (10). During his first trip to the US after taking office for his third presidential term, he will meet with American President Joe Biden and also meet with some parliamentarians and trade unionists.
The first meeting took place at 12:30 pm. (Brazil local time) with Senator Bernie Sanders. Currently in the Democratic Party, Sanders went down in history as the longest-serving independent US congressman. He was a deputy from 1991 until 2007 and, after that, a senator. In 2016 and 2020, he tried to run for president, but was defeated in the primaries.
Sanders denounced the political persecution against Lula during his time in prison in the city of Curitiba and showed support for the Brazilian leftist politician in his presidential campaign in 2022. One of the most notorious names of the left in the US, the democrat senator was among the first foreign politicians to acknowledge Lula’s victory over Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party).
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After meeting Sanders, Lula had an audience with deputies from the Democratic Party, starting at 1:15 pm (Brazil local time). Although the Presidency of the Republic had not made public the names of the congressmen and congresswomen that would attend the audience, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a socialist congresswoman from New York, was expected to participate in the event. She was one of the US parliamentarians to defend Bolsonaro's extradition from the country.
Later, at 2 pm (Brazil local time), the Brazilian president met representatives of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the most important trade union in the US. In 2018, when Lula registered his candidacy (which would later be rejected by the Supreme Electoral Court), AFL-CIO sent a large delegation to Brazil and showed public support for the Workers’ Party candidate.
The first meeting between Lula and Biden will take place at 6 pm at the White House, the US government seat. Earlier today, Lula posted on a social media platform that he hopes the talks will open the doors to a “very productive” relationship.
Bom dia. Hoje me reúno com o presidente Biden, @POTUS, na Casa Branca. Será nosso primeiro encontro e espero uma relação muito produtiva, para o bem do povo dos nossos países.
— Lula (@LulaOficial) February 10, 2023
Tweet: “Good morning. Today I’ll meet President Biden, @POTUS, at the White House. This will be our first meeting, and I hope for a very productive relationship for the good of both populations.”
After the private meeting, the presidents will participate in an expanded meeting with government representatives from both countries.
Expectations
According to a news report by Folha de São Paulo, after the meeting between the presidents, the US will announce they are sending resources to the Amazon Fund, which already has contributions from Germany and Norway for actions to tackle deforestation.
Columnist Jamil Chade, from UOL, said the meeting will also generate a political commitment to defend democracy. The idea is “to turn the page” on issues such as denialism and attacks on democratic institutions, leaving behind the governments of Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump.
Edited by: Flávia Chacon e Rodrigo Durão Coelho
