President Jair Bolsonaro arrived in Los Angeles, United States, early Thursday afternoon (9), where he will attend the Summit of the Americas. The aim of the event is to bring together leaders from the countries of South America, Central America and North America to discuss strengthening democracy in the region.
The program of the Summit of the Americas began on Monday (6th) and will run until this Friday (10th), but the plenary session with the heads of state will take place this Thursday. In the evening, US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden welcome the heads of state and government to a dinner.
Bolsonaro’s entourage took off from Brasília Air Force Base late Wednesday evening (8). The official agenda released by the Palácio do Planalto provides for a bilateral meeting between Bolsonaro and Biden later this Thursday (See below for details).
Bolsonaro decided to attend the meeting two days after he received the US government’s special envoy for the Americas Summit, Christopher Dodd, and the US Embassy’s charge d’affaires in Brazil, Douglas Koneff, at the Planalto Palace.
Bolsonaro accepts Biden’s invitation to the Americas summit
In a note issued by the US Embassy, Christopher Dodd explained that during the meeting he expressed to the Brazilian President his “desire for active participation by Brazil at the summit” and stated that he “acknowledges the collective responsibility” for doing so towards a more inclusive and prosperous world”.
President Jair Bolsonaro and US President Joe Biden will hold a bilateral meeting during the Americas Summit. The meeting will take place this Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, according to the official agenda published by the Palácio do Planalto.
2 of 2 Jair Bolsonaro and Joe Biden — Photo: Adriano Machado/Reuters and Carolyn Kaster/AP
Jair Bolsonaro and Joe Biden — Photo: Adriano Machado/Reuters and Carolyn Kaster/AP
According to US government adviser on Latin American affairs Juan Gonzales, Bolsonaro and Biden will discuss broad issues during the meeting.
When asked if the US president would discuss Brazil’s electoral system with Bolsonaro, the US government adviser on Latin American affairs replied that the US trusts Brazil’s electoral institutions.
Bolsonaro has a distant relationship with Biden. In the 2020 election, the Brazilian President declared his support for thenPresident Donald Trump, who lost his reelection attempt. Bolsonaro even claimed that there was fraud in the US election.
The Summit of the Americas is an attempt by President Joe Biden to rebuild ties with Latin American countries after the years of Donald Trump not attending the last Summit in Lima in 2018.
- Understand why Biden wants to get closer to Latin American countries and find out what the difficulties will be
- SANDRA COHEN: Biden and López Obrador, the losers at the Americas summit
The event started this Monday (6), but Biden will not officially open the meeting until this Wednesday (8).
According to US government officials, during the event Biden will seek a regional consensus on a new economic agenda to further develop existing trade deals with Latin America and intends to present a plan to counter growing migration.
Nevertheless, according to the authorities, the US government intends to position itself as Latin America’s most important economic partner in order to neutralize Chinese attacks.
As the host, the US government was responsible for compiling the guest list for the event. The United States barred Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Americas Summit over alleged ideological disagreements.
The action angered some leaders, including the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “I’m not going to the summit because not all countries in America are invited, and I believe in the need to change the exclusionary policy that has been imposed for centuries,” said López Obrador.
As of this Monday (6) heads of state and government from eight countries had announced that they would not be taking part in the event.
Alongside López Obrador and the leaders of the countries excluded from the US, the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Uruguay have announced that they will not be attending the Summit of the Americas.
After the trip to California, Bolsonaro will transit US territory on June 910 and travel to Orlando, Florida, where he will attend the inauguration of the Vice Consulate of Brazil.