First change: 01.04.2023 – 01:46 Last change: 01.04.2023 – 01:44
Brasilia (AFP) – Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will make his first official trip to Argentina in late January, followed by visits to the United States, Portugal and China, a presidency source reported Tuesday.
Lula, 77, will attend the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) Summit taking place in Buenos Aires on January 23-24.
Then the left-wing leader, who took over the presidency of the South American giant for the third time last Sunday, is due to meet with his American counterpart Joe Biden in Washington in what is still an “undated” trip, according to the same source.
The trip to China, Brazil’s first trading partner, will take place “after March,” he added.
The Presidency also confirmed that Lula will be in Portugal from April 22-25, as indicated by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo the day before after the two met in Brasilia.
Argentine President Alberto Fernández was also anticipating Lula’s visit to Buenos Aires after meeting the new president on Monday.
Lula, who twice ruled the continental-sized country and Latin America’s largest economy between 2003 and 2010, is showing early signs of wanting to break Brazil’s international isolation during the four years of his predecessor, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
In his inaugural address to Congress, he announced a new role for Brazil in the world by resuming “South American integration” and resuming “high and active dialogue with the United States, the European Community and China.”
The new foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, said at his inauguration on Monday that Brazil would have “a huge reconstruction job” after this “unprecedented setback”.
© 2023 AFP