President says he is ‘very impressed’ with Italian PM; invited Giorgia to visit Brazil
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) praised Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni this Thursday (June 22, 2023), who comes from the right and has already criticized the Brazilian. The president said he puts aside ideological issues when he visits another head of state.
“When one head of state meets another, the ideological issue is not at stake. […] I came here to discuss what is important for both countries to win. “In no country I visit do I worry about the president’s ideological mindset,” he said.
The President spoke to journalists in Rome this Thursday morning after a series of meetings including with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday (21/06/2023). Shortly afterwards he traveled to Paris, where he will meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
Lula said he was “very impressed” with Meloni and celebrated the fact that she was the first woman to hold the position. “It’s already extraordinary news in the face of so many men. In a world that is still very sexist, it is an extraordinary fact that a woman won the election in Italy, as Dilma did [Rousseff] in Brazil,” he said.
The two met on Wednesday at the Chigi Palace, the seat of the Italian government in Rome. Due to “problems with the agenda” the meeting did not want to take place at first. However, the meeting was confirmed at the last minute as the President was on a flight to Italy.
There have been concerns from diplomats in both governments that Lula’s visit to the European country without a meeting with the prime minister may symbolize the intersection of ideological differences with the pragmatic agenda between Brasília and Rome. Lula said he invited Meloni to visit Brazil, a country she has never been to.
In the interview, Lula also said that Meloni will face “a lot of prejudice and machismo.” “The gender issue is still a heavy burden. There is an increase in hatred, violence and disrespect towards women,” he said.
The gender agenda and advocating greater women’s participation in politics are the influence of Brazilian First Lady Janja Lula da Silva, who has publicly debated these issues.
Lula also said that Meloni has “a straight head” and is intelligent. “We have to hope that it works in Italy and that the country can grow,” he said.
Caesar Battisti
As a representative of the Italian right and founder of the Brothers of Italy party, Meloni has harshly criticized Lula in the past when he was in opposition. It essentially follows the case of former PAC (Armed Proletarians for Communism) member Cesare Battisti, convicted of four murders in Italy in the late 1970s.
Battisti spent 14 years in Brazil as a fugitive from Italian justice. Altogether he was in this state for 40 years. On the last day of his second term in 2010, Lula Battisti granted political sanctuary. The decision angered the Italians at the time. The government there demanded his extradition.
In December 2018, the Minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) Luiz Fux ordered the Italian’s arrest so that he could be extradited. In the same month, thenPresident Michel Temer (MDB) ordered his extradition. At the time, however, Battisti was considered a refugee.
By this time Battisti’s arrest had been decided by the Federal Court of Justice and the Michel Temer government was preparing for his extradition. But Battisti was again considered a fugitive. In January 2019, during Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) government, the terrorist was arrested in Bolivia and brought back to Italy, where he is serving a life sentence.
In March 2019, Battisti admitted his involvement in the four murders in the 1970s when he was active in leftwing armed groups rebelling against the governments of the time.
In April 2021, in an interview with TG2 Post, Lula asked forgiveness from the Italian people for not extraditing Battisti. “I apologize to the Italian people, I thought he was innocent but after his confession I can only apologize. I was wrong,” he said.
When former President Jair Bolsonaro was elected in 2018, Meloni celebrated by saying that the left had been defeated globally and by history. “Finally the peoples are regaining their freedom and sovereignty,” he said at the time.
defense of immigrants
Lula also said that the left, particularly the European one, must have “the courage” to defend immigration, particularly for those fleeing conflict. The Brazilian leader also said that the political spectrum needs a “new utopia” to combat the growth of the right in the world.
“We must have the courage to defend the free movement of people just as the free movement of money is allowed. Money circulates in all countries without the need to present a passport. It takes more patience and maturity to defend migrants who flee because they cannot survive,” he said.
“It is normal for people to want to move from one place to another when there are centers of poverty and violence in the world. It is important to build this discourse, which will help bring it into conflict with the most conservative sectors in Europe, the United States, Latin America and everywhere,” he added.
Lula also defended that leftwing movements around the world, but especially in Europe, are creating a “new utopia” to overcome rightwing ideas. “There was a loss of discourse for the European left. We must build a new utopia to overcome the rightwing created utopia that the state is worthless, that the state must be weak and that only the private sector can solve problems. We need to build a different discourse,” he said.