Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met on Monday with a series of representatives of foreign delegations in consecutive bilateral meetings, one day after acceding to the Brazilian presidency, with the aim of resuming the dialogue deteriorated during the mandate of Jair Bolsonaro.
«Full day today. There were 10 meetings with representatives from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America,» Lula has communicated through a message on his profile on the social network Twitter.
«We had initially scheduled 17 meetings. Unfortunately, we lacked time with so many good conversations. We will have other opportunities. The world missed Brazil,» said the Brazilian president.
At the beginning of the day, the president had stated that the intention of meeting with foreign delegations in Brasilia on the occasion of his inauguration was to work «for Brazil to have the role it deserves in the world».
Early in the morning, he held a meeting with King Felipe VI, Second Vice-President Yolanda Díaz and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares at the Itamaraty Palace, where they discussed «relations between Brazil and Spain, Europe and Latin America», according to Lula.
Afterwards, he met with the President of Bolivia, Luis Arce, with whom he discussed how both countries «can collaborate in social policy, energy and fertilizer supply». Also with his counterpart in Guinea Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló; or in Argentina, Alberto Fernández, with whom he resumed «the dialogue and friendship» of «one of Brazil’s main partners in the world».
The Brazilian president has met Guillermo Lasso, president of Ecuador, and both have shown their «desire to expand bilateral relations». He also met his Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric, highlighting the «immense potential for collaboration» for the development of the region.
In addition, he spoke with the leader of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, about the «need to unite the Amazonian countries in the protection of the environment and to advance in the transition and energy integration» of the continent.
From Brasilia, the President of Brazil thanked his Honduran counterpart, Xiomara Castro, for her presence at the inauguration celebration, and asked her to jointly fight poverty.
Lula also received the Vice President of China, Wang Qishan, while he announced that his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had sent him a letter «with his greetings and his willingness to expand cooperation». «China is our largest trading partner and we can further expand relations between our countries,» he said.
Also from outside Latin America, he has met with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, whom he has described as a «friend». «I was happy to be able to reciprocate the hospitality he showed me when I visited Lisbon as president-elect in November,» he said.
The Brazilian Presidency had also arranged meetings with the leader of Angola, Joao Lourenço; the Prime Minister of Mali, Choguel Kokalla Maiga; or the President of Timor, José Ramos Horta. In addition to the vice-president of Cuba, Salvador Antonio Valdés Mesa; the prime minister of Peru, Alberto Otárola; or the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez.
Lula, hours after being sworn in as Brazil’s 39th president at the beginning of his third term as head of the country, revoked more than a dozen decrees signed during the government of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
