The head of French diplomacy in Brazil to renew relations between the two countries
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna with her counterpart Mauro Vieira in Brasilia, February 8, 2023. © Adriano Machado / REUTERS
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3 mins
With Lula's return to power, France and Brazil welcomed their reunion on Wednesday February 8 following the visit to Brasilia by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
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The head of French diplomacy had an interview on Wednesday with left-wing President Lula who then, in several tweets, spoke of "
the strengthening of ties and partnership between Brazil and France in culture, economy and defense
".
Recebi hoje a falter francesa @MinColonna.
Reforçamos os laços ea carria between Brasil and French na cultura, relações econômicas e defesa.
Reforcei o convite ao presidente @EmmanuelMacron para visitar o Brasil e recebi o convite para retornar à França.
📸: @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/CDm0m576Iw
— Lula (@LulaOficial) February 8, 2023
Catherine Colonna had previously met her counterpart Mauro Vieira.
She is the first French official of this level to be received in Brazil since 2019, the year when political relations with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro experienced
an acute crisis
from which they have not recovered under his mandate, which ended in December. .
Exasperated by criticism of the gigantic fires in
the Amazon,
Jair Bolsonaro and two of his ministers insulted Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte in August 2019, after canceling a meeting with the head of diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian a month earlier. , preferring to go to the hairdresser.
"
Turn the page
"
Speaking at a press conference with Catherine Colonna, Mauro Vieira assured that the Lula government, in office since January 1, wanted to "
turn the page on the last few years
" (2019-2022), to "
put back (the ) relationships at the highest level
”.
This visit "
marks the beginning of a revival of this particular political partnership which has linked us to Brazil for 15 years
[...]
, to which we are going to give a new ambition
", declared Catherine Colonna too.
His trip prepares for a visit by President Macron to Brazil.
It could take place on the occasion of a Summit on the Amazon that Brasilia wishes to organize by the end of the first semester, revealed the two ministers.
Lula announced on Twitter that he had been invited to visit France.
The two ministers converged on many subjects, including the environment, with the crucial issue of the preservation of the Amazon rainforest, security, the fight for democracy and against misinformation.
A notable divergence however: Ukraine, Catherine Colonna recalling the "
responsibility of Russia
" as an "
aggressor
".
Prior to his election, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva drew criticism for claiming that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "
as much responsible
" for the conflict as Vladimir Putin.
Discussions on the protection of the Amazon
Catherine Colonna also met the Minister of the Environment,
Marina Silva
, the face of ecology in Brazil.
"
Brazil's re-engagement and in particular its zero deforestation goal by 2030 is a major opportunity to move forward on the protection of the Amazon
," tweeted the head of French diplomacy after her meeting with Ms. Silva, illustrating her message. a photo of a frank hug between the two women.
The Lula government has already taken matters into its own hands in the Amazon, hunting down
thousands of illegal miners
currently fleeing the lands
of Yanomami Amerindians
.
Catherine Colonna is expected this Thursday in Sao Paulo, where she will meet the governor of this rich and populated state in the south-east of the country, the engine of the Brazilian economy.
The minister must also visit a reception center for women, mostly black, victims of violence, a scourge in Brazil.
(With AFP)
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Brazil
Catherine Colonna
France
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Environment