Brazilian President Lula visits the United States with Joe Biden

President Lula at the Planalto Palace, in Brasília, January 30, 2023. AP - Eraldo Peres

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the White House.

The Brazilian president is received by Joe Biden this Friday, February 10, 2023. Above all, it will be a question of solidarity in the face of attacks on democracy.

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With our correspondent in Washington,

It was January 9th.

After

by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on the Parliament in Brasília, Joe Biden called his counterpart Lula to assure him of his solidarity and invite him to Washington.

A month later, Lula arrives.

This is the main message of this visit: solidarity between democracies that have experienced

.

Beyond this strong symbol, and this shared political message, the two men will also discuss environmental concerns.

Lula has decided to fight against deforestation in the

and against wild gold panning.

He is looking for support and hopes to find it from Joe Biden.

Chegamos.

📸: @ricardostuckert pic.twitter.com/eRCfvbU3yb

— Lula (@LulaOficial) February 9, 2023

This does not prevent some divergences on non-negligible subjects.

On the war in

, Brazil is in favor of dialogue and has refused to send ammunition to Kiev.

The United States is also worried about the growing influence of China, now Brazil's leading partner.

Lula will travel to Beijing next month.

Finally, the elephant in the room is called Jair Bolsonaro.

Concerned by the investigation into the attack on Brasília, the former far-right president is in the United States.

He even applied for a visa to stay longer.

This is Lula's first official trip outside Latin America since taking office on January 1.

The Brazilian president is already there, he arrived Thursday evening in Washington.

After two years of icy relations between former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and the White House, this trip is an opportunity for Brazil to put itself back on the international scene.

But the objective is also to revive the relationship between the two countries.

The fight against the radicalization of the far right is one of the subjects on which the two leaders agree.

The question of the defense of democracy, and then the environmental question, I really think that these are the two subjects of consensus which will be put forward during this visit of Lula to Washington.

Afterwards, there is also a subject that is much more tense, which is that of the war in Ukraine, since President Lula intends to present his "peace club" to Biden...

► Read also: Bolsonaro addresses his supporters at an event organized by Trumpists

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• Brazil

• Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

• UNITED STATES

• Joe Biden

• Diplomacy