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Brazil: Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Friday that he plans to visit the United States before he takes office on January 1 to meet with his US counterpart, Joe Biden.
“A representative of President Biden will come to Brazil on Monday to discuss the date. If I go, it will be after December 12, when I grant (presidential) status,” the leftist leader said during a news conference in Brasilia.
The White House confirmed Friday that it had begun preparations for Lula’s visit “at an appropriate time,” according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
Kirby said Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan would go to Brazil on Monday “and meet with members of the Bolsonaro administration (President Jair) and the incoming Lula administration.”
Fernando Haddad, the former governor of São Paulo who is likely to be finance minister in the next government, announced on Thursday that Lula could visit Washington before he takes office.
Brazilians elected Lula da Silva, 77, after facing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of former US President Donald Trump.
Joe Biden was among the first leaders to congratulate Lula on his victory in the October presidential election.
“We have a lot to tell each other, because the United States has the same need for democracy as Brazil. Trump did the same damage to American democracy as Bolsonaro did here,” said Lula, who governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010.
“We will talk about politics, the relationship between Brazil and the United States, Brazil’s role in the new global geopolitical order, but also the war in Ukraine, which is an unnecessary war,” he added.
