BRASÍLIA, Jan 4 — Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will make his first official trip to Argentina at the end of January, before visiting the United States, Portugal and China, an official said yesterday.
Lula, as the 77-year-old leader is commonly known, will participate in the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), which takes place on January 23 and 24 in Buenos Aires.
The leftist leader, who was sworn in as president of the South American giant for the third time on Sunday, will meet with US counterpart Joe Biden in Washington, on a still “undated” trip, according to a source in the president’s office.
The trip to China, Brazil’s largest trading partner, will be “after March,” the same source added.
The Presidency also confirmed that Lula will be in Portugal from April 22 to 25.
Lula, who led the largest economy in Latin America twice between 2003 and 2010, is giving the first signs of wanting to break Brazil’s international isolation after four years of his predecessor, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.
In his inauguration speech in Congress, he announced a new role for Brazil in the world by resuming “South American integration” and the reconstruction of the “high and active dialogue with the United States, the European Community and China.”
The new foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, said Monday at the inauguration ceremony that Brazil will have “a huge reconstruction job” after this “unprecedented setback.” — AFP
