Brazil’s Lula Makes First Official US Visit Since Retaking Office
HAVANA TIMES – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is meeting with Joe Biden at the White House today in Lula’s first official visit to the United States since his inauguration on New Year’s Day. The two leaders are expected to discuss threats to democracy, human rights, the environment, and Brazil’s efforts to protect the Amazon. Reuters reports the U.S. government is considering joining the Amazon Fund, which fights deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon.
Lula is also scheduled to meet with Democratic members of Congress, Senator Bernie Sanders and representatives of the AFL-CIO. Lula is joined by several of his Cabinet members, including Environment Minister Marina Silva, who is expected to meet with Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry, and Brazil’s new minister of racial equality, Anielle Franco, the sister of murdered Rio de Janeiro council member and racial justice activist Marielle Franco.