Lula to start international agenda with trip to Argentina
On the first working day of his newest term of office, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva spent Monday (Jan. 2) at Itamaraty Palace – Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs - receiving heads of state and government, and representatives of foreign delegations who came to Brasilia for his inauguration.
One of the meetings was with Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who confirmed Lula's trip to Buenos Aires on January 23 and 24 for several activities, including the conference of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which is under Argentina's temporary presidency.
"We are on the same track; we seek the same destiny for our peoples and the integration of Latin America. On January 23 we will meet in Argentina to move forward with concrete actions and institutionalize this relationship, and on January 24 we will meet with CELAC," Fernández posted on social media after meeting with Lula.
Lula posted on social media he congratulated the Argentinean president for the country’s victory in the World Cup and he is resuming the dialogue with one of Brazil’s main partners.
He also met with Chilean president Gabriel Boric. The bilateral meeting was published by Lula on his official Twitter account.
Lula also met with other important regional leaders, such as presidents Gustavo Petro (Colombia) and Guillermo Lasso (Ecuador). Bilateral meetings with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Honduran President Iris Xiomara Castro Sarmiento took place as well. The King of Spain Felipe VI also met with the Brazilian president. Not all the planned meetings ended up happening, according to Lula’s social media.
"Busy day today with 10 meetings with representatives from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. We had initially scheduled 17 meetings. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, we missed so many good conversations. We will have other opportunities. The world was missing Brazil. Good night," he wrote.
