Lula to visit Egypt, Ethiopia, Guyana in February

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is resuming his international schedule this year with trips to two African countries and neighboring Guyana in February.

On the African continent, the president should travel to Egypt on February 15 and 16. While there, he is expected to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi months after receiving his support for the withdrawal of Brazilians and their families from the Gaza Strip across the border with Egypt.

On February 17 and 18, Lula will be in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, to take part in the assembly of heads of state and government of the African Union. Last year, the international organization, which combines 54 African nations, became a permanent member of the G20, a group that brings together the world’s 19 richest economies plus the European Union. This year, Brazil chairs the G20 and will host the summit of the group’s heads of state in Rio de Janeiro in November.

“Brazil needs to start repaying once and for all the historic debt we owe to the African people,” he said last week during an appointment in Salvador, where he confirmed his trip to African countries. This is his second visit to the continent in his third presidential term. Last year, he went to South Africa, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe, in addition to paying a quick visit to Cape Verde.

Guyana

After returning from Africa, President Lula is slated to visit Guyana in the last week of February, where he should host the annual summit of the Caribbean Common Market and Community (Caricom), a regional group created in 1973 with 15 Caribbean countries.

The president had already signaled he would attend the gathering at the end of last year. The visit comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Guyana and Venezuela over the dispute over the Essequibo territory, claimed by the Venezuelan government for over a century.

After the two international trips, the leader is expected to focus on his domestic engagements and travel around Brazil to announce federal initiatives.