WASHINGTON, 11 Feb: President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva met at the White House on Friday and reflected on how their nations were tested in their respective battles to preserve democracy, with the U.S. president declaring that democracy ultimately \u201cprevailed\u201d over the far-right mobs that stormed their governments\u2019 halls of power in an attempt to overturn election victories.
\nBiden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in a fraught 2020 race, securing victory with thin margins in several battleground states. In Brazil\u2019s recent election, its tightest since its return to democracy over three decades ago, Lula, the leftist leader of the Workers\u2019 Party, squeaked out a win against right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who earned the nickname \u201cTrump of the Tropics\u201d and was an outspoken admirer of the former U.S. president.
\nBoth Trump and Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the vote, without presenting evidence, but their claims nevertheless resonated with their most die-hard supporters. In the U.S. Capitol, Trump supporters staged the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection seeking to prevent Biden\u2019s win from being certified. Last month, thousands of rioters stormed the Brazilian capital aiming to oust the newly-inaugurated Lula.
\n\u201cBoth our nations\u2019 strong democracies have been tested of late … very much tested,\u201d Biden said at the start of their Oval Office meeting. \u201cBut both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed.\u201d
\nLula said that he was moving to restore Brazil on the world stage after Bolsonaro\u2019s term.
\n\u201cBrazil marginalized itself for four years,\u201d Lula said. \u201cHis world started and ended with fake news.\u201d
\nBiden joked that Lula\u2019s complaint \u201csounds familiar,\u201d an apparent knock on Trump.
\nBoth Biden and Lula sought to spotlight that Brazil\u2019s democracy remains resilient and that relations between the Americas\u2019 two biggest democracies are back on track.
\nThe leaders also discussed Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, insecurity in Haiti, migration and climate change, including efforts to stem deforestation of the Amazon, according to the White House.
\nDuring his 2020 run for the White House, Biden proposed working with global partners to create a $20 billion fund that would encourage Brazil to change its approach to the Amazon, and there was speculation that the U.S. administration would use the visit to announce a major contribution. But following the meeting, the leaders said in joint statement that the Biden administration only \u201cannounced its intent to work with Congress to provide funds for programs to protect and conserve the Brazilian Amazon, including initial support for the Amazon Fund.\u201d
\nThe Amazon Fund is the most important international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, raising donations for efforts to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation and promote sustainability.
\nThe fund has mostly been financed by Norway, and has received a total $1.29 billion. In 2019, Bolsonaro dissolved the steering committee that selects sustainable projects to finance. He argued the rainforest is a domestic affair. In response, Germany and Norway froze their donations. After Lula took office, Germany\u2019s government announced a fresh donation.
\nClimate was a prominent topic in two recent phone calls between the leaders since Lula\u2019s October victory, according to the White House.
\nAfter their meeting Friday, reporters asked Lula whether the U.S. would join the initiative. Lula responded that he believes so and that its participation is necessary.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t specifically discuss an Amazon Fund. I discussed the need for rich countries to assume the responsibility of financing all the countries that have forests,\u201d he said, specifically noting Brazil then listing its South American neighbors.
\nBut Lula\u2019s biggest objective going into the visit was securing ringing support for the legitimacy of his presidency as unease continues at home. It remains unclear how the animus Bolsonaro generated will be channeled going forward, and some opposition lawmakers allied with the former president are already calling for Lula\u2019s impeachment. Lula sacked the army\u2019s commander, with the defense minister citing \u201ca fracture in the level of trust\u201d in the force\u2019s top levels.
\n\u201cYou have the environment and other stuff, but Lula sitting down with Biden is an exercise in coup-proofing Brazil\u2019s democracy,\u201d said Oliver Stuenkel, an international relations professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a university and think tank. \u201cThere is still genuine concern in the Brazilian government about the armed forces, and the biggest partner in containing the armed forces is the United States.\u201d
\nBolsonaro, who is facing several investigations in Brazil, traveled to Florida during the final days of his presidency and has remained there since. He applied late last month for a six-month tourist visa to extend his U.S. stay. A group of Democratic lawmakers urged Biden to expel the former president on the grounds that the U.S. shouldn\u2019t provide safe harbor to would-be authoritarians.
\nThe White House and State Department have declined to comment on Bolsonaro\u2019s visa status, citing privacy concerns.
\nAnalysts have noted that Bolsonaro\u2019s absence from Brazil is a welcome change for Lula, and he told CNN earlier Friday that he didn\u2019t plan to discuss the former president with Biden.
\nLula also met with several lawmakers, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and union officials before his meeting with Biden.
\n\u201cIt is enormously important for the future of this planet that we stop the deforestation of the Amazon,\u201d Sanders said after his meeting. \u201cBolsonaro encouraged that in a terrible way. Lula has turned that around, but Brazil is going to need help globally. The issue of the Amazon is not just a Brazilian issue. It\u2019s a global issue.\u201d (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, 11 Feb: President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva met at the White House on Friday and reflected on how their nations were tested in their respective battles to preserve democracy, with the U.S. president declaring that democracy ultimately \u201cprevailed\u201d over the far-right mobs that stormed their governments\u2019 halls of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}