Joe Biden and Lula undertake to defend democracy “testing” in their two countries

The American president received his Brazilian counterpart at the White House on Friday. Both returned to the Capitol assault on January 6, 2021 and that on Brasilia of January 8, 2023.

MO12345lemonde with AFP

Brazilian president Lula, received Friday, February 10 by Joe Biden, said that the two leaders should “never allow” assaults against democracy as well as the United States and Brazil at two years old again interval.

The American president, alongside his guest, admitted that democracy had been “put to the test” in the two countries, January 6, 2021 when supporters of former president Donald Trump attacked the Capitol In Washington, and on January 8, 2023 when a crowd acquired at former head of state Jair Bolsonaro stormed the institutions of Brasilia. But “Democracy has won,” said Joe Biden.

The two leaders have undertaken to work together to “strengthen democratic institutions” and “promote respect for human rights”, according to a joint statement released Friday evening by Washington and Brasilia.

Earlier in the day, during a brief exchange in front of the press in the oval office, before the start of the bilateral meeting, Lula strongly criticized his far-right predecessor, currently present in the United States, for Having broadcast “false information, in the morning, afternoon, in the evening”. “It reminds me of something,” replied the American president.

Bolsonaro “Faithful copy of Trump”

“Bolsonaro is a faithful copy of Trump, it is as if we were going to the photocopier,” Lula also pointed out in an interview with the CNN channel, broadcast before his meeting in the White House. “I’m going to tell you one thing: Bolsonaro has no chance of becoming President of Brazil again,” he said to the channel, while indicating that he would not ask for the extradition of his rival which is currently being in Florida. “I’m not going to talk to Biden because it will depend on Brazilian justice,” he said.

In the oval office, Lula deplored that Brazil has “isolated for four years”. He also reiterated his promise to remove deforestation in the Amazon forest in 2030: “Take care of the Amazonian tropical forest is taking care of the planet, our own survival.” Deforestation in Amazon has progressed 60 % in each of Bolsonaro’s mandate years (2019-2022).

She continued, but clearly slowed down from the first month of Lula’s mandate. In January, 167 km² of the largest tropical forest on the planet were destroyed, the equivalent of more than 22,000 football fields. But it is much less than the 430 km² deleted in January 2022, when Jair Bolsonaro was still in power. 2>

support from the United States at the “Fund for Amazon”

The United States, for its part, announced its intention to work with Congress to finance protective and conservation programs of the Brazilian Amazon, including initial support for the “Fund for the Amazon”. This multilateral financial mechanism created in 2008 and managed by Brazil aims to support the fight against deforestation, details the common press release.

“I mentioned the need for rich countries to take their responsibilities to help countries with tropical forests and not only in Brazil,” said Lula earlier to the press.

Lula has relaunched this fund that its predecessor had frozen, and to which Norway and to a lesser extent Germany. Brazil is today looking for other donors.

About Ukraine, a delicate subject between the United States and Brazil, Lula said during her exchange with the press he had mentioned “the need to create a group of countries that are not Involved, neither directly nor indirectly, in the war of Russia against Ukraine, so that we have the possibility of building peace “.

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The United States is the big pilots of the Western response to Russia, while Brazil condemned the Russian invasion to the UN but did not adopt any Economic sanctions against Moscow nor sent ammunition to Kiev.

The Brazilian president has finally invited Joe Biden to visit Brazil, an invitation accepted by the American president, specifies their joint press release.

/Media reports cited above.