Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Tuesday (Jan. 27) he will travel to the US in March for a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump. The meeting will take place at the White House, in Washington, D.C.

Lula confirmed the trip upon arriving in Panama, Central America, where he is participating as a special guest at the International Economic Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean, at the invitation of the host country. The event takes place Wednesday (28).

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“In early March, I’ll travel to Washington because the US and Brazil are the two main democracies in the West, and I believe that two heads of state need to talk face to face so that we can discuss the good relations between Brazil and the US,” said the president in a brief conversation with journalists upon arrival at his hotel in Panama City.

“I’m convinced that we’ll return to normal soon, that we will strengthen multilateralism, and that we will get the economies growing again, because that’s what the people expect from all of us,” he added.

Lula and Trump spoke by phone on Monday and discussed a number of issues, including the situation in Venezuela, the peace plan for the Gaza Strip, and the fight against organized crime, according to an official statement from the Planalto presidential palace.

In Panama, the Brazilian leader was also asked about the crisis in Venezuela as well as the US military presence in the Caribbean. He said he spoke twice with the country’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, in the days following the US military invasion in Caracas, adding, however, that he will call Nicolás Maduro’s successor again.

“I spoke twice with President Delcy, but I didn’t go into detail because she was very concerned about the events, which were really recent. I’ll speak with President Delcy again soon. I hope she can get the job done. It’s important that President Trump allows Venezuela to take care of its sovereignty democratic interests. We’ll see what happens. It’s all really recent, and I think we have to be a little patient because the Venezuelan people themselves will find a solution for the Venezuelan people,” he declared.

Lula said he has been talking to different international leaders in defense of multilateralism, citing the conversation he had on Monday with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, and Trump himself the day before.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron spoke Tuesday morning (Jan. 27) about the proposed Peace Council. The council was conceived, created, and is chaired by the US president in order to, according to Donald Trump, pacify and rebuild the Gaza Strip.

Over the course of the hour-long phone call, Lula and Macron advocated the strengthening of the United Nations (UN) and agreed that initiatives on peace and security should be aligned with the mandates of the Security Council and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. The content of the conversation between the presidents was disclosed by the Planalto presidential palace.

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Lula was one of the leaders invited to take a seat on the council, but has not yet responded to the invitation. Last week, at an event in the city of Salvador, he criticized the proposal to create the council, stating that Trump wants to create a new UN for him to control. France was also invited but has already declined the invitation.

In recent weeks, Lula has made and received calls from important world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

On Monday (26), Lula even spoke with President Trump. The Brazilian leader suggested that the Peace Council include a seat for Palestine and limit itself to discussing issues related to the Gaza Strip.

Venezuela

During the conversation, Lula and Macron also exchanged views on Venezuela. According to the Planalto Palace, both condemned the use of force in violation of international law and agreed on the importance of peace and stability in both South America and the world.

On January 3, the US bombed Venezuela and kidnapped the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, as well as his wife, Cilia Flores. The two were taken to the US, and Venezuelan vice-President Delcy Rodriguez took over the country on an interim basis.

Mercosur–EU Agreement

The leaders of Brazil and France also discussed the free trade pact between Mercosur and the European Union. Lula reaffirmed his view that the partnership is positive for both blocs and “constitutes an important contribution to the defense of multilateralism and rules-based trade.”

The agreement was signed on January 17 this year, after 26 years of negotiations. However, on January 21, the European Parliament decided to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union for a legal assessment of the trade partnership with South America. In practice, the measure paralyzes the agreement’s implementation process. The court usually takes about two years to issue an opinion.

France is one of the countries opposing ratification on the grounds that the accord threatens local agriculture by creating “unfair competition” with cheaper imports from Mercosur.