Monitoring Desk
MEXICO: United States (US) President Joe Biden conveyed “unwavering” support to the new president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in a phone call on Monday and invited him next month to the White House.
The White House announced in a statement that Biden, who is in Mexico City for a meeting, “expressed the unshakeable support of the United States for Brazil’s democracy” and that Biden has asked Lula to meet with him in “early February”. According to the statement, Lula accepted the invitation.
The call came the day after supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, Lula’s defeated right-wing opponent, stormed the government building in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Their assault mirrored an attack by supporters of former president Donald Trump on the US Capitol shortly after he lost his 2020 election to Biden. It was motivated by the Bolsonaro camp’s persistent false claims that last year’s election was rigged.
World leaders have gathered around Lula, a veteran leftist politician and former president of Latin America’s most populous country. Biden emphasized to Lula his support for “the recent presidential election in Brazil, which President Lula won, reflected the free choice of the Brazilian people. The violence and assaults on democratic institutions and the orderly transfer of power were condemned by President Biden “The statement read.
White House statement
The statement referred to the February meeting in Washington as a chance for “in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda,” adding that “the two leaders pledged to work closely together on the issues confronting Brazil and the United States, including economic development, climate change, and peace and security.”
