Trump is interested in meeting Lula, says White House official

Trump is interested in meeting with Lula, says White House official The President of the United States, Donald Trump, is interested in meeting with Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the meeting could take place in Malaysia next week, a White House official told the Reuters news agency this Wednesday (22). The proposal for a face-to-face meeting at a summit in the Asian country was made by the Brazilian government at the beginning of the month. A few days later, the two leaders spoke by phone and Trump called the call “very good.” According to a Bloomberg report about their possible meeting in Malaysia, Brazilian authorities believe that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which will take place from October 26, would be a neutral location for negotiations, instead of the White House or Brasilia. What did you think of the new video format that opens this report? Lula and Trump Adriano Machado/Reuters; Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Lula embarked for Asia this Tuesday Amid tension between Maduro and Trump, Lula defends ‘zone of peace’ President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) embarked this Tuesday (21) for a trip to Indonesia and Malaysia, to participate in the ASEAN summit meeting. According to Lula’s assistants, there is willingness, from both the Brazilian and American governments, for the in-person meeting to take place at the event. Teams are working to include the appointment in official agendas. Itamaraty set aside part of Sunday (26) for President Lula to hold bilateral meetings. Until Tuesday morning (21), only one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India, had been confirmed. The PT’s team assesses that the meeting between the Brazilian president and the North American president in the Asian country only depends on an “alignment of agendas”. If it actually takes place, this will be the first formal face-to-face meeting between Lula and Trump since the beginning of the tariff crisis. Previously, the two had a quick meeting in the corridors of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, in New York, in September. At the time, Trump said he had “excellent chemistry” with the Brazilian president, “who seemed like a very nice guy.” Donald Trump comments on meeting with Lula at the UN ‘Reorganizing the relationship’ The assessment at Palácio do Planalto is that a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, at this moment, takes the discussions to “another level” and is an important step to “reorganize the relationship between Trump and Lula and the agenda between the two countries”, after months of tension. Planalto understands that the relationship is unlocked, especially after the “very positive” meeting between the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Brazilian Chancellor, Mauro Vieira. Mauro Vieira classifies meeting with Marco Rubio on tariffs as productive and friendly and confirms meeting between Lula and Trump Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction 🔎 In July, Trump announced tariffs of 50% on Brazilian products imported into the USA. At the time, he justified the measure, in part, by what he classified as a “witch hunt” against former president Jair Bolsonaro. The measure came into force in the first week of August. In the phone call at the beginning of the month, Lula asked the North American leader to revoke the tariff. The appeal must be reinforced in a possible face-to-face conversation between the two. The restrictive measures applied against Brazilian authorities should also be on the agenda. Lula’s aides do not rule out that the Brazilian president will take advantage of the opportunity to also talk about Trump’s attacks against Venezuela and Colombia. Lula has already made it clear, and must continue saying, that his position is contrary to any type of intervention attempt in South American countries, as the president of the United States has signaled. Donald Trump calls the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, a drug dealer 🔎 This is because the US government has been waging an offensive in the Caribbean Sea, near the coast of Venezuela, with the argument of targeting drug traffickers and a cartel that, according to the Americans, would be commanded by Nicolás Maduro. Trump also attacked Colombian President Gustavo Petro, calling him a “drug trafficker.” Maduro and Petro deny the accusations. The president’s advisors advise, however, that everything be done in a calm tone, without aggression, with a focus on commercial negotiations to suspend the extra 40% tariff on American imports of Brazilian products. Trip to Asia President Lula’s trip will last a week, starting with Indonesia. The president is expected to arrive in the country on Wednesday afternoon (22), local time, eleven hours ahead of the Brazilian time zone. On Thursday (23), President Lula participates in a meeting with businesspeople. On Friday (24), Lula visits the ASEAN headquarters. 🔎 The ASEAN Summit is the event in which the main leaders of the bloc made up of 10 Southeast Asian countries meet to discuss regional cooperation, economic growth and stability in their territories. The following countries participate in the bloc: Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Lula arrives in Malaysia on Saturday (25). On this day, the president will have private meetings and will participate in an official visit and signing ceremony. The ASEAN summit will be on Sunday (26). The president is expected to participate in the opening of the event and business meetings. On the same day, Lula will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India. It is also on this day that the meeting between Lula and Trump could take place. According to Ambassador Everton Frask Lucero, director of the India, South and Southeast Asia department, there is room on Lula’s agenda on Sunday morning. Narendra Modi and Lula met in July, in Brasília, during the prime minister’s visit after participating in the BRICS summit. Reproduction/gov.br

Source link