Brazil: Lula takes on Macron in Amazon | French President's three-day visit to strengthen bilateral ties

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva welcomed his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in the Amazonian city of Belém on Tuesday.At the start of the much-anticipated three-day visit, the aim is to revitalize and strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.

Symbolically, Lula and Macron met in the afternoon in the city in northern Brazil, which will host the thirtieth United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30) in 2025. Immediately, the two leaders boarded a boat with Governor Helder Barbalho that took them to the nearby island of Kompu to visit a cocoa micro-enterprise, an example of the bioeconomy, according to the French president's office.

The meeting took place hours after Lula signed the minutes of the National Plan for Mobility and Green Innovation (Mover). It provides financial loans to those who invest in technology research, development and production to decarbonize their fleet of cars, buses and trucks. “This is one of the largest decarbonization projects in history, with an investment of R$ 19 billion until 2028,” the president said on his social networks.

Difference for a leader

In one of his first actions on Brazilian soil, Macron awarded the “National Order of the Legion of Honor” to Cacique Rawni Metuktire, tribal leader of the Kayapo ethnic group, in recognition of his tireless fight to protect the Amazon.Report Brazil Agency. This distinction represents the highest decoration that France bestows on its own citizens and on foreign individuals who stand out for their contributions around the world.

Mettuktyre, 92, has dedicated his life to protecting the world's green lungs and forest populations, earning him great international recognition. Originally from the village of Krimobri-Yaka where he was born, the Chief Minister has traveled the world denouncing threats to indigenous peoples and promoting peace, while building relationships with various dignitaries including Pope Francis and Britain's King Charles III.

Lula da Silva has also made the fight against deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon a priority. halved by 2023 than the previous year. The world's largest tropical forest plays an important role in the fight against climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions.

A new page

Macron's latest visit reflects that It was the first official visit by a French president to the South American giant in eleven years. Although Lula was in Paris last June, Brazilian officials had hoped Macron would be one of the first heads of state to meet the progressive leader last year.

The meeting between the two leaders establishes a new beginning in relations between the two countries after difficult years under the presidency of far-right Jair Bolsonaro. Amid the crisis caused by fires in the Amazon in 2019, Bolsonaro and his ministers insulted and insulted Macron and his wife, poisoning an already tense relationship..

France, the world's seventh-largest economy, and Brazil, the ninth-largest, are considered key players in an international scene marked by competition between China and the United States. Paris sees Brasilia as a bridge with “major emerging economies” whose voice Brazilians are trying to make heard through their current group of advanced economies, the G20 and BRICS+.

Disagreements: Mercosur and Ukraine

In terms of defense, France and Brazil are cooperating in the production of four classic propulsion submarines, the third of which is the “Donnelero”, which will be unveiled by the two leaders on Wednesday at the Itaguai naval base near Rio de Janeiro. The contract, awarded to a naval group, also provides for Brazil to build a fifth nuclear-powered submarine, but has not yet replaced French reactor-related technology.

From Rio de Janeiro, Macron will travel to São Paulo, where he will participate in an event that will bring together around 200 businessmen from the two countries the same day, and then continue to Brasilia. The government will be received with honors by Lula on Thursday. This will be the Frenchman's last stop in Brazil, and during that meeting in the capital, he is expected to discuss political issues on the regional and global agenda with his Brazilian counterpart..

Some of these issues are very complex, to begin with Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and MercosurAbandoned for the umpteenth time due to opposition from France. The two presidents pledged that the purpose of the visit was to talk about the deal, which has been on the table for more than two decades.. During his stay, Macron will insist that the conflict in Ukraine be discussed within the G20 this year, the news agency said. AFP. On this issue, Lula has repeatedly advocated the application of a policy of non-isolation to Russia, which has received economic sanctions from the West during the two-year war.