Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
U.S., Brazil chiefs meet in Oval Office
‘Democracy prevailed’ amid nations’ post-election riots, Biden tells Lula
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met Friday at the White House and reflected on how their nations were tested in their respective battles to preserve democracy, with the U.S. president declaring that democracy ultimately “prevailed” over the far-right mobs that stormed their governments’ halls of power in an attempt to overturn election victories.
Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump in a fraught 2020 race, securing victory with thin margins in several battleground states. In Brazil’s recent election, Lula, the leftist leader of the Workers’ Party, squeaked out a win against right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who was an outspoken admirer of the former U.S. president.
Trump and Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the vote, without presenting evidence, but their claims nevertheless resonated with their most die-hard supporters. Last month, thousands of rioters stormed the Brazilian capital aiming to oust Lula.
“Both our nations’ strong democracies have been tested of late,” Biden said at the start of their Oval Office meeting. “But both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed.”
Lula said he was moving to restore Brazil on the world stage after Bolsonaro’s term.
“Brazil marginalized itself for four years,” Lula said. “His world started and ended with fake news.”
The leaders also discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, insecurity in Haiti, migration and climate change, including efforts to stem deforestation of the Amazon, according to the White House.
During his 2020 run for the White House, Biden proposed working with global partners to create a $20 billion fund that would encourage Brazil to change its approach to the Amazon. F
Following the meeting, the leaders said in joint statement that the Biden administration only “announced its intent to work with Congress to provide funds for programs to protect and conserve the Brazilian Amazon, including initial support for the Amazon Fund.”
The Amazon Fund is an international effort to preserve the rainforest; raise donations for efforts to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation; and promote sustainability. It is managed by Brazil’s state development bank and has mostly been financed by Norway.
After Lula took office, Germany’s government announced a fresh donation.
After their meeting Friday, reporters asked Lula whether the U.S. would join the initiative. Lula responded that he believes so and that its participation is necessary.
“I didn’t specifically discuss an Amazon Fund. I discussed the need for rich countries to assume the responsibility of financing all the countries that have forests,” he said, specifically noting Brazil, then listing its South American neighbors.
In 2019, Bolsonaro dissolved the committee that selects sustainable projects to finance. In response, Germany and Norway froze their donations.
Lula’s biggest objective going into the visit was securing ringing support for the legitimacy of his presidency as unease continues at home.
Bolsonaro, who is facing several investigations in Brazil, traveled to Florida during the final days of his presidency and has remained there since. He applied late last month for a six-month tourist visa to extend his U.S. stay.
The White House and State Department have declined to comment on Bolsonaro’s visa status, citing privacy concerns.
Lula also met with several lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and union officials before his meeting with Biden.
“It is enormously important for the future of this planet that we stop the deforestation of the Amazon,” Sanders said in an interview after his meeting. “Brazil is going to need help globally.”
Even as Lula has been lauded for his democratic bona fides, he previously said Ukraine was as much to blame for the war as Russia, though he more recently clarified that he thought Russia was wrong to invade. He has declined to provide Ukraine with munitions and told reporters Friday night that he had proposed to Biden the creation of a group of nations to negotiate peace.
“I am convinced that we need to find a way out to put an end to this war,” he said. “The first thing is ending the war, then negotiating what will happen.”
Asked about Lula’s proposal on Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it’s up to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to determine “if and when negotiations are appropriate, and certainly under what circumstances.”