Biden, Lula to put focus on democracy, climate during visit

Washington, Feb. 11: When President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva meet in Washington Friday, the leaders will share some awareness of what it's like to walk in one another's shoes.

Biden, a centrist Democrat, defeated incumbent Donald Trump in a fraught race, securing victory with thin margins in several battleground states. In Brazil's tightest election since its return to democracy over three decades ago, Lula, the leftist leader of the Workers' Party, squeaked out a win against right-wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, who earned the nickname "Trump of the Tropics" and was an outspoken admirer of the former U.S. president.

Both Trump and Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the vote, without ever presenting evidence, but their claims nevertheless resonated with their most die-hard supporters. In the U.S. Capitol, Trump supporters staged the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection seeking to prevent Biden's win from being certified. Last month, thousands of rioters stormed the Brazilian capital aiming to oust the newly-inaugurated Lula.

Friday's Oval Office talks, just over a month after Lula's swearing-in and the failed attempt to topple his presidency, are meant to spotlight that Brazil's democracy remains resilient and that relations between the Americas' two biggest democracies are back on track.

"Lula, he has everything on the table right now to be a democratic champion, given what happened in Brazil over the past month and a half," said Thiago de Aragão, a senior associate of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "So, having seen Biden in a similar situation during January 6th, this is something that they can together focus on."

The leaders are expected to discuss efforts to safeguard democracy, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, insecurity in Haiti, migration and climate change, including efforts to stem deforestation of the Amazon, according to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters about the meeting on the condition of anonymity.

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. Analysts say Friday's meeting marks an ideal opportunity for Biden to announce a follow-up on the campaign pledge.

The senior Biden administration official declined to comment on whether Biden would announce a U.S. contribution to a multilateral climate effort known as the Amazon Fund. The official noted that Biden's special envoy for climate, John Kerry, is expected to soon travel to Brazil.

The two leaders previously met face-to-face in 2009 when Biden was vice president during Lula's first go-round as Brazil's president from 2003 to 2010. Lula later spent 580 days in prison on corruption charges but the conviction was annulled in 2021 on procedural grounds and the Supreme Court later ruled the judge had been biased. Climate was a prominent topic in two recent phone calls between the leaders since Lula's October victory, according to the White House.

But Lula's biggest objective is securing ringing support for the legitimacy of his presidency amid continued unease at home. It remains unclear how the animus Bolsonaro generated will be channeled going forward, and some opposition lawmakers allied with the former president are already calling for Lula's impeachment. Lula sacked the army's commander, with the defense minister citing "a fracture in the level of trust" in the force's top levels. (AP)