Brazil’s President Lula Da Silva met at the White House on the morning of Friday, February 10 with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss common interests between the nations, as their relations begin to defrost after years of conflicting values. Lula was invited to the White House representing his native Brazil as it is among the countries that compose the BRICS, along with Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and as such, it is of great interest to the United States. Having Brazil in the Western Hemisphere allows the U.S. to foster a relationship with this rising power, which in turn provides them a great geopolitical advantage. Brazil, along with the rest of the cohort, is an internationally acclaimed nation for its rapid growth and emerging economy and aims to promote development and cooperation through this organization. Firstly, the most impending issue in this meeting for both heads of state was their violent upheavals against them. Lula recently faced a “January 6th” style insurrection in his nation’s capital Brasilia, followed by his contender fleeing to Florida thereafter; similar to what happened in the United States with President Trump back in 2021. Both proclaimed the preservation of democracy in their respective countries' electoral systems--having had this similar experience, allowed them to relate to something that they both are actively trying to restore in their respective countries: order and faith in their governments. Moreover, the other pressing issue at hand was that of the environment. This was an important topic of discussion as Brazil homes the Amazon Rainforest, often called the Lungs of the Earth. In this context, the talk aimed at persuading the U.S. to join the Amazon Fund, in its fight to protect the Brazilian rainforest. According to Reuters, the Biden administration might commit to investing $1.3 billion into the fund in the coming years, which would be a massive influx into the efforts of conserving the planet. Then, Lula went on about the need for developed nations to join in the efforts to combat climate change, especially after the very detrimental environmental damage done during the presidential term of his predecessor, president Jair Bolsonaro. However, it was clear that the fundamental reason why Lula went to the White House was to establish his recognition as a head of state by the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. Unfortunately for him, the threat of impeachment by Bolsonaro’s followers and the high treason in places in his government following the January 8th insurrection is becoming a clear indicator of Lula’s need to find powerful and influential allies. Interestingly, these two world leaders have previously met. In 2009, while Joe Biden was Vice President under the Obama Administration and Lula was in his first term in Presidential office, he is currently in his third. Their relationship has evolved over the years and with it, so have their nations. The United States and Brazil of today are very different than those of a decade ago, and yet their same fight continues to maintain the people’s faith in the institution that is the government.
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