(AFP) – Talks are under way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at an upcoming regional summit in Malaysia, officials from both countries told AFP on Wednesday. The two leaders have begun to patch up their differences after months of bad blood over the trial and conviction of Trump’s ally, the far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
Republican Trump and leftist Lula are both due to travel to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia that starts on Sunday. “President Trump has expressed his interest in meeting President Lula following their friendly call” earlier this month, a senior Trump administration official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “There are discussions about facilitating such a meeting while President Trump is in Malaysia.”
A Brazilian presidential source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “There are discussions with the Americans about a possible bilateral meeting.” Trump has instituted a 50-percent tariff on many Brazilian products and imposed sanctions on several top officials, including a top Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.
In September, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula. But relations between Trump and Lula began to thaw when the two 79-year-old leaders had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. They then spoke by phone on October 6 and first raised the possibility of meeting at the ASEAN summit. During that meeting, Lula asked Trump to lift the tariffs and sanctions.
© 2024 AFP
