Lula Calls for the Reactivation of South American Cooperation

On Thursday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva invited the South American presidents to a meeting on May 30 in Brasilia, where he will seek to promote regional integration.

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This meeting seeks to reactivate cooperation agenda in key areas such as health, climate change, defense, the fight against transnational crime, infrastructure, and energy.

"It is imperative that we once again see South America as a region of peace and cooperation, a region capable of generating concrete initiatives to achieve sustainable development with social justice, a challenge we all share," Lula said in his message to the presidents.

In the invitation issued by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, however, there is no mention of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the regional integration instrument to which Brazil rejoined in April.

The tweet reads: "The British Prime Minister announces the donation of BRL 500 million to the Amazon Fund. Rishi Sunak met with President Lula in Downing Street, seat of the British government."

Since Lula became president for the third time on January 1, he has been seeking rapprochement with South American nations. During the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-202), Brazil had a marked diplomatic distance with neighboring countries.

Currently, the Brazilian State has revitalized relations with Argentina, a nation to which Lula personally traveled to meet with President Alberto Fernandez.

"I promised to do everything to help Argentina in this difficult moment," the Brazilian Workers' Party leader said, referring to the Argentine economic situation, which has worsened as a result of a drought.