Lula da Silva to Meet Six Latin American Presidents

On Monday, Brazil's President Lula da Silva will hold bilateral meetings with six Latin American presidents, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, the King of Spain Felipe VI and other African leaders.

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After a meeting with the Spanish king, Lula will receive Luis Arce (Bolivia), Alberto Fernandez (Argentina), Guillermo Lasso (Ecuador), and Gabriel Boric (Chile).

Around noon, Lula will meet with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who previously told reporters that they would discuss Brazil's new role in the world and the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which has no t yet been ratified.

In the afternoon, the Brazilian president will hold meetings with Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Honduran President Xiomara Castro. Later, he will meet Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, Angolan President Joao Lourenco, the President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor Jose Ramos-Horta, and the Prime Minister of Mali, Choguel Kokalla Maiga.

Finally, Lula will hold bilateral meetings with the Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdes, the president of the Council of Ministers of Peru, Luis Alberto Otarola; and with the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela Jorge Rodriguez.

On Sunday, Lula da Silva, the historical leader of the Workers' Party (PT), was sworn in as president of Brazil for a four-year term. His inauguration took place at 3:00 p.m. local time during a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia.

This is his third presidential term and his return to power comes after having spent more than a year in prison between 2018 and 2019, due to a controversial sentence that was later annulled by the Supreme Court.

In October, Lula da Silva was elected president with 60.3 million votes, or 50.9 percent of the vote, while then President Jair Bolsonaro obtained 58.2 million votes or 49.1 percent.

After the elections, Lula stressed in recent weeks that he will govern for everyone and that it is necessary to unite the country. He returns to the presidency with an agenda focused on strong social programs aimed at fighting poverty, under the motto "union and reconstruction."