Lula rebuilds the bridges between Portugal and Brazil after the period of Bolsonaro disdain

Jair Bolsonaro has never visited Portugal since he became president of Brazil in 2019 and was about to make it a tradition to plant the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, every time he visited Brazil.

In 2021, he canceled at the last minute his presence at the reopening ceremony of the Museum of the Portuguese Language in São Paulo, which was attended by the Portuguese Head of State, because he preferred to go for a ride on a motorcycle, as revealed by the governor of São Paulo, João Doria.

This year he snubbed him again during an official visit by Rebelo de Sousa to participate in the São Paulo Book Biennial, dedicated to Portugal.

Although a meeting between the two was announced at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasilia, followed by lunch,

This Friday, a month and a half after assuming the presidency, Lula da Silva stopped for 48 hours in Lisbon, taking advantage of his return trip from the climate summit held in Egypt, in a clear gesture of rapprochement with Portugal.

In a tweet, the president-elect of Brazil wrote: “Portugal is a sister country and an important partner of Brazil in Europe.

We are going to resume dialogue for the benefit of our peoples.”

After having lunch with businessmen, his first institutional meeting was at the Belém Palace with the President of the Republic, which was followed by an interview, late in the day, with the Prime Minister, António Costa, who had shown his support for him. explicit during the electoral campaign.

Costa intends to recover the bilateral summits between the two countries, suspended since 2016, when Michel Temer held the presidency.

Since then none have been held, not even during Dilma Rousseff's time.

Lula da Silva coincided in Belém with the president of Mozambique, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, also on an official visit to Portugal, which led to an improvised three-way meeting.

The presidents of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, and Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the president-elect of Brazil, Lula da Silva, at the Belém Palace.

RODRIGO ANTUNES (REUTERS)

On Saturday, Lula was scheduled to meet with representatives of the Brazilian colony in Portugal, which has not stopped growing in recent years.

Emigration to the European country skyrocketed especially during the Bolsonaro years.

From the 105,423 in 2018, before the Bolsonaro stage, it has risen to the current 205,000, according to data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).

Portugal has become the European country with the main Brazilian colony, which in the last elections supported Lula da Silva by a majority.

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