Brazil’s President, Lula da Silva, will speak at the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal during the April 25 celebrations, Portugal’s foreign minister announced Thursday in Brasília.
“It is the first time that a foreign head of state has given a speech on that date,” João Gomes Cravinho said at a press conference in Brasília, at the Itamaraty Palace, along with Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira.
The Portuguese Foreign Minister is in Brasília today as part of the preparations for the Portuguese-Brazilian summit, which Portugal will host between April 22 and 25, when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits the country.
Lula da Silva presents the Camões Prize to Chico Buarque
Regarding the awarding of the 2019 Camões Prize to Brazilian singer and writer Chico Buarque, Brazil’s Foreign Minister has confirmed that Lula da Silva will also present the prize on April 25.
The presentation of the 2019 Camões Prize is proceeding with difficulty, because even before the postponement due to the pandemic, in October of that year, five months after the winner was announced, then Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro made it clear that he could not sign the prize. degree awarding the award.
“It symbolizes lost time,” in the case of an award that should have been given, said João Gomes Cravinho, referring to the fact that Jair Bolsonaro had not taken any steps to sign the diploma.
The visit of the Portuguese official to Brasilia mainly served to identify the themes that should be on the agenda of the Luso-Brazilian summit in Lisbon at the end of April, which will bring together the heads of state and government of both countries.
“We have to make up for lost time,” stressed João Gomes Cravinho, recalling that the previous summit between the two countries took place in 2016 between the Prime Minister, António Costa, and Brazil’s then President, Michel Temeer.
On the same occasion, Mauro Vieira stressed that the summit will serve to “propose new steps” in “relations in the future”, and also praised the fact that Lula da Silva “will visit Europe for the first time by participating” since he took office as President of Brazil on January 1.
Mauro Viera also recalled that last year trade flow between the two countries increased by 50% compared to 2021, confirming that Portugal is the 15th largest foreign investor in Brazil, with an investment of about 10 billion euros, in areas such as fundamental as the energy transition.
Portugal, he said, is still a “natural platform for the internationalization of Brazilian companies in technology and innovation”.
“Brazil has enormous potential” in the field of “renewable energy”, underlines João Gomes Cravinho, besides that the two countries strive to strengthen relations in the field of “health” and promote business in various sectors.
Regarding the facilitation of visas from Portugal to Portuguese speaking countries, João Gomes Cravinho stated that the country believes “that the space of the CPLP [Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa] must gradually become a common space”.
Political and diplomatic relations between the two countries, which cooled during Jair Bolsonaro’s four-year term as Brazil’s head of state, reached a new high with Lula da Silva’s victory in October’s presidential election.
In a unique act, António Costa showed his support for Lula da Silva during the Brazilian election campaign as leader of the Socialist Party.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was even the first head of state to congratulate Lula da Silva on his victory over Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula da Silva, even before officially becoming president of Brazil, was in Lisbon on November 18-19, after participating in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
News updated at 6:08 PM
Source: DN
