International
US, Brazil planning Biden-Lula meeting in Washington
| By AFP |
Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US officials said Friday he is planning a trip to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House before taking office on January 1.
“I can confirm that we are planning for a visit,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We look forward to welcoming President Lula here at the appropriate time.”
Kirby said Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, would travel to Brazil Monday to meet with the incoming Lula team, as well as with outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration.
Veteran leftist Lula defeated far-right incumbent Bolsonaro in a hard-fought election in October, returning to power after two presidential terms from 2003 to 2011.
Lula said he and Sullivan would “hold talks and discuss the date” for a visit to Washington — probably after December 12, the day his victory is formally ratified by Brazil’s electoral tribunal, he told a news conference in Brasilia.
US-Brazilian relations have chilled since Biden defeated former president Donald Trump, Bolsonaro’s political role model, in the 2020 US election.
But ties look set to warm under Lula.
Biden was one of the first world leaders to congratulate him on his election win.
“I think we have a lot to say to each other,” Lula said.
“The United States is facing the same problems with democracy as Brazil. The damage Trump did to American democracy is the same as what Bolsonaro did to Brazil.”
Diplomatic issues on the table will include “US-Brazilian relations, Brazil’s role in the new geopolitics (and) the unnecessary Ukraine war,” Lula said.
The Biden administration will also likely be keen to discuss climate policy, after four years of surging deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon under agribusiness ally Bolsonaro.
Lula vowed last month at the UN climate conference in Egypt — which Bolsonaro skipped — to fight for zero deforestation in Brazil’s 60-percent share of the world’s biggest rainforest, a key resource in the fight to curb climate change.
The incoming president said he would also begin naming his cabinet ministers after December 12 — with markets particularly anxious over his pick for finance minister, amid concerns about how his government will pay for his promised social spending.
International
Trump Raises Possibility of “Friendly Takeover” of Cuba Amid Deepening Crisis
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, reiterated Monday the possibility that Washington could pursue a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, amid the severe crisis facing the island following the oil blockade promoted by the U.S. government.
Speaking at a press conference in Miami, the president said that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently “negotiating” with representatives of the Cuban government, although authorities in Havana have repeatedly denied that such talks are taking place.
Trump suggested that Washington could play a more direct role in the island’s future.
“It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn’t matter because they’re really down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy, they have no money. They are in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis, and we really don’t want to see that,” the U.S. president said.
The president also argued that the Cuban government had long depended heavily on support from Venezuela, particularly oil supplies.
According to Trump, that support has been drastically reduced following measures adopted by Washington.
“They were living off Venezuela. Venezuela doesn’t send them energy, fuel, oil, money, or anything anymore. They couldn’t survive without Venezuela, they couldn’t have made it, and we cut everything off,” Trump said.
International
Mexico, Brazil and Colombia left out of Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” summit
Left-wing governments in Latin America, including Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, were excluded from the “Shield of the Americas” summit convened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The meeting, held in Miami, Florida, brought together 12 presidents from across the continent to discuss strategies to combat drug cartels and organized crime.
In Mexico’s case, President Claudia Sheinbaum had recently rejected the use of military force as a solution to the drug trafficking problem. She has argued that her administration’s security strategy is producing results and emphasized that force alone is not the answer.
During the summit, Trump said that most narcotics entering the United States come through Mexico and referred to his previous conversations with Sheinbaum on the issue.
“I like the president very much, she’s a very good person,” Trump said. “But I told her: ‘Let me eradicate the cartels.’ And she said, ‘No, no, no, please, president.’ We have to eradicate them. We have to finish them.”
The remarks highlighted ongoing differences between Washington and Mexico over how to confront drug trafficking networks operating across the region.
International
Trump announces 17-nation alliance in the Americas to “destroy” drug cartels
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday the creation of a 17-nation alliance across the Americas aimed at dismantling drug cartels, during a regional summit held at his golf club in Doral.
Speaking to a group of allied leaders at the Shield of the Americas Summit, Trump said the initiative would rely on military force to eliminate powerful criminal networks operating throughout the hemisphere.
“The heart of our agreement is the commitment to use lethal military force to destroy these sinister cartels and terrorist networks. Once and for all, we will put an end to them,” Trump told the assembled heads of state.
The Republican leader argued that large portions of territory in the Western Hemisphere have fallen under the control of transnational gangs and pledged U.S. support to governments seeking to confront them. He even suggested the potential use of highly precise missiles against cartel leaders.
Before making the announcement, Trump greeted the roughly twelve leaders attending the summit, including close allies such as Javier Milei, Daniel Noboa and Nayib Bukele, whom he described as a “great president.”
The meeting forms part of Trump’s broader regional strategy inspired by his reinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, which seeks to reinforce Washington’s influence in the Americas, strengthen security cooperation and counter the growing presence of powers such as China.
Trump pointed to recent U.S. actions in the region as examples of his administration’s approach, including the operation that led to the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
The summit also takes place amid escalating international tensions following the conflict launched last week by the United States and Israel against Iran.
-
International4 days agoTrump announces 17-nation alliance in the Americas to “destroy” drug cartels
-
International2 days agoMexico, Brazil and Colombia left out of Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” summit
-
International5 days agoYoung Woman Will Represent Mexico at 2026 World Cup Opener, Says President Sheinbaum
-
International5 days agoTrump replaces Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin
-
International10 hours agoTrump Raises Possibility of “Friendly Takeover” of Cuba Amid Deepening Crisis
-
Central America10 hours agoGuatemala Remains in “Restricted” Press Freedom Category, Chapultepec Index Warns
-
Central America10 hours agoUN Report Warns of Nicaragua’s “Transnational” Surveillance Network Targeting Dissidents
-
Central America10 hours agoUN Rapporteur Warns of “Deep Crisis” in Guatemala’s Judicial System

























