The program promises to be busy for the President of the Republic. Emmanuel Macron is due to begin an official trip to South America this Monday, March 25, until Thursday. This first visit by the Head of State to this continent since 2017 must be made in several stages: a visit to Guyana, from Monday to Tuesday, before a state visit to Brazil, in three cities in the country (Belém, Itaguaí and Brasilia), from Tuesday to Thursday.
For this first two-day stop in Guyana, Emmanuel Macron should notably address the issues of the fight against insecurity, illegal gold panning and the evolution of the level of autonomy of this local authority. After this stage, which promises to be tense, the French president should then meet his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (commonly called Lula).
Brazil is an important trading partner of France.
© / L’Express / French customs, Banque de France
The French and Brazilian presidencies announce on this occasion a return to grace of their diplomatic relations. This rapprochement comes after “a virtual freeze in political relations during Bolsonaro’s presidency” from 2019 to 2022, recognizes the Elysée. Former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and his ministers had notably made derogatory remarks towards the French head of state and his wife.
Despite the change of presidency in Brazil, the two countries have recently expressed their differences on several issues. Whether on the war in Ukraine – President Lula refuses to take sides against Russia – or on the trade agreement between the European Union and the South American free trade zone (Mercosur), signed in 2019 At the end of January, against the backdrop of the agricultural crisis, France expressed its opposition to the ratification of this free trade agreement, believing that its rules are detrimental to French farmers.