Heads of state salute Lula
Lula da Silva salutes the presidents and heads of state who participated in the inauguration one after the other. One of the first was the Argentine Alberto Fernandez. Fernandez visited Lula the day after the electoral victory of the Workers’ Party against Bolsonaro, on 30 October. The good relationship between the two was strengthened after the Argentine visit to him in prison in 2019, despite him being in the middle of the presidential election campaign.
Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, Ecuador’s Guillermo Laso and Paraguay’s Mario Abdo passed through Planalto. The Uruguay delegation was particularly large. Luis Lacalle Poe traveled to Brasilia accompanied by former presidents Julio Maria Sanguinetti and José Mojica. The encounter between Lola and Mugica was an emotional exchange of hugs and smiles.
The King of Spain, Felipe VI, was also among the first to welcome the new president of Brazil.
Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, was one of the chief absentees. Lula got the Venezuelan entry ban lifted, but it wasn’t enough. Maduro sent in his place the President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry did not explain the reasons that prompted Maduro to suspend his trip.
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