Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has flown to Washington DC, for talks with US President Donald Trump on thorny issues, while seeking to boost his image at home ahead of the October elections.
Lula and Trump had a rocky relationship as ideological opposites, and their meeting on Thursday will be only their second official encounter since holding talks in Malaysia last year.
That previous meeting has led to Washington easing a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, which the Trump administration tied to the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, is currently serving a 27-year jail term for an attempted coup.
While Lula sharply defended Brazil’s sovereignty, Trump loosened the tariffs partly to lower consumer costs for Americans, marking a start to mending fences that began at the UN General Assembly in September
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Security, trade tops agenda
Security remains the primary concern for Brazilian voters, and combating organised crime is high on the agenda.
