President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia on Thursday night. His press office announced that his departure to China has been postponed by one day, from Saturday to Sunday. Lula is currently at the Alvorada Palace, the official presidential residence, and has been asked to cancel meetings for the day.
The president’s team judged that Lula’s schedule for Monday — a speech as a guest of honor at the China-Brazil Forum on Sustainable Development — was less important and could be skipped.
The highlight of the trip will be on Tuesday, when Lula will meet with top Chinese authorities, none more important than President Xi Jinping.
On Wednesday, Lula will attend a business event promoted by the Sino-Brazilian High-Level Commission and the Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services Ministry, with more than 240 Brazilian business owners.
The following day, the president will travel to Shanghai to visit the headquarters of the New Development Bank, also known as the BRICS bank, to promote projects in developing countries. Former Brazilian president and Lula ally, Dilma Rousseff, will officially take charge of the bank during the visit.
On his way back from China, Lula will stop in the United Arab Emirates for a one-day visit before arriving in Brasília on April 1. He will discuss the environment and seek to increase bilateral investment and improve trade relations. The trip to Abu Dhabi has not suffered any changes, as confirmed by The Brazilian Report.
Lula was diagnosed with pneumonia after a two-day trip. He went to the states of Pernambuco and Paraíba, in the Northeast, and Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast.
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