Armed Forces pose major challenges for Lula

On December 5, President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met in person for the first time with a delegation representing the Joe Biden administration. 

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere on the National Security Council Juan González were in Brasília to meet separately with Lula and people in the inner circle of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. 

Lula was accompanied by Fernando Haddad (a former education minister and São Paulo mayor), Lula’s pick for finance minister, and Celso Amorim, Lula’s former foreign minister and most important advisor on international affairs. 

Among many private discussion topics, one item was clear: Lula has been invited to the White House. Despite lingering hard feelings among many on the Brazilian left regarding Washington’s role in Brazilian politics since 2016, the warm welcome Mr. Biden has extended Lula since the election on October 30 is seen as an auspicious beginning to this new era of Workers’ Party governance in Brazil.

Another issue reportedly on the agenda was the Biden administration’s hope that Latin America’s largest nation might lead a new peacekeeping effort in Haiti. 

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