Brazilian President Lula is in Rome, where he met Pope Francis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and State President Sergio Mattarella. He will also meet old friends from the left and trade union camp. His meeting with the Pope lasted 45 minutes. In an interview with Corriere della Sera before the meeting he said about Pope Francis (who comes from Argentina):
“In 2020, when I met him, we talked about inequality in the world and a more inclusive economy. Right after that came the pandemic and the election campaign in Brazil. Now I meet the Pope with a conflict in Europe that affects everyone. I sent a special envoy, Celso Amorim, to Moscow and Kiev. Both countries believe they can win militarily; I disagree. I think there are too few people talking about peace. My anguish is that with so many people going hungry in the world, with so many children without food, instead of dealing with how to solve inequalities we are dealing with war. It is urgent that Russia and Ukraine find a common path to peace.”
The interviewer asked him about Brazil’s relationships with China, an allegedly “non-democratic” country.
“Brazil has no problems with any country in the world, and we have a very good relationship with China, which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in recent decades and contributed a lot to the world economy. My dialogue with China has always been positive and in the direction of greater peace, harmony, growth of trade and cooperation in the world. China is so important that even Italy has already joined the New Silk Road Initiative, which Brazil has not yet joined.”
