Biden, Lula to Meet,Talk Labor, Climate09/20 06:02

   President Joe Biden will meet his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Incio Lula da 
Silva on Wednesday in New York as the leaders of the Western Hemisphere's 
largest democracies seek areas of common ground despite some recent differences 
on the war in Ukraine and other matters.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- President Joe Biden will meet his Brazilian counterpart 
Luiz Incio Lula da Silva on Wednesday in New York as the leaders of the 
Western Hemisphere's largest democracies seek areas of common ground despite 
some recent differences on the war in Ukraine and other matters.

   The two are expected to discuss labor and the environment. And senior U.S. 
administration officials who previewed the meeting said the two nations are 
rolling out a partnership on workers' rights.

   Initial hopes that Lula would prove a staunch ally for Biden have been 
tempered in recent months, with the Brazilian leader voicing opposition on some 
issues and at times even seeming to thumb his nose at Washington.

   That has included dismissing allegations of Venezuela's authoritarianism, 
calling for decreased dependence on the dollar for global trade and accusing 
the U.S. of fueling bloodshed in Ukraine by providing military aid. In his 
speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Lula criticized the U.S. 
embargo and sanctions targeting Cuba.

   "What Lula expects is not to be lectured by the U.S. and the White House, 
but treated as a partner who they will sometimes disagree with, but who they do 
respect," said Thomas Traumann, a Brazilian political analyst. "Not an enemy, 
not an opponent, someone who is on your side, but not always on your side."

   Biden had frosty relations with Lula's predecessor. Far-right former 
President Jair Bolsonaro, an open admirer of Donald Trump, waited weeks before 
recognizing Biden's 2020 election victory. Over a year passed before a 
bilateral meeting took place in the context of U.S. concerns that Bolsonaro, 
who had been casting doubt on Brazil's election system, could reject its 
results.

   After Bolsonaro's defeat, his supporters stormed the capital in an attempt 
to oust Lula from power. The circumstances bore a clear resemblance to Trump 
and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Lula quickly traveled to Washington, where he and 
Biden bonded over the challenges to democracy they had both managed to overcome.

   Despite the shared experience and apparent bonhomie, the trip disgruntled 
Brazilian officials, who viewed the White House's reception of the newly 
sworn-in president as historically underwhelming, said Traumann, who worked in 
the prior administration of Dilma Rousseff, Lula's protege.

   The meeting Wednesday will be their second. Their planned labor partnership 
will be a vehicle for stopping the exploitation of workers, forced labor and 
child labor as well as workplace discrimination, according to the U.S. 
officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

   Labor is an issue dear to Lula, who got his start in politics as leader of a 
powerful metalworkers' union.

   The two are also likely to discuss environmental preservation, with Lula 
aiming to lure financial contributions for the Amazon rainforest, said Paulo 
Peres, a political scientist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. 
Lula has been presenting himself as an environmental leader, and his 
administration has already recorded significant progress in the Amazon.

   Deforestation of the Amazon had soared to a 15-year high under Bolsonaro, 
who called for the development of the rainforest, emboldening loggers and 
miners to invade protected areas, while defanging environmental authorities. 
Lula began rebuilding those agencies, created eight protected areas for 
Indigenous people, and expelled thousands of miners from the massive Yanomami 
Indigenous territory. Deforestation dropped by nearly half in his first eight 
months.

   He has sought international contributions for Brazil's Amazon Fund, but 
donations have been small and symbolic. In February, the U.S. committed to a 
$50 million donation to the initiative, though it has yet to be provided. Biden 
later announced he would ask Congress for an additional $500 million, which has 
yet to be committed.

   The U.S. officials who spoke to reporters sought to play down Lula's recent 
criticism of the U.S. embargo and sanctioning of Cuba. They noted that the 
Biden administration has lifted travel restrictions to Cuba imposed by the 
prior administration and is also in the process of restarting remittances to 
that country.

   Lula also visited Venezuela's Nicols Maduro in May and said allegations of 
the country's authoritarianism stem from a false narrative -- despite 
widespread political arrests and election interference as well as threats to 
journalists.

   The U.S. is ready to provide sanctions relief if Venezuela meets milestones 
toward credible elections, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told 
reporters Friday. He declined to say whether Biden would broach the subject of 
Venezuela in their bilateral meeting.