The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva arrived this Monday in the city of Santa Cruz (east) to meet this Tuesday with his Bolivian counterpart Luis Arce, and expressed a desire to cooperate with his neighbor.
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“Brazil can help Bolivia in the transfer of technology, help in agriculture. We are interested in helping in mineral exploration, for the benefit of Bolivia, in gas, in building waterways,” Lula said in brief statements reported by the private television channel Red Uno.
The two leaders participated on Monday in the Mercosur summit in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, where Arce formalized his country’s entry into the regional bloc. The presidents then traveled separately to Santa Cruz, the economic capital of Bolivia.
Mercosur Summit in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion.
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Bolivian Deputy Foreign Minister Elmer Catarina said that “we are proposing economic diplomacy, because it is something different for a president to come, only to speak in economic terms, than for him to do so with a full business mission.”
Lula – a political ally of Arce and former president Evo Morales (2006-2019) – arrives in Bolivia with about 100 businessmen, who will meet with their Bolivian counterparts, added Catarina.
According to the official program, the two leaders will meet on Tuesday morning. Vice Minister Catarina said that the bilateral issues cover the agro-industrial, agricultural, energy transmission and mineral sectors.
He even mentioned that the meeting will be an opportunity for Bolivia to show Brazil its progress “with the industrialization of lithium.” and the opportunities that are opening up for us in such a large market as Brazil.”
Bolivia is currently in the process of industrializing its enormous lithium reserves located in the Salar de Uyuni, in the southwest of the country.
Luis Arce, President of Bolivia.
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The presidential meeting will also be marked by political issues, following the attempted military coup two weeks ago in La Paz. The Bolivian administration also indicated that “Lula comes to the country to offer his political support to President Lucho (Arce) and to our sovereign, dignified and industrialized Bolivia.”
Following the Lula-Arce meeting, a meeting is planned between the first ladies of both countries, Rosangela da Silva, from Brazil, and Lourdes Durán, from Bolivia. Later, there will be meetings between ministers of state and with representatives of Bolivian businessmen. Lula will also have a meeting with indigenous and peasant unions.
The visit of the Brazilian president will end on Tuesday afternoon with a joint declaration with the Bolivian leader, after which both presidents will address the media.
This is the Brazilian president’s first visit to Bolivia since he took office in January 2023. The last time he was in that country was in 2009, when then-President Evo Morales (2006-2019) received him in the town of Villa Tunari, in the coca-growing region of the Tropic of Cochabamba, his main political stronghold.
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
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On that occasion, Lula and Morales signed several agreements on the complementarity of energy and mining, as well as a loan for the construction of a road that was to cross a nature reserve, but which was not built due to social tensions and criticism of the project.
During his first term as president (2003-2011), Lula also visited Bolivia to sign agreements with the governments of then-presidents Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (2002-2003) and Carlos Mesa (2003-2005).
On Monday night, Lula da Silva received the keys to the city from the mayor of Santa Cruz, Jhonny Fernández.
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