Lula da Silva inaugurates “new era of relations” in visit to the Philippines

O brazilian president, Luís Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, said today that the visit to the Philippines marks the beginning of an era of relations with that country, which will include greater cooperation in various areas.

“ This visit is the beginning of a new era of relations, not only in the commercial sphere, but also in the political sphere”, Lula da Silva said today, quoted by the EFE agency in Manila, where he started the first visit of a Brazilian president to the Asian archipelago of the Philippines.

In the statements to journalists, after a meeting with Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Lula da Silva referred to the Philippines as Brazil's oldest partner in Southeast Asia.

“ We are building a path based on dialogue, cooperation, trade and investment. Even being on opposite sides of the planet, we share challenges, values and visions for the future ", said the Brazilian head of state.

During the meeting, which takes place at the International Convention Center of the Philippines, representatives of the two countries signed two memorandums of understanding aimed at strengthening cooperation in agriculture and livestock production and promoting the effective application of competition laws.

These two memorandums are joined by another, signed in 2022, bilateral defence cooperation, in which the two countries agreed to promote cooperation in the military and security fields, and which was the first such agreement concluded by the Philippines with a Latin American country.

“ With the successful conclusion of our meeting, I am confident that our countries will establish closer cooperation in several areas,” said Filipino President, who classified Lula da Silva’s visit as “historical”, and a “high point” of the celebration of 80 years of diplomatic relations.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who referred to Filipinos as “the Latins of Asia”, referred to defense, trade and investment among areas of cooperation, in addition to agriculture, energy, science, technology and innovation, as well as technical cooperation, although without providing details on concrete agreements.

Lula da Silva participates on Sunday at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as a special guest of the Philippines, which this year holds the rotating presidency of that organization, and to which more than twenty leaders are expected to attend, including the American President Donald Trump.

Then, the Brazilian President travels to Spain, where he will support Pedro Sánchez in the campaign for the elections of November 29, confirmed Thursday sources of the Spanish Government.

This will be the first visit to Spain by Lula da Silva, after the re-election, on October 25, in the second round of the elections in which he defeated the far-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had won the first round.