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There is little prospect of a post-Brexit trade deal with Brazil in the near future due to strained relations between Britain’s conservative government and the new government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, according to the Independent. Successive Tory ministers have previously sought cordial relations with outgoing hard-right leader Jair Bolsonaro while neglecting Lula, highlighting figures close to the newly elected president. The 77-year-old leftist sealed a stunning comeback on Sunday night in a narrow victory over populist Bolsonaro, five years after he was jailed for alleged corruption following an investigation launched by his successor and political rivals. Britain has had little contact with Lula and his Labor Party in recent years, while several Conservative politicians have met with Mr Bolsonaro and his associates. In some cases, the meetings took place before the latter became president but when his extremist views were known. Pro-Bolsonaro truckers block a highway near Sao Paulo after his election defeat (AP) Lula, described by Barack Obama as “one of the most popular politicians on Earth”, has cordial relations with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Sir Keir Starmer. But communications with Britain’s Conservatives were “really limited to Rishi Sunak’s congratulatory tweet after Lula won the election,” said a member of the new president’s team. Eyebrows were also raised when Downing Street said Mr Sunak might not attend the Cop27 summit in Egypt. Lula is an environmentalist and wants to reverse Mr Bolsonaro’s regressive climate actions. “We heard that your prime minister would not go to Cop27, which was surprising because it is such an important issue for the whole planet,” said group figure Lula. “But now we’re being told he’s changed his mind, so there may be an opportunity for the prime minister to meet the president-elect.” Defeated hardliner President Bolsonaro, who was slow to concede election defeat, was on good terms with Britain’s Conservatives (AP) A trade deal with Brazil – a G20 member and Latin America’s largest economy and most populous nation – has been a stated priority for the British government. He proposed an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) to Brazil in February this year, but little progress has been made in negotiations and a senior member of Lula’s team said the deadlock was unlikely to end unless Britain made substantial changes to its terms. “In our view, the proposals being made by the UK are unbalanced and unfair in their current form,” said the Lula group figure. “They want access to the financial market, IT and education, yet there are barriers to importing meat products from Brazil, especially beef. They seem to have enacted EU regulations despite Brexit.” Instead, President-elect Lula says there is a real prospect of a trade deal within six months between South America’s Mercosur bloc – which also includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – and the EU. Supporters of President Bolsonaro continue to protest the election result (AP) The “reviving” claim referred to a visit by Ms Truss to Brazil in April 2018, just days after Lula was jailed on corruption charges, despite being an electoral front-runner at the time. The conviction, which barred him from running for office, was later overturned by Brazil’s Supreme Court, which said the charges were trumped up. It has been claimed that, during the visit, Ms Truss and the then British ambassador to Brasilia met Mr Bolsonaro, who was set to replace Mr Temer. The ambassador’s presence at the meeting is recorded in official UK documents, but the name of another Briton present at the meeting has been redacted. British investigative website Declassified made a freedom of information request about whether Ms Truss was present at the meeting, but there was no response and the request was eventually passed on to the information commissioner. Supporters of Lula and his Workers’ Party were ecstatic over his narrow victory in the second round of the presidential election (AFP/Getty)
