Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has decided to attend the 4th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), which will take place from November 9 to 10 in Santa Marta, Colombia. Lula is expected to participate only on the first day, as he is scheduled to be in Belém on Monday (10) for the opening of COP30.
The main purpose of the last-minute trip is to discuss the deployment of U.S. troops in the Caribbean Sea and the threats made by the United States government against Venezuela.
On Tuesday (4), during a press conference with international news agencies, the president spoke about the meeting in Santa Marta and said that Celac “would only make sense, at this moment, if it is to discuss the issue of U.S. warships in Latin American waters.” He stated: “We are a zone of peace, we do not need war here. The problem in Venezuela is a political problem that must be resolved through politics.”
Last week, Brazilian diplomatic sources confirmed to BdF that the president was considering attending the Celac meeting, but that the decision would depend on the schedule of bilateral meetings with heads of state and government visiting Brazil for COP30.
Brazilian diplomacy was able to schedule most of the bilateral meetings for Wednesday (5), freeing the president’s agenda to attend the gathering in Colombia.
During his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Malaysia, Lula reaffirmed Brazil’s position in defense of sovereignty and the preservation of Latin America as a “zone of peace.” Lula also offered to act as a neutral interlocutor to help establish dialogue between the United States and Venezuela aimed at halting military threats.
