In one meeting, Lula thanked the mayor of Rome for the solidarity he had visited in Curitiba prison

Brazil Agency – On Wednesday afternoon (21), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met in Rome with the city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri. The meeting took place in the municipal office and was personal, as Gualtieri was one of the international figures who visited Lula during the period in which the former president was imprisoned in Curitiba, between 2018 and 2019, within the scope of Operation Lava Jato. At the time of the visit, in July 2018, Gualtieri was a member of the European Parliament for the Italian Democratic Party.

“It is a visit of thanks, to express my gratitude for the loyalty, solidarity and behavior of Mayor Gualtieri when I was detained by the Federal Police in my country,” Lula said in an emotional tone. The president added, “In addition to being a friend, I am a great supporter of him as he carries out an extraordinary administration in the city of Rome.”

In 2021, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) overturned all of Lula’s convictions and sentenced the judge responsible for these actions, now Senator Sergio Moro (Podemos – PR), as suspect, in the case that became known as Guaruja. tripartite. After the revelation of a series of letters, the STF ministers considered that the judge had partially taken a side and colluded with the Federal Public Prosecution Service (MPF) in the investigations against Petista.

Roberto Gualtieri also addressed Lula as a friend and highlighted the international weight of the Brazilian president’s image. The Mayor of Rome said: “For me, this meeting was a real happiness, to meet a true friend and to see such an important figure for myself, for the government of Rome and for a more just social development in the world.”

Follow up on recommendations

After the meeting, which ended around 8:00 pm, local time (3:00 pm, Brasilia time), Lula still spent another night in Rome. On Thursday morning (22), at 8:30 am (Rome time), he will hold a press conference at his hotel in the Italian capital, to assess his agenda in the city.

Agenda in Italy – In his first meeting that day, in Rome, President Lula met former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema. The two talked about the political situation in Brazil, the European left and democratic socialism in Europe.

Then he met with the general secretary of the Italian Democratic Party, Eli Schlein, one of the opposition leaders in the local parliament, 38. With her, Lula talked about the political conditions in Italy and Brazil and the need for greater unity among progressive parties around the world.

Subsequently, he was received by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinal Palace. The two sides talked about the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, rapprochement between universities and the expansion of trade exchange between the two countries. Brazil and Italy signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2007, during President Lula’s second term. In 2010, an action plan entered into force that highlighted 16 major areas of cooperation between the two countries.

After meeting Mattarella, Lula met Pope Francis in the Vatican, where they talked about solutions for peace, preserving the environment, combating hunger and social and economic inequality in the world. “We are in a time of war and peace is very fragile,” said Francisco Lula.

In the Vatican, Lula invited the Pope to make a new visit to Brazil, to attend the traditional feast of Círio de Nazaré, in Belém (PA), in October. The Pope’s first international trip after taking office, in 2013, was to Rio de Janeiro.

After visiting the Vatican, Lula met the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, at Palazzo Chigi. Even on the eve of the trip, the meeting with the head of government of the European country was not confirmed and only yesterday began to appear on the agenda. The first woman to hold the position, Meloni is the leader of the country’s first far-right government in decades.

Lula arrived in Rome on Tuesday morning (20) and had his first appointment in the Italian capital, just yesterday, with the sociologist Domenico De Masi, an international reference in the studies of the sociology of work. Author of Creative Leisure, de Masi is best known for the concept that entertainment is a factor that stimulates personal creativity. Like Roberto Gualtieri, Domenico de Maes also visited Lula in Curitiba prison. In the meeting, the two talked about the political scene in Brazil and Europe.

Summit in Paris – Tomorrow (22), Lola leaves for Paris. In the French capital, he will participate in the New Global Finance Compact Summit and hold a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. He also held bilateral meetings with leaders from South Africa and Cuba.

Lula will also deliver the closing speech at the Power Our Planet event, at the invitation of Coldplay, on Thursday evening (22). The event will take place in Campo de Marte, in front of the Eiffel Tower, and will also be attended by leaders from East Timor, Barbados, Ghana and Kenya, as well as the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.