Brazil seeks presence of Bolivia in South American summit

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira arrived in La Paz on Thursday to meet with President Luis Arce and commit Bolivia’s presence at a South American summit and a meeting of countries of the Amazon basin, the two commitments of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“I have transmitted President Lula’s invitation to the meeting of South American presidents that we intend to hold on the 30th of this month,” Vieira said in a joint conference with his Bolivian counterpart, Rogelio Mayta. Later, the Brazilian foreign minister had a meeting with Arce.

Meanwhile, Mayta expressed his agreement with the need to “strengthen the institutions and spaces for regional integration” and suggested including the issue of migration on the agenda, which these days has generated diplomatic friction between Chile and Peru.

“The route for Latin America is to combat food prices and energy and fuel inflation” in addition to the migration issue, he added.

Vieira also invited the Bolivian president to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) summit to be held in August in the Brazilian city of Belém.

The Brazilian foreign minister arrived in La Paz accompanied by the extraordinary ambassador for Climate Change, Luiz Alberto Figuereido. Both assured that with the meeting they seek to strengthen bilateral relations that cooled down during the government of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. To this end, they have worked on a 15-point agenda in order to establish “greater economic, social and border integration.”

Brazil is Bolivia’s main trading partner and both countries share a long border.

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