Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Monday (Feb. 9) that there will be no shortage of money for health research during his administration. While advocating multilateralism at an event held by the Butantan Institute, Lula also spoke about the partnership with China for vaccine production in Brazil and said he is not choosing the Asian country over the US.

“We are choosing what’s best for our country. If China agrees to partner with us in vaccine production and will produce the quantity we’re not yet able to produce, why not enter into an agreement with China?” he said.

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In São Paulo, the event marked the start of dengue vaccination for primary care health professionals across Brazil. The vaccine, which is produced entirely in Brazil, was developed by Butantan after more than 15 years of research funded by the federal government and the state government of São Paulo.

“As long as I am able to help, there will be no shortage of money for research, either at Butantan or any other research institute in this country,” he noted.
 

The goal is to protect 1.2 million workers on the front lines of Brazil’s national health care system, the SUS, against dengue fever. The expansion of vaccination to other groups, aged 15 to 59, starting with the oldest, is planned for the second half of this year as Butantan expands its production capacity.

Brazil’s Ministry of Health has been purchasing all available supplies, and it is expected that, based on a strategic partnership between Brazil and China, with the transfer of technology to WuXi Vaccines, production could increase 30-fold.

President Lula also spoke about fake news that attempts to discredit the importance of vaccination and stated that it is necessary to convince society to return to vaccination, “as it was in the past.”

“We have an obligation not to get discouraged, to campaign, to talk in schools, to have teachers talk, pastors and priests talk [in churches], politicians talk, until we convince people that getting vaccinated means avoiding the possibility that, at some point, nature [viruses and bacteria] could disrupt a person’s life,” he argued.

The Brazilian government will support the candidacy of former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet for secretary-general of the United Nations (UN).

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Bachelet’s candidacy was formally presented on Monday (Feb. 2) by the governments of Chile, Brazil, and Mexico.

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In a social media post, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that after eight decades, it is time for the organization to “finally” be led by a woman.

According to Lula, Bachelet’s career is marked by a pioneering spirit. In his post, he highlighted her résumé, noting that she was the first woman to serve twice as president of Chile and the first to hold the positions of Minister of Defense and Minister of Health in her country. He also recalled her high-level roles in the multilateral system.

“Within the United Nations system, she played a decisive role in creating and consolidating UN Women as its first executive director, giving institutional scale to the equality agenda. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she worked to protect the most vulnerable, advance recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, and give voice to those who most need to be heard,” Lula wrote.

“Her experience, leadership, and commitment to multilateralism qualify her to lead the UN in an international context marked by conflict, inequality, and democratic setbacks,” the Brazilian president added.

Currently, Portuguese António Guterres heads the United Nations Secretariat. He was re-elected in 2021 for a second five-year term (2022–2026), after beginning his tenure in January 2017.

The new secretary-general will take office on January 1, 2027.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron spoke Tuesday morning (Jan. 27) about the proposed Peace Council. The council was conceived, created, and is chaired by the US president in order to, according to Donald Trump, pacify and rebuild the Gaza Strip.

Over the course of the hour-long phone call, Lula and Macron advocated the strengthening of the United Nations (UN) and agreed that initiatives on peace and security should be aligned with the mandates of the Security Council and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. The content of the conversation between the presidents was disclosed by the Planalto presidential palace.

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Lula was one of the leaders invited to take a seat on the council, but has not yet responded to the invitation. Last week, at an event in the city of Salvador, he criticized the proposal to create the council, stating that Trump wants to create a new UN for him to control. France was also invited but has already declined the invitation.

In recent weeks, Lula has made and received calls from important world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

On Monday (26), Lula even spoke with President Trump. The Brazilian leader suggested that the Peace Council include a seat for Palestine and limit itself to discussing issues related to the Gaza Strip.

Venezuela

During the conversation, Lula and Macron also exchanged views on Venezuela. According to the Planalto Palace, both condemned the use of force in violation of international law and agreed on the importance of peace and stability in both South America and the world.

On January 3, the US bombed Venezuela and kidnapped the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, as well as his wife, Cilia Flores. The two were taken to the US, and Venezuelan vice-President Delcy Rodriguez took over the country on an interim basis.

Mercosur–EU Agreement

The leaders of Brazil and France also discussed the free trade pact between Mercosur and the European Union. Lula reaffirmed his view that the partnership is positive for both blocs and “constitutes an important contribution to the defense of multilateralism and rules-based trade.”

The agreement was signed on January 17 this year, after 26 years of negotiations. However, on January 21, the European Parliament decided to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union for a legal assessment of the trade partnership with South America. In practice, the measure paralyzes the agreement’s implementation process. The court usually takes about two years to issue an opinion.

France is one of the countries opposing ratification on the grounds that the accord threatens local agriculture by creating “unfair competition” with cheaper imports from Mercosur.