German leader Scholz sets off on S America trip, to meet Lula

Berlin [Germany], January 29: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is travelling to South America for a four-day trip to Argentina, Chile and Brazil - his first visit to the region since taking office at the end of 2021.The first stop is Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, followed by Chile on Sunday and a two-day visit to Brazil, the continent's largest and most populous country.There Scholz will meet the left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was sworn in on January 1 after winning a run-off election in October against Jair Bolsonaro.On January 8 thousands of rioters attacked Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace in Brasília refusing to acknowledge Bolsonaro's defeat to Lula.Hundreds were arrested and Lula vowed to get to the bottom of the riot's causes.Lula attracted attention last May - a few months before his election - by criticizing Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky."This guy is as responsible as Putin for the war," he told Time magazine in an interview. "Because in the war, there's not just one person guilty." He said that Zelensky had pushed conversations about Ukraine joining NATO or the EU and thus, put his country on the firing line.Scholz made it clear in an interview before leaving however, that he is counting on Latin America's support to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine."The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is a blatant breach of international law and thus not a purely European affair," he told the media association Grupo de DiariosAmerica before his trip to Latin America."Anyone who flouts central principles of the United Nations Charter is sawing away at the foundations of the international order." Scholz, a Social Democrat, is visiting Latin America much earlier than his conservative predecessor Angela Merkel, who only visited the continent two and a half years after first taking office.In the interview, he pointed out that Germany shares a firm foundation of democracy, the rule of law and international law with many states in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Together, we stand for state sovereignty and peaceful conflict resolution worldwide."At the UN General Assembly last March, Argentina, Brazil and Chile were among a total of 141 countries that condemned Russia's war against Ukraine. Of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, only Bolivia, El Salvador and Cuba abstained at the time. None of them countries voted against condemning the war.In a vote on another resolution to declare Russia's attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories illegal, Nicaragua voted no.Notably, the chancellor wants to broaden Germany's international relations and lessen its energy dependence on Russia in the wake of the war.For this reason, Scholz has already been to Asia three times and made a major trip to Africa.Latin America has large raw material deposits. Iron and steel, copper, lead, zinc and above all lithium, which is so important for the production of electric cars, can be found on the continent.A business delegation of about a dozen managers will accompany the chancellor on his South American trip.The visit will also focus on the stalled negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Mercosur states, which include Argentina and Brazil. These two countries are also members of the G20 most important economic powers.Source: Qatar Tribune