Leaders discussed Colombia’s role ahead of the summit; PT member also met with the president of Burundi
The president (PT) met with the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro (Historic Pact, left), this Saturday (21 March 2026) during the 10th summit of Celac (Community of Latin American States).
At the meeting, they discussed the Petro’s presidency at the summit and expectations regarding Uruguay, which took over as head of Celac this Saturday (21 March). The two also spoke about multilateral relations in Latin America.
Lula has reinforced the importance of the union of Latin countries in recent speeches. When he received the president of Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz (Christian Democratic Party, right), at the Palácio do Planalto, on March 16, he stated that the is a “historical necessity”.
Previously, in February, the PT member had already defended South America as a “peace zone” and said that Brazil not leadership.
On a bilateral basis, Petro confirmed that he will participate in the Democracy against Extremism meeting, held in Barcelona (Spain) on April 18. Lula had already confirmed he was going to the event.
PRESIDENT OF BURUNDI
During Celac, the PT member also participated in a meeting with the president of Burundi, Évariste Ndayishimiye.
Lula and Ndayishimiye talked about elections for the UN General Secretariat
Lula congratulated Ndayishimiye on assuming the presidency of the African Union and thanked the country for joining the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty. THE is a Brazilian proposal presented during the G20 summit in 2024.
They discussed the candidacy of former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet for the General Secretariat of the UN (United Nations), currently chaired by António Guterres. Bachelet’s election is by Brazil because Lula considers that “it’s time for the organization to finally be led by a woman”. Burundi supports the candidacy of former Senegalese president Macky Sall.
Ndayishimiye was invited to make a state visit to Brazil, with no date set yet.
CELAC
President Lula spoke during Celac. When talking about rare earths and critical minerals, that Latin and African countries must cooperate to “add value to territories and avoid neo-extractive attacks”.
He also declared that, after Latin American and African countries were “plundered of gold, silver and diamonds”, world powers want to be “owners of critical ores and rare earths”.
