WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will hold face-to-face talks at the White House on Friday with Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a reboot of US-Brazilian relations after the end of Donald Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro’s stormy rule.
The two leaders are expected to focus on Brazilian democracy, climate change and Lula’s effort to re-engage with the global community in their late-afternoon session in the Oval Office.
“The two presidents are going to talk about how we can advance our shared commitment to promote, strengthen and defend democracy, not just in our respective countries but in the hemisphere and the world,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters ahead of the talks.
Relations between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies had been lukewarm under Lula’s far-right predecessor Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before his term ended on Jan. 1, having challenged the results of the Oct. 30 runoff election that he narrowly lost to Lula. Days later a violent movement of election-denying Bolsonaro supporters stormed Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court.
Lula will visit the White House after he meets Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic lawmakers in the morning.
Brazil’s foreign ministry said support for democracy, human rights and the environment will be at the center of Lula’s agenda in Washington.
Brazil is also eager for more countries to contribute to the Amazon Fund started by Germany and Norway to back protection of the rainforest and sustainable development projects.
The Biden administration is looking into joining the $1.3 billion fund, the two US officials confirmed to Reuters.
A US contribution to the Brazilian-administered fund would underline the resetting of ties between the two countries after the recent period of frosty relations.
Lula traveled to Washington with Environment Minister Marina Silva, who is expected to meet with Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry. The ministers of foreign relations, finance and racial equality are also part of the delegation.
Brazil reinforced its commitment to protecting the Amazon rainforest this week by launching by an enforcement operation against illegal gold miners that have devastated the Yanomami indigenous reservation in northern Brazil.
Lula’s predecessor relaxed environmental protections, encouraging mining and logging in the Amazon and allowing deforestation in the region to hit a 15-year high.
Biden to meet Brazil’s Lula for talks on climate, democracy
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Biden to meet Brazil’s Lula for talks on climate, democracy
- Relations between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies had been lukewarm under Lula’s far-right predecessor Bolsonaro
Nestle acknowledges delay before baby milk recall
- The company in December recalled batches of its infant formula in 16 European countries
- Nestle said routine checks at its Dutch plant at the end of November 2025 had detected “very low levels” of cereulide
GENEVA: Swiss food giant Nestle has acknowledged that it waited days for a health-risk analysis before alerting authorities after detecting a toxin in its baby milk at a Dutch factory.
But in an open letter to campaign group Foodwatch France Friday it denied accusations of negligence.
The company in December recalled batches of its infant formula in 16 European countries after detecting cereulide, a bacterial toxin that can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
French newspaper Le Monde reported Friday that traces of cereulide had been found in late November — 10 days before the first recalls of the product — because the company waited for a “health?risk analysis” before informing regulators.
Nestle said in a statement online that routine checks at its Dutch plant at the end of November 2025 had detected “very low levels” of cereulide after new equipment was installed in a factory.
It said there was no maximum limit for cereulide indicated by regulations.
The company halted production and launched further tests, which in early December confirmed minute quantities in products that had yet to leave the warehouse.
Nestle said it informed Dutch, European and other national authorities on December 10 and began a precautionary recall of all products made since the new equipment was installed — 25 batches across 16 European countries.
- Response to Foodwatch -
Friday’s open letter responded to claims by Foodwatch France, which a day earlier announced it was filing a legal complaint in the French courts against Nestle on behalf of several families whose babies had fallen ill.
Nestle denied Foodwatch’s suggestions that its product recall had been late without any reasonable excuse and that it had displayed “alarming negligence.”
They said they had acted in December and January as soon as they had identified there was an issue, said the company.
“We recognize the stress and worry that the recall has caused for parents and caregivers,” it said.
“To date, we have not received any medical reports confirming a link to illness associated with our products,” it added.
The company has said from the start of the affair that the recall stemmed from a “quality issue” and that it had seen no evidence linking its products to illness.
French authorities launched an investigation into the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk.
Nestle said in its statement that “nothing indicates any link between these tragic events in these two instances and the consumption of our products.”
