Lula Speaks With Panama’s Mulino, Launches Bid to Join Canal Neutrality Protocol

Overview

• Brazil’s presidency said Lula and José Raúl Mulino spoke on January 15, reaffirming the need to preserve peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean with an emphasis on the UN, international law, and dialogue.
• The leaders discussed Venezuela following the January 3 U.S. military action, situating the exchange within Lula’s broader outreach to counterparts including Gustavo Petro, Claudia Sheinbaum, Pedro Sánchez, Vladimir Putin, Mark Carney, and Luís Montenegro.
• Lula will travel to Panama for the January 28 opening of the CAF forum and will hold a bilateral meeting with Mulino to address trade, investment, and cooperation linked to Panama’s status as a Mercosur associate state.
• Lula announced the start of Brazil’s internal procedure to accede to the 1977 protocol on the permanent neutrality and operation of the Panama Canal, a step that requires approval by Brazil’s Congress.
• In remarks reported by O Globo, Lula criticized the use of trade as coercion, defended Panama’s sovereignty over the canal, and responded to past statements by U.S. President Donald Trump about the waterway’s status.