The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, decided this Saturday, due to pneumonia, to postpone his state visit to China, where he was scheduled to discuss peace plans for the war in Ukraine with his counterpart Xi Jinping.
“Due to medical guidance,” Lula, 77, “resolved to postpone his trip to China,” whose authorities were informed, the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat said in a statement.
The government has not yet announced a new date for the visit.
For his part, the advisor for international affairs to the Presidency, Celso Amorim, who was chancellor during Lula’s first two governments (2003-2010), told the newspaper O Globo that interest in the visit has not changed and that Brazil is seeking reschedule “as soon as possible.”
Lula, in power since January, seeks with the visit to the Asian power to recover the weight of Brazil in world geopolitics after the isolationism of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
The diagnosis is “bacterial and viral bronchopneumonia due to influenza A,” explained Dr. Ana Helena Germoglio, according to the statement from the Presidency.
Lula had gone to the Sirio Libanés hospital in Brasilia on Thursday with “flu symptoms”, after an intense week of work with commitments in four states of this continental country.
On Friday, the leftist president, who was initially due to leave on Saturday for China, had postponed his departure for a day due to “mild pneumonia” and remained at the official residence of La Alvorada, where he met with ministers and parliamentary leaders.
His condition was stable and he was receiving medication, but after a new medical evaluation this Saturday, the head of state decided to suspend the trip.
“Despite the clinical improvement, the medical service of the Presidency of the Republic recommends postponing the trip to China until the viral transmission cycle ends,” said Dr. Germoglio.
Another doctor who examined him, Roberto Kalil, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that “the president is doing well” and could return to work next week, although for a trip to China he will have to wait at least 10 days.
Business and Ukraine
Lula was to arrive in China at the head of a large delegation of at least six ministers, governors, senators and deputies, in addition to more than 200 heads of companies – almost half of the agricultural sector.
His official schedule was to start on Tuesday, when he was scheduled to meet Xi Jinping. The leftist leader had to present to his Chinese counterpart his proposal to create a group of mediating countries in the war in Ukraine.
According to Brazilian media, even without Lula, businessmen must continue their agendas in China, where a business seminar will take place on the 29th.
China is the first commercial partner of Brazil: last year the exchange between the two countries exceeded 150,000 million dollars.
But Brazilian businessmen continue to find it difficult to place higher value-added goods on the Chinese market and are looking for new investments.
Lula visited Beijing three times during his previous governments. This new visit, three months after his return to power, was to highlight his interest in diplomacy after having previously traveled to other priority capitals for Brazil, such as Buenos Aires and Washington.
His health has been a cause for concern in recent years. Last November, Lula underwent a procedure to remove a lesion in his larynx.
The president, who often has a hoarse voice, was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer in 2011 and had a tumor removed. Since then, medical results have shown complete remission of the cancer.