US President Joe Biden became the first western leader on Sunday night to congratulate Brazil’s president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in what experts suggest will be a potential thaw in relations between Brasilia and Washington.
Mr Biden’s statement came 40 minutes after the official results were announced in Brazil, followed by a tweet from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulating Mr da Silva.
“I look forward to working together to continue the co-operation between our two countries in the months and years ahead,” Mr Biden said.
With all votes tallied, Mr da Silva clinched a narrow victory by gaining 50.9 per cent of the vote, compared to 49.1 per cent for his far-right rival, President Jair Bolsonaro.
Mr Bolsonaro has been called the “Trump of the tropics” and was endorsed by the former US president for his right-wing populist agenda.
While there is no love lost between Mr Biden and Mr Bolsonaro, it is not only the Trump connection that soured relations between the two.
On environmental issues, globalisation, fighting the pandemic, relations with Russia and boosting the UN, the ideological rift between Mr Biden and Mr Bolsonaro was too big to overcome.
Mr Bolsonaro is blamed for massive deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, for forging closer relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and for spreading misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.
“The election of Lula as president for a third term will lead, among other things, to a substantial change in Brazil’s environmental agenda,” said Abrao Nato, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
“As a consequence, this is likely to benefit Brazil’s external image and improve its relationship with several countries, including the United States.”
He expected US-Brazil economic relations to be driven by pragmatic mutual interests and to be subject to constructive engagement — even as Mr da Silva's election could lead to deepening economic ties between Brazil and China.
The left’s return to power in Latin America's largest country is resurrecting talk of the “Global South” that Mr da Silva championed while president from 2003-2010.
Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Honduras have seen a resurgence of leftist leaders and movements, a trend the Biden administration has welcomed by increasing interaction with these governments.
Brazil’s daily Folha newspaper reported on Saturday that White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will be travelling to the country in the coming days in a bid reinforce US support for a peaceful transition and establish good rapport with Mr da Silva.
The incoming Brazilian president had a tense relationship with former US leader George W Bush, in part due to differences over the Iraq war, the war on terror and economic policies.
But two decades on, both countries' international policies have shifted.
“Lula has pledged to return Brazil to its more traditional role as a supporter of regional multilateral institutions,” wrote Diana Roy of the Council on Foreign Relations.
She also expected warmer relations with the US and European Union and a rekindling of Brazil's involvement in regional affairs.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
RACE CARD
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
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Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
RACE CARD
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7.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh 82,500 (D) 1,200m
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE squad v Australia
Rohan Mustafa (C), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Rameez Shahzad, Fahad Nawaz, Amjed Gul, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Muhammad Naveed, Amir Hayat, Ghulam Shabir (WK), Qadeer Ahmed, Tahir Latif, Zahoor Khan
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Watch live
The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.
You can find out more here
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The%20specs
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
