Brazil’s Lula cancels his trip to Lima for APEC, an aide says

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has canceled his trip to Lima for the APEC leaders’ meeting on November 14–15, a presidential adviser told Reuters on Thursday.

In order to focus on the G20 gathering in Rio de Janeiro a few days later, Lula chose to skip the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, according to the adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Brazilian government sees Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Lula two days after the G20 meeting as its most important diplomatic visit this year.

After hurting his head earlier this month, Lula had to cancel a number of trips. These include two UN meetings and a BRICS meeting.

Wednesday’s medical exams showed that Lula’s condition is still stable after the accident. President Obama’s medical report says he has no symptoms and can do his job properly, but he is still being watched closely.

On November 17, in the city of Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon, Lula and U.S. President Joe Biden were supposed to meet. This was first reported by Reuters.

Experts who know about the talks say that the Biden administration is getting ready for the visit, but a final choice won’t be made until after Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election.

An insider said that Biden might still go on the trip even if Lula isn’t there. This would mean that the two leaders wouldn’t be able to meet until the G20 gathering in Rio de Janeiro from November 18–19.

According to the presidential source, Lula’s choice to only go to the G20 could be looked at again if Biden confirms the visit.