Lula will not attend the inaugurations of the new presidents of Peru and Colombia

According to interlocutors at Palácio do Planalto interviewed by the report, Lula has no international trips planned at the moment and, just a few months before the presidential election, the government's priority is to focus its agenda on Brazil.

Lula's absence also occurs at a time of change in the political landscape of South America. With the victories of Keiko and Espriella, both right-wing, Brazil becomes the only major country in the region governed by a left-wing president.

The United Nations General Assembly, which will take place in September in New York, should be the PT member's next international commitment.

According to Itamaraty, minister Mauro Vieira will represent the Brazilian president at Keiko's inauguration, which will take place next Tuesday (28) in Lima. The ministry has not yet defined who it will send to the Colombian inauguration, scheduled for August 7th.

Espriella wants to carry out the event in a military complex, and the current president, Gustavo Petro, says he will not allow the change - the country's legislation establishes that the ceremony takes place in Congress, located in Bogotá.

It is not yet clear what the outcome of the tug of war will be. The change of power in Colombia is being marked by disagreements after Espriella announced the suspension of the transition process in response to Petro's refusal to accept the result of the election.

The ultra-rightist defeated the candidate sponsored by Petro, Iván Cepeda, by a minimal margin. The left-wing president made accusations of fraud, without presenting evidence, mimicking a movement previously led by right-wing leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro (PL), in Brazil, and Donald Trump, in the United States.

Right-wing populist politician and daughter of Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori, Keiko won the Peruvian elections by a difference of just 0.27 percentage points compared to left-wing deputy Roberto Sánchez, who also questioned the process.

Lula congratulated the two right-wing candidates after their respective official announcements of the election results. In the case of Espriella, the PT member stated that the relationship between Brazil and Colombia "transcends ideologies" and is fundamental to face challenges common to both countries, mentioning the preservation of the Amazon and the fight against organized crime.

This will be the first time that Espriella, who built her public image around her financial success, will hold public office. During the campaign, the lawyer despised the political class, adopted the team's shirt as a symbol to compose his nationalist speech and promised a hard line on public security.

The elections in Colombia and Peru followed the ultra-rightist trend of El Salvador, Argentina, Ecuador and Chile. As Folha showed, the result practically isolates Lula in the region.

Countries in South America relevant to international politics aligned with the PT include Uruguay, governed by Yamandú Orsi since 2025, and Venezuela, although their strength in international forums is limited. Furthermore, Caracas has been under the tutelage of the United States since Washington's attack on the country to depose and capture the dictator Nicolás Maduro.

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