German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva appear to have defused tensions sparked by Merz’s comments on the Amazon host city of COP30.
After speaking to Lula on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa, Merz wrote on X that “Next time in Belém, I’ll see a lot more – from dance steps to local food and rainforests.”
Meanwhile, Lula in a post shared a photo of the two leaders shaking hands and said Merz had invited him to Hanover in April to attend the opening of the world’s largest industrial technology fair next year.
Lula said, “Brazil will be a partner country at the fair. I confirmed my presence and invited the Chancellor to pay a state visit to Brazil.”
What did Merz say about COP30 host city Belém?
In a speech at the business congress in Berlin on 13 November, Merz said he had asked the journalists accompanying him during his visit to Belém, the COP30 host city, “who would want to live in Brazil.”
Merz claimed that “no one raised their hand” and “everybody was happy to get back to Germany and leave that place.”
In response, Lula said that if Merz had gone to bars, eaten food and danced in Pará state, whose capital is Belém, “he would have realized that Berlin does not offer him even 10% of the quality of life that Pará state and the city of Belém offer.”
Belém mayor Igor Normando called Meraz’s comments “arrogant and prejudiced”, while Pará state governor Helder Barbalho said Meraz had given “a prejudiced speech that shows more about the person giving it rather than its subject.”
Despite facing criticism in Brazil, the German Chancellor refused to apologize.
Edited by: Carl Sexton