Germany to donate US$200 million to Lula da Silva’s government, says Minister

The German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, said in an interview with the newspaper Folha de São Paulo that Germany plans an “immediate program” in the first 100 days of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT, progressive-globalist) to donate an additional U$200 million (about R$ 1.1 billion) to Brazil.

The minister, also responsible for the Amazon Fund, said that the donation would be aimed at forest conservation and curbing climate change.

“We will also cooperate in other areas to help solve the social gap because we are sure that climate protection does not work without solving social problems,” she said.

Schulze also said that he is following the situation in the Yanomami territory and will contact minister Marina Silva of the Environment, and Sonia Guajajara, of Indigenous Peoples, to discuss ways of cooperating with the case.

The area suffers from poor sanitation and faces cases of severe malnutrition and malaria.

AMAZON FUND

In addition, the minister also mentions the need to rehabilitate the Amazon Fund’s resources, halted by former president Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL, right) government since 2019, when the then president and the then Minister of Environment, Ricardo Salles, suspended the operationalization of the fund.

The management also abolished technical bodies and reduced the participation of NGOs.

The fund was created in 2008 and was managed by BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).

The guidelines were prepared by Cofa (Guidance Committee of the Amazon Fund), then formed by the federal government, state governments, and civil society members.

On Nov. 3, 2022, the STF (Federal Supreme Court) determined that the government should reactivate the fund within 60 days. The project raises donations for the preservation and inspection of the biome.

After his inauguration as president, Lula signed a decree reinstating the Amazon Fund.

In contrast, the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, announced that his country would provide US$35 million (R$ 199.3 million at the exchange rate of Jan. 2, 2023) to the fund.

He says this is a sign of close cooperation and support for the current government.

The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, arrives in Brasilia on Monday (Jan. 30) to meet with Lula and business people.

Among other actions, he is expected to announce the sending of US$31 million from Germany to the Amazon Fund.

Lula cultivates a good image abroad. In the case of German Social Democracy, Scholz’s origin, this relationship is even more profound.

It goes back to when the PT leader was a union leader.