French

PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron and colleague Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrated Wednesday the launch of Brazil’s third French-designed submarine. The submarine will help secure the country’s vast coastline, the so-called “Blue Amazon.”

The two men stressed the importance of their countries’ defense partnership during a period of great global instability, in a ceremony at Brazil’s ultramodern naval base at Itaguai near Rio de Janeiro.

It was here that Brazil built the Tonelero, the third of four planned conventional diesel attack submarines, with training, equipment and technical assistance from France.

Under cloudy skies, the submarine was named by First Lady Rosangela da Silva, nicknamed “Janja.”

France and Brazil’s defense ties “will allow two important countries, each on a different continent, to prepare for this challenge, without worrying regarding any type of war, because we are defenders of peace,” Lula said.

Despite differences, especially over the war in Ukraine, Macron said the “peaceful great powers Brazil and France” had “the same vision of the world.”

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Macron is on a whirlwind tour of Brazil, a key economic ally, that kicked off on Tuesday with the launch of a plan to raise more than a billion dollars in green investments to protect Brazil’s and Guyana’s Amazon forests.

First visit

Macron’s visit, being the first by a French president to a Latin American economic giant in more than a decade, is also a step towards improving relations that had deteriorated significantly under former president Jair Bolsonaro.

The warm encounter between Macron and Lula in the Amazon, where the two men were pictured smiling and shaking hands in the jungle, gave birth to numerous internet memes regarding their bromance.

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The heated scenes – a stark contrast to Bolsonaro’s days of hurling insults at Macron’s wife – continued Wednesday at the submarine launch.

With its 8,500 kilometers of coastline, Brazil seeks to ensure the security of what it calls the “Blue Amazon,” the vast exclusive economic zone through which more than 95 percent of its foreign trade takes place and where 95 percent of its oil is exploited.

The construction of the submarine was outlined in a 2008 agreement between Lula and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchase of 50 Caracal helicopters.

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A fourth submarine, Angostura, will be launched in 2025.

Nuclear submarine

Brazil also plans to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, the Alvaro Alberto, a project that has faced significant delays, mainly due to budget constraints.

French maritime defense manufacturer Naval Group supported the design and construction of the submarine, except for the Brazilian-designed nuclear boiler.

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However, Brasilia attempted to convince Paris to increase technology transfers to help integrate reactors into submarines and sell nuclear propulsion-related equipment.

France is reluctant to transfer such technology due to the challenges of nuclear proliferation.

“If Brazil wants to have access to knowledge of nuclear technology, it is not for war. We want this knowledge to guarantee all countries that want peace that Brazil will be on its side,” Lula said.

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Macron told Brazil “France will be by your side” during the development of a nuclear-powered submarine, without announcing specific assistance.

“I want us to open the chapter for new submarines… that we deal with nuclear propulsion while still fully respecting all non-proliferation commitments,” he said.

Macron arrived in the economic capital Sao Paulo, and criticized the long-stalled free trade deal between the European Union and South America’s Mercosur bloc.

The deal, which has recently encountered fierce resistance from European farmers, “as negotiated today is a really bad deal, for you and (AFP/Z-3)