German president pledges support to Lula before inauguration

Ahead of his departure for Brazil, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier promised German support to the incoming president and leftist superstar Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, reported dpa.

Steinmeier will attend Lula's inauguration on Sunday in the capital Brasília. Lula, who has served as president twice before, returns to the job after defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in elections held in October.

Relations between Brazil and Germany suffered during the four years nationalist Bolsonaro was in office, especially on issues such as climate and human rights.

Steinmeier is trying to send a signal that Germany views Brazil under Lula as a strategic political and economic partner. Brazil's enormous natural resources and large agricultural economy make it a big power in Latin America.

"My visit is intended to give an impetus to the relaunch of bilateral relations between our two countries," Steinmeier said on Saturday before leaving Berlin.

He said it should also provide an impetus "for our common goal of protecting the Amazon rainforest, the green lung of our world, from deforestation."

Steinmeier appealed to the global community, saying: "It's not just up to Brazil, we all have a responsibility to protect the climate and our environment and to preserve biodiversity on our planet."

The German president said he was pleased to be able to congratulate Lula personally on his inauguration. "We will exchange views on his goals for the presidency and on bilateral issues. The Federal Republic of Germany stands ready to support the new president as best it can in his ambitious plans to protect the rainforest."

As a huge reservoir of carbon, the Amazon rainforest plays an important role in the fight against global climate change. Bolsonaro was accused of stripping protections from the rainforest for the benefit of large corporations.