King Felipe VI of Spain arrived in Brasilia this Sunday, where he will attend the investiture of the new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Felipe VI, who has traveled with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, was received at the airport by personnel from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry and the Vice President and Minister of Labor of Spain, Yolanda Díaz, who had arrived the day before.
Lula’s inauguration will be attended by some twenty heads of state and government, including the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Germany and Portugal.
This visit is the first of Felipe VI to Brazil since he replaced Juan Carlos I on the throne in June 2014.
The previous one had been in 2011, when he attended the investiture of Dilma Rousseff, who succeeded Lula da Silva after being president between 2003 and 2010, as Prince of Asturias.
Twenty years ago today, I had also been in Brasilia on January 1, 2003, when Lula assumed power in his first term.