SAO PAULO, May 5 (Reuters) – Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will bring up the topic of an agreement to combat organized crime in his meeting with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump this week, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Tuesday.
The countries can do “important work in combating transnational organized crime,” Alckmin told news channel GloboNews, adding that Lula has already raised the agreement with Trump and will do so again at their meeting.
Lula and Trump are expected to meet on Thursday, following a previously planned visit to Washington by the Brazilian president that did not take place.
A White House official on Tuesday confirmed the meeting and said the leaders would discuss “economic and security matters of shared importance.”
Brazil and the U.S. announced in April a joint initiative to combat organized crime, involving the integration of data from Brazil’s federal tax authority with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The initiative aims to integrate intelligence efforts to intercept illicit shipments of weapons and narcotics. It comes amid Lula’s efforts on public security, a key issue in Latin America’s largest economy, as he seeks a new term in October’s general election.
(Reporting by Isabel Teles; Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Mark Porter and Himani Sarkar)
