Kindred spirits or odd couple? Three days of joint photo ops featuring Emmanuel Macron and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva make for more than just entertaining viewing: they're downright confusing. The first state visit by a French president to Brazil in 11 years highlights how long overdue this reckoning was.
Ironically, leftist Lula wants to get a South America trade deal with Europe over the line. But free marketeer Macron wants to protect French farmers from what's denounced here in Europe as the globalisation of agribusiness.
Both do have a common foe in far-right leaders, like Lula’s predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who has no qualms about chopping down the Amazon – or France's Marine Le Pen, who's quietly rooting for a return of Donald Trump to the White House.
So where do common interests lie for the likes of Brazil and France?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Rebecca Gnignati and Juliette Brown.
