By Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle

LOS ANGELES/BRASILIA – While Jair Bolsonaro (Brazilian President) and Joe Biden (U.S. Vice President), have never met face-to-face, they agreed to a strange, hastily arranged meeting in Los Angeles Thursday due to their different motivations.

In a desperate attempt to save an hemispheric summit from being lost, Biden reached out and met with Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro plans to use the meeting to improve his image before he enters a difficult re-election campaign.

Biden is hosting the Summit of the Americas next week as a move to heal Trump-era damage and assert U.S. supremacy over China’s increasing clout within the region.

Biden should show America unity in an era of tensions against Russia and China. Celso Amorim participated at three summits for the two Brazilian presidents. Celso Amorim also served as foreign minister for Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s rival leftist.

Amorim explained that Biden will have to accept an invitation from a Brazilian president who claims fraud was committed in the U.S. presidential election.

Bolsonaro again praised President Donald Trump on Tuesday. He said that the election victory of Biden was “suspicious” in an interview.

Bolsonaro did not do much to amend the situation in the lead-up to his meeting, but he complained about a G20 rejection and called for a freeze in U.S. relations with Brazil that was warmer under Trump. Bolsonaro stressed that it was only after a Biden personal envoy to Brasilia convinced him to go.

Former army captain, who gained his presidency in Trump’s place, has reiterated baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Bolsonaro also raised doubts regarding Brazil’s voting system. He called it “liable to fraud” without providing evidence.

He tried to denigrate the election results in October, raising fears that he could not accept defeat and his followers might repeat the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill. Bolsonaro has been urged by senior officials from the Biden administration not to compromise confidence in electoral processes.

‘CANDID CONVERSATION’

Senior officials in the Biden administration said that they expected to have a “candid discussion” between them. “We clearly also have disagreements with Brazil’s president,” he stated.

Jake Sullivan (U.S. National Security Advisor) spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One on their way to Los Angeles. He stated that Biden will talk about climate and “open and transparent democratic elections” in Brazil.

Los Angeles’ Brazilian presence has gained additional luster after Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the Mexican president, stated that he wouldn’t attend as U.S. enemies Cubans Venezuela and Nicaragua weren’t invited.

Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva, Brazilian Foreign Ministry official, stated that he hopes Bolsonaro will meet Biden in order to talk about trade, defense cooperation, sustainable growth, as well as investment in mining and energy.

However, there are many people who doubt the Presidents’ ability to make substantive progress in their thirty-minute conversations.

“The relationship has reached a breaking point. Washington and Brasilia are fundamentally at odds on most important issues, including climate change, Amazon (NASDAQ) deforestation, democracy, and Russia’s invasion in Ukraine,” stated Oliver Stuenkel of FGV, a think tank in Sao Paulo.

He said Bolsonaro’s inner circle appears to be looking past Biden, with an eye on elections later this year – and in 2024.

“They believe Bolsonaro would be re-elected and that the Democrats will lose both the House of the Senate. And that Trump is returning,” Stuenkel claimed.

Bolsonaro was among the leaders who recognized Trump’s win over Biden. Both presidents never spoke.

Bolsonaro, who visited the Kremlin days prior to the Russian invasion, publicly expressed admiration of Putin. This was a matter that has drawn sharp criticism from Washington.

The Brazilian leader is still willing to smile for photos. Alberto do Amaral is an international law professor at University of Sao Paulo. He said that Bolsonaro’s images of him meeting Putin and Biden in a matter of months could help his diplomatic credentials with Brazilian voters.

Amaral stated that Bolsonaro and Biden are two radically different political species. The meeting is likely to be unpleasant.