February 10, 2023
As the two largest democracies in the hemisphere, the nearly 200 years of U.S.-Brazil partnership is built on a long-standing commitment to promoting democratic governance and human rights, strengthening our electoral and political institutions and processes, ensuring inclusion for all our citizens, and working to build international consensus to promote the rule of law, human rights, democracy, and stability in the hemisphere and beyond
- The U.S and Brazil expanded collaboration on human rights to:
- strengthen democratic governance and human rights in the region;
- combat racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism; and
- collaborate in multilateral fora to promote protections for the rights of vulnerable groups, including including people of African descent, Indigenous peoples, women, religious minorities, LGBTQI+, and environmental defenders.
- Presidents Biden and Lula committed at their meeting on Feb. 10, 2023 to reinvigorate the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER) to mutually benefit marginalized racial, ethnic, and Indigenous communities, including people of African descent, in both countries.
- As leaders of the two largest democracies in the Americas, in their meeting, President Biden and President Lula pledged to work together to strengthen democratic institutions and welcomed the second Summit for Democracy to be held in March 2023
- At the first Summit for Democracy in 2021, Brazil committed to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, including to ensure free and fair elections, increase women’s participation in politics, and guarantee the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
- At the 2021 Summit for Democracy, the United States announced commitments to bolster a free and independent media; fighting corruption; defending free and fair elections; strengthening civic capacity, including: political leadership of women, girls, and marginalized communities.
- Brazil is a leader on refugee issues, providing a safe haven to hundreds of thousands of refugees and humanitarian visa holders, including Venezuelan, Haitian, Afghan and Ukrainian nationals.
- Since 2017 the United States has provided more than $146 million in humanitarian assistance through PRM and USAID for Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Brazil, focused on shelter, emergency food assistance, water and sanitation, health and psychosocial services. This includes more than $27 million in 2022.
- Since 2020 the United States has invested more than $20 million to combat human trafficking together with Brazilian and international partners, primarily through the Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS).
- The United States and Brazil engage in ongoing capacity development and experience sharing on disaster response, professional military education, counterterrorism, and rule of law.
- The United States launched an $880,000 program to support Rio de Janeiro’s police and security services with technology, training, and related engagement.
- Both Brazil and the United States voted on Ukraine/Russia resolutions in the UN Security Council, UNHRC, UNGA, and IAEA to help urge a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.
- Both Brazil and the United States have spoken out in defense of democracy and human rights in the region.
