Lula and newly elected Chilean President Kast meet for the first time in Panama ahead of the “Latin Davos” forum
Kast argued that cooperation between Chile and Brazil “can lead to the change that our region needs”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and newly elected Chilean President José Antonio Kast held their first bilateral meeting in Panama on Tuesday, shortly after arriving for the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean – an event that organizers and regional media are promoting as the “Latin Davos”.
The talks were held behind closed doors and brought together leaders from the opposition political camps. After the meeting, Kast described it as “constructive” and said South America faces “enormous” challenges in terms of security, economic progress and poverty reduction. He argued that cooperation between Chile and Brazil “can lead to the change our region needs,” in a post on X.
Brazil’s foreign ministry described such contacts as normal on the sidelines of the gathering, which will bring together several heads of state. “We maintain a dialogue with absolutely all the presidents in the region and our relations do not depend on the political cycle,” said Gisela Padovan, secretary of the ministry for Latin America and the Caribbean, adding that Brazil has already been in contact with the president-elect of Chile.
The forum draws eight top-level leaders
The forum takes place in Panama City on 28-29 January and is expected to convene presidents, business leaders and multilateral institutions. CAF said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Lula, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness will attend the opening session, with Kast attending as the newly elected president of Chile.
Regional coverage highlighted an agenda focused on growth, macroeconomic stability, investment, energy transition, digital transformation and social cohesion, as organizers seek to position the forum as a recurring high-level platform for Latin America and the Caribbean.
No official readout of the discussion between Lula and Kast has been released, but Kast’s public remarks pointed to security and economic cooperation as key themes, underscoring a broader pattern of cross-ideological engagement among governments across the region.
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