Bolsonaro tilts at closer Brazil-U.S. ties at unlikely meeting with Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks while holding a bilateral meeting with Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 9, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Brazil and the United States should forge closer ties after the two countries drifted apart for ideological reasons, Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday at a first official meeting with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden.

The hastily arranged meeting between the two came together after Biden reached out to Bolsonaro, a populist and admirer of ex-president Donald Trump, as Washington sought to shore up attendance at a summit roiled by a partial boycott.