Statement to the press by President Lula on the occasion of the State Visit of the President of Bolivia

My dear comrade Rodrigo Paz Pereira, ministers accompanying the President of Bolivia, ministers of Brazil, I welcome President Rodrigo Paz and the ministers, governors, and business leaders of his delegation. We had already met in January of this year, on the sidelines of the Latin America and Caribbean International Economic Forum, in Panama. Like his father, former President Jaime Paz Zamora, who visited Brazil in August 1990, President Rodrigo Paz honors us by choosing Brazil as the destination of his first bilateral visit as head of State.

Bolivia and Brazil are the meeting point of the Amazon, the Pantanal, the Andes, and the Southern Cone region. We share the world's eighth-largest land border. It spans more than 3,400 kilometers, connecting the states of Acre, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul to the departments of Pando, Beni, and Santa Cruz. This is not just a line on the map. It is a living border that connects peoples, cultures, and economies. It is a border that expands through trade, through investment in physical and energy infrastructure, and through the mobility of Bolivians and Brazilians.

Brazil is currently Bolivia’s second-largest trading partner. But bilateral trade is still far below its potential. In 2013, trade flows reached USD 5.5 billion. Last year, that figure was only USD 2.6 billion. We must act, and act decisively, to reverse this situation. In September 2025, more than 100 Brazilian companies participated in Expo Cruz, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the largest multi-sector trade fair in South America.

During this visit, 120 Bolivian business leaders are accompanying President Rodrigo Paz and will take part in a business forum tomorrow in São Paulo. These are valuable initiatives to boost our trade exchange. There are many opportunities in sectors such as food, dairy, genetic material, seeds, fruits, cotton, sugarcane, and soybeans, as well as in deepening cooperation in biotechnology with the support of EMBRAPA [the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation].

Another measure that will have a short-term impact is the creation of the Brazilian Export Credit System, approved last week by the National Congress. From now on, BNDES [Brazil’s National Development Bank] will have more modern instruments to finance exports of goods and services, creating space for greater international competitiveness of Brazilian companies and for job creation.

We add to this the robust investments we continue to make to overcome infrastructure gaps and promote physical integration with our neighbors.

In 2004, I inaugurated the first bridge between Brazil and Bolivia, linking Brasiléia, in the Brazilian state of Acre, to Cobija, in Bolivia. It took more than 500 years for our territories to be connected by a bridge. Last year, I signed the order to build the second bridge between our countries, with construction scheduled to begin in 2027.

As Minister Simone Tebet said, in fact, the groundwork has already begun. The works we refer to here are when we actually begin building the bridge. The bridge over the Mamoré River will greatly improve the lives of residents of Guajará-Mirim, Rondônia, and Guayaramerín, Beni.

This bridge is also a central element of the South American integration route. As part of the Rondon Quadrant, it will improve connectivity for Brazilian and Bolivian products to ports in Chile and Peru, allowing access to the Pacific Ocean and to Asian markets. We also want to move forward on one of the aspirations that has mobilized several Bolivian governments, gaining fluvial access to the Atlantic.

With this purpose, Brazil presented last year a draft tripartite agreement with Bolivia and Paraguay to increase navigability on the Paraguay River waterway, including dredging, completion, and signaling of the Tamengo channel, which connects the Cáceres Lagoon to Corumbá. Another structural pillar of the bilateral partnership is energy cooperation. For decades, Petrobras has helped build in Bolivia one of the most important energy integration experiences in Latin America.

In an international context marked by conflicts that threaten energy security, Bolivia remains a reliable partner and continues to be Brazil’s main supplier of natural gas. We discussed the possibility of expanding investments in this area and increasing export volumes to the Brazilian market. The Brazil-Bolivia gas pipeline has played a key role in the growth of the Brazilian industry and Bolivia’s hydrocarbon sector.

Today, it can support broader integration of gas markets in the Southern Cone and help supply fertilizer plants that the Bolivian government is considering installing in Puerto Quijarro. We are also making steady progress toward the interconnection of our electricity systems.

The agreement we signed today paves the way for the construction of a transmission line between the province of Germán Busch, in the Santa Cruz department, and the municipality of Corumbá. We will optimize the use of existing resources in both countries and expand electricity access to regions still dependent on diesel. Brazil is also ready to cooperate with Bolivia in the production of biofuels and other renewable sources.

This means greater energy security and diversification of supply sources, as well as enabling the decarbonization of our economies. Our integration goes beyond infrastructure and energy. Bolivia and Brazil are united in their concern with public security.

The agreement we signed today renews our commitment to combating organized crime on both sides of the border. It provides for greater coordination to prevent and combat drug and human trafficking, smuggling, vehicle theft, money laundering, illegal mining, and environmental crimes. At the same time, it is essential to facilitate the movement of people.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear President Rodrigo Paz, the presence of thousands of Brazilian students in Bolivian universities, especially in medical programs, is an example of the human ties that unite our countries. These young people strengthen academic and cultural exchange between Brazil and Bolivia and bring our societies even closer together.

Today, we also signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation. We want more Bolivian tourists to visit our Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, and more Brazilians to visit the historic Andean Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. President Paz and I agree that regional integration is not an ideological project, it is a historical necessity. In an increasingly competitive world, no country in our region will be able to prosper in isolation.

Only an integrated South America will be able to occupy the place it deserves in the global economy and in global politics. Bolivia’s accession to Mercosur represents a historic step. Mercosur is strengthened and provides us with greater strategic autonomy in the face of global market instability.

With Bolivia, Mercosur moves beyond being a project limited to the Southern Cone and becomes a true axis of continental integration. This integration also relies on important instruments such as CELAC [Community of Latin American and Caribbean States].

On March 21, I will participate in the 10th CELAC Summit in Bogotá, where we will also open dialogue with our African partners at the first CELAC–Africa High-Level Forum.

Bolivia and Brazil are guardians of one of the greatest environmental assets on the planet, the Amazon. The protection of the forest, biodiversity, and the peoples who live there is our shared responsibility. These priorities guide our actions as members of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization.

My dear President Paz, in your inauguration speech, you defended a Latin America that is free, democratic, and at peace. As in Brazil on January 8, 2023, democracy also faced challenges in Bolivia in 2019 and 2024. In both cases, we emerged stronger.

Our countries have proven that democratic institutions and the will of the people are capable of overcoming attempts to undermine them. The future of our region depends on our ability to cooperate. Without ideological constraints, without hatred, without violence, we will build a peaceful, integrated, and prosperous Latin America.

Therefore, my dear President Rodrigo Paz, I wish you every success in your term. Be certain that you can count on Brazil, because all Brazil wants is to grow and for its neighboring countries to grow alongside it, in peace, in harmony, and in the most democratic way possible. Only in this way will we be able to overcome the hardship faced by our people, who still live in one of the poorest regions of the world.