ITAGUAI, Brazil, March 28, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - President Emmanuel Macron and
counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday celebrated the launch of
Brazil's third French-designed submarine, which will help secure the
country's immense coastline, dubbed the "Blue Amazon."

The two men highlighted the importance of their countries' defense
partnership during a time of major global unrest, at a ceremony at Brazil's
ultra-modern naval base in Itaguai near Rio de Janeiro.

It is here that Brazil built the Tonelero, the third of four planned
conventional diesel attack submarines, with training, equipment, and
technical assistance from France.

Under cloudy skies, the submarine was christened by First Lady Rosangela da
Silva, nicknamed "Janja."

France and Brazil's defense ties "will allow two important countries, each on
a continent, to prepare so that we can face this adversity, without worrying
about any type of war, because we are defenders of peace," said Lula.

Despite differences, notably on the Ukraine war, Macron said "the great
peaceful powers of Brazil and France" had "the same vision of the world."

Macron is on a whirlwind tour of Brazil, a major economic ally, which kicked
off Tuesday with the launch of a plan to raise over a billion dollars in
green investments to protect the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon.

- Jungle bromance -

The visit, the first by a French president to Latin America's economic giant
in over a decade, is also a move to reset ties which had deteriorated
significantly under former president Jair Bolsonaro.

A warm meeting between Macron and Lula in the Amazon, in which the two men
were pictured beaming and clasping hands in the jungle, spawned a raft of
internet memes about their bromance.

The cozy scenes -- a far cry from the days Bolsonaro lobbed insults at
Macron's wife -- continued Wednesday at the submarine launch.

With its 8,500 kilometers of coastline, Brazil is seeking to ensure the
security of what it calls the "blue Amazon," its immense exclusive economic
zone through which more than 95 percent of its foreign trade passes and where
it extracts 95 percent of its oil.

The construction of the submarines was outlined in a 2008 deal between Lula
and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchase
of 50 Caracal helicopters.

The fourth submarine, the Angostura, will be launched in 2025.

- France skirts around nuclear sub -

Brazil is also planning to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, the
Alvaro Alberto, a project that has suffered significant delays, mainly due to
budget constraints.

The French naval defense manufacturer Naval Group is supporting the design
and construction of the submarine, except for the nuclear boiler which is
being designed by the Brazilians.

Brasilia is however trying to convince Paris to increase technology transfers
to help it integrate the reactor into the submarine and sell it equipment
linked to nuclear propulsion.

France has been reticent to transfer such technology due to the challenges of
nuclear proliferation.

"If Brazil wants to have access to knowledge of nuclear technology, it is not
to wage war. We want this knowledge to assure all countries that want peace
that Brazil will be at their side," said Lula.

Macron told Brazil "France will be at your side" during the development of
the nuclear-powered submarines, without announcing specific assistance.

"I want us to open the chapter for new submarines... that we look nuclear
propulsion in the face while being perfectly respectful of all non-
proliferation commitments," he said.

Later on Wednesday, Macron arrived in the economic capital Sao Paulo, and
blasted the long-stalled free trade agreement between the European Union and
South America's Mercosur bloc.

The deal, which has recently run into fierce resistance from European
farmers, "as it is negotiated today is a really bad agreement, for you and
for us," Macron told an economic forum in the southeastern city.

"Let's build a new agreement ... one which is responsible from a development,
climate and biodiversity point of view," he said of the pact, negotiations
for which originally began 25 years ago.

After an agreement was reached in 2019, final approval of the deal was then
blocked amid opposition from several countries including France, even as
nations such as Spain, Germany and Brazil have championed its adoption.