This is a list of international presidential trips made by Dilma Rousseff, the 36th and current President of Brazil. During her presidency, which began with her inauguration on January 01, 2011, Rousseff has travelled to 15 different states internationally as of December 2011.[1]
Contents |
| Number of visits | Country |
|---|---|
| 1 visit | Angola, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, France, Mozambique, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, United States, Venezuela |
| 2 visits | Argentina, Uruguay |
| Country | Areas visited | Date(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Buenos Aires | January 31 |
Further information: Argentina–Brazil relations
President Rousseff's state visit to Argentina was her first trip outside Brazil as president. She chose Argentina as the first foreign trip of her presidency in a demonstration of the "special and strategic" ties between the two countries.[2] During her state visit to Buenos Aires, Rousseff stated that "it was not a casual decision to pick Argentina as my first foreign destination" and praised Argentina as a "strategic ally" to her country.[3] She had a private meeting with President Cristina Kirchner at the Casa Rosada and signed several treaties to foster bilateral relations. She also met with the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.[1] |
| Portugal | Lisbon Coimbra |
March 28-30 |
Further information: Brazil–Portugal relations
During President Rousseff's 2-day visit to Portugal, she met with the Portuguese leadership in Lisbon and attended a ceremony at the University of Coimbra where former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was awarded an honoris causa degree.[1] |
| China | Beijing Sanya Boao Xi'an |
April 8-15 |
Further information: Brazil – People's Republic of China relations
President Rousseff arrived in Beijing on April 12. During the first official day of her state visit, President Rousseff attended the opening ceremony of the Brazil-China High Level Meeting on Science, Technology and Inovation and the closing ceremony of the Brazil-China Business Summit. Later, she received a ceremonial welcome at the Zhongnanhai where she met with President Hu Jintao and signed several treaties. On the evening of April 12, she attended a state dinner offered by President Hu Jintao. On the second day of her visit, she met with the Chinese leadership in Beijing, including Chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao. On April 14, she traveled to Sanya where she attended the 2011 BRICS summit and held private meetings with the presidents of Russia, Dmitri Medvedev, and South Africa, Jacob Zuma, as well as with the prime ministers of India, Manmohan Singh, and the Ukraine, Mykola Azarov. On April 15, she traveled to Boao where she attended the Boao Forum for Asia. On the last day of her trip, President Rousseff visted the research and development center of the ZTE Corporation in Xi'an. She departed Xi'an Xianyang on April 16 en route to Brasília.[1] |
| Uruguay | Montevideo | May 30 |
Further information: Brazil–Uruguay relations
On May 30, Rousseff made a one-day official visit to Uruguay where she met with President José Mujica.[1] Despite the short trip, her agenda included a wide range of issues from power exchange, networking and rail freight transport to trade, tourism and digital television.[4] |
| Paraguay | Asunción | June 28-29 | President Rousseff traveled to Asunción as part of the 41st Mercosur summit. She also held a private bilateral meeting with President Fernando Lugo.[1] |
| Peru | Lima | July 28 | On July 28, President Rousseff traveled to Lima where she attended the inauguration of President Ollanta Humala.[1] |
| United States | New York | September 18-22 |
Further information: Brazil – United States relations
President Rousseff arrived in New York on September 18 for her 5-day visit as part of the General debate of the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly. On September 19, President Rousseff opened the High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control at the United Nations and attended the High-Level Gathering of Women Political Leaders at UN Women. On September 20, President Rousseff had private bilateral meetings with the presidents of Mexico, Felipe Calderón and the United States, Barack Obama. Obama and Rousseff hosted the formal launch of the Open Government Partnership at an event with heads of state and senior officials from 46 countries.[5] On the evening of September 20, she was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award, a distinction which was also given to her predecessor in 2009.[6] On the following day, she became the first woman to open a session of the United Nations General Assembly.[7] She also held bilateral meetings with the presidents of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, Peru, Ollanta Humala, Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, and with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron. On the evening of September 21, she attended a formal dinner offered by the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti. On the last day of her New York trip, she attended the High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Safety at the United Nations.[1] |
| Belgium | Brussels | October 2-4 | President Rousseff traveled to Brussels, Belgium, as part of a three-country tour of Europe. On October 3, the President met with Prime Minister Yves Leterme and attended a state dinner offered by the presidents of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. On the following day, she attended the 5th EU–Brazil summit, aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership between Brazil and the European bloc. The President later attended a banquet at the Royal Castle of Laeken offered to her by King Albert II and Queen Paola. On the final engagement of her trip, the President attended the opening ceremony of the Europalia Brazil 2011 festival.[1] |
| Bulgaria | Sofia Gabrovo Veliko Tarnovo |
October 4-6 | On October 4, President Rousseff arrived in Bulgaria for an emotional back-to-the-roots visit to the homeland of her late emigrant father.[8] The President was welcomed by her Bulgarian counterpart Georgy Parvanov at an official ceremony in the St. Alexander Nevsky Plaza. She later met with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Chairwoman Tsetska Tsacheva. During her visit, Rousseff was awarded Bulgaria’s highest state honour, the Order of Stara Planina.[9] On the evening of October 5, the President attended the Brazil-Bulgaria Business summit. Aiming to expand Brazil's economic presence in Bulgaria, Rousseff was accompanied by key ministers and representatives from Brazil’s biggest companies, including state-controlled oil company Petrobras, mining company Vale and aerospace conglomerate Embraer.[10] While economic issues dominated the agenda, Rousseff made time to visit the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo[11] and her father’s birthplace of Gabrovo on October 6. There she was greeted by members of some 30 families that claim a common heritage with her father.[8] |
| Turkey | Ankara Istanbul |
October 6-8 | President Rousseff arrived in Ankara, Turkey, on the evening of October 6 for a three-day state visit.[1] She was accompanied by her foreign, defense, finance, foreign trade, development, science and communications ministers.[12] Topics on the presidential agenda included trade, energy and education as well as matters of regional and international concern.[13] On the first day of her visit, Rousseff met with President Abdullah Gül and the two signed several bilateral agreements. The leaders also signed a joint declaration titled “Turkey-Brazil: A Strategic Perspective for a Dynamic Partnership.”[12] Later, the President visited the Atatürk Memorial and a spoke at the Brazil-Turkey Business Summit. On October 8, Rousseff paid a visit to İstanbul's historical and touristic sites before returning to Brasília. |
| South Africa | Pretoria | October 17-18 |
Further information: Brazil – South Africa relations
On October 17, President Rousseff arrived in Pretoria, South Africa, on the first leg of her African tour that also included Mozambique and Angola.[1] In Pretoria, President Rousseff met with her South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, at the Presidential Guest House. Topics on the bilateral agenda included Security Council reform, the European sovereign debt crisis, the situation in Syria and the military intervention in Libya.[14] While in Pretoria, President Rousseff attended the 5th IBSA Summit and held a private meeting with Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. She departed Johannesburg International Airport on October 18 en route to Maputo. |
| Mozambique | Maputo | October 18-19 | President Rousseff arrived in Maputo, Mozambique, on the evening of October 18. In Maputo, the President took part in the ceremony paying tribute to the late Samora Machel, who was the leader of Mozambique's independence struggle and the first Mozambican president. President Rousseff also met with President Armando Guebuza and local businessmen. Rousseff's visit was expected to boost economic relations between Mozambique and Brazil.[15] Trade between the two countries increased from 25 million dollars in 2010 to 60 million dollars in the first months of 2011.[16] Mozambique has a number of Brazilian investments, notably coal mining projects in Moatize, and is currently considered to be the biggest beneficiary of Brazilian aid, involving approximately US$70 million in the areas of education, health, agriculture, and professional training.[15] While in Maputo, the President inaugurated the new official residence of the Brazilian ambassador and opened an exhibition of Mozambican artists at the Brazil-Mozambique Cultural Center. |
| Angola | Luanda | October 19-20 |
Further information: Angola–Brazil relations
President Rousseff was in Luanda on the third and final leg of an African tour which took her to South Africa and Mozambique.[17] Rousseff's two-day official visit was aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation.[18] The two former Portuguese colonies enjoy strong relations as well as many cultural links.[17] During her visit, the President met her Angolan counterpart, José Eduardo dos Santos, and was also at the National Assembly, where she addressed a speech.[18] "Angola's relaunch is a paradigm for other countries in Africa in terms of economic and social stability. It is an example for hope," she told the country's parliament.[17] Rousseff said she hoped Angola and Brazil would continue to deepen their cooperation, particularly in agriculture and energy. A trade delegation from Brazil, she said would visit Angola in November 2011.[17] In the past six years, Brazil has extended more than US$3 billion in credit lines to Angola, most of which has been spent on post-war construction projects such as new roads, dams and bridges.[17] President Rousseff, left the Angolan capital on the evening of October 20.[18] |
| France | Cannes Paris |
November 1-5 |
Further information: 2011 G-20 Cannes summit
President Rousseff was in France for a week-long trip as part of the 2011 G-20 Cannes summit.[1] The President was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Relations, Antonio Patriota, the Minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, the Press Secretary, Helena Chagas, and the Spokesman of the Presidency, Rodrigo Baena. During the summit, she expressed Brazil's readiness to offer aid to troubled countries in Europe through the International Monetary Fund, and called for "leadership, clear vision, and swift action" in response to the economic crisis.[19] On the eve of the summit, the Brazilian delegation had attempted to coordinate actions for offering aid to the EU with fellow BRICS members Russia, India, China and South Africa.[19] During her visit, she also held bilateral meetings with the prime ministers of Australia, Germany, Turkey, and Singapore, as well as with the presidents of China and Indonesia.[1] On November 5, she flew to Paris, where she visited the UNESCO headquarters and met with its General Director, Irina Bokova.[1] She told Bokova that Brazil strongly supports UNESCO, and praised the recent admission of Palestine as a full member of the organization.[20] |
| Venezuela | Caracas | December 1-2 | The President was in Caracas for a two-day summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.[1] At the summit, Rousseff stressed the need to boost local industries and increase trade within the region in order to ride out turbulent times.[21] She also held bilateral meetings with the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina. Venezuela agreed to purchase 20 commercial planes from Brazil's Embraer.[22] |
| Argentina | Buenos Aires | December 10 | Rousseff traveled to Buenos Aires to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's second term as president.[1] |
| Uruguay | Montevideo | December 20 | President Rousseff was in Montevideo for the 42nd Mercosur summit.[1] Topics on the agenda included a free-trade agreement with Palestine, Venezuela's permanent membership proposal and a draft resolution barring Falklands’ flagged vessels from all regional ports.[23][24][25] |
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