in the Amazon, Raoni makes the two heads of state smile despite their differences

Emmanuel Macron presented the Legion of Honor to Raoni in the Amazon. This trip is a way for the President of the Republic to overcome differences with his Brazilian counterpart, and to appear as a great figure in the fight for the environment.

They joined their hands to become one, in a photo that can be described as historic: Emmanuel Macron, Lula and Raoni. It was the first stage of Emmanuel Macron’s very first visit to Brazil: the presentation of the Legion of Honor to Cacique Raoni. The ceremony took place on Tuesday March 26 in the evening in the heart of the Amazon forest, on the island of Combúnear Belem.

After announcing a green investment program for the Amazon – one billion euros of public and private money over the next four years – the French head of state presented this highly symbolic decoration to the Kayapo chief, champion of the defense of the primary forest.

In the heart of this lush nature, under a marquee covered with palm leaves, the French president then speaks. “I made a commitment to come to your forest, he said, addressing Raoni, with the required informality. I am happy that we can celebrate you at this moment. Cacique, but never totally Cassandra, yes, Raoni, you carried this fight perhaps even further and more resolutely than others.”

Raoni wants to “continue the work”

Words spoken under the laughing gaze of Lula. Deep in his seat, the Brazilian president immortalizes the moment, takes photos of the Cacique. “It must be said, Lula, that it is a source of hope for us because every time I see him again, like the great singers, he is in even better shape, jokes Emmanuel Macron. Because the Cacique that you are is no longer old.” Emmanuel Macron pricks him, hanging the Legion of Honor on his shirt, but Raoni does not give up.

At over 90 years old – his estimated age – and with his famous labret, this wooden disc under his lower lip, Raoni grabs the microphone and begins by introducing his nephews. Emmanuel Macron is worried, his headset does not work, so translation is impossible. In Kayapo, his mother tongue, the Cacique calls for “continue the work” to fight against illegal gold mining, he asks for support and even the Nobel Peace Prize. While posing for the photographers, Raoni takes the hands of the two presidents and says, smiling: “I consider Lula as my brother, Macron as my son.”

With this first visit to Brazil, the French head of state thus appears as “the” face of the fight for the preservation of biodiversity and indigenous peoples, far from the quarrels with Lula over Gaza, Ukraine, Mercosur. Wednesday morning, the two presidents meet near Rio de Janeiro, at the Itaguaí shipyard, for the launching of the third in a series of four French-designed submarines with conventional propulsion.