Brazil's Lula ready to reopen EU-Mercosur pact if he wins election, aide says

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a pre-campaign event in Brasilia, Brazil, July 12, 2022. REUTERS/Ton Molina

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian presidential election frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva favors reopening talks on a stalled European Union trade deal with South American trade bloc Mercosur to add provisions on environmental protection, human rights and technology, a senior foreign policy adviser said.

If the leftist former president wins the October vote, Brazil would likely join calls by Argentina and environmentalists to review the agreement now blocked in Europe over concerns about destruction of the Amazon rainforest under far right President Jair Bolsonaro, adviser Celso Amorim told Reuters.