Lebanese Republic

Brazil opened a Consulate in Beirut, still under the French mandate, in 1920. In 1944 the Brazilian government recognized Lebanon's independence, thus establishing diplomatic relations, and in 1946 accredited a Minister Plenipotentiary to the Lebanese government. In 1954 the Brazilian Embassy in Beirut was opened.

The first Lebanese immigrants, mostly Christians, arrived in Brazil in the 19th century. Since then, ties between Brazil and Lebanon have been strong, in particular due to the large community of Lebanese people and their descendants in Brazil, the largest in the world, estimated at around 10 million people. The current Brazilian community in Lebanon has more than 20 thousand residents.

Bilateral relations are both politically and economically significant, a process historically favored by official visits by members of the Executive Branch as well as by parliamentary delegations of both governments. Bilateral relations between Brazil and Lebanon benefit from multiple channels. This perception is marked by cooperation within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and in the defense sector; the establishment of the Lebanon-Brazilian Business Council (CELB) in 2014; the cooperation between educational institutions of the two countries; the intense consular activity at the Embassy of Brazil in Lebanon; the work of the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Center, in Beirut; in addition to the humanitarian cooperation.

Following the two explosions at the Port of Beirut, in August 2020, which left more than 200 dead, 6,000 injured and 300,000 homeless, there was a significant intensification in cooperation between Brazil and Lebanon. On the humanitarian side, Brazil sent to Beirut, right after the tragedy, a Multidisciplinary Humanitarian Assistance Mission that sought to identify, in coordination with Lebanese authorities, the most urgent post-disaster needs. Two Brazilian Air Force aircrafts transported more than six tons of humanitarian aid, and donations were delivered by a delegation led by former president Michel Temer, of Lebanese descent.

Since then, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) has carried out numerous initiatives, with emphasis on the donation of 4 thousand tons of rice, worth around $2 million, of “disaster kits” prepared by the Ministry of Health, and of medicines, supplies and medical equipment to combat COVID-19.

Similar to political ties, the economic relations between Brazil and Lebanon have been advancing. In December 2014, Mercosur and Lebanon signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Trade and Economic Cooperation to promote the negotiation of a free trade agreement. In October 2019, under the Brazilian Pro Tempore Presidency, the Mercosur-Lebanon Free Trade Agreement First Round of Negotiations was held. The drafts of the agreement’s chapters have advanced significantly in just one negotiating round. The eventual signing of the aforementioned Free Trade Agreement would increase the competitiveness of Brazilian products in Lebanon, which maintains free trade agreements in force with the European Union (EU), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA).

In 2022, trade between Brazil and Lebanon saw an increase, as opposed to the downtrend seen since 2018. In 2022, trade flow totaled $283 million, with a Brazilian surplus of $223 million.

Chronology of bilateral relations

2020 – Visit of former President Michel Temer in the wake of the explosions at the Port of Beirut (August)

2019 – Lebanese Minister of Foreign Trade Hassan Mourad visits Brazil. Vice President of the Republic Hamilton Mourão meets President Michel Aoun and visits frigate “União”, the flagship of the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force (FTM), in Lebanon. Senator Nelsinho Trad, president of the Federal Senate Foreign Affairs and National Defense Commission, heads the Brazilian parliamentary delegation to the "2019 Diaspora Energy Conference". Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo meets with the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, Gebran Bassil, on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly

2018 – Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira visits Lebanon. Senator Fernando Collor de Mello, President of the Federal Senate's Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense, visits Lebanon. Minister of Foreign Affairs Aloysio Nunes Ferreira meets with his Lebanese counterpart, Gebran Bassil, on the sidelines of the 73rd UNGA. Minister of the Government Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Carlos Marun, visits Beirut

2017 – The Governor of Goiás, Marconi Perillo, meets with President Michel Aoun during a working visit to Lebanon. A Brazilian parliamentary delegation headed by the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, participates in the Conference on the Potential of the Diaspora

2016 – A Brazilian parliamentary delegation participates in the Third Conference on the Potential of the Diaspora. Foreign Ministers José Serra and Gebran Bassil meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Foreign Ministers Gebran Bassil and José Serra and President Michel Temer meet on the sidelines of the 1st Latin American Conference "The Potential of the Lebanese Diaspora". Defense Minister Raul Jungmann visits Lebanon

2015 – A Brazilian parliamentary delegation participates in the Second Conference on the Potential of the Diaspora. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira visits Lebanon

2014 – A Brazilian parliamentary delegation participates in the First Conference on the Potential of the Diaspora. Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil visits Brasília, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

2013 – Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of the Maronite Church, visits Brazil

2012 – Minister of Defense Celso Amorim visits Lebanon

2011 – Opening of the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Center. Vice President Michel Temer visits Lebanon

2010 – The  President of the Republic of Lebanon, General Michel Sleiman, makes a state visit to Brazil

2009 – Brazil’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Affonso Celso de Ouro-Preto, visits Lebanon

2006 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim visits Lebanon, in the context of the war between Israel and Hezbollah

2005 – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati visits Brazil. Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim visits Lebanon

2003 – State Visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Lebanon. Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim visits Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri visits Brazil

1997 – The President of the Republic of Lebanon, Elias Hraoui, visits Brazil. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luiz Felipe Lampreia, visits Lebanon

1996 – The President of the Lebanese National Assembly, Nabih Berri, visits Brazil

1995 – The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Rafik Hariri, makes an official visit to Brazil

1975 – Beginning of the Civil War in Lebanon

1961 – The Embassy of Lebanon is transferred to Brasília. Opening of the Honorary Consulate of Brazil in Tripoli, which closed in 1991 and reopened in 1994

1954 – The President of the Republic of Lebanon, Camille Chamoun, makes an official visit to Brazil. Opening of the Embassy of Lebanon in Rio de Janeiro. Opening of the Embassy of Brazil in Lebanon

1946 – The Consulate-General of Brazil is elevated to Legation status

1945 – Establishment of diplomatic relations following Lebanon's independence

1937 – The Consulate of Brazil becomes Consulate-General of Brazil

1920 – Opening of the Consulate of Brazil in Beirut

1880 – The first significant flow of Lebanese immigrants, mostly Christians, arrive in Brazil

1876 – Emperor D. Pedro II visits Lebanon, then part of the Ottoman Empire