Emmanuel Macron concludes his trip to Guyana on Tuesday with a visit to the Kourou Space Center before flying to Brazil. An emblematic center of Guyana, the center of Kourou, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, seems weightless, awaiting the inaugural flight of the future heavy launcher Ariane 6, between mid-June and the end of July.
The program, which should give Europe back its autonomy in access to space, was four years late due to Covid-19 and development difficulties. The future of the Kourou center must “be redefined to make it a true space port for Europe”, insists the Elysée, pointing to heightened competition on launchers, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX at the forefront, and the development of micro and mini launchers.
Support for mini-launcher projects
Emmanuel Macron will present on this occasion four small rocket projects of which France will finance the first flight in order to bring out new players. The model is inspired by the United States which facilitated the emergence of SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company alone carried out 107 launches last year, compared to three (two Ariane 5s and a Vega rocket) for the Europeans.
On the first day of his visit to Guyana on Monday, the president announced measures to renew the local fishing fleet, which is facing illegal fishing from Brazil. He also said he was open to the installation of a “legal gold panning” sector in “certain places”, with the objective of occupying certain sites to “reduce illegal activity”.
Turn the page Bolsonaro
And promised to discuss strengthening cooperation in the fight against illegal gold mining with Brazil where he will begin an emblematic state visit of almost three days on Tuesday afternoon. Emmanuel Macron intends to turn the page, with his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on the dark years of the far-right presidency of Jair Bolsonaro and strengthen the bilateral partnership.
In the midst of the crisis over the fires in the Amazon, Jair Bolsonaro and his ministers had made very derogatory, even insulting, remarks towards President Macron and his wife, which had finished aggravating an already tense relationship. “We are in a Franco-Brazilian moment,” welcomes the Elysée. “France is an essential actor, essential for Brazilian foreign policy,” adds Brazilian diplomacy.
The Amazon is getting better
Symbolic if ever there was one, the two heads of state will meet in the Amazon, in Belem, in the north of Brazil, to demonstrate that economic development can rhyme with environmental protection. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by half in 2023, a success for President Lula who had promised to resolutely fight against the phenomenon.
In terms of defense, France and Brazil are already cooperating on the production of four conventionally powered submarines – the third will be launched on Wednesday in the presence of the two leaders – and helicopters. Brasilia could also call on Paris to help it develop nuclear propulsion on a fifth submarine. Such transfers of technology, very sensitive in terms of sovereignty and non-proliferation, would represent a small revolution seen from France.
But there are also angry subjects, starting with the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia), which France is blocking against the backdrop of an agricultural crisis in Europe. Those close to the two heads of state, however, assure that no negotiations will be on the table, and Paris argues that the subject is a matter for the EU.