Signing an agreement to reinforce the bioeconomy in the Amazon and to strengthen ties with the region is one of the reasons for the visit to Brazil the French President Emmanuel Macron has already signaled for this year. The agenda is supposed to take place in Belém, capital of the state of Pará. The federal government says the meeting will take place on March 26 - although the French Embassy hasn’t yet announced the date officially. At the end of February, the state governor, Helder Barbalho, and the French ambassador, Emmanuel Lenain, met to discuss the meeting, which is part of the preparations for the 30th UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 30), which will take place in 2025 in Belém.

Macron is also expected to discuss solutions for the region's living forest and indigenous peoples. In addition, an international cooperation treaty between the two countries' police forces to carry out joint operations to combat illegal mining in the French Guiana, an overseas territory - located in South America - belonging to France, is under negotiation. His visit, according to the governor of Pará, on social media, is an invitation from the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The action fronts planned to involve Brazil and France are not only being considered in the field of the environment. Educational partnerships, such as post-graduate exchanges and improving the French language skills of Pará residents, were discussed between the mayor of Belém, Edmilson Rodrigues, and Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain during a meeting held in the capital. "We're thinking of investing in this area to prepare young people to host COP30," declared the mayor on social media.

French Amazon

France is the only European country with a territory in the Amazon. French Guiana has 730 kilometers of shared border with Brazil, in the state of Amapá. In 2017, the region had the Ponte Binacional Franco-Brasileira [Franco-Brazilian Binational Bridge] inaugurated, linking Macapá, the capital of Amapá, and Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. Until then, the crossing was made by boat or ferry. The official local currency is the Euro and the official language is French. Fishing and gold mining are among the main economic activities.

Contradictions mark French presence in the region

Despite its strategic location within the Amazon, the French stance has not always been one of interest. Rodrigo Lopes, an internationalist and postgraduate student in Geography at the State University of Pará (Uepa), explains that French Guiana is seen by France's central policy as subordinate, lacking a representation that effectively thinks about how to establish a society based on sustainable development. "The region is focused on the exploitation of mineral resources, all in unsustainable way," he says.

South America as a whole is feeling the impact. In December 2023, Emmanuel Macron opposed a free trade partnership between Mercosur and the European Union, which, according to Rodrigo, reinforces the superficial approach for the region maintained over the years. The agreement has been under negotiation since 1999. "The French presence here may exist in cultural ways, in history, in architecture, but it has been limited to that, it has never been more effective, with a prosperous relationship in economic terms," says the internationalist.

"Some say that [the agreement] will reinforce the subaltern nature of South America because it will intensify and favor more exports of primary goods and commodities... While it will increase imports of products with a technological content. This will be prioritized and may not be beneficial in terms of investment in South America's industrial sector. Macron's position is to favor only the farmer in France. His behavior in trying to stop the agreement shows his lack of interest [in the region]," he adds.

New phase

However, even at the debate stage, France's willingness to sign partnerships that promote development in the Amazon is already heralding new paths. "He [Macron] shows a new phase in France's relationship with the region, in which an interest in participating in discussions is evidenced. It [His posture] reinforces the contradiction, but it's a new phase because now, in fact, he has a date to come to Belém. It is not yet known whether he will strengthen some kind of  partnership or strengthen France even more. Macron's position is always protectionist," says Lopes.

"There is also an expectation that France's own participation in COP30 will be debated and that this commitment to debate environmental issues will be reinforced. He [Macron] wants to take on an international leadership role, given that his image in terms of domestic politics in France is not so good. There is a crisis involving Macron with French voters, especially those linked to agricultural sector, who he wants to please. The expectation is that he will take a stand for his own international performance," adds Rodrigo.

Another French initiative for rapprochement was its candidacy to join the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), a group that brings together the eight countries through which the Amazon rainforest spreads. However, the internationalist points out that his stance against the Mercosur-European Union agreement could jeopardize this path. “The question is that  Macron is engaged and is signaling that he wants [to join ACTO], but it's only a signaling.”

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French existence in the Amazon is historical and cultural

The relationship between Brazil, more specifically the Amazon, and France is old. In Belém, for example, one of the most important capitals in the biome, this presence is evident in philosophical, diplomatic and immigrationist aspects. Aldrin Figueiredo, historian and professor at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), explains that the French presence was established since the 19th century in the region, especially in the municipality of Benevides, and proves the interest of the state's elite in whitening the population.

“Pará has had a lot of contact with France since the colonial period, when France was always interested in occupying lands around in the Amazon; such as French Guiana. So, just like Spain and Portugal in the colonial period, England, Holland and France were interested in occupying this area in the north of South America. Then, over time, the French established in Pará at various times, mainly after the 19th century”, he comments.

Arts

This movement was also decisive for influencing the intellectual elite of Pará. Aldrin highlights that positivism - a theoretical line that stated only scientific knowledge was true -, created by the French Auguste Comte, was the basis of the first republican governments in Pará. This model was also implemented in schools. “Besides, French artists were hired, such as Maurice Blaise, to be teachers at the Escola Normal, the Instituto Lauro Sodré, the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios and Paes de Carvalho”.

“There is also Joseph Cassè, who was hired at the beginning of the 20th century by the then governor Augusto Montenegro, and was responsible for decoration works at the Palácio dos Governadores, also at the Municipal Intendence, the current Antônio Lemos palace, and many private residences in the city. Teodoro Braga, our great painter at the turn of the century, studied in France. So, there is a huge, let's say, artistic, intellectual, philosophical, cultural relationship with the country”, comments Aldrin.

Studying the language is a way of cultural approach

The cultural approach between France and the Amazon is marked by another factor: language. Thiago Rocha, professor and coordinator of the Letters - French course at UFPA, explains that Belém was a model of what happened in the rest of the world in the mid-19th century, when the European country's lifestyle was a way of transmitting values of a modern civilization – also reflected in the language. “But, throughout the 20th century, there was a decline.”

This transformation of the scenario was due to the processes of globalization, which became more evident after the Second World War. “Before, there was the economic power of England and the cultural power of France. But, later, it was concentrated in the United States”, highlights Thiago. “English became increasingly present and French lost space. In the 2000s, Spanish increased in value due to the integration of Mercosul - Brazil is surrounded by Spanish-speaking countries”, says the professor.

Rescue

The UFPA Letters - French course has been working on actions to recover the relationship with French linguistics. The action planning, however, is not only aimed at students originally from France, but at anyone who speaks the language - such as students from Haiti, in Caribbean, and Quebec, in Canada, for example. Furthermore, ways of training Belém residents for COP 30 are also being considered. “At UFPA, we receive many French-speaking students.”

“Mainly Haitians. There are many Haitians who come to study here as an opportunity to have access to higher education, and students from other countries as well. So, still in initial stages, the current administration has worked hard to expand these partnerships, focusing more specifically on these projects that also include French-speaking countries”, details Thiago. The initiatives planned to build a Quebec Culture and Language Center in the Amazon, but the agreement has not yet been signed.

Classes

UFPA awaits the return of the submission of a project that aims to take French classes to museums in Belém. The objective is to prepare employees for COP 30 event. Professor Thiago Rocha is a collaborator on the idea, which is coordinated by professor Joanna Troufflard. She is 37 years old, born in the city of Thiais, France, and has lived in the capital of Pará since 2018. Since then, some other proposals to transmit the language have been developed.

“French, historically, was taught in schools, but it was removed. So, it is common for many adults to have studied French at school, in high school. The importance has to do with statistics: the language is one of the most spoken languages due to France's colonial history, it is an official language of the UN [United Nations]. In Belém, the importance that we tell students is to show the usefulness of what they are doing”, says Joanna.

The professor develops this work linked to research projects about the presence of France in the Amazon. One of them, entitled “An ethnography of the French presence in Belém do Pará: immigration, bilingualism and biculturalism”, brings students closer to the French community. “They are able to dialogue and reflect on changes in country, identities, belonging to various other cultures. They can understand the story why they are here”, concludes Joanna.