Bolsonaro to meet Elon Musk in Brazil: government source

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is set to meet with billionaire Elon Musk on Friday, according to a government source.

The meeting will be held in Sao Paulo, a source with the Brazilian president's office told AFP, without giving any details on what will be on the agenda.

Earlier, Bolsonaro said that he had planned a private meeting in Sao Paulo "with a very important person who is recognized throughout the world."

"He is coming to offer his help for our Amazon," the president said in his weekly social media broadcast, without naming Musk.

Currently the CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla, Musk is the richest person in the world, with a fortune estimated at $220 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

The entrepreneur attracted worldwide attention when he announced last month that he planned to buy Twitter in a deal worth $44 billion dollars.

The Brazilian government said in November that they were negotiating with SpaceX to secure satellite internet in the Amazon rainforest and to get help in detecting illegal deforestation.

In a bid to provide high-speed internet around the world, especially to underserved areas, SpaceX has launched thousands of its own Starlink satellites orbit, with many more launches already planned.

© 2022 AFP