Alexandre Rocha, special envoy*
Brasília – The Arab ambassadors in Brazil want to promote the teaching of Arabic in Brazilian schools and universities. This is one of the topics to be discussed by the Arab Ambassadors Council during a meeting with the Brazilian minister of Education, Tarso Genro, scheduled for the 14th. "We are interested in showing the language in Brazil," said yesterday (03) the Palestinian ambassador and Dean of the Arab Ambassadors Council, Musa Odeh. "We want to introduce Arabic in schools, especially in places where there are communities of Arab origin," he added.
Last night, the council promoted, in Brazilian capital Brasília, a dinner for journalists. The objective of the event was to discuss themes like the summit between Arab and South American heads of state, to take place in the city in May, and the development of relations between the Arab countries and Brazil. Cooperation in the cultural area will be one of the themes discussed at the summit. "We also want to learn a little more about the educational system in Brazil, to strengthen ties so as to learn what we can do together," stated Odeh, referring to the meeting he will have with minister Genro.
With regard to the summit, the Moroccan ambassador, Ali Achour, stated to ANBA that at the preparatory ministerial meeting, to take place in Marrakech on March 25 and 26, the foreign minister of the countries involved (22 Arab and 12 South American) are going to discuss, among other topics, the final text of the declaration to be discussed and possibly approved at the summit in Brasília. He added that minutes of the text are ready, and they were discussed in three meetings between diplomats in New York and Cairo, last year, and this year, once again, in Cairo.
"The summit itself will be a historical event, as this is the first time that geographically so distant countries, that have different points of view in their regions, will meet," stated Achour. According to him, the meeting is the essence of the so-called South-South cooperation, or of relations between developing countries. In his evaluation, it is not only necessary to "look up North"; it is also necessary to look south.
Apart from economic, political, cultural and scientific cooperation between both regions, the declaration is also going to cover points of convergence between both blocs with regard to the international agenda. "Relations between South America and the Arab countries are warm, there are no political problems. We would like all diplomatic relations to be like that," declared the Jordanian ambassador, Faris Muft. "It is necessary to activate relations between developing countries so as to be able to face developed countries and generate greater equilibrium," added the Syrian ambassador, Ali Diab.
The Palestinian ambassador pointed out, however, that the summit, idealized by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, "is based on common interests and not on challenging or affronting anyone."
In this sense, the Tunisian ambassador, Hassine Bouzid, stated that the intention of the Arab countries is not to compromise their relations with Europe, neither is the Brazilian to replace its relations with traditional partners, like the United States. "What we want is to diversify and, who knows, in future reach the dream of a free trade area between both regions," stated Bouzid. The possibility of an ample agreement, however, is considered remote.
"What is important is that the countries start learning a little more about each other," declared the Sudanese ambassador, Rahamtalla Mohamed Osman. The diplomats stressed the importance of mutual knowledge and of direct relations. The Egyptian ambassador, Mohamed Abdel Fattah, stated that in the past, his country imported meats from Brazil through German intermediaries and now the country buys directly. Today Egypt is one of the main importers of Brazilian cattle beef.
Apart from the Palestinian, Egyptian, Moroccan, Jordanian, Sudanese, Syrian and Tunisian ambassadors, representatives of the Libyan, Algerian and Kuwaiti embassies also participated in the event.
*Translated by Mark Ament
