Alexandre Rocha, special correspondent
Brasília – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended a "renewal" in the United Nations (UN) yesterday (27), and said that he is going to ask the heads of state of the five Arab countries he is going to visit starting on Tuesday, for support to the Brazilian candidacy to a position in the Security Council. He also said that he will be taking a peace message to the Middle East.
"We will certainly talk to the heads of state about two items: The need for renewal in the UN, and the request that the countries to be visited support the Brazil candidacy to a permanent position in the UN Security Council," stated Lula.
The president made it clear that peace will be one of the main subjects to be discussed with rulers in the region, which has been suffering with conflicts such as those in Iraq and in Palestine for some time. "My entire airplane will be the peace message that I want to take to each place in which I step," said the president.
Lula was only sorry that he will not be able to visit Palestine, but he said that opportunities will not be lacking. "We are very worried about peace, and believe that if the whole world were currently considering misery and hunger, there would be no worry with war and terrorism," stated the president.
Foreign relations minister Celso Amorim added that the government policy bas been to favor cooperation and engagement. "And not sanctions and retaliation, especially if unilateral," he declared, showing the Brazilian position regarding restrictive measures passed by the US Congress regarding Syria.
Lula also said that Brazil serves as an example of people from different origins living together peacefully. Stretches of the interview follow:
Brazilian example
"We are giving the world an unmistakable demonstration that it is possible to live together in peace, and that this does not depend on what country the person comes from. We have a large quantity of Arabs living in peace in Brazil, prosperously, and working peacefully, something that happens in few places around the world."
Palestine
"It is unfortunate that we will not be able to travel to the Palestinian territory and to Israel to discuss peace, but opportunities will not be lacking."
Peace
"We are very worried about peace, and believe that if the whole world were currently considering misery and hunger, there would be no worry with war and terrorism. That is, sometimes the lack of government work in social areas creates space for people to think about war and terrorism. On our side, we will do all we can to make human beings more human from now on."
