São Paulo – The Brazilian minister of Foreign Relations, Antônio Patriota, is visiting Palestine next Monday (15th). It will be the first trip of a Brazilian foreign minister to the Arab country since Brazil’s recognition of Palestine as a state, in December 2010.
Patriota is scheduled to meet with the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, foreign minister Riad Malki, prime-minister Salam Fayyad and the chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Saeb Erekat.
At the meetings, bilateral agenda topics will be discussed such as the peace process with Israel and cooperation projects in healthcare, urbanism and agriculture.
On the preceding day, the Brazilian minister will be in Israel for meetings with president Shimon Peres, prime-minister Binyamin Netanyahu, foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, the minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy, Dan Meridor, and the minister of Science and Technology, Daniel Hershkowitz.
Brazil is constantly backing up the creation of a Palestinian state at the United Nations (UN). In her opening address at the 67th UN Assembly General, on September 25th in New York, president Dilma Rousseff stated that “only a free, sovereign Palestine will lead to Israel’s legitimate yearning for peace to come true,” in a reference to the conflicts stemming from Israeli occupation of Arab territories.
According to the Brazilian foreign ministry (Itamaraty), bilateral trade between Brazil and Palestine amounted to US$ 15.8 million in 2011 and US$ 10.6 million in the in the first half of 2012. The Itamaraty believes the Mercosur-Palestine free trade agreement signed in 2011 will lead to stronger trade relations.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
