São Paulo – The Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva passed a bill this Tuesday (20th) providing for 25 million reals (US$ 14 million) to be donated for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory. The bill was passed on the same day in which Lula was visited by the former Palestinian minister of Foreign Relations, Nabil Shaat, in the Brazilian capital Brasília.
Alongside Lula, the Palestinian was welcomed by the Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim. Shaat delivered a letter from the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas. According to Amorim, Abbas calls for the continuation of Brazilian support to negotiations for peace in the Middle East.
The president of the PNA travelled to Brazil in November last year. In March this year, Lula visited the West Bank.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
