São Paulo – The free trade agreement between the Mercosur and Palestine should be signed by the end of 2012. The information was supplied by Carlos Ceglia, director of the Middle East Department of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We are heading the negotiations for the free trade agreement between the Mercosur and Palestine. For us, the state of Palestine already exists. God willing, this agreement will be signed before 2012 is over,” said the diplomat during a visit to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce this Friday (7).
The initiative for a treaty between the South American bloc and Palestine was announced in March 2010, during a visit of the then-Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the West Bank, as previously reported by ANBA. Prior to that, the president of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, had already expressed his willingness to reach an agreement, during a trip to Brazil and at a meeting with Lula, in November 2009.
According to Ceglia, relations between Brazil and the Arab countries are at a moment of consolidation. “Lula was the first Brazilian president to visit several countries in the region, and trade increased strongly. Now it is time consolidate. The region is convoluted and we are waiting,” he says, indicating that the country will keep seeking to establish closer ties with the region as soon as the political turmoil is over.
When asked about Brazilian relations with new Arab governments in countries that underwent revolutions, Ceglia stated that “Brazil has relations with States, their governments notwithstanding. We hope that the different political forces will organize themselves and command their States so we can maintain our relations.”
Regarding other diplomatic actions between Brazil and the Arab world, Ceglia highlighted that Brazil is heading the naval mission of the Unifil, the UN’s peace mission to Lebanon. On Thursday (6), as previously reported by ANBA, Brazil sent the frigate União, with a 300-strong military crew on board, to Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
