São Paulo – Brazilian president Dilma Roussef said on Friday (16), during a breakfast with journalists in Brasília, that she will pay special attention to relations with North Africa, the Arab part of the continent, next year.
“[This year] I, unfortunately, could only travel to sub-Saharan Africa, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa, but I think North Africa is also very important. Next year I am going to pay special attention to that, because Brazil must have a multipolar vision of foreign policy,” said the president.
Africa and Latin America will be priorities for foreign policy of the government of Brazil in 2012, according to Rousseff. “We are strengthening our relations with the whole of South America,” she said. “The other area I believe we are and should continue paying attention to is in relation to Africa,” she added.
This, according to her, will not stunt the government also promoting relations with other blocs, like the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the European Union.
“Despite all the differences there are between our economies (of the Brics), we have taken similar stands in almost all topics. We had this common position in the G-20, we all agreed, within the capabilities of each country, to loan money to the International Monetary Fund, as a way to help, to be one more element in the so-called fire door against the European crisis,” she said. “Furthermore, I consider our relations with the European Union important,” she pointed out.
*Translated by Mark Ament
