{"id":267655,"date":"2020-02-14T20:15:27","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T23:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=267655"},"modified":"2020-02-14T20:35:48","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T23:35:48","slug":"incoming-ambassador-to-work-for-lebanon-mercosur-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/incoming-ambassador-to-work-for-lebanon-mercosur-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Incoming ambassador to work for Lebanon-Mercosur agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Diplomat Hermano Telles Ribeiro is getting ready for a stint as ambassador of Brazil to Beirut, Lebanon. He\u2019s coming in with a few clear-cut purposes, among them working to bring the Mercosur-Lebanon free trade agreement to fruition.<\/p>\n

Ribeiro expects to be in Lebanon in April, once all proceedings in Bras\u00edlia are done with. This Friday (14), he visited the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0in S\u00e3o Paulo, where he was welcomed by Foreign Trade vice president Osmar Chohfi and secretary-general Tamer Mansour.<\/p>\n

In an interview with ANBA, Ribeiro said the agreement is one of his goals. It has been in discussion by the two countries\u2019 governments for several years now, and it was even on the agenda at a meeting of Brazil\u2019s vice president Hamilton Mour\u00e3o and Lebanon\u2019s president Michel Aoun, in May 2019 in Beirut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Mansour, Ribeiro and Chohfi at the Arab Chamber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The incoming ambassador believes in the deal\u2019s potential. He concedes that Lebanon is a modest market for Brazil, population-wise. \u201cBut then, on the other hand, anything in terms of bilateral trade, any exports you bring to the table will create jobs within Brazil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ribeiro is also thinking about creating jobs in Lebanon. \u201cThe disparity in scale is so big that we need to offer a unique treatment, one that\u2019s more favorable to exports from Lebanon as well, because jobs mean stability, more stability in the country,\u201d he said regarding the disparity in market size and output volume.<\/p>\n

Lebanon is struggling, as its fresh prime minister Hassan Diab<\/a> works to adapt and is faced with street demonstrations. \u201cThe political signaling from this agreement is very important, because once it\u2019s concluded, it will be like a vote of confidence in the administration,\u201d he argues. \u201cWe would really like to see a brotherly country ensure its governability, so it can make its way out of an unprecedented crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another goal of Ribeiro\u2019s is to pay attention to the consular section of the Embassy of Brazil in Lebanon. He notes that the Brazilian population in Lebanon is one of the biggest in the country, in the 17,000 to 18,000 range. \u201cThis is an ascending curve, and we must be ready to serve this community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The diplomat intends to enhance the Embassy\u2019s ties with the local Brazilian Citizens Council, in order to work for the community and to join forces with entrepreneurs to embark on projects to that end. He explains that he\u2019s had access to information on how Brazilians are faring in Lebanon today, and that their primary concern is with the economy and job perspectives.<\/p>\n

Ribeiro would also like to address the visa issue, since lots of Syrians are applying for humanitarian visas, via Beirut, so they can move to Brazil. There are 1.5 million refugees in Lebanon \u2013 1 million Syrians and 500,000 Palestinians. \u201cIt affects the country\u2019s economy,\u201d he says, although he doesn\u2019t overlook the struggles of these refugees.<\/p>\n

The diplomat also has plans for the Embassy when it comes to culture and education: he intends to keep up the work that\u2019s already underway, and to get new projects up and running \u2013 like Programa Leitorado<\/em>, whereby professors can teach Brazilian Portuguese to Lebanese people. The Embassy of Brazil in Beirut maintains the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Center, whose solid work Ribeiro commends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish to continue the work which Paulo Cordeiro (de Andrade Pinto), my friend and classmate was doing so well,\u201d he says. Cordeiro served as Brazil\u2019s ambassador to Lebanon and died in a car crash last year, along with his wife Vera L\u00facia Ribeiro Estrela de Andrade Pinto.<\/p>\n

One thing the ambassador would like to do is speak with each political and religious group in Lebanon to learn about the country\u2019s scenario and discuss the Brazilian experience. Ribeiro points out that Brazil is one of the countries that contributed the most to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. Brazil runs the naval chapter of the United Nations Interim Force Lebanon (UNIFIL) since 2011 and will continue to do so until the end of this year.<\/p>\n

Ribeiro heard the news that he\u2019d take charge of the Embassy in Lebanon with \u201cgreat enthusiasm.\u201d He has always kept track of the Arab world, but he has only been to Egypt so far. \u201cIt\u2019s a kind of crowning achievement in my career to be able to see a new world,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaura Daniel\/ANBA<\/div>\n
Fernanda Baltazar\/C\u00e2mara \u00c1rabe<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diplomat Hermano Telles Ribeiro, who\u2019s soon to take office at Brazil\u2019s Embassy in Beirut, intends to push for completion of the free trade agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":267646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[13875],"class_list":{"0":"post-267655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-foreign-affairs","8":"tag-embaixada-no-libano"},"wps_subtitle":"Diplomat Hermano Telles Ribeiro, who\u2019s soon to take office at Brazil\u2019s Embassy in Beirut, intends to push for completion of the free trade agreement.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}