Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Brazil’s capital city of Brasilia is hosting the Summit of South American and Arab Countries from May 10 to 11, according to the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed the summit during his visit to several Arab countries in December, 2004.
According to Radiobras, President da Silva said in his speech during the opening ceremony of the summit, that it is necessary to define a new economic and commercial international geography. “We are searching for trade that is fair and balanced, rid of the subsidies imposed by the rich countries, and which assures the poor countries the benefits of globalization. We want to establish a new relationship of solidary collaboration with international financial agencies, and we are striving for the Mercosur and the Gulf Cooperation Council to be able to conclude an economic cooperation agreement”, da Silva said. [1]
Mahmoud Abbas said that Israeli troops should unconditionally withdraw from the occupied Arab territories. Abbas also proposed the creation of an Arab-South American bank.
The President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, said during his speech that Israel should leave the Palestinian territories. Bouteflika defended the criterion of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. [2]
Bouteflika said that the Palestinian situation is “a denial of justice” that can no longer be tolerated. A long round of applause from Summit participants followed his declarations. “We must find a definitive solution for everyone to do his best, to get Israel to submit to international law and accept the negotiated peace,” Bouteflika added. [3]
The President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez said that the Arab and South American countries are related because they both were subjected to exploitation by the richest countries. Chávez said that after World War II, South America has been victim of domination mechanisms by an international financial architecture and by an old international organizations structure. According to Chávez, there is no international democracy. [4]
Chávez said that South American and Arab countries are the biggest oil sources and that this fact stimulates the “American imperialist voracity”. [5]
According to the Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, the final document of the Summit of South American-Arab Countries will condemn terrorism. In addition, the document will include a paragraph about the “right of resistance to foreign occupation, according to international humanitarian law,” said the minister.
The minister said that the document will also mention the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, under dispute by Argentina and the United Kingdom. [6]