Speech by President Lula at the closing session of the 46th Conference of the Caribbean Community

I want to tell you what a joy it is to be able to take part in this CARICOM meeting. I want to congratulate comrade Irfaan Ali, president of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. I want to greet the heads of State and Government, and I want to treat them as companions at this meeting. CARICOM countries and Brazil were colonized for a long time—and when I became President of Brazil, in 2003, I discovered that there was a deficiency in our international policies. We had learned for many centuries that our relationship was with our colonizer, or our relationship was with the so-called rich countries.

Brazil looked away from South America, Latin America, and Caribbean countries. Brazil did not look to Africa—but looked to the European Union and the United States. There was always a fixed idea that looking to the richest countries would arouse the interest of these rich countries to invest in Brazil.

In 2003, we made a decision to prioritize our relationship with the countries of South America, Latin America—countries that are part of CARICOM and Africa. It is important to remember that Brazil already had permanent ambassadors in all CARICOM countries. And we learned a lesson from all of this. It's just that relationships, taking into account the similarity of our countries, often help us much more than being dependent on help from our colonizer. Hence my joy to be back in Guyana. Above all, to participate in the 46th Conference of Heads of State of the Caribbean community.

In 2005, I had the honor of participating in a Summit like this one, in Suriname. It was the first time that a Brazilian head of State addressed CARICOM leaders. In 2010, Brazil hosted a Brazil-CARICOM meeting. This resulted in our association with the Caribbean Development Bank, as well as several technical cooperation initiatives. Despite this approach, we were unable to consolidate an agenda that was consistent with the region.

We know that CARICOM expects much more from Brazil. We are aware of the main problems affecting the region: food insecurity, which—according to the World Food Program—threatens half of the Caribbean population; and climate change, which puts the entire planet at risk, especially island countries.

I want to point out that these two problems are at the heart of the debates Brazil is having in international forums. I also want to point out that these two problems have the same root: inequality. Therefore, the fight against inequality in the world is also the fight of the Caribbean people.

It is unacceptable that, on a planet that produces enough food to feed the entire world population, around 735 million human beings, so many people do not have anything to eat. It is unacceptable that rich countries, mainly responsible for the climate crisis, continue failing to fulfil their commitment to allocate US$100 billion annually to developing countries to combat climate change. It is unacceptable that the world spends US$2.2 trillion on weapons per year. We all know: wars cause destruction, suffering and death, especially among innocent civilians.

Brazil will continue fighting for world peace. A war in distant Ukraine affects the entire planet, because it increases the prices of food and fertilizers. A genocide in Gaza affects all of humanity, because it questions our own sense of humanity. And it confirms once again the preferential option for military spending, rather than investments in the fight against hunger; in Palestine, Africa, South America or the Caribbean.

My companions, I heard from Prime Minister Mia Mottley that Barbados has 27 weekly flights to the United Kingdom and the United States and none to Brazil. Therefore, our biggest obstacle is the lack of connections, whether by land, sea or air.

One of the priority integration and development routes for my government is the Guyanese Shield, which covers Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. We literally want to pave our way to the Caribbean. We will open corridors capable of meeting supply demands and strengthening food security in the region.

It is important to remember, Mr. President, that my Minister of Transport, my Minister of Ports and Airports, my Minister of National Integration and my Minister of Planning have now traveled with me, so that we can discuss, today, with Guyana and with Suriname, opening paths that we need to open, so that our integration is effective.

Brazil can offer food at competitive prices. But, above all, it can contribute to increasing local agricultural productivity. Therefore, I want to invite CARICOM countries to join the Global Alliance to Combat Hunger and Poverty that will be launched by the Brazilian G20 presidency. We want to promote public policies and mobilize resources for this cause.

My friends, the creation of the loss and damage fund at the Dubai COP was a historic achievement. But the fight will not end until there are more funds for adaptation and for fulfilling the 2030 Agenda as a whole.

As host of COP 30, Brazil wants to work with Small Island Developing States. The IPCC is categorical about the urgency of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5°C. We need to join forces to advance our “Mission 1.5°C”, accelerating the implementation of commitments already made and adopting more ambitious targets for 2025.

With Guyana and Suriname, which are also member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, we want to invite other CARICOM countries to follow Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and join the “United for our Forests” Declaration. The services that forest provide to the world need to be valued. The Caribbean is vulnerable to extreme events, which have also become more frequent in Brazil.

I am pleased to announce that Brazil and CARICOM have decided to strengthen integrated disaster risk management through the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency Regional Response Mechanism.

Friends, Brazil and CARICOM also stand side by side in defending fairer global governance. It is no mere coincidence that, in the votes of the UN General Assembly, convergence between us reaches 80%. We also share the diagnosis of the Bridgetown Initiative.

Many of his proposals are flags that Brazil will raise in the G20 presidency. I am referring, in particular, to the request for the expansion of resources available to developing countries. By the end of this year, we will make a contribution to the Caribbean Development Bank's concessional fund. Caribbean countries suffer from high levels of debt and have less favorable conditions for renegotiation as they have become middle-income countries.

Guyana, Haiti, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are members of Brazil's seat on the IMF executive board. We would all benefit from reforming the Bretton Woods institutions to make them more representative. The international financial architecture does not have adequate tools to respond to the demands of sustainable development and combating climate change.

In Haiti, we need to act quickly to alleviate the suffering of a population torn apart by tragedy. Unfortunately, the international community did not listen when Brazil warned that the stabilization effort would only be sustainable with massive support for the country's development and institutional strengthening.

Today, Haiti—the first independent nation in the Caribbean and the first country to abolish slavery in the Western Hemisphere—finds itself once again immersed in a spiral of insecurity and instability. Listening to the voice of the region, therefore, is essential.

The Caribbean engagement in the UN Multinational Mission and the commitment of the CARICOM Group of Eminent Personalities in mediating Haitian political forces are of paramount importance. The security crisis will only be resolved with progress in the political process.

We have a special connection with Haiti, materialized by the approximately 200,000 Haitians who live in the country. We are offering training to the Haitian National Police and will open a vocational training center for young Haitians in the south of the country, worth 17 million dollars.

More than 50 years old, CARICOM is one of the oldest integration blocs in the developing world. The combined GDP of its 15 members is 120 billion dollars, larger than some South American countries. Its population of 19 million people is a very valuable asset.

Brazil once again looked at its surroundings, aware that only together will we achieve a robust international insertion. CARICOM opened up to the South, rejecting the status of a zone of influence of powers outside the region. We face the challenge of maintaining our autonomy amid geopolitical rivalries. It is up to us to maintain the region as a zone of peace.

We are home to multi-ethnic societies, intertwined by vibrant cultures. But we also carry the trauma of the largest forced migration in history. Brazil and the Caribbean were among the major destinations for human trafficking. As part of the African diaspora, we share the responsibility to rescue and preserve the memory of the scourges of colonialism and slavery.

Our relationship can go far beyond the exchange of good practices and training activities. We see the bloc as a promising economic partner and a strategic political interlocutor.

Brazil is already CARICOM's fifth largest supplier. Our trade flow was US$2.7 billion last year, but it had already exceeded US$5 billion in 2008, which demonstrates its growth potential.

The Brazilian Export Promotion Agency identified more than a thousand opportunities for the insertion of Brazilian products in Community countries. It turns out that goods and services do not circulate where there are no open roads. Belém, Boa Vista and Manaus are closer to Caribbean capitals than to other large Brazilian cities.

My friends, at the 2010 Summit, I spoke of our vocation—of Brazil and the Caribbean—to “bring together to unite and unite to change”. This message remains current and relevant.

In my previous terms, we had resident embassies in all CARICOM countries. We want to re-establish our diplomatic presence in all CARICOM countries.

We are reopening our mission with Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We will resume our political consultation mechanism to deepen our dialogue and formulate a substantive agenda for a second Brazil-CARICOM Summit.

Caribbean writer Naipaul, Nobel Prize in Literature, said that: “Many people are confined to the niche they carve for themselves and limit themselves to few possibilities due to the narrowness of their vision.”

Therefore, I want to invite you all to, together, expand our vision and conquer a greater place in the world. CARICOM is Brazil's fundamental partner and an indispensable part of CELAC, without which the regional integration project will remain unfinished.

Thank you very much.