Speech by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the Solemn Session of the National Assembly of Angola

My dear friends, ladies and gentlemen

A thought crosses my mind every time I step into a parliament: that it is the result of the degree of people’s political awareness on election day. We may like or dislike the result, but you can be certain that on election day the people thought exactly of the faces of those who are represented here.

It's useless to complain that one party has done more than another. It's useless to complain that a party hasn’t received any votes. In fact, we can only reap what we sow. And I’ve been a congressman, I am president of Brazil and I have a parliament of 513 congresspersons, and only 70 belong to my party. I am president of a country whose Senate has 81 senators, and only nine belong to my party.

One might think that this is a very negative thing: that we have only a few congressmen among 513, and only a few senators among 81 – but this was exactly what we managed to sow and reap on election day. The fact that there is a great deal of political diversity in Brazil, and that approximately thirty-odd parties took part in the elections, and that 17 parties elected people, requires from the Executive Branch great capacity to conquer and establish political alliances.

And it is important that those who are part of this Executive Branch understand that no congressperson is obliged to vote for something the government did because the government did it. We must have the humility to understand that no one is obliged to agree with us if we are not able to convince them that something is truly important for the people of the country.

This is about exercising democracy 24 hours a day, there’s no time to breathe, and there’s no time to rest. Every hour, every moment, from Sunday to Sunday, you have to talk to people you don't like, with people who don't like you, but with whom you learn to dialogue, because the overcoming of relationships between human beings is what makes democracy so extraordinary that it allowed a factory worker to become president in my country.

It is an honor to speak to the National Assembly of Angola. I am very glad to see a woman leading this house, congresswoman Carolina Cerqueira. All of us, elected representatives of the people, have a deep respect for parliament. It reflects our most sincere belief in the virtues of democracy.

Here, national aspirations echo. Here the great debates about the country are dealt with, here the solutions to the problems that society must face are found. It is, therefore, my great joy to greet you on my behalf and on behalf of all Brazilian people.

I know that this is also the spirit that moves the Brazilian congresspersons who are accompanying me at this solemn session. I would like to tell you that each congressperson who is with me here may possibly consider this visit to Angola the most important one they have ever made to any country.

Cooperation between our Parliaments will help to further strengthen bilateral relations.

As I said to President João Lourenço a little while ago, it’s impossible for a Brazilian to not feel at home in this land.

Brazil sees the African continent as a whole and Angola in particular as a close neighbor. We have deep similarities and affinities and we are united by a river called the Atlantic.

Over half of Brazil’s 203 million people recognize themselves as being of African descent.

African matrices are a part of our national identity and our way of being.

Seeing how warm people are here, it’s easy to understand why we became who we are.

Much has already been said about what unites us in music, dance, capoeira, gastronomy and football.

We must and can go beyond this extraordinary cultural bond.

Our common interests are much broader.

We seek true development, which requires tackling poverty and promoting social inclusion, quality education and health care for our populations.

We are also interested in the permanent strengthening of democracy and human rights within our countries and in global governance.

I must mention our gratitude to our Angolan friends for the support offered to Brazil by President João Lourenço and his government when – on January 8 this year – we faced an attempted coup against the headquarters of Brazil’s Three Powers by the former president.

I would also like to mention that one of the most important landmarks in the fight for freedom and human rights in Brazil is its fight against slavery.

This great blemish in our history has killed millions of Africans and left the country with a disastrous legacy of social inequality and prejudice.

Combating this legacy is a primary objective of my Government.

For this reason, I take advantage of this solemn session to pay tribute to the great Bernardette Pacifico, a quilombola leader who courageously defended her community in Bahia. Bernardette was a victim of the intolerance of those who want to silence the most vulnerable.

I say this in recognition of all the heroines who fought and still fight, often anonymously, for equality and human dignity in our country.

The example of these women has inspired current policies to promote racial and gender equality, which are central to my Government.

Dear Members and Congresspeople,

We want to inaugurate a new cooperation agenda with Angola, which will also serve as a model for other countries.

We are proud to have contributed, in the past, with the financing of projects for highways, sanitation, water supply and generation and distribution of electric energy.

Brazil is in a position to once again become a major partner for Angola in its development. A development based on the strengthening of agriculture and industry, scientific and technological progress, energy transition and protection of the environment and biodiversity.

The program for irrigated regions and policies to support family farming in the Cunene River Valley will be a milestone in this new phase of bilateral cooperation. Based on Angola’s needs, the initiative will strengthen the planning of water resources and the organization of production chains in that province.

It will transform irrigated lands into a source of resources towards food security and social development. We know that Cunene is the province which is most at risk of desertification. I salute the Angolan government for the success of its infrastructure work to transpose the waters of the Cunene River, bringing hope to the population in this region.

Another challenge that we need to face together is that of finding new sources of energy that can stop the devastating effects of climate change.

Brazil has been working hard on solutions for more than four decades. With biofuels, we have arrived at a viable, clean, relatively inexpensive alternative that is accessible to most countries in the South.

The consolidation of bioenergy markets will soon provide Africa with a new source of funds to finance its development needs.

As owner of tropical rainforests, Angola is a natural ally of Amazon countries in the quest for fair remuneration for the services that these biomes and their biodiversity provide to the world.

Angola and Brazil can improve the quality of healthcare for their populations, working towards improving access to medication, training human resources and reducing maternal and child mortality.

Well-being also depends on prosperity.

I am happy to witness the resurgence of our economic and commercial trade. The businesspersons who accompanied me on this visit showed great interest in the business opportunities offered by the Angolan economy. Trade flows between our countries are once again increasing after seven years of stagnation. In the first half of 2023, they were almost 65% higher compared to the same period in 2022.

We must diversify our trade, still very concentrated in oil and primary goods. The Brazil-Angola Chamber of Commerce created in June will contribute a great deal to make this happen. The sustainable tourism sector also has enormous growth potential.

Finally, I highlight our cooperation in Defense matters, ranging from common initiatives in the technological and industrial fields to the training of military cadres and the exchange of information on issues that are relevant to our security doctrines.

Ladies and gentlemen, Members of Parliament,

Brazil and Angola share essential values such as peace, the right to development and the democratization of international decision-making bodies.

Alongside other Portuguese-speaking African countries, we have built long-standing special relationships within the CPLP.

I am pleased to see the resumption of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone (ZOPACAS) at our recent meeting in Cape Verde, with active Angolan participation.

In addition to its original objectives, aimed at preserving peace and security in the region, we want to update the initiative with new topics such as the protection of the marine environment and scientific and technological cooperation.

In a world marked by conflicts and the paralysis of global security forums, it is very significant that the African Union has awarded President João Lourenço the title of “leader for peace and reconciliation.”

This is a fair acknowledgment of his role as a mediator in the crisis between Kinshasa and Kigali.

For these many credentials, today I extended to President João Lourenço an invitation for Angola to participate in the next G-20 Summit that we will host in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024.

It will be a very important occasion to discuss issues such as economic coordination and global governance reform.

Dear companions,

Angola has a partner and a friend in Brazil.

We are proud to be the first country in the world to recognize independent Angola.

We are proud to be part of the modern history of this country. A rich and successful history, which well explains the ability of African nations to assume their own destiny. We will have many other occasions to celebrate the achievements that these new times bring.

This visit to Angola marks Brazil's reunion with Africa, relaunches bilateral cooperation, and prepares a robust agenda towards celebrating our 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2025.

Comrades, congresspersons and comrade president of the National Assembly,

When I began to speak, I didn’t want to read a document. I was going to try to speak from my heart to say what I really feel about being here now.

During my first two terms as president, I made the African continent the continent of my concern. I visited 34 countries.

We managed to help countries to establish universities, a retroviral drug factory, and to bring agricultural technology industry here. Over the last seven years, Brazil has moved backwards. For seven years, presidents didn't even have the courage to come to the African continent.

And I decided, on this visit to Angola, to tell the African continent that Brazil is back to Africa. I would like to end by saying to you that, listening to this band sing – and the president explained to me the origin of the song –, to tell you one thing: a man or a woman, they can fly as high as they want, they don’t need a plane, they don’t need a rocket, they just need to have a cause, and that cause to be the reason for their existence.

And I think that both you and we Brazilians have a cause that cannot allow us to fail. This cause is the construction of freedom, which you know how difficult it was to achieve. This cause is democracy. And you know and we learn every single day how good it is to have intelligence, how good it is not to have people just saying amen to us, how good it is, from time to time, to have people who don't agree with us, who have another religion, another football team, who like another type of music. It's good that the world is not the same and that it teaches us to live with our differences. This is democracy.

And we know that there is an even greater cause: the fight against inequality. It is unacceptable that 1% of humanity possesses more wealth than the poorest 50%. It is unacceptable that the world that produces enough food to sustain all living beings on the planet harbors 735,000 people who go to bed every night without having anything to eat. Gender inequality is unacceptable, race inequality is unacceptable, education inequality is unacceptable. The inequality which means one person can eat whatever they want and another goes days without having anything to eat is not possible. Inequality of opportunity is not possible.

And there's only one thing that will make us overcome inequality: it’s us being capable of making those who can help feel outraged and do so – help those who can't. It's extending a hand to those who can't help, so that we can build the world we all dream of. And if we establish this cause, we establish the motivation, and then the sky's the limit. We'll fly wherever we want to go.

Congratulations to the Angolan Parliament, congratulations President and thank you very much for the kind reception you have given my delegation.