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At CELAC, Lula extols the potential of Latin Americans and Caribbeans as an integrated bloc
President Lula during his speech at CELAC. Photo: Ricardo Stuckert / PR
A call for unity among the Latin America and Caribbean countries to act jointly in the international debate and negotiation forums. A request to these nations to pay close attention to sustainable social development and energy transition. And an appeal for an immediate ceasefire motion in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
These three messages were the thread of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's statement this Friday, March 1, in Kingstown (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), during VIII Summit of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Thirty-three heads of State and Government and Higher Representatives of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as members of international organizations and extraregional partners of the Community attended the event.
» President Lula's full speech
» High resolution photos
"If we speak as a region, our chances to influence the great current debates increases. If we work together, we will create synergies that will strengthen our individual development projects," Lula summarized.
According to the Brazilian President, the CELAC nations have grown apart in recent years, opening the door for conflict and disputes. “We stopped cultivating our vocation to cooperate and allowed conflicts and disputes, many of them foreign to our region, to impose over us. Defending the end of the blockade on Cuba and the Argentinian sovereignty over the Falklands (Malvinas) are of interest to all of us. All forms of unilateral sanctions, without any support in International Law, are counterproductive and penalize the most vulnerable.”
In stressing that the CELAC countries must reflect on their places in the international plane, Lula highlighted Lula highlighted the protagonism of Brazil and the region in this context in 2024 and in the coming years in relation to some of the major multilateral debate forums. “[Our protagonism] is particularly relevant in the present moment, in which our region will be turned into the gravity center of global diplomacy, hosting the G20, the G20, the APEC, the BRICS, and COP30 summits”, he declared.
HUNGER – The Brazilian President shared data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean – ECLAC to demonstrate that hunger still affects dozens of millions of people in the CELAC countries. According to the Commission, among the 660 million Latin Americans and Caribbeans, there are 180 million who do not have an income sufficient to tend to their basic needs; and 70 million still face hunger.
“This is a paradox for a region that is home to a large and diversified number of food providers. The three priorities of Brazil's G20 Presidency are connected to our historical challenges. Our proposal to create the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty can benefit from CELAC's Food Security and Poverty Eradication Plan”, stated Lula.
GAZA – Lula recalled the war between Russia and Ukraine and the social chaos in Haiti, and requested a CELAC motion for the immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza requires all of us to have the capacity to tell the Israeli government to put a stop to the collective punishment they are imposing upon the Palestinian people,” said Lula.
“People are dying in line to get food. The indifference of the international community is shocking. I want to take the opportunity of the presence of the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, to propose a CELAC motion calling for the immediate end of this genocide. The Secretary-General can invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter to call the attention of the Council to this issue, which threatens international peace and security,” he continued.
“I would like to make an appeal to the Japanese government, who is taking on the Presidency of the Security Council as of today, to include this item in the agenda with utmost urgency. I ask the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to leave their differences aside and put an end to these killings. 30 thousand people have already died. The lives of millions of innocent women and children are at stake. The lives of the Hamas hostages are also at stake. We must stop this carnage in the name of humanity’s survival,” the President declared in closing his speech.
Still this Friday, Lula will participate in a meeting with representatives from Bolivia, Chile, Barbados, Belize, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mexico, Colombia, Dominica, Bahamas, Guyana and Honduras specifically to discuss the situation in Gaza.
SAN-CELAC 2030 – CELAC is the only dialog and consultation mechanism that autonomously gathers the totality of developing countries in the American continent. After three years away, Brazil re-entered the group in January 2023.
During the Summit, the member-states will debate a series of initiatives to be implemented in the course of 2024, with a highlight to the adoption of CELAC's 2030 Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication Plan (SAN-CELAC 2030 Plan) and the exploration of possible synergies between the SAN-CELAC 2030 Plan and Brazil's G20 Presidency of a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.
The debates will also include the restoration of the CELAC meetings of Ministers of Energy and the implementation of the Community's Fund for Climate Adaptation and Comprehensive Response to Natural Disasters (FACRID).
A call for unity among the Latin America and Caribbean countries to act jointly in the international debate and negotiation forums. A request to these nations to pay close attention to sustainable social development and energy transition. And an appeal for an immediate ceasefire motion in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
These three messages were the thread of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's statement this Friday, March 1, in Kingstown (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), during VIII Summit of CELAC, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Thirty-three heads of State and Government and Higher Representatives of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as members of international organizations and extraregional partners of the Community attended the event.
» President Lula's full speech
» High resolution photos
“If we speak as a region, our chances to influence the great current debates increases. If we work together, we will create synergies that will strengthen our individual development projects,” Lula summarized.
According to the Brazilian President, the CELAC nations have grown apart in recent years, opening the door for conflict and disputes. “We stopped cultivating our vocation to cooperate and allowed conflicts and disputes, many of them foreign to our region, to impose over us. Defending the end of the blockade on Cuba and the Argentinian sovereignty over the Falklands (Malvinas) are of interest to all of us. All forms of unilateral sanctions, without any support in International Law, are counterproductive and penalize the most vulnerable.”
In stressing that the CELAC countries must reflect on their places in the international plane, Lula highlighted Lula highlighted the protagonism of Brazil and the region in this context in 2024 and in the coming years in relation to some of the major multilateral debate forums. “[Our protagonism] is particularly relevant in the present moment, in which our region will be turned into the gravity center of global diplomacy, hosting the G20, the G20, the APEC, the BRICS, and COP30 summits”, he declared.
HUNGER – The Brazilian President shared data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean – ECLAC to demonstrate that hunger still affects dozens of millions of people in the CELAC countries. According to the Commission, among the 660 million Latin Americans and Caribbeans, there are 180 million who do not have an income sufficient to tend to their basic needs; and 70 million still face hunger.
“This is a paradox for a region that is home to a large and diversified number of food providers. The three priorities of Brazil's G20 Presidency are connected to our historical challenges. Our proposal to create the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty can benefit from CELAC's Food Security and Poverty Eradication Plan”, stated Lula.
GAZA – Lula recalled the war between Russia and Ukraine and the social chaos in Haiti, and requested a CELAC motion for the immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza requires all of us to have the capacity to tell the Israeli government to put a stop to the collective punishment they are imposing upon the Palestinian people,” said Lula.
“People are dying in line to get food. The indifference of the international community is shocking. I want to take the opportunity of the presence of the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, to propose a CELAC motion calling for the immediate end of this genocide. The Secretary-General can invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter to call the attention of the Council to this issue, which threatens international peace and security,” he continued.
“I would like to make an appeal to the Japanese government, who is taking on the Presidency of the Security Council as of today, to include this item in the agenda with utmost urgency. I ask the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to leave their differences aside and put an end to these killings. 30 thousand people have already died. The lives of millions of innocent women and children are at stake. The lives of the Hamas hostages are also at stake. We must stop this carnage in the name of humanity’s survival,” the President declared in closing his speech.
Still this Friday, Lula will participate in a meeting with representatives from Bolivia, Chile, Barbados, Belize, Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mexico, Colombia, Dominica, Bahamas, Guyana and Honduras specifically to discuss the situation in Gaza.
SAN-CELAC 2030 – CELAC is the only dialog and consultation mechanism that autonomously gathers the totality of developing countries in the American continent. After three years away, Brazil re-entered the group in January 2023.
During the Summit, the member-states will debate a series of initiatives to be implemented in the course of 2024, with a highlight to the adoption of CELAC's 2030 Food Security, Nutrition and Poverty Eradication Plan (SAN-CELAC 2030 Plan) and the exploration of possible synergies between the SAN-CELAC 2030 Plan and Brazil's G20 Presidency of a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.
The debates will also include the restoration of the CELAC meetings of Ministers of Energy and the implementation of the Community's Fund for Climate Adaptation and Comprehensive Response to Natural Disasters (FACRID).