Global South must escape automatic alignment and dependence, says Lula

When speaking at the opening session of the East Asia Summit (Asean), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this Monday (27), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva highlighted that “automatic alignments and situations of dependence are traps from which the global South needs to escape”. He also took stock of his trip to the region, which began on the 22nd, during a press conference.

In his speech, Lula added that “in a scenario of instability, our most effective protection is to expand the range of countries with which we maintain dialogue and do business.”

In this sense, he highlighted that the rapprochement between Asean and Mercosur has the potential to integrate the production chains of two regions, with great economic complementarity.

When beginning his speech, the president said: “it is nothing new to say that the dynamic axis of the world has shifted to Asia. Nine of the ten largest seaports in the world are in the region, which is home to 60% of the world’s population. The principle of centrality of Asean, which Brazil respects and supports, is a balancing factor in the transformations that the world is going through.”

Multipolarity

Another important aspect of President Lula’s speech was the defense of multilateralism. “We are biodiverse countries, with plural cultures, intertwined histories and common challenges. We share the conviction that a multipolar world is more conducive to peace than a planet divided by strategic rivalries. We consider cooperation a more promising path to prosperity than competition”, he emphasized.

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In a message regarding the recent attacks by the United States on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific, under the excuse of combating drug trafficking, the president stated: “The seas that surround us cannot become the scene of violations of international law.”

In the same way, Lula addressed, from the perspective of national sovereignty, the issue of US greed for rare earth minerals, which have some of the world’s main sources in China and Brazil. “The strategic minerals we have should not enrich other nations at the expense of our development”, he stressed.

When talking about Brics — which counts Asean countries among its members and partners —, the Brazilian president pointed out that the bloc “is a vehicle for more representative global governance” and that “it was not born to confront anyone”.

This year, Lula added, “we reached common positions in favor of the multilateral treatment of artificial intelligence, the expansion of climate financing and the elimination of socially determined diseases. Fighting for the reform of multilateral institutions does not prevent us from building our own solutions.”

COP 30

Lula dedicated the final part of his speech to COP 30, which takes place between the 10th and 21st of November, in Belém (PA). “When world leaders meet in Belém, they will not be able to deny the facts. Even with the new Nationally Determined Contributions, we are still heading towards a temperature increase of more than two degrees. This is not the time to abandon the Paris Agreement. Without it, we will lose our compass”, he argued.

He recalled that each additional degree in the global average temperature will represent significant losses in world GDP. And this, he continued, “is not a simple number. It is about millions of people who will be pushed into hunger and poverty.”

The Brazilian president informed that during the event, two important environmental initiatives will be launched. The first is the declaration to quadruple the use of sustainable fuels by 2035, with measures to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. “The growing production of bioenergy in Southeast Asia makes the region a natural ally in this effort,” he said.

The second is the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF), which will benefit the nations of the Borneo-Mekong Basin, Congo and the Amazon. “This is an innovative mechanism, based not on donations, but on investments, which will remunerate both the countries that contribute and those that preserve their forests”, he concluded.

Balance

When taking stock of his trip to Indonesia and Malaysia at a press conference before returning to Brazil, President Lula classified it as successful and highlighted: “The president doesn’t do deals, he opens doors. And the receptivity has been extraordinary.”

In addition to the meeting that took place in Malaysia between Lula and Donald Trump, on Sunday (26), the Brazilian president declared that “there is a great desire to get to know Brazil, to get to know the energy transition that Brazil is thinking about, this wonderful thing in a country that has almost 90% of its electricity renewable, in a country that has oil and, at the same time, defends that we are going to work so that we no longer need to use fossil fuels”.

Among the highlights of the tours around the region are the memoranda of understanding signed between the president and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, in the areas of semiconductors; science and technology, technological innovation; space research and sustainable agriculture, in addition to agreements between diplomatic training institutions and research centers. Furthermore, six new markets were opened for Brazilian products.

Another important point was the meeting involving businesspeople from both countries, when understandings were reached on biotechnology, algae cultivation, genetic innovation and sustainability development.

There were also advances in relations with Vietnam and Singapore and, in Indonesia, the first stop on the trip, eight agreements and partnerships were signed on topics such as agriculture and livestock, science and technology and in the area of ​​energy and mineral resources. In addition to the state visit, Lula participated in a forum with more than 100 businesspeople, including Brazilians and Indonesians.

In recognition of his political trajectory and work in defense of social inclusion, the fight against hunger and international cooperation, Lula received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in Philosophy and International Development and the Global South, granted by the Federal University of Malaysia.

With agencies