G77+ China Summit: Lula is present in Cuba before speech at the UN

This Friday (15), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) embarked for Cuba, marking a significant moment in diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries. The visit highlights Lula’s participation in the G77+ China Summit, the largest intergovernmental organization of countries in the Global South within the United Nations (UN).

Under the theme “Current development challenges: the role of Science, Technology and Innovation”, the G77+ China Summit, which will take place on September 15th and 16th, brings together more than one hundred diplomatic delegations and high-level governments from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The event aims to agree common positions and demands in areas such as cooperation, development and multilateralism. The presentation was attended by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, alongside the Cuban President, Miguel Díaz-Canel. The conference takes place in Havana because this year Cuba has the temporary Presidency, which in 2024 will pass to Uganda.

Group of 77 countries

The Group of 77 countries, initially founded on June 15, 1964 by 77 countries from the Global South, emerged in a “Joint Declaration of the 77 Developing Countries”, during the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) , in Geneva, Switzerland. This declaration defended the interests of these countries in relation to the international trade system. Over time, the coalition has grown and now has 134 member states. Cuba joined in 1971, and China in 1992.

In total, there are 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 55 in Africa, 38 in Asia and nine in Oceania. The group represents two-thirds of all UN-affiliated countries and around 80% of the world’s population.

One of the highlights of Lula’s visit to Cuba is the resumption of historic relations between the two countries, after an interruption during Jair Bolsonaro’s mandate. The presence of the Brazilian representative on the island symbolizes an important step in reconciliation and cooperation between nations.

“The Cuban Presidency has set as objectives the consolidation of the unity of developing countries in negotiations on multilateral issues, including climate change issues, the promotion of solidarity and international cooperation in the context of post-pandemic recovery and the push for governance reform international finance. The focus of this summit is the issue of technology”, explained ambassador Carlos Cozendey, secretary of Multilateral Political Affairs at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE).

In addition to his participation in the Summit, Lula will also have a work schedule with the Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, marking the first official trip by a Brazilian president to the Caribbean country in nine years. The last presidential visit to the country took place in 2014, when former president Dilma Rousseff was in Havana.

At the G77 + China Summit, the president will be accompanied by ministers Mauro Vieira (Foreign Affairs), Nísia Trindade (Health), Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development and Family Farming) and Luciana Santos (Science, Technology and Innovation), in addition to the special advisor , Celso Amorim.

Speech at the UN

Afterwards, Lula will head to the United States where he will give the opening speech at the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations, in New York, next Tuesday (19). By tradition, it is up to the Brazilian government to deliver the first speech at the General Assembly since the beginnings of the UN, in the late 1940s. This will be the eighth time that the Brazilian president will open the UN General Assembly, having only missed it in 2010 during his first two terms.

Afterwards, Lula will participate in the launch of a global initiative to promote decent work, together with US President Joe Biden. Furthermore, other bilateral, multilateral and ministerial meetings are planned between participating countries and various international organizations on the sidelines of the assembly, promising a week of intense diplomatic and political activities for the Brazilian president.

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with information from Palácio do Planalto