In Angola, Lula says that today’s UN does not have the same credibility as before

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ended his visit to Angola this Saturday (26) and, in a press conference, highlighted the need for reform in the Security Council of the United Nations (UN), an agenda that he has defended in other trips and debate forums around the world. For him, “the UN of 2023 is far from having the same credibility as the UN of 1945”.

According to the president’s assessment, “the Security Council, which should be the security of peace and tranquility, is the one that wages war without talking to anyone. Russia goes to Ukraine without discussing it in the Security Council. The United States goes to Iraq without discussing it in the Security Council. France and England will invade Libya without going through the Security Council. In other words, those who wage war, those who produce weapons, those who sell weapons are the Security Council countries. It’s wrong.”

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Lula believes that more countries should join the council. “What is Africa’s representation in the Security Council? What is the representation of Asia, Latin America? We make it clear that we support Brazil joining the Security Council, India, Germany, Japan. There are differences, but they are not ours”, she added.

The president defended that the UN should have what he called a geographical representation that is more in line with reality. “In 1948, the UN managed to create the State of Israel. In 2023, it is unable to enforce the area reserved for Palestinians. She was weakened. And, on the climate issue, it is more serious. At all COP [Conferências das Partes], we decide many things, but none of them are fulfilled. Why is it not fulfilled? Because there is no sovereign state. The UN does not have the strength to say: ‘We have to comply with this here, otherwise there will be certain actions’”, she explained.

African debt

Still during a statement to the press in the Angolan capital, Lula questioned the mechanism for paying the debt of African countries to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We need to start a new fight,” he said, mentioning that the continent accumulates a debt of US$760 billion to be paid to the fund.

“This debt is becoming unpayable because the money in the budget is never enough to pay and the problem is always increasing. What is the logic? It’s trying to raise awareness among people who own these debts so that they can be transformed into infrastructure support. The debt money, instead of being paid, would be invested in infrastructure works,” she said.

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He believes that it is necessary to think of alternatives for a solution. “You can either cancel this debt, and I think it will be impossible to cancel a debt of US$760 billion, but you can extend it until these countries are able to pay.”

Lula ends his official visit to Angola this Saturday and heads to São Tomé and Príncipe, where he will participate in the Summit of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP). The official farewell ceremony, in Luanda, should take place at 4pm (local time, 12pm Brasília time). This is the first time he has visited the continent since the beginning of his third term.

Consulate in Luanda

Also this Saturday, Lula declared that the government is studying the opening of a general consulate in Luanda, the capital of Angola. He classified the two-day visit to the African country as historic and recalled that Angola is already home to the largest Brazilian community on the continent – ​​around 30 thousand Brazilians.

“For this reason, I instructed Chancellor Mauro Vieira to study the opening of a general consulate in Luanda, which would be the first in a Portuguese-speaking country in Africa,” he stated. The statement was made during the inauguration of the Ovídio de Melo Gallery, at the Guimarães Rosa Institute.

“In relations between Brazil and Angola, we need to dream big and dream very far”, he concluded, quoting words from the Angolan writer Pepetela, winner of the Camões Prize.

With Agência Brasil

(PL)