President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for a motion from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) for the “immediate end of the genocide in Gaza” this Friday (1). “The humanitarian tragedy in Gaza demands from all of us the ability to say enough is enough to the collective punishment that the Israeli government imposes on the Palestinian people. People are dying in line for food. The indifference of the international community is shocking,” he said Lula at the 8th Celac Summit.
The Brazilian president also appealed to the five members of the UN Security Council to “put an end to this killing”, and classified the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian population in Gaza as “carnage”.
“I want to ask the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to put aside their differences and put an end to this slaughter. There are already more than 30 thousand dead, 80% women and 8 thousand children. In addition to the number of children and a missing woman. The lives of the Hamas hostages are also at stake and they must be freed. I want to end by telling you that our dignity and humanity are at stake. Therefore, we must stop the carnage in the name of survival of humanity, we need a lot of humanism.”
Agenda bilateral
During the day, Lula will have meetings with the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, the president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, and the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
The meeting with the Venezuelan leader should be marked by Brazilian concern regarding the dispute over Essequibo and the country’s elections in 2024.
In the meeting with Petro, he must discuss the situation in the Gaza strip. Both Lula and Petro have called Tel Aviv’s actions in the region “genocide”. On Thursday, Colombia suspended the purchase of defense equipment from Israel after Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinians who had gathered in Gaza City to receive humanitarian aid. More than a hundred people died in the attack.
Trip to the Caribbean
The president was in Guyana on Wednesday to participate in the closing of the 46th Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Lula was one of the special guests, since Brazil is not a member of the group, which has 15 member countries and 5 associates.
In his speech, the president focused on regional integration, spoke about the prospect of cooperation with Guyana in different areas and once again called the massacre of Palestinians carried out by Israel in the Gaza strip “genocide”.
The following day, the Brazilian had a bilateral meeting with the president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali. At the meeting, Lula asked for peace in the region, in reference to the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over Essequibo, and said he would thank the prime minister of São Vicente and Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, for participating in conversations between the two countries.
After completing a schedule in Guyana, the PT member embarked for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to participate in the 8th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). Brazil was one of the founders of the group in 2011, but left Celac during the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro. As soon as he assumed the presidency, Lula insisted on returning to the bloc.
Editing: Matheus Alves de Almeida
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
