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The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended the union between the developing countries. "It is important to know that all countries in South America had, until recently, a subordination to the so-called developed world."
"And we decided to establish a relationship of political trust and complementarity amongst us, defining the thesis that the integration of speeches is not enough, that integration has to be with concrete policies," stated Lula during his speech at the World Social Forum (WSF) in the city of Porto Alegre, in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The President, who was jeered throughout the speech by a small but persistent group of protesters from his owm party, the PT (Workers' Party), highlighted the approximation of Brazil with the other South American countries, with Africa and with the Arab countries.
About the Arabs, Lula recalled that in May, the summit for the heads of the Arab and South American states will take place, where the strengthening of relationship between the two blocs in many fields should be discussed.
"I learned in the union movement that if I am poorer and need more strength I need more people next to me," he declared.
One of the main strategies in the government's foreign policy is the approximation of Brazil with other developing countries, not forgetting, however, relations with the traditional partners, such as the United States, the European Union and Japan.
Lula participated in the launch of the campaign entitled "Global Call Against Poverty", which gathers almost 100 entities engaged in the fight for development and fulfilment of the Millennium Goals, established by the United Nations Organisation (UN) that foresees the reduction by half of misery in the world until 2015.
Davos
Combating poverty is also the theme of a session in which the Brazilian president will participate today in the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland.
The theme is one of the main topics in the event. The president of France, Jacques Chirac, and the British prime minister, Tony Blair, talked about the subject in the opening of the WEF on Wednesday.
Chirac even defended the creation of an international fee to finance the combat of poverty, proposal also defended by the Brazilian government.
In September 2004, Brazil, France, Spain and Chile presented to the UN a report with a series of suggestions to combat misery in the world, amongst them, a fee on international financial operations and weapons trade to create a fund against hunger.
Yesterday, during a press conference in Davos, Tony Blair said Lula would be welcome in the next meeting of the G8, the group that gathers the seven richest countries in the world and Russia.
The meeting will take place in July in England and the main themes will be development and climatic changes. For Blair, the presence of a country like Brazil is important because of the country's commitment to these matters.
Also in Davos, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, summoned the countries in the Middle East to integrate with global economy and create a business environment that motivates trade and investments. He said, however, that this modernisation does not necessarily imply a westernisation of the region.
ANBA – Brazil-Arab News Agency
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