President Lula da Silva defended, this Saturday (26), the renegotiation of the debts of African countries with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Brazilian leader understands that these debts could be transformed into investment, so that indebted nations can take a leap in development.
“The logic is to try to sensitize the people who own this debt so that it is transformed into support for infrastructure. The debt money, instead of being paid, should be invested in infrastructure works”, he suggested.
Lula also recommended a kind of extension, until the debtor countries are in a position to renegotiate them.
At the press conference, the president also spoke about the 15th BRICS Summit, which took place from August 22nd to 24th in Johannesburg, South Africa. Lula classified the event as “extraordinary”, stressing the entry of new countries as positive and again defended the reformulation of the UN Security Council.
“The Security Council, which should be the security of peace and tranquility, is what 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 are going to invade Libya without going through the Security Council. In other words, who wages war, who produces weapons, who sells weapons are the countries of the Security Council. It’s wrong,” he declared.
For the president, the Brics will help Brazil to look at geopolitical issues differently and to take multipolarity into account. He cited, for example, the country’s dependence on the IMF in the past.
“It was shameful for a government like FHC’s, which was a democrat, and that no one can say it wasn’t, which had a competent person in the Ministry of Finance, like (Pedro) Malan, who was a respectable figure, welcoming people to Brazil of the IMF to supervise the Brazilian accounts. It was a shameful thing to know that a sovereign country was receiving economists from the IMF to visit our accounts”, he recalled.
“Today it is possible to hold a meeting between the Brics and the G7, in conditions of superiority. The Brics today represent 36.7% of the GDP in purchasing parity. The geopolitical conditions for you to negotiate change, and you negotiate together”, he pointed out. the president.
Lula also criticized the fact that Brazil has few flights to African countries and said that, upon returning to Brasília, he would put the issue on the agenda and seek to understand the reason for the lack of connections between Brazil and African nations. He also mentioned the creation of a consulate general on the continent.
This Saturday (26) the president ended an official visit to Angola, where the two countries signed around 7 bilateral agreements, and will now head to São Tomé and Príncipe, where he will participate in the Summit of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
