Speech by Minister Antonio de Aguiar Patriota on the occasion of the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the Africa-South American Summit (ASA) – Malabo, November 24th, 2011

“I rejoice to be here in Malabo, around my colleagues, Foreign Ministers and High Officials of ASA member countries, preparatory to the 3rd Summit.

It is a great joy to address this plenary in Portuguese, the official language of seven of the sixty countries comprised in this coordination forum, and now also an official language of Equatorial Guinea.

I bring a message of commitment from President Dilma, that of the engagement between Brazil and Africa. This commitment was displayed in the visit, earlier this semester, to three African countries (South Africa, Mozambique and Angola), in several contacts with African leaders visiting Brasília and, recently, when celebrating the International Year of People of African Descent, in Salvador, alongside Presidents Alpha Condé, from Guinea, and Jorge Fonseca, from Cape Verde.

This commitment is also expressed in our presence in Malabo to further the process of bringing South America and Africa together. It is a task that comprises two fundamental lines of action of Brazilian foreign policy: a) South American integration, with the transformation of the continent in a zone of growth, sustainable development with social justice, democracy and peace; b) Incorporating, to our foreign action, the fact that we are the country with the largest population of African descendents outside Africa and the country with the second largest population of African origin. In this context lie the Brazilian efforts to develop an agenda for closer ties with Africa in all areas: political dialogue, trade and investment, technical and economic cooperation, cultural cooperation.

I am personally engaged in these efforts. By the end of the year, I will have visited 10 African countries. I will remain committed to enhancing our relationship, seeking to give creative and cooperative treatment to current challenges and opportunities, both in the bilateral and multilateral contexts.

Today, Brazil is an example that you can reconcile democracy, economic growth, poverty reduction and environmentally sustainable policies. In a world where we watch the exhaustion of development models conceived by the North, and whose developed economies are facing their own crises, South America and Africa rise from decades of stagnation and conflict toward a new cycle of prosperity and emancipation.

Similarly to what has been taking place in Brazil and in South America, we see in Africa successful experiences on the economic, social and political areas, which makes us believe in processes that will realize the African potential in line with the dreams of great African leaders such as Nyerere, Mandela and Nkrumah.

Part of this emancipation process involves the capability to overcome relationship patterns between our regions and other regions of the world via the developed world and the former colonial powers. History brought us closer through slavery and ties with former powers distant from our material and human realities. Today, we can make history establishing direct trade, cooperation and diplomatic and political coordination ties.

Brazil is willing to take on its responsibility. As the South American country with the largest population descending from the African diaspora, the greatest number of Embassies in Africa (37), the greatest number of African Resident Embassies in South America (33), we are at the service of a rapprochement agenda between our regions.

At a Brazilian initiative, by former President Lula, we created an structure for Summits, Ministerial meetings, Working Groups and several projects that we wish to preserve and improve. However, as countries from regions without abundant resources, we need to use our imagination and creativity to maximize the use of existing structures, within and outside the ASA mechanism, to work together in favor of common interests.

The ASA countries account for 1/3 of the Earth’s surface; 1/5 of the world’s population (1.3 billion people); a significant economic growth (5% in Africa and 4.1% in South America) and 10% of the world’s GDP (US$ 6 trillion).

All of us have missions to the UN, in New York, missions to the UN, in Geneva, Embassies in Washington through which we dialogue with the Word Bank and the IMF. At FAO, in Rome, where Professor José Graziano will take office as Director-General in January, we will have another coordination forum. We could hold periodic meetings of African and South American Ambassadors in these capitals to discuss common agendas.

Brasília, with 33 African and 13 South American Embassies, can also be a meeting point. Nairobi, where we have missions to UNEP , can be a meeting point for coordination in environment affairs, for example.

The presence here today of the next UNASUR Secretary-General, Ali Rodriguez, and of the President of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, is a clear sign of the importance of these organizations as convergence factors on strategic interests of both regions.

Brazil is an observer member of AU. We compliment Ecuador for its recent admission as an observer member. We want to learn more with the African Union; there are several experiences and structures, such as the Peace and Security Council of the Organization, that can be valuable examples for the construction of our own integration effort in South America. On our side, we have an strong interest to share our successful experiences with Africa.

I can identify three great areas where we need to work in coordination:

1) Economy and Trade

Our bi-regional exchange has increased almost fourfold since 2003, reaching US$32.2 billion in 2010. Nevertheless, we have to find ways to stimulate our private sectors to get in contact and develop more and better ties between our continents. Brazil is interested in participating in efforts to promote: a) industrial, mineral and agricultural development (FAO); b) exploitation of clean energies: we do not have to repeat consumption and waste patterns from the developed world. The development of green economy does not imply technological dependence of developed countries. There are “low tech” techniques and practices that have low cost and are easily adopted, in areas such as basic sanitation, waste disposal, etc. (Rio+20)

2) Peace and Security

The interdependence between social and economic progress and sustainable peace must be recognized. We must warn against an ideology that seeks to connect civilian protection, humanitarian intentions and military intervention. We question whether it is wise to name recent events as successful examples of the practice of “responsibility to protect”. One must be aware of the responsibility while protecting.

The use of force, when authorized by the UNSC, requires careful monitoring by the international community, to avoid the cure being worse than the disease.

In South America, we follow closely the work of the peace operations. Brazil has 33 military personnel on assignments in Côte d’Ivoire, in Liberia, in Western Sahara and in Sudan and in South Sudan. Uruguay is a great contributor to MONUSCO, with 1,297 troops and 2 police officers.

However, the time has come for us to turn the page on the inherited conflicts from the colonial time and on rivalries between religions and ethnic groups. Angola and Mozambique are examples which show us it can be achieved.

Much has been said about the Atlantic Ocean bringing us together; in fact, with regard to Brazil, we increasingly see the Atlantic, in the words of a great Mozambican writer and a great Brazilian historian, as a river.

We have diplomatic missions in nearly all countries that border the South Atlantic. We are engaged to keep the region as a zone for peace and cooperation; to that end, we have been carrying on a process to update and strengthen ZOPACAS (South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone). Let us not forget, on the other hand, that South America is also open to the Pacific and the Caribbean; Africa, to the Indian and the Mediterranean. Our association is not based on opposition to any region in the globe; we uphold the preservation all ties that enrich us, and the dialogue with other regions based on shared perceptions in issues such as the political situation in the Middle East, non-proliferation and disarmament, mechanisms to finance development etc.

3) Democracy and governance

We believe the path to economic development with social justice goes through the establishment of truly democratic institutions. In this context, we must build strong and independent Branches, give freedom of action to the press, uphold the established legal framework and adopt better practices in public management (as identified by OECD). In Brazil, right now, we have been working to ensure that revenues from the pre-salt oil by used in specific goals determined by the State (education, health). I offer you this example in the belief that similar challenges are faced by African countries, which have been gifted with mineral wealth.

Much has been said about the emergence of a multipolar world. African and South America are regions that offer a contribution so that this multipolarity is not one of rupture, of the “clash of civilizations”, but instead the multipolarity from the knowledge of one such as Kofi Anan, from cooperation in multilateral fora in line with the reality (whether financial, economic, environmental, or of peace and security) of our countries. A multipolarity with permanent members from African and South America in a reformed UNSC.

We wish to pave the way for a new generation of South American and Africans who, being familiar with the realities of the two regions, can manage to resort to the positive experiences, while avoiding the mistakes and taking advantage of the opportunities that will arise. Among the factors to assist us in this are our shared history, interests, tastes and cultural practices.

At the forefront of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, I express my strong commitment to advancing this agenda of closer and developing ties between South America and Africa.

Thank you very much.”