Brazil’s Lula defends strengthening Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in meeting with ACTO secretary general

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met  this evening (August 7), in Belém (in the Brazilian state of Pará), with Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Secretary-General Maria Alexandra Moreira López. On the agenda, strengthening the institution that brings together Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela to promote cooperation for the defense and development of the Amazon.

The group of leaders will gather tomorrow and the following day – August 8 and 9 – at the Amazon Summit, where adoption of the Declaration of Belém is expected. The document will include priorities to be established for the sustainable development of the region, taking into account both forest preservation and the social inclusion of families who live there.

After the meeting, the secretary-general said that, in the current context, ACTO’s agenda will be updated agenda and will prioritize the improvement of social conditions and the fight against hunger and environmental crime in the region.

“These issues are increasingly part of our agenda,” said Maria Alexandra Moreira López – adding that ATCO countries will act as a bloc in multilateral spaces and arenas.

The Secretary-General also highlighted the need for international cooperation to fund projects and solve issues such as water and sanitation, solid waste treatment, connectivity and health.

Lula received the ACTO leader at the hotel where he is staying, in Belém, for the Summit. The President arrived at the capital of the state of Pará in the afternoon, following an event in the city of Santarém, to inaugurate an information highway connecting municipalities in the states of Amazonas and Pará through cables installed within the riverbeds.

Lula also met with President of Peru Dina Boluarte. The agenda of bilateral meetings continues over the next few days, on the fringe of the Amazon Summit.