EBC
In an article published this Sunday (18) in The New York Times, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that the US bombing raids on Venezuelan territory and the “capture” of the country’s president, which took place at the beginning of January, represent “yet another regrettable chapter in the ongoing erosion of international law and the multilateral order established after the Second World War”.
In the text, Lula criticizes what he classifies as recurrent attacks by major powers on the authority of the United Nations (UN) and its Security Council. According to the president, “when the use of force to resolve disputes ceases to be the exception and becomes the rule, global peace, security and stability are threatened.”
The UN Security Council is the only body in the world that has the power to resolve disputes.
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Lula also says that the selective application of international norms jeopardizes the global system.
“If norms are followed only selectively, anomie sets in, which weakens not only individual states, but the international system as a whole,” he wrote.
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For the president, “without collectively agreed rules, it is impossible to build free, inclusive and democratic societies”.
Democracy
In the article, Lula recognizes that heads of state or government, “from any country”, can be held responsible for actions that undermine democracy and fundamental rights.
However, he emphasizes that “it is not legitimate for another state to arrogate to itself the right to do justice”. According to him, “unilateral actions threaten stability around the world, disrupt trade and investment, increase the flow of refugees and weaken the capacity of states to tackle organized crime and other transnational challenges”.
The president says it is “particularly worrying” that these practices are being applied to Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to Lula, they bring “violence and instability to a part of the world that seeks peace through the sovereign equality of nations, the rejection of the use of force and the defense of the self-determination of peoples.”
The president said he was “particularly concerned” that these practices are being applied to Latin America and the Caribbean.
He points out that, “in more than 200 years of independent history, this is the first time that South America has suffered a direct military attack from the United States”.
When talking about the region, Lula said that Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 660 million inhabitants, “have their own interests and dreams to defend”. In a multi-polar world, “no country should have its foreign relations questioned for seeking universality”.
“We will not be subservient to hegemonic ventures” and argues that “building a prosperous, peaceful and plural region is the only doctrine that serves us.”
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Regional agenda
Lula also defends, in the article, the construction of a positive regional agenda, capable of overcoming ideological differences.
“We want to attract investment in physical and digital infrastructure, promote quality jobs, generate income and expand trade within the region and with countries outside it,” he says. According to the president, “cooperation is key to mobilizing the resources we so desperately need to fight hunger, poverty, drug trafficking and climate change.”
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On Venezuela, Lula says that “the future of the country, like that of any other, must remain in the hands of its people”.
“Only an inclusive political process, led by Venezuelans, will lead to a democratic and sustainable future”.
Cooperation
In the text, Lula also says that Brazil will continue to work with the Venezuelan government and people to “protect the more than 1,300 kilometers of shared border” and to deepen bilateral cooperation.
When talking about the relationship with the United States, the president said that Brazil and the US are “the two most populous democracies on the American continent”. According to Lula, “joining forces around concrete plans for investment, trade and the fight against organized crime is the way forward.”
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“Only together can we overcome the challenges that afflict a hemisphere that belongs to all of us.”
Original Article: Lula critica ações dos EUA na Venezuela e defende multilateralismo
Author: Agência Brasil
