The Secretary for Bilateral Negotiations in the Middle East, Europe and Africa of Brazil told Lusa that the CPLP gained, with the current government, greater relevance for the country’s foreign policy, mainly in the area of defense. “The CPLP gained new relevance in this government in terms of Brazilian foreign policy”, considered Kenneth Nóbrega, in an interview with Lusa at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasilia.
The Brazilian official, who spared no praise for the Angolan presidency of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), which is essential to provide that Portuguese-speaking community with an economic and commercial pillar, said that Brazil seeks to reinforce the importance of “ defense cooperation. .
This reinforcement, he defended, is centered “within a great idea that a large part of the countries are around the South Atlantic”, hence the “importance of this cooperation against international crime”.
Despite significant improvements, Guinea-Bissau has one of the highest maritime crime rates in the world, recalled Kenneth Nóbrega, adding that in the updated Brazilian defense strategy, the South Atlantic, that is, the Gulf of Guinea and West Africa, have become an important part. of the Brazilian strategy. “We put in the heart of the CPLP a discussion that today is essential for the Brazilian defense policy,” he defended, reinforcing that this strategy resulted “specifically in joint cooperation operations between the navies of the CPLP countries.”
“Despite the pandemic, there were joint maneuvers on the coast of Angola and an attempt was also made to strengthen the strategic center of the CPLP, in Mozambique, to broaden the discussion on cooperation in maritime crimes,” he stressed. Regarding the strengthening of economic cooperation in the community, Kenneth Nóbrega said that “credit should be given to those who deserve it: Angola.”
“Angola promoted the expansion of the CPLP’s activities,” he said, recalling the creation of a trade and investment promotion forum in the CPLP and the first official meeting of CPLP economy ministers.
“There was a new effort to think of the CPLP as a space for economic development and trade promotion,” he stressed. For the official, one of the objectives that must now be implemented is “to study how the different international financial organizations can contribute to the development and investment projects of the CPLP countries, for the financing of exports.”
Regarding the mobility agreement ratified by practically all the member countries of the CPLP (with the exception of Equatorial Guinea and Angola, which have not yet deposited the instruments of ratification at the organization’s headquarters), Kenneth Nóbrega considered that this measure “it is a milestone for the CPLP” .
“The mobility agreement is a milestone for the CPLP, it is a very carefully negotiated agreement because there are countries that come from other realities, including regulatory ones,” he considered. Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste are the nine member states of the CPLP.
Source: Observadora
