In Guyana, Lula highlights opportunities for integration between Brazil and Caribbean countries.

Gov Agency – Strengthening ties, seeking investments and agreements around common priorities, ceasing to turn our backs on the American continent and uniting around understandings about the consequences of climate change. These were some of the points addressed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during his participation as a guest at the 46th Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), this Wednesday (February 28), in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana.

We are aware of the main problems affecting the region: food insecurity, which threatens half of the Caribbean population, and climate change, which puts the entire planet at risk, especially island nations. I want to emphasize that these two problems have the same root: inequality. Therefore, the fight against inequality is also the fight of the Caribbean populations.”

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Republic

“We are aware of the main problems affecting the region: food insecurity, which threatens half of the Caribbean population, and climate change, which puts the entire planet at risk, especially island nations. I want to emphasize that these two problems are at the heart of the debates held by Brazil in international forums. I also want to emphasize that these two problems have the same root: inequality. Therefore, the fight against inequality is also the fight of the Caribbean populations,” he declared.

According to the president, this shared struggle is essential to combat inequality and poverty on a global scale. He invited Caribbean countries to join the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, one of the key initiatives of the Brazilian Presidency of the G20, which runs until the end of November this year.

“It is unacceptable that on a planet that produces enough food to feed the entire world population, approximately 735 million human beings have nothing to eat. It is unacceptable that rich countries, primarily responsible for the climate crisis, continue to fail to fulfill their commitment to allocate US$100 billion annually to developing countries to address climate change. It is unacceptable that the world spends US$2,2 trillion annually on weapons. We all know: wars cause destruction, suffering, and death, especially of innocent civilians,” Lula recalled.

REGIONAL INTEGRATION The president also spoke about the importance of expanding cooperation and integration between Brazil and the countries of the region, especially in terms of transportation and logistics. The lack of flights and land routes is something that needs to be discussed and corrected, according to him.

“I heard from Prime Minister Mia Mottley that Barbados has 27 weekly flights to the United Kingdom and the United States, but none to Brazil. Therefore, our biggest obstacle is the lack of connections, whether by land, sea, or air. One of the priority integration and development routes for my government is the Guiana Shield, which encompasses Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. We want to literally pave our way to the Caribbean. We will open corridors capable of meeting supply demands and strengthening food security in the region,” he explained.

To address these issues, several ministers linked to the infrastructure sector traveled with the president as part of the national delegation to Guyana: Renan Filho (Transport), Sílvio Costa Filho (Ports and Airports), Waldez Góes (Integration and Regional Development), and Simone Tebet (Planning and Budget).

“Our relationship can go beyond the exchange of best practices and capacity-building activities. We see in the bloc a promising economic partner and a strategic political interlocutor. Brazil is already the fifth largest supplier to CARICOM. Our trade flow was US$2,7 billion last year, but it had already exceeded US$5 billion in 2008, which demonstrates the potential for growth. APEX has identified more than a thousand opportunities for the insertion of Brazilian products in the countries of the Community. The fact is that goods and services do not circulate where there are no open routes. Belém, Boa Vista, and Manaus are closer to the Caribbean than to other large Brazilian cities,” he recalled.