Opening of the border: re-establishing a long friendship

Brazil is the Land of Peace. Our Nation has never sought war as a solution to conflicts, conquest of territories, or oppression of other peoples.

We haven't been in a war for almost 150 years. The exception was the participation of the glorious Brazilian Army and Air Force in liberating Europe and the world from the oppression of fascism.

Our soldiers generously fought and died to bring freedom and democracy to the highly developed Europeans.

The noble and generous principles of the Brazilian race in relation to the peoples of the whole world are written in stone in our Constitution in article 4.

I'll read them again to you gentlemen, so we can refresh our memory. (Open quotation marks)

"Article 4. The Federative Republic of Brazil, in its international relations, is governed by the following principles:"

I - national independence;

II - prevalence of human rights;

III - self-determination of peoples;

IV - non-intervention;

V - equality between States;

VI - defense of peace;

VII - peaceful settlement of disputes;

VIII - Repudiation of terrorism and racism;

IX - cooperation among peoples for the progress of humanity;

X - granting of political asylum.

Sole paragraph. The Federative Republic of Brazil shall seek the economic, political, social, and cultural integration of the peoples of Latin America, aiming at the formation of a Latin American community of nations.

I am even moved by the greatness of a people who have forged such generous commitments to peace and cooperation with their fellow citizens of other nationalities.

I am proud to be the son of an indigenous woman from the Macuxi ethnic group and a father who worked as a cowboy.

 I know how enriching respect can be between different cultures.

Our people are made up of various races, of various nationalities.

For Brazilians, foreigners are not enemies, not inferior, but also not superior.

I said all this as an introduction, to highlight a problem that is causing suffering to the people of my beloved state of Roraima:

The closure of the border with Venezuela.

The border between Venezuela and Brazil was closed a few weeks ago, as everyone probably knows. But perhaps few know how deep the commercial, energy, and cultural ties between Roraima and Venezuela were.

Our farmers use limestone and fertilizers from Venezuela. The harvest is about to begin, and they have no way of bringing that from the Midwest without incurring significant losses.

And we sold a good portion of our production here. Every day, 50 trucks carrying Brazilian products arrived in Venezuela.

The shops in Pacaraima are deserted because you Venezuelans used to fill our supermarkets.

Northern Roraima is out of gasoline because that's where the fuel used to come from.

Venezuela is mysteriously suffering attacks on its electrical system. Therefore, Roraima no longer has access to the cheap energy they used to sell us. I am certain that the power outage in Venezuela and in Roraima was not the work of the government itself. It wouldn't make sense.

But unfortunately, we suffer because of it.

Diesel fuel costs to supply Roraima's thermoelectric plants have already reached 400 million reais. Not only the people of Roraima pay for this, but the entire country through a subsidy charged on the electricity bills of all Brazilians.

In Pacaraima, there are 2 students in public schools. 500 students haven't shown up since Carnival. They live here in Venezuela.

Most of them are Brazilians or children of Brazilians who live in Venezuela.

We won very close elections. We won because voters considered us capable of thinking about them. They considered us capable of feeling compassion for the most humble, for those who are going through hardship.

Our people in Roraima are going through a lot of hardship with this whole diplomatic and political crisis. First, because we generously shelter thousands of Venezuelan refugees, even though we weren't prepared. Even without having the material resources to house so many people. We only have our hospitality to offer.

Now, we are also suffering from the border closure.

I humbly request assistance in trying to reopen the border and normalize diplomatic relations.

We need to think about all those people whose businesses, education, and health depend on open borders.

Until recently, Venezuela was one of the four largest importers of Brazilian manufactured goods, as well as being an important client of our agribusiness sector.

When everything returns to normal, Venezuela could once again become a major buyer for Brazil, and vice versa.

As a Senator, I have an obligation to faithfully serve the interests of my constituents and the principles of our Constitution, which compels us to seek dialogue, cooperation, and peace. That is what I am here to do.

I believe the first step towards this is reopening the border. I am here to request, on behalf of the people of Brazil and Roraima, the reopening of the border and to thank the Venezuelan people for their understanding, friendship, and goodwill.