By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, Sept. 23, GNA – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has commended Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama for leading the effort for reparative justice.
The Brazilian President made the commendation in his address during the general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
On March 25, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/80/250, spearheaded by President Mahama alongside the African Union and CARICOM, which declared the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and racialised chattel slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity”.
It was passed with 123 votes in favor, 3 against (United States, Israel, Argentina), and 52 abstentions (including the UK and EU member states).
“This General Assembly recently corrected historical distortion on the world map. It recognised the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity,” the Brazilian Leader said.
“It approved a more accurate representation of the world map. Now it needs to focus on issues crucial for humanity.”
He noted that they were called to choose between multilateralism or unilateralism, democracy or extremism, sovereignty, or subordination, and the choices required courage, political will, and clarity of objectives.
Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin were statesmen. They challenged the past to envision a future of peace. They were defeated by hatred,” President da Silva said.
He stated that generations of Palestinians would carry the pain and trauma left by the genocide of women and children perpetrated by the Netanyahu government in Gaza.
He said Israeli civilians paid the price for the radicalism and intolerance of Hamas terrorist acts.
President da Silva said persecuting the International Criminal Court and its members encouraged these crimes to go unpunished and explained that the UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, must not be silenced for telling the truth.
He said illegal settlements in the West Bank were making the two-state solution increasingly unviable, essential for Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety; declaring that threatening civilizations with extinction would not bring stability to the Middle East.
President da Silva said the Strait of Hormuz had become a battleground when it should had remained a vital passage for international trade.
He reiterated that families around the world were paying the price of fuel, fertilizers, and food.
The Brazilian Leader said the war between Russia and Ukraine had dragged on for five years in a humanitarian drama that continues to claim lives.
“We all know that there will be no winners on the battlefield. Diplomacy is the only option,” he said.
President da Silva said initiatives such as the Friends of Peace group, created by Brazil and China, revealed that there were forces in the international community willing to work towards dialogue.
He said in Latin America and the Caribbean region, geographical proximity to the world’s greatest military power was inescapable; adding that especially in the context of renewed hegemonic temptations, Brazil does not fit in anyone’s backyard.
“We need partners with a positive agenda that fosters development. Ideological differences should not hinder higher integration amongst neighbors.”
President da Silva said the countries in the region had experienced the horrors of authoritarian regimes.
“We have come a long way to restore popular will. Democracy is once again under threat. We witness once more interference in electoral processes,” the Brazilian Leader said.
President da Silva said dividing the world into zones of influence and neocolonial incursions for strategic resources were anachronistic gestures.
He explained that the Venezuelan people deserved to define their own destiny, and that Nicaragua would not solve its problems by preventing the opposition from running in the elections.
President da Silva said the crisis in Haiti continued to test the limits of the international community’s indifference while in Cuba, the world watched in horror as collective punishment was imposed on 10 million people by an illegal economic and energy embargo.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei