CÚPULA DA AMÉRICA LATINA E DO CARIBE SOBRE ... - Funag

INTERVENÇÕES DO PRESIDENTE LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA
meeting agenda. Because we are not in the habit of voting on meeting agendas,
let us consider the agenda approved.
Well, this is an extraordinary moment for us to have a political debate. I
just wanted to offer the following consideration: this applies to me and to
everyone, that we speak about 10 minutes, I’m looking at Raul who is the
meeting’s newest participant. If we all speak 10 minutes, we will have time to
hear all of the Presidents in attendance. First, we will hear from the Presidents,
then we will hear from our other invited colleagues. My remarks run only nine
and half minutes, so that extra half minute I will hand over to Chávez to use.
Anyway, to begin, let me reiterate how pleased I am to receive all my
colleagues here in our beloved Bahia, whose Governor, a native of Rio de
Janeiro, born in Rio de Janeiro, leads this State. It is important that everyone
understand that the people of this State, as well as its culture and architecture,
reflect a profoundly Latin American and Caribbean Brazil. Bahia witnessed
firsthand the system of colonial exploitation and the intolerable violence of
slavery. From this experience emerged a people who extol freedom, but value
tolerance. Today, we gather, the leaders of Latin America and the Caribbean
to affirm our regional singularity and to discuss a common future. We seek
our own answers to the welfare and prosperity to which our peoples aspire.
Two centuries following independence, this is the first time the voices of our
region have united as one. We have lived the same reality, but looked far into
the distance for solutions that were, often times, within reach, within our
immediate surroundings.
This Summit has a simple, but fundamental, message: we will only
overcome the challenges of integration and development if we embrace our
Latin American and Caribbean calling. We should carry this forward, willing
to confront anyone on this. Our unity should be understood as a contribution
to a new multipolar and multilateral world. The challenges are many, as
evidenced by the selected discussion issues: the financial, energy, food, and
environmental crises. The uncertainty the world faces makes it all the more
urgent that we marshal forces and demonstrate leadership in the search for
innovative and mutual solutions. The various integration mechanisms in our
region offer a solid point of departure.
In recent years, our nations took important steps toward sustained growth
and economic stability. This progress is threatened by the recklessness of
speculators who pushed the global economy to the brink under the
accommodating eye of governments and international institutions which
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