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

INTERVENÇÕES DO PRESIDENTE LUIZ INÁCIO LULA DA SILVA
to travel to Europe or the United States than to our countries. Until we have
more efficient and rapid means of communication and transportation, we will
never achieve the full trade, investment, and tourism potential of an integrated
space with more than 400 million inhabitants. More solidarity and more
coordination – this must also be our response to the natural disasters that
plague many of our neighbors. The advances in our region in the fields of
social inclusion, hunger alleviation, and anti-poverty are truly notable. They
offer opportunities for us to share innovative and successful initiatives in the
efforts against disease, the access to health and education, sanitation and
housing. I propose that our Ministers in the social policy sphere establish a
regular dialogue to identify areas of cooperation capable of enabling us to
meet the Millennium Goals together.
Ladies and gentlemen, Heads of State and Government, anywhere one
looks in Latin America and the Caribbean there is extraordinary capacity to
overcome challenges. In the midst of a global crisis without precedent, our
countries are discovering they are not part of the problem, but that they can
and should be essential pieces of the solution. Therefore, we believe our efforts
in favor of Latin America and the Caribbean also contribute to building a
more balanced and just world order. This is explained by the very identity of
our nations. Where some seek to turn migrants into scapegoats for all of
society’s ills, we affirm the importance of diversity. We recall the integration
of immigrants within the core of our nations and their role in building tolerant
and pluralistic societies.
Colleagues, we are gathered here not only to profess our faith in integration.
We want to translate the expectations and aspirations of our peoples into concrete
projects. Only then will we achieve the dream of social justice and democratic
strengthening in our countries and across the globe. We must not be afraid to
take risks, to establish ambitious goals and objectives, but we also have a
responsibility and obligation to transform them into reality for this and future
generations. It is in this spirit that Latin America and the Caribbean will assume
their rightful place in the international area. We want to be actors, not mere
spectators, in the halls in which the future welfare and prosperity of our peoples
are determined. With these words, I would like, once again, to thank you for
your warm presence in our beloved Bahia. Thank you very much.
Now, we will do the following: for those colleagues who want to speak
they have a sign, and the sign will tell us who wishes to speak. Our colleague,
Manuel Zelaya Rosales, President of Honduras.
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