President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) gave a speech this Friday (10) at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, United States. In his speech, he defended the actions of the federal government to preserve the Amazon and stated that Brazil and the world suffer from a “clear attack on individual freedoms”.
Watch the president’s full speech:
Mr President Joe Biden,
Presidents, heads of government and other authorities of the Americas,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am grateful for the invitation from the United States government to participate in this meeting of democratic leaders from the Americas.
The Summit of the Americas is an opportunity for us to address the challenges of post-pandemic, sustainable development, energy transition, digital transformation, immigration, as well as democracy and human rights.
We are attentive to the economic problems that affect the world, such as inflation and unemployment and, above all, to the most precious asset for human beings: their freedom, including freedom of expression, work and religious worship.
Brazil was strongly engaged in the negotiation process of the declarations to be discussed and approved at this Summit. Let’s work together so that these proposals lead to new cooperation agendas for economic growth in the Americas.
Brazil feeds 1 billion people, we guarantee the food security of one sixth of the world’s population.
A reality: without our agribusiness, part of the world would go hungry.
Brazil not only avoided a food crisis by guaranteeing access to fertilizers, but also played a leading role in the search for international solutions in favor of food security.
We are one of the countries that most preserve the environment and its forests. We have the cleanest and most diversified energy matrix in the world. Even preserving 66% of our native vegetation and using only 27% of our territory for livestock and agriculture, we are a sustainable agricultural power.
We don’t need the Amazon region to expand our agribusiness. In the Amazon biome alone, 84% of the forest is intact, harboring the greatest biodiversity on the planet. Our challenges are proportionate to our size. I remember that the area of the Amazon region is equivalent to all of Western Europe.
No country in the world has such complete and restrictive environmental legislation. Our Forest Code must serve as an example for other countries. After all, we are responsible for emitting less than 3% of the planet’s carbon, even though we are the 10th largest economy in the world.
To protect forests, the Federal Government reinforced the fight against deforestation and established the operation Guardians of the Amazon Biome, under the coordination and control of the Ministry of Justice.
With the launch of the Zero Methane Program, we were the first country to implement commitments assumed during COP-26, with specific funding to structure projects for the treatment of organic waste from poultry, swine, dairy, sugar cane and sanitary landfills, in order to to reduce 30% of total methane emissions in Brazil.
We are pioneers in the energy transition, having started decarbonization almost half a century ago, with biofuels and other sources. In 2021, we set records for installing Wind (21 Gw) and Solar (14 Gw) energy. Today, 85% of the energy generated in the country comes from renewable sources. We have the potential for surplus production of wind energy at sea in the order of 700 Gw, equivalent to 4 times our current installed capacity or 50 Itaipus. Wind farms on the coast of our northeast will be able to produce hydrogen and green ammonia for export. At a time when developed countries resort to fossil fuels, Brazil is assuming a fundamental role as a supplier of totally clean energy towards a new emission-neutral economy.
Currently, we see in Brazil, and in part of the world, a clear attack on individual freedoms for having a different opinion.
I leave here a message of Brazil’s commitment to the integration of the Americas, as a prosperous and democratic continent. Throughout my term, Brazil has remained present in hemispheric and regional forums, working for democracy, freedom, and economic and social prosperity.
In this year in which Brazil celebrates two hundred years of independence, we affirm that we have a government that believes in God, respects its military, is favorable to life since its conception, defends the family and owes loyalty to its people.
In Brazil it is already understood that freedom is a greater good than life itself, because a man or woman without freedom has no life.
Allow yourself, before concluding, some information of interest to all of us, and why not say, to the world.
Since last Sunday, when we had information that two citizens – a British, Dom Phillips, and a Brazilian, Bruno Araújo – disappeared in the Vale do Javari region. From the first moment, that same Sunday, our Armed Forces and the Federal Police have been outstanding in the relentless search for the location of these people. We pray to God that they are found alive.
Two: tell everyone that Brazil is a country that continues to grant humanitarian visas to Afghans, Haitians, Ukrainians, Syrians and Venezuelans.
Talk a little about our potential in the Americas. Dear Marito: Our Lake Itaipu will soon be suitable for psychculture, where, on the Brazilian side alone, we will expand our market offer by around 40%. This is how the Secretary of Fisheries, Jorge Seif, has dealt with Your Excellency.
To say to the Argentine president, dear Fernández, keep moving forward with our cow muerta gas agreement. You can be sure it will be good for our two countries. And we will not stop importing gas from Bolivia.
I would also like to say to the dear presidents of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, and of Suriname, Chan Santokhi, that our recent visit to their countries aims to collaborate with the exploration of oil and gas in their countries. You have something fantastic that God has given you: oil and gas reserves equivalent to 90% of Brazilian reserves. I’m sure that together, and with other well-chosen partners, your countries will really emerge on the world economic stage.
To say that yesterday I was with President Biden in an expanded bilateral, and then in a more reserved one, with very few people. We sat for 30 minutes, at a distance of less than one meter, and without a mask. I felt in President Biden a lot of sincerity and a lot of desire to solve certain problems that are obviously beyond the full responsibility of all of us, but together, we can look for alternatives to put an end to these conflicts.
And I believe that everyone working in this way will achieve our goals, especially the US government. Yesterday’s experience with Biden was simply fantastic. I am truly amazed and believing in his words and what was privately dealt with between us.
To all, thank you very much, and may God bless our countries.
Jair Bolsonaro
Photos – Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
