The South African ambassador to Brazil assured, on Thursday, on behalf of 12 foreign diplomats, that the trip organized by the Brazilian Government to the Amazon will be the beginning of a dialogue with the South American country.
“I am not giving this speech on behalf of everyone (the diplomats), but we all agree that we are going to start a dialogue (with Brazil). I can also tell you that we understand this invitation as a call to consolidate, strengthen and begin, if we have not yet started, relationships and friendships about the Amazon ”, said Ambassador Joseph Mashimbye, at a press conference in Manaus, on Wednesday night -market.
Mashimbye is one of 12 diplomats and representatives from several countries, including Portugal, and associations participating in a three-day trip to the Brazilian Amazon at the invitation of the President’s Government, Jair Bolsonaro, to showcase the extent of the world’s largest tropical forest and the preserved area.
At a press conference on Wednesday in Manaus, several Brazilian state ministries took stock of the trip, which runs on the second day, and it was up to the South African ambassador to give his perspective on the initiative of Bolsonaro’s executive.
“All the countries present here want to start partnerships in the Amazon. This forest is a place like no other in the world. (…) We can all agree that climate change is the biggest problem facing humanity in this century. We know that globally, natural assets are under threat in precedents due to soil degradation, deforestation, desertification, loss of biodiversity, droughts, which destroys the environment, but also leads to social and economic disruption ”, evaluated Mashimbye.
In addition to the South African ambassador, diplomats from Germany, Canada, Colombia, Spain, France, Peru, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Sweden were organized by the Brazilian Government, as well as representatives of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization and the EU.
Portugal is represented by the business officer at the embassy in Brasilia Sandra Magalhães.
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