Updated: Nov 5, 2020

In the initiative, organized by IPDAL on the 21st and 23rd of July, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil defended the creation of an international relations framework based on a multilateral system of nations, as opposed to an ideological and uncritical multilateralism. Ernesto Araújo also argued against the logic of “global solutions to global problems”, in the sense that each State must have the legitimacy to make its own decisions without the arbitration of supra-national institutions that do not represent the will of the people.

The Vice-President of Angola, Bornito de Sousa, proposed more partnerships between Africa and Latin America, particularly within the scope of ongoing economic diversification efforts on both continents and which could act as a guarantee of post-covid recovery.

Antonio Rivas Palacios, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, took advantage of the IPDAL initiative to announce the request for admission as an Associated Observer State of the CPLP, presented by his country, as well as to launch yet another appeal for the conclusion of negotiations on the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.

The Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs guaranteed that, despite the severity of the economic crisis in Latin America, the region will continue to be part of national diplomatic efforts, where Africa will also maintain a prominent position.

The head of Angolan foreign policy, Téte António, highlighted the international component of the industrial transformation plans prepared by the government of Luanda, as a way of supporting the country’s insertion in global value chains and, in this way, leveraging its substandard positioning. -regional, continental and global, particularly in the context of relations with Europe and Latin America.

The Iberoamerican Secretary General Rebeca Grynspan presented a set of proposals to, using the cooperation instruments that exist between Spain and Portugal and Latin America, support the recovery of the Latin American region.

The Executive Secretary of ECLAC made it clear that the countries of Latin America are facing another lost decade, depending on the severity of the economic and health crisis they are facing, analyzing the regional economic context at the time of the arrival of the pandemic and launching recommendations for reforms for the States and companies.

The African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture put into context the various economic crises that the continent has gone through in recent decades to explain how the construction of a competitive agricultural industry is a structuring part of the AU’s Agenda 2063

Also participating in the initiative were CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and IDB – Inter-American Development Bank, the main multilateral financial institutions in Latin America, as well as the Executive Secretary of the CPLP, the Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation, the Vice-President of CESO, the rector of the European University, the Director in Portugal of the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Caixa Geral de Depóistos, the Real Instituto Elcano, the Euro-América Foundation, the Policy Center for the New South, the former -Ibero-American Secretary General Enrique Iglesias, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina and Chief of Staff of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Susana Malcorra, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Manuel Rodríguez Cuadros, and the former Secretary of State for European Affairs of Portugal, Francisco Seixas da Costa.