Brazilian President Lula da Silva warned his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Monday (9) of the need for the country to strengthen its defenses to prevent a possible invasion.
During a press conference in Brasilia, Lula da Silva stated that the two countries need to strengthen cooperation and their sovereign defense capabilities at a time when international conflicts tend to intensify and expand.
The Brazilian head of state warned that, without adequate preparation, “any day someone could invade us.” However, he stressed that the South American continent is “a region of peace.”
For his part, Cyril Ramaphosa emphasized that, “at a time of increasing intensification of conflicts,” it is essential to work towards their peaceful resolution, stressing that such confrontations constitute a “violation of the United Nations Charter.”
The Brazilian president welcomed his South African counterpart at the start of an official visit to Brazil, with both discussing the expansion of trade between the two members of the BRICS forum.
Ramaphosa was received with state honors at the Planalto Palace and, following a closed-door meeting, they signed memoranda to strengthen trade and tourism.
Trade between the two countries, the main reason for the visit, totaled around US$2.3 billion last year, with a surplus for Brazil, which mainly exports meat, sugar, and vehicles, while importing silver, platinum, and other minerals.
“Annual trade between the two nations has been stagnant for almost 20 years,” said Lula da Silva, stressing that there is “no political explanation” for such low trade between two founding members of the BRICS group of emerging economies (founded by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
In the same vein, Ramaphosa stressed that “trade between South Africa and Brazil needs to be much greater than it is today.”
Source: Lusa
