Brazil’s foreign minister, Celso Amorim, met with the minister of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Riad Malki, this January 6 in Geneva, Switzerland. They discussed the current situation in Palestine and the possibility of resumption of the dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis.
Brazil has been offering to act as mediator to the peace process. According to Amorim’s press office, Malki stated that other countries like Brazil must become involved in the negotiations, aside from the so-called “Quartet”, comprised of the UN, the United States, the European Union and Russia.
“The Quartet is bound by its own limitations,” claimed the Palestinian minister, still according to the press office.
The Brazilian foreign minister stated that the country does not intend to place new proposals on the table, given that there already is a “Road Map,” which was devised in 2003 and provides for the existence of two states, but that it can help the process to move forward.
It is believed that the Brazilian government has a good rapport with both sides of the conflict and can contribute to the resumption of negotiations.
Proof of that are the facts that the presidents of the PNA, Mahmoud Abbas, and of Israel, Shimon Peres, have been to Brazil in November last year, and that the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is going to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in March this year.
