Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is in Los Cabos, Mexico, for the seventh G-20 summit that brings together the world’s biggest economies (over 80% of the planet’s GDP – South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey and the European Union; Spain, Colombia, Chile, Ethiopia, Cambodia and Benin were also invited to this summit).
There will be three working sessions spread over two days (today, Monday, June 18, and tomorrow, Tuesday, June 19).
The principal goal of the leaders will be to find a way to overcome the crisis and get the world economy growing again.
The European crisis will probably dominate the conversation. President Dilma will explain measures taken by Brasília to confront international financial problems through consumption stimulus packages and domestic investments.
Dilma will take advantage of the opportunity for bilateral discussions with leaders who will not attend the Rio+20 conference, such as Barack Obama of the United States and Angela Merkel of Germany, to push for agreement on the wording of the Rio+20 United Nations Sustainable Development Conference final document that has to be approved by June 22.
Brazil Denies Entry
A participant of the UN Summit in Rio de Janeiro was denied entry into Brazil by the Brazilian authorities.
Jeremias Vunianhe, a journalist and member of Friends of the Earth Mozambique, was denied entry at the airport of Rio on June 13, despite carrying a valid visa and a valid accreditation at the UN Rio+20 Summit as part of Friends of the Earth International delegation.
Findings by AkanimoReports showed that Vunianhe was expected to expose the negative impacts of Brazilian mining corporation Vale at the Peoples Summit, a parallel event of the UN Rio+20 Summit. Vale is one of the official sponsors of the UN Summit. The activist did not get any explanation as to why he was sent back to Mozambique.
Friends of the Earth Mozambique supported hundreds of Mozambican families which were resettled by Brazilian company Vale in the Moatize district and carried out demonstrations in recent months to reclaim their rights.
While Friends of the Earth International has received a commitment from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Jeremias will be brought back to Rio this Monday, they are demanding a public explanation and excuses from the Brazilian government.
In Rio de Janeiro, Friends of the Earth International is campaigning against the growing influence of big corporations and business lobby groups within the UN, through government delegations, and in multilateral negotiations.
They are requesting a clear public statement from the UN that its priority is to serve the public interest and not business interests, and a commitment to take concrete steps that will limit industry’s influence in UN decision-making processes.
They say they believe that as a host country Brazil should ensure that the freedom of expression prevails over the interests of corporations and guarantee the right of people to protest.
