Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will begin Tuesday, February 6, his fifth trip to Africa where his visits this time will be Algeria, Benin, Botswana and South Africa. He will return to Brazil on February 12.
In his weekly radio broadcast this morning, Lula said that one of the main commitments of his administration has been to strengthen ties with the African continent.
The President noted this was probably going to be his last trip during his term of office. He added that he hoped the next president would keep Africa at the top of his list of priorities. "Africa deserves our respect," he declared.
"We are meeting an international commitment to make Brazil keep better relations with these countries, so that we can increase trade with some of them and so that we can strengthen even more our relationship with Africa," he said.
Brazil will make, during the visit, agreements for forestry, agricultural and livestock development, genetic improvement of cotton, prevention and fighting of aids and malaria, according to the sub secretary general for Politics at the Itamaraty, the Brazilian foreign office, ambassador Pedro Motta.
With the journey, the Brazilian President will have visited 17 countries in the African continent.
Agência Brasil