The National Day of Brazil, which has been marked recently in Tirana in a reception hosted by the Brazilian Ambassador, Joao Tabajara de Oliveira Junior, was a nice opportunity to have a conversation with him which is being published as exclusive interview in Albanian Daily News.

This was an occasion to learn from the Ambassador on the domestic situation in Brazil, the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is Sao Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language.

“The new government has been concentrating efforts to overcome the budgetary crisis of the public sector and at the same time working on establishing measures to foster the country´s economic recovery which are crucial factors for advancing the government social programs,” said the Ambassador.

In a comment on Brazil’s foreign policy, he said that the diplomatic action has focused on promoting a more peaceful and stable world. “In the last 50 years, Brazilian diplomacy managed to avoid more than 35 wars in South America,” Brasília’s top envoy to Tirana said.

Touching upon the relations between Brazil and Albania the Ambassador said that the two countries have excellent relations in political-diplomatic front, and have been cooperating closely around world issues in the international forum of which both countries are members. “However, since a decade of having our resident embassies in both our capitals, I believe it’s time to expand our collaboration to other spheres of our relationship,” he said in the following interview with Albanian Daily News:    

Albanian Daily News: It is a great pleasure for Albanian Daily News to have this interview with You, Your Excellency, after the National Day of Brazil (September 7, 1982) was marked in your country and Tirana where a festive reception was hosted by you on September 28. Please could you share with ADN’s readers some highlights of the atmosphere of the celebrations both in Brazil and Albania?

Ambassador Joao Tabajara de Oliveira Junior: The Brazilian citizens, resident in Albania and Kosovo, celebrated with particular joy and civic spirit the reception hosted by the Embassy, given that since the COVID pandemic my predecessors didn’t have the opportunity to organize an event for the Brazilian Independence Day commemorations. The presence of Sylvinho, the Brazilian coach of the Albanian national football squad, added a special warm climate for both Brazilian and Albanian guests. On the other hand, in Brazil, with the new government elected and its challenge to bring economic recovery, the celebration became more civic.

The new government has been concentrating efforts to overcome the budgetary crisis of the public sector and at the same time working on establishing measures to foster the country´s economic recovery which are crucial factors for advancing the government social programs.  Thus, the first concern has been to combine economic growth with social inclusion. Social programs, like the Bolsa Família (subsidizing families in situations of poverty who send their children to school), the National Program for Food Acquisition, the National School Meals Program, the National Housing Program, Small and Family Farmers among others were resumed, together with measures to stimulate formal employment. Decisions to facilitate the economic activity being discussed in Congress (Parliament) are beginning to be implemented, like the comprehensive Customs Reform, which basic common text has already reached consensus, and others to stimulate industrial activity. Also great construction projects in infrastructure have been resumed, as well as the concession of credit lines to entrepreneurs. The government also has worked hard in assuring the environmental protection, especially concerning areas of the Amazon forest and bioma in accordance with Brazil’s international commitments in this area. The government is allocating US$ 100 million to support cities in controlling deforestation and forest fires. The condition for transferring resources will be a reduction in the rate of deforestation and fires.

- Given the fact that Brazil is among the greatest powers in the world, please, Mr. Ambassador, what is its contribution to global development and peace and security when the world is challenged by the worst overall crisis since the Second World War as the war in Ukraine, in the European Continent, is becoming fierce?

- Brazil’s  traditional international position of favouring peace and the solution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomatic negotiations  is a construct being made since the Paraguay War (1864-1870), which decimated over half a million of soldiers, civilians, women and children of all warring countries: Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. As a consequence, Brazil, as victor of the armed conflict of 1864, lost the lives of more than 60 thousand citizens and its economy was severely impacted for more than a decade by the massive amount of debts incurred in order to finance the war.

Therefore, since the XIX century, Brazil was always present and proactive on the international scene, trying to bring its contribution to the collective effort of building a political multilateral system capable of promoting world peace, stability, international security and prosperity.  By orders of Emperor Pedro II, Brazil was one of the 17 countries that signed the Meter Convention, in Paris, in 1875. Brazil was one of the original 51 member-states of the United Nations Organization at the San Francisco Conference of 1945. Two years later, Brazil was one of the 23 countries which negotiated the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) in Geneva.  

As you can see, these are some examples of Brazil’s foreign policy action to promote a more peaceful and stable world. In the last 50 years, Brazilian diplomacy managed to avoid more than 35 wars in South America. In an unprecedented decision in the world, Brazil and Argentina relinquished, jointly in 1991, to develop nuclear weapons through a Quadripartite Agreement within the Tlatelolco Agreement and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This initiative paved the way for the Brazilian proposal within the UN General Assembly for the creation of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, a geopolitical space free from nuclear weapons and which all South American and West African countries are members. Recently, the world was witness of the Brazilian diplomatic efforts, as Chair member of the UN Security Council, in order to approve a resolution to create a humanitarian corridor in Gaza, allowing international aid to reach the suffering stranded Palestinian population. 12 of the 15 members, including Albania, France, China and Japan, approved the resolution, 2 countries abstained and only one rejected by its right of veto.

It is in this context that Brazil is very concerned with the war in Ukraine. Brazil deems that it is a war that could have been avoided if the actors involved were willing to negotiate an acceptable solution for the crisis for all parties. We can see that its nepharious consequences are already deeply felt all around the world, especially among developing nations, which are vulnerable and dependent. It’s also creating a spectre of food insecurity which can spread globally, but it can dangerously lead to famine in many regions of the world, particularly in Africa and some countries in the Middle East. Most of all, it’s causing a profound rupture on the political international scene, leading the world towards a new form of cold war, so fierce, exposed and aggressive.

The Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) in the spirit of solidarity among nations has been engaging South-South Technical Cooperation in more than 100 countries. Innovative and successful capacity-building programs and public policy projects developed in Brazil are being shared and implemented in areas such as agriculture, livestock, food security, health, medical sciences, the environment, human rights to name a few.

After a green revolution in the 1970s in Brazilian agriculture, led by late Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Alysson Paulinelli, Brazilian food is being taken to more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, proving that Thomas R. Malthus’ economic theory was not completely true when he stated that “the human population increases geometrically, while food production increases arithmetically”. On the contrary, food is sustainably produced in Brazil using only 7.6% of its territory in agriculture (according to NASA) while preserving the environment (soils, forests, saving water and energy).

- As a follow up, Mr. Ambassador, in addition to the UN and its relevant agencies, Brazil is active in other regional organizations. A short time ago the Summit of BRICS was held in India where, incidentally, the annual presidency of the group was passed to Brazil. How important is BRICS to Brazil and which will be the motto of its one-year presidency?

- I would say that the BRICS initiative is important not only for Brazil and the more than 150 developing countries, but most of all for the whole world. According to President Lula at the 15th BRICS Summit in South Africa, Brazil’s presidency will give priority to “Fighting Inequality”. The concept around inequality was, in my humble view, present since the original BRIC countries stopped being just a thesis on Goldman Sachs Jim Neil’s mind and the leaders of those countries decided to meet for the first time in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 June 2009. It was almost one year after the financial crisis ignited by the bursting of the US “housing bubble” and the resulting global “Great Recession”. Permeating all points of the meeting’s agenda, it is clearly seen the shadow of inequality of the present international economic and political order through its main conclusions, such as pressing for the urgent reforms of the international financial system,  the out-of-date and inefficient UN Security Council and the issue of the Doha Round (that became known as the Development Round).

- Please let me touch upon the relations of Brazil with Albania. How would you describe them and are you satisfied by the level of the cooperation in such fields like economy, trade, tourism and cultural exchanges?

- In political-diplomatic front, Brazil and Albania have excellent relations and have been cooperating closely around world issues in the international forum of which both countries are members. Albania was a great partner in the Security Council. When I arrived last year, I established as one of my main goals in Albania to show more of the real Brazil and its diversity through cultural programmes. However, since a decade of having our resident embassies in both our capitals, I believe it’s time to expand our collaboration to other spheres of our relationship. There is a vast terrain out there to be explored and so much more that we can develop together for the benefit of our societies. Agriculture, for instance, is an interesting field where we can share our experiences, as much as in the veterinary and livestock breeding sectors. Aromatic and medicinal herbs could also become a very profitable area of expertise to be interchanged in order to develop significant joint research in biotechnology. Tourism is a chapter in which we can exchange knowledge and our successful public policies. Why not sports, and more specifically, football? I believe that Albanians and Brazilians both have the football DNA in our blood. I noticed that very quickly in my first months of Tirana. By the way, Sylvinho is revealing the great potential of Albanian footballers. Through a bilateral special program, we could explore together measures to develop and/or improve the sport’s training techniques, physical conditioning, tactics, strategies and much more as a means to produce outstanding athletes and football international stars. In Brazil, football is an industry, like in most countries, and one of the most important means of social inclusion. I’m 100% sure that through diversity and multi-disciplinary cooperation between our countries, we will be able to know each other better so that we can appreciate more both our cultures.

 - Brazil is well known by Albanians as a great country in the world but on top of all they are enthusiastic fans of your football, particularly of the national team when participating in editions of the World Cup. Mr. Ambassador is Albania and its history and culture known in your country and what is done to strengthen links between the two people?

 - This is an area in which we can attain huge results with some few important measures. For example, our universities have a large range of areas to work together, to begin with languages and cultural interchange. The Albanians are an admirable people, with a very ancient history and culture, with your amazingly unique and resilient language. You should teach Albanian language and literature in Brazil, and we could also assist you with Portuguese language and Brazilian culture. Brazil has a huge cultural industry – for instance, some of our TV soap operas have been shown in Albania. Brazilian music is known worldwide, and our cinema is very diversified and of high quality. By the way, the Brazilian public practically only knows, from Albania, some few novels by Ismail Kadare; they are fine, and were very successful there, too. One of Kadare’s novel resulted in the film “Behind the Sun”, by Walter Salles, starring Rodrigo Santoro. But we need much more from him and, of course, from other writers. Your poetry is absolutely unknown in Brazil! Our publishing industry is huge and attends to all the Portuguese language markets, which can even result on divulging your literature in all the Lusophone world in South America, Africa and Asia. On the other hand, Brazilian writers are not very known in Albania, and we have a thriving literature! So we have a great work to do here.  

 - To close, as a great power Brazil is keen on the situation in the Western Balkans. What could you say about the latest increasing tension between Kosovo and Serbia, climaxing with armed confrontation between Kosovo state police forces and Serb armed gangs?

- First of all, Brazil is very respectful towards other countries’ international affairs and points of view concerning their own regions’ agenda. We never mingle with or interfere with them. Brazilian diplomacy only offers our country as a faithful partner, a friendly and well-intended listener and collaborator.

Nevertheless, I would dare to make some general remarks here. Brazil would not have consolidated the territorial size it has if we did not prioritize negotiation, arbitration, and peaceful arrangements in the region, taking into consideration the strategic national interest and also the international perspective that frames our efforts towards development and sovereignty. Regional and local differences are important; different interests should always be taken into account, yet they can be better tackled from a wide perspective, which, as we can see, is also the vision of many leaders in Albania and other Balkan countries. In a globalized world, all countries have much more to gain from cooperation and solidarity in facing their common problems when they are able and willing to work together positively to reshape their differences.