Some of the CELAC states call for a ceasefire in Gaza Ricardo Stuckert/PR March 1, 2024
Some of the countries attending the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) summit this week signed a statement calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages. However, the document shows that the signatories did not reach consensus on the issue, with 24 of the 33 countries that make up Celac signing the text.
The document deplores the killing of Israeli and Palestinian civilians since the beginning of the conflict and expresses deep concern about the humanitarian situation in the region. “We strongly support the call of the United Nations General Assembly for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and for all parties to comply with international law, particularly with regard to the protection of civilians,” it said.
In the statement, the countries call for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” and demand that “humanitarian access to the affected areas” be guaranteed. The document also notes “the critical importance of the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognized borders.”
The declaration was made by Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Santa Claus signed Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.
Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay have not signed the document.
Lula
In a speech at the 8th Summit of the Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed a motion for the “immediate end to the genocide” in the Gaza Strip. The statements were made at the forum attended by more than 30 heads of state and held in Kingstown, the capital of the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The Israeli government denies committing genocide against the Palestinian population and argues it is resisting attacks by the terrorist group Hamas.
“I would like to take advantage of the presence of the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations to propose a motion by Celac to immediately end this genocide. The SecretaryGeneral may invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter to achieve this.” “The attention of the Security Council is an issue that threatens international peace and security,” Lula said.
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“I call on the Japanese government, which assumes the presidency of the Security Council from today, to address this issue with the utmost urgency. And I would also like to ask the five permanent members of the Security Council to put aside their differences and put an end to this murder,” he added.
The article cited by the Brazilian states that the UN SecretaryGeneral “may draw the attention of the Security Council to any matter which, in his opinion, could jeopardize the maintenance of international peace and security.” Established in 1948, the body has five permanent members: China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Russia. There is also a group of ten nonpermanent members with a twoyear term. Currently, the countries filling these vacancies are Brazil, Albania, Ecuador, the United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland.
Diplomatic crisis
Brazil and Israel have been in a diplomatic crisis since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva compared Israeli military actions to the extermination of Jews. The PT member's statement prompted the government of the Middle Eastern country to declare him persona non grata.
As this shows R7, Lula told his interlocutors that the statement was deliberate and the idea was to encourage other presidents to take a stand in the face of the conflict. Members of Netanyahu's government called on the Brazilian leader to apologize for the statement, but this has not yet happened.
Even after the statement that sparked a diplomatic crisis, Lula recently reiterated that Israeli military action in Gaza constituted genocide and again defended the creation of a Palestinian state.
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Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the Brazilian president's statement. Herzog said there was an “immoral distortion of history” and called on “all world leaders to join me in unequivocally condemning such actions.”
Corporations and organizations also criticized Lula's statement. Conib (Israeli Confederation of Brazil) rejected the speech. The institution classified the statement as a “perverse distortion of reality that hurts the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and their descendants.”
Congressional reaction
The statement also led to a motion for impeachment against Lula. Led by 134 opposition parliamentarians, the group claims that Brazil's neutrality is at risk after the head of government criticized Israel's behavior in the Gaza conflict.
The text cites the terrorist group Hamas's praise and thanks to the Brazilian government and says that “not even nations that preach the eradication of the State of Israel have been able to carry out such an atrocity.”
“The defendant’s conduct consists in committing a hostile act against the State of Israel, consisting of antiSemitic statements and endangering the neutrality of the country,” the impeachment motion states.
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