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(TALKZIMBABWE) Brazil expresses hope for Zim talks, slams sanctions

Brazil expresses hope for Zim talks, slams sanctions
Floyd Nkomo
Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:09:00 +0000

THE Brazilian government has expressed hope that Zimbabwe’s power-sharing talks could still be concluded successfully with the mediation of the Southern African Development Community’s Organ for Defence and Security which meets today to consider the positions of the main parties involved in the negotiation process.

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing talks hit snag on Friday over the allocation of Cabinet positions, mainly the Ministry of Home Affairs which the Movement for Democratic Change party led by Morgan Tsvangirai is seeking to control.

The Brazilian Minister of External Relations Celso Amorim who delivered a special message to President Robert Mugabe in Harare on Friday said his country’s government expressed optimism that Sadc will be able to resolve the impasse between the parties to the Zimbabwe interparty talks.

Amorim met President Mugabe at the venue of the talks, the Rainbow Towers Hotel on Friday and held a press conference with reporters in the capital, Harare, after his meeting with the president.

The Brazilian minister, who has served as that country’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, stressed the importance of regional organisations in resolving conflicts. He said regions are well-poised to resolve conflicts than international organisations like the UN because of their proximity to the troubled countries and their understanding of the nature of the conflict in the respective region.

Amorim met the principals to the all-party talks; President Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara and the Sadc appointed facilitator, former South African President, Thabo Mbeki on Friday. He said he was impressed by the commitment of the principals to finding a workable solution to the Zimbabwean crisis. He said his country endorsed Mbeki as a capable facilitator in the process given his wide experience in conflict resolution in many parts of the world.

“We are glad that the country is currently engaged in dialogue. There is strong cooperation between Brazil and the whole of Africa and we hope that once Zimbabwe has stability, it would make cooperation easy between our two countries,” Amorim said.

On Saturday he held a joint press conference with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi at the Rainbow Towers where he reiterated his country’s belief in dialogue.

He said the further imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe will only exacerbate the plight of the Zimbabwean masses who are eagerly anticipating the formation of a Cabinet. He added that failure was not an option as Zimbabweans were pinning their hopes on the all-inclusive government to get them out of their current problems.

Amorim also said that Brazil has wide experience in land reform and agrobusiness and was ready and willing to help Zimbabwe in its land reform initiatives; but expressed that sanctions had to be uplifted first if any meaningful progress was to be made.

Mumbengegwi said that given the centrality of agriculture to the economies of the two countries, Zimbabwe would give priority to areas that would assist in enhancing agricultural productivity in its relations with Brazil.

Amorim said that his visit testified to the two countries' shared commitment to strengthening bilateral relations and give greater economic substance to Zimbabwe and Brazil's long-standing and warm relations.

"We have not fully exploited the potential for economic cooperation between our countries hence trade between Zimbabwe and Brazil has remained very low," he said.

Brazil and Zimbabwe have already laid the foundation for increased cooperation through the signing of the agreement on the establishment of the Joint Permanent Commission between the two countries in September 2006, he said.

"Holding the inaugural Joint Permanent Commission meeting will, no doubt, give an impetus to our efforts to increase economic cooperation between the two countries. I am, therefore, proposing that the inaugural session be held in the first quarter of 2009," he said.

Mumbengegwi also invited Amorim to visit Zimbabwe again next year.

Labels: BRAZIL, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 1:02 AM