Brazil ratifies free trade agreement with Palestinian Authority
Brazilian President Lula da Silva has been outspoken in criticism of Israel's genocide of Palestinians
In a show of solidarity with Palestine, Brazil ratified a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) signed over a decade ago, Reuters reported on 9 July.
“The agreement is a concrete contribution to an economically viable Palestinian state, which can live peacefully and harmoniously with its neighbors,” Brazil’s foreign ministry said on Monday in a statement.
Brazil officially recognized Palestine as a state in 2010 and allowed the PA to build an embassy in Brasilia, the country’s capital.
The agreement, ratified Friday, was first signed between the Mercosur trade bloc of South America and the PA in 2011. The free-trade bloc was created in 1991 and consists of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The Palestinian ambassador to Brasilia, Ibrahim al-Zeben, called Brazil’s decision “courageous, supportive and timely.” It is “the effective way to support peace in Palestine,” he added.
Trade between Palestine and Mercosur countries is currently only $32 million a year.
Reuters reported it is not clear whether other Mercosur members would follow suit.
Argentina President Javier Milei strongly supports Israel, while Uruguay and Paraguay did not respond to requests for comment.
Since the start of the war in October, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been outspoken in his criticism of Israel. Lula compared Israel’s horrific assault on Gaza to the Holocaust and withdrew Brazil’s ambassador to Israel in May.
Brazil also joined its neighbor Colombia in supporting South Africa’s case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, which alleges the Gaza assault amounts to a breach of the Genocide Convention.