Bolsonaro to send food and humanitarian mission to Lebanon

President Jair Bolsonaro this Sunday morning (Aug. 9) attended an online conference with other heads of state and government on efforts to offer support to Lebanon. While listing the plans by the Brazilian government, Bolsonaro said he invited former President Michel Temer, who is of Lebanese descent, to spearhead the mission in the country, where a big explosion erupted last Tuesday (4) at the port area of Beirut, leaving hundreds of people killed and thousand injured.

“In the next days, an aircraft of the Brazilian Air Force will set off from Brazil headed for Lebanon with medications and basic health care supplies collected by the Lebanese community in Brazil. We are also preparing to send 4 thousand tons of rice through sea to mitigate the impact of the loss of grain stock destroyed by the explosion. We are arranging with the Lebanese government to send a technical, multidisciplinary team to help experts investigate the explosion. As my special envoy and head of this mission, I have invited Mr. Michel Temer, son of Lebanese parents and former president of Brazil,” Bolsonaro declared.

In a note, Temer’s press office said the ex-president “is honored” by the invitation.

The online conference was an initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, and was attended by US President Donald Trump, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, in addition to the leaders of Egypt, Qatar, and Jordan, among others. In his brief address, Bolsonaro described the meeting as necessary and urgent, restated his condolences to the victims’ families and mentioned the historic ties between Lebanese and Brazil.

“Brazil is home to the biggest Lebanese diaspora in the world. Ten million Brazilians of Lebanese descent form a hard-working, dynamic, and active community that makes an invaluable contribution to our country. For this reason, everything that affects Lebanon affects us like our own home and our own fatherland,” he said.