South America will only develop together, says Lula

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participated on Thursday (Mar. 16), in the state of Paraná, in the inauguration ceremony of Enio Verri as the Brazilian president of the Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Plant, built by Brazil and Paraguay.

In his speech, the president said the South American countries will only be able to develop jointly and in solidarity, since "it is not possible to imagine a rich country surrounded by poor countries on all sides."

"Brazil, as the South American countries’ big brother, has to have the responsibility to make the other countries grow together with us so that we can live in a continent of peace and tranquility; and never again repeat the ignorant gesture of a war between men and women and between nations, such as the one occurred between Brazil and Paraguay," the president said.

During negotiations for the construction of a high-voltage transmission line connecting the plant to the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, the Brazilian government received a lot of criticism from its business community for favoring Brazilian companies to go to the neighboring country, he added.

"That was actually the purpose, because a country the size of Brazil, which borders all the countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile, is a country that has to combine its economic growth with the economic growth of its partners," he argued.

Lula also stressed the importance of improving the relationship among the countries of the continent, especially to strengthen Mercosur and Unasur (Union of South American Nations). He said he will resume the commitment made in his previous terms to strengthen the Federal University of Latin American Integration (Unila), inaugurated in 2010 in Foz do Iguaçu.

Itaipu

The new head of the hydroelectric power plant, Enio Verri, said besides its economic value, electricity also contributes to social development.

"I‘d like to emphasize that the social dimension of energy and the universalization of access [to it] are an enabling condition for exercising citizenship in the 21st century. Electricity is indispensable to incorporate people excluded from the market and promote their access to basic goods. We want energy for all Brazilian citizens. It is a basic right that the country must guarantee. For this very reason it is considered an essential service,” he stated.