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Lula signs law designating Belém as the capital of Brazil during COP30
Lula will travel to the Celac-EU summit in Colombia before returning to Belém
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promulgated the law that makes Belém, in the state of Pará, the capital of the South American country during the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), which will be held between November 11 and 21.
According to the government, the temporary transfer has a symbolic and political character and “reinforces the relevance of the Amazon on the international environmental agenda”, while at the same time underlining the country’s commitment to global climate problems.
All acts and decrees issued during this period, including those of the president and his ministers, will be registered in the capital of Pará. During this period, the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary powers will be able to establish themselves in the city of Belém to carry out their institutional and governmental activities. A similar case occurred in 1992, when the federal capital was temporarily transferred to Rio de Janeiro during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio-92).
Lula, who has been in Pará since November 1st, will participate in the summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the European Union (EU) in Santa Marta, Colombia, on Sunday, November 9th. According to him, it will be the appropriate forum to debate US military movements in the Caribbean region and on the coast of Venezuela.
In an interview with international agencies in Belém, Lula admitted to having discussed the matter with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in Malaysia last month. At that time, Lula offered to act as a mediator between the United States and Venezuela.
“The CELAC meeting only makes sense at this moment if we want to address the issue of US warships in Latin American waters. I had the opportunity to talk to President Trump about this subject, telling him that Latin America is a zone of peace”, said Lula. “We are a zone of peace; we don’t need war here. The problem in Venezuela is a political problem that must be resolved by political means,” he added.
The Celac-EU summit takes place at a time of tension in the Caribbean. The Trump administration attacked ships in the region, claiming to combat drug trafficking into the United States. For his part, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro argues that Washington is interested in his country’s oil reserves and that military reinforcement in the region aims to overthrow him.
The Celac-EU summit will bring together the leaders of the 27 European Union countries and the 33 Celac countries, with the aim of resuming bi-regional dialogue and negotiations on the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. The meeting runs until November 10, but Lula will only participate on the first day and will return to Belém for the opening of COP30. (Source: Agência Brasil)
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