Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan President, João Lourenço, denounced this Wednesday, at the headquarters of the United Nations, United States of America, the “existence of an invisible hand interested in the destabilization of the African continent”.
Speaking on the second day of the UN General Debate, which will run until the 26th of this month, the Head of State said there is increasing evidence that these groups are simply concerned with expanding their sphere of influence.
According to João Lourenço, who was the 16th to speak in the General Debate, the interest of these groups does not bring the “necessary guarantees for the economic and social development of African countries.
In his almost 25-minute intervention, the President considered it essential to reaffirm the need for adequate, sustainable and predictable financing for efforts to combat terrorism on the continent.
He therefore considered it opportune to renew the appeal to the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, for the use of assessed contributions for peace support operations mandated by the African Union.
“Until relatively recently, the SAHEL region was devastated only by the action of terrorist groups reinforced by paid mercenaries, who, having found a power vacuum in Libya, settled there and expanded into neighboring countries”, he recalled.
In addition to this already dangerous situation, João Lourenço lamented the fact that, more or less in the same region, a wave of unconstitutional changes of power led by military personnel emerged.
“These new powers should not be rewarded with the possibility of sharing the same political stages with us, otherwise we would be sending a wrong message, contrary to the principles we defend”, he stressed.
In recent years, Africa has faced several tribal, religious and military conflicts, as well as coups d’état that slow down the continent’s progress, particularly those in Western Sudan (Darfur), the conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Mali and South Sudan.
According to the Angolan statesman, the International Community is concerned not only with the situation in the SAHEL countries, the Horn of Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also with the conflict in Sudan, which is causing a high number of deaths and of injuries, in addition to the destruction of the country’s infrastructure.
According to the acting President of SADC, that conflict caused countless numbers of internally displaced people and refugees, having already become one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes in the world and the consequences of which are resented by neighboring countries.
“The world cannot forget the suffering of the Palestinian people and, much less, ignore the need to resolve the conflict in the Middle East, with emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whose formula of two states living side by side in a peaceful manner, It was already found by the United Nations years ago without any evolution, just needing to be implemented”, he said.
From his point of view, the international community runs the risk of being accused of giving different treatment, favoring the conflict in Europe to the detriment of others, because they are in the Middle East or Africa.
He recalled that the conflict in Sudan is as deadly and destructive as that in Ukraine, but deserves less coverage from the international media and less attention from decision-making centers on world peace and security.
In another area of his speech, he argued that the war between Russia and Ukraine must deserve all the attention and urgency to put an immediate end to it, due to the levels of human and material destruction that is recorded there, the risk of an escalation into a conflict of large proportions on a global scale and the incidence of its harmful effects on energy and food security.
“All the evidence indicates that it is unlikely that there will be winners and losers on the battlefield, which is why the parties involved should be encouraged to prioritize the path of dialogue and diplomacy as soon as possible, establish a ceasefire and negotiate lasting peace is needed not only for the belligerent countries, but which guarantees the security of Europe and contributes to global peace and security, concluded the Angolan President.
This year’s General Debate takes place under the theme “Rebuilding Trust and Renewing Global Solidarity through Actions to Accelerate the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda to Achieve Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Sustainability for All” .
The event discusses global issues such as climate change, sovereign debt relief and ways to help countries achieve global goals, in addition to the issue of conflicts, including Russia and Ukraine.
The initiative is being chaired by Ambassador Dennis Francis, from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, elected to this rotating position on June 1, 2023, representing the Group of States of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC).
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