H.E. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, made an official visit to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Monday 9 October 2000. The President was accompanied by his wife, Dr Ruth Corrêa Leite Cardoso, as well as by the Minister for External Relations, Mr Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Mrs Lampreia, and other high-ranking Brazilian officials.
The President and his entourage were met by the Director-General of the OPCW, Mr José M. Bustani, and by Mrs Bustani. The President addressed a Special Session of the OPCW Executive Council chaired by Mr Bernhard Brasack of Germany. Mr Brasack expressed his gratitude to the Brazilian President for the longstanding support and dedication of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the task of disarming the world.
During the visit the Director-General also held a working meeting with the President, at which he briefed him on the work of the OPCW and the current status of the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
In his address to the Special Session of the OPCW Executive Council President Cardoso stressed Brazil’s “unquestionable commitment to international peace and security”, and alluded to Brazil’s readiness to assume “greater responsibilities” in the international arena.
The President said that “The stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction by some countries is incompatible with the goal of building an international order based on justice and equality among nations.” He commended the Chemical Weapons Convention for being “an example of the high degree of understanding achieved by the international community,” and spoke of its “non-discriminatory nature and its universal scope.”
In his address the Director-General of the OPCW applauded the President’s “personal commitment to the ideals of peace and security in an international environment free from the scourge of weapons of mass destruction”, and praised Brazil’s affirmation of all major international agreements of disarmament and non-proliferation, to which he had been able to contribute in his capacity as a senior Brazilian diplomat, before he became the Director-General of the OPCW.
In closing, Mr Bustani said that “We (the OPCW) have faced and surmounted unprecedented challenges, and have built a proud record of achievement. We shall persevere, with the principled support of far-sighted statesmen such as yourself, who believe that nations can and must work for the common goals of national and global prosperity.”
26/2000