In late 2003 during a visit to Egypt, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, floated the idea of holding a summit to strengthen Arab-Latin relations. There are historic ties between the two sides as evident from the early migration of Arabs to Latin America.

President Lula managed to assemble nine heads of state and representatives of three countries at ministerial level from Latin America with six Arab heads of state and other Arab representatives.

The first South American-Arab League summit focused on four main areas, political, economic cultural and social. The participants agreed for their cooperation to be based on commitment to further multilateral relations, respect of international law, respect of human rights, disarmament, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, continued efforts for achieving sustained development and upholding of social justice, especially through fighting poverty and protecting the environment.

The summit’s final declaration agreed on convening a meeting of foreign ministers of the two groups at the fringe of the annual meetings of the UN General Assembly and the establishment of a permanent cooperation committee and joint action group to meet annually. In addition, the two sides will further cooperation in such areas as civil society, regional and national parliaments, and nongovernmental organizations. They agreed to work for the protection of and respect of national identities and cultural diversity and to promote dialogue among civilizations to help build one world governed by tolerance and coexistence.

On the political side, the final declaration called for freeing the Middle East from all weapons of mass destruction, in what is seen as an endorsement of the Egyptian stand.

The two groups stressed the need for achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on international resolutions and the road map in a manner that guarantees the legitimate rights of Palestinians and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and living side by side with the State of Israel.

The declaration rejected the Syria Accountability Act initiated by the United States saying it violates international law as well as the sovereignty of an independent state.

The declaration called for the preservation of Sudan’s unity whether in regard to the problem in the South or in Darfur.

The resolutions may not have pleased the American administration prompting the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, to hint at his country’s objection to the final declaration of the summit. The summit resolutions clash with Israeli interests and this can’t be to the liking of America who was also felt chagrined that Brazil refused to allow Washington to attend the summit as an observer.

The Arab world stands to benefit from this gathering but only if Arab leaders took it seriously. Latin American countries enjoy great experience in many areas. The two sides could very well succeed in creating a machinery for joint cooperation in a world dominated by large economic blocs. Of course, there is still a long way to go, at least from the Arab side. But, the Arabs could still traverse that distance firmly and confidently, especially at the peoples’ level without having to wait for government moves.