Inter Press Service - August 1, 2002
Mario Osava

The fourth summit of the CPLP ended Thursday in Brasilia with the signing of a plan to combat the spread of AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome), praised by the eight heads of state and government as the first multilateral initiative of the bloc, which was created in 1996.

With an initial budget of 30 million dollars, the programme will entail the construction of a laboratory in Mozambique that is to produce affordable generic versions of the antiretroviral drugs used to fight the AIDS-causing HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), as well as a condom factory in Angola.

This is an "exemplary case of cooperation" to address an extremely pressing need of the African nations that belong to the CPLP, said Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

The CPLP is made up of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tomé and Príncipe, and, as of Thursday, East Timor.

According to United Nations figures, around 13 percent of the population is living with HIV in Mozambique, 5.5 percent in Angola, and 2.8 percent in Guinea-Bissau, compared to 0.7 percent in Brazil and 0.5 percent in Portugal.

Brazil offered its partners in the CPLP its experience and technology for producing antiretroviral medicines, which it already distributes free of charge to 115,000 patients at home, and for organising prevention campaigns with broad participation by society.

Brazil will play a decisive role in the new anti-AIDS initiative, because it has already implemented its own "bold pioneering strategy" that can be of benefit to the rest of the group's members, said Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.

The eight Portuguese-language countries signed five agreements to facilitate the cross-border circulation of their citizens, including multiple-entry visas for businesspeople and others who travel frequently, a streamlining of the requisites and fees paid for short visits, and the right to medical treatment and residency permits for all CPLP citizens in every one of the bloc's countries.

However, a proposal for the adoption of common citizenship failed to prosper. The statute, which is already in force between Brazil and Portugal, would provide for equal civil and political rights for the citizens of any member of the bloc.

That system would enable, for instance, Portuguese or Angolan citizens to run for parliament or be appointed to government posts in any CPLP country.

But Angola and Mozambique opposed the project, arguing incompatibility with their national constitutions.

Both African nations are resistant to granting those rights to citizens of Portugal, the country that colonised them until 1975.

Adoption of the statute would require "a previous debate with civil society" in countries with unique "geopolitical realities," and where the idea of common citizenship could trigger "hostile attitudes," said Mozambique President Joaquim Alberto Chissano.

The CPLP is a bloc in the process of construction, because the societies of the eight member nations have little knowledge of each other, and even government leaders are unfamiliar with the realities of the other member nations, said diplomats at this week's meeting.

The predominant tendency is towards bilateral accords between the members. For example, the ministries of science and technology of Brazil and Mozambique signed an agreement Thursday for the installation of an environmental monitoring system in Mozambique, using information gathered by Brazilian satellites.

One of the unique features of the CPLP is that its members are linked by a common language and shared cultural features, which form a bridge between countries separated by great distances, said the foreign minister of Sao Tomé and Príncipe, Alda Bandeira da Conceiçao.

But even the Portuguese language faces barriers in some of the member nations, especially East Timor, where only 10 to 15 percent of the population of 800,000 speaks Portuguese, according to the country's new President José Alexandre Xanana Gusmao.

Gusmao hopes that with the arrival of teachers, funds for distance learning, and Brazilian and Portuguese television programmes, a majority of East Timorese will be speaking the language 10 years from now.

The former Portuguese colony, located on the eastern half of the South Pacific island of Timor, became an independent nation on May 20, after 25 years of Indonesian colonialism. The population speaks more than 20 different languages.

A number of local dialects are also spoken in the African members of the CPLP, which has limited the penetration of the Portuguese language, as well as the success of literacy drives.

Nevertheless, peace in Angola and Mozambique as well as East Timor's independence will favour the development of the CPLP and a strengthening of multilateral cooperation, concluded the leaders meeting in the Brazilian capital Tuesday through Thursday. (END/IPS/WD/HE DV IP/TRA-SO SW/MO/DCL/02)

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