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The agenda of the XII Conference of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP, to be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Santa Maria, Island of Sal, Cape Verde, offers the Assignment of observer status to eight countries – United Kingdom, France, Italy, Andorra, Luxembourg, Serbia, Argentina and Chile – and for the first time to an organization – the Organization of Ibero States -Americans for Education, Science and Culture (OEI).
"This is a sign of the credibility and visibility that the CPLP is gaining on the international stage," said executive secretary of the organization, Maria do Carmo Silveira, in an interview with Lusa
. that is to say that the CPLP was considered as a forum for an important politico-diplomatic consultation, it had international successes with a certain success, which allowed him to show a great attractiveness. "
As a result, he continued, "countries see the CPLP as an opportunity to strengthen their partnerships and cooperative relationships."
With the entry of these eight countries and the OEI, the Lusophone community will have 19 associate observers, more than double the nine full members.
For the executive secretary, this represents the "big challenge" of "dealing with this growing number of members and how to make the most of the relationship that this partnership establishes.
"For this reason, we have already begun reflections at the level of the secretariat and we will have to continue to deepen, because they are countries with different levels of development and with different potentialities," he said.
According to Maria do Carmo Silveira, the CPLP "thus sees the possibilities of broader political-diplomatic conciliation, but also in terms of economic cooperation and even cooperation in all fields".
According to its statutes, the CPLP "is available to cooperate with the associate observers in all fields: education, culture, training of personnel, economic and commercial cooperation, research"
Asked if any of Associate observers could aspire to become a full member – as has already happened with Equatorial Guinea – Maria do Carmo Silveira said that the CPLP "has never officially received this manifestation of interest "And admits that it is an unlikely assumption.
" The factor that unites full CPLP member countries is the Portuguese language, observer countries, which are not Portuguese-speaking countries, may encounter difficulties in joining the CPLP, "he said 19659002] In Equatorial Guinea, which joined the organization in 2014, the Portuguese language was not spoken, although it was introduced as a third my official language alongside Spanish and French by the Equatorial Guinean authorities at the time of
For Maria do Carmo Silveira, "there were historical aspects that favored Equatorial Guinea", a country discovered by the Portuguese in 1470, but which was colonized by the Spaniards in 1778, until independence in 1968.
Currently, CPLP observers are Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Uruguay, Mauritius, Namibia, Senegal, Turkey, Japan and Georgia.
The Ivory Coast and Peru also expressed their intentions request the status of the Portuguese-speaking organization, but the process should not be concluded meeting time.
Associate observer status was created in 2005 and can be applied to Portuguese-speaking States or regions belonging to third countries.
The CPLP states that states receiving this status must share the "guiding principles" of the organization, particularly as regards "the promotion of democratic practices, good governance and respect for human rights". "And that" pursue, through their governmental programs, objectives identical to those of the Lusophone bloc, even if they are not at the beginning of the full members. "
Associate observers may participate, without the right to vote, in: summits and the Council of Ministers (which brings together the heads of diplomacy of the Member States), as well as at technical meetings.
Cape Verde hosts, on July 17 and 18, on the island of Sal, XII
The CPLP is composed of the following countries: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Brazil, Brazil, States America, United States of America, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste.
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