President Marcelo addresses the Estoril Conferences in English; leaves without talking to journalists
At a point where the capital has been the scene of angry rioting for three consecutive nights, President Marcelo gave a very pertinent speech at the Estoril Conferences today, describing the critical point at which the world has arrived.
“Now is the time to act, tomorrow may be too late”, he said in a speech which he began by welcoming the presence in Estoril of Timor’s president José Ramos Horta and the wife of Ukraine’s president OIena Zelenska (both of whom he described as “heroes in the struggle for peace, independence and sovereignty”).
Referring to the current moment as “the end of a historical cycle, at a global level”, he said, the world had “believed that a rejuvenation of American leadership would be easy” and that “the Russian Federation’s acceptance of its demotion from a global to a regional power would be peaceful”.
There had been the belief that “China’s rise through global economic expansion and its leadership in the relationship with Russia would be slow” and “multilateralism would be more evident and more successful“.
Instead, we are witnessing the “end of the cycle of political, economic and social systems” in Europe, which “is falling behind the United States and Asia.
“We are in a moment of transition, with a lot at stake. As if in a twilight of indefinite duration, or at the dawn of a new day of as yet indefinite duration. At the same time, we are living through the Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine, the growing conflict in the Middle East, decisive elections in the United States, the rise of systemic or asystemic political and social movements in Europe, the collapse of political power in Africa, radicalisation in Latin America.”
Hours after Russia’s president Putin told the BRICS summit in Kazan, near Moscow, “the process of forming a multipolar world order is underway, a dynamic and irreversible process,” Marcelo, in Estoril, said that for some “it is still time to wait and see”, while (for others) “moderate reformers (are) being drowned out by verbose and proactive radicals“.
“It is in these moments that it is crucial to reflect on change, but to act, anticipating and leading – that is even more crucial. It is our mission today, at the end of 2024.
“Yesterday or the day before was the time to just speculate about the future, how it would be, how it should be. Now is the time to pave the way, to prepare for the next steps, which are so close to us, and to have clear ideas about the consequences. Now is the time to act, tomorrow may be too late.”
The Estoril Conferences are currently organised by the Economics and Management and Medical Sciences faculties of the New University of Lisbon.
Arriving at the campus this morning, Marcelo made brief statements about the death of popular singer Marco Paulo earlier today “reiterating the sorrow he had already expressed in writing on the official website of the presidency”, writes Lusa – but he left without speaking to journalists, who may have been eager to hear him expand on the point at which the collective West appears to have arrived as world leaders have gathered in Russia on the invitation of a dictator wanted for multiple alleged war crimes.
Source material: Lusa
