Brazilian President Supports Esperanto
The president of Brazil, Lula da Silva Instructed Cláudio
Soares Rocha,the Director of Historical Documents, to express to
the President of the UEA a strong wish that one day Esperanto would be
accepted as a language of communication.
This wish came in response to the letter from the President of the UEA
addressed to the summit conference of the ‘BRIC lands’ of
Brazil, Russia, India and China that took place on the 16th June
in St Catherinburg to discuss the world economic crisis and,
amongst other things, the launch of a new currency.
The presidents of the BRIC lands did not achieve consent about a new currency.
Dr. Probal Dasgupta, the President of the UEA, proposed in his letter
to the respective state Presidents, that the four ’lands full of
promise for the future’ should work to do away with not only
monetary, but also language privileges.
The international use of English, according to Probal Dasgputa, strengthens the positions of a few privileged lands.
In the name of the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva,
Claudio Soarez Rocha, the Director of Historical Documents, thanked
Dasgupto for his concern about equality in international relations and
expressed his admiration for the continuing effort which Esperantists
throughout the world are always making , for the greater spread of
Esperanto.
He wrote, amongst other things, ‘ We very much wish, in fact,
that one day Esperanto could be accepted by the majority of the
nations, as a language adopted to facilitate communication without
linguistic privileges.... We agree about the value of the language
spread by your association...
We know that in the history of mankind, there have been languages that
have become intrusive as a result of political power, such as Latin, or
to a certain extent French and lately, English. We very much
wish, in fact, that one day Esperanto could be accepted by the majority
of the nations, as a language adopted to facilitate communication
without language privileges..
The support of Brazil will certainly be translated into practical
action in the coming months in the UN and UNESCO. The Universal
Association of Esperanto speakers are stressing that the favourable
resolutions already proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO
should become much more concrete and that the teaching of Esperanto
should be part of the individual duties of the member states in
conjunction with the now launched Decade of Languages. The speakers of
Esperanto see in it an essential instrument to ensure justice in the
field of international communication and language rights.
For your information, here is the complete text of the letter, which appeared as a press release from UEA.
To Probal Dasgupta,
President, Universala Esperanto-Asocio
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has given me the task of
replying to your letter of June 20th addressed to him, to thank you for
your concern about equality in international relations in language as
well as financial aspects.
We would like to show to you our admiration for the effort which
Esperantists throughout the world are making aimed at the wider spread
of Esperanto, a language created by Dr.Lazaro Zamenhof as a
contribution to the understanding of, and between men.
We know that in the history of mankind, there have been languages that
have become intrusive as a result of political power, such as
Latin, or to a certain extent French and lately, English.
We very much wish, in fact, that one day Esperanto could be accepted by
the majority of the nations, as a language adopted to facilitate
communication without linguistic privileges.
We are certain that the Universal Esperanto Association will continue
its advance at the UN to gradually increase the importance of the role
of Esperanto as an international language. It follows that we do not
see a need to discuss the affair further because we agree about the
value of the language spread by your association.
Sincerely,
Cláudio Soares Rocha
Director of Historic Documents