Brazil celebrates 30 years of diplomatic relations with Jordan

AMMAN — Brazil’s diplomatic corps celebrates 30 years of diplomatic ties in Jordan this week with a gala and a public event during the opening game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which is hosted by the Latin American country, on Thursday.

“In over 30 years of activities, we have succeeded in excellently bridging the vast geographic distance between the two countries,” Brazilian Ambassador to Jordan Renate Stille told The Jordan Times in an interview ahead of celebrations.

“Jordanians and Brazilians are very friendly with each other: Numerous Jordanian immigrants live in Brazil and around 2,000 Jordanian-Brazilians reside in the Kingdom,” Stille said, adding that the two countries share similar views in international forums, where they often “support each other’s position”.

Relations between Amman and Brasilia reached a peak in 2008 when Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania visited Brazil, and in 2010 when Brazilian president at the time Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva paid a visit to the Kingdom that concluded with the signing of bilateral agreements, the ambassador said.

Trade between the two countries is worth about $298 million, with the value of Brazilian exports to Jordan worth $292 million, which leaves room for improvement on the Kingdom’s side, Stille said, suggesting exporting Jordanian dates to Brazil.

World Cup

About 1,500 Jordanians will be watching the Brazilian squad facing Croatia in the opening match of this year’s World Cup in a gathering hosted by the Brazilian embassy at The Dome, on the airport road.

“We will organise a big party on Thursday evening for the kick-off of the World Cup. I am proud my country is hosting the World Cup and am sure we will win,” Stille said, adding that seeing Amman dotted with Brazilian flags was a sign of Jordanians’ love of football.

Humanitarian aid

During a gala dinner in Amman on Tuesday, Brazil raised money for the Gift of Life Charitable Society, which facilitates critically needed open-heart surgery for underprivileged children suffering from life-threatening congenital heart defects.

The Latin American country has also been supporting the Kingdom and Syria’s neighbouring countries amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis with donations totalling $1.5 million, in addition to donating rice for Palestinian refugees scattered across the region, including Jordan.

“The rice quantity is enough to satisfy all Palestinian refugees for one year,” Stille said.

Brazilian volunteer coaches trained Syrian children in the Zaatari Refugee Camp and Jordanian children in Amman last year. Local coaches then took over the programme.

Instructors of capoeira — the Brazilian martial art combining elements of dance, acrobatics and music — have been working in the region with people displaced or traumatised by conflict.

“Capoeira as a psycho-social therapy was first used among Iraqi refugees in Damascus 10 years ago, and the same instructors still keep practising it with Syrian children inside the war-torn country, while other teachers perform in camps in Ramallah and we will soon start a group in Jordan,” Stille said.

Stille voiced hope for more cooperation between Jordan and Brazil in the future.

“I hope the two countries will work [more closely], especially in the agriculture sector where we could share expertise,” she said.

“Brazil would eagerly bring some of the technology we have developed over the years to fight the effects of drought on cultivation to Jordan. Other aims include an increase in cultural exchange of students and lecturers between the two countries and direct flights to Brazil from Jordan.”