Taiwan assumes Agenda 2030 proxy role to target Paraguay with UN 'sustainable development'

December 4, 2023

BRAZIL’s first political prisoner under the Lula administration has died in prison. Cleriston Pereira da Cunha, 46, arrested during the dictatorship created by the Supreme Court after January 8’s events, was awaiting trial in prison in delicate medical condition.

After evaluating his risk, doctors and the Federal Prosecutor's Office requested the prison sentence be replaced with other precautionary measures, as was done with almost all the other defendants. Since September 1, the Attorney General's Office ruled to release the prisoner, but Supreme Court Justice and Superior Electoral Court (TSE) President Alexandre de Moraes dismissed all requests for two-and-a-half months.

One day after da Cunha’s death, communist president Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva honored de Moraes with the highest degree of the Order of Rio Branco. Human Rights minister Silvio Almeida has maintained silence about the issue.

Citizens protested in Sao Paulo, denouncing Supreme Court abuses and accusing Moraes of da Cunha’s death.

“Out with Xandão!” and “murderer, murderer!” shouted protesters while waving Brazilian flags, a characteristic sign of support for former president Jair Bolsonaro, according to the Orwell Report. Representative Marcel Van Hattem said “the Supreme Court judges’ time will come,” accusing the Supreme Court of believing itself “above the law and Constitution.”

In other Brazil news, senators approved a bill to restrict individual capacity of Supreme Federal Court judges, to eliminate the ability of a single judge to issue a ruling that contradicts the president or legislatures. Federal Court judges say the senators' decision deprives them of their powers.

Also in Brazil, Petrobras, a Brazilian oil company controlled by the State announced it would increase its investments by 31%, dedicating $11.5 billion to projects with “low carbon emissions,” and $73 billion to develop new fields in northeastern Brazil. It is also seeking drilling permits in the Equatorial Margin, to venture into Suriname on the coast of Guyana.

According to a statement, Lula's return to power benefited Petrobras, achieving an increase in its budget from $24 million to $102 million, the largest spending plan published since 2015. The oil company is currently negotiating agreements with the Saudi company Aramco - with whom Brazil extracts oil in Chile - to develop joint businesses in Latin America, strengthening operations in Bolivia, extending to the Colombian Caribbean and Argentina.

CHILE and the European Union decided to sign a trade agreement after a meeting of ambassadors held last week in Brussels. According to anonymous sources, since the dialogues are confidential, the signing will take place on December 21. The objective is to have greater access to raw materials such as lithium and copper from the Chilean market, and “move towards a greener economy”.

Other agreements with Southern Common Market (Mercosur) countries have also intensified since October, with negotiations between Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay entering their final phase after 20 years. But Argentina’s new president could complicate things, since during his campaign he announced his intention to withdraw from Mercosur.

Another giant investor is China, which continues to invest in Latin American countries, predominantly in the “lithium triangle” in South America, where 60% of the world's reserves of the precious metal are concentrated, and constitutes one of China's strategic objectives.

COLOMBIA: During his recent visit to Venezuela, President Gustavo Petro proposed “energy integration” between both countries, to import cheap energy from Venezuela. Forgetting his electoral proposal to eliminate oil and coal, he claimed the move “will be the way to reduce the cost of gasoline in Colombia.”

The project is set for the end of 2024, even as the Colombian president is promoting reducing crude oil production in his own country. This, as Venezuelans stand in long lines to get fuel due to an “existing shortage.”

PARAGUAY: During the “Digital Transformation in Health” seminar in Asunción, the Paraguayan Health Ministry unveiled its digitalized Health Information System (HIS), launched in 2017. Its objective is to “manage control systems and data in the health field,” according to Technologies and Communication Minister Gustavo Villate.

The Taiwan Institute of Sustainable Energy (TAISE) is a collaborator in this project along with health, technology, and communication organizations assisted by Technical Mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Paraguay. It currently operates in 137 establishments nationwide, with its $130 million funding obtained through international public bidding in accordance with the policies of the Inter-American Development Bank, the organization that approved the credit.

The Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) has awarded Paraguay with the Platinum “Taiwan Sustainable Action Award” for submitting to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal17 (SDG 17 or Global Goal 17). One of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015, the official wording is: "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development".

SDG 17 refers to the need for for countries to “align policies” and pursue “nonhegemonic and fair cross-sector and cross-country collaborations” in pursuit of all goals by the year 2030.