ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, THABO MBEKI, ON THE OCCASION OF THE TORCH HANDING OVER CEREMONY, "FROM RIO TO JOHANNESBURG",
Rio De Janeiro, 25 June 2002.
President Henrique Cardoso,
Prime Minister Goran Persson,
Distinguished Guests, and,
People of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro:
First of all, let me thank you, President Cardoso, both for arranging that we visit Rio de Janeiro to participate in this important handing over ceremony, which also draws the necessary attention to the forthcoming Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development.
I am especially pleased that my friend, Goran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden, was able to join us. We, certainly, can never tire in paying tribute to Sweden for the ground-breaking positions she has taken over many decades with regard to a variety of matters, including freedom from colonial and white minority domination, the environment and equitable North-South relations.
I must also thank you dear brother, President Cardoso, for the traditional warm welcome that you, the government and the people of Brazil have extended to us since we arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is to us like another home.
Rio De Janeiro, 25 June 2002.
President Henrique Cardoso,
Prime Minister Goran Persson,
Distinguished Guests, and,
People of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro:
First of all, let me thank you, President Cardoso, both for arranging that we visit Rio de Janeiro to participate in this important handing over ceremony, which also draws the necessary attention to the forthcoming Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development.
I am especially pleased that my friend, Goran Persson, Prime Minister of Sweden, was able to join us. We, certainly, can never tire in paying tribute to Sweden for the ground-breaking positions she has taken over many decades with regard to a variety of matters, including freedom from colonial and white minority domination, the environment and equitable North-South relations.
I must also thank you dear brother, President Cardoso, for the traditional warm welcome that you, the government and the people of Brazil have extended to us since we arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is to us like another home.