SAO PAULO: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former president of Brazil and current candidate for president, has outlined his government's strategy to promote integration in the region.

The foreign policy component of the plan said that "defending our sovereignty entails defending the integration of South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with a view to sustaining regional security and boosting development, based on constructive complementarity."

Lula, who presided over Brazil from 2003 to 2010, promised to strengthen Mercosur, the Union of South American Nations, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States if elected, according to the Xinhua news.

"We advise working toward the establishment of a new global order committed to multilateralism, respect for national sovereignty, peace, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability, which takes into account the requirements of developing countries," the plan said. 

The "South-South policy toward Latin America and Africa" that was initiated during his presidency is also called for to be resumed in Lula's proposal. The seven parties that make up the coalition Let's Go Together for Brazil, which has proposed Geraldo Alckmin as vice president and Lula as president, were present at the introduction of the government proposal in Sao Paulo.

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