Brazil adopts free trade with Palestine in snub to occupier Israel

Brazil has put into effect a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority that has been waiting for ratification for more than decade, in a show of support for the Palestinian people and a snub to occupier Israel.

"The agreement is a concrete contribution to an economically viable Palestinian state, which can live peacefully and harmoniously with its neighbours," Brazil's Foreign Ministry said on Monday in a statement.

It said Brazil, which recognises a Palestinian state and allowed a Palestinian embassy to be built in the Brazilian capital in 2010, ratified the agreement on Friday between the Mercosur trade bloc of South America and the Palestinian Authority that had been signed in 2011.

It was not clear whether other Mercosur members would follow suit. Argentina's right-wing government, led by President Javier Milei, is not expected to do so.

The foreign ministries of Uruguay and Paraguay did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Palestinian ambassador in Brasilia, Ibrahim Al Zeben, called Brazil's decision "courageous, supportive and timely."

It is "the effective way to support peace in Palestine," he said in a message to the Reuters news agency, adding that he hopes Palestine's trade with Mercosur, currently only $32 million a year, will grow.

Brazil's support for Palestine

In May, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva withdrew the country's ambassador to Israel over its genocidal war in besieged Gaza.

A few weeks after the start of Israel's carnage in the blockaded enclave, Lula faced backlash after comparing it to the Holocaust.

Brazil, along with many Latin American countries, supports South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Many Latin American countries have taken similar steps, including Colombia, which severed its diplomatic ties with Israel in May over the war.

Since October 7, many countries have recognised Palestine as a state, including Spain, Norway, Ireland, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and Armenia.