In a significant diplomatic development on the sidelines of the CELAC-AFRICA Summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has announced his country’s full support for a United Nations resolution spearheaded by former Ghanaian President John Mahama that seeks to formally declare the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.
The endorsement carries profound weight, given that Brazil is home to the largest population of African descent outside the African continent.
President Lula’s commitment marks a major boost for the growing reparatory justice movement, which is gaining momentum among nations in the Global South. Advocates are expressing growing confidence in the resolution’s prospects as it heads toward a vote at the United Nations on March 25, 2026.
The announcement came following a meeting between the Brazilian leader and President Mahama on the margins of the summit in Colombia. Mahama, who has been a vocal advocate for the resolution, expressed deep gratitude for Brazil’s backing.
“Our reparatory justice coalition is getting bigger and better—we are confident of victory at the UN on the 25th of March, 2026,” Mahama said in a statement. “I am most grateful to President Lula for the opportunity to engage him.”
The resolution, if adopted, would represent a historic acknowledgment by the international community of the scale and lasting impact of the transatlantic slave trade, while bolstering calls for reparatory justice.
