Brazilian pop star Gilberto Gil broke into song at the famed door of no return, through which millions of slaves left for the Americas - a poignant touch to a tour on which Brazil's leader has underscored common roots and urged a joint fight for more democracy in world trade and at the United Nations.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged a more equitable world order as he wrapped up a five-nation visit to Africa at Goree Island, from which many slaves were shipped to his South American country.
As he has in other countries, Silva won support from Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade for his campaign for a seat in a reformed and enlarged U.N. Security Council, which a joint communique emphasized needs to be "more democratic and representative and legitimate."
Both leaders hoped challenges at the World Trade Organization would lead to "a fair, transparent and nondiscriminatory global commercial system."
On his tour, Silva has been pushing the bid of Brazil and 19 other countries to force the United States, Europe and Japan to end farm subsidies that they say represent unfair trade practice and hurt economies of developing nations.
Wade and Silva promised to strengthen trade and facilitate more cooperation in culture, telecommunications and sports. According to Senegalese figures, trade between the two nations increased from US$10 million ([euro]6.3 million) in 2000 to US$70 million ([euro]44 million) in 2004.
Brazil's trade with Africa has increased 45 percent in recent years, to about US$6 billion ([euro]3.8 billion) in 2005, according to Brazil's Foreign Ministry.
Silva signed numerous bilateral agreements during the visit, including one to have direct flights with Ghana. Another deal foresees the reopening of Brazil's embassy in Guinea-Bissau, another Portuguese colony, that was closed when the South American country confronted an economic crisis in 1999. Other agreements include scrapping requirements for diplomatic visas with Nigeria and Senegal.
Silva repeated his mantra that Latin America and Africa have spent too long looking to Europe and the United States, and must concentrate on nurturing ties between themselves.
"If the 19th Century was the century for Europe, and the 20th Century was the century for the United States, why can't the 21st Century be ours?" he asked in Nigeria, the second stop on his fourth visit to Africa since he came to power in 2003.
Nigeria, the world's largest black nation of some 130 million people, and Brazil, the most populous South American nation of 184 million people, both are considered serious contenders for seats on an expanded Security Council proposed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Silva's tour ended at Goree Island, where Gil, who also is Brazil's culture minister, broke into song inside the slavehouse, above the narrow gate of no return.
Silva has noted the shared common ancestry, especially in Nigeria and Ghana, which have Afro-Brazilians communities descended from freed slaves who returned in the early 1900s.
"Our roots are here," he said in Ghana. "My visit ... is to recoup the loss and push forward the brotherhood agenda."Associate Press
