The CPLP is "a little-known brand", considered, in an interview with Lusa, the diplomat Juliano Féres Nascimento, appointed by the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro to the position, who took over in Lisbon already under the governance of the current head of state of the his country, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in January.
"We created an organization, but it is still crawling in the process of creating this brand. We talk about national brands, the Brazil brand, the Portugal brand, which gives a little of the characteristics and identity of these countries", he said. But, he added, "the CPLP still hasn't achieved that".
For the ambassador, in diplomatic or multinational environments, the strength of the CPLP brand "is already very present because of the articulation that countries manage to have in these spaces". And not only in the United Nations or the World Health Organization, but also in regional organizations, he said.
"The CPLP's difference factor from other arrangements of this type is that its presence is worldwide, it is in South America, Africa, Asia and Europe. And each region has its combination (...) of political and economic arrangements and the CPLP manages to dialogue with everyone", he stressed, exemplifying that the CPLP "has dialogue" with the African Union, Mercosur, the union of South American countries, the European Union.
"In the field of political-diplomatic concertation, we have some objectives that are very evident, and these objectives, in general, have to do with values that are shared, that go beyond the shared language, which are democratic values, values of prosperity, values of growth and sustainable development. So in these forums it's easy," he added.
The CPLP, he mentioned, achieved a common position and "is recognized for this common position".
In "other arrangements", where you have to first manage to reach agreement internally and then present a common position, not everything is so easy, he explained.
In order to make the CPLP known beyond these forums, the Brazilian ambassador, who has also worked with President Lula da Silva, said that marketing actions are needed.
"It's difficult, it's not an obvious task, because it's clear that the original CPLP data is the common language. We all speak Portuguese. So, even if you can make some criticisms and say that some of the CPLP countries have different native languages of Portuguese, the official language common to these various languages is Portuguese, so this is already a given", he highlighted.
Therefore, when "you want to project the organisation's image, the work you do is a bit confused with the promotion of your own language".
And "the problem" for the ambassador is that "many times" the CPLP does not "associate the promotion of the language with the promotion of the organization".
"Things don't go together. You often manage to promote the language. We have managed to get Portuguese recognized as an official language in several international organizations. Portuguese is one of the most spoken or most used languages (...) in the digital world. So it is obviously a factor of projection and dissemination, but it is not necessarily a factor of dissemination of the organization", he considered.
Therefore, in his view, "the organization needs a very specific work with regard to the brand" which begins by trying to identify the CPLP logo.
"The logo has to be prominently present in any activity where the language is also disseminated", he said.
In the same way, he understands that the symbol must be highlighted when more than one Portuguese-speaking country is involved: "When you have more than one country carrying out a cultural action, the CPLP brand has to be there", he stressed.
On the other hand, he stressed, several countries and entities are associated observers of the community (a total of 33), or others that do not even have that status, "ask to use it in their activity, in their event, because they see the CPLP brand as adding value for the activity they are developing".
"I've been here since January and in the 67 meetings in which I've participated in the CPLP group, we've already evaluated more than 20 civil society actions - I'm not talking about government actions - that ask us to use the CPLP brand in their activity", he exemplified.
The CPLP, which comprises Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor, holds the XVI Conference of Heads of State and Government, in São Tomé and Príncipe, next Sunday, under the motto "Youth and Sustainability".
