Santos to South Africa: Defend your principles

Résumé détaillé

Delivering the 24th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos urged South Africa and global leaders to uphold human dignity…

South Africa should defend its principles and values in its dealings with the United States, former Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos says, arguing that economic interests cannot be the only consideration in relations between countries.

In his address at the 24th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Cape Town, Santos urged nations to defend human dignity and uphold international law, warning that political and economic interests could make governments reluctant to confront injustice.

The theme, “When is silence complicity?”, drew on Santos’s experience of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict, his government’s negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the challenges of implementing the 2016 peace agreement.

Santos, the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and chair of The Elders, delivered the 24th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 6 November. The Nelson Mandela Foundation hosted the event in partnership with One Young World, whose summit brought young leaders from around the world to the city.

In an interview with the Mail & Guardian following the lecture, Santos applied that message to relations between countries.

“For me, the most important thing in life is to respect the dignity of others and to defend my dignity,” he said.

“Sometimes economic interests are very important, but there are other interests that are more important than economic interests.”

Asked about South Africa’s relations with Washington, Santos said his advice applied to any country or person.

He urged countries to persuade the more powerful party that short-term thinking would ultimately harm everyone’s interests.

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