On April 8, the University of São Paulo was visited by six members of the Commission for Reflection on the Decentralized Governance Model (Cremod), created in 2023 by the Mozambican government to discuss public administration models.
The entourage was in Brazil for a series of institutional meetings aimed at establishing partnerships and gathering information that will help strengthen the country’s institutions, particularly in the wake of the social turbulence experienced during the recent presidential and legislative elections. The visits took place in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo and include bodies such as the Superior Electoral Court, the National Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Petrobras, and technology companies, since one of the intentions is to start studies to implement the electronic voting system in the country.
The group was received by USP’s president, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, and the vice-provost, Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda, who is also vice-president of the Brazilian Institutions Observatory Research Center (COI).
“We are not only very grateful for this visit, but also completely open and available for any kind of support and information that the commission needs for the success of its mission,” the president said. “Our university has a strong vocation for partnerships with institutions in Latin America and with Portuguese-speaking African countries, and therefore, it is a great satisfaction for us to be able to collaborate, in some way, at this moment in Mozambique’s history, just as we strive to contribute to Brazilian democracy itself, which, historically speaking, is still young and not yet fully consolidated. Here at USP, we have political plurality, including faculty members participating in governments of various leanings, always maintaining a constructive relationship with Brazilian institutions” Carlotti said.
Maria Arminda explained the COI’s work and how it fits into the context of Cremod: “It’s interesting that a public university was included in their survey, as universities have been a stronghold for preserving the most important civilizational principles. USP has been playing this role in a highly relevant way and, especially at the COI, we have a branch focused on the theme of democracy and inequality, whose studies will certainly be able to support the proposals to be developed by the Mozambican authorities.”
The delegation was led by Aguiar Mazula, a former Mozambican representative and former Minister of Labor, State Administration, and Defense. The lawyer and university professor Augusto Paulino, the vice-leader of the opposition Renamo party, Saimone Macuiana, the former member of the National Elections Commission, Lano Legonha, the senior economist from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Xadreque Miambo, and the computer engineer from the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Leonildo Malache, were also at the meeting.
“Living in a democracy these days has not been an easy task, but we are learning a great deal through dialogue with other institutional actors and with partners from other countries, as has been the case here in Brazil. We could not miss the opportunity to speak with USP, not only because of its scientific and cultural relevance throughout the region, but also because it is clear how university institutions have contributed to the processes of consolidating and preserving democracy. At the same time, having the support of USP’s Observatory of Institutions will be of great value to our work”, Mazula said.
Gustavo Monaco, a professor at USP’s Law School (FD) and executive director of the University Foundation for Admissions (Fuvest), was responsible for facilitating the visit and also participated in the meeting. He emphasized that USP is currently at a very productive level of exchange with Mozambican institutions, with various agreements and joint programs underway.
English version: Nexus Traduções, edited by Denis Pacheco
