As announced by President Rodrigo Chaves on June 22nd, the Government announced this past Monday the creation of the Social Inclusion Commissioner and appointed journalist, political scientist and sociologist Ricardo Sossa Ortiz.
This commissioner, reported the Presidential House, will attend to issues related to “disability, the rights of indigenous people, Afro-descendants, the LGTBIQ+ community, among others,” whom Sossa commits to embrace “without any distinction other than respecting their particularities, knowing and firmly believing that none is superior to another.”
Sossa’s statements contained in the press release refer to those of the president himself, who almost three weeks ago wondered “why only” the LGBTIQ+ community should “have a commissioner.” “What about the indigenous people, the Afro-descendants, the disabled?” he said.
Chaves assured that “spring should not distinguish gardens and governments have always distinguished gardens” and then announced that “a commissioner will be appointed for social integration issues, which will cover various areas.” This was advanced before a query from the media inquiry at a press conference.
Free and equal in dignity and rights
Sossa now points out that the basis of his work as Social Inclusion Commissioner will be his conviction that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and, endowed as they are with reason and conscience, they should behave towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
According to the government statement, in addition to the aforementioned professions, in recent years Sossa “has dedicated himself to work for the benefit of the sick and most vulnerable people.” He, according to the same source, “firmly believes in the equality of human beings and their inalienable rights such as freedom and the pursuit of happiness.”
The Government cites article 2 of the Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political opinion or any other other nature, national or social origin, economic position, birth or any other condition”. The Executive’s announcement indicates that Sossa’s appointment is effective from this Monday, July 18th, 2022.
