Brazil

Madam President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, Mr. Secretary-General, António Guterres, Dear Heads of State and Government and representatives of the Member States gathered here,

This should be a moment of celebration for the United Nations.

Created at the end of the War, the UN symbolizes the highest expression of the aspiration for peace and prosperity.

Today, however, the ideals that inspired its founders in San Francisco are threatened as never before in its entire history.

Multilateralism stands at a new crossroads.

The authority of this Organization is in question.

We are witnessing the consolidation of an international disorder marked by repeated concessions to power politics.

Attacks on sovereignty, arbitrary sanctions, and unilateral interventions are becoming the rule.

There is a clear parallel between the crisis of multilateralism and the weakening of democracy.

Authoritarianism grows stronger when we fail to act in the face of arbitrary abuses.

When international society wavers in defending peace, sovereignty, and law, the consequences are tragic.

All around the world, anti-democratic forces attempt to subjugate institutions and stifle freedoms.

They glorify violence, extol ignorance, act as physical and digital militias, and curtail the press.

Even under unprecedented attack, Brazil has chosen to resist and defend its democracy, reconquered forty years ago by its people, after two decades of dictatorial governments.

There is no justification for unilateral and arbitrary measures against our institutions and our economy.

The assault on the independence of the Judiciary is unacceptable.

This interference in internal affairs has the assistance of a subservient far right, nostalgic for old hegemonies.

False patriots plot and publicly promote actions against Brazil.

There can be no pacification with impunity.

A few days ago, and for the first time in 525 years of our history, a former Head of State was convicted for attacking the Democratic Rule of Law.

He was investigated, indicted, tried, and held accountable for his actions through a thorough process.

He had full right to a defense, a prerogative that dictatorships deny their victims.

Before the eyes of the world, Brazil sent a message to all would-be autocrats and to those who support them: our democracy and our sovereignty are non-negotiable.

We will continue as an independent nation and as a people free from any kind of tutelage.

Solid democracies go beyond the electoral ritual.

Their strength presupposes the reduction of inequalities and the guarantee of the most basic rights: food, security, work, housing, education, and health.

Democracy fails when women earn less than men or die at the hands of partners and family members.

It loses when it closes its doors and blames migrants for the world's ills.

Poverty is as much an enemy of democracy as extremism.

That is why it was with pride that we received confirmation from the FAO that Brazil has once again come off the Hunger Map in 2025.

But in the world, there are still 670 million hungry people. About 2.3 billion face food insecurity.

The only war from which everyone can emerge victorious is the one we wage against hunger and poverty.

That is the goal of the Global Alliance we launched at the G20, which already has the support of 103 countries.

The international community needs to review its priorities:

• Reduce spending on wars and increase development assistance;
• Ease the external debt service of the poorest countries, especially in Africa; and
• Define minimum global taxation standards, so that the super-rich pay more taxes than workers.

Democracy is also measured by its capacity to protect families and childhood.

Digital platforms bring possibilities to bring us closer than we ever imagined.

But they have been used to sow intolerance, misogyny, xenophobia, and disinformation.

The internet cannot be a "lawless land." It is up to public authorities to protect the most vulnerable.

Regulating is not restricting freedom of expression. It is ensuring that what is already illegal in the real world is treated the same way in the virtual environment.

Attacks on regulation serve to conceal shady interests and shelter crimes such as fraud, human trafficking, pedophilia, and attacks against democracy.

The Brazilian Parliament rightly moved quickly to address this problem.

With pride, I signed into law last week one of the most advanced laws in the world for the protection of children and adolescents in the digital sphere.

We have also sent bills to the National Congress to foster competition in digital markets and to encourage the installation of sustainable data centers.

To mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence, we are committed to building multilateral governance in line with the Global Digital Compact approved in this very chamber last year.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In Latin America and the Caribbean, we are experiencing a moment of growing polarization and instability.

Keeping the region as a zone of peace is our priority.

We are a continent free of weapons of mass destruction, without ethnic or religious conflicts.

The equating of crime with terrorism is worrying.

The most effective way to combat drug trafficking is cooperation to crack down on money laundering and limit the arms trade.

Using lethal force in situations that do not constitute armed conflict is tantamount to executing people without trial.

Other parts of the planet have already witnessed interventions that caused greater harm than they intended to prevent, with serious humanitarian consequences.

The path of dialogue must not be closed off in Venezuela.

Haiti has a right to a future free of violence.

And it is unacceptable that Cuba be listed as a country that sponsors terrorism.

In the conflict in Ukraine, we all already know there will be no military solution.

The recent meeting in Alaska raised hopes of a negotiated way out.

It is necessary to pave the way toward a realistic solution.

This means taking into account the legitimate security concerns of all parties.

The African Initiative and the Group of Friends for Peace, created by China and Brazil, can help promote dialogue.

No situation is more emblematic of the disproportionate and illegal use of force than that of Palestine.

The terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas are indefensible from any angle.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

There, under tons of rubble, lie buried tens of thousands of innocent women and children.

There, too, lie buried International Humanitarian Law and the myth of the West's ethical superiority.

This massacre would not happen without the complicity of those who could prevent it.

In Gaza, hunger is used as a weapon of war and the forced displacement of populations is practiced with impunity.

I express my admiration for the Jews, within and outside Israel, who oppose this collective punishment.

The Palestinian people risk disappearing.

They will only survive with an independent state, integrated into the international community.

This is the solution defended by more than 150 members of the UN, reaffirmed yesterday, here in this very chamber, but blocked by a single veto.

It is regrettable that President Mahmoud Abbas was prevented by the host country from occupying Palestine's seat at this historic moment.

The spread of this conflict to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Qatar is fueling an unprecedented arms race.

Madam President,

Bombs and nuclear weapons will not protect us from the climate crisis.

2024 was the hottest year on record.

COP30, in Belém, will be the COP of truth.

It will be the moment for world leaders to prove the seriousness of their commitment to the planet.

Without having the full picture of the Nationally Determined Contributions (the NDCs), we will walk blindfolded toward the abyss.

Brazil has committed to reducing its emissions by between 59 and 67%, covering all greenhouse gases and all sectors of the economy.

Developing nations face climate change while simultaneously fighting other challenges.

Meanwhile, rich countries enjoy a standard of living obtained at the cost of two hundred years of emissions.

Demanding greater ambition and greater access to resources and technologies is not a matter of charity, but of justice.

The race for critical minerals, essential for the energy transition, must not reproduce the predatory logic that marked the past centuries.

In Belém, the world will come to know the reality of the Amazon.

Brazil has already halved deforestation in the region over the last two years.

Eradicating it requires guaranteeing decent living conditions for its millions of inhabitants.

Fostering sustainable development is the goal of the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, which Brazil intends to launch to compensate countries that keep their forests standing.

The time has come to move from the negotiation phase to the implementation stage.

The world owes much to the regime created by the Climate Convention.

But it is necessary to bring the fight against climate change to the heart of the UN, so that it receives the attention it deserves.

A Council linked to the General Assembly with the strength and legitimacy to monitor commitments will bring coherence to climate action.

This is a fundamental step toward a more comprehensive reform of the Organization, which should also include an expanded Security Council in both categories of membership.

Few areas have regressed as much as the multilateral trading system.

Unilateral measures turn basic principles such as the Most Favored Nation clause into dead letter.

They disorganize value chains and plunge the world economy into a pernicious spiral of high prices and stagnation.

It is urgent to refound the WTO on modern and flexible foundations.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This year, the world lost two exceptional personalities: former President of Uruguay, Pepe Mujica, and Pope Francis.

Both embodied, like no others, the best humanist values.

Their lives were intertwined with the eight decades of the UN's existence.

If they were still among us, they would probably use this podium to remind us:

• That authoritarianism, environmental degradation, and inequality are not inevitable;
• That the only ones defeated are those who fold their arms in resignation;
• That we can defeat the false prophets and oligarchs who exploit fear and monetize hatred; and
• That tomorrow is made of daily choices, and it takes courage to act in order to transform it.

In the future that Brazil envisions, there is no room for a repeat of ideological rivalries or spheres of influence.

Confrontation is not inevitable.

We need leaders with clarity of vision, who understand that the international order is not a "zero-sum game."

The 21st century will be increasingly multipolar. To remain peaceful, it cannot stop being multilateral.

Brazil attaches growing importance to the European Union, the African Union, ASEAN, CELAC, BRICS, and the G20.

The voice of the Global South must be heard.

The UN today has nearly four times as many members as the 51 that were present at its founding.

Our historic mission is to make it once again a bearer of hope and a promoter of equality, peace, sustainable development, diversity, and tolerance.

May God bless us all.

Thank you very much.