Global threats such as the war in Ukraine, the food crisis, the climate emergency or escalating inflation will mix in the Speeches by Latin American leaders this week at the UN with problems close to their realities, such as the fight against drugs in Colombia, the constitutional framework of Chile, the US sanctions on Venezuela or the Argentine claim of the Malvinas.
The Brazilian President Jair Bolsonarowill be in charge of opening the interventions of the leaders before the plenary session of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which will begin on Tuesday 20 and end on Monday 26.
(Read: Government of Colombia meets with the largest dissident group of the Farc).
After Bolsonaro, it will be the turn of the American president, Joe Biden, and then the Chilean, Gabriel Boric. The Brazilian president, who aspires to re-election in the elections on October 2, has anticipated that his speech before the General Assembly will serve as an electoral platform to address Brazilian voters, as anticipated at a press conference this week by the secretary of Multilateral Affairs of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Paulino Carvalho.
Bolsonaro will also address issues on the global agenda, including theThe world economic situation after the pandemicthe war in Ukraine and the need to guarantee food sovereignty and strengthen sustainable development.
Unlike the Brazilian leader, Gabriel Boric prefers to keep the content of his first speech before the UN General Assembly confidential, sources from the Palacio de La Moneda explained to EFE, but analysts believe that he will be in line with thehe delivered at the Summit of the Americasheld in Los Angeles (USA) at the beginning of June.
On that occasion, which marked his debut at a multinational forum, the progressive leader urged to eradicate tax havens and encourage inter-American trade, called for coordinated solutions for emigration, expressed concern about rising prices and proposed acting quickly and effectively in the protection of the environment, with special mention to ethical mining and renewable energies.
According to experts, the Chilean president will address issues of a global nature, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and will defend the balance between China -one of its main trading partners- the United States and the European Union, in the current context of rivalry for hegemony world.
The main unknown in Boric’s intervention is How will you describe the internal situation in your country? after the overwhelming rejection of the draft of the new Constitution that was submitted to a plebiscite on September 4 and that has opened a period of uncertainty about how to continue with the constitutional process.
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For his part, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who took office last August, will speak for the first time in the UN General Assembly to put on the table the need to implement urgent actions to stop the global climate crisis, a threat that, as he has said, puts the existence of the “human species” at risk.
(Read: Government admits drug shortages but denies shortages).
In keeping with this concern, Petro will propose a dialogue between the United States and Latin America to undertake “an energy transition” that leads to a “decarbonized economy”. The new relationship with Washington also includes a different approach in the fight against drugs, because the one that has been applied until now, in his opinion, has not only failed, but has also compromised democracy in his country.
Petro is also expected to talk about your “total peace” initiativea priority of his Government that includes the negotiation of an agreement with the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and expanding his offer of peace to the criminal gangs and the FARC dissidents, for which the support of the international community.
Regarding Argentina, official sources consulted by EFE indicated that in President Alberto Fernández’s speech before the UN General Assembly “the issue of political violence will surely be present”, after the failed attack against the vice president, Cristina Fernández , which occurred on September 1, an assassination attempt that, according to the Government, has occurred in a context of growing political aggressiveness and “hate speech”.
In his speech, the Argentine president will also speak of the effects of the war in Ukraine on prices, access to food and energy on a global scale, but with a particularly negative impact on less developed countries, as well as the contribution that Argentina can make as a major producer of agri-food and hydrocarbons. In addition, as is customary in every speech by an Argentine president before the UN, Fernández will reiterate Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and the request for the United Kingdom to sit at a negotiating table.
A five-year global truce
Meanwhile, the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorhas announced that it will propose to the United Nations to form a committee to achieve dialogue and peace between Russia and Ukraine and sign a truce among all the nations of the world for at least five years that includes the suspension of military actions and provocations, as well as of military tests.
(See: How viable is it to implement Petro’s pension proposal?).
López Obrador will propose that this committee be made up of Pope Francis, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, while demanding the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and the start of direct talks between Presidents Volodimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
The authorization of the Congress of Peru so that the president, Pedro Castillo, can travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly has been a surprise, considering the confrontation that both institutions have had since Castillo agreed to the leadership fourteen months ago of the State. In fact, Parliament does not allowed to attend the inauguration of Gustavo Petro on August 5.
But on this occasion, Congress, the scene of the political fragmentation of the country, has given him permission and Castillo will also be able to attend the summit on education that is being held tomorrow, Monday, in which the Peruvian president, a teacher by profession, will feel especially comfortable. Venezuela’s participation is unknown. The intervention of Nicolás Maduro is not guaranteed, and if he does speak, it will probably be virtually, because the United States has prohibited him from entering since August 2017, in application of a package of sanctions against the Chavista regime.
In the event that Maduro wants to travel to the United Nations headquarters in New York to participate in the General Assembly, the United States would study the request, but nothing has transpired so far. In the event that he intervenes telematically, Nicolás Maduro will focus, according to analysts, on the US threat to impose new sanctions on Venezuela if it does not resume negotiations with the opposition, suspended in October last year by decision of the Government.
(Read: Energy prices: pros and cons of measures taken by the Government).
Likewise, he will reject the interference and manipulation that, in his opinion, Washington exercises against Venezuela and other countries, such as Nicaragua or Cuba, and will defend the sovereignty of nations and multilateralism, against capitalism. In addition, he will denounce the campaign that, in his opinion, the West maintains against Russia in the war in Ukraine, and will not miss the opportunity to recall that when the world is going through a serious energy crisis, Venezuela has resources that are available to the countries that need them, but under the conditions imposed by the Caribbean country.
EFE
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