What are the issues for Latin America at the 77th UN General Assembly?

Washington D.C.—

The 33 Latin American countries that begin their speeches this Tuesday before the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN) with the presidents of Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Chile before the forum of nations, arrive – like the rest of ls nations – in times of economic turbulence and inequality.

High inflation has reached historical peaks in more than 40 years in economic powers such as the United States – with the record in June of up to 9.1% inflation– It has been a blow to the pockets of Latin Americans who are still experiencing a slow post-pandemic recovery.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in its most recent report, has said that the region faces “a scenario of low growth and inflationary acceleration presented by the global economy” which, together with lower trade growth ” and the tightening of global financial conditions will negatively affect the countries of the region”.

The economy will grow a regional average of 2.7%, according to the​ ‘Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean: Dynamics and challenges to promote sustainable and inclusive recovery‘, growth that would be well below the rebound effect that the region experienced in 2021 after the reopening after the closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020.

“In a context of multiple objectives and growing restrictions, a coordination of macroeconomic policies is required to support the acceleration of growth, investment, the reduction of poverty and inequality, while confronting inflationary dynamics”, declared Mario Cimoli, interim executive secretary of ECLAC, when presenting the report at the end of August.

Unsustainable climate change denial

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, recently warned that this General Assembly “meets at a time of great danger” because “the geostrategic gaps are the widest since at least the Cold War”, which makes it difficult to provide a response to the “dramatic challenges we face”.

The head of the highest body of global consensus has said that this is a context that is marked by the effects of climate change, which has unleashed waves of migration, has deepened poverty in large regions of the world and, more dangerously, has widened inequality.

“Our world is wracked by war, wracked by climate chaos, scarred by hate and shamed by poverty, hunger and inequality (…) the cost-of-living crisis is hitting the hardest people and communities the hardest. poor, with dramatic effects”, Guterres recently said at a press conference.

Guterres has expressed concern that developing countries lack fiscal space “and do not have access to the financial resources necessary to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and protect their people from the devastating impact of climate change.”

In this context, the Latin American nations come to the meeting of presidents, government delegations and civil society, which this year meet in New York under the title: ‘A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions for Interlocking Challenges’.

A transversal inequality in the region

A study carried out by researchers Germán Alarco Tosoni and César Castillo from the Universidad del Pacífico, in Peru, reflects how inequality gaps have widened in the American subcontinent by measuring various indicators from the 1980s until the arrival of the pandemic.

Inequality is understood as the effect of the country’s wealth distribution, at opposite poles: a small minority accumulates more and more wealth and resources, while wide swaths are left behind. Also when the cost of living rises and wages are insufficient to meet basic needs that accumulate over time with a “devastating” effect, according to experts.

“The high inequality has negative economic, social and political impacts, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affirms that economically it generates lower and less sustainable growth in the long term”, explains the report published in the global network of SciELO libraries.

The researchers argue that “high inequality” tends to promote the formation of “bubbles in asset prices, as growth in demand is driven more by consumer credit than by wages and salaries.”

Academics from the Universidad del Pacífico believe that “the high inequality in wealth and income” is a global trend with implications that can have repercussions up to a decade ahead, and that in Latin America they become more acute “sharing this characteristic with climate change, environmental degradation and population ageing.

Analytical look from Washington

The former director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC, Cynthia Arnson, told the voice of america that the Latin American region arrives at the General Assembly in a similar situation to the rest of the emerging markets of the planet with economies under strong inflationary pressure, not seen in the last 25 years.

“The prices of the basic basket are on the rise, affecting the poor especially and the food security of tens of millions of people. Inflation together with the increase in interest rates already affects the public debt”, explains the expert.

For Cynthia Arnson, who currently works as a researcher at the Woodrow Wilson Center in the US capital, it is unfortunate that such crucial issues in the Central American region as setbacks in democratic institutions and human rights violations have no mention in the global discussion. .

“Unfortunately, authoritarianism and the violation of human rights in Central America are not going to be a topic in the General Assembly, much less in a meeting of presidents and national authorities,” Arson points out.

For his part, Eric Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of the Americas (AS/COA), a center for economic analysis on Latin America in the US capital, explained to the VOA that in the context of the 77th General Assembly of the Latin American UN it does not appear at first glance with a leading role due to several factors, although interventions by the “remarkable” presidents are expected.

“Brazil will try to show that the destruction of the Amazon is not as bad as reported, Colombia will denounce the war on drugs, Mexico may present a peace plan for Ukraine that will be ignored. And Gabriel Boric will probably discuss environmental issues.”

However, for Farnsworth it is not expected that the leaders of the region broach the subject of “China in a significant way” and that there are sure to be calls for developed nations to “do more” to help with climate change and economic recovery, but I don’t anticipate much progress on the big issues,” he says. the vice president of AS/COA.

The perspective from Central America

The former representative of El Salvador in the United Nations and ambassador of El Salvador in the United States, Rubén Zamora, told the voice of america that there are organizations in the United Nations such as the human rights organization that is going to mark the agenda of the 77th General Assembly.

“It is very difficult to define the direction of the issue, however there are UN agencies that are more neutral regarding ideologies. The Human Rights, for example, is making very serious statements to both El Salvador and Nicaragua,” Zamora said.

On September 15, the plenary session of the European Parliament overwhelmingly condemned the “repression” in Nicaragua against citizens and religious.

Hours later, the president of El Salvador announced his intention to re-elect himself in the 2024 presidential elections. An impossible path to follow according to three articles of the Constitution of that country.

This panorama makes experts in international relations, such as Napoleón Campos, assure that the “recovery of multilateralism” in the world will be key in the United Nations General Assembly. One, because of its rupture after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and two because in Central America that vision is about to be lost.

“In countries like Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador it seems that this focus on multilateralism is lost and it is believed that the actions carried out by the power in power have supremacy over international commitments,” Campos told the voice of america.

Nicaragua and El Salvador were the only countries in the Central American region that have remained silent in the face of international condemnation of Russia for the war in Eastern Europe. “Apparently these countries do not condemn the ruptures of the international system,” added the expert.

The Assembly will not lack the promotion of more convictions, said Campos, which will leave space for Central America to place itself on the side of the democratic majority or to isolate itself from it.

“The violation of human rights that occurs in Nicaragua and the route that El Salvador is taking does continue the unfortunate events that have led to (…) President Nayib Bukele’s announcement that he is willing to violate the letter of the Constitution for re-election is a fact that only predicts a further deterioration of the country’s political situation, which is already aggravated,” Campos pointed out.

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