The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) begins this coming Tuesday (22), in New York, and Brazil, following the body’s tradition, will be the country to open the work. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is expected to be the first to speak at the event that brings together 193 Member States until September 28th in the American city.
The expectation is that Lula will focus his speech on UN reform, with the expansion of the permanent members of the Security Council. Currently, Brazil occupies a rotating chair, but has been demanding a deeper change in the main body of the United Nations for years.
The Brazilian president must also defend multilateralism and the sovereignty of States, demanding a negotiated solution to the main conflicts around the world. The speech should be marked by a strong political charge, with direct messages to the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
As a precursor to what will come tomorrow, Lula gave an interview to the network CNN on Monday (21), taking the opportunity to call the Republican “emperor”, stating that he does not agree with Trump’s way of governing. “He has a way of governing based on ‘I’m the strongest, the most powerful, I’m the richest, I can do anything’, and everyone else has to obey; it’s the law of the strongest,” said Lula.
Lula must also present a counterpoint to Washington’s efforts on Latin American countries. Since the end of last year, the Trump administration has put into practice the new National Security Strategy, in which the United States explicitly began to establish coercion mechanisms for countries such as Colombia, Peru and Chile, formalizing exploration and partnership agreements in the area of security.
On the American side, Trump must repeat his critical tone towards the UN itself, as he did in 2025. On that occasion, the Republican classified the organization’s climate agenda as a “fraud” and claimed, without providing any basis, that it would have ended conflicts around the world.
Now, the Middle East is expected to occupy an important part of the US president’s speech. The expectation is that Trump will use the UN platform to defend US actions against Iran, which has been a target since February. Trump’s foreign agenda will also be important: the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, confirmed a meeting between Trump and the president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez.
The week at the UN will also be marked by debates regarding who will succeed the Portuguese António Guterres as head of the entity. One of the strongest candidates is that of the former president of Costa Rica, Rebeca Grynspan, who is ahead of Guyana’s ambassador to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
