President and reelection candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PL) will hold the opening speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in New York this Tuesday (20 September). Brazil arrives at the event with a $306 million debt to the UN, the equivalent of R$1.5 billion. The data was collected by the entity at the request of BBC News Brasil. The value does not include debts between Brazil and other international organizations.
Under UN rules, if a country accumulates a debt of at least two years relative to its regular contributions, it can lose the right to vote. Brazil made some debt payments to avoid this scenario.
The loss of voting rights has never happened to Brazil since the organization was founded in 1945. According to the UN press office, there is currently no evidence of a change in Brazil’s voting rights.
When asked, the Brazilian government provided various figures on the debt and said it had “spared no effort” to pay off Brazil’s debt to the UN, but said it relied on a budgetary supplement that depended on the executive and legislature pay off the debt. .
According to UN rules, each member state has to pay contributions for the proper functioning of the facility. These values are calculated using criteria such as the size of each country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Brazil accounts for 2% of the unit’s regular budget. The United States is the country responsible for the highest percentage: 22%.
2 of 3 Under UN rules, a country can lose the right to vote if it accumulates two years or more of debt. — Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Under UN rules, a country can lose the right to vote if it accumulates two years or more of debt. — Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
In addition to regular contributions, countries must also contribute to UN peacekeeping missions. Since the founding of the UN, Brazil has been one of the most active countries in peacekeeping missions around the world. In 2004, for example, he headed the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
According to a survey conducted by the UN, of the US$306.7 million that Brazil owes to the organization, US$249 million relates to debts Brazil has accumulated to the organization’s peacekeeping missions in other years.
Another $56.4 million relates to the amount that Brazil is expected to pay as regular contributions to the UN budget.
The remainder, about $1 million, is related to Brazil’s debts to international courts designed to try war crimes in the Balkans and the African continent.
BBC News Brazil asked the UN for a full list of debtor countries but received no response. The entity only said that of the 193 member countries, 125 had already paid off their regular dues by September this year.
Also according to the UN, partial payments by the Brazilian government between the months of May, June and July of this year are already included in the debt.
Diplomats interviewed by BBC News Brasil reluctantly say these payments have been made for a number of years to prevent Brazil from losing its voting rights at the UN General Assembly.
They compare these payments to revolving credit payments on a credit card, where only a percentage of the debt is paid off to avoid default.
When asked, both the Itamaraty and the Economy Ministry presented differing data on the value of Brazil’s debt to the UN.
The Itamaraty said through its press office that Brazil’s debt to the organization is $296 million, about $10 million less than the amount presented by the UN.
The ministry said the remittances to settle debts are the responsibility of the Economy Ministry.
3 of 3 Brazil accounts for 2% of the regular UN budget. — Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Brazil is responsible for 2% of the regular UN budget. — Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
When asked, the Commerce Department gave an even lower figure: $232.6 million.
Based on the data provided by the ministry, the debt of Brazil as determined by the United Nations would be higher than that recorded in September 2021, which totaled $255.8 million. However, the amount would be lower than the debt recognized in previous years.
In 2020, Brazil’s debt was $352.1 million, according to the ministry. In 2019 it was $411.6 million. In 2018, the debt was $352.1 million.
The debts date back to the Dilma period, experts emphasize
Experts polled by BBC News Brasil say Brazil’s debt to the United Nations began to deteriorate during former President Dilma Rousseff’s (PT) second term, but say debt management is a reflection of international politics commanded by President Bolsonaro.
“If we look at the data we see that by the end of Dilma’s government things ‘got out of hand’ University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Dawisson Belém Lopes.
For international relations doctor and professor at the Department of Defense’s Higher School of War (ESG), Mariana Kalil, while it’s not the first time Brazil has owed the UN, it needs to pay the country’s current debt to the entity take into account the political context of the country.
“The difference is the context. There is undoubtedly the problem of the pandemic, which has affected several countries financially, but there is also an ‘antiglobalist’ rhetoric coming out of Brazil, which, alongside the problem of delays in finance, contributes to the country’s commitment to the multilateral order after World War II check,” said the professor.
“Antiglobalism” is an ideological current characterized by questioning the multilateral order in which countries would act coordinated through bodies such as the UN itself. In Brazil, one of the main defenders of this ideology was former foreign minister in the Bolsonaro government, Ernesto Araújo.
According to the transparency portal, the government has set aside $211 million to pay contributions to the UN. Only $33 million of that total has been spent to date.
In a statement, the Economy Ministry said the cause of Brazil’s debt to the UN was “insufficient budgetary allocation”.
Asked about the forecast for debt settlement, the ministry said there must be “additional provisions to the LOA (Annual Budget Act) for debt settlement.”
The Itamaraty, in turn, attributed the debt to “fiscal constraints” in the federal budget.
“Debts include amounts in various currencies and their payment, like other budgetary measures, is subject to fiscal restrictions imposed on the federal budget, within the amounts provided for in the Annual Budget Law,” the ministry said in a statement sent to the BBC News Brazil.
According to Itamaraty, the government has also tried to “equate” the debt with the UN.
“The Brazilian government has spared no effort to resolve the debt situation with the United Nations, in line with the country’s historic commitment to the multilateral system and the UN Charter,” the agency said.
Bolsonaro is expected to deliver the first speech of the heads of state in the general debate of the UN General Assembly this Tuesday morning (September 20). The speech is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. He is expected to return to Brazil in the late afternoon.
This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil62966074