Jair Bolsonaro’s government is considering including attacks on PT governments in the opening speech of the UN General Assembly. This Tuesday, the Brazilian will be the first head of state to take the podium at the United Nations to speak, and in one of the draft texts that will be read, it is possible that he will criticize previous governments.
The speech, which was made with information from various ministries, should only be closed in its final version on Monday night. One of the elements being assessed is whether such references could be challenged by the opposition in eventual proceedings before the Supreme Electoral Court.
Senior members of the Itamaraty have already made it clear they oppose outright attacks on other Brazilian parties, while diplomats are looking for alternatives to avoid embarrassment.
However, Bolsonaro must use the court to introduce his threeandahalfyear reign and signal to the world that the country has already made commitments to reduce deforestation. So far, however, the figures show that these goals are not being met and the problems are only getting worse.
The attack on “communism” and the assurance that corruption is being fought in Brazil can also be included in the approximately tenminute speeches.
Another of the president’s highlights is likely to be the country’s economic situation, which his cabinet rated positively. However, he will not mention the existence of 33 million starving Brazilians or the pandemic’s death toll of almost 700,000, one of the highest numbers in the world.
Before Bolsonaro speaks, however, the UN tribune will be manned by the entity’s secretarygeneral, Antonio Guterres. He promises to send messages that leaders like the Brazilian might not like.
“The solidarity envisaged in the United Nations Charter is being eaten up by the acids of nationalism and selfinterest,” the Portuguese said last week, anticipating part of his message.
According to him, this international solidarity is “undermined by a shocking contempt for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, by politicians playing on people’s worst instincts for party gains, by prejudice, discrimination, disinformation and hate speech directed at people against… upset each other”.