President Lula spoke at the virtual summit “Second Voices of the Global South” organized by the Indian government.
President Lula
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247 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva emphasized this Friday (17) the need for a new paradigm in international relations. Speaking at the virtual summit “Second Voices of the Global South,” Lula stressed that the global South should not antagonize countries to the north, but should strive for a fairer order in which everyone has a voice.
Lula criticized the way the Global South is historically portrayed and categorized and emphasized the need to recognize and embrace a collective identity based on shared struggles. “We adopt without considering other people’s points of view that do not benefit us. We were called third world, developing countries, divided into emerging countries and less developed countries, low and middle income countries,” the president said.
He continued, rejecting the idea that the Global South was too diverse to unite, before recalling the countries’ common characteristics, such as the fight against colonialism and economic development.
The Brazilian head of state also addressed the need for global governance reform and highlighted the failures of current international institutions. He referred to the recent vetoes of Brazilian resolutions in the UN Security Council, but without mentioning the United States.
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“It is necessary to reform global governance. International institutions are bankrupt, as the current wars show. Solutions for peace are repeatedly thwarted by the right of veto,” he said.
Lula recalled that in his speech to the UN General Assembly this year he proposed making reducing inequality the central goal of the international agenda. “I proposed at the United Nations that we adopt reducing inequality as a central goal, otherwise the gap between rich and poor countries will only widen,” he stressed.
He also highlighted the consequences of inaction, including stark inequalities, the impacts of climate change and the predatory exploitation of resources such as critical minerals.
The President reiterated the Global South’s intention to strive for a more just order, concluding: “As a Global South, our intention is not to anger the socalled North, but to achieve a just order in which everyone has a voice. We will speak louder when we talk to each other.”