🇧🇷Luiz Inácio Lula Da SilvaBrazil · UNGA 81 speech

My compliments to the President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Kadi Lur Rahman from Bangladesh. I greet each of the heads of state and government and delegates present. I address specifically the Secretary-General of the United Nations in particular. Throughout his two terms in office, Antonio Guterres has been a direct witness to the excesses of the superpowers. Mr. President, this is the tenth time I have opened the general debate of this Assembly. Since I first took up to this podium in 2003, this is undoubtedly the most critical moment for the United Nations. The feeling that drives me today is one of indignation. The UN is failing in one of its most important missions to rid humanity of the scourge of war. Its credibility has never been lower. Its ability to protect the most vulnerable, those who have no army or arsenals, has never been so weak. We are all held hostage by the inaction of the Security Council for failing to fulfill its role. In 1946, at the first session of this Assembly, Brazil warned of the high price that the international community would pay for the right to veto. This inherent flaw in the UN Charter granted the great powers the luxury of the insensible. To this original sin, a profound leadership crisis is now added. The year of 2025 record the highest number of armed conflicts since the World War II. Trillions of dollars are funding a new arms race. Geopolitical tensions threaten to transform regional conflicts into a conflagration of global proportions. Those at the helm of crucial decisions must act with responsibility and with a sense of urgency. The leaders of the country, members of the Security Council, must meet. I'm no stranger to the realities of power, but concessions to the law of the stronger have surpassed all limits. This is not idealism, but pure realism. War is not the continuation of politics by other means. It's the complete breakdown of politics. In an interdependent world, leading is to reconcile the interests of the nation with those of humanity. This is the observation of someone who represents a nation that loves peace and freedom, someone who fought against a military dictatorship and defended their country against a coup d'etat. It is the conviction of a plant worker who was elected president three times and who removed Brazil from the hunger map. This General Assembly recently corrected a historical distortion in the world map. It recognized the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. It approves a more accurate representation of the world map. Now it needs to focus on issues crucial for the future of humanity. We are called to choose between multilateralism or unilateralism, democracy or extremism, sovereignty or subordination. These choices require courage, political will, and clarity of objectives. This is what we expect from a statesman. Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin were statesmen. They challenged the past to envision a future of peace. They were defeated by hatred. Generations of Palestinians will carry the pain and trauma left by the genocide of women and children perpetrated By Netanyahu government in Gaza, Israeli civilians pay the price for radicalism and intolerance of Hamas terrorist acts. Persecuting the International Criminal Court and its members encourages these crimes to go unpunished. The UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, must not be silenced for telling the truth. Illegal settlements in the West Bank are making the two-state solution increasingly unviable, essential for Israelis and Palestinians to live in safety. Threatening civilizations with extinction will not bring stability to the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz has become a battleground when it should have remained a vital passage for international trade. Families around the world are paying the price of fuel, fertilizers, and food. The war between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on for five years in a humanitarian drama that continues to claim lives. We all know that there will be no winners on the battlefield. Diplomacy is the only option. Initiatives such as the Friends of Peace group, created by Brazil and China, reveal that there are forces in the international community willing to work towards dialogue. In Latin America and the Caribbean region, geographical proximity to the world's greatest military power is inescapable. especially in the context of renewed hegemonic temptations, Brazil does not fit in anyone's backyard. We need partners with a positive agenda that fosters development. Ideological differences should not hinder higher integration amongst neighbors. The countries in the region have experienced the horrors of authoritarian regimes. We have come a long way to restore popular will. Democracy is once again under threat. We witness once more interference in electoral processes, dividing the world into zones of influence and neocolonial incursions for strategic resources are anachronistic gestures. The Venezuelan people deserve to define their own destiny. Nicaragua will not solve its problems by preventing the opposition from running in the elections. The crisis in Haiti continues to test the limits of the international community's indifference. In Cuba, the world watches in horror as collective punishment is imposed on 10 million people by an illegal economic and energy embargo. Mr. President, Brazil does not underestimate the challenge represented by organized crime. We are ready to face the criminal organizations that terrorize our local communities. Workers are robbed, mothers lose their children, police officers do not make it back home. People are tired of violence, but we will not We will not outsource the responsibility of defending its borders and guaranteeing our population the right to live without fear. We do not need aircraft carriers guarding our waters. We need cooperation to block the flow of weapons and money that feeds crime, organized crime. That's the spirit of the proposal that I personally handed to the U.S. President. We want to fight money laundering carried out by Brazilian criminals abroad. For a long time, Brazilian states acted each in their own way. Crime made the most of the lack of coordination. But this is changing. city of the Amazon state, we created the Amazon International Police Cooperation Center, bringing together public safety authorities from nine Amazon region countries. In 2025, we carried out the biggest operation against organized crime in Brazil's history. We broke records of drug seizures, as well as unlawful assets and resources. We are facing all levels of crime, including the crime tycoons. The Anti-Faction Bill that we just have passed established heavier sentences for organized crime than those carried by terrorism. Organized crime and corruption walk hand in hand. The fight against corruption shall remain relentless, no matter who it hurts. No one is above the law. Ladies and gentlemen, the pillars of multilateralism are being eroded. The World Trade Organization is being kept on life support. When governments capitulate vis-a-vis those who use tariffs as weapons of coercion and blackmail, consequences are harmful. In the age of misinformation, obscurantists resist the evidence of science. We will never forget the millions of lives lost due to the negligence in the fight against COVID-19. Anti-vaccine campaigns are bringing back diseases we thought were eradicated. Weakening the World Health Organization makes everyone more vulnerable. Until recently, the response to climate change was firmly established at the center of the international agenda. This year, however, the topic disappeared from the debates of the G7 and G20, forums that bring together the largest carbon emitters. It is time to resume the offensive and inflict a defeat on denialism. Nature reminds us every day that we live on one planet. The glaciers in the Himalayas are melting. The super El Nino may cause torrential rains, droughts, and forest fires in different parts of the globe. Its effects will hit the most vulnerable the hardest. Brazil has been demonstrating that it is possible to combine economic growth with reduced emissions. We have achieved our self-sufficiency in oil and will continue to explore the potential of new reserves, such as those in the equatorial margin. But we will not abandon the environmental agenda. We will move forward with a roadmap for the decarbonization of the Brazilian economy. The Tropical Forest Forever Facility, launched at COP30 in the city of Belen, shows that it is possible to change old paradigms. The forest is worth more standing than destroyed. We will continue to reduce redeforestation, which has been cut in half in the Amazon and reaching its lowest level in 11 years. We have the moral authority to reject protectionist measures disguised as commitment to the environmental cause. Brazil is a global reference in green energy. We have the critical minerals and the rare earths that the world needs to make the energy transition. Our natural wealth belongs to the Brazilian people and it is in their benefit that it will be exploited. Access to our minerals will be contingent upon mandatory value generation in our territory, technology transfer, and the supply of strategic national sectors. Mr. President, we are living through unprecedented technological revolution with great risks and opportunities. it would be an unforgivable historical omission not to address the challenge of regulating the big techs and artificial intelligence. A handful of technical oligarchs want to resurrect a version of digital ultra liberalism without rules or transparency. They are promoting a race with no ethical boundaries, bypassing the United Nations and the scientific panel on artificial intelligence. As Pope Leo XIV warned, decisions about technology should, quote, "should never be separated from awareness and responsibility," end of quote. Companies that are aware of the risk of their products are transferring the impossible task of confronting algorithm to the families. The billion dollar betting industry turns addiction into profit. Its exponential dissemination is increasing debt levels and destroying homes. Brazil will not tolerate this business model. We passed one of the most advanced pieces of legislations in the world to protect children, adolescents, and women in the digital environment. We will ensure fair compensation for artists, musicians, and other visual content creators. We will not give in to pressure from multinationals that want to privatize our PIX, a free public payment infrastructure that has made financial inclusion a reality for millions of residents. Ladies and gentlemen, the sustainable development goals are currently under attack from reactionary forces that wish to normalize injustices. Inequality and underdevelopment are the result of political choices. It is possible to include the poor in the budget and make the rich pay their share. It is necessary to cut privileges and invest in free, quality education and health care. There is a legitimate desire for change throughout the world, but change is not the same as going backwards. It's not about taking away rights. It's not about reviving theories of racial supremacy or female subjugation. It's not about recolonizing the global South. Change means moving towards a more participatory future and more achievements. It is about creating and sharing effective public solutions to development challenge through a democratic, strong, efficient and capable state. It's about betting on the spirit of solidarity and cooperation with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean region. Initiatives such as the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, Launched by Brazil and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Inequality, launched by South Africa's team from this political will, Brazil is in a hurry to become a developed and socially fair nation. We have adopted an economic model based on income distribution, job creation, and wage increases. We are invested in improving productivity, expanding credit, and building a robust social safety net. Brazil has returned to sustainable growth. We are the third largest destination of foreign direct investment. Despite the high tariffs imposed against our economy, this year we shall break a new record in our exports. There's still much to be done. The world of work is undergoing a transformation. Older people want to stay active. Young people want to become entrepreneurs. Workers need time to rest, improve their skills, and spend time with their families in Brazil. Achieving this goal requires ending the so-called six times one working schedule to guarantee workers two days off per week. This change is crucial to alleviate the domestic burden that still falls on women. We are building a Brazil where women don't need permission to occupy positions of power or enter the job market, a country free from femicide, where no woman, inside or outside their home, lives under the threat of violence, where Once again, no woman inside or outside their home lives under the threat of violence. This is a cause that the whole world needs to embrace. Mr. President, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Martin Luther King stated, quote, "What self-centered men have torn down, other centered men can build up," end of quote. The UN was born under the sign of hope. Over eight decades, it has contributed to the decolonization, promoted human rights, and supported sustainable development. It has protected migrants and refugees, condemned racism, anti-Semitism, and religious intolerance. These were achievements of leaders who took up to this podium driven by indignation at the injustices of their time. Men and women who refused to accept war as a destiny, colonialism as a right, apartheid as a legitimate system. It was from this ability to say no to inequalities that some of the greatest transformations we have experienced were born. Faced with the paralysis of the United Nations, we need to rediscover the political will so that it may once again become a temple of peace. I want to conclude with a message from my country to everyone who is listening. On October the 4th, millions of Brazilians will go to the polls to define their destiny. They're not just voting for president of the republic, state governors, and representatives of the legislative branch. They will decide between democracy and denialism, if Brazil will move towards a future with more opportunities or go back to a past of exclusion. We shall have competitive and transparent elections where every candidate benefits from the broadest freedom of speech. We know that some abuse of this freedom to associate themselves with foreign interests against the country. We do not underestimate the challenge of misinformation networks that aim to distort public debate during the campaign. But we have a modern and robust election system Under the watchful eye of a pluralistic citizenry and a free press, we will not allow the enemies of democracy, whether domestic or foreign, to undermine popular will. Brazilian democracy belongs to Brazilians. Brazil continues to be a sovereign country. Nobody, nobody will turn us away from this path. May God bless us all. And thank you very much.