Brazil, 2010

It is a great honour for me

to come to this rostrum to speak on behalf of the

people and Government of Brazil. I bring the greetings

of President Lula.

Within days, over 130 million Brazilians will go

to the polls and will write another important chapter in

the history of our democracy. During President Lula’s

two terms, Brazil has changed. Sustained economic

growth, financial stability, social inclusion and the full

exercise of democracy have converged and reinforced

each another. Over 20 million Brazilians rose out of

poverty, and many others out of extreme poverty.

Nearly 30 million people joined the middle class.

Strong and transparent public policies reduced

inequalities in income, access and opportunities.

Millions of Brazilians rose to dignity and real

citizenship. The strengthened domestic market

protected us from the worst effects of the global crisis

set in motion by the financial casino in the richest

countries in the world.

Brazil is proud to have achieved almost all of the

Millennium Development Goals and to be well on the

way to meeting them all by 2015. The inability of any

country to achieve those Goals must be seen as a

failure of the entire international community. The

promotion of development is a collective responsibility.

Brazil has been working to assist other countries to

replicate its successful experiences. In the past years

Brazil’s actions on the international stage have been

driven by a sense of solidarity. We are convinced that it

is possible to have a humanistic foreign policy without

losing sight of national interests. That policy is

supported by South-South cooperation. The IBSA

Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation, created by

India, Brazil and South Africa, finances projects in

Haiti, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Palestine,

Cambodia, Burundi, Laos and Sierra Leone. Brazil has

substantially increased its humanitarian aid and the

number of its cooperation projects with poorer

countries.

Africa occupies a very special place in Brazilian

diplomacy. Since taking office, President Lula has been

to Africa 11 times and visited over 20 countries in the

continent. We have set up an agricultural research

office in Ghana, a model cotton farm in Mali, a

manufacturing plant for antiretroviral drugs in

Mozambique and professional training centres in five

African countries. Through trade and investment, we

are helping the African continent to develop its

enormous potential and reduce its dependency on a few

centres of political and economic power.

Brazil is particularly concerned about Guinea-

Bissau. It is not by isolating or abandoning Guinea-

Bissau that the international community will help it

address the challenges it still faces. We need intelligent

modalities for cooperation, which can promote

development and stability and encourage the necessary

reforms, especially with regard to the armed forces.

This year, in which a significant number of

African countries celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of

their decolonization, Brazil renews its commitment to

an independent, prosperous, just and democratic

Africa.

There are few places where international

solidarity is more needed than Haiti. We joined the

United Nations in mourning the tragedy that took the

lives of hundreds of thousands of Haitians. We

ourselves lost great Brazilians, including Dr. Zilda

Arns — a woman who dedicated her life to the poor,

especially children — Mr. Luiz Carlos da Costa,

Deputy Head of the United Nations Stabilization

Mission in Haiti, and 18 of our peacekeepers.

We would like to express our compassion for the

suffering of the Haitian people and, above all, our

admiration for the stoicism and courage with which

they have been facing adversity. The Haitian people

know that they can count on Brazil to not only help

them maintain order and defend democracy, but also

assist in their development. We are keeping our

promises and will keep a watchful eye on the situation

to ensure that the commitments of the international

community go beyond rhetorical statements.

10-54827 6

In recent years, the Brazilian Government has

invested heavily in South America’s integration and

peace. We have strengthened our strategic partnership

with Argentina. We have reinforced MERCOSUR,

including through financial mechanisms unique among

developing countries.

The establishment of the Union of South

American Nations (UNASUR) aims at consolidating a

genuine zone of peace and prosperity. UNASUR has

already demonstrated its value in promoting

understanding and the peaceful resolution of conflicts

among and within countries in South America and has

made foreign interference in our region even more

unwarranted. By creating the Community of Latin

American and Caribbean States, launched in Bahia,

Brazil and confirmed in Cancún, Mexico, we have

reaffirmed the region’s willingness to extend to Central

America and the Caribbean the integrationist ideals

that animate South Americans.

Brazil reiterates its condemnation, shared by all

in Latin America and the Caribbean, of the illegitimate

embargo against Cuba. Its sole result has been to

hamper the efforts of millions of Cubans in their

struggle for development.

We condemn anti-democratic moves, such as the

coup d’état in Honduras. The return of former

President Zelaya without threats to his freedom is

indispensable for the full normalization of Honduras’

relations with the region as a whole.

When President Lula first spoke in this Hall, in

2003, the world lived under the shadow of the invasion

of Iraq. We hope we have learned the lessons of that

episode. Blind faith in intelligence reports tailored to

justify political goals must be rejected. We must ban

once and for all the use of force that is inconsistent

with international law. Furthermore, it is fundamental

to value and promote dialogue and the peaceful

resolution of disputes.

In order to achieve a truly secure world, the

promise of the total elimination of nuclear weapons

must be fulfilled. Unilateral reductions are welcome

but insufficient, especially when they occur in tandem

with the modernization of nuclear arsenals.

As President Lula has often stated,

multilateralism is the international face of democracy.

The United Nations must be the main center of

decision-making in international politics.

The changes that have occurred in the world over

the past few decades and the series of crises we have

faced in food security, climate change, the economic

and financial sphere and peace and security make it

urgent to redefine the rules that govern international

relations.

The financial crisis of 2008 accelerated change in

global economic governance. The Group of Twenty

(G-20) replaced the Group of Eight as the primary

forum for deliberation on economic issues. The G-20

was a step forward, but it must be adjusted to ensure,

for instance, greater African participation. The

relevance and legitimacy of the G-20 can be preserved

only if it maintains frank and permanent dialogue with

all the nations represented in this General Assembly.

At the height of the crisis, we succeeded in

avoiding the worst-case scenario: a surge of

uncontrolled protectionism, which would have thrown

the world into a deep depression. But the developed

countries have not demonstrated the necessary

commitment to global economic stability. They

continue to let themselves be guided by parochial

interests. Nowhere is that more evident than in the

Doha round of negotiations in the World Trade

Organization. A balanced solution to that negotiating

process, which has lasted for almost 10 years, would

promote economic expansion and the development of

the poorest countries, with the end of distorting

subsidies and protectionist barriers. After all, poor

countries are the greatest victims of the narrow and

selfish view that still prevails in international trade.

Reforms have also been insufficient in the

financial sector. Unjustified resistance is preventing the

implementation of agreed-upon changes. Obstinacy in

maintaining anachronistic privileges perpetuates and

deepens the illegitimacy of institutions.

Another major challenge we face is achieving a

global, comprehensive and ambitious agreement on

climate change. In order to move forward on this

matter, countries must stop hiding behind each other.

Brazil, like other developing countries, has done its

part. But in Copenhagen, several delegations,

especially from the rich world, sought excuses to evade

their moral and political obligations. They forgot that

one cannot negotiate with Nature.

A positive outcome of the sixteenth Conference

of the Parties to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, with real progress in

7 10-54827

forests, financing for adaptation and mitigation and a

reaffirmation of the Kyoto commitments, is

indispensable. The Mexican presidency can count on

Brazil’s engagement to achieve this objective.

In 2012, we will host, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,

the Rio+20 Conference. On behalf of the Brazilian

Government, I invite all delegations to fulfill the

promise of truly sustainable development.

The reform of global governance has not yet

reached the field of international peace and security. In

the economic and environmental areas, the wealthiest

nations have already understood that they cannot do

without the cooperation of the poor and emerging

countries. When it comes to war and peace, however,

the traditional players are reluctant to share power.

The Security Council must be reformed and

expanded to allow for greater participation by

developing countries, including as permanent

members. We cannot continue with working methods

that lack transparency and that allow the permanent

members to discuss behind closed doors and for as

long as they wish issues that concern all mankind.

Brazil has sought to live up to what is expected

from all Security Council members, including non-

permanent ones — namely, that they contribute to

peace. For this reason, we made a serious effort to find

an instrument that could enable progress towards a

solution of the Iranian nuclear question. In so doing,

we relied on proposals that had been presented as a

unique opportunity to build confidence between the

parties. The Tehran Declaration of 17 May, signed by

Brazil, Turkey and Iran, removed obstacles that,

according to the very authors of those proposals, had

previously prevented an agreement.

The Tehran Declaration does not exhaust the

issue and was never intended to do so. We are

convinced that, once back to the negotiating table, the

parties will find ways to resolve other issues, such as

20 per cent enrichment and the stock of enriched

uranium accumulated since October 2009. In spite of

the sanctions, we still hope that the logic of dialogue

and understanding will prevail. The world cannot run

the risk of a new conflict like the one in Iraq. We have

been insisting, therefore, that the Iranian Government

maintain an attitude of flexibility and openness towards

negotiations, but it is necessary that all those

concerned also demonstrate such willingness.

We are closely following developments in the

peace process in the Middle East. We hope the direct

talks between Palestinians and Israelis launched earlier

this month will produce concrete results that lead to the

creation of a Palestinian State within the pre-1967

borders, a State that ensures for the Palestinian people

a dignified life, co-existing side by side and in peace

with the State of Israel.

However, it is not the format of the dialogue that

will determine whether it will yield results. What

matters is the willingness of the parties to reach a just

and lasting peace. That will be easier with the

involvement of all those concerned. Freezing the

construction of settlements in the occupied territories,

lifting the Gaza blockade and ending attacks against

civilian populations are crucial elements in the process.

In his visit to Israel, Palestine and Jordan in

March, President Lula spoke with government leaders

and representatives of civil society about those issues.

We frequently receive in Brasilia the leaders of various

countries of the region, who seek support in resolving

problems that have afflicted them for decades and have

not been solved through the traditional means and

actors. Brazil, which has about 10 million people of

Arab descent and a sizeable Jewish community living

together in harmony, will not shy away from making its

contribution to the peace that we all yearn for.

Brazil’s commitment to the promotion of human

rights is also unwavering. We favour a non-selective,

objective and multilateral treatment of human rights,

without politicization or bias, in which everyone — the

rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak — is

subject to the same scrutiny. In our view, the exercise

of human rights is more effectively ensured by

dialogue and cooperation than by arrogant attitudes

derived from self-declared moral superiority.

During his eight years in office, President Lula

has developed a foreign policy that is independent, free

of any sort of submission, and respectful of Brazil’s

neighbours and partners. It is an innovative foreign

policy, which does not distance itself from the

fundamental values of the Brazilian nation: peace,

pluralism, tolerance and solidarity.

Just as Brazil has changed and will continue to

change, the world is also changing. We must deepen

and accelerate this process. With the technology and

wealth at our disposal, there is no longer any

justification for hunger, poverty and epidemics of

10-54827 8

preventable diseases. We can no longer live with

discrimination, injustice and authoritarianism. We must

face the challenges of nuclear disarmament, sustainable

development and freer and fairer trade. Rest assured,

Brazil will continue to fight to make these ideals a

reality.