President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva harshly criticized the performance of the United Nations (UN) during the opening of the BRICS Summit Preparatory Meeting, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro. In his speech, Lula stated that the UN became an “insignificant” institution in the face of current conflicts, such as the War in the Gaza Strip.
“A UN, which has been able to create the state of Israel, is not able to create the Palestinian state,” said the president. For Lula, the absence of concrete actions by the organization contributes to the continuity of violence in the region, which he once again classified as a genocide promoted by Israel against Palestinian civilians. The president also questioned the lack of global political leadership capable of intermediating peace solutions.
The discourse marks another chapter in Lula’s series of criticism of the UN and the international community. He pointed out that without a reformulation in global governance structures, the world runs the risk of repeating in the 21st century the same mistakes of the twentieth century. The petista argued that global economic decisions are accompanied by political responsibility of the great powers.
The speech was made during the opening of one of the meetings of the Novo Development Bank, BRICS’s financial arm. In addition to criticism of the UN, Lula also reinforced his defense for the creation of a new currency for international trade and rejected austerity policies, which, according to him, deepens social inequalities.
