Bolsonaro speaks at the UN with attack on Lula and speaks in a campaign tone

Less than two weeks before the elections, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) used the noble space of the first presidential speech of the UN General Assembly this Tuesday (20) to address voters, with a much greater focus on the domestic public of the United Nations. than in the world leaders who followed the speech.

With the face of a campaign speech, the president attacked the left and its main opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), although without mentioning him by name, and mentioned cases of corruption at Petrobras during the PT governments. Bolsonaro stated that his administration “extirpated the systemic corruption that existed in the country”, despite investigations involving his family.

Bolsonaro adopted a much more moderate tone than speeches he made in previous editions of the event and accepted the tone suggested by Itamaraty, of avoiding direct attacks on other countries, as he had been doing with Chile and Argentina. The president stated, however, that he “repudiates religious persecution” by saying that “Brazil opens its doors to welcome Catholic priests and nuns who have suffered cruel persecution from the dictatorial regime in Nicaragua”, by leftist Daniel Ortega. In addition, he mentioned the reception of Venezuelan refugees, who are fleeing the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

Still with an eye on the election, the president used part of his speech to address the female audience, a group with which he has the most rejection and is his biggest callus in the October 2 election. Bolsonaro highlighted “the priority we have given to the protection of women” and cited the number of femicides falling.

“We work in Brazil so that we have strong and independent women, so they can get wherever they want. First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro has brought new meaning to volunteer work since 2019, with special attention to people with disabilities and rare diseases,” he said. .

Michelle followed the speech from inside the General Assembly hall, as did Minister Fábio Faria (Communications) and his son Eduardo Bolsonaro. Also in the plenary was Brazil’s ambassador to the UN, Ronaldo Costa Filho.

Bolsonaro also used the space to reinforce the position of neutrality in relation to the War in Ukraine, the main theme in the corridors of the UN. Brazil has been criticized by Western powers for its hesitation in condemning the Russian invasion of the neighboring country.

“We do not believe that the best path is the adoption of unilateral and selective sanctions, contrary to international law. These measures have hampered the recovery of the economy and affected the human rights of vulnerable populations, including in countries in Europe itself. The solution to the conflict in Ukraine will only be achieved through negotiation and dialogue,” he said.

Bolsonaro also praised the agribusiness sector, which he called national pride.

He said, among other things, that Brazil “spared no effort to save lives and preserve jobs” during the health crisis, and, highlighting the emergency aid agenda, ignored the reality of delay in vaccine purchases, criticized at national and international level. .

Although his administration is marked by hostile speech towards sectors of the press and opponents, the president has positioned himself as a defender of freedom of expression. Then he joined the religious agenda, in which the government became known for ignoring the precepts of the secular state.

“In my government, Brazil has worked to bring the right to freedom of religion to the center of the international human rights agenda,” he said.

As he has done in his campaign, Bolsonaro also waved to the female electorate, in a speech markedly aimed at his base. He said he works for Brazil to have “strong and independent women, so they can get wherever they want” and mentioned the first lady, Michelle, used as a key player in the electoral race.

By tradition, the Brazilian president is always the first head of state to speak at the event. American Joe Biden was supposed to come next, but the Democrat postponed the speech to Wednesday (21), after deciding to travel to London for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. The speaker, then, is the president of Chile, the debutant Gabriel Boric, about whom Bolsonaro has been criticizing in a series of pronouncements during the campaign.

In the midst of an electoral dispute that is far from being resolved, traveling abroad, mainly to two international destinations in a row – the president also went to London to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II – was not a simple calculation.

The government’s assessment, however, was that the trip was mandatory and that the political cost of missing would be greater than that of attending, in addition to reinforcing the image of Brazil’s isolation in the world’s political chess.

However, the Brazilian president only has bilateral meetings scheduled with two presidents, the Ecuadorian Guillermo Lasso and the Polish Andrzej Duda. They are unimpressive for the Brazilian economy, but important in the government’s ideological agenda of uniting right-wing leaders.

With the president of Poland, the Brazilian will sign two agreements: on the Exchange and Mutual Protection of Classified Information and for the Elimination of Double Taxation in Relation to Income Taxes and the Prevention of Tax Evasion and Avoidance.

The justification for the few diplomatic commitments is the short schedule, since the president will spend less than 24 hours in the city. Even so, Bolsonaro fit in a lunch at a Brazilian steakhouse with supporters who came from caravans from different parts of the country.

In the short time he will have in New York, the president has also included in the official agenda, published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic, a videoconference with entrepreneurs in the supermarket sector in Brazil.

Bolsonaro arrived in the American city early Monday night, and was greeted by dozens of supporters who were waiting for him at the hotel door. A smaller group, supporters of former President Lula (PT), demonstrated against Bolsonaro in the same place, and there was a riot.

This was the fourth speech by the Brazilian leader at the UN. In 2019, he used the rostrum to attack critics of his environmental policy, the press and countries like Cuba and Venezuela, in an aggressive and unusual speech for Brazilian leaders, lasting 32 minutes.

In 2020, he recorded a speech shown remotely at the Assembly due to the pandemic and defended himself from criticism for the lack of control of Covid in the country, in addition to saying that Brazil was a victim of lies about the fires in the Amazon. At the time, the speech lasted 14 minutes.

Last year, he gave the shortest speech among Brazilians, at 12 minutes, with nods to his radical base. The trip was marked by the president’s refusal to immunize himself against Covid-19.

The president is due to depart for Brazil around 5 pm local time (6 pm in Brasília).

This is the first fully face-to-face edition of the General Assembly since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. That year, world leaders spoke remotely, without anyone traveling to New York. In 2021, some of them spoke in person, like Bolsonaro, and some sent videos, like Chinese leader Xi Jinping — who recently made his first international trip after the pandemic.