Spanish
USA.- The General Assembly of the UN opened its 80th session this Tuesday amid jokes and reproaches, with calls to reform multilateralism, denunciations of tariffs and demands for peace in Gaza and Ukraine.
The Stairs and the Teleprompter
The U.S. President, Donald Trump, opened his speech with ironies about the functioning of the UN headquarters. He commented that he got stuck on an escalator and that the teleprompter failed, using it as a metaphor to question the effectiveness of the organization. The White House asked to investigate whether the malfunction was intentional, while after several hours of investigation, the UN spokesperson's office explained that a cameraman accompanying the Trumps went up the same stairs in order to document their arrival and, upon reaching the top, ahead of them, "may have inadvertently activated a security mechanism". Trump accused the UN of not having "helped" him stop wars, of limiting itself to drafting "very strong letters" and of spreading "lies" about the climate. Later, in a bilateral meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, he qualified his position and stated that the U.S. supports the organization "100%".Lula, Tariffs, and the WTO
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the session by denouncing an "international disorder" and attacked the unilateral measures that, he said, undermine the sovereignty of Brazil due to the trial against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). He demanded fairer rules and a greater role for the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the use of trade sanctions as a political tool. The imposition by the U.S. of 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports was one of the main points of contrast between the two leaders, and other leaders —such as South African Cyril Ramaphosa and Portuguese Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa— warned about the use of trade “as a weapon”. The Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports as punishment for the trial against Bolsonaro, a close Trump ally, sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup. Trump and Lula crossed paths in the UN hallways and agreed to meet next week. The US president stated that there was an "excellent chemistry" between them."I must tell you that I was going in and the leader of Brazil was coming out. We saw each other, he saw me, and we hugged," revealed Trump. "He seemed like a very nice man, I would actually like to meet him. I only do business with people I like," he added.
Palestine, at the center of the debate
The crisis in Gaza marked the day: Lula spoke of "genocide" and warned of the risk of disappearance of the Palestinian people; Trump called the recognition of Palestine by several countries "a reward for terrorists."
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From the rostrum, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, raised the tone by proposing to "unite armies and weapons" to "liberate Palestine" and to propose the creation of an "army of salvation" voted by the UN and without veto, a call that added intensity to the debate. Other leaders such as King Abdullah II of Jordan and the presidents of Turkey, Recep Erdogan; of Chile, Gabriel Boric, demanded a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and legal responses, and the Uruguayan Yamandú Orsi called for the release of hostages and the immediate cessation of hostilities. For most countries involved, the two-state solution and an immediate ceasefire are urgent conditions to stop the humanitarian catastrophe.
