Bolsonaro speaks on video recorded at the opening of the UN Assembly this Tuesday | Politics

At a time of international criticism of environmental policy in Brazil, with an increase in fire records in the Amazon and the Pantanal, Bolsonaro’s speech must address the environmental issue.

Since 1949, it has traditionally been the responsibility of the Brazilian representative to deliver the opening speech of the UN general debate. For the past seven decades, foreign ministers and presidents have stood on the podium in New York to speak on behalf of Brazil.

This will be the second time that Bolsonaro opens the general debate. According to the UN news agency, the videos recorded by the leaders of the countries last up to 15 minutes (Remember below how was Bolsonaro’s first speech at the UN).

The general debate begins at 10 a.m. (Brasilia time) and, according to the schedule, following Bolsonaro’s speech, the speeches of Presidents Donald Trump (United States), Tayyip Ergodan (Turkey), Xi Jinping ( China) and Sebastian. Piñera (Chile).

The UN said that to reduce the risk of contamination by the new coronavirus, each country will have a representative in the assembly hall in New York.

Approximately 200 people will remain on site, which represents less than 10% of the space’s capacity.

Debuting at the UN in 2019, Bolsonaro said Brazil had a “solemn commitment” to preserving the environment and defended the country’s sovereignty in the Amazon. A year later, the topic should return to the president’s speech.

For this Tuesday (22), the expectation is that the president rejects the criticisms made of the environmental preservation policy of the Brazilian government, an area in which, according to him, Brazil is an “example for the world”, despite the increase in the number of fires. deforestation.

According to Vice President Hamilton Mourão, who chairs the National Council for the Legal Amazon, Bolsonaro will show Brazil’s “efforts” to combat environmental crimes.

“Of course, the president will play in the Amazon. He will show, in principle, what we are doing. We have the creation of the council, Operation Brazil Verde 2, the government’s effort to combat illegalities. It is not simple, it is not easy, they continue to happen, unfortunately, “said Mourão on Monday (21).

Last Friday (18), during an event in Mato Grosso, one of the states affected by the fires, Bolsonaro spoke about the demarcation of indigenous lands.

“The indigenous are our brothers, they are our partners, they deserve their land, but within reason. […] We cannot repress what we have here, which has guaranteed us, not only our food security, but also the food security of more than one billion people in the world, ”Bolsonaro said on Friday.

Governments of other countries, businessmen, investors, environmentalists, celebrities and non-governmental organizations criticize Bolsonaro’s environmental policy.

Last week, eight European countries warned that deforestation makes it difficult to buy Brazilian products, and an alliance between environmentalists and agribusinesses demanded action from the Brazilian government.

On Monday (21), the eve of Bolsonaro’s speech at the UN, Minister Augusto Heleno, from the Presidential Institutional Security Office (GSI), said that criticism from “foreign nations” about deforestation in the Amazon aims to “harm to Brazil and overthrow the Bolsonaro government. ” Heleno did not specifically mention any country.

The new coronavirus pandemic will be one of the topics addressed in the speeches of heads of state and government during the UN general assembly.

Before the opening of the general debate, the UN Secretary General, the Portuguese António Guterres, told the press that this year’s meeting will have among its priorities the recovery of the countries after the pandemic. Climate change will also be on the agenda.

The general debate takes place at a time when the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) is criticized by leaders of countries, including Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump.

Bolsonaro is expected to address the pandemic in his speech, arguing that Brazil has reconciled health care and the economy. The president disapproves of the rigid social isolation and has advocated, for months, the resumption of classes and economic activities.

Brazil is among the countries with the highest number of cases and deaths from Covid-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus. As of Monday (21), Brazil had more than 4.5 million cases and 137 thousand deaths, according to a survey by the consortium of press vehicles based on data from state health departments.

In 2019, in the first speech in the general debate of the UN assembly, Bolsonaro defended the sovereignty of Brazil in the Amazon and criticized “any of the countries” for behaving “in a colonialist way.” According to him, the forest remained “practically intact”.

The president also disapproved of the political situation in Venezuela and Cuba. Bolsonaro declared that he was fighting so that other countries would not experience the “nefarious regime” of Venezuela.