The meetings of the UN General Assembly began this Tuesday with some large absences such as that of the presidents of China and France, Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron, and with the star of the meeting, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, addressing attendees in person. Last year, Zelensky could not attend due to the situation in his country, and limited himself to speaking by video.
The Ukrainian president will speak at around 7 p.m. in Spain on a day that, indirectly, is marked by Ukraine. The Spanish Pedro Sanchez speaks tomorrow night, local time (early morning on Thursday in Spain).
The first leader to speak was, as has been customary since the time when no one wanted to occupy that position, the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. His arrival on the speakers’ platform was an interesting change in the tone of the Assembly, given that his rhetoric is very different from that of his predecessor, the nationalist Jair Bolsonaro.
“Ladies and ladies, today I return as president of Brazil. And this is thanks to the victory that democracy won in my country. Democracy guaranteed that we overcome hatred, misinformation and oppression.”
“Hope has once again conquered fear. Our mission is to unite Brazil and rebuild a sovereign, fair, sustainable, generous and joyful state. Brazil has taken a stand with itself, with the region and with multilateralism. I will never get tired to repeat it.”