In 2015 the UN (United Nations), whose main functions are to maintain international peace and security, protect human rights and support sustainable development and climate action, presented the 2030 Agenda approved by all member states, currently 193, which contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covering the economic, social and environmental ambits. These goals constitute a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of people around the world by 2030. Yet the UN, in the interpretation and eyes of many, has ceased to be the central forum for trying to resolve geopolitical disputes, consistently falling by the wayside of the new global politics, unable to keep pace with the series of events that are fracturing our existence, and more and more countries distrust its ability to provide a response to the major problems that afflict the world. US Secretary Antony Blinken himself, in a speech last week, said: “Forging international cooperation has become more complex. Not only because of rising geopolitical tensions, but also because of the sheer scale of global problems.
At this year’s assembly, held in New York in recent days, several leaders, mainly from Latin America, pointed out that the measures aimed at achieving the SDGs are not advancing at the speed and on the scale that is needed, assuming that without the fulfilment of promises and an acceleration in the implementation of the actions committed to, nothing will change and global collapse will be evident.
In the face of US President Joe Biden’s speech, focused on emphasising his and Washington’s role in the international ambit by saying “The eyes of the world are looking to us, as President of the United States I understand my country’s duty to lead at this critical moment…. “In addition, Latin American speeches were made in search of a new world economic order, the defence of peace and the fulfilment by some countries of their “climate debt”, and in obtaining new support for its interference in the war in Ukraine, a country where it has sent arms and which it will continue to support, even showing interest in “ceding” part of the powers of the United Nations Security Council to new “allied” members.
The president of Peru will be proposing to the assembly “a pact, a commitment to international action and cooperation for immediate attention to climate phenomena. A pact based on solidarity, resilience and interdependence.
For his part, the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, pointed out that the international financial system “does not show the will to adapt to a world that wants equity. The same “orthodox policies” that have led to the “misery that the world sees today” cannot be imposed. …. “It is time to promote social justice in the world” and added “The global financial architecture only serves to concentrate income in the hands of the few and to marginalise vast regions of the world. It favours speculation over development, it favours cheap labour over the dignity of work”.
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said “We must overcome resignation, which makes us accept so much injustice as a natural phenomenon” and insisted that “there is a lack of political will on the part of those who govern the world to overcome inequality”. Lula also called for a new geopolitical order that could challenge the West’s global economic dominance and urged greater dialogue on the war in Ukraine.
Bolivia’s president, Luis Arce, said his country’s proposal is “that the world be united as a territory of peace”. Arce proposed “a new world order without impositions, without masters or slaves” with the inclusion and equality of peoples. He also pointed out that capitalism replicates practices of domination and colonial exploitation that must be overcome and denounced that he sees with preoccupation that military and war spending has increased, mentioning that “peacekeeping has become a more unattainable goal”.
President Boric, with regard to the global situation, called, as part of the “urgent” tasks, to take care of democracy, saying “We must stop the advance of intolerance and authoritarianism”. He argued that “we also defend unrestricted respect for human rights as a civilising advance, regardless of which government is in power”.
The most direct and heartfelt speech was undoubtedly that of the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who raised real issues that are close to the analysis of the current international situation carried out by the International Humanist Party (IHP) in 2022. Petro has exposed before the UN assembly points and solutions, not only for our present, but for the near future of this planet, getting very close to approaches that coincide with that of a Universal Human Nation.
“I will be proposing that the United Nations should sponsor two peace conferences as soon as possible, one on Ukraine, the other on Palestine”, Petro said in his speech …… “in that way, they would teach peace in all regions of the planet, because both and only both would put an end to hypocrisy as a political practice, because we could be sincere”.
“We have dedicated ourselves to war, we have been called to war, Latin America has been called to deliver war machines, men to go to the battlefields; they forgot that our countries were invaded several times by the same people who now talk about fighting against invasions”, criticised the Colombian head of state. He added: …. “they have forgotten that the same reasons that are expressed for defending (Ukrainian President Volodymir) Zelenski are the same reasons that should be used to defend Palestine”.
“I will be proposing to end the war to defend life from the climate crisis, the mother of all crises.”….. “I will be proposing as the president of the land of beauty, to make up for lost time, two simple things: end the war and reform the global financial system.” ….. “The mega-crisis of life can be solved with a democracy that reaches the global level, a profound democracy” and, for that, it is necessary to “liberate the public sphere to save life (…) the word change must resound, because it is fundamental to save life”. “The problem is that this was not a matter of socialists, of progressives, but rather that it was a matter of the time of life on the planet”, warned Petro as a final message, who regretted that “it would seem that the world’s leaders have become enemies of life”.
This last sentence continues to echo in the ears of those of us who are constantly trying to denounce the harmful actions of anti-humanism, which displaces the Human Being from its central reference point when it comes to political, social, economic and cultural definitions. Obviously, it seems to us of interest that within the narrative of the discourses of those who hold world political power, we hear voices that try to converge with Life and, in particular, with Human Life. This international forum is clearly a civilising advance under construction, and is closer, or further away according to interests, from being able to persuade in the direction of the needs of those who clamour, in every latitude, to ensure conditions of dignity for their lives, today violated by the pettiness and infamy of the powerful who are clearly hostile to Life.
Collaborators: M. Angélica Alvear Montecinos; Ricardo Lisboa Henríquez; César Anguita Sanhueza; Sandra Arriola Oporto and Guillermo Garcés Parada. Public Opinion Commission.