I would like to greet the Secretary-General, whom I have the renewed pleasure of addressing in our common language.
I begin by congratulating you, Ambassador Csaba Korosi, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its seventy-seventh session. You can count on the support of Brazil.
The theme chosen for this general debate revolves around a concept that perfectly applies to the moment we live in: a watershed. Our collective responsibility in the General Assembly is to understand the scope of the challenges that make up this watershed moment and, from there, to build responses that pull their strength from the objectives shared by us all. The task is not simple. But strictly speaking, we have no alternative. The effort must begin within each of our countries. First of all, it is what we do at the domestic level that gives the measure of the authority with which we act at the international level.
Allow me to speak from my country’s perspective. When Brazil expresses its positions on the public health agenda, we do so with the authority of a Government that, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, spared no effort to save lives and preserve jobs. Like many other countries, we focused our attention from the very beginning on ensuring emergency financial assistance to those most in need. Our goal was to protect families’ income so that they could face the economic hardships resulting from the pandemic. We helped more than 68 million people, the equivalent of one third of our population. In tandem, we launched a broad vaccination programme, including the domestic production of vaccines. We are a nation of more than 210 million people, and already more than 80 per cent of the population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. All were vaccinated voluntarily, in full respect of each person’s freedom of choice.
Likewise, economically Brazil has the authority of a country that, for the sake of sustainable and inclusive growth, has been implementing reforms to attract investment and improve the living conditions of its population.
During my Administration, we uprooted the systemic corruption that existed in the country. Between 2003 and 2015 alone, the period in which the left presided in Brazil, the debt level of Petrobras due to poor management, politically driven appointments and favours, as well as the diversion of funds, reached $170 billion. The person responsible was convicted unanimously in three court cases. Whistle-blowers returned $1 billion, and we paid the United States stock market another $1 billion due to losses incurred by shareholders. But that is the Brazil of the past.
We upgraded public services by reducing costs and investing in science and technology. Nowadays, for instance, Brazil is the seventh most digitally advanced country in the world, with 135 million people accessing 4,900 services provided by my Administration. Brazil was a pioneer in the deployment of 5G in Latin America.
We implemented a comprehensive agenda of privatizations and concessions, with an emphasis on infrastructure. We have concluded the Transfer of the Sao Francisco River project, bringing water to the Brazilian north-east. We adopted new regulatory frameworks, such as in basic sanitation, railroads and natural gas. Moreover, we improved the business environment, with the economic freedom law and the start-up law. As a result, we created opportunities for young people to be entrepreneurs and have quality jobs. Crowning all those efforts to modernize the Brazilian economy, we are making great strides towards Brazil’s entry as a full member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Despite the global crisis, Brazil is reaching the end of 2022 with an economy in full recovery. We have high employment and a low inflation rate. The economy is growing again. Poverty increased across the world as a result of the pandemic. In Brazil, it has already begun to fall sharply.
The figures speak for themselves. It is estimated that, by the end of 2022, 4 per cent of Brazilian families will be living below the extreme poverty line. In 2019, it was 5.1 per cent. That represents a drop of more than 20 per cent. Auxilio Brasil, the minimum-income programme established by my Administration during the pandemic, which reaches 20 million families, pays them almost $4 a day.
Unemployment fell by 5 percentage points, reaching 9 per cent — a rate not seen for seven years. We reduced inflation to an estimated 6 per cent this year. I am pleased to announce that we had unprecedented deflation in Brazil in the months of July and August. Since June, the price of gasoline has dropped by more than 30 per cent. Today a litre of gasoline in Brazil costs about $0.90. The price of electricity also fell by more than 15 per cent. Let me stress that the cost of energy did not drop because of price-fixing or any other type of State intervention. It was the result of a tax-rationalization policy formulated and implemented with the support of the National Congress of Brazil.
In 2021, Brazil was the fourth-largest destination for foreign direct investment in the world. Our foreign trade reached the historic milestone of 39 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), even after reducing taxes or lowering them to zero on thousands of products. Domestically, we are also breaking records in three areas — tax collection, State-owned company profits and the public debt-to-GDP ratio. In fact, in 2021 we had a surplus in the consolidated result of national accounts. Brazilian GDP increased by 1.2 per cent in the second quarter. The forecast for 2022 is 3 per cent growth.
We have the peace of mind of being on the right path — the path to prosperity shared among Brazilians
and, beyond that, with our neighbours and other partners around the world.
That is what we see, for example, in food production. Four decades ago, Brazil used to import food. Today we are one of the world’s largest exporters. That was only possible thanks to heavy investments in science and innovation, with a view to increasing productivity and sustainability. I pay tribute to Alysson Paolinelli, Brazilian candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, for his role in expanding the Brazilian agricultural frontier through the use of new technologies. This year the country has already started the largest grain harvest in our history. We estimate it to be at least 270 million tons. In a few years, Brazil will also make the transition from importer to exporter of wheat.
For the period 2022 to 2023, total production is expected to exceed 300 million tons. On a recent visit to Brazil, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization stated that if it were not for Brazilian agribusiness, the planet would go hungry, as we feed more than 1 billion people worldwide. Our agribusiness is a source of national pride. I also note that, in the area of sustainable development, Brazil’s achievements lend credibility to our country’s international action.
With regard to the environment and sustainable development, Brazil is part of the solution and a reference for the world. Two thirds of Brazilian territory is host to native vegetation, which is exactly as it was when Brazil was discovered in 1500. In the Brazilian Amazon, an area equivalent to all of Western Europe, more than 80 per cent of the forest remains untouched, contrary to what is reported by the mainstream national and international media.
It is essential that, when taking care of the environment, we do not overlook people. The Amazon region is home to more than 20 million inhabitants, including indigenous and riverside dwellers, whose livelihoods depend on economic use of the forest. We brought the Internet to more than 11,000 rural schools and more than 500 indigenous communities.
Brazil began its energy transition almost half a century ago, in reaction to the oil crises at that time. Today we have a modern and sustainable biofuel industry. That industry contributes to the cleanest energy mix among the Group of 20 countries. About 84 per cent of our electricity matrix is currently renewable — a goal that many developed countries hope to achieve only by 2040 or 2050.
Last year, Brazil was chosen by the United Nations as the global champion of energy transition. We have the potential to become a major global exporter of clean energy. We have a surplus, already under construction, that can reach more than 100 gigawatts between biomass, onshore wind and solar, in addition to the unexplored opportunity of 700-gigawatt offshore wind farms, with one of the lowest production costs in the world. Those sources will produce green hydrogen for export. Part of this 100 per cent clean energy opens up the possibility for us to become suppliers of highly competitive industrial products, especially in the Brazilian north-east, with one of the smallest carbon footprints in the world.
The sustainable development agenda is impacted in many ways by threats to international peace and security. We built the United Nations from the ruins of the Second World War. What motivated us back then was the determination to avoid repeating the cycle of destruction that marked the first half of the twentieth century. To some extent, we can say that we were successful.
But today the conflict in Ukraine serves as a warning.
A reform of the United Nations is essential if we are to find world peace. In the specific case of the Security Council, after 25 years of debates, it is clear that we need to look for innovative solutions. Brazil delves into this topic based on experience that goes back to the beginnings of the United Nations. This is the eleventh time that we have held a non-permanent seat at the Council. We have tried to do our best to achieve peaceful and negotiated solutions to international conflicts, always led by the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
Brazil also has an extensive history of participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. From Suez to Angola, from Haiti to Lebanon, we have always supported peacekeeping.
We also contributed to peace by opening our borders to those seeking a chance to restart their lives in our country. Since 2018, over 6 million Venezuelan brothers have been forced to leave their country. Many of them came to Brazil. Our response to that challenge was “Operation Welcome”, which has become an international benchmark. More than 350,000 Venezuelans have found in Brazilian territory emergency assistance, protection, documentation and
the possibility of a fresh start. All of them have access to the labour market, to public services and social benefits. In recent months, around 600 Venezuelans have been arriving in Brazil every day on foot, the vast majority of them being women and children weighing on average 15 kilos less than before and running away from violence and hunger.
The Brazilian humanitarian reception policy goes beyond Venezuela. We have also received Haitians, Syrians, Afghans and Ukrainians.
It has been seven months since the conflict began in Ukraine. It is a source of great concern — not only in Europe but throughout the world. I would like, first, to reiterate Brazil’s gratitude to the countries that helped with the evacuation of Brazilian citizens who were in Ukraine when the conflict started. I refer especially to Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic. The operation was successful. We left no one behind, not even their pets.
With regard to the conflict itself, Brazil has been guided by the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter. Those principles are also enshrined in our Constitution. We call for an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians and non-combatants, the preservation of critical infrastructure in order to assist the population and the maintenance of all channels of dialogue between the parties in conflict. Those are the first steps to achieving a lasting and sustainable solution. We have been working towards that goal. At the United Nations and elsewhere, we have tried to avoid the hampering of dialogue channels caused by the polarization around the conflict. In that regard, we are against diplomatic and economic isolation.
The fallout of the conflict can already be felt in world prices for foodstuffs, fuel and other raw materials. This situation distances us all from the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. Countries that once presented themselves as leaders of the low-carbon economy have now turned to dirty sources of energy. That is a serious setback for the environment.
We support all efforts to reduce the economic impact of this crisis, but we do not believe that the best way is to adopt unilateral and selective sanctions that are inconsistent with international law. Those measures have hampered the economic recovery and undermined the human rights of vulnerable populations, including in European countries.
The conflict in Ukraine can be resolved only through negotiation and dialogue. I make a plea to the parties, as well as to the entire international community, to not pass up any opportunity to end the conflict and ensure peace. The stability, security and prosperity of humankind are at serious risk if the conflict continues.
I have been an unconditional supporter of the freedom of speech. Moreover, under my Administration, Brazil has made an effort to bring the right to the freedom of religion to the core of the international human rights agenda. It is essential to ensure that everyone has the right to freely worship and practice their religious orientation without discrimination. I would like to state here that Brazil is ready to welcome the Catholic priests and nuns who have suffered cruel persecution by the dictatorial regime in Nicaragua. Brazil repudiates religious persecution wherever it occurs in the world.
Other fundamental values for Brazilian society with implications for the human rights agenda are the defence of the family, the right to life after conception, the right to self-defence and the rejection of gender ideology. I would also like to stress our commitment to women’s rights. Our effort to enact over 70 legal norms on the subject since the beginning of my Administration, in 2019, is proof of that commitment.
We resolutely combat violence against women. That is part of our broader priority of ensuring public security for all Brazilians. The results can be seen in our Government — a 7.7 per cent drop in the number of femicides and a decrease in the general number of deaths by homicide. In 2017, there were 30 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants; now there are only 19. Violence in rural areas has also plummeted, and land tenure by the most in need has increased. Under my Administration, we delivered 400,000 rural property deeds, 80 per cent to women.
We are making efforts in Brazil to have strong and independent women so they can reach their goals. Since 2019, First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro has brought new meaning to volunteer work, with special attention to people with disabilities and rare diseases.
On 7 September, Brazil celebrated 200 years of history as an independent nation. Millions of Brazilians took to the streets, called upon by their Government, wearing the colours of their flag. It was the largest civic demonstration in the history of our country, a people that believes in God, nation, family and freedom.