set 13 2024 | Nº. 134

Editorial

The first major personnel scandal of the third Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presidential administration forced an unexpected cabinet change this week. Silvio Almeida, a prominent jurist whose nomination to head the Ministry of Human Rights last year was widely celebrated by progressives, was fired in the wake of numerous credible allegations of sexual harassment. Most prominently, Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco confirmed rumors that Almeida had made inappropriate and unwanted advances. To replace Almeida, Lula named Macaé Evaristo, a former teacher and social worker who served as an elected official at the municipal and state level and education secretary for the state of Minas Gerais. 

Much more complicated than replacing one cabinet minister with another has been dealing with unprecedented fires in the Amazon rainforest. The crisis gained international notoriety under former President Jair Bolsonaro, who had no effective anti-deforestation strategy. While Environmental Minister Marina Silva oversaw an improvement early on, the latest surge in fires has raised alarms both nationally and internationally, highlighting the ongoing challenges of deforestation and environmental degradation. Despite Lula's promises to prioritize environmental protection and combat illegal logging, the situation in the Amazon remains dire, reflecting the complexities of enforcing conservation policies in the face of entrenched economic interests and systemic issues. The Lula administration has argued that its efforts have been limited by hostile forces in Congress but, as highlighted by a Wednesday, September 11 ruling by Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino, there is more the executive branch could be doing on its own to meet the urgency of the situation. 

In the political arena, the battle to succeed Arthur Lira as head of the lower house of Congress when his term ends next year heated up this week. Defining who will be elevated to that powerful position, which is pivotal in shaping legislative priorities and the overall direction of the federal government, is a process always marked by intense maneuvering and uncertainty. Whoever succeeds Lira will play an important part in the final two years of Lula’s term. This week, Lira expressed support for Congressman Hugo Motta, whose potential nomination has been received favorably by both the government and opposition factions. Motta is an acolyte of Eduardo Cunha, who as president of the Chamber of Deputies opened impeachment proceedings against former President Dilma Rousseff. He is seen by members of the Lula government, however, as someone open to negotiation. Of the other conservative names in contention, his is the least objectionable to those close to the president.

Highlights

• Municipal elections. Brazil will experience a gigantic electoral marathon on October 6, when more than 150 million voters will go to the polls to choose mayors and councilors in all 5,568 municipalities in the country. In Brazil, voting is mandatory. The city in which there is no winner with more than half of the valid votes in the 1st round will have a 2nd round on October 27. In São Paulo, the largest electoral college in the country, three candidates appear with very similar voting intention rates: one of them is Guilherme Boulos (21%, in the Quaest poll), a left-wing candidate supported by President Lula; the other two are from the far-right camp: the current mayor, Ricardo Nunes (24%), who is seeking reelection, with explicit support from Bolsonaro; and the other is the young outsider Pablo Marçal (23%), a social media phenomenon who seeks to catalyze the vote of conservatives dissatisfied with Nunes and Bolsonaro. In Rio de Janeiro, the current mayor, Eduardo Paes, has 59% – a percentage sufficient to be reelected in the first round –, while the former federal police officer Alexandre Ramagem, supported by Bolsonaro, has 11%.

• Campaign under threat. In São Paulo, Marçal challenges the Bolsonarist camp because he presents himself as a legitimate exponent of the extreme right, free from the modesty that still keeps Nunes looking like a traditional politician. With an aggressive strategy that is often openly offensive to his rivals, Marçal manages to recreate the truculent spirit of the early years of Bolsonarism, as if he were capable of recovering a pure contesting spirit, which was abandoned by the former president and his allies. The strategy produces good results in voting intention polls, but Marçal's flight runs the risk of being interrupted by the Electoral Court, which is analyzing suspicious campaign expenses. These expenses involve undue payments to the candidate's followers who participated in paid competitions to promote their content on social media.

• Bolsonaro compensated. The court ordered the Lula government to pay R$15,000 (US$2,600) in compensation to Jair Bolsonaro and the former president's wife, Michelle Bolsonaro. The episode concerns the unfounded accusation that the former president had disappeared with 83 pieces of furniture that were part of the assets of the Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence of the Presidency of the Republic in Brazil. The furniture was stored in warehouses. The ruling also requires the government to publish the correct information on its official channels. The defense is being handled by the AGU (Attorney General's Office), since the government is being sued; not Lula or the first lady, Janja, who made accusations against the Bolsonaros, but was not named in the ruling. The ruling is not yet final; an appeal is possible.

   

• Amnesty for coup plotters. The Brazilian far right held a large demonstration on Paulista Avenue, a traditional political rally in São Paulo, on September 7, Brazil's Independence Day. The event was attended by Bolsonaro and other leading figures in the sector, who targeted Alexandre de Moraes, a minister of the Supreme Federal Court who is leading the main ongoing cases against the former president and has taken on the fight against businessman Elon Musk, in their speeches. Bolsonaro supporters also advocated amnesty for those involved in the failed coup attempt on January 8, 2023. A bill is currently being processed in Congress that proposes judicial pardon for those involved in the attacks on the headquarters of the three branches of government, which could benefit even Bolsonaro, who is currently ineligible to run for office until 2030 due to convictions he has received in court.

News from the WBO, Organizations and Social Movements

Event in Georgetown. The WBO and Georgetown University will hold a debate in Washington on September 24 on “The Rise of the Far Right: Challenges to Democracy in Brazil and Abroad,” with the participation of Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove; Flávia Pellegrino, from Pacto pela Democracia; Elcior Santana, from Georgetown University; and Guilherme Casarões, from FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) and an associate researcher at the WBO. The event, which is supported by CEPR (Center for Economic and Policy Research) and WOLA (Washington Office for Latin America), requires prior registration via the link and will be broadcast live on the WBO’s YouTube channel.

American elections. WBO executive director Paulo Abrão published an article in Focus Brasil, from the Perseu Abramo Foundation, in which he analyzes the scenarios and possible impacts of the American presidential election on Brazil. For him, the outcome of the dispute “will have immediate and profound repercussions in Brazil. In a very simple and direct way: a possible victory for Donald Trump would give renewed momentum to the far right, which in Brazil is united around former president Jair Bolsonaro.” Read the article at the link.

Climate conference. Columbia University will host the third edition of Climate Week starting on September 18. The event will bring together, in New York, some of the main actors involved in the debate on the climate agenda in Brazil, and the role that the country plays in the important transformations underway in this sector. This year’s edition is expected to feature the participation of more than 120 exhibitors from the public and private sectors, as well as exponents of the environmental agenda in civil society. More information at the link.

Agribusiness. A group of five important Brazilian environmental organizations published an opinion piece in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Monday, September 9, in which they propose a positive agenda for the agribusiness sector. Representatives from the Instituto Socioambiental; the Projeto Saúde e Alegria; Greenpeace Brazil, the ClimaInfo Institute and the Climate Observatory say that “the sector must demand an end to the ‘destruction package’ in Congress and tougher penalties for environmental crimes in Brazil”. Read the article at the link.

Afro future. The “1st Black Women Shaping Afrofutures Forum” will be held at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York on September 22. The event, which “celebrates the creativity and resilience of black women in shaping our global future”, is promoted by Ceert (Center for the Study of Labor Relations and Inequalities), the Agbara Fund, the Kilomba Collective and Piraporiando. Registration must be done in advance at this link. There will be simultaneous translation from English-Portuguese-Spanish.

Event in Geneva. The IDDH (Institute for Development and Human Rights) and the Race and Equality Institute will hold a “side event” on September 16 to discuss human rights education, with the participation of representatives from other partner organizations. The event takes place at the Palais des Nations, in the context of the session of the UN Human Rights Council, which runs from September 9 to October 9, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Feature Article

79th UN General Assembly: A New Opportunity for Progress on the Global Agenda

By  Denilde Holzhacker*

The 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will be held from September 10 to 30. It is one of the most important events on the global diplomatic calendar. It brings together leaders and diplomatic delegations from 193 countries in what can be compared, in an analogy with the world of sports, to the Olympics or the Soccer World Cup, given the nature of the event as a major international stage since its first session on January 10, 1946 in London.

Created by the 1945 United Nations Charter, the United Nations General Assembly has played a fundamental role in the international arena. The period after World War II (1939-1945) highlighted the need to create an organization capable of mediating conflicts, promoting human rights, and building mechanisms for resolving disputes between States. As the decades pass, global challenges become even more complex. And, in a year marked by multiple crises – such as climate change, armed conflicts, the decline of democratic institutions, and humanitarian and migration crises – expectations are renewed that the UNGA can go beyond traditional speeches and debates, increasing pressure for a renewal that can unlock the inaction that has marked the multilateral agenda in recent years.

According to the UN Charter, the General Assembly exercises deliberative, supervisory and financial functions over the bodies of the United Nations. This body is also a space to discuss issues and make recommendations to its members. Although it does not have the power to impose resolutions or actions, the deliberative character and the space for discussion are renewed at each annual meeting of the General Assembly and in its special sessions. This year, the theme chosen by UNGA’s elected President, Philemon Yang of Cameroon, was “Leaving No One Behind: Acting Together to Advance Peace, Sustainable Development, and Human Dignity for Present and Future Generations.”

At the beginning of each regular session, the General Assembly also holds a general debate, in which all country leaders give speeches and present issues of international interest. Traditionally, Brazil opens the speeches of country leaders and representatives each year. Since democratization, all presidents have taken the floor of the Assembly to present their main views on Brazilian foreign policy. However, the floor is not always used to address the international agenda; sometimes, the speech is directed at national public opinion. This strategy is also used by other leaders who focus on their domestic platforms rather than the global agenda.

However, the organization of the sessions of the 79th UNGA is not limited to the statements of the heads of state, with most of the work of the annual meeting being delegated to six committees: (1) Disarmament and International Security, (2) Economic and Financial, (3) Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural, (4) Special Policy and Decolonization, (5) Administrative and Budgetary and (6) Legal. In these committees, the diplomatic community proposes recommendations and actions that will be incorporated into the different multilateral forums.

In parallel with the ordinary meetings, special sessions are organized, which this year will be the following: Summit of the Future, between September 22 and September 23, 2024; High-level plenary meeting on how to deal with the existential threats posed by rising sea levels on September 25, 2024; High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26, 2024; and High-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance on September 26, 2024.

The Future Summit is an initiative that aims to build a new framework for international cooperation regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After years of uneven progress in achieving the SDGs, the conference aims to revitalize commitments and offer new solutions to systemic problems that still persist on the global stage. During the Summit, the Compact for the Future is being negotiated, which consists of 58 actions aimed at ensuring sustainability and development for all future generations. Also, within the scope of the Summit, the Declaration on Future Generations and a declaration on digital technologies at the global level will be signed.

In the face of global threats and the outbreak of conflicts, the nuclear issue is strongly entering the debates of this year's UNGA. Since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was adopted in 1968, the international community has acted to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. However, despite some progress, there is still a large nuclear arsenal. And, with conflicts once again dominating the geopolitical agenda, fears are also growing that a new wave of arms races will increase the risks of global instability. Therefore, a new approach to disarmament is essential and relevant to promoting diplomatic solutions in this area.

The fact that nuclear proliferation remains an unresolved issue on the global agenda, like so many other challenges that persist in this area, further increases the need for the United Nations to gain prominence and space to build dialogues with seriousness and urgency. Despite the difficulties inherent in building consensus on the international agenda, the UN remains the most democratic and truly representative space for diverse global perspectives. However, its legitimacy still depends on its ability to transform discussions and speeches that are signed into commitments to implement actions, and not just being limited to intentions. The 79th UNGA is once again an opportunity for global leaders and civil society to engage and go beyond promises. As expressed in the title of the 79th UNGA: let us leave no one behind.

*Denilde Holzhacker has a doctorate in Political Science and is professor of International Relations and currently director of Research and Stricto Sensu Postgraduate Studies at ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing)

Feature articles express the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or WBO.