By Emir Sader on September 24, 2025 from Rio de Janeiro
Lula at the UN, photo: AFP
As is tradition at every opening of the UN General Assembly, the presidents of Brazil and the US are the first to take the floor. But rarely, as on this occasion, have the speeches of both leaders been so diametrically opposed.
Lula spoke not only as president of a country that is important in the world today. He did so on behalf of the global South, of that great majority of humanity. He defended the priority of fighting world hunger, which affects more than 700 million people. He called for the peaceful resolution of armed conflicts around the world, with special emphasis on Gaza. He defended democracy and sovereignty as non-negotiable issues and even mentioned the BRICS countries.
Donald Trump, for his part, spoke as if the discourse and place of the US in the world had not changed so radically under his government. He defended his country’s selfish interests, as if his rhetoric sought to represent the interests and visions of much of the world, as it did in the recent past.
The US president himself reformulated his country’s domestic and international policy and thus lost the hegemonic capacity it had enjoyed for several decades.
The two speeches represent the current dispute in the world between two different and radically contradictory visions. The difference is that, while the US under Trump seems to have renounced its hegemonic role, focusing on specific tariff interests, Lula projected himself as the representative of the global South.
However, as a paradoxical consequence, Lula and Trump crossed paths in the corridors, greeted each other, hugged, and, according to Trump, agreed to meet next week. This is an important goal for Lula, who seeks to defend Brazil’s interests in the face of US tariff policy, which he condemned in his speech.
In his speech, Lula reiterated all the positions he has long held, in contrast to everything Trump has said, including the mention of genocide in Gaza and the complicity of the United States. Lula knows that the reference to the BRICS is one of the issues that most uncomfortable Trump, especially with regard to de-dollarization.
Among the effects of the understanding between Trump and Lula is the defeat of Bolsonaro and his supporters, who have tried to intensify US government measures against members of the Brazilian government. At the same time, Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro’s son, is facing advanced proceedings in the Brazilian Congress, which could result in a conviction and the loss of his seat as a legislator.
It remains to be seen what will happen at the meeting between Lula and Trump, scheduled for next week. Whether it will be a face-to-face meeting, where it will take place, and what kind of agreement might emerge. Lula’s concern is not to bring political positions closer together, but to try to reduce the offensive of measures by the Republican administration against members of the government. Lula has always been concerned with separating the Trump administration’s economic measures from the legal proceedings against Bolsonaro, a goal that Lula seems to be on track to achieve.
The speeches at the United Nations thus paved the way for a rapprochement, not in terms of positions, but at least in terms of relations between the two leaders.
Source: Pagina 12 translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English