Tracking Latin America at the 80th UN General Assembly

On September 26, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at UNGA, delivering a speech defending his country’s actions in the Israel–Hamas war. During his speech, numerous delegations were absent or walked out—77 by Israel's own count. That included 11 Latin American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. 

On September 26, the U.S. Department of State announced it was revoking the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro on the basis of what it called “reckless and incendiary” comments the leader made at a rally against the war in Gaza in New York that day. During the protest held outside the UN headquarters, Petro appealed to U.S. soldiers to “not point their guns at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.” 

In a post on social media platform X, Petro responded that the U.S. government had broken “norms of immunity” for leaders travelling to UNGA and proposed that the UN headquarters no longer be in New York. 

With a few months left of his term, Bolivian President Luis Arce used much of his speech at the 80th UNGA to denounce the build-up of U.S. military assets in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as other world regions. 

Finally, Arce outlined a six-point plan for global peace. Steps included the removal of veto powers within the UN system and a reform of the UN Security Council, worldwide demilitarization, and an end to “trade wars."

“A modern-day Guernica,” is how Laurent Saint-Cyr, president of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, described the situation in his country to the UN General Assembly Hall. He called for more international support to combat the widespread gang violence that has forced the closure of schools and hospitals, deepened food insecurity, displaced thousands of Haitians—both internally and abroad—and prevented the staging of elections, now six years overdue.

Saint-Cyr thanked the United States and Panama for drafting a Security Council resolution to expand support for Haiti’s law enforcement and urged members to approve it when it comes to a vote. He also asked countries hosting Haitian migrants to respect their rights.

On September 24, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified on X what economic support the U.S. was considering providing Argentina, the day after a meeting between Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei. In that meeting,Trump endorsed Milei for reelection but ruled out the possibility of a bailout and did not clarify what instruments his administration might leverage.

In his post, Bessent said that the U.S. government is prepared to purchase Argentina’s dollar-denominated bonds or use its Exchange Stabilization Fund to deliver credit. The U.S. Treasury, he explained, is in negotiation with Argentina’s Central Bank for a $20 billion swap. Finally, he said that the United States is prepared to purchase secondary or primary government debt. Bessent's announcement comes as the Argentine government proclaimed a tax holiday for grain exporters.

The day before, on September 23, the World Bank announced that it is making available a portion of its $12 billion support plan for Argentina earlier than planned. The agency will deploy a total of $4 billion over the coming months for public-sector financing and private-sector investment. 

In a year when the administration of the Panama Canal has come under scrutiny from the U.S. government, President José Raúl Mulino used his address at the 80th UNGA to reaffirm Panama’s sovereignty over the Canal. In defense of Panama’s management of the waterway, he said, “Neutrality is the best formula to safeguard the security of our Canal, a global public good,” adding, “It is, and shall remain, Panamanian.” 

Migration was another key theme of Mulino’s speech. He noted that movement through the Darién Gap declined significantly during his first year in office, but called for more to be done to address the root causes of “mass migration."

Two of the region’s leaders on the right, Milei of Argentina and Santiago Peña of Paraguay, both took to the lectern on Wednesday, September 24.

In his speech, Milei spoke of the importance of pursuing economic growth globally. “The world is on course for stagnation,” he explained, saying that leaders were overspending in the present at the expense of the future. He highlighted how his own reform agenda was attempting to rein in spending in Argentina.

Milei expressed that he saw the United States as facing a similar situation to Argentina. “President Trump also understands that the time has come to reverse a dynamic which is leading the United States towards a disaster,” he said. He went on to praise other Trump policies, especially on migration.

Paraguay’s Peña, who along Milei and Panama’s Mulino attended a reception hosted by Trump on September 23, outlined a foreign policy aligned with fellow right-wing leaders. Playing up Paraguay’s position as an “intermediate power,” he warned about the rise of political violence—highlighting the murders of Colombia’s Miguel Uribe and U.S. political influencer Charlie Kirk —and cautioned against authoritarianism and “its perverse twin, populism” in countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua. 

As head of one of the few countries that recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, Peña called for its inclusion in the UN and added that Paraguay’s decision to maintain this relationship “costs us dearly economically,” but is based on democratic principles. He also expressed support for Israel’s “right to defend itself.” 

The governments of Brazil, Chile, and Spain organized an event on September 24 on the sidelines of UNGA under the theme “In Defense of Democracy: Fighting Against Extremism.” Participants of the meeting, which did not include the United States, discussed strategies for promoting democracy and multilateralism, combatting ideological extremism and socioeconomic inequality, and regulating online mis- and disinformation.

Chilean President Boric moderated the discussion and in opening remarks, championed the need for “a modern, democratic left that defends human rights.” Brazilian President Lula focused on encouraging political participation from all sectors of society and stressed, “only democracy will be able to rebuild civil relations between states.” Colombian President Petro warned against the privatization of data through AI and cloud technologies, and said that progressive societies must find tools to combat the climate crisis, sexism “that pushes men to the right,” and racism, which he viewed as the source of anti-immigrant sentiments.

Other Latin American leaders who spoke at the event included Uruguay’s Yamandú Orsi, Bolivia’s Luis Arce and Guatemala’s Bernardo Arévalo. Mexico was represented by Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente, who also emphasized the rights of migrants in his remarks. 

This meeting was a follow-up from a roundtable Brazil and Spain hosted on the sidelines of the previous UNGA, in which the United States, under then-President Joe Biden, participated. In July 2025, the leaders of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Spain, and Uruguay signed on to a joint declaration in Santiago, Chile outlining the objectives of the initiative.

At the UNGA lectern, several leaders spoke about territorial disputes within the region. That included Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who spoke of his country’s dispute with the United Kingdom over the Falklands-Malvinas Islands. Milei called upon the United Kingdom to resume bilateral negotiations over the islands. 

Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali decried the “repeated threats and aggression” his country faces from Venezuela over the contested Essequibo region. Ali called on Venezuela to respect the ongoing proceedings over the dispute in the International Court of Justice and said, “We will not cower to coercion, intimidation, or unilateral action” from Venezuela.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo spoke of his country’s territorial dispute with Belize, which is currently being considered in the International Court of Justice with oral hearings scheduled for 2026. “We now stand before an historic opportunity to open a new chapter in relations between the two countries,” he said.

On the sidelines of UNGA on September 24, Brazilian President Lula met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the ongoing conflict with Russia. At the sidelines meeting, Lula argued that there is not a way out of the conflict through military responses and that a ceasefire should be the first step in the negotiations. Lula expressed that he felt the UN should play a central role in mediation, echoing a plan he advocated for in 2024 alongside China.

The two leaders had planned to meet back in June during the G7 Summit in Canada, but it fell through.

As is tradition, the president of Brazil gave the first speech of the event. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the session with a defense of multilateralism and several indirect criticisms of Trump. "We are witnessing the consolidation of an international order marked by repeated concessions to power play, attacks on sovereignty, arbitrary sanctions, and unilateral interventions are becoming the rule," he said.

Lula celebrated the recent indictment of former President Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup. "Before the eyes of the world, Brazil sent a message to all would-be autocrats and those who support them. Our democracy and our sovereignty are non-negotiable," he said.

Lula spoke of regional issues, including increased polarization and instability. He warned of the danger of conflating crime and terrorism and said, "Using lethal force in situations that do not constitute armed conflict is tantamount to executing people without trial" referencing the U.S. military's lethal strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of Venezuela. Lula contended that battling money laundering and arms trafficking are better solutions to the problem of narcotrafficking.

In November, Brazil will host COP30, the UN climate change conference in the Amazonian city of Belém, which Lula said "will be the time for world leaders to prove the seriousness of their commitment to the planet." At the conference, Lula said he will push for the establishment of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which would create financial mechanisms to prevent deforestation. He also called for the UN to establish a permanent council to monitor climate change commitments, alongside a call for an expansion of the UN Security Council.

U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the UN stage where he delivered a near hour-long speech that extolled his government’s his hemispheric policies on issues such as trade, migration, and security.

"We've used tariffs as a defense mechanism under the Trump administration," said the president, who has applied tariffs to all hemispheric countries. No country faces higher U.S. tariffs than Brazil. and Trump said the measure was "a response to its unprecedented efforts to interfere in the rights and freedoms of our American citizens and others with censorship, repression, weaponization, judicial corruption, and targeting of political critics in the United States."

Trump did mention that he passed Brazilian President Lula while at UNGA and the two embraced, adding they agreed to meet next week. 

In the speech, Trump covered a range of issues affecting the Americas, including strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela, the designation of drug cartels as terrorist organizations, and increased security on the border with Mexico. Trump emphasized the decrease in migration since the start of his presidency and thanked El Salvador for its role in jailing migrants.

Just two weeks after the Trump administration decertified Colombia as a partner in the war on the drugs, President Gustavo Petro took the lectern of the General Assembly Hall to deliver his final UNGA speech. “I speak to you as a decertified president. I’ve been decertified by President Trump,” he said.

What followed was a defense of his efforts against narcotrafficking. Petro explained that he’s pursued “not an anti-drug policy but an anti-drug traffickers policy.” In contrast, he called the U.S. policy on drugs “absurd” and criticized U.S. drug consumption. Petro called out the recent U.S. military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, saying those killed aboard “were not drug traffickers. They were simply poor young people from Latin America who had no other option.” For the strikes, Petro said he believes criminal cases should be opened against U.S. officials. 

Petro also criticized Trump’s policy against migrants, emphasizing that “migrants are not criminals. They should not be put in concentration camps, expelled and chained up.” He pushed back against Trump’s designation of Tren de Aragua as a terrorist group. The Trump administration has used accused migrants of being members of Tren de Aragua as justification for deportation. Toward the beginning of Petro’s speech, the U.S. delegation exited the auditorium.

Petro also spoke about climate change. In his view, regions like Latin America or Africa can spearhead sustainable development but need billions in funding to mobilize projects. Such a change, Petro said, would “change global power.”

On the occasion of what may be his final speech to the UN General Assembly, Chilean President Gabriel Boric nominated ex-President Michelle Bachelet for the post of UN secretary general. Boric underscored that she would be the first woman to occupy the role if appointed. Bachelet, a two-term president of Chile (2006–2010, 2014–2018) and former head of both the UNHCR (2018–2022) and UN Women (2010–2013), described the nomination as “an honor.” The selection process for the new UN secretary general takes place in 2026, before the current five-year term ends on December 31. In his speech on September 24, President Luis Abinader of the Dominican Republic agreed that the next UN leader should be a Latin American woman, but did not specify a candidate. 

The rest of Boric’s speech centered on decrying wars in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as democratic backsliding. “I don’t really know what else to say about Gaza,” he said, and called on “those responsible for the genocide against the Palestinian people” to be tried in international courts. On Ukraine, he said that despite Chile’s geographical distance, the war “is also an affront to us.” Chile, alongside Brazil and Spain, is a co-organizer of a summit on democracy held on September 24 on the sidelines of UNGA. 

Boric pushed for more dialogue as a way to push back against misinformation about topics like climate change. In this vein, he offered Chile’s coastal city of Valparaíso to host the secretariat of a UN marine conservation treaty that is due to enter into force in January 2026. 

In her debut speech at the UNGA, President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons outlined Suriname's position on issues affecting the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as global climate financing policy.  Geerlings-Simons, who assumed the presidency in July 2025, highlighted the current insecurity in Haiti, expressed support for CARICOM's reparations plan, called for the U.S. embargo on Cuba to be lifted, and declared Latin America and the Caribbean "a zone of peace," affirming, "We do not want military aggression in our region."

While pointing to the $10 billion dollars in investments Suriname has attracted to kickstart its incipient oil and gas industry as a "new beginning" for the country, Geerlings-Simons reiterated commitment to advancing the energy transition.

Additionally, she advocated for "predictable finance for high-forested, low deforestation countries… and the communities that live in and protect the forest." She noted that Suriname was one of three carbon-negative countries in the world, with the Amazon rainforest covering 90 percent of its territory, a fact, she said, "doesn't happen by default, but by design."

Like many of her colleagues from the Global South, she pushed for a reform of the UN system. With regard to the UN Security Council, she backed Brazil and India's bids for permanent seats, as well one for an African country. She added that there should also be a rotating, non-permanent seat for Small Island Developing States.

"Uruguay is recognized worldwide for its commitment to peace," stated President Yamandú Orsi during his debut UNGA address. Throughout his remarks, Orsi promoted his country’s lack of political polarization and its reputation for social and macroeconomic stability as a model for multilateral negotiation.

The South American leader bemoaned the impact of reduced levels of financing for international aid and development programs. Orsi commented that the "principles of liberty and equality are increasingly divorced, and you hear more about supposed individual freedom than egalitarian societies when it comes to income and rights."

He also echoed recurring anti-war messages, and called for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and the release of hostages, as well as endorsed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Noting Uruguay’s record as the Latin American country that has contributed the most troops to UN peacekeeping missions, he offered the country as "a host for negotiations" for global conflicts.

President Dina Boluarte of Peru used her final UNGA speech to defend her presidential record. Boluarte alluded repeatedly to the government of her predecessor Pedro Castillo, whom she accused of fomenting corruption, "class hatred," and political violence, culminating in what she called "the failed coup d'etat" of 2022.  She referred to her administration as "the most stable government of the last five years," noting that Peru’s economy grew over 3 percent in 2024 with similar growth expected this year as the country maintains a relatively low debt burden and fiscal deficit.

In a nod to a controversial amnesty law she signed in August 2025, Boluarte also defended the actions of police and soldiers during the country’s civil war in the 1980s and 1990s against leftist insurgent groups, referring to the state's armed forces as "heroes who defended democracy." The new law pardons police and soldiers convicted or on trial for crimes committed during the conflict, including mass murder, disappearances, and sexual violence. 

The Peruvian president also raised the issue of transnational organized crime, and particularly drug and sex trafficking, as well as illegal mining, which she noted endangered the Amazon rainforest. Additionally, she joined calls for a more "representative" UN "in tune with the times," and advocated for the next Secretary General to be Latin American. 

On September 22, dozens of world leaders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to revive the question of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. 

Among the speakers at the one-day summit co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, Brazil’s Lula described the conflict as "the greatest symbol of the obstacles multilateralism faces" and said, "assuring Palestine's right to self-determination is an act of justice and an essential step to restoring force to multilateralism." Lula also announced Brazil’s decision to join South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. 

At her daily press conference that same day, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, who is not attending the UN General Assembly in New York, reaffirmed her country's recognition of both Israel and Palestine. She added that her administration had been Mexico's first to receive a Palestinian ambassador. 

A day prior to the conference, Canada formally recognized Palestine as a state. This leaves Panama and the United States as the only countries in the Americas that do not recognize a Palestinian state. 

On September 22, Kenya, with support from the United States, convened a meeting to discuss paths to exit the ongoing political instability and widespread violence in Haiti. 

In comments to the meeting, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau echoed calls for the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti to be expanded to a Gang Suppression Force (GSF) and for a UN Support Office to be established in Haiti. The meeting comes a few weeks after the United States and Panama proposed these initiatives to the UN Security Council,  receiving support from the member countries of both the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). 

In his UNGA speech on September 24, Dominican President Luis Abinader spoke in favor of the Panama-U.S. resolution, saying that it would “transform the MSS into a force capable of imposing order and restoring peace with a reinforced command structure, clear and measurable goals, and the logistical and operational backing of an office under UN command.” 

The MSS mission, which is due to expire on October 2, has only received around 40 percent of the 2,500 troops pledged by various countries. The proposed GSF would up that number to 5,500. Prime Minister Mia Mottley of Barbados, Haiti’s fellow CARICOM member, expressed reservations about the proposed change, stating "We need more clarity on what the mission is going to be like and what the numbers are going to be like."

Also on this day, Mexico announced that it had paid into a voluntary, UN-controlled fund to support the MSS mission in Haiti. It is the first Latin American country to do so.