In a new bravado more typical of a character from a 1970s comedy show than a head of state, Milei turns Argentina into the laughing stock of the United Nations, but it is guaranteed that when he is no longer president he will be invited to do his bidding. “stand up” as a paid speaker in different latitudes.
In times of policris – a situation where the convergence of numerous crises has a combined effect greater than the sum of the parts – dialogue and commitment to mutilateralism in defense of our values and principles is more necessary than ever. The unquestioned values and principles that Argentina has always defended in the world (except in times of dictatorship): peace, human rights, sustainable development and real equality of opportunities and treatment.
We feminists are not naïve, even less so in the case of those of us who have a political career. It is not that we are unaware of the shortcomings of the United Nations and those of the democratic system itself: its bureaucracies, its inefficiencies and even its imperfect functioning. Surely we have more serious and well-founded criticism than the disrespectful and inappropriate treatment offered by the president to his peers and to the nations of the world.
For several decades, always as a civil society, we have contributed constructively to the foreign policy of the Peoples and we have managed to influence documents and decisions both within the United Nations and in regional spaces on many occasions.
In these times, where humanity is at risk from multiple wars and a new nuclear danger, from climate crises and biodiversity loss and brutal planetary ecocide, from hate and anti-rights speeches and from violations of the rule of law. In many countries around the world, it is essential to deepen the changes in the United Nations for its democratization – such as the elimination of the veto power in the Security Council – and for greater listening and participation of citizens.
But the necessary change is not where Milei is going with his chainsaw and his rants. The president described the UN as “socialist”, reiterated his rejection of the 2030 agenda and announced that Argentina will not join the Future Pact. In a multipolar world where 197 countries of all colors of the world are sitting at the table of that organization, the adjective “socialist” is, at the very least, nonsense. Rejecting the poorly fulfilled 2030 Agenda and not adhering to the basic global consensus of the Future Pact is a greater setback for our country, which isolates us even more. As a country, we will be left out of the upcoming debate on the restructuring of the United Nations, the commitment to a Digital Pact that will regulate networks and artificial intelligence, and the global debate for growth with equality and sustainability for future generations.
Milei stated at the UN that “Argentina is going to abandon the position of historical neutrality.” He seemed to confuse “neutrality” with respect for the “self-determination of the People” or ignore that Argentina has always had clear positions in defense of democracy and human rights, and has led positions in this regard in our region and the world.
He also believed that the UN “has promoted a toxic relationship between global governance policies and international credit organizations, requiring the most relegated countries to commit resources they do not have to programs they do not need, turning them into perpetual debtors to promote the agenda.” of global elites”. However, at no time did he mention the unprecedented foreign debt that the country contracted with the IMF – by the same minister who was now filming him from the public with his cell phone – nor did he talk about the economic numbers such as the poverty, unemployment and destitution that worsened month after month since he took office, and even less did he not make any important announcement in relation to stopping paying the eternal external debt with the people’s hunger.
He missed an opportunity to promote a multilateral Convention on shared tax information, which would allow us to better combat the 485 billion illicit flows that today make it possible to shake governments, support drug trafficking, human trafficking and arms trafficking. He said that the country “will be at the forefront of the fight in defense of freedom.” He stressed: “We will not support any policy that implies the restriction of individual freedoms.” This freedom that anarcho-capitalists defend is the freedom of the richest 1% to continue doing business at the expense of the rest of humanity and putting human life on the planet at risk with an extractivist model that does not even respect the limits that nature gives us. imposes.
The best response to Milei came from Lula, who without naming him said: “…defending democracy involves acting against extremist, messianic and totalitarian attacks that spread hatred and resentment.”. “Democracy has to respond to the legitimate aspirations of those who no longer accept hunger and inequality.” “In a globalized world it makes no sense to turn to false patriots, to those who wish to isolate us, nor does it make sense to resort to ultraliberal experiments that only worsen the difficulties of an impoverished continent.” And he added: “The future of our region depends above all on building an efficient, sustainable and inclusive State that deals with all forms of discrimination. A future that is not intimidated by individuals, companies or digital platforms that believe they are above the law. “Freedom is the first victim of a world without rules.” Paraphrasing Alfonsín: The freedom of the fox free in the henhouse to eat the chickens.
Doctor of Law. Professor of Principles of Human Rights and Constitutional Law-University of Buenos Aires
Source: Ambito
