MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Temer's message to UN: peace, human rights and economic reforms

Minister Serra said Temer’s speech should include messages of “peace, human rights, and sustainable development”, plus investments

Twenty days after being confirmed as Brazil’s new president, Michel Temer will deliver his first international speech at the UN´s General Assembly on Tuesday. He is not expected to mention recent political changes in Brazil, and focus rather on new opportunities for foreign investors.

 The new government sees Temer’s UN speech as a way to move forward from political uncertainty. However, protesters gathered outside the hotel in which the Brazilian delegation is housed, and like in Sao Paulo have been chanting “Fora Temer”, or “Out with Temer”, whom they accuse of staging a new parliamentary coup d’état.

Temer on Monday took part in the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants. Later he held bilateral meetings with the presidents of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, and Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez. The latter was an opportunity to help mend differences between the two countries. During the Dilma Rousseff impeachment crisis, the Uruguyan government repeatedly criticized the process and labeled it as “unfair.”

On Tuesday, Temer will be in the Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis. He then addresses the United Nations General Assembly, and will try to present Brazil as a friendly country to foreign investment. He is expected to discuss the new privatization plan presented by the Brazilian government.

According to Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Serra, Temer’s speech should also include messages of “peace, human rights, and sustainable development.” To conclude his UN schedule, Temer will hold bilateral meetings with the president of Peru, Pablo Kuczynski, and the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

The highlight of Temer’s New York trip will be a Wednesday meeting with international businessmen and investors. Accompanied by his Secretary for Investments, Wellington Moreira Franco, the Brazilian President will try to attract companies willing to invest in Brazil.

During his speech about the refugee crisis, Temer declared that Brazil has hosted more than 95,000 refugees from 79 nationalities. Official numbers from the country’s Ministry of Justice, however, show that the real number is ten times smaller: 8,800 people entered Brazil under as refugees.

Temer’s Minister of Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, justified the discrepancy, stating that the UN doesn’t recognize as refugees migrants who have escaped natural disasters – which exclude the thousands of Haitians who have come to Brazil recently.

The new government sees Temer’s UN speech as a way to move forward from political uncertainty. However, protesters gathered outside the hotel in which the Brazilian delegation is housed, and like in Sao Paulo have been chanting “Fora Temer”, or “Out with Temer”, whom they accuse of staging a new parliamentary coup d’état.