MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peña tells UN global institutions need reforming

“We need to ensure fairness, equity, and equality as the most fundamental principles of international trade,” Peña underlined

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña addressed the UN General Assembly, criticizing the world's ineffectiveness in maintaining peace amid conflicts and calling for reform to global institutions to better support developing nations.

He also highlighted his country's role as a “middle power” with significant water, food, and clean energy resources, advocating for fairer environmental and trade policies. Peña reaffirmed Paraguay's support for Ukraine's sovereignty, Israel's right to self-defense, and Taiwan's inclusion in the UN.

In a special session at the United Nations General Assembly, Peña laid out his vision on the state of the multilateral system, current global conflicts, and Paraguay's status in the international scenario.

International institutions “are not fulfilling their central purpose: to preserve peace,” he stressed, while mentioning that the lack of concrete results has generated distrust in the global citizenry.

On environmental issues, Peña criticized trade restrictions based on sustainability criteria, pointing out that they impose unequal conditions on developing countries. He said that Paraguay complies with environmental standards, citing the enforcement of a zero deforestation law since 2004 and the application of sustainable agricultural technologies in most of its production.

Peña also described Paraguay as a “giant that is resurging, ready to take the central role it deserves in the international scenario” and called for “looking together towards a better and brighter future, in which we see these changes become a reality.”

“Paraguay is ready to resume its leading role in the world, a vigorous and responsible one, as a middle power. We offer our experience and our history, that of a country that has seen the effects of war in a world without multilateralism and that has built a stable democracy with consistent economic policies, with Paraguay's prospects as an articulator between countries with different degrees of development,” he stressed.

He also insisted that only a stable, free, and fair international trade system can defeat not only poverty but also what he called the “sinister threat of armed conflict.”