With an expressive vote, Brazil returned, this Friday (11), to the rotating member of the UN Security Council. According to the results of the votes published by Volkan Bozkir, president of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly at its 75th session, the Brazilian candidacy for the post of the body responsible for ensuring world peace obtained 181 votes out of 193 possible. .
“The country has been re-elected for a term in the 2022-2023 biennium,” Brazil’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a social media post. “The election demonstrates broad recognition of Brazil’s contribution to issues of international peace and security.
In a note to the press, Itamaraty declared that “Brazil will seek to translate the defense of peace and the peaceful settlement of disputes into tangible contributions” and that it intends, in the Council, “to strengthen the peace missions of the United States. UN and defend mandates that corroborate the interdependence between security and development.
The ministry also says the country “will be in a privileged position to attest to its commitment to reform” the entity. Alongside India, Germany and Japan, Brazil forms what is known as the G4, a group that is also seeking a seat as a permanent – and non-vetoed – member of the Security Council.
The inclusion of permanent members, however, depends on a reform of the system which has no prospect of taking place – one of the main oppositions comes from China – and which will be one of the Brazilian priorities of the legislature. Besides Brazil, they were also elected rotating members of the Council from Albania, United Arab Emirates, Gabon and Ghana.
The Security Council is made up of five permanent members with veto power – the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France – and ten rotating members, elected for a term of two years each. The victory required the support of two-thirds of the voting member states.
Although the campaign for the vacant post was waged under the erosion of Jair Bolsonaro’s image abroad, the conquest of the board post was already expected.
From now on, Brazil will occupy the rotating position of the Security Council from January 2022 to December 2023. As the presidency of the entity is also rotating – the countries take turns on a monthly basis, in alphabetical order – it is very likely that Brazil will take the lead. commandment. the most important organ of the United Nations at least once until the end of its mandate.
Vacancies on the board are defined by geographic area. Among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, there has been a tradition, since 2006, of non-competition for applications and, therefore, a rotation of countries is organized in a list made up years in advance.
In 2019, El Salvador broke the pact and tried to launch an alternative candidacy to that of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, but obtained only six votes, against 185 obtained by the Caribbean island.
The last time Brazil participated in the Security Council as a rotating member was in 2011, under the government of Dilma Rousseff. The next Brazilian candidacy was not expected until 2033, but, in order not to stay out of the body for more than two decades, Brazil negotiated an exchange with Honduras, which would be the natural candidate for this year. . The agreement was signed in 2018 by the Michel Temer government.
Today, Mexico and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are the current rotating board members for Latin America and the Caribbean. If elected, Brazil will take the post alongside Mexico, and next year Ecuador will take over from the Mexicans, if there is no unforeseen event.