President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva delivered a strong speech against wars and in defense of strengthened multilateralism in Barcelona, Spain, where he participated in the fourth high-level meeting of the Forum for the Defense of Democracy.

The president began his three-country European trip in Spain on Saturday (Apr. 18). He then traveled to Germany and later to Portugal.

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In his speech, Lula also emphasized that the consequences of armed conflicts fall on the poorest.

“Trump invades Iran, and consequently one sees an increase in the price of beans in Brazil, corn in Mexico, and gasoline in other countries. Are the poor going to pay for the irresponsibility of wars that nobody wants?” he asked.

Lula emphasized that countries have other problems to face and the world “does not need war.”

“We have more than 760 million people going hungry, we have millions of illiterate people, and millions of people died because there was no vaccine against COVID-19,” he added.

Lula noted that the world is currently experiencing the highest number of armed conflicts since World War II and called for coordinated action by the United Nations (UN).

“We must demand that the UN Secretary-General convene special meetings, even without a request from the five Security Council members,” he said.

The president criticized some of the major ongoing wars, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s destruction of the Gaza Strip, and the US-Iran conflict in the Middle East.

“No president of any country in the world, no matter how powerful, has the right to impose rules on other countries. None. And the five members of the UN Security Council must come together to change this behavior. We cannot wake up every morning and go to sleep every night with a president’s tweet threatening the world and waging war. And they all make decisions without consulting the UN, of which they are members and part of its Security Council,” Lula continued.

The Brazilian president lamented the silence of countries and stressed that democracy at the United Nations depends on their engagement. “Strengthening multilateralism depends on us.”

Regulation of Digital Platforms

In his speech, Lula also criticized the role of digital platforms in the political destabilization of countries and called on the UN itself to lead discussions on shared rules among nations.

“The plain and simple truth is that lies have triumphed over truth. That is a hard fact. To lie, you don’t have to explain yourself; to justify yourself, you do,” he said.

Lula also called on the UN to take action regarding social media platforms.

“It needs to function to ensure, for example, that social media platforms are regulated worldwide, for everyone. A president cannot interfere in one country’s election, interfere in another’s, or ask for votes for another. Where is electoral sovereignty? Where is territorial sovereignty? This is an issue we need to discuss and make our voices heard on. And the arena where we must fight is the United Nations,” Lula added.

The Democracy Forever Forum is an initiative launched in 2024 by the governments of Brazil, Spain, Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay. In Barcelona, the event, organized by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, also featured Presidents Yamandú Orsi (Uruguay), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Claudia Sheinbaum (Mexico), and former Chilean President Gabriel Boric.