Brazil Out of UN Security Council at Least Until 2033

03/17/2017 - 13h34

Brazil will not be a member of the United Nations Security Council at least until 2033, as the country decided not to submit its participation in recent years.

The highest rank in the United Nations, the Security Council aims to look after international security and peace. Brazil's absence is a symbol of a radical change in the country's foreign policy.

During the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration (2003-2010), the diplomatic area had ambitions of mediating peace between Israel and the Palestine and, along with Turkey, even submitted a proposal for an agreement to solve the nuclear issue in Iran. During the Dilma Rousseff administration (2011-2016) there was no interest in participating in the Security Council.

The UN Security Council has five permanent members: China, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Russia. Other ten positions are rotating and allotted by region - five for Africa, one for Eastern Europe, two for Latin America and the Caribbean and two for Western Europe and others. Each region reaches a consensus and submits a candidate for a two-year mandate. The candidacies are submitted several years in advance.

The last time that Brazil occupied one of the rotating positions was in 2010 and 2011. Since a few years prior to that, the country has not submitted a candidacy and, as a result, will not have a "position" until at least 2033, as verified by Folha.

The issue was debated on Saturday, March 11, during the first meeting of the country's new chancellor, Aloysio Nunes, with the highest ranks of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

Read the article in the original language