Latin America´s Presidents speak loudly for Palestinian rights at the United Nations

From 20 – 26 September, the United Nations General Assembly holds the 77th Session, where heads of State and Government come together at the UN Headquarters and discuss world issues. The majority of countries´ presidents talked about their country’s political, social and economic affairs. On the other hand, some Latin American heads of State came out and spoke loudly, such as Chile’s and Peru’s Presidents, proclaiming the rights of the Palestinians and denouncing the persecution against them.

The world’s youngest leader, Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, sounded the alarm on the violations of the Israeli occupations against Palestinian people. In his first speech at the UN, Chile’s President urged the world “not to normalise the permanent violations of human rights against the Palestinian people and the law; international resolutions enacted by this Assembly must be adhered to year after year”. Boric also called on the member States to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian State”.

Boric, who is known to be a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause and a defender of human rights, underscored that the world was in an era of uncertainty, where no country was isolated or immune to global shocks of events.  “Chile needs the world, and the world needs Chile, too,” he said.

 

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Gabriel Boric was not the only Latin American President who raised his voice at the UN speaking about the Palestinians right, but the Peruvian President, Pedro Castillo Terrones, also spoke loudly at the UN General Assembly tribune to denounce the crimes of the Israeli occupation and ask for the intervention of the international community to put an end to it. With the weakening of diplomatic negotiations to resolve armed conflict peacefully, he stressed the need to strengthen and expand United Nations peacekeeping operations.

Castillo reiterated the illegitimacy of the occupation in Palestinian territories since 1967.  “There are no good or bad armed interventions,” he said, stressing the need for the international community to take up its responsibility to broker a two-State solution along the 1967 lines, in order to establish secure borders and lasting peace.

In an interview with the journalist and the political activist from Peru, Luz Marina Gutiérrez, she told MEMO that people in Peru are more than happy with the position of the Peruvian government in terms of vindicating the just demands of the Palestinian people. “Without a doubt, this is a giant step in the fraternal accompaniment of Peru to Palestine in the process of its liberation. It is the time to thank the contributions and efforts of activists, Peruvian congressmen and members of the Palestinian community in Peru who did all their efforts to influence the President Pedro Castillo.”

Gutiérrez also asked her country and other Latin American countries to break diplomatic relations “since Israel is not an ally or a reliable friend for Peru, not even in matters of cultural or agricultural cooperation”. She stressed the countries to take concrete actions “toward ethnic cleansing and apartheid that Israel perpetrates with impunity against the Palestinian people for more than 74 years”.

According to Gutiérrez, the time and the situation have changed in favour toward Palestine in Latin America, but it “may take a long and painful process here. Day after day, it becomes more and more difficult for Israel to cover the sun with one finger, to continue deceiving, because people start awakening with knowledge and the truth”.  She clarifies that people in Peru are intensively working for Palestine. “There is a consistent work of international solidarity, but it is necessary to unite the efforts”.

 

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During his speech at UN, the Peruvian President, Pedro Castillo Terrones, announced Peru’s intentions to open a representative office in Palestine soon, as a step to strengthen the bonds of friendship between both nations. Peru recognised Palestine as a State in 2011, becoming the seventh South American country to do so, declares globally its ties with Palestine. Pedro Castillo’s statements should serve as inspiration for other Latin American leaders who will be able to resume their initiative to accompany Palestine on the road to its liberation”, Gutiérrez told me.

Day after day, the image has become clearer to the World, and the lies of the Israeli occupation are more exposed. Today, the World is publicly demanding the rights of the Palestinian people at the United Nations and other places. “With Palestine, we are united by the sense of justice, the yearning for freedom and peace and the heart of solidarity”, the journalist and the political activist from Peru, Luz Marina Gutiérrez, concludes.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.