President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday (21) that the defense of democracy is not only a function of governments elected in each country, but also depends on the participation of citizens and confidence in institutions. Lula participated in Santiago, Chile, a high -level meeting on the defense of democracy, organized by Chilean President Gabriel Boric.
“At this time when extremism tries to reissue interventionist practices, we need to act together. The defense of democracy is not only for governments. It requires active participation of academia, parliaments, civil society, media and private sector,” the Brazilian said in a statement to the press after the meeting.
Also participated in the event Always the leaders of Colombia, Gustavo Petro; Spain, Pedro Sánchez; and from Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi. Following the meeting reserved between the leaders, they will meet with representatives of civil society, academic environment and reflection groups on public policies.
Discussions involve three themes: defense of democracy and multilateralism; Fighting inequalities; and digital technologies and the confrontation of misinformation. For Lula, it takes concrete and urgent actions in the face of worsening the undemocratic offensive in the world.
“Liberal democracy has not been able to respond to contemporary desires and needs. Fulfilling the electoral ritual every four or five years is no longer sufficient. The political system and the parties have fallen into discredit. For this reason, we talked about the strengthening of democratic institutions and multilateralism in the face of the successive attacks it has been suffering,” Lula said.
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The five leaders also agreed on the need to regulate digital platforms and the fight against misinformation to “return to states the ability to protect their citizens” ”.
“The key to plural free public debate is data transparency and global digital governance. That freedom of expression does not confuse with the authorization to incite violence, spread hatred, commit crimes and attack the Democratic Rule of Law,” said Lula.
The group of presidents also summoned the organized society for the collective construction of structural reform proposals to face inequalities.
“There is no justice in a system that expands benefits to great capital and cuts social rights,” Lula said in defending Tax Justice and taxation of super rich.
“Only the fight against social, race and gender inequalities can rescue the cohesion and legitimacy of democracies. Environmental crisis introduces new forms of exclusion with disproportionate impacts on the most vulnerable sectors. Without a new model of development, democracy will continue threatened by those who put their economic interests above those of society and homeland,” said the Brazilian.
The meeting in Chile had been scheduled for some time, but it happens by the time the president of the United States, Donald Trump, harvested tariff attacks against several countries, among them Brazil.
The event takes place on the first high level meeting in defense of democracy: fighting against extremism, held in September 2024, on the margin of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York. The event was summoned by President Lula and Spanish Pedro Sánchez.
As the next milestone of the initiative, it is planned to hold a meeting in the context of the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations next September in New York. At the time, the leaders of Mexico, England, Canada, Honduras, Australia, South Africa and Denmark should also participate.
