Mauro Vieira criticizes the Security Council’s impasse on war: “We failed”

Representative of Brazil on the United Nations Security Council, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, harshly criticized this Monday (30) the collegiate’s delay in approving a resolution on the conflict between Israel and the extremist group Hamas. Vieira criticized the stance of some countries that, according to him, use the Council to achieve personal objectives, and not to protect civilians in the Middle East.

“Since October 7th, we have met several times and voted on four proposed resolutions. However, we remain at an impasse, due to an internal disagreement, particularly among permanent members and thanks to the persistent use of the Council to achieve its own purposes instead of putting the protection of civilians above all else,” he said. “Everyone is seeing our inability to come together and respond to a crisis that challenges us,” he added.

Brazil chaired the council this October and tried to negotiate the approval of a resolution for several days, listening to several countries, but the proposal ended up vetoed by the United States, one of the member countries. The UN Security Council has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The others make up the rotating council. China will assume the presidency of the Security Council this Wednesday (1st).

For a resolution to be approved, the support of nine out of a total of 15 members is required, with none of the permanent members being able to veto the text. In addition to the proposal presented by Brazil, the United States presented its version of the resolution, vetoed by Russia. The Russians, in turn, had their two proposals vetoed by the United States and the United Kingdom, reported the Brazil Agency.

“Since I last spoke to this Council last week, the child death count has increased by a thousand. Meanwhile, the Security Council holds meetings and listens to speeches, without being able to make a fundamental decision: to end human suffering,” he said. According to him, the council has failed in meeting after meeting to put civilian lives as a priority.

“While thousands of Israelis and Palestinians mourn their loved ones, while Israelis agonize over the fate of the hostages, while Gaza suffers from the relentless military operation that is killing civilians, including an intolerable number of children, we have the means to do something and yet, repeatedly, we fail”, he highlighted. In his speech, he also highlighted that, in three weeks of conflict, 8 thousand deaths have already been recorded, including 3 thousand children. The chancellor cited Hamas as responsible for reigniting the crisis in the region with “terrorist actions”.