“We are not in a good place,” said the President, noting that the risk of a third World War is very real.  The possibility that forces of capitalism will misuse artificial intelligence, exacerbate climate change and liquidate the planet cannot be completely ruled out.  Also expressing concern about the increasing militarization, he said: “Wars are not the same as we had 80 years ago.  Wars now are multidimensional,” and encompass economic, financial, information, biological and cyber warfare.  Also raising the possibility of “climate wars” that jeopardize strategic resources such as water and food, he said: “The cause of all this is the wild capitalist system that places the greed of the few over the rights and life of the majority”.

Expressing concern about the new Trump administration’s zeal for hegemonic power, he highlighted the recent publication of that Government’s strategic defense policy.  “This is nothing else but a new way of implementing Monroeism,” he said, adding that according to that doctrine, “America is for the North Americans”. Stressing that Latin America and the Caribbean is a zone of peace, he condemned the actions of the United States in that region, from the illegal introduction of cocaine through illegal gangs belonging to drug cartels to its interventions in Venezuela whose rich oil resources the northern States are trying to control. Also rejecting the unilateral coercive measures on Cuba, he expressed alarm about the genocide of the Palestinian people and attacks on Iran and Yemen, and the looming sphere of death in other conflicts around the world.

The international community must establish a commission to ensure reparations for slavery, apartheid, genocide and colonialism, he said.  Such a commission should set up effective mechanisms to facilitate land rights and recovery of the environment.  “We should also provide compensation to people who have resisted the military occupation of their territories and those that are suffering under unilateral sanctions and economic blockades,” he said.

It is vital to convert the General Assembly into a body with binding power so that it can be an effective voice for all peoples.  Also stressing the urgent need for Security Council reform, he said democratizing that body means acknowledging the legal equality of all States.  Also stressing the urgent need to strengthen the conservation of the Amazon, he said this should be done with the full sovereignty of Amazonian countries over this strategic biome.  “Defending the Amazon means defending life,” he said.