The United Nations' annual General Debate opened this morning at UN headquarters in New York, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva taking the podium first and U.S. President Donald Trump expected to follow around 9:45 a.m. It's a pairing loaded with more than protocol this year: Lula has told supporters back home he intends to use the floor to warn Trump against interfering in Brazil's elections, just weeks before Brazilians vote in October.
Over the course of the week, roughly 190 UN member states will use the world's largest diplomatic gathering to stake out positions on migration, trade with Washington, and an organization still working to restore its footing after last year's funding scare. For Latin America specifically, this year's lineup is unusually eventful: a historic first meeting between Washington and Caracas, two brand-new presidents making their UN debut, two major economies opting to skip the podium, and one country represented by a government that didn't exist a year ago.
