The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (nicknamed AMLO), proposed this Tuesday to the United Nations Security Council, which he presides for a month, the creation of a mechanism to end poverty thanks to a "voluntary contribution" from the one thousand richest people on the planet in favor of the 750 million who survive on less than two dollars a day.
"Never in the history of this organization has anything really substantial been done for the benefit of the poor, but it is never too late to do justice," said the president during his trip to New York.
Dozens of Mexicans gathered outside his hotel, some visibly in favor and others against his visit.
The mechanism, which will be presented in detail by Mexico before the UN General Assembly in the coming days, would be financed with a fund that would be fed from three sources: the annual voluntary contribution of 4% of these fortunes mentioned, a similar percentage of the 1,000 largest companies, and 0.2% of the Gross Domestic Product of each of the rich countries grouped in the so-called G-20.
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"If we meet this goal in income, the fund could have around a trillion dollars annually," said Obrador, who proposed calling it the World Program for Fraternity and Welfare.
According to the Mexican president, this fund should be distributed directly and without intermediation to the beneficiaries, in order to avoid bureaucracy, through the presentation of “an electronic card or purse”, and he suggested that it be the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. to be in charge of creating this "census of the poorest in the world."
The immediate destination of these funds, he specified, would go to pay the elderly and children with disabilities, scholarships, support programs for professional learning and distribution of free vaccines and medicines.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador speaks at the United Nations in Manhattan, New York, on November 9, 2021.CARLO ALLEGRI / REUTERS
"I do not believe that the permanent members of the Security Council [who have veto rights to the resolutions of the Council] oppose, because we are not talking about nuclear weapons or putting the security of the world at risk," he reasoned.
López Obrador spoke during a debate on the maintenance of international peace and security after meeting with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
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This is the president's second trip abroad in the almost three years he has been in power.
The first went to Washington in July 2020 to meet with then-President Donald Trump.
The Mexican president has repeatedly been reluctant to travel - something that has been linked to the excesses of previous presidents - and has delegated his participation in the most important forums to Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, even in the last meeting of the G20.
He always repeats that the best foreign policy is a good domestic policy.
With information from The Associated Press and Efe.