Mexico and Brazil Hold Second Meeting of the Subcommittee on Multilateral Affairs

The second meeting of the Mexico-Brazil Subcommittee on Multilateral Affairs was held virtually yesterday afternoon to strengthen political dialogue and coordination between the two countries on the most salient items on the multilateral agenda. The meeting was co-chaired by Mexico's Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Enrique Ochoa, and Brazil's Secretary for Multilateral Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Márcio Bicalho Cozendey.

At the meeting, Mexico and Brazil highlighted the many areas of convergence and synergy between their governments in multiple international forums on issues including peace and security, disarmament and non-proliferation, human rights, gender equality, climate change, food security, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.

They reaffirmed their commitment to defending multilateralism, democracy, and respect for international law as the most effective means of addressing global geopolitical, humanitarian, economic, environmental, and technological challenges, and agreed to maintain close multilevel coordination. The delegations also exchanged views on the regional and international landscape and on various ongoing international conflicts.

Both sides examined the current state of multilateralism, the institutional challenges facing the United Nations, and the need to strengthen its legitimacy, representativeness, effectiveness, and transparency. They reaffirmed their joint support for Michelle Bachelet's candidacy to lead the U.N., given her broad experience, leadership, and skills, at a time of profound transformation.

On disarmament and non-proliferation, Mexico and Brazil reiterated their longstanding commitment to nuclear disarmament, the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and the strengthening of the international regimes governing these issues. Both delegations agreed on the importance of preserving Latin America and the Caribbean as a zone of peace, free of nuclear weapons.

Both sides agreed to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights, particularly for groups in vulnerable situations, including women, girls and boys, indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, migrants and refugees, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTIQ+ community, amid the risk of reversals in progress achieved on these agendas in multilateral forums.

They agreed to strengthen cooperation to build on the outcomes of COP30 in Belém do Pará, including the launch of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), and to advance the implementation of commitments on mitigation, climate finance, just transition, and adaptation ahead of COP31. They also reaffirmed the importance of achieving food security and advancing toward more resilient agri-food systems.

Mexico and Brazil agreed to strengthen coordination on artificial intelligence, technological infrastructure, and technology capacity-building within the United Nations and in international forums such as the G20, to ensure that innovation in these technologies benefits developing countries.

The second meeting of the Mexico-Brazil Subcommittee on Multilateral Affairs reaffirmed both countries' commitment to defending multilateralism and building a safer, more inclusive, resilient, and prosperous world.