Why does Brazil speak first at the UN General Assembly?

Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro will give the opening speech at the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow morning, in what is his most important international appearance since taking office in January.

Mr. Bolsonaro will not just be among the first speakers, he will be the first, in what is an odd quirk of United Nations tradition, dating back to the 1940s.

As the story goes, in the primordial years of the UN, member states were hesitant to take the initiative to speak first at assemblies. In the second session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 1947, diplomat Oswaldo Aranha—head of Brazil’s delegation—offered to make the opening speech.

This continued in following years, becoming a tradition that the opening speaker at the UNGA will always be Brazilian—despite never hosting the event or being a member of the Security Council. The United States, the hosts and biggest economy in the world, speak second.

Brazil at the UNGA

In early decades, Brazilian diplomats and foreign ministers would take charge of the UNGA opening speech. It was only in 1982 that Brazil’s head...