In his inauguration speech as president of the Inter-American Court this Monday (26), Brazilian Rodrigo Mudrovitsch warned of the advancement of unilateral actions on the continent, in an allusion to recent government policies.
Mudrovitsch, who has been a judge at the court since 2022, assumed command of the main continental institution for the defense of human rights for a two-year period, in a ceremony in Costa Rica
Although he did not mention Trump by name in his speech, the new president sent a clear message of
He said that his mandate “inaugurates a challenging international situation for the international system as we know it and, in particular, for our region and our court”, he said.
Among the most controversial actions adopted by Trump are the attacks on boats in the region that were allegedly linked to drug trafficking and the capture of
“The international order built after the Second World War, founded on the principles of respect for international law, the prevalence of human rights, the sovereign equality of States, the self-determination of peoples, the proscription of the use or threat of the use of force, non-intervention in internal affairs, the peaceful resolution of disputes, respect for the territorial integrity of States and multilateralism, has gone through a process of contestation”, said Mudrovitsch in his speech.
He stated that he has watched “with apprehension, the rise of an international order in which unilateralism gains prominence in different parts of the world.”
On a more optimistic note, the Brazilian judge added that the answer to the threats is to reinforce multilateralism and international law.
He also listed defending the fairness of elections on the continent as a priority for the court.
“Periodic elections with universal suffrage are not enough. A truly democratic regime requires authentic elections, with unpredictability of winners, in elections immune to the capture, prior or subsequent, of their results by factions holding political or economic power”, he argued.
He also said it is essential that freedom of expression is protected on the continent and promised a court with open doors to the public. “Democracy does not thrive in an order averse to criticism, dissent and the free debate of ideas”, he declared.
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