The U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at Venezuela, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in his speech at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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Trump said "the socialist dictatorship" of President Nicolas Maduro had destroyed a once wealthy country, as every socialist or communist regime had always done. He said the United States has already taken significant action against the Venezuelan government, and that it was "prepared to take further action" if the government continues to impose its will on the Venezuelan people.
Trump thanked those Latin American countries that have supported U.S. measures against Venezuela.
In another attack, the U.S. president called Iran a "rogue state" and repeated his threat to pull out of the international nuclear deal with Iran.
But Trump's strongest words were directed at the DPRK. Referring to the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, he said, "Rocketman is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime." He promised to "totally destroy North Korea" if it continued to threaten the United States or its allies.
Global leaders have converged on New York City for the 72nd U.N. General Assembly, with the first session opened with a speech by U.N. General-Secretary Antonio Guterres, followed by the President of the General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak.
The Brazilian president Michel Temer also criticized Venezuela, saying that human rights in the country are "deteriorating," even though Temer himself was never elected to the presidency and both he and many in his government are facing a raft of corruption charges.
“In South America, there is no longer room for alternatives to democracy. This is what we have stated in Mercosur, and this is what we will continue to uphold,” Temer said, whose approval rating sank to 3.4 percent according to the latest MDA Institute poll. Commissioned by the National Confederation of Shipments, the survey interviewed over two thousand people between Sept. 13 and 16 in five different regions of the country.
Other leaders scheduled to speak include: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos; Plurinational State of Bolivia President Evo Morales; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari just to name a few.
A total of 15 minutes are allotted for each leader to deliver their speech. However, the time slot is only a loose guideline, which has been exceeded on numerous occasions. Counting over 193 leaders, speeches will run until Sept. 29.