UN General Assembly
1999

lack the courage to speak or to act, they will demand to know why, on the threshold of the new millennium, we did not want genuinely to open the world to freedom. Let me acknowledge United Nations assistance and intervention in my country. The efforts of Salvadorans to meet our aspirations to lasting peace would not have met with success without the proper forum through which to bring conciliation among Salvadorans: the United Nations. We must therefore express our gratitude to the Organization, a house of concord among nations, and to its Member States, for their involvement in the achievement of our Peace Agreement. El Salvador has 4 only one way of expressing that gratitude: while understanding that historical experiences vary, we offer the world our humble experience so that it may be studied by any country that chooses to resolve its conflicts by taking the path of concord. Following the armed conflict, hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans were forced to leave their homes and communities in order to feed their families. Many of my