UN General Assembly
1986

It is essential that the crisis of Latin American indebtedness be analyzed and understood from its political aspect. It is essential that the Governments of the creditor countries understand that an exceptional situation exists, a situation that cannot be automatically corrected by the simple play of the market forces. It is essential to understand that there is a need to contain and correct patent distortions and inequalities in the international economic system. President Sarney has declared again and again that Brazil will not pay its foreign debt with the hunger and poverty of its people, nor at the cost of democracy or economic growth. In reaffirming this resolute stand of the Government of Brazil, I do so in the name of a country determined to fulfill its international financial commitments but equally determined to secure a better quality of life for its people, who have already made so many sacrifices.