UN General Assembly
1998

old. Against all logic, it is in our meetings, committees and other forums that the prerogatives to which we are entitled as human beings are being reduced to mere caricatures in an insane race to alter the very foundations of international law. We are constantly asked why we so stubbornly call for the genuine democratization of the United Nations and for far-reaching reform of its institutions. What does it take to understand that, when we are on the verge of bidding farewell to the second millennium, the world can no longer be forced to follow Bretton Woods norms, patterns and schemes that are consistent with a world order born out of a war and that are now obsolete. 35 The Dow Jones average sways and plummets just a few blocks away from this building. Uncertainty and hopelessness are rampant in the markets. Countries are going bankrupt — and so are their Governments. Hundreds of millions die of famine, disease, violence, terror and war. Some even become living dead, as they are deprived of