UN General Assembly
2001

learned something from the events of 11 September. We have learned that lax control of financial institutions and the existence of tax and banking havens are like giving criminals a letter of marque to make and multiply their profits, to amass the fortunes that finance death. The shared responsibility that my country demands in the fight against illegal drugs must also be applied to the fight against terrorism. This new international conviction that we have all been late in implementing — perhaps because we are still numbed by the so-called post-cold-war era — must be translated into acts that go beyond rhetoric. There must be no more coexisting with money laundering, even if it means going after the major financial conglomerates of the world. There must be no more uncontrolled production and sale of the chemical precursors used in illicit drug production. There must be no more illegal or uncontrolled manufacturing and sale of the weapons that propagate death. Only if we, beginning with the developed countries, translate those principles into reality, with