UN General Assembly
1986

On behalf of the Brazilian Government it is my privilege to congratulate you. Sir, upon your election to the presidency of the forty-first session of the General Assembly. I am certain that I interpret the trust of all delegations present here in your wise and inspired leadership, on the basis of which our work will attain the desired success. Let me also pay tribute to Ambassador Jaime de Pinies for the competent and skillful manner in which he presided over the last session of the General Assembly, the session which marked the fortieth anniversary of our Organization. For 41 years Brazil has had the privilege of opening the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly. At the fortieth session last September it was the President of my country, Jose Sarney, who gave the opening address. He began by paying homage to this tribune: "This tribune instills respect and dignity. It is the loftiest in the community of nations. Here both the mighty and the weak are diminished".