UN General Assembly
2004

I wish to begin by warmly congratulating Mr. Jean Ping, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Gabon, on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty- ninth session. I wish also to extend my country’s thanks to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the powerful and inspiring words he spoke yesterday (see ). Thousands of my compatriots are today suffering under the blows of nature. Floods of a kind never before seen have brought grief to many families. The entire country has turned to the victims in a truly moving display of solidarity. With my heart in Panama with the victims and their families, I have come to the United Nations, because the tragedy unfolding in my country highlights more than ever the need to tackle the problem of poverty urgently. The United Nations was conceived as a way of preventing war and restoring peace. Today, all the countries of the world have to be able to feel that they can come to the United Nations to solve their problems