UN General Assembly
1988

This is not the appropriate forum in which to go into details about the progress made in this matter. However, I would refer to the case of Guatemalan refugees outside the country, who have continued to return. This year there was a 300 per cent increase in the numbers of those returning, encouraged by the internal democratic climate and by the support that the State, in co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is offering them. In this regard, I wish to emphasize the importance of the choice o£ Guatemala as the host country of the first international conference on Central American refugees, to be held next year. We hope that the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, will honour us by opening the session. We are determined to maintain and consolidate not only political democracy, but also economic democracy, eliminating the serious inequalities that exist, the alienation of many groups in our population, and extreme poverty, and overcoming the lack of opportunities for our young, all with the aim of achieving true social justice.