UN General Assembly
1996

has changed, that there is a new international agenda governed by the common concerns of all peoples over environment preservation, population growth, respect for human rights, strengthening of democratic systems, recognition of women’s rights, and the social and economic development of nations, we also understand that this Organization must be renewed and readapted to the new world circumstances. Latin America and Africa do not have permanent representatives on the Security Council, and Asia has only one. This means that there is uneven representation in that important body, which is incomprehensible in an Organization whose Members enjoy equal footing, on the principle that they are all sovereign States. It is our humble suggestion that the Security Council should be extended to enable Asia, Africa and Latin America to have two permanent seats on that body and that the number of non-permanent representatives be increased to democratize the decision-making machinery in that forum for peace. In one of his most frequently-cited works on the Caribbean, entitled El Caribe, Frontera Imperial, the former Dominican President and author, Juan Bosch, wrote as follows: