UN General Assembly
1999

need for its existence as much as we do the need to democratize it. The challenge facing us is that of reforming the United Nations so that it serves the interests of all nations equally. We defend both the need for the existence of the Security Council and the need to make it more inclusive, democratic and transparent. Why not expand the number of permanent members? Why could not the Council include at least two or three new permanent members from Latin America, Africa and Asia? The membership now is three times the number of countries which founded the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, and the vast majority of them — the Third World countries — do not have a single permanent member to represent them. However, we do not defend the right of veto. We do not believe that anyone should have it. But if it is not possible to eliminate it, we should at least attempt to ensure that this prerogative is more evenly shared, and provide that