I am happy to greet you on behalf of the Haitian people, whose hearts beat in time with liberty, pride and dignity: the liberty we have conquered, the pride we have rediscovered and the dignity we have restored. From a distance may be glimpsed the smiles of a people happy to greet you in the manner of "lavalas". From a distance may be heard the voice of the Haitian nation happy to be part of the United Nations, happy to be present at the United Nations.
As the echo of this multitude of Haitian voices resounds, I wish to extend to Mr. Shihabi my warmest congratulation on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-sixth session. His exceptional qualities and his vast experience in dealing with international problems have undoubtedly rekindled hope.
I should like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to his predecessor, Mr. Guido De Marco, who conducted the proceedings of the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session so wisely and with such competence.
I want also to pay a warn tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, for his courage and patience. His mandate, unfortunately, will expire in the next few months. Without the slightest doubt, he has, with skill and farsightedness, put into effect the prescriptions laid down for the international community in the Charter of the United Nations. To a very large extent, the United Nations is in his debt for the restoration of confidence that it is enjoying today. We shall long remember this representative of Latin American diplomacy.
To my dear Latin American friends and companions I extend a fraternal greeting. As you know, we share the experience of struggle - struggle against the enslavement of man by man, struggle for the advent of an era of peace and the total liberation of the Latin American continent and the whole world.
With our comrades, friends, brothers and sisters we were united yesterday, and we are still united, for certainly, with democracy, victory will be ours. Together, we shall prevail.
The vibration of these linguistic chorda encourages me to add just a few notes to this symphony of languages. I am sure that Anglophones are delighted to hear a Haitian voice saying hello. Here we are on the way to democracy, fighting against all kinds of injustice and exploitation. The world, of course, will be better. Let's go. Up with the poor. Up with Haiti and Haitians living in the United States of America, building solidarity for the kingdom of justice, respect and dignity. To arrive at this stage of life in the history of Haiti, friends and organisations within the international community provide great solidarity to the Haitian people. For that solidarity, we express our gratitude to all. For the solidarity, we shall remain grateful to the Organisation that helped, and continues to help, Haitian people. For decades, Haitians have been refugees around the world. To the countries that have received us we say, "Thanks". To the countries that have mistreated us we say, "Look, brothers, we are Haitians, and we are proud to be Haitians. He love Haiti, and we are proud to love Haiti. We are citizens of the world, and we are proud to be citizens of the world." To those who have received us with respect and dignity we say once again, "Thanks".
Many of our African and Arab brothers, of course, speak English. But this does not mean that we cannot have recourse to the lingala language to greet all Africans. I greet all Africans. Solidarity between Africa and Haiti. Let us renew the links with Africa and return to our roots of solidarity, hand in hand. I love Africa and invite Africans to come to Haiti. I love Africa. I wish also to have recourse to Arabic to speak to our Arab sisters and brothers.
How are you doing? I am very happy. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Peace be among you. For peace in the Middle East my heart opens to the Jews with these words of peace: Peace be with you. Blessed be God. I lived for three years in Israel and learned your language, and today I am happy to say to you on behalf of my people, "Peace to all of you". We now have the opportunity, together, to do many good things. However, we do not have the time today to mention them all. The time will come. Blessed be God. How can we turn our eyes towards Germany and Italy without saying: Good afternoon. How are you? Together we are strong. We have many things to do, and of course we shall travel towards democracy.
Already I hear the voice of eloquent silence asking me "What about Italy?"
Let there sound an Italian note. Here it is - better late than never. It would have been difficult for me to forget my friends, especially when I think that at this very time many of them are working for peace. We have said over and over again to everyone, and today we way again, that to speak of peace is to speak of the people. That is why we are happy to be among you. Let representatives guess which language is now going to make its entry into the United nations. Yes, it is Creole of course. Yes, we are on our way, together with all peoples of all the United Nations, towards a better tomorrow.
Indeed, this decade has begun with events that can shape the future of mankind and of course give rise to hopes and questions. The forty-sixth session of the General Assembly crystallises, in our view, a period of profound reflection for the international community. Unlike previous periods, this session is taking place at a time when profound upheavals are appreciably changing the geopolitical axes of our planet. The dialectic of a bipolar policy is prompting the international community to wonder who is to accede to the seat of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations? What about democracy at the global level?
We are talking about the future of the geopolitical axes, which should never be allowed to develop into totalitarian and absolute power. At a time when the international community is concerned with changes in the geopolitical axes of the planet, let us turn to our dear Haiti, the rebellious, faithful daughter, a rebel against all imperialist dictates but faithful to all democratic prescriptions.
I should like to speak of ten milestones that line our way; we could call them the ten democratic commandments that arise from our democratic praxis. Our message will be confined to the democratic arena, where the ten democratic commands stand up in a straight line. The first milestone, or the first democratic commandment, is liberty or death. As you know, Haiti was one of the first beacons of liberty in the Western Hemisphere. In 1791, we gave the world its first slave revolution, which enabled hundreds of thousands of blacks to throw off the yoke of repression. The leaders of this victorious revolution helped to finance the liberation crusade of Simon Bolivar in South America. It was in Haiti chat slavery was first abolished, taking a giant stride towards human freedom. From the Haitian revolution grew the roots of the declaration of human rights. The Haiti of Boukmann, Dessalines and Toussaint Louverture was and remains the first black republic in the world.
Like a star of liberty, Haiti shines in the eyes of all. Throughout our history, often glorious, sometimes troubled, we have always recalled with pride the unprecedented exploits of our ancestors The cries of liberty or death, liberty or death, far from being stifled in a sterile past, ring out continually in the heart of a people that has become, forever, a free nation.
All throughout our march towards 1991, in spite of our contribution to the free world, Haiti has not been able to open all the doors of the international community. The colonists of those days and their allies were afraid of freedom, as were our leaders and the traditional oligarchy. White colonists, black colonists - we had to throw off the yoke of black dictators and their international allies.
Happily, in 1986, to the surprise of the entire world, the Haitian people overthrew a dictatorial regime of 30 years' standing. This was the beginning of the end of a dictatorship which has left indelible scars. But the more we recall these scars, the louder we cry; liberty or death, liberty or death.
The second milestone, or democratic commandment, is democracy or death. After having thrown out the repressive, corrupt regime of the Duvaliers on 7 February 1986, the people of Charlemagne Peralte had only one choice: to establish, once and for all, a democratic regime in Haiti. Hence, liberty or death is equivalent to democracy or death. We therefore struggled relentlessly for the attainment of our rights against minority groups that held a monopoly on power after 1986. A relentless struggle and a legitimate one, since those in power did nothing to change the nature of the State, which for such a long time created conditions for maintaining the status quo and the functioning of the machinery of exploitation and repression.
Finally, on 16 December 1990, thanks to the valour of the Haitian people and thanks to your contribution, for the first time we held free, fair and democratic elections. Honour to the Haitian masses. Glory to our ancestors, who thwarted colonialism at the beginning of the 19th century. Hail to the international community and hail to the United Nations!
This is indeed an important first in history. For once, for the first time, a people with an ingenious tactical movement brought about a revolution by the ballot box. The election of the President of the Republic by a majority of more than 70 per cent on the first ballot symbolises the victory of the people, the power of the people and the demands of the people. These free, fair and democratic elections are ultimately the result of our own political strategy, that is to say, the historic upsurge of "lavalas". We fought in the manner of "lavalas", we won in the manner of "lavalas" and we are advancing in the manner of "lavalas".
In union there is strength, this is our motto. With the fork of division one cannot drink the soup of elections; with the fork of division, one cannot drink the soup of democracy. In a way, the "lavalas" strategy is akin to the thoughts of the Pope, who, in his "Centesimus Annus" encyclical, suggested that events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union were paving the way for the reaffirmation of the "positive character of an authentic theology of the total liberation of Ban". In Haiti, this theological approach cannot be confined to a simple analysis of reality; it is meant to be, rather, a method of thought and action in the school of the poor, a privileged elite of the revelation of God, the historical subject of this struggle for the total liberation of man.
It is on the basis of the experience of the poor that we base the teachings of the democratic praxis, fuelled and illuminated, o£ course, by the theology of freedom. The dialectic to be established between the theology of freedom and the politics of freedom necessarily phases through the life and experiences of the poor.
When Jean-Paul Sartre criticised Hegel he noted that the latter had overlooked the fact that a void is devoid of something, and that liberation theologians can state that the void of poverty is an avid void, and not devoid of what is essential. Avid of liberation. Its void entails a legitimate expectation whose essence dwells within the spirit of the poor. It lives by giving life to democracy. We, who are elected democratically, must be faithful to its rights.
I turn now to the third milestone of democracy: fidelity to human rights. If a man has duties, he certainly also has rights, rights to be respected and rights to respect, rights to guarantee that ultimately a State ruled by law will emerge.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is and must remain sacred. It is our heavy responsibility to observe the Constitution faithfully to guarantee our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in keeping with our Act of Independence of 1804 and the- 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
There must be respect for the Constitution, in order to build a socially just, economically free and politically independent Haitian nation.
There must be respect for the Constitution in order to establish ideological pluralism and political diversity, to strengthen national unity, to eliminate the differences between towns and rural areas, to ensure the separation and the harmonious allocation of executive, judiciary and parliamentary powers; so as to establish a government based on fundamental freedoms and respect for human rights, a national dialogue, and the participation of the population as a whole in major decisions touching upon national life through an effective decentralization.
The fourth milestone or fourth commandment of democracy is the right to eat and the right to work. It goes without saying that the right to eat is an integral part of human rights. The existence of a person who is hungry because he is exploded indicts both the oppressor and the authorities who are responsible for enforcing respect for the inalienable and indefeasible right to life. In Haiti, victims of international exploitation have difficulty getting enough to eat because they themselves are being ground by the axes of international exploitation. In the arms race, the nations of the world are devoting to it more than $500 billion b year, or $1.4 billion every day. Only 15 days of such expenditure could eradicate hunger from the planet for many years.
The tragedy of hunger arises not out of lack of food but out of a lack of social justice. Work, more work, always work - this is what man needs if he is to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. It has been noted that if the amount being spent on building a B-l bomber were to be spent on constructing dwellings, 70,000 jobs would be created.
How can we justify the fact that 71 per cent of Haitian farmers cultivate only a small square of land, less than 1.2 hectares? How can we justify the fact that 30 per cent of the wealthiest landowners in our country own more than two thirds of the arable land?
We must rise above the age-old indifference of the dominant political and economic sectors and demand respect for the right to food and the right to work. The hunger of one man is the hunger of all men. Everyone must work to achieve a labouring civilization in which the roots of hunger will be eradicated. The hunger of one man is the hunger of all men.
We must go beyond verbiage and explore some of the factual pathways that have been traversed since 7 February 1991. On 7 February 1991 the "lavalas" government began to bring order to the administration. State resources have increased appreciably. In the last four months of the prior government, fiscal and customs revenues stood at a monthly average of
86.8 million gourdes, in contrast to an average of 122.9 million for the first four months of our "lavalas" government, with a clear upward trend - 137.6 million in the month of June. As for expenditures, in November 1990 the former government spent 164.7 million gourdes; in June 1991, the "lavalas" government spent only 86 million. Thus, for the first time in a long time, public funds showed a surplus of 41 million gourdes.
An increase in food production is a necessity. In order to achieve this, we are going to implement the agrarian reform set forth in article 248 of the Constitution and provide peasants with the wherewithal for production. The participation of the private sector is essential for the creation of highly labour-intensive businesses. Whereas in the past illegal practices made it possible for some sectors to plunder the country to the detriment of the vast majority of the population, our "lavalas" government is ensuring respect for the rights of all: the right to invest in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution; the right to work for human and economic growth. To our dear friends and investors abroad, Haiti here and now extends a most cordial and heartfelt welcome.
The fifth milestone of the democratic commandment is the right to demand our due. In the past five years the Haitian people have made an outstanding and remarkable contribution to the democratic struggle that is being waged throughout the world. As the democratic tide surged in - in Eastern Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East, South Africa and Central and South America - we in Haiti witnessed an avalanche of democracy we have called "lavalas". No democratic nation can exist in isolation without geopolitical, diplomatic, economic and international ties.
Today, we see our right to demand our due as part of this network of relationships, in which we can on the one hand recognise the fruits of a rich but impoverished past and on the other discern the fruits of an exploited but hopeful present, thanks to the opportunity we now have to combine a colonised past with a democratic present.
Heraclitus of Ephesus rightly said: "Awakened men have but one world, but men asleep have each their own." Awakened men and women of Haiti, our world is a world of justice, justice for all, justice for us Haitians, who have all too often been the victims of social injustice.
If we scan the horizon of this world of justice, we wonder how long the impoverished will be forced to cry out, with Democritus: "We seek the good and do not find it; we find evil without seeking it." In the belief that mens agitat molem - mind can move matter - our policy will continue to be attentive to the masses, who are calling for the respect and dignity due them. The same applies for the treatment inflicted upon so many of our Haitian brothers and sisters who live in foreign lands.
The sixth democratic milestone or commandment is: self-defence in the diaspora - the so-called tenth department. Hunted and harassed until 1991 by the blind brutality of the repressive machine, or by the structures of exploitation fashioned into an anti-democratic system, our Haitian sisters and brothers have not always experienced the joy of finding a promised land.
They were considered to be illegal because the torturers would not give their victims properly signed certificates of torture; they were considered to be illegal because they had to travel as boat people or without legal identity papers. Rut they made a large contribution to the economic prosperity of bosses who preferred malleable and freely exploitable human labour.
What can we say about our sisters and brothers imprisoned in Krome, end elsewhere? Is it not time, in the name of democracy, to study their cases and turn their suffering into rejoicing? With a view to encouraging the authorities concerned to take the appropriate steps to bring about this long-awaited rejoicing, we in the Haitian Government are constantly fighting against fraudulent practices and the procurement of false visas on Haitian territory.
As we address the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly, we are expressing ourselves in these terms for the sake of the well-being of our community. We feel bound to denounce and condemn before the whole of mankind the flagrant violation of the rights of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. While we recognize the sovereignty of the Dominican Republic, we must firmly denounce and condemn this violation of human rights.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic are the two wings of a single bird, two nations which share the beautiful island of Hispaniola. Echoing the cries of all the victims whose rights are denied them, and in keeping with our commitment to respect human rights, despite the social problems and financial difficulties caused by this forced repatriation, we intend to show respect for both wings of the bird. This is attested to by the welcome that Haiti gives all those men and women who cross our border, be they Haitians or Dominicans. In solidarity with disadvantaged minorities, we call for reparation, as much for Dominican citizens by birth but of Haitian origin as for Haitian citizens who have fallen victim to this repatriation.
Its not a matter of weeping when one realises what is happening in the Dominican Republic; it is a matter of defending human rights, in the name of the Haitian people, in the name of all men who are really men and all women who are really women throughout the world. Therefore, we Haitians are working together with our Dominican brothers and sisters to be able to live in communion, with a continuing dialogue.
That is why, together with Dominican men and women who do not agree with this flouting of human rights, we Haitian men and women, we the entire Haitian people, declare to the world that we demand reparation.
We shall always walk side by side with the Dominican people as brothers and sisters, in order to live in peace, but a man worthy of the name can never bow his head when human rights are trampled upon as they now are in the case of Haitians born in the Dominican Republic or in Haiti, Haitians of Dominican origin, or Dominicans of Haitian origin. It is regrettable that the question of colour comes into play even when Dominicans are involved.
Arrested and expelled into Haitian territory, they generally have no homes, familial or employment. Conservative estimates place the number of repatriated persons at more than 50,000 already. In the hope that the international agencies concerned will assist us to ensure respect for fundamental human rights, we here and now solemnly proclaim with pride and dignity that never again shall our Haitian sisters and brothers be sold so that their blood may be converted into bitter sugar. Blood in bitter sugar is unacceptable - and the unacceptable shall not be accepted.
I hope that my Dominican brothers and sisters will always walk side by side with us in dialogue so that together we may protect the rights of all Dominicans and Haitians. I say to my Dominican brothers, whom I love so much: let us go forward together to build a world of peace.
The seventh democratic milestone or commandment is: No to violence, yes to "lavalas". Is an unarmed political revolution possible in 19917 Yes. Incredible, but true. This is "lavalas" teachings the tactical and strategic convergence of democratic forces brandishes the weapon of unity to combat that of violence. A stunning victory, a historic surprise! In the schools of the poor, the teaching of active non-violence and of unity is triumphing over institutionalized violence. 1804 was the date of our first independence, but 1991 marks the beginning of the era of our second independence.
Is there any democratic nation that is capable of remaining indifferent to this victory of non-violence precisely where structures of economic violence still exist? Is it legitimate to try the patience of the victims of economic violence? There is no policy apart from relationships of strength, but there Is also no economy apart from relationships of interest.
Because of the restoration of peace, the capital of non-violence that the Haitian masses have invested is yielding considerable economic interest. A simple psycho-social analysis is very eloquent. For the more social ego is attacked by oligarchic sclerosis, the healthier it becomes, psychologically, politically and economically. The teaching of non-violence should arouse a collective awareness of our land of non-violence. Ours is a land of non-violence, where 85 per cent of the population is still crushed by economic violence, is still illiterate - but is not stupid. Making these victims literate requires help from the true friends of Haiti - not simply friends, but true friends. You who are our true friends, work with us not as observers but as performers, as citizens of the world. We hope we can count on your cooperation in our literacy campaign. Any cooperation at this level attests to a determination to combat economic violence by active non-violence. Where the guns of violence sound, let the sun of non-violence shine in the "lavalas" spirit.
The eighth democratic milestone or commandment is: faithfulness to the human being - the ultimate wealth. To speak of the human being as the ultimate wealth may perhaps suggest that one is disregarding gold, oil and dollars. Far from it. There is wealth and wealth. According to certain experts, if the hydro-electric potential of the United States were to be fully exploited, it could provide more energy than all the oil consumed in the world.
All these riches should he placed at the service of mankind - the axis of the "lavalas" policy. We are ready to demonstrate our faithfulness to that approach by embracing anything that can promote the full development of the human being. Thus the harmonious links that we have already established with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are part of the framework of Caribbean solidarity, with a view to more effectively fostering human well-being.
We are also working to expand South-South relations, between us and our neighbours in Latin America. It goes without saying that South-South relationships are not the only important relationships for Haiti. For we share a political heritage with the United States, whose independence reminds us of the Haitian pioneers who fought and died precisely for the same independence. France, with which we also share a political heritage, the United States and other countries of North America, and the countries of Europe, of the Middle East, of Africa and of other parts of the world form a part, together with us, of the interdependent network of nations throughout the world.
We patriotically hail the Haitian men and women living in Cuba, and we also hail Cuba and the Cuban people, to whom we address our wishes for peace and democratic growth. We address the same good wishes for peace and democratic growth to the Middle East and South Africa. In recent years the United Nations, under the guidance of Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, has demonstrated that, given the means, it can be effective in settling conflicts. This is attested to by the cessation of hostilities between Iran and Iraq, the independence of Namibia and the dawning of a solution to the question of Western Sahara. Further proof of this is the way in which the United Nations, in accordance with its Charter, reacted when one of the States Members of the Organisation fell victim to such cruel aggression on 2 August 1990 at the hands of Iraq. The manner in which the conflict was handled raised some legitimate reservations, but the role of the United Nations was never challenged. Nevertheless, the Gulf crisis has given rise to a number of still unanswered questions.
We all know that, in spite of the efforts of the United Nations, there are still parts of the world where divergent interests and lack of understanding between peoples continue to cause conflicts between States and within them. Despite the victories of the people of Azania over the juridical apparatus of the apartheid system, we are far from reaching the peak - that is, democracy.
Out of our sense of unity with the black people of Africa, who should enjoy all the rights recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we take this opportunity to appeal to the international community and, above all, the industrialised countries not to lift the comprehensive sanctions decreed against the Pretoria regime at this early stage. In its diametrical opposition to apartheid, the Republic of Haiti is struggling to ensure that the black majority of South Africa enjoys its rights to the full in a multiracial and democratic society. Bravo Mandela! Honour to Mandela!
If the memory of Mandela evokes such applause as I am hearing now, applause is surely due the memory of another truly great man - Martin Luther King.
The Haitian Government has noted with satisfaction the cease-fire recently arrived at between the parties in conflict in Western Sahara. We reaffirm our support for the process now under way.
The suffering of a single individual is the suffering of mankind. Our policy aims at providing, day after day, eloquent testimony to our faithfulness to man.
The ninth democratic milestone or commandment 1st faithfulness to our culture. The "lavalas" praxis intertwines cultural links at the very heart of the political universe. Resistance to cultural alienation guarantees the psychological health of the democratic fabric. For any cultural suicide leads to the devitalisation of the social body and cannot but threaten the democratic cells of the body.
To live, and live to the full, is also to draw nourishment from the source of one's culture. To live to the full is to send one's roots deep down to the source of one's culture.

This embraces the totality of the life of a people. What is involved here is a depth of being that must be delved and explored, and by this being we mean a fabric of relationships, pluri-dimensional relationships. Defining man not as an end but as a bridge, Friedrich Nietzsche places him - whether we like it or not - at the crossing point of the process of acculturation and inculturation. What is involved is a transmission of cultural seed which may give life to the being or wound it in its very essence.
The germs of pathologic culpability transmitted by contact between so-called dominant and dominated cultures can only be damaging to any democratic growth. The "lavalas" praxis seeks to give our cultural identity its true value. Any in-depth change can be achieved democratically only if indigenous values are interweaved in a particular social-cultural tissue.
This faithfulness to the culture of mankind prompts us to share the concerns of the, Kurdish people, the Palestinian people, the Jewish people, the peoples of Iraq - all cherishing the roots of their beings.
In this context of respect and peace, the Republic of Haiti warmly welcomes the accession of the two Koreas to the family of the United Nations.
Fidelity to our culture prompts us to sharpen our critical senses in order to protect our culture's health against certain evils such as illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs. The Haitian Government wishes to recall that effective work to combat the production of drugs also involves greater assistance to Latin American countries.
As far as drug trafficking itself is concerned, it is important to recall that it is generated and fuelled by the demand that comes from the North. Thus, at all cost, stimuli to production from the consumers of the industrialised countries must be eliminated. Concerted action between the States of the North and those of the South, with the assistance of the United Nations, would make it possible more effectively to combat this evil of drugs in its devastating effects on men and women.
The tenth - and last - landmark, or tenth democratic commandment: all around the tablet
Yes, all around the democratic table. Not a minority on the table Nor a majority under the table But all around the democratic table.
We are faced with an historic encounter as we approach 1992. It is an historic encounter on the eve of the 500th anniversary of the evangelisation and of the struggle of the Haitian people to survive and to retain its dignity and identity. As we approach this 500th anniversary of resistance, both qualitative and quantitative, we can speak of a meeting around the table. This is in truth a real challenge facing us at the threshold of the third millennium.
Brothers and sisters of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique and so on, our past in the struggle against colonialism leads us inevitably to establish stronger and deeper links throughout our progress towards the Democratic Table.
A new social contract at the Caribbean, Latin American and international levels is necessary so that we may all one day meet around the Democratic Table.
Since 16 December 1990, the date of elections held under the lofty sponsorship of the United Nations, we in Haiti have been moving towards that meeting-place.

If we are all to get there, it is time that indebtedness cease to affect a net transfer of resources from our impoverished countries to the rich countries. In fact, between 1983 and 1988, the net transfer of resources to the so-called developed countries amounted to $115 billion. For one year alone, 1989, that transfer amounted to approximately $60 billion - financial resources the countries of the South desperately need for growth,
I hope that the Fourth Decade will yield positive results in the context of the new international order that is to be established. At this close of the twentieth century, the Republic of Haiti renounces absolute power, embraces participative democracy and sings the hymn of liberty, pride and dignity - liberty won; pride regained; dignity reborn. At this close of the twentieth century, the Republic of Haiti has the honour to hail the unity of nations: the United Nations for a united world; the United Nations through united peoples.
As for the Haitian people, we once again hail its heroic courage, crying out tirelessly and in the spirit of "lavalas":
It is better to perish with the people than to succeed without the people. But with the people there can be no defeat. So victory is ours. In the same vein: we believe in Man; where a Man is exploited, call on us. To your call we will respond "yes", 77 times "yes". To exploitation we will answer "no", 77 times "no". To defend human rights, such is the mission of the United Nations. We believe in peace; where war rages, call on us. To your call, we will answer "yes", 77 times "yes". To war we will answer "no", 77 times "no". Guaranteeing peace, such is the mission of the United Nations.
We believe in the brotherhood of peoples. Wherever people turn away from each other, call on us. To your call we shall answer "yes", 77 times "yes". To rejection we shall answer "no", 77 times "no". To be a place for dialogue: that is the mission of the United Nations.
We believe in the Haitian people. Wherever they are struggling tirelessly in the "lavalas" spirit, we shall be; we shall always be there. It is better to perish with the people than to succeed without the people.
With the echo of this creed resounding in our ears, by way of conclusion let the echo of the democratic creed also resound. We believe in these ten democratic commandments. We believe in this democratic policy. We believe in that meeting where there will be no minority on the table and no majority under the table, but where everyone will be seated around the democratic table. So be it in the name of the people, of its sons and of its Holy Spirit. Amen.
United we are strong. United in the Caribbean we are a Power. United in the world we are a power for peace, justice, love and freedom.
Have we the right to speak here? If we have, let us say it together so that the echo can be heard in Haiti.


It gives me great pleasure, Sir, to extend to you and to your country, Saudi Arabia, the warm congratulations of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-sixth session. At this time, when we are required to take major decisions on the future of our Organization, your own considerable diplomatic experience affords us a quality of leadership which will assuredly enhance our debates and guide our deliberations to a successful conclusion.
My Government is also pleased to commend the work of your predecessor, Mr. Guido de Marco of Malta, whose diplomatic skills, knowledge and efficiency were at all times evident during the conduct of the forty-fifth session.
Trinidad and Tobago applauds the current advances towards universal membership in the United Nations, with the historic admission to this Organization last month of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea, as well as the Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. As a small archipelagic State, Trinidad and Tobago is also particularly pleased with the admission to membership of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. On behalf of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago, I extend warm and sincere congratulations to all the new Members. Their admission is testimony to the profound and unprecedented changes which have taken place in the international system.
In many ways the international community seems poised on the brink of what could be a brave new era. The dramatic and far-reaching changes of the past few years have radically transformed the political and economic contours of the international landscape. In many parts of the world stern and rigid authoritarian systems, the legacy of ideologies which placed the interests of the State and of ruling elites before the social well-being of the majority, has been weakened and brushed aside. They have been vanquished by one of the most powerful and enduring urges of mankind - the desire to enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms. It is this urge that has conferred upon the present period one of its most appealing characteristics, namely, widespread democratisation and liberalisation.
One of the major consequences of these unprecedented changes has been a dramatic improvement in the international political climate. Antagonism and hostility are increasingly being replaced by cooperation and coordination. This has been most vividly reflected in the new effectiveness of the United Nations. Freed of the constraining fetters of great-Power confrontation, the world body has been in a position to play a central and constructive role in international affairs. The United Nations is finally becoming the dynamic international mechanism envisaged by its founding fathers.
The Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, and his representatives must be congratulated on the active and influential role they have played in so many areas of tension - Cambodia, Western Sahara, El Salvador - and on their expert handling of a number of sensitive issues, such as the release of hostages in the Middle East, the aftermath of the war in the Gulf and the Middle East question.
These important and positive developments should encourage our hope in a brighter future. Our optimism is, however, tempered by the number and the complexity of the challenges that continue to burden the international community, some of long standing, others of more recent vintage.
Foremost among them is the increasing disparity between rich and poor nations. After decades of development efforts the problems of widespread poverty and deprivation that afflict the majority of the world population continue to be a burning issue. Poverty in itself is a threat to international peace and security. Its eradication, therefore, should constitute a major part of the peacemaking mandate of the United Nations.
Changes in economic and political ideology are resulting in a fresh approach to economic policies in the developing world. The new economics of development is becoming increasingly pragmatic. Greater importance is being accorded to the balance and interaction between the market, the State and the private sector. Similarly, economic development is increasingly being measured by the improvement and the enrichment of the lives of people and not by impersonal economic indicators. Authentic development, it is recognized, must be sustainable, multi-dimensional and people-oriented.
Efforts at the national level to redress the adverse economic situation cannot succeed unless there is a less hostile international economic environment. The assistance of the international community through the provision of aid, loans and investment funds is also crucial. In this context we hope that the efforts being made to facilitate the integration of the Eastern European countries into the international economy will not take place to the detriment of the developing world.
The economic problems of the developing world are compounded by the burden of external debt. This issue needs to be urgently and comprehensively addressed. The absence of a durable solution remains a blight upon the efforts of those countries to achieve growth and development. Several debt-alleviation proposals have been advanced over the past few years. However, the stock of debt continues to grow and has now attained the staggering figure of $1.2 trillion. The massive burden and the repayment and servicing trauma that it has engendered will not only continue to impose severe hardship on the people of the developing countries, but will sharpen the disparity between rising affluence in some parts of our international community and increasing chronic poverty in others. In the developing countries themselves, the drain of resources created by the external debt and service payments contributes to heightened social tensions, jeopardizing respect for human rights and the preservation of democracy in those countries.
Trade and trade opportunities remain pivotal in any effort to reactivate the economies of the developing world. In those countries structural adjustment has been widely utilized in an effort to create economic structures that are rational, viable and self-sustaining. However, we are faced with a paradoxical situation. Competitive exports resulting from the structural-adjustment programmes and economic diversification that the developing countries were urged to undertake are being barred from the market-places in the North by a new wave of protectionism. Moreover, this coincides with a period of historically low commodity prices. These developments are very grave for developing countries and particularly for small economies in which production possibilities are limited by size and resource endowment.
Trinidad and Tobago is firmly of the view that the most effective way to address the trade problem is through the multilateral negotiations taking place in the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, commitments made by members during negotiations must be honoured and the special situation and needs of developing countries must be taken into account in the present effort to reach agreement on outstanding issues.
The emergence of economic mega-blocs could very well be a mixed blessing. Should they become inward-looking, erecting import barriers, new problems could arise. However, if they function as nuclei of genuine free trade they could also strengthen the pillars of the multilateral system, a successful outcome of the Uruguay Round will indeed assist in ensuring that the emergence of these large trading blocs will have a positive effect on the global economy.
Unrestricted access to markets in the developed countries will undoubtedly facilitate the creation of an environment that is more propitious for developing countries. A crucial variable in the development matrix, nevertheless, is science and technology for development. Science and technology define the gap between developed and developing countries, between one world that basks in affluence and another that is mired in poverty and deprivation.
Trinidad and Tobago notes with concern the diminution of resources directed by the United Nations towards science and technology for development. Developing countries, hamstrung as they are by limited resources, rely heavily on the work and activities of international institutions like the United Nations. It is imperative that science and technology be designated a major priority area in the allocation of resources for development by this body.
The challenge of protecting our environment is an issue to which the international community is paying increased attention. In both the developed and the developing world there is a keener perception today of the need to integrate ecological considerations into economic planning in order to achieve sustainable development.
My delegation perceives a need, however, to shift the ongoing debate from its concentration upon issues that appear pertinent only to the developed world to a focus which takes the entire global community into account. The environment is par excellence a global issue. As such, addressing it requires global cooperation. This underlines the importance of the need for coordinated international responses to environmental problems. The forthcoming United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), which will take place in Brazil in 1992, will play a vital role in this regard. In a related process, island developing States, aware of the grave threat that climate change and sea-level rise may pose to their very existence, have already formed themselves into the interregional Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and have undertaken a critical coordinating role in the climate negotiations to be completed before the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development.
At this time of general economic decline in many countries, the international community's attention and commitment to the resolution of the consequent social ills are crucial. Social issues must of necessity assume greater importance on the international agenda.
The enormous challenges facing small and large States alike in their fight against domestic and international criminal activities, as well as the dangerous inter linkages between the various forms of organized transnational crimes, such as terrorism and international drug trafficking, dictate that comprehensive, concerted and practical prescriptions be formulated to alleviate these problems.
The illicit use of and trafficking in drugs are recognized as a social plague and a threat to the international community. This scourge is of a transnational character, and the response of the international community must, in like manner, emphasize international cooperation and collaboration and the provision of adequate financial resources. Trinidad and Tobago supports the consolidation of United Nations activities within the new international drug control programme. This development should allow for a coherent and integrated strategy. The new institution, however, will be able to make an impact on the well-organized and lucrative trade in death and degradation only if it is provided with adequate human and financial resources.
Similarly, given the grave effects world-wide of other aspects of international criminal activity, we believe that the United Nations must adopt a concerted approach to crime prevention and criminal justice. As a member of the Inter-governmental Working Group on the Creation of an Effective International Crime and Criminal Justice Programme, which met in Austria last August, Trinidad and Tobago fully approves the recommendation that a new United Nations crime-prevention and criminal-justice programme be established to provide, inter alia, practical assistance for States in their fight against national and transnational crime. Like other small States, we can ill afford to continue diverting limited resources from development programmes and projects into the fight against a growing tide of criminal activity. My delegation therefore calls on this Assembly to designate the proposed new criminal-justice programme as a priority within the 1992-97 medium-term plan.
In his address to the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. A. N. R. Robinson, observed: "Neither a free State nor a free world can long endure without adequate safeguards for the rule of law," (A/45/PV.20, p. 31) Trinidad and Tobago welcomed the decision to declare this final decade of the twentieth century the United Nations Decade of International Law. We were also encouraged to find that areas of international law that might be ready for progressive development and codification are being identified.
My delegation strongly believes that the elaboration of a code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind, the codification of international criminal law and the establishment of an international criminal court are tasks that should be tackled very early in the decade. At its forty-third session the International Law Commission carefully examined draft proposals for the establishment of an international criminal court. Trinidad and Tobago has long argued that such a court would be an effective adjunct to domestic administrative and judicial arrangements, and would provide greater protection for the security and sovereignty of States, particularly small States. Questions relating to jurisdiction and the institution of criminal proceedings continue to be debated. However, the real progress that has already been made in elaborating the draft Code of Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind should encourage States to give serious consideration to the proposals and comments of the International Law Commission and facilitate the drafting, at the next session of that body, of a statute for an international criminal court.
I wish to turn now to an item which the hectic events of the last few months may have removed from our consciousness, but which Trinidad and Tobago still considers to be of vital importance. I refer to the desire for self-determination that some small States still nurture. At this pivotal time in history, when the struggle for freedom is bearing fruit in Europe and elsewhere, we should do well to remember that, despite the progress made in the area of decolonization, there remain a number of small dependencies, especially in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, that have not had the opportunity to shape their own destiny.
It is essential that these States be accorded the respect that comes with the right to choose how they will face the future. They need to know that their hopes and aspirations are still taken seriously by this body. And, to facilitate the making of wise choices, they need the breadth of sound information on which such choices must be based. Trinidad and Tobago sincerely hopes that new life will be injected into the decolonisation debate and that all the administering Powers will return to participate actively in the work of the Committee concerned, bringing with them their wealth of knowledge and experience of the interlink ages between economy, security and independence in the modern world. By doing so they will surely assist the United Nations in carrying out its special responsibilities to these territories.
The recent successes of the United Nations in some of the most volatile regions of the world should not lull us into a false sense of security. Many regional conflicts stem from causes that are purely Indigenous in nature and will therefore erupt despite the end of super-Power rivalry. Territorial disagreements, traditional animosities and new hatreds will continue to contribute to instability in many parts of the globe. The role of the United Nations in the preservation of international peace and stability will therefore continue to be vital,
Trinidad and Tobago believes that regional organizations also must play a more important role in anticipating instability and in pre-empting conflict. They can do so by facilitating reconciliation between antagonistic States, by contributing to the establishment or preservation of democratic government, and by promoting peaceful internal change. In this regard we applaud the recent signing of the peace accord between the Government of El Salvador and the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN), as well as the equally recent rapprochement between Belize and Guatemala. We hope that, in the interests of hemispheric collaboration, relations between two other member States - Cuba and the United States of America - will also be normalized. Trinidad and Tobago has always been, and remains, firmly committed to both the ideal and the practice of democracy. He therefore strongly condemn the military coup that took place on Monday in Haiti, overthrowing the constitutionally elected Government of that country and compromising the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by Haiti's population. We deplore the ensuing loss of life and call for the prompt restoration of the constitutionally elected authority.
It is regrettable that, even as the international climate improves and major agreements for the reduction of nuclear weapons are concluded, the proliferation of conventional weapons and military technology continues apace. The countries of the developing world account for 75 per cent of the purchases of arms traded each year. The Gulf Mar has served to remind us of the dangers of the proliferation of weapons, especially to the volatile regions of the world. There is no doubt that there is a need for stricter monitoring of the arms flows and for international agreements regulating and limiting the trade in weapons and military technology. Trinidad and Tobago therefore supports the proposal to establish, at the United Nations, a register for arms transfers.
Notwithstanding the profound reforms which have taken place in South Africa, the situation in that country continues to be a source of concern. At a time when the protection of human rights has become a central concern of the international community. South Africa remains a major transgressor in this area. Racial discrimination persists, political prisoners await release and the Draconian security laws are yet to be repealed. The fundamental right of one-man one-vote is still denied the majority of South Africans. Trinidad and Tobago has always been committed to a peaceful end to apartheid through negotiations. It has therefore been gravely concerned about escalating violence in the townships of South Africa. We trust that the recent peace accord will help bring an end to this violence, which threatens to delay progress towards the commencement of multi-party negotiations on constitutional reform.
Trinidad and Tobago remains supportive of the current peaceful process towards a free, non-racial, democratic and united South Africa. We are likewise still convinced that this process of peaceful change will be facilitated by the retention of economic and military sanctions against South Africa, until the profound and irreversible changes outlined in the 1989 United Nations Declaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Consequences in Southern Africa have been completed.
The international context in which the United Nations is operating today bears little or no resemblance to that of the 1940s, when the world body was established. The United Nations and its mechanisms were developed primarily to respond to a world dominated by super-Power rivalry and conflict. Trinidad and Tobago believes that the time has come to reappraise the mechanisms of the world body so that it can adapt to radically changed circumstances. To this end, the collective security machinery of the United Nations must be enhanced. It will also have to be given the capacity to anticipate and prevent breaches of the peace and threats to security. Most of all, the United Nations decision-making machinery must be made to reflect the common interests of all its Members and not just those of a powerful few. This is the fundamental challenge which faces our Organization today if it is to achieve a more balanced, just and equitable world order.


Mr. President, many speakers who preceded me to this rostrum have been more than eloquent in describing the rare qualities of leadership you bring to the presidency of the forty-sixth session of the General Assembly. What more can we add other than to assure you, Sir, that we too repose our confidence unstintingly in your ability to steer the deliberations of this momentous session to a fruitful conclusion. And we congratulate you, most sincerely, on your election to this high office. The distinguished Foreign Minister of Malta lived up to our expectations during his tenure of office. We salute him for a job well done.
We welcome to our midst the seven new Members that have just joined the United Nations. We wish them well. An increase of seven new Members can only enhance the strength and vitality of our Organization and advance it further towards universality.
Under the stable and purposeful leadership of our indefatigable Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, the United Nations has continued to respond forcefully and creatively to the fast-changing panorama of human history. The past year has been particularly challenging, and even daunting, for our Secretary-General and for the United Nations. The Gulf crisis which was in full bloom during our last session, early this year burgeoned into a full-scale war whose consequences are still reverberating. Thankfully, a renascent United Nations was not found wanting in its response to the crisis; aggression has been defeated; the Emirate of Kuwait has been liberated. We salute the Secretary-General under whose leadership the United Nations has been given a new lease on life.
As the old world of nuclear terror, political tyranny and ideological confrontation gives way to the new world in which our major preoccupation is whether we have the capacity "to execute the increasingly versatile projects of peace", (A/46/1, page 4) to quote the Secretary-General's report the leading role of the United Nations in the shaping of the new world order has become very crucial indeed. As the Secretary-General's report also states. "The effectiveness of the United Nations can no longer be in doubt". (Ibid.)
What continues to be in doubt, in our view, is our readiness, we the Members of the Organization, to give the United Nations the wherewithal to perform its escalating tasks. The peace that is breaking out everywhere in the world needs nurturing while, at the same time, new conflicts now erupting as a consequence of the precipitate expiration of the old order are threatening the new world order in its infancy. And we expect the United Nations, trammelled by unpaid arrears and late payment of contributions, to rise to the occasion, to police peace and manage conflict with an empty treasury. Mission impossible!
Nevertheless, the world is changing for the better. A new cycle of history whose character we must all participate in shaping has begun. Throughout the globe today the common man and woman are insisting on regaining mastery of their destiny. Multi-party democracy has become the common clarion call of mankind, a triumphant affirmation of the phenomenon of peoples' power. Be it in Africa, Eastern Europe or elsewhere in the world today, an inexorable process of renewal is in progress.
And yet as the struggle for democratic pluralism intensifies new conflicts arise while old and hitherto suppressed antagonisms are set free. The historical excesses of extreme nationalism and ethnocentrism are threatening the peaceful evolution of the new world order we all seek to nurture. Change is not coming peacefully everywhere. It rarely does. Our hearts go out to the people of Yugoslavia and other Eastern European States that are caught in the throes of difficult and painful transitions. This is what the Secretary-General, with his usual candour and precision, calls "a unique juxtaposition of promise and perils" (A/46/1, p. 5).
In our view, however, the promise is transcendent. A world free of the threat of nuclear holocaust and political tyranny and totalitarianism is not necessarily bereft of conflict, but it is the best insurance for peace and tranquillity among nations and peoples. There is the understandable fear and anxiety that we have begun the era of monopolarity, the domination of the world by one super-Power unrestrained by the checks and balances of bipolarity, and that more tyranny and fear is likely to be perpetrated by the lone super-Power in the new world order. Such apprehensions are understandable, even as we fervently cherish the hope that with a strengthened United Nations and the ascendancy of economics as the locus of power the new world order will be one characterized by democratic multipolarity driven by interdependent economic competition. And it must be emphasized that a durable new world order can result only from our united efforts, not from a lone super-Power's fiat.
The agenda of the forty-sixth session is, like its predecessors, long and varied. This is an indication that we still have a long way to go to resolve the many problems that confront our Organization. It is hoped that the new mood at the United Nations will enhance our capacity to search for solutions to these problems.
We have seen how successful the United Nations can be if its endeavours in the service of peace enjoy the support of its membership in both the Security Council and the General Assembly. The Security Council, in particular, has demonstrated that, united, it can act decisively as a preserver of international peace and security. In Asia, at long last the end of the Cambodian tragedy appears to be at hand. The parties to that long-festering conflict which has wasted millions of Innocent lives have finally agreed on an electoral system to be lined to conduct, multiparty democratic elections. Here again the Instrumentality of the United Nations as an impartial arbiter in the resolution of Intractable problems has proved its undoubted efficacy.
Unfortunately, Afghanistan is still bleeding, a continued victim, not of the United Nations failure to devise a successful solution to the civil war there but, rather, a victim of the refusal by the parties to the civil war to implement the letter and spirit of the United Nations Geneva Agreements. It is hoped that the recent decision by the United States and the Soviet Union to terminate the supply of arms to the belligerents will starve both parties of the incentive to prolong the needless blood-letting.
But the United States and the Soviet Union are not the only suppliers of arms to the belligerents. Consequently, the United Nations must make it clear that subsidiary suppliers of arms to fuel and sustain the Afghan tragedy are also duty bound to respect United Nations-brokered peace agreements.
In the Middle East, the guns of war are silent at least on the Iraq Kuwait front. Thank God, Kuwait's freedom and independence have been restored. A dangerous precedent has not been allowed to scar the face of humanity - that a small, defenceless independent and sovereign State be obliterated from the face of the earth with impunity by a powerful neighbour. We can argue interminably about the excesses or depredations of Desert Storm, but the reality is that the restoration of Kuwait's existence as a free and independent nation has reassured small, powerless and defenceless States, like my own, of their inalienable right to exist as free and independent nations - provided, of course, that from now on there will be no selective morality in the treatment of aggression by the powerful against the weak.
The Cyprus question remains as stubborn as ever. There is what is called new thinking in the world today and the world is changing so fast that the sap-makers have thrown up their arms in despair and frustration. And yet some things are refusing to change. One of them is the tragic division of the idyllic island of Cyprus, a non-aligned and Commonwealth country that threatens no one. A lot of time and energy has been expended in the search for a solution to the Cyprus problem by the Secretary-General over the years without much luck. The parties are still set in their old positions, oblivious of the buffeting winds of change around them. Cyprus must be reunited, to take its rightful place in the new world order.
The Middle East also remains frozen in the unremitting immobility of the seemingly irreconcilable positions of its conflicting nations. Lebanon has taken decisive steps, towards internal peace and national reconciliation while the people of Palestine remain homeless. Israel is continuing to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territories while processing a commitment to negotiations to reconcile the national aspirations of the Jewish people and their Arab neighbours. Creating facts on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza runs the risk of ensuring the failure of negotiations even before they start.
Botswana fully supports the United States initiative aimed at convening a Middle East peace conference, where, we hope, the nations of the area and the Palestinian people will come together at a conference table to find common ground for the harmonization of their conflicting nationalisms. The United States initiative represents an opportunity which can only be missed or wasted at great peril to peace. Israel has the opportunity of a lifetime to satisfy itself that all the Palestinians want is a home of their own in the West Bank and Gaza, and not the obliteration of the Jewish State from the face of the Middle East. The Palestinians, equally, ate presented with a rare opportunity to clarify whether Israel wants peace, or confirmation of Its territorial conquests.
In southern Africa, the situation gives grounds for hope. The last vestige of white minority rule is about to be expunged. South Africa la In the throes of dramatic change despite the seemingly Insoluble urban violence that has created the perception that black South Africans cannot realise that the moment of reckoning has arrived violence evidently orchestrated by sinister elements that are bent on frustrating the birth of a new nation in that strife torn country.
The people of South Africa stand poised at the gate of the new South Africa they have sought all these years. The apartheid scaffolding has been removed and dismantled even though the structure - the structure of apartheid - remains intact. The legislative basis of apartheid has been removed for the first time in more than 300 years, and South Africa for all South Africans regardless of colour, race or creed is ready to be negotiated.
There is no time to waste. The conditions of the United Nations consensus Declaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Consequences in Southern Africa may not have been met in letter and spirit, but the time has come for the people of South Africa to proceed to the Conference table to negotiate a new democratic dispensation for their country. The Abuja statement on South Africa issued by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Ad Hoc Committee in July 1991 is unequivocal about the urgent need for negotiations to begin:
"The Committee underscores the fact that central to the struggle for the eradication of apartheid is the transfer of power to a democratic government elected on the basis of a non-racial and democratic constitution. It reasserts that negotiations leading to the drawing up and adoption of this constitution is now the most urgent and pressing question. To this end, it calls upon the national liberation movements and all the anti-apartheid forces to work in concert within the framework of a patriotic front." (A/46/450, annex, para, 4)
The situation in South Africa today is almost a replica of the situation in Namibia during the implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) in that territory. If we are expecting the establishment of perfect peace in South Africa as a prelude to the commencement of the negotiations for a new
South Africa we are expecting the impossible. The closer we are to the realisation of the new South Africa the more desperate and vicious will be the resistance. The negotiations themselves are most likely to be accompanied by the escalation of violence, inspired or free-wheeling, in the townships and elsewhere in South Africa.
Of utmost importance at this crucial Juncture is the adoption of a democratic constitution to end once and for all minority rule in South Africa. Political prisoners have been released and are being released and will all be released simply because there is no sense whatsoever in keeping them incarcerated. General amnesty, however Imperfect, is now in place under the trusted auspices of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which guarantees the safe repatriation of exiles. The repressive laws that have formed the foundation of apartheid and have been the object of the United Nations anti-apartheid campaign for close to half a century have been abolished. There is today an atmosphere of relatively free political activity in South Africa, free enough at least to allow the convening of an all-party conference to negotiate a new constitution.
Nevertheless, the United Nations must continue to insist on the cessation of violence in the townships and elsewhere in the country so that an atmosphere auspicious for negotiation could be created in South Africa. While the onus for the maintenance of law and order rests with the South African Government, black leaders are also duty bound to contribute to the search for a national solution to the destructive violence. It does nobody any good simply to stand, watch and criticize and allow the dark and sinister forces of hired thugs and assassins to cheat the people of South Africa of their right to be free from the scourge of racial tyranny.
We are pleased that the United Nations Western Sahara operation was set in motion on 6 September 1990. It is hoped that the two parties to that conflict will cooperate with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to ensure that a successful referendum to settle the question of Western Sahara once and for all is held on schedule.
In Central America, it is hoped that the leaders of El Salvador will cooperate with the Secretary-General In his efforts to facilitate negotiations to end the ruinous civil war that has threatened to bleed the country to death. We urge the Security Council to continue to take a keen interest in the issue.
Over the years the world has seen the emergence and growth of what some call a "borderless economy"; and yet the world economy has continued to be controlled by the macroeconomic policies of a handful of countries. We cannot talk about democracy, good governance and transparency at the national level and deny the application of these principles to the management of the international economic system. It is appropriate and indeed desirable that pluralism find a niche in the macroeconomic management of the global economy. The major players in the "borderless economy" should appreciate that this is in their self-interest too. The persistence of the world's economic ills is a sore reminder that some of the prescriptions which are preferred by the major actors have fallen short of addressing the root cause of the problems. The involvement of other States will provide alternative approaches to dealing with these problems.
Botswana welcomes the proposal made by the Secretary General on 3 July 1991 in his opening statement at the second regular session of the Economic and Social Counci1 on the convening of an international conference on development financing. We are pleased that this issue will be given serious consideration during this session of the General Assembly. How that the distracting East/West divide has been eliminated the time la opportune to attend to the real problems facing humanity. Some of the vast, resources that have been spent to produce and maintain weapons of mass destruction should now be channelled towards pressing development problems. It is our sincere hope that the current climate of consensus will be fully taken advantage of in order to reach a satisfactory decision.
We look forward to a successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. The integration of Eastern and Central Europe into the world economy entails the need for greater access to markets. Resource flows to developing countries and the economies in transit ion alone, without increased trade opportunities, cannot lead to sustained and sustainable development. There is a new sense of urgency to bring protectionism to an end.
Africa's critical economic situation persists. In many countries the situation has deteriorated. The continent is faced with a crippling debt burden. At the end of 1990 Africa's debt amounted to over $270 billion. Although this amount may appear small compared to global debt figures, the seriousness and enormity of the problem can be readily appreciated when one takes into account the debt-service ratios which are so high that most of the export revenues are used to repay debt instead of financing development- The reduction 'A debt obligations should be made a major priority if Africa is to be able to face the development: challenge in the 1990s. African countries fully understand their responsibility in tackling these problems. They accept the need for policy coordination aimed at affectively dealing with the developmental problems. It is important that the special needs of Africa are not only kept on the International agenda hut that genuine efforts are also made to resolve them.
Botswana attaches the utmost importance to issues of environment and development. The conservation of our renewable and non-renewable resources in a major component in the formulation and implementation of development policies. Since independence Botswana has enacted a variety of laws aimed at addressing environmental issues. Last year we adopted a national conservation strategy with a view to ensuring effective coordination between issues of environment and development. The areas of major concern are range-land degradation, the use of wood fuel without replanting trees, the mining of groundwater, the reduction of wildlife species, the generation of wastes which pollute soil and water, and the abandonment of open mining shafts and quarry pits.
It is Botswana's policy that the responsibility for conservation and protection of the environment should fall upon those who own and/or manage the country's resources. These include communities, farmers, livestock owners, small enterprises and industrialists. In this respect the Government requires sound environmental impact studies for major development projects. It is the aim of Botswana to ensure that the prices of such resources as land, water and forests reflect the scarcity values in order to increase awareness of the need to conserve such resources.
Botswana is committed to playing its part in dealing with issues of environment. But there are limitations as to what a poor developing country can do on its own, given the fact that the question of development is an important aspect of a nation's capacity to address the environmental challenges. In view of this, the 1992 Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Environment and Development will be a historic landmark in multilateral cooperation. It is our fervent hope that the Conference will adopt concrete decisions aimed at addressing the link between environment and development. Many people in developing countries live in abject poverty, and for the poor long-term sustainabi1ity plays an insignificant role in decisions on production and consumption. What is uppermost in their minds is how to survive or live from one day to the next. Poverty breeds environmental degradation, which in turn reproduces and reinforces poverty. This first world summit on environment and development should address those issues in clear and unambiguous terms. This would involve, among other things, assisting developing countries to gain access to environmentally sound technologies.
Botswana reaffirms its faith in the United Nations. This unique Organisation has served us well despite the severe constraints that have so often in the past, frustrated its endeavours In the service of peace. Released from those constraints and infused with a new dynamism and a renewed sense of purpose, the United Nations has the capacity to give form and shape and meaning to the new world order for the good of mankind as a whole.
Finally, it is our fervent hope that Africa's bid for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations will be crowned with success. All we ask is to be allowed the opportunity to serve on the thirty-eighth floor.


It is truly an honour for me to address a body that embraces all the countries of the world - the United Nations. I come to this forum representing the beloved and much-tried people of Guatemala - a people which, throughout its history, has remained faithful to its ideals of freedom and to the unswerving struggle for its advancement, but which, at the same time, has had to face a fierce onslaught of violence of all kinds that has placed unfair limits on its development. Nevertheless, our people has maintained its faith and trust in a better future, and its fighting spirit in pursuing what it deems to be fair and necessary.
On behalf of that people, I should like to state before the Assembly that we have rejoiced in the end of the cold war, from which no country on Earth has been free. Every country has been a victim of its consequences, for in many areas of the world, that war became a bloody battle that has brought sorrow and mourning to thousands of homes in the second half of the century. That is true of my beloved Guatemala.
Allow me, Sir, on behalf of the people and the Government of Guatemala to congratulate you on your election as President of the General Assembly at this session and to pledge the Guatemalan delegation's fullest cooperation. He are confident that your experience in the areas that are the responsibility of the United Nations will be crucial in achieving agreements that will be of benefit to the international community as a whole.
Allow me, at the same time, to congratulate Ambassador Guido de Marco for the very efficient work he carried out as President of the previous session.
I wish also to pay a most particular tribute to Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, a distinguished son of Latin America, who has guided the work of the Organization for the last 10 years. We are all aware of his tireless endeavours to promote peace and the peaceful settlement of disputes. This dear friend of ours has given a fresh impetus to this world Organization as a centre for negotiation and the settlement of political problems, as reflected in the expansion of peace-keeping operations. He has repeatedly called attention to the economic, social and political problems that affect the entire world, particularly the developing countries. This has lent increasing credibility to multilateralism and, in particular, to the United Nations itself. His activities in Central America, together with those of the regional organization, have been invaluable in support of dialogue and negotiation as means of putting an end to regional tensions and domestic conflicts.
I am gratified to see that the United Nations today has been strengthened by the entry of new Members. We extend the warmest welcome to the Republic of Korea, with which we have long-standing ties of friendship and cooperation; to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; to the Federated States of Micronesia; and to the Marshall Islands. Moreover, we are pleased to greet in this forum the independent nations of the Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We hope that their recent independence will bring well-being and prosperity to their peoples. Guatemala extends to them its friendship, respect and understanding.
We are aware that a new international political reality has emerged, one that, we trust, will also be reflected in a new economic and social reality. We firmly believe that a new order is now dawning which, we hope, will not be based on arrogance and the abuse of power, but rather on the established principles of international law, the self-determination of peoples and non-intervention, taking these principles in the broad sense, not as indifference or isolation of one nation's realities from another, but as a new expression of solidarity among the peoples and nations of the world. In other words, whatever this order may be that is now being developed, it must have as its overriding objective the avoidance of the outbreak of fresh conflicts, such as may be inherent in a North-South confrontation, which can only be avoided through understanding and support from those who have more and can do more for those who have less and can do less.
We also believe that all the leaders of the world may finally understand once and for all that freedom and dignity are not abstract concepts or gifts from States to individuals or nations. Rather, both of these concepts are innate in human beings, and no dictatorship thus far, whatever its shape or political persuasion, has been able to inculcate in individuals or nations the meaning of those two noble aspirations.
We recognize that to date mankind has found in pluralist, representative and participatory democracy the system that best guarantees dignity and freedom to the individual and thus respect for all his rights, which are fully established in universal declarations emanating both from this Organization and from others that have shown constant concern for his full development and assumed responsibility for taking an active part in the ongoing processes of establishing the legitimacy of national States and regulating the relationships among them.
Mow more than ever, the United Nations is shouldering the great responsibility of realistically seeking practical solutions making it possible for the peoples of the world to develop and consolidate their independence and satisfy their aspirations for progress and development as solid bases for peace for many generations to come. These aspirations have been expressed in the Organisation since its very inception, since the Tehran Conference, when an anguished world was seeking an answer to war and was more than ever aware of the need to work for international peace and security.
However, despite the Organization's considerable efforts, the generations of the post-war era have been beset by many national and international conflicts.
At the present time, we hail events and trends, such as the end of the cold war, political solutions to regional conflicts, the consolidation of democratic processes and the progressive development of market economies - all of which represent new possibilities for the promotion of peace and the well-being of mankind.
We believe that the new political climate in relations between important blocs, which until recently were adversaries, has had constructive effects in the world and enables us to define a broader and more fully integrated dimension of international security. This is the time for the traditional concept of security to be superseded, and for the promotion of political, economic and social conditions that will reduce the risk of confrontation and guarantee peace and economic and social stability everywhere to be embraced.
In the economic field, it is necessary that adjustment policies and policies of transition to market economies in the developing countries lead to the promotion of genuinely free trade, without protectionism, involving the major production sectors in the developed countries. A new international order requires us not to continue the contradiction between the growing accession of developing countries to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the resistance of the developed countries to submit to GATT procedures.
International trade continues to stagnate, because it is bogged down by protectionist measures that impose restrictions on access to the developed countries' markets, by the production and export of subsidized products and by the imposition of quotas and price fixing. That is why the eighth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development must identify the policies that need to be followed in future in the light of the developing countries' expectations.
Hence it is necessary for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at its eighth session to define the policies that need to be followed in the future in the light of the expectations of the developing countries.
In the social area, the new international agenda must necessarily include intensive discussion of means to promote social development, without which there can be no peace or well-being for mankind. We therefore support the holding of the world summit on social development proposed by President Aylwin of Chile. Clearly, the political progress that we are now witnessing is not being accompanied by social progress, which would offset the very heavy cost of the deterioration of the quality of life in the developing countries.
It is also imperative for the United Nations and the international community to continue the vital task of halting the arms race, in particular in the nuclear, chemical and biological fields and, indeed, in any field which involves mass destruction and for them to endeavour to utilize the tremendous investment involved for the purposes of economic and social development for human beings and for their well-being in general.
Allow me now to share with all the peoples represented here some aspects of our national life and of the Government which I have presided over for the last eight months - to share with you some achievements and concerns, some aspirations and results. I am sure that from a knowledge of our experience there will come stronger links of solidarity and understanding between our peoples.
For more than 30 years, we in Guatemala have been faring a domestic struggle which has placed limits on our possibilities for development and has brought mourning and sorrow to our people. Today, I am gratified to inform the General Assembly that on 9 April - only three months after taking office - I put before the whole nation a comprehensive peace initiative, with a view to finding a course of action which, without any discrimination whatsoever, could unite Guatemalans in a common project which would enable us as a people to realise our potential to the full.
This initiative is based on the concept that peace is not simply the absence of war or of conflict, but that peace should be envisioned as a state that enables people to live and develop without fear, without anguish and without threats, free from persecution, free from anything which might limit them in achieving the objectives that they may set themselves within their own capacities.
This initiative, which seeks to achieve total and lasting peace, in addition to seeking the end of the armed struggle, also seeks to lay the basis for reconciliation and harmonious coexistence within the Guatemalan family on the basis of four essential points.
First, termination of the armed struggle through serious negotiations which would set up programmes and procedures that would make it possible to put an end to the insurgency and the counter-insurgency, and at the same time promote ways of ensuring full respect for human rights, so that every Guatemalan, whether part of the insurgency or not, may fully enjoy the rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and receive the appropriate safeguards that will enable him to develop his political capacity in a spirit of respect and freedom. We believe that this first step is fundamental in order to guarantee to those populations displaced by violence - both refugees and displaced persons - the necessary social, economic and political security to enable them to be legally reintegrated into the life of the country.
Secondly, there must be greater economic and social equity. We recognize the need to strengthen and broaden all public and private programmes designed to combat extreme poverty and destitution, to speed up the modernization of our economy and to find viable and prompt solutions to the problems of education, health and social assistance and insurance because what we are spending now in maintaining the conflict, is money that our people urgently needs in order to solve its problems. Social and economic peace is a basic condition for the enjoyment of total peace.
Thirdly, there must be respect for, and strengthening of the rule of law. This element constitutes one of the greatest challenges facing our society, which has suffered for years under a dictatorship and autocracy, and in which there is a vital need to eliminate, once and for all, impunity as a regular procedure and to establish the rule of law and respect for human rights. This presents us with a great challenge - the need to strengthen monetary control, to increase professional training and reform our civil policies and, above all, the need to improve judicial procedures involved in the administration of justice.
Fourthly, there needs to be an expansion of the democratic process. We have made substantial progress in improving the country's democratic institutions and in strengthening the political system as a form of social coexistence. However, there is a need to continue to improve political and social institutions so as to enable the people to organize, in an informed manner, and to participate freely in an ongoing decision-making process taking into account the characteristics of our various cultural differences.  Fortunately, the whole peace initiative embodied in these four points has received a positive national response as well as international recognition. We have taken basic steps towards ensuring that, as we optimistically hope, we can face the challenge of changing the course of our history and replacing a culture of war by a culture of peace, justice and freedom.
Our efforts have taken concrete shape in the form of a direct dialogue between the Government of the Republic and the insurgency forces, which has already yielded its first fruits in the various meetings that have already been held. After 30 years of confrontation, dialogue has finally begun and offers the hope that the guns may fall silent and ideas at long last be heard.
As a matter of elementary justice, I should like to acknowledge the valiant and steady efforts which the National Commission for the Reconciliation of Guatemala devoted to the peace process and the prudent and constructive role played by the United Nations in monitoring the process, which will, we hope - after the final agreement is signed - very soon evolve into an important function of verifying compliance with the agreement.
In the quest for social understandings, the Government of the Republic has drawn up a social compact in which business, labour and cooperative sectors participated and - despite the vicissitudes that it has faced - this process has yielded results which have served to establish fundamental national agreements and to secure the economic and social equity to which we have referred.
In the field of human rights, we are now waging an outright struggle against impunity, introducing substantial reforms in our juridical system and judicial procedures. At the same time, within the existing systems, we have taken firm action to punish violations. This is beginning to invert the trends of the past and allows us to look forward with optimism to the possibility of establishing a regime of trust in the country.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my Government's satisfaction at the understanding that we have met with in this field from the international community, which has encouraged us in our efforts by its attitude of assistance and cooperation, which is resulting in the strengthening of national institutions responsible for ensuring compliance with the law and respect for human rights. I should like here to make special mention of the advice and services that we have received in this area from the United Nations. My Government considers this to be of such vital importance that, since we took office eight months ago, we have paid special attention to each and every one of the recommendations made to us by the expert adviser, Mr. Christian Tomuschat, whose guidance was so timely and useful. I could not fall on this occasion to refer to an aspect that is an integral part of the policies of our Government, which seeks to ensure that indigenous communities in Guatemala have enjoyment of their rights and are adequately guaranteed opportunities which the Constitution of the Republic grants to all Guatemalans, without any discrimination. These policies are specifically directed towards recognizing and protecting the integrity of the social values, practice and cultural identity of the Maya peoples and towards respectfully and objectively supporting the processes of change within these cultures themselves, including the strengthening and development of substantive juridical provisions which are proper to those communities and which recognize their traditional modes of life in the ways in which they are organized and in which they resolve conflicts among them.
It is a fundamental aspiration of my Government to ensure better political participation by the indigenous peoples at all levels, particularly at the local, grassroots, municipal and regional levels. We are in the course of completing consultations with the various Maya ethnic groups with a view to the ratification of Agreement 169, on indigenous and tribal peoples in independent countries, adopted by the International Labour Organisation. This Agreement includes fundamental elements of legal trusteeship which, together with the provisions of domestic law, will provide greater protection to the indigenous peoples for their conditions of employment.
In addition to the social and economic problems facing the country, we are now seeing an accelerated depletion of our natural resources, a large part of which are used by the majority sectors of our population to meet, among other things, its basic energy needs. This process of depletion and neglect has systematically worsened the environmental situation and may in a few years lead us towards an ecological crisis that will affect not only our country but the ecological systems of the world, especially because of its impact on the Maya biosphere some.
From this rostrum I appeal for international solidarity to provide support for the specific policies we have been promoting, designed to make adequate, economic protection of our environment compatible with rational exploitation of our natural resources.
There is another matter of great concern that must be added to our traditional problems - namely, drugs and drug trafficking, which have rapidly taken on such proportions that they threaten the very essence of the democratic State; indeed, the tremendous amounts of money generated by that trade lead to the corruption of institutions in such small and fragile economies as ours. In this field, when national efforts are patently insufficient, it is not enough just to raise the conscience of the individual citizen; international cooperation is also needed, precisely because drug trafficking takes advantage of the great international imbalances and the poverty of regions where drugs have taken hold.
Our State has been exerting great efforts to combat drug trafficking. It has undertaken legislative reforms to secure better tools to fight this scourge; important bilateral and multilateral agreements of cooperation have been signed. In addition, it has strictly applied the international treaties to which it has subscribed in order to combat drug trafficking. This endeavour demonstrates our people's real concern over the scourge of drug consumption, especially in the developed countries, and particularly among the young people. This is an example of the universal solidarity that should exist among all peoples of the world.
In this context, our Government also expresses its concern over the situation of orphans and destitute and homeless children and appeals for international cooperation to ensure that the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child are truly put into effect in all countries. Guatemala has embarked on its own path in this respect and is pooling its efforts with those of national and international organisations, both public and private, in order to provide for the well-being of children and the future they deserve.
In another area, our Government has established a clear policy of rapprochement and integration with other countries. In this respect I should like to express our satisfaction at the reincorporation of Honduras in the framework Treaty of Central American economic integration and at the genuine possibility of expanding the Central America of Five to a Central America of Seven, with the inclusion of Panama and Belize. Substantial steps have been taken towards our ultimate goal. We have already signed wide-ranging agreements on free trade with El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia, and we hope that in the near future we shall be able to expand similar relations with other countries of the region.
I should like to conclude this statement with the following, which, for my Government, represents an act of faith in the international community and in fundamental human rights and also clear testimony to our unswerving dedication to peace: Guatemala, in conformity with its policy of respect for human rights in all areas, has taken the fundamental step of expressly recognizing, in strict adherence to international law, the right to self-determination of the people of Belize, thus opening the way to the final ending of a conflict that in its last phase dates back to 1859. This step has been documented in the Treaty on frontiers signed by the State of Guatemala and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We hope that the Guatemalan decision in this matter will be appreciated in all its
dimensions by the international community, because of its importance both for our country and for the peace of the region as a whole, and that the international community will support us in our endeavour to ensure that this persistent conflict is resolved within the framework of international law. Recognition of the State of Belize and the establishment of diplomatic relations will enable us to settle the dispute in a civilized way. I would, however, make it clear that this territorial dispute, which still exists, should not in any way constitute an obstacle to harmony and rapprochement between our peoples or to the cooperation and mutual support that should prevail between the two nations.
Finally, I should like to place it on record, before the eyes of the world, that Guatemala will firmly and resolutely support, regardless of what it may cost us, any initiative that will promote the process of peace in any region of the world where it may be necessary. For, to quote the Gospel,
"Blessed be the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God", (The Holy Bible. Matthew 5:9) Blessed, therefore, be this Organization, which has striven, is striving and will continue to strive to achieve peace.