 We are meeting at a time when the dynamic of co-operation has gained ascendancy over that of confrontation. As a result a good mood prevails in the international environment. It has engendered perceptible improvement in international relations and anticipates the ushering in of an order of global peace and equitable development in which the United Nations would have a central role. That is why this forty-fourth session of the General Assembly, convened as it is at such a hopeful juncture, is expected to promote the expansion of global co-operation in what should be a global endeavour to build a new and better world. Guyana is confident that under your able guidance, Mr. President, that expectation will be met. I therefore wish to extend to you my warmest congratulations and my best wishes for a successful presidency. In your personage as a distinguished son of Nigeria and of Africa reside all the qualities and virtues essential to such a high office.
I take this opportunity to pay tribute also to your predecessor, Mr. Dante Caputo, for the inspiring leadership that he so ably provided. As we review the evolution of international relations as we approach the end of the 198ŰS, it should be acknowledged that there have been positive developments in to search for an international order that yields equitable benefits to all members of the global society.	International tension has eased remarkably, dialogue and negotiation have given impetus to conflict resolution and bloc rivalries have noticeably diminished. Regional co-operation has become a global process, and changes of a far-reaching nature are being made within societies and in relations between-them. The retreat of colonialism is accelerating and in the expression of renewed faith in multilateralism there is Increasing recourse to the United Nations as a universal organization capable of being used effectively by its members in fulfilment of peoples aspirations which transcend national boundaries. In the economic field too changes are far-reaching and beneficial nature are taking place, though these are not yet as pervasive. These major trends and tendencies give us hope for the future.
It is the case, however, that old problems to Which solutions have not so far been found persist and new issues have arisen posing new challenges. Solutions to these problems can be achieved only through openness and transparency requiring genuine international co-operation, for the issues are of л global character. Here I refer to questions such as the environment and drugs.
In considering the myriad items on the international agenda, I suggest that we are helped by what is a more widespread appreciation of the current complexities and requirements which interdependence has generated. Today, interdependence is not merely a fashionable slogan its consequence has made global action an urgent imperative. Nowhere is this reality more patent than in the struggle for disarmament, especially in respect of nuclear weapons. Happily, this process has at last begun. By signing the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles - the INF Treaty - the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have demonstrated a commendable willingness to reduce their nuclear arsenals; and they are engaged in ongoing discussions on limiting strategic offensive weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
It is good to note as well that the question of conventional arms, beyond the level of sufficiency for national defence, is being increasingly addressed. This development should be encouraged at both the national and the international levels. I include the national dimension because it is unfortunately the case that conventional weapons have become a regular commodity of international trade.
Success can attend the international efforts in this area only if there is restraint in terms of both acquisition and production. Equally, our concern should be heightened by the dangers which rapid advances in the technology of weapons brigs. More generally, since the threat of the arms race affects the lives of all peoples, disarmament cannot be pursued on the basis of exclusivity. As the Secretary-General observed
,... the United Nations should continue to be at the forefront of multilateral efforts in this field,. (A/44/1, p. 15)
The proper use of United Nations machinery in this regard is an indispensable requirement.
Detente between the super-Powers has had the beneficial effect of easing international tensions. This development has contributed to the emergence of an, environment in which the indigenous efforts of regional States to resolve their problems have been assisted. For it is that in all regions where conflicts exist the intrusion of external interests has complicated the search for a solution. It is the happy circumstance therefore that we can today witness in such conflict areas as Afghanistan, Central America, Iraq and Iran, and southern Africa that the conjuncture of super-Power detente and regional and other efforts have led to dialogue and negotiation for the solution to those conflicts and to fresh hopes for the settlement of disputes which at one time seemed intractable. In all these situations the United Nations has played an important and significant role. The process of settlement is, however, as yet incomplete.
The delicately negotiated peace agreements as regards Afghanistan should be scrupulously implemented so as not to jeopardize a political solution. In Central America, where the Esquipulas agreements and more lately the Tela agreement have paved the way to peace, the regional States roust be supported and their efforts brought to consummation. Iran and Iraq, which have agreed to a cease-fire, should both be urged towards reconciliation and the restoration of good relations. In Cyprus, it is regrettable that the intercommunal talks have not progressed as the international community would have wished. Vie urge all parties concerned to react favourably to the reasonable proposals advanced by the Secretary-General.
In Kampuchea, where war, destruction and suffering have prevailed for much too long, it is to be hoped that the States concerned will revive the Paris Conference in a determined attempt to find common ground. In Korea, where the North and South remain divided, the international community should provide greater stimulus towards their peaceful reunification, without outside interference.
In Western Sahara, where there are signs of progress in implementing the peace plan proposed by the Secretary -General and the Chair an of the Organization of African unity (OAU), we must urge the parties to co-operate folly in the endeavour to settle this protracted dispute.
Namibia, of course, has a unique relationship with the United Nations, which after all is the legal Administering Authority. Its freedom has for too long been denied by the intransigent Pretoria regime, few, however, Namibia appears to be on the threshold of regaining that freedom. The special responsibility the Organization bears imposes on it the need for it to be even more vigilant as the process nears its conclusion. We should brook no subterfuge or machination by South Africa to frustrate the exercise by the Namibian people of all their political rights and ensure that Security Council resolution 435 (1978) is implemented in all its provisions. Guyana is numbered among those countries that have contributed human resources to the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (IWTAG) operations that are intended to secure that result, we therefore look forward to welcoming an Independent Namibia to the Organization.
Namibia, the prospect for the end of apartheid - which is Inevitable - is not as clearly discernible in time. Nevertheless the shattering of the myth of the regime's military invincibility, taken in conjunction with the pressure exerted by the liberation movements and by the international community, and the contradictions inherent in the system of apartheid, render its sustainability increasingly difficult. Changes in keeping with the people's democratic aspirations must come. It is a matter of time. Meanwhile, it is necessary to intensify international pressure for such change. Sanctions must be maintained, tightened and expanded and succour and encouragement give to the oppressed people of that troubled land. There should be no relenting until apartheid is totally dismantled.
The Palestinians are yet another people deprived of their fundamental rights. Scattered throughout the world in a painful Diaspora they suffer the indignity of a people deprived of a homeland. The intifadah graphically portrays the consequences of the suppression of a people and at the same time their unshakable resolve to regain their freedom. The requirements for Q solution have long been prescribed. What has been absent is the determination of all members of the international community, and one or other of the parties concerned, boldly to take the necessary steps. The international conference on the Middle East called for by the United Nations could, if pursued with patience and with seriousness, lead to a durable and lasting negotiated settlement.
The current mood is not unpropitious to collective efforts aimed at solving the problems to which I have made reference. Let us seize the opportunity. Even as we do so, however, it is necessary to pay due attention to new issues that are global in scope.
The first of these is the environment. Even though the question of the human environment was first addressed in a global context at the world conference in Stockholm in 1972 it is only in recent times that the international community has been acutely sensitised to the dangers which its persistent degradation holds foe the future of mankind. It is apposite, I believe, to recall that in Stockholm the principles agreed for international co-operative action included respect for the sovereignty of States and the requirement that concern for the environment should enhance  not adversely affect, the prospects for growth of the economies of the developing countries. It was also agreed then that the international community should adopt appropriate measures to promote the legitimate interests of the developing countries in economic development. Present concern should respect those principles.
It is true that since 1972 further degradation of the environment has taken place, thus adding urgency to the need to adopt appropriate measures to halt and reverse this trend. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other international  id national bodies have devised helpful programmes in this respect. Yet there is a danger that unless the issue is addressed in a structured manner and without a zeal born of irrationality in e desired international co-operation could be made to succumb to prejudiced attitudes and unfair practices. In this regard, 1 speak as the representative of an Amazonian country, cognizant of the fact that some current positions on the utilization of the tropical rain forests, if maintained, could lead to unwanted delay in building a global consensus on the way forward.
Guyana is of the view that the present situation requires an approach which is based on true partnership and in which the sharing of burdens takes account of both differential capacities and past excesses. It has been stated, for example, that the tropical rain forests are a storehouse of bio-diversity which can be utilised for the benefit of all mankind. Yet it is a sad fact that those of us who own those forests end are being prevailed upon in one form or another to preserve them have rarely benefited from their exploitation as a game bank, except as consumers of other peoples' products. In tills regard it is imperative so to construct new arrangements as to enable the benefits of ownership to be at least equal to those of discovery. 1 accordingly call upon the United Nations and appropriate agencies to take action in order to make this a reality.
Happily as regards the second issue - that of drugs - there is increasing recognition that it can be dealt with adequately only if all dimensions of the problems are addressed with vigour. I refer to production# trafficking and consumption. It is good to note that within recent times action has been strengthened nationally and internationally. Guyana supports the initiatives taken by our sister Caribbean nations Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago deal with some facets of this terrifying problem. Ch this issue we can only move forward together.
,Aiming to international economic relations, it cannot be sand that the global economy is in good shape when assessed for its overall quality and against the backdrop of the well-being of mankind. It is true that world output continues to expand# and current evidence suggests that this trend will not be reversed. There are even claims that the world is on the threshold of a new era of prosperity. However, despite the many positive characteristics# the continuous amplification of the international economy has not always been vigorous. An m even pattern of growth has been experienced and this has not helped to revitalize the battered economies of some developing countries, although strenuous national adjustment efforts to achieve the relief promised by the expansion have been made.
After nearly a decade of the search for a satisfactory solution, debt continues to preside over the economic fortunes of many a developing country. Instead of being net recipients of financial flows capable of energizing their economies, the disadvantaged nations have become involuntary sources of finance for developed countries. Trade is always an imperative for growth. Yet the opportunities in that area have frequently been thwarted by the continuing resort to protectionism. The chance to produce positive results is greatly handicapped by the harsh conditions pertaining to commodities of export value to developing countries.
The world is highly competitive and efficiency and quality are paramount considerations. In such circumstances, increasing the possibilities for sustained growth demands that account be taken of the lagging technological capability of developing countries and the inadequacy of human resource development in the evolution of the world economy.
A significant feature of this decade is the extent to which the major industrialized countries have Increased their policy co-ordination on economic matters. Such action has brought success in the control of inflation, yet concern persists at all levels about the impact of large imbalances among industrialized countries and Instability of their exchange and interest rates on the future outlook for everyone.
It is against the background of such unsatisfactory conditions, in which hunger, malnutrition and preventable disease produce unacceptable numbers of casualties, that we assess the global economy. These economic and social problems must be overcome if developing countries are to cope with their current adversity and succeed in contributing to higher levels of sustained growth and development. Diminishing living standards and the widening gap between north and Southern counter to other efforts to increase peace and security and protect the environment.
The return to prosperity will not come about easily. Yet, as we survey the economic panorama, we observe a steady improvement in economic relations among States that gives rise to a new sense of possibilities in international co-operation. Such progress involves changes of both an international and a domestic character. They ate not only institutional but also issue-related. The progress is reflected in the intensification of integration processes in many regions of the world and the establishment of trade agreements.
Over the last four years the countries of the Caribbean Community have sought vigorously to advance this process. Curing those years major decisions have been taken to develop the Community as a single economy. The latest measures are contained in the declaration, adopted by the Heads of Government of that Community when they met in July this year in Grenada. The Community, which is bound together by a perception of common destiny, has become more cohesive and its members more mutually supportive. The response of the States  d people of the Community to the devastation wrought open several island territories by hurricane Hugo is eloquent to money to the sense of fraternity that exists.
Their limitations notwithstanding, the recent proposals on debt have contributed to a gradual evolution of the debt strategy and create the hope that the problem could eventually be resolved. In this respect there is a need to move forward faster on debt reduction  id to extend its application as widely as necessary. At the same time, it is essential to ensure that the positive effects of debt reduction are not blunted by the unavailability of sources.
The changes in these economic relation are evident in the shifts in the perception of, and the approach taken by the major multilateral institutions to, the problems of developing countries. M important development is the involvement of the International Monetary fund (IMF) in providing financial support for debt and debt-service reduction in line with more recent efforts to respond to this crisis. Additionally, with a growing number of low-income countries suffering economic setbacks, the 3MF has adapted its policies regarding the use by these countries of its structural adjustment facility. Moreover, it has created the enhanced structural adjustment facility, the terms of which have been adjusted to allow many beneficiary countries to draw on its resources in  we hope, a timely fashion.
 Multilateral trade negotiations are in progress under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (ATT), Gradual progress is being made  and until the discussions are completed the possibility remains open that a fairer and better trading system will be created. But such a possibility will be diminished if sincere efforts are not made to fulfil commitments on standstill and roll-back provisions that are vital to the growth of third-world trade. At the same time, more countries are making efforts to restore the international economy.
Through all those measures, we can turn adversity into triumph for global development. It can be broadened by expanding the limits of co-operation to encompass suitable international policy action in all important areas of concern, including those of commodities and human resource development.
Our responsibility is clear. Together we must act to arrest the economic decline of developing countries. Interdependence and the quest for global harmony impose that responsibility on us. The special session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held in April next year  id the process of elaborating a new international development strategy are Important opportunities for pursuing those goals.
Our action should also reflect the urgency of the situation. The framework for action must always be that which offers the most efficient means of co-operation. Whether it be bilateral, multilateral or economic and technical co-operation among developing countries, Guyana stands ready to play its part in our joint endeavours.
It is most fitting that the special session of the General Assembly devoted to international economic co-operation, in particular to the revitalization of the economic growth and development of developing countries, will be taking place at a time when the prestige of the United Nations has been restored. The Organization has begun again to assert its prime responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security. In this respect the Security Council has met constantly to review developments and to exercise its authority as the guarantor of world peace.
Much of the credit for those developments is due to the Secretary-General, Mr. Peres de Cuellar, who has co-operated fully with Member States in the many initiatives taken to secure stability and progress in the international, political and economic system. His admirable annual report reflects the valuable work done this year to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations, and points with clarity to some steps which should be taken to achieve that result.
Over the years a sizeable corpus of Ideas has developed with an eye to improving the machinery of the United Nations. It is Guyana's hope that these ideas can be fully examined and implemented to the benefit of our Organization and its operations.
The tendency towards attitudinal changes bodes well for the future of the United Nations and should, if pursued, enable it to realize its full potential. Now Is the time to deepen this new-found faith in the United Nations so that it can proceed to expand the frontlets of achievement.
Clearly, new demands will be made on the Organization precisely as a result of the successes it has already scored. There will be, for example, a role entrusted to the United Nations to guarantee the scrupulous implementation of accords reached on the settlement of conflicts. If we are dilatory, the newly found prestige of the Organization will evaporate and leave the world once again prey to unwanted adventurism.
It is also important, as noted by the Secretary-General, that early preventive diplomacy should be more readily utilized, as it has distinct advantages over curative measures, which are often late, costly and less effective. At the beginning of this decade of peace and international law therefore, let us resolve fully to explore the advantage of resolving conflicts by political and legal means rather than by the threat or use of force. Let us also resolve to make more use of the International Court of Justice in the cause of peace.
At the apogee of success the United Nations is ideally poised to launch a major offensive against the legion of problems which continue to besiege the world. Their solution requires the conflation of the interests of all Member States# developed and developing alike.
Let us at this session raise the banner of unity and co-operation# and from now on work towards the installation of a regime of durable peace and prosperity.


Mr. President, allow me to congratulate Your Excellency on your election. Your experience assures us that you will lead our work along a firm and constructive path. I extend my congratulations to your illustrious predecessor.
May I once again express the appreciation of Brazil for the Secretary-General Mr. Perez de Cuellar. At the outset of this statement I wish to pay a tribute to and express my respect for the people of Colombia and for President Virgilio Barco for giving the world an example of civic courage and patient heroism, governing as he is a region fraught with turmoil, where lawlessness and fanaticism combine to destroy the country in the hallucinating anti-life of drugs.
In 1985, soon after taking office, I stood at this podium. Brazil was then emerging from a long night. It was recovering from tragedy and facing great uncertainties. On the international scene discord prevailed. Four years later I see a different political landscape: conflicts have been reduced and dialogue resumed. There is hope. The war between Iran and Iraq has come to an end. Foreign troops have withdrawn from Afghanistan. Positive developments have taken Place in Central America and southern Africa. Namibia is well on the way to independence. There are genuine prospects for internal reconciliation and understanding in Angola. Direct contact has been resumed between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The interests of peace, security and development have been reinforced in the South Atlantic. The two super-Powers have come to agreement on the actual reduction of nuclear arsenals.
But we are still far from a world free from anguish, tension and fear. There still remain problems clamouring for solution. In the Middle East the fury of fanaticism continues to claim the lives of innocent peoples and to tear asunder States such as Lebanon, which was once exemplary for its balance between different religious groups, m South Africa the apartheid regime still persists, an affront to the conscience of civilized peoples, in certain areas, to a greater or lesser degree, human rights are being disregarded. In East Timor appeals go unheeded.

But the spirit of peace has made progress as the supreme value of coexistence among nations. Other great values of modern man - democracy and human rights - have gained strength. As we look back over these last four years there is one thing of which we can be certain: degradation is moving ahead in the
contemporary world. The establishment or re-establishment of free institutions is a universal aspiration.
The march is on to reinstate or establish democratic freedoms. From my own Painful  experience I bear witness to the struggle in the transition to It has the significance of life and a bitter fight, mitigated by the fascination of Playing , part in great changes. My term of office will soon come to an end. What can offer as an end result is to have achieved in five years 50 years of progress towards democracy. We are enjoying a period of unprecedented freedom. Our institutions have been restored and a State based on the rule of law has been established. We have built a truly democratic society, with a high degree of organization and participation, in an open system which enables the people to express their will. We are the third largest democracy in the world, with 82 million voters. We held elections in 1985 and 1986. In 1987 we convened a National Constituent Assembly. We drafted a new Constitution. We held elections in 1988, and on 15 November this year we will elect my successor. All this is taking place in a peaceful and orderly climate, always harmonizing the exuberance of aspirations that have at last been freed. We have had to contend with 10,000 strikes, they were settled in a spirit of conciliation. We have been operating within an economic crisis.

It is not only through Brazil that the winds of freedom have swept. In South America, that vast new world, there will not be a single country which is not under democratic rule by the end of the year. authoritarianism has been definitely discredited.
The greatest wave of democratisation the world has known since the end of the war has swept through Latin America. A burning question, however haunts the conscience of our people: will the democratic values that we built be capable of dealing with the problems of suffering, misery, poverty, inequality, exploitation and violence that are part of our daily lives? Are the democracies of the wealthy countries joining us in solidarity with our cause, or are they concerned only with their own well-being, relegating us to marginal existence?
I am convinced that democracy is the road to follow. It was the banner that led our people to sweep away authoritarian regimes, strongmen, tyrants and dictators. But it did not do so merely to replace them with hunger, disease, backwardness, foreign debt, recession and unemployment.
Latin America shows signs of negative growth. It is not that we have grown less than other countries: it is simply that we have moved backwards. Suffice it to say that in 1988 the region's gross domestic product was at the same level as in 1978. The net transfer of resources abroad in 1988 amounted to $29 billion. Brazil alone, in the past five years, transferred approximately $56 billion abroad. This is Marshall plan in reverse.
The greatest wave of degradation the world has seen since the end of the second world war has swept through Latin America. A burning question. however, haunts the conscience of our peoples, are the democratic values that we have built be capable of dealing with the problems of suffering, misery, poverty, inequality, and violence that are part of our everyday life. Are the democracies the wealthy countries coming in solidarity with us or are they concerned only about their well-being relegating us to a marginal existence?
I am convinced that democracy is the road to follow. It is the banner through which our peoples to sweep away authoritarian regimes, strongmen, tyrants and dictators, ant it did not do so merely to replace them with hunger, disease.
backwardness, foreign debt, recession and unemployment. Latin America shows signs of negative growth, it means that it has grown less than other continents and that we simply we have moved backwards.
The 1980s have seen a sustained expansion of the industrialized economies. It was to be expected that this expansion would stimulate economic growth in the developing countries. Nevertheless, the rise in international interest rates for reasons beyond our control, the drastic reduction in the prices of raw materials, commercial protectionism, the volatility of exchange rates, the globalisation of financial markets, and the net capital outflows have been responsible for the frustration of that expectation.
The United Nations planned in its development strategy for the 1980s that the gap between the rich and the poor would be reduced. But what happened? The number of least developed countries increased from 30 to 42.
Once again I ask: if the democracy we have established throughout our continent fails to meet the legitimate aspirations of our societies, how can we prevent its values from being challenged? It will serve no purpose to invoke the imperfect realization of such values.
The greatest enemies of democracy on our continent have been low standards of living and inflation, which corrode our economies. Lacking in resources and oppressed by a perverse international economic situation, the leaders of Latin America have no means available to meet the most legitimate and fundamental
aspirations of their societies. Guerrilla movements are proliferating in several countries. Spontaneous manifestations of revolt are springing up. Violence is building up and pent-up forces of rebellion may at any time emerge and spread uncontrollably.
We are no longer dealing with ideological motivations. What is at stake in Latin America is no longer the dichotomy between the capitalist and the socialist systems. In Latin America, the persistence of poverty and the worn-out models of development make ideologies outdated. This climate does not seem to be inspired by any doctrines or fed by revolutionary designs. It is a rebellion growing out of  the lack of prospects and the frustration of the deprived and disenchanted masses. Its origins are lost in remote historical times. The choice today is not between militarism and populism, but between recession and growth.
A great many things are being said about the interdependence of today's world. For Latin America, however, interdependence has shown only its negative side, interdependence is invoked when we are confronted with the perpetuation of an international order that in reality relegates us to a dependency in which the Poorest are paradoxically coined to finance the richest and in which transfers of knowledge take place only on a horizontal plane. That is certainly not the kind of interdependence to which we aspire.

The European Common Market needed the shock of war in order to materialize. In our case, we are determined to take advantage of the shock of democracy in order to advance towards Bolivar's dream of long ago: the building of Latin American political brotherhood, Latin America, the victim of violent colonial greed, has become the most genuine melting-pot of races and cultures, extending on an unprecedented scale the miscegenation of ethnic groups and the blending of religions and customs. For Brazil, the fate of our neighbours is our own fate.
For us in Latin America and the Caribbean, the option for social progress is an ethical and economic imperative. We cannot continue to waste enormous Quantities of human talent because they are denied access to nourishment and education. According to the United Nations Children's Fund, there are in the world today 145 million abandoned minors between the ages of 12 and 16, and perhaps 100 million of that number live in the streets, tempted into larceny, prostitution, drugs and mugging.
Need we point out that these starving and unprotected adolescents in the third world are the present-day version of the poverty-stricken youth we encounter in the most biting pages of Dickens, Victor Hugo or Dostoevski?
There is an urgent need to create conditions through which the developing countries can return to their natural status as recipients of capital, reversing as quickly as possible the trend that has made them exporters of financial resources under the cruel burden of foreign debt.
The discipline and co-operation established by the international monetary and commercial institutions set up in the post-war period have given way to the dominance of the powerful countries' national autonomy in the formulation of their macroeconomic policies. Severe imbalances and asymmetries have developed. The impoverished situation of the developing economies have grown worse. Brazil, for example, is paying more to those institutions than it receives from them.
Another major problem is the trend towards an oligopoly of knowledge. Human knowledge is a cumulative process, anywhere, any time. Knowledge is universal. To restrain its potential for changing the well-being of the world, thereby restricting it to the domain of trade, of economic advantage, of cultural colonization, is to reduce mankind to material objectives that deny man himself. Science and technology, today or tomorrow, must be placed at the service of everyone, not only of a few nations.
Yet another disturbing development is the exploitation of the vulnerability imposed upon us by our foreign debt. The developing countries are being pressured to conform to a model of adjustment which is not often followed by the industrialized countries. Budgets are being balanced at enormous social cost and at the price of State bankruptcy, wages are being depressed below subsistence levels, scant attention is being paid to the legitimate aspirations of infant industries and to balance-of-payments requirements, the public sector has kindled even in those areas in which the need for action is greatest, such as education and health. No attention is being paid to the fact that the primary need of the debtor countries is to grow and that only through accelerated growth can they introduce the necessary economic reforms. fulfil their commitments and contribute, as they have in the past, to global progress.
There is an urgent need to understand that growth is impossible when about one third of domestic savings is exported to foreign countries every year. It will be impossible to make any adjust as long as we are required to solve an insoluble equation. It is time to recognize that up to now the remedy for the problem of foreign debt has contributed chiefly to the financial health of the creditors. For the debtors it has been a prescription for stagnation and impoverishment. I repeat: the time has come to adopt a strategy based on the assumption of renewed growth in the debtor countries. Such a strategy will require a sharp reduction in the stock of the debt and in the gross and net transfers of resources abroad, the only way to retain the savings necessary to finance development.
We view with deep concern the slow pace and the indifference with which this problem is being handled and the way its solution is being postponed.
There are two major questions to which we must also give our priority attentions environmental protection and the fight against drug traffic and drug abuse. These subjects wi11 figure more and more prominently on our global agenda.
The first question relates to the survival of mankind, to the death of life on this planet. The second relates to a life of death, to anti-life, to the destruction of the human person, chiefly in its purest form: youth.
In the question of the environment we have another dimension of the interdependence of nations. As inhabitants of the same small planet, we are all condemned to solidarity.
The environmental question in its planetary aspects - climate change, depletion of the ozone layer - cannot and must not be discussed from a narrow Perspective, as if it were a problem between North and South in which the less developed countries, by their irresponsible behaviour, were affecting the ecological balance of the world.
The truth is quite different. The industrialized countries bear the greatest responsibility for the pollution of the environment. The developing countries cannot accept as a basis for a new mode of international relations a concept of environmentally sustainable development which assigns to them only the task of ensuring the ecological balance of the planet, if this concept is to be valid, it will be essential to extend it to the industrialized countries so as to make it possible to determine whether the production and consumption patterns they follow can be sustained from the environmental point of view, it will be essential to establish close co-operation among all countries in efforts aimed at the research and development of new technologies that will be more efficient in the utilization of natural resources and will cause less pollution of the environment, moreover, firm commitments for the transfer of technology at cost will have to be established. The importance we attach to the problem of the environment and the Brazilian readiness to deal with it objectively and openly are clearly reflected in our readiness to host the United Nations conference on environment and development in 1992.
Brazil is more keenly aware than any other country of its exuberant, rich and extraordinary natural world, its forests, its fauna and flora. We will not give up our right to preserve this rich heritage. We preserved it in the past, when the large colonizing companies formed in the rich countries invaded the wild areas of Africa, Asia and America, brutally despoiling them. Brazil rejected them. It forbade them to enter. During the 1960s, the Hudson Institute conceived the idea of a vast lake which would flood Amazonia. Brazil rejected the idea. If the world today is able to turn its attention towards Amazonia, it is only because Brazilians were able to preserve it up to the present day and will continue to preserve it for the future. We are prepared, as we have always been, for cooperation. But we will never be prepared to accept restrictions upon our sovereignty.
With the programme known as "Our Nature", we have already been able in a single yea, to reduce the fire-clearing of forests by about 40 per cent, we have banned the export of timber, we have eliminated the incentives for projects which have proved to be predatory, and we have created the Institute of the Environment, in which dozens of organizations have joined in a broad project for ecological Protection. Approximately 8 million hectares of Brazilian territory are now subject to a regime of permanent conservation. Approximately 10 per cent of the national territory is reserved for the total indigenous population of 200,000. At the same time, Brazil is viewing with great concern the problem of drug trafficking and illicit drug production and consumption. We took an important step forward in 1988 with the adoption of the Vienna Convention. The constantly growing dimensions of the problem make it urgent for the United Nations General Assembly to turn its attention to the adoption of effective measures of cooperation.
Brazil will make every effort to contribute, along with the consumer, producer and transit countries, to the eradication once and for all of this serious threat to our societies, we are pursuing a vigorous preventive policy in this field. With our -Northern Basin" programme in the Amazon, we have been occupying and patrolling our extensive frontiers in order to help the local population and to prevent the entry of drug traffickers escaping from other countries. We are maintaining control over the trade in precursors. We are waging, unremittingly, a war on drugs. The picture I have painted leads us to contemplate the qualitative transformation of our world.
The ideological confrontation which has governed international events throughout this century is showing clear signs of abating. Irreconcilable opposition is being replaced by understanding. Ideologies are losing-their emotional content as the advances of science and technology disclose growing prospects for human well-being. It would be Utopian to imagine a world totally free from conflict, but I do not think it nonsensical to think of a rational world in which co-operation and understanding replace confrontation and dish money, a world in which it will finally be possible to build peace on the solid basis of a universal community of interests, a world in which the democratisation of international relations will lead to the overcoming of power politics.
The fundamental difference between the United Nations and its predecessor, the League of Nations, is precisely the awareness of the right to development. That is the ideal that constantly inspires the Economic and Social Council and the Organization as a whole. The League of Nations sought to establish international order, which was no small task, but the United Nations aspires to something more: it seeks also international justice.
Henry Adams declared that so-called practical politics consists in ignoring facts. I am afraid that comment is applicable to the mentality currently prevailing. We need the boldness to advance new concepts, the pioneering spirit to develop new approaches, the courage to carry out new institutional experiments. Let us hope that the decade of the 1990s and the United Nations will be able to think about the problems assailing mankind on the eve of the year 2000.
Our century has not grown old in vain. There are some who attempt to characterize it as an end of history. According to them, the world - and the rich world in particular - is destined to live through a long period of historical inertia made up of prosaic pleasures and mediocre satisfactions. The price of eliminating violence would apparently be cultural lethargy and the political laziness of an age without convulsions but also without ideals. That view amounts to a denial of human experience.  New countries such as our have the feeling of standing on the threshold of an age of great changes. The historical process is now in full bloom. We envisage a mankind free from antagonisms, threats and fear, opening up frontiers for a new kind of man who can achieve the goal of creation, conceived in the image of God.
Two years ago, Brazil had the honour to be elected by this assembly, after almost two decades of absence, to membership of the Security Council. These have been for us two years of intensive participation in the Council's work. That experience prompts some reflections. If the United Nations, acting through the Security Council, is to be able to perform the prominent role expected of it in the field of international peace and security, some changes must be made in the structure and procedures of the Council itself. How can we solve important problems relating, for example, to the establishment and financing of peace-keeping operations without re-examining the very adequacy of the composition of the Council?
That is a problem that deserves to be examined not only from the traditional standpoint of establishing a proper relationship between the number of non-permanent members and the increase that has taken place in the number of states members of the UN, but also - and especially - in the light of the changes in power relationships that have taken place since the organisation was created. The time has come for changes. We would consider an additional category of permanent members that would not have the veto privilege.
New circumstances on the intentional scene - in particular the easing of Political and ideological confrontation - unquestionably open up possibilities for  a more efficient utilization of the United Nations. But that must not mean a return, pure and simple, to an excessive predominance of the super-Powers over the Organization. The United Nations certainly cannot do without consensus between the super-Powers as the basis for effective action. In many cases, however, that consensus will not be enough. Contributions by other Member States may be necessary, and even indispensable, if the Organization is to be able to act effectively and responsibly as a truly international institution.
The time has come to make development and justice the foundations of world peace and stability. This Organization was created as the result of the struggle against totalitarianism, and represents the most advanced level of achievement in terms of democratic relations among States. We must therefore take advantage of the opportunities afforded by ideological demobilization in order to dedicate ourselves with renewed vigour to the great causes of international co-operation, we must dare. -Dare if you dare,- said the Portuguese poet Pernando Peszoa. I propose that the united Nations commit itself to a process of broad and total dialogue on the major problems of these closing years of the century in order that we may enter the twenty-first century with an awareness of the challenges that face us and of our potential. Prom disarmament to the environment, from the banning of chemical weapons to the transfer of technology, from democracy as an instrument of stability and development to civil rights and political freedoms, from economic reforms to international trade, from the regionalization of the world economy to the new faces of interdependence, from the conquest of outer space to the eradication of poverty, we are faced with challenges that invite discussion. We must go to the source of our problems, understand them in all their complexity, face their consequences without vacillation, take the necessary decisions and eliminate the factors of de-stabilization and inequality.
Let us act before it is too late, before sacrifices and frustrations crystallize into rebellion, before the satisfied people of the world in their complacency become insensitive to the just demands of those who have little or nothing, before room for negotiation is reduced by mutual fear and intransigent confrontation.
No country or group of countries, no matter how powerful, can claim to be in a position to solve the crisis alone, with an open mind, without mental reservations, resentments or ulterior motives, let us set to work, perhaps there will never again be a moment in history in which ideological demobilization will offer such favourable conditions. Let us be capable of transforming reality through the creative power of ideas. We call upon everyone, and especially the more powerful, to join in that task. It is not too late to salvage the dream of peace and justice dreamt by past generations.
At the opening of this forty-fourth session of the General Assembly, I wish to leave members with a message of optimism and determination, the same message which inspires Brazilians, who have taken a hand in their own destiny through the democracy they have succeeded in building.
It is Brazil's strength of belief that has enabled it to consolidate a new democracy in our America, triumphing over many challenges. It. is For the same reason that Brazilians express their views here, through the voice of their President, to dream the dream of peace and justice, exorcizing fear and raising altars to hope.
As a politician and an intellectual, I have never regarded poetry as an uninvited guest at the assembly's plenary meetings. It is with poetry that I take my leave, with the verses of Luiz de Camones, the universal poet of the Portuguese language:
"After the storm, tempestuous and drear,
And shadow of night and shrieking winds that blow
Comes on the morning hour, serene and clear,
With hope of harbouring safely from the woe."


Mr. President, permit me at the outset to convey to you the sincere congratulations of my country's delegation on your election to the presidency of the forty-fourth session of the General Assembly. It is an honour to our African continent that you have been chosen for this esteemed position. I am also pleased, because you belong to a friendly State which maintains strong historic and cultural relations with mine. I have every confidence that your qualities and rids experience will help us to achieve the desired results of this session.
It also gives me pleasure to express the appreciation and gratitude of the Libyan Arab delegation to your predecessor, Mr. Dante Caputo, for his competent and commendable handling of the work of the previous session.
I should also like to express our great appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Pere2 de Cuellar, for his sincere efforts to advance the ideals of the United Nations and for the initiatives he has taken to improve the performance of the Organization and peacefully resolve the complex problems facing the international community.
Despite problems and political pressures, the United Nations has proved that it really deserves our confidence, and that it can accomplish much of what we aspire to as an international group, if we have the will to create the appropriate climate for the Organization.
The United Nations is the embodiment of our common will to close our ranks in working for the realization of the deeply cherished aspirations of mankinds namely, peace, freedom, justice and prosperity A cursory look at the world today, which is beset with problems and issues that accumulate year after year, shows clearly that we are regrettably far from making any real progress towards the noble purposes for whose achievement the United Nations was established.
The reasons for the continuing erosion of the Organization's potential are well known. Thus the declaration issued by the Ninth Summit Conference of Heads of States or Government of the Movement of Non—Aligned Countries has expressed our concern about the realities of the Organization and voiced our hopes for its future when it states that: "Despite all challenges, the United Nations system has stood the test of time. Even those who are still ignoring the United Nations as a forum for collective action of States have increasingly realized that this Organization is an indispensable means to regulate international disputes and to endeavour to solve international problems „..".
In another section, the declaration continues:
"To this end, we shall endeavour to strengthen the machinery of the United Nations and to revitalize, expand and co-ordinate its activities ...". The Charter, which should guide our work, Is constantly being flouted: areas of tension are spreading; dangers are becoming more acute. This stems from the insistence of certain Powers to give the policies of force, intimidation and terrorism the upper hand over the spirit of co-operation, understanding and constructive dialogue.
There are many persistent violations of the Charter, the most serious of which glares at one at the entrance to this building, where the flags of the most repulsive regimes known in modern history are hoisted, namely, the apartheid regime in South Africa and the racist Zionist entity in occupied Palestine. These two regimes are closely related; they represent a challenge to moral principles and right. I believe that as an international group we should not tolerate a falsehood that we can change if we so desire.
Major developments have taken place in the international arena since the establishment of the United Nations in 1945. The current international situation is different from that of 194 5. Thus we appeal for serious collective action to strengthen the role of the Organization. This we believe, will require the review of those provisions of the Charter which are inconsistent with existing international circumstances.
We urge the Special Committee on the Charter and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization to move from the consuming phase of consideration and discussion to the phase of proposing practical solutions and of submitting specific proposals on the provisions that cripple the Organization's effectiveness.
Worthy of note among these provisions is the veto privilege, which has become an insurmountable obstacle to international unanimity. That privilege has been abused by some of the States that enjoy it. They use it not to defend what is right and to preserve international peace and security, but to consecrate falsehood and promote aggression, occupation, invasion and terrorism. My country, which is honoured to have taken the initiative in calling for a review of the veto privilege, reaffirms its resolute stand on this issue.
We have great faith in the United Nations and in its ever-more essential role. We believe that the strong and united will of peace-loving nations can help the Organization achieve the desired effectiveness. It alone can deter those who espouse policies of threats and force.
My country has suffered from detestable imperialist practices, past and present. At the beginning of this century it was subjected to hateful fascist invasion, occupation and colonialism, during which it suffered from all forms of oppression, destruction and attempts at genocide.
During the Second World War, the Libyan territory became a major battlefield and our people paid an exorbitant material and human price. Although the war ended for its principal parties, its vestiges - the mines and other war materiel left behind by the warring forces with no consideration for the inhabitants of the country - continue to plague us. Libyans still suffer material and human losses as a result of them. Years ago, we took the initiative and raised the problem in the General Assembly, which adopted numerous resolutions calling upon the States responsible for deploying and leaving those deadly weapons to provide all necessary information, help in their removal and compensate for the human and material damage caused by them. Today, through this forum, we renew our appeal to the
international community to urge the States concerned to act in a responsible manner and implement the provisions of the Assembly's resolutions.
My country is just an examples the phenomenon is much wider in scope. The States which invaded and colonized our countries, exploited our economic and human resources and fought over our territories in the past should shoulder the historic responsibility of atoning for their acts. Thus we urge consideration of the question of compensation for invasion and colonial exploitation. The States concerned must take moral responsibility as the point of departure in considering this issue. Compensation for colonialism is the least we can expect of imperialist States. We must realize that the problems facing many States in the developing world today were caused by the suffering of their peoples during the periods of invasion and colonialism.
As the Ninth Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries declared in its special paper on decolonization,
"The Heads of State or Government called upon all former and present imperialist Powers to shoulder their responsibilities and pay all due compensation for the economic, social and cultural consequences of colonizing developing countries." Perhaps the most repulsive act to which my country has been exposed was the direct military aggression launched in the spring of 1986 against our peaceful cities by a super-Power which is also a permanent member of the Security Council; let alone the repeated provocative and hostile actions perpetrated against us by that State since the early 1980s. It has also imposed economic, scientific and cultural boycott measures against us, which is entirely unjustifiable.
The international community has rejected and condemned those practices. This was reflected in General Assembly resolution 41/38, which affirmed that the aggressive State pay compensation for material and human losses incurred as a result of treacherous acts of aggression. Today, we once again strongly call upon the international community to urge the aggressive State to shoulder its responsibilities and comply with this resolution and implement its provisions without delay.
My country, as one of the States bordering the Mediterranean basin, attaches great importance to the question of strengthening security and co-operation in that region. We have constantly called for making the Mediterranean basin "a zone of peace", for we are fully aware that peace and security in the region is closely related to international peace and security. The Mediterranean has become one of the most dangerous areas of tension in the world because of Zionist practices in and around occupied Palestine and because of the insistence of certain imperialist Powers on transforming the Mediterranean into a base for foreign military fleets and an arena for manoeuvres, provocation, including acts of air and naval piracy, as well as a launching pad for acts of direct aggression against certain States.
My country is committed to working to support regional and international efforts to bring about effective security and co-operation in the Mediterranean region. As we applaud the persistent efforts made by the States members of the Non-Aligned Movement in the region, we renew our call for other littoral States of the Mediterranean to discharge their responsibilities and enter into a meaningful and balanced dialogue to establish strong and lasting bases for co-operation. We believe that achieving these objectives begins with a common conviction of the need to take collective measures, among which priority should be given to ending racist Zionist practices in occupied Palestine and demanding the immediate withdrawal of military fleets from, and the dismantling of foreign bases in, the region.
The issues of human rights command great attention in our country. This arises from an unfaltering belief that respect for human dignity is the basis for peoples* progress and prosperity. This respect derives from a culture and a religion whose central theme is respect for man and humanity. Allah stated in the Holy Koran:
"We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation." (The Holy Koran, XVII.-70) Human dignity is realized by observing principles, first and foremost among which is equality as a common human value. Islam decrees that all people are equal "as the teeth of a comb" - that no distinction should be made except that based on competence, work and what each person offers to his God, to himself, his country and humanity. Thus Islam abolished the caste and class systems - discrimination based on differences related to ancestral claims, kinship and colour. In this context Allah said:
"Oh mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other. Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things). (The Holy Koran, XLIX:13)
The Prophet - peace be upon him - said in his farewell pilgrimage sermon in which he drafted a constitution for mankind:
"Oh ye people, verily your God is One, and your father is one. All mankind is the progeny of Adam who was fashioned out of clay. The noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most God-fearing. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab, nor for the white over the black, nor for the black over the white except in piety." The words of the just Caliph Omar Ibn A1 Khattab will echo throughout time, for having admonished one of the administrators under his caliphate: "Since when have you reduced people, who were born free, into servitude.1"
In March 1988, Libya took major practical and legal steps to protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels. The year 1989 witnessed developments that reinforced our accomplishments. Early this year, the Freedom Consolidation Act was adopted and accession to a large number of international conventions in the field of human rights was ratified. Moreover, the International People's Committee on the Qadaffi Prize for Human Rights was established. This summer my country hosted the first meeting of that committee, during which the Qadaffi Prize for Human Rights was awarded to the African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela.
We are determined to continue supporting efforts of the international community through the United Nations and its bodies concerned with human rights to attain the lofty aims cherished by humanity. In this respect, we stress that the racist practices in occupied Palestine and South Africa represent an outrageous defiance of the will of the international community and an intolerable contempt for human rights.
The Palestine question is at the top of the list of issues that concern the international community, even though certain quarters wish otherwise. This priority is given not only because the Palestine question involves real threats to international peace and security, but also because it is a defiance of ethical values and an attack on rights, in contempt for all values. This question is still the main concern of my country. We believe that night, however long it nay be, is followed by day; injustice, however prolonged it may be, must come tc an end. The people's struggle derives from the will of Allah and this must be victorious.
The intifadah of the Palestinian people against Zionist occupation, which has been going on for nearly two years, has reminded the world once again of this people's tragedy. The barbaric practices of Zionists against unarmed children and women - unarmed except, perhaps, with stones - reveal the true nature of Zionism and prove that the aim of Zionist terrorists and those who  ack them is the eradication of the Palestinian people as a first step to attaining objectives that target the very existence of a nation.
The uprising - the intifadah - has also proven that it is impossible to suppress a people's will to attain its lawful aspirations and that any separate, or even international, attempts to make peace deals that run counter to that people's will cannot achieve success.
Our stand on this question emanates from our compliance with international instruments, morality and the dictates of national duty. Our stand is a firm and clear one-. We fully support the struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate its territory, enjoy its right to self-determination and establish an independent state on the whole Palestinian territory, with Jerusalem as its capital.
It is incumbent on the international community to shoulder its historic responsibility of restoring rights to those lawfully entitled to them. The United Nations, which has conferred legality on the occupying Zionist entity at the expense of rights, justice and morality, thus committing an unparalleled historic blunder, is called upon to remedy this situation.
The tragic situation in Lebanon is another by-product of the illegal existence of the Zionist entity in our Arab region. My country, which has constantly called for preserving the unity and territorial sovereignty of Lebanon, believes that resolving the Lebanese problem involves primarily the immediate and complete withdrawal of the Zionist occupation forces from every inch of Lebanese soil and putting an end to the interference of that entity and other foreign Powers in Lebanese affairs, thus enabling all brotherly Lebanese groups to hold a dialogue in the spirit of fraternity and tolerance.
We maintain that the efforts made within the framework of the Arab League - namely the Tripartite Commission - can help our Lebanese brothers overcome their plight. We call upon all peace-loving forces to support these efforts.
My country is following with great interest the developments which have taken place since the cease-fire in the Gulf War. It renews its sincere call for the two Muslim States, Iraq and Iran, to respond in a fraternal and Islamic manner to the efforts made by the international community to implement Security Council resolution 5S8 (1987).
The Namibian question, which has long been, at the forefront of the political problems facing the international community, has reached a crucial state, that of the cautious anticipation of the intensive international efforts being made to implement Security Council resolution 435 (1978).
The Namibian people who have made enormous sacrifices in their struggle are in need of support from the international community today when there are many manoeuvres aimed at creating a situation in Namibia that would enable the apartheid regime to direct at will the results of the elections. My country, which has always provided various forms of political and material support to the Namibian people throughout the period of their heroic and honourable struggle, reiterates its commitment to support the struggle till the Namibian people achieve all their lawful aspirations.
While dealing with the current situation in Namibia, we should convey our profound appreciation to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his. assistants, especially those working in the field, for their efforts to help the Namibian people achieve true independence.
At the previous session, we expressed the hope that the anticipated independence of Namibia would represent a real step towards the elimination of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Today, as we are about to achieve the cherished aim of Namibian independence, we entertain new hopes that this victory will give new and powerful impetus to the struggle of the liberation movement in all its forms, to eradicate the apartheid regime. Because of its firm belief in the cause of freedom and its support for the oppressed, Libya reaffirms its complete willingness to continue its effective contribution with a view to bringing about a comprehensive escalation of the struggle against racists and to attaining victory for the oppressed African people in South Africa.
We should not fail to pay a tribute to the peoples of the African front-line States for their enormous sacrifices.
In our region, the question of Cyprus has not been resolved. My country wishes to reiterate that a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of this question should be based on the unity, sovereignty and non-aligned status of Cyprus, ridding it of foreign bases as well as guaranteeing the rights of both the Greek and the Turkish communities.
As for Afghanistan, my country reiterates its support for all international efforts aiming at preserving the unity of the Afghan people, their sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. It sincerely urges all our brothers in Afghanistan to resolve their differences in a manner guided by wisdom, fraternity and understanding.
My country supports the lawful aspirations of the Korean people to reunify the two parts of their country by peaceful means, without any foreign interference. My country also calls for the dismantling of foreign bases and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Korea.
Nuclear and chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction represent the main danger that threatens mankind with annihilation. What adds to the complexity of th is issue is the insistence of certain nuclear Powers on engaging in a race to develop and modernize their arsenals at a time when humanity is aware of a certain degree of detente. As regards cessation of the nuclear-arms race, humanity has great expectations.
As a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Convention on the Prohibition of Bacteriological Weapons and the Geneva Protocol, my country supports all regional and international endeavours to curb the nuclear-arms race and eradicate nuclear weapons. It also supports all international measures and efforts to prohibit all types of weapons of mass destruction.
We lend support to the principle or: establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones in any part of the world, including Africa and the Middle East. We believe, however, that this goal will remain out of reach because favourable circumstances have not been created, as there are racist regimes in both South Africa and Palestine. These regimes have co-operated closely and constantly in the field of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
Recently, the Zionist entity was experimenting with long-range missiles in the the Mediterranean when one of the missiles landed near the Libyan city of Benghazi. There is no doubt that the acquisition of these weapons of mass destruction by the Zionist entity threatens the entire region. The history of the Zionist entity, its practices and, above all, the fact that it has attacked Tunisia twice and Iraq once confirm the fact that the security of the entire region is threatened.
The United Nations has a special responsibility, for it should not merely draw the attention of the international family to the dangers inherent in the acquisition of these weapons of mass destruction by Israelis, but it should also take the necessary actions to eliminate this threat.
There is no doubt that international terrorism is a phenomenon which is a source of grave and growing concern for the international community because it results in the loss of innocent lives and threatens people's peace and security. It also wreaks havoc and undermines confidence on the level of international relations. We share the conviction of the international community concerning the need to combat all forms of international terrorism. As we take up this phenomenon once more at this session, we notice with regret that international endeavours have fallen short of addressing this particular problem. This is due mainly to the fact that there are forms of international terrorism we have neither touched upon nor duly examined. One of these forms of terrorism whose danger has increased is State terrorism. This has prompted my country strongly to support the convening, under the auspices of the United Nations, of an international conference to define the concept of terrorism, and to support the need to develop specific international criteria to ensure that a clear distinction is made between terrorism that should be fought and eradicated on the one hand and the lawful struggle of peoples on the other. We sincerely hope that the legal committee, the Sixth Committee, will be able, during the current session, to take action to enable us to launch an objective and meaningful international dialogue on this issue.
My country shares the deep and growing concern of the international community at the grave imbalance in present international economic relations, resulting mainly from the unjust bases on which the international economic order was built. This order took shape under international circumstances which were entirely different from today's realities. Third-world countries, which today represent the majority of the international community, ace suffering from the negative and serious consequences of this imbalance.
Numerous manifestations of this suffering can be found in a multitude of problems, of which I shall give a few illustrations: the sharp decline in the prices of commodities, the doubling of the external debt burden of developing countries, the depletion of their financial resources and the prevalence of poverty, famine, disease and excessive protectionism in international trade, as well as the imposition of unfair terms of trade. In addition, economic coercion policies are being adopted by certain developed countries by way of economic embargoes and blockades.
This unjust economic order has become an insurmountable obstacle facing developing countries. Hence, the call for the establishment of a new international economic order. This just demand will remain out of reach owing to the obduracy and stubbornness of certain developed countries, whose inflexibility has aggravated and complicated the problems of developing countries especially in the 1980s, which can be termed the lost decade of development.
We believe that the developing countries should not be over-optimistic about the results of the so-called North-South dialogue, because the developed countries have shown that they only care for their selfish interests regardless of the urgent needs of the developing countries.
Changing the unfair economic order of today's world begins with solidarity and cohesion among those who suffer from injustice and with the promotion of co-operation among them. That is the positive way of attempting to persuade others. I do not deny that this course requires further sacrifices from us that may at first add to our problems, but it remains the only promising approach. To continue to resign ourselves to the existing relationships would mean that we had given up hope.
Talking about the world economy leads me to another, closely related issues the question of global environment, which is also of major concern to us all. The world is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis, about which nature is sending us urgent warnings that can be ignored only at our own peril. Numerous and growing indicators of this crisis are all around us. In addition to serious air pollution, there is desertification, soil erosion, depletion of forests, the greenhouse effect, unusual climatic changes and deterioration of the ozone layer. There is also the problem of nuclear and industrial toxic wastes, which has given rise to justifiable concern, especially in the third world, where scheming outsiders would dump such materials.
We have a collective responsibility to protect the environment. This surely calls for huge collective efforts; sporadic efforts will not be sufficient to achieve our goals in this field.
On the threshold of the twenty-first century, history dictates that we develop our potential and eliminate all the erroneous practices peculiar to the twentieth century. Policies of confrontation, threats and brandishing of power should be abandoned in favour of policies of rapprochement, dialogue, understanding and co-operation to establish the safe and prosperous international community of which our children dream.
May God enable us all to achieve that goal.


It is a great honour and pleasure for me to return to this rostrum for the forty-fourth session of the Assembly and to address it on behalf of my country, the Dominican Republic.
It is also a matter of great satisfaction to me to convey to Mr. Joseph Nanven Garba the warm congratulations of the Dominican Government, and of our delegation in particular, on his well-deserved election to the presidency of this great gathering. I look forward confidently to his complete success in this sensitive undertaking inasmuch as he is a skilled and seasoned diplomat from a region which is undergoing a steady process of growth and development - a fact that can be observed in the importance and the scope of the Convention concluded between the European Economic Community and the African, Caribbean aid Pacific States, better known as the lome Convention, the progress of which we have been following in our country with much interest and with a great feeling of solidarity. His outstanding personal qualities will ensure that the work and the deliberations of this session will be guided with due deliberation and the highest aims. In this respect, he can count on our resolute co-operation.
This is a suitable opportunity to express our high esteem for that outstanding Argentine internationalist, Mr, Dante Caputo, for his exemplary guidance of the work of the last session.
On this solemn occasion we should like to place on record our great appreciation and admiration for the Secretary-General of our Organization, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, for the valuable, timely and unstinting work that he has been doing to promote peace and understanding among the peoples and nations of the Earth.
At the beginning of my statement I should like to thank the representatives for their attention to lay sincere message of goodwill from a part of the globe that has been called upon to play a major role from the time of the arrival in the New World of the visionary, the admiral of the seas Christopher Columbus, a portentous event that changed the course of history.
Hispaniola has had the honour of having its capital Santo Domingo, as the headquarters of the first administrative, religious, cultural, scientific and economic institutions of the American continent.
Fran this confluence of cultures, ethnic groups, customs and traditions on Hispaniola, the first voices were raised in defence of the indigenous races, which formed a new and juridical concept of equality and justice among human beings, through jus gentium, the law of nations, in which one can find the true roots of modern international law, and as a result, the distant origins of the international bodies designed to ensure the observance and effectiveness of the inherent rights of the human person.
Under that auspicious beacon, in this lofty body in which all the nations of the world are represented with their own particular characteristics, we are again meeting in a yearly pilgrimage to find peace. But this ideal, which is so difficult to express in specific terms, cannot be fully achieved unless it is by means of open and respectful, but firm and conclusive, dialogue, with a view to putting an end to terrorism and drug trafficking, in whatever form or under any pretext.
It is natural that any undertaking directed towards limiting the arms race and eliminating deadly weapons should be seen as a comforting and encouraging example. That is the case with respect to the agreement on the limitation of strategic weapons between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was jointly announced by Secretary of State James Baker and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eduard Shevardnadze. Special mention should be made of the plan proposed at this session of the General Assembly by the President of the United States, Mr. George Bush, to rid the Earth of the scourge of chemical weapons, a proposal that was welcomed by the Soviet Union. These positive steps, which demonstrate the will of both super-Powers to reduce the causes of tension and disagreement, will have a favourable impact on world politics in the coming years.
Once again, I should like to recall that the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation, is aware that its development is indissolubly linked to that of our neighbour, Haiti, and of the other countries of the area. Our trade with those countries had been minimal despite the geographic,-, ethnic, historic and economic bonds that unite us. Hence our Government has begun an energetic movement towards integration with our Caribbean brothers, since we are fully convinced that it is only by means of joint, united efforts that we shall achieve the goals that will bring us full development for our peoples.
With regard to the tragic situation in Central America, our country reiterates that it is interested in co-operating in the search for a speedy and most fitting solution of this conflict. We categorically support the agreements that have been entered into in the search for peace by the five Central American Presidents – the Esquipulas II Agreements and the Playa del Tesoro Declarations - aimed at achieving a peaceful negotiated solution to the Central American crisis. The recent Tela presidential summit demonstrates that there is hope that peace can be achieved, for peace is the essential prerequisite for the solution of the political, economic and social problems of the region.
The Dominican Republic has noted with particular interest the events occurring throughout Africa, not only because of its impact on international policies, but also because the African race is part of our own ethnic and cultural substratum. We stand in solidarity with the African peoples and participate in efforts to solve their problems, which are similar to those facing all developing countries. The situation in southern Africa continues to be explosive, with unforeseeable consequences for peace and security in the area; its prolongation has an impact on international stability.
Security Council resolution 435 (1978) contains the basic elements for a just and lasting solution of the question of Namibia. For almost 20 years the South African apartheid regime has been illegally occupying the Territory, in defiance of all the relevant United Nations resolutions. We defend Namibia's fundamental right to self-determination. The delegation of the Dominican Republic believes that the system of government in South African breeds violence, injustice, oppression, inequality and discrimination - in other words, everything that flies in the face of the ideals behind the founding of the United Nations. The eradication of apartheid and independence for Namibia will create the necessary conditions for a return to peace in southern Africa.
We call for the cessation of the growing hostilities between Syrian forces and Lebanese Christian soldiers. Despite this escalation, the efforts for peace that have begun recently give us hope for a definitive solution of the conflict.
The situation in the Middle East, which is of great concern to all nations of the world, has a direct impact on Dominicans, because among our ethnic groups there are many people with Palestinian, Syrian, Arab and Israeli roots, with the resultant influence they bring to our national life.
The Dominican Republic has been concerned for several years about the situation in the Korean peninsula. Our country has supported the view that Korean affairs must be solved peacefully by means of dialogue between the two Koreas. The Republic of Korea must be admitted to membership in the United Nations in keeping with the principle of universality. Its entry into the Organization would contribute to reducing tension and promoting peace in north-eastern Asia. The Dominican Republic has viewed favourably the formula for the unification of the Korean community that was proposed recently by the Government of the Republic of Korea to promote peaceful coexistence between the south and the north of Korea.
The serious and tragic situation in many developing nations makes it imperative for us urgently to adopt effective and concrete measures to improve the living conditions of millions in the third world. The presence in this important gathering of a growing number of Heads of State or Government from those countries is clear proof of the world-wide interest and expectations regarding the results and conclusions of this session, which has also brought together representatives of the most powerful and developed countries of the world.
The situation of the nations of the third world is so critical and paradoxical that their economies are constantly stagnating or actually deteriorating. There will be no improvement until more favourable conditions are provided for access by our export products to the developed countries' markets. If that goal is achieved, and if the developing countries receive better treatment in negotiations regarding their external debt from the creditor nations and entities, we shall have an opportunity, with the impetus of this necessary co-operation, to embark energetically and optimistically upon the path of our development.
Thus, it is obvious that the solution to the general problem of the external debt cannot be achieved with the ways and means that have been used to date, since in most cases they do not allow for economic growth and therefore subject peoples to impoverishment and social upheaval.
The international community, aware of the intricate nature of this problem, which is not merely economic in nature, recognizes that the United Nations has the competence to seek a solution in the political sphere.
The position of the Dominican Republic was defined graphically by His Excellency Mr. Joaquin Balaguer, the President of the Dominican Republic, in his speech at the opening meeting of the Twelfth Annual Conference on Investment, Trade and Development, held in Miami, in the United States, in November of 1988. He said: "The goal set forth in Berlin for the third-world countries is not to pay the public debt but, above all, to achieve sustained economic growth and an increase in per-capita income that will guarantee our dispossessed masses the right to eat, to clothe themselves, to educate their children and to live under a decent roof. In other words, the third-world countries face two challenges - not one, as was said in Berlin. The first is to live; the second, to pay".
Since terrorism continues to affect all nations to such a degree and with such tragic and disastrous consequences, sowing fear and insecurity, a strong, internationally co-ordinated plan must be adopted to combat it more firmly and thereby ensure its eradication. One of the most criminal and frequent forms of terrorist action is the attacks against passengers, flights and airports. Such attacks are increasingly stirring the universal conscience.
The Dominican Republic strongly condemns the subversive activities of international terrorism, which is carried out indiscriminately against mothers, innocent children and the ill - in other words, against life itself, the most precious thing we own.
The alarming problem of drugs has reached such dimensions, it terms both of production and of trade and consumption, that our delegation wishes to place it on record that the Dominican Government is struggling with all the means in its power to deal with this social evil that is spreading like a flood. For that purpose our courts have been imposing increasingly severe sentences on drug traffickers. Publicity has been given to this throughout the country with a view to ensuring that drug users and traffickers are aware of it and that people understand the evil and disastrous consequences of this illegal trade.
We also give our moral support to the battle which is being waged by countries throughout the continent and whose development we are following with great interest.
At this difficult historical time of conflict, with acute, burning problems that I have mentioned in this statement - to which my colleagues in the Assembly have been good enough to listen with attention - there have been signs of detente and an improvement in international relations above and beyond diverse criticism or positions. I should like to express on behalf of the Government that I have the honour of representing and on my own behalf, our fervent desire to see concrete form given to the ideals and principles that led to the establishment of the world Organization, in which mankind has placed its hopes for a better future in which the ethical and spiritual values that underlie our civilization prevail.