Allow me at the outset to
congratulate Mr. Opertti on his election to the presidency
of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session. I am
confident that with his vast experience and diplomatic skills
in the service of his country, Uruguay, he will be able to
steer our deliberations to a fruitful outcome.
May I also take this opportunity to express my
delegation’s sincere thanks and appreciation to
Mr. Udovenko, of Ukraine, for the admirable way in which
he presided over the last session of the General Assembly.
The global situation continues to be in a state of
flux. Six years after the end of the cold war, the world is
no more the safe place that we were led to believe it
would be. Old conflicts stubbornly persist, while new
ones have emerged.
The picture is no better on the disarmament front.
Although the signing of the Convention on landmines is
a laudable achievement in the field of conventional
weapons, the situation on the nuclear disarmament front
remains bleak. There has been little or no progress in
nuclear disarmament. Indeed, the situation has been
aggravated by nuclear tests conducted by two non-
signatories of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT), posing a grave challenge to the
disarmament process. The international community must
make every effort to check further erosion of nuclear
disarmament regimes, while strengthening and promoting
universal adherence to them. In this regard, the nuclear
Powers have a special responsibility.
The situation in the Middle East continues to be a
source of grave concern. The dismal lack of progress in
efforts to bring the Palestine-Israel peace process back on
track is a matter of deep disappointment. It portends
adverse implications for international peace and security.
Lest the positive achievements of recent years be
dissipated, all parties concerned must exert every effort to
build on the peace agreements that were painstakingly
negotiated. Only their continued active engagement in the
peace process can influence developments in the right
direction. It should be stressed, however, that peace and
stability in the region cannot be attained by delaying and
frustrating the realization of the just aspirations of the
Palestinian people to an independent and sovereign
homeland.
We are dismayed by the ongoing unresolved conflict
in Afghanistan. The contending parties must realize that
a long-term solution to the conflict can be reached not
through military means, but through negotiations leading
to genuine national reconciliation. We call on them to set
aside provincial or sectarian interests, eschew violence
and seriously pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict,
in the larger interests of their country and their people.
We condemn the violence directed at the personnel of the
United Nations, humanitarian organizations and countries
concerned.
On a slightly more positive note, Malaysia is pleased
about the successful conclusion of the national elections
2

in Cambodia, in which the international community once
again played a constructive role. We urge all political
parties in Cambodia to close ranks and resolve outstanding
problems through dialogue, in the larger national interests
of Cambodia. The objective should be the early formation
of a Government that fully reflects the wish of the
Cambodian people for national reconciliation, pluralism and
development, and which will enable Cambodia to partake
in constructive regional cooperation with its neighbours.
Recent events have once again emphasized to the
international community the continuing threat to peace and
security posed by terrorism. Here I refer in particular to the
terrorist attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, which resulted in
the tragic deaths and injuries of many innocent people.
Malaysia reiterates its condemnation of terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations. Malaysia will join in efforts to
combat terrorism through the strengthening of international
cooperation in various fields on the basis of the supremacy
of the rule of law. There should be increased cooperation
among police and other security and law enforcement
agencies of Member States.
At the same time, at the political level, the
international community must work towards inculcating the
new global culture of peace that the Secretary-General has
so eloquently articulated. Malaysia believes that violence
begets violence, and the victims will unfortunately be
innocent civilians. Indeed, in a world armed with nuclear
weapons where the danger of nuclear terrorism is ever
present, every effort should be made not only to keep
terrorism at bay through enhanced international cooperation
but — and this is equally important — to address the root
causes. While terrorism may not be entirely eliminated,
understanding the reasons for its continued existence will be
an important step towards combating it.
Continued instability in parts of Africa is of major
concern to our Organization. Malaysia welcomes the
increased attention given to Africa by the United Nations
and its specialized agencies. Malaysia particularly welcomes
the initiative taken by the Security Council to highlight the
special problems of Africa in the Council earlier this year
and in the Council’s ministerial meeting on African issues
held last Thursday, 24 September. Furthermore, Malaysia
welcomes and will actively participate in a similar
discussion on Africa at this session of the General
Assembly. We are convinced that these discussions will
contribute to a greater understanding of the interrelated
problems of peace, security and development faced by
many African countries. Hopefully, they will lead to more
focused and coordinated programmes of international action
to overcome those problems. Given the continuing
disadvantaged position of Africa, there is a need for
sustained efforts on the part of our Organization and its
specialized agencies, as well as traditional and new
partners of Africa, to assist African countries in their
development needs. I am pleased to say that Malaysia, for
its part, has been able to make a modest contribution in
these efforts through technical cooperation and trade and
investment in a number of African countries. Malaysia
will continue to do so, within its limited resources, in the
spirit of South-South cooperation and solidarity with
Africa.
As we grapple with questions of international peace
and security, we should be equally concerned by the
current state of the global economy. Indeed, we see that
the most imminent threat to the well-being of our region
today is not political, ideological or military, but
economic. It is clearly evident that the financial crisis that
descended on East Asian countries over a year ago has
brought social misery, political instability and economic
turmoil. In certain countries there is now massive
unemployment. Economic growth has been severely
curtailed, and in fact has contracted. Virtually overnight,
the hard-earned gains of decades of hard work, careful
planning and prudent management have been wiped out.
Millions of people in the region most severely affected by
the crisis find that their place is now below the poverty
line. Their right to live a life that is free from the scourge
of poverty and to have a decent standard of living with
some basic necessities has been trampled by the
manipulators of the currency markets. Indeed, the super-
rich have impoverished the poor. It is ironic that this has
happened in the year when we celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Though they are pursuing policy responses that
are in line with International Monetary Fund
requirements, the economies of the affected countries
have not recovered. Instead, the contagious effects of the
crisis have spread to other regions and are affecting the
world economy. We may be sliding towards world
recession. We may even be on the verge of a global
depression if urgent steps are not taken through
international collaboration and cooperation to halt the
slide and reverse the trend.
While various factors contributed to the crisis, we
have no doubt that the financial turmoil was triggered by
speculative attacks on the East Asian currencies and the
resultant reversal of capital flows. The crisis reveals flaws
in the market mechanism and raises questions about the
relative benefits of liberalization and globalization. Unless
3

these flaws are effectively addressed, the threat of a global
depression as devastating as the one that hit the world in
the 1930s could confront us. The international community
has to act urgently to reform the international financial
system to ensure against massive currency attacks,
manipulations and frequently excessive fluctuations.
It has been said that the markets would punish those
countries which do not possess proper financial structures
and disciplines and which lack transparency. But the
international financial market itself lacks transparency. In
today’s financial system, currency valued at more than $1.2
trillion is bought and sold every 24 hours. This trade is
largely carried out without any clear rules, and the very
Governments whose currencies are being traded are left to
fend for themselves in trying to defend the value of their
currencies. There is no system of surveillance, no open
reporting of any kind and no regulating authority such as
the World Trade Organization for this most lucrative trade
in the coveted commodity that is money itself. It is now
most urgent that the international financial market be
reformed. More than that, significant changes should be
made to the international financial architecture.
Malaysia has been advocating the need for change
over the last year. Initially, this call went unheeded. In
September 1997, our Prime Minister said in Hong Kong,
“A certain degree of uncertainty is fine, but an
absolutely uncertain financial world is no good for
anyone except of course for those who deliberately
create the uncertainty.”
It is clear that the situation is becoming increasingly
uncertain globally. Increasingly, the experts now agree. A
number of Governments also agree. The situation has
clearly got out of hand. There has to be change and
improvement in the international financial architecture.
There must be rules to encourage greater transparency.
Financial operators must abide by certain internationally
accepted regulations. They must accept closer supervision
so as to distinguish between genuine investors and currency
speculators. There has to be an earnest effort among
Governments to immediately engage in dialogues to revamp
the system. We must undertake an immediate collective
effort to find a comprehensive and workable solution to
what is clearly now a global problem. A few developed
countries cannot resolve this problem on their own. A few
developed countries cannot forever remain rich and
prosperous if more than two thirds of the world’s countries
remain poor and socially and politically unstable. This is
the time to enter into a genuine process of North-South
dialogue on an issue of great interest to both. Malaysia
welcomes the call by President Clinton for a special
discussion in Washington on the financial and economic
crisis that the world is facing today.
Meanwhile, in the absence of reforms or
internationally well-tested formulas or guidelines,
Malaysia has taken steps to impose currency and capital
controls in order to insulate its economy from currency
uncertainties while at the same time continuing to be
active in international trade and to welcome foreign
investment.
While countries In East Asia are doing their best to
overcome their problems in their respective ways and to
ameliorate the plight of their people, it is important that
the lessons of East Asia be learned by the rest of the
developing world. It is equally important that the
international community find consensus to formulate
necessary ground rules to keep in check the rapacious
nature of financial speculators and manipulators whose
only motivation is profit-making and profit-taking. This
Assembly, and in particular the Economic and Social
Council, can and should also consider this important
issue. The United Nations can put its moral weight behind
the call for regulating these speculative activities in the
interest of protecting or insulating vulnerable developing
economies.
In an increasingly interdependent and borderless
world, the globalization of trade and commerce is moving
apace. However, many developing countries can barely
cope with this, given their weak domestic, economic,
financial and legal structures. Globalization may be
desirable and, perhaps, inevitable and unstoppable as a
process and trend. Nevertheless, it is important to realize
that unless the developing countries are given time to
build up their structures and are actively assisted in the
process, they will not be able to participate meaningfully
in global free trade, still less compete with their partners
from the developed world. In such a situation, globalized
free trade would be a patently unfair form of world trade,
with the odds stacked against developing countries.
Indeed, it would be a continuing form of exploitation of
the weak and poor nations by those that are powerful and
rich.
Needless to say, in the wake of the sad experience
of the East Asian economies, the faith of many
developing countries in globalization has been very much
shaken and diminished. Consequently, many developing
countries view the prospect of further liberalizing their
4

economies with great caution and trepidation. It is
Malaysia’s conviction that as we approach the new
millennium, relations among States should be based on a
new paradigm predicated not only on equal sovereignty but
also on respect for dignity and mutuality of interests and
benefits. Only on that basis will we be able to reap the full
potential of globalization through genuine international
dialogue and cooperation.
The enjoyment of human rights is one of the most
important principles in the maintenance of justice and peace
in the world. The fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights this year affords us an
opportunity to reflect on both accomplishments and failures
in realizing the commitments enshrined in the Declaration.
The promise in the Declaration to end cruelty and injustice
still remains largely unfulfilled. Similarly, the promise to
provide a decent living to all has been threatened by the
negative effects of globalization and the inadequate
attention given to economic, social and cultural rights.
This fiftieth anniversary coincides with the review of
the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. The
review will provide us with an opportunity to make a
thorough and honest assessment of the successes and
failures in implementing the commitments made five years
ago. It would be timely for discussions to focus not only on
rights but also on obligations. It is imperative that the
conferment of rights should be linked to the fulfilment of
obligations and clearly defined duties and responsibilities.
The imbalance in emphasis between political and civil
rights on the one hand and economic, social and cultural
rights on the other has to be clearly addressed in order for
the promotion, protection and enjoyment of all human
rights to be fully achieved.
The right to development, recognized as universal,
inalienable and an integral part of fundamental human
rights, has not been fully realized. There is still no effective
international cooperation to create a true environment of
equitable economic relations which would facilitate the
realization of this goal.
We may recall that the Secretary-General appropriately
designated the last session of this Assembly as the reform
Assembly. He tabled his package of reform proposals for
our consideration and appropriate action. After much
debate, many of these proposals were approved and are
now in various stages of implementation. It is hoped that
with the implementation of the reform package the
Organization will become more action-oriented and more
focused on and responsive to the needs of Member States.
Certainly, greater rationalization of the plans and actions
and more effective management will lead to increased
efficiency in programme implementation as well as to
better and more effective and efficient utilization of
human resources.
Let us continue to give our strong support to the
Secretary-General in his continuing efforts to fully and
effectively implement his reform proposals. Let us also
extend our support to his efforts to strengthen the
Organization in ways that will benefit all Member States.
Certainly, a positive contribution in this regard is to
ensure our continued financial support to the
Organization, thereby easing its burdens at a time of
increasing demands being made upon it. The
establishment of the proposed Revolving Credit Fund
might help ease the financial crisis of the United Nations
temporarily. In the long term, however, the only effective
way of resolving the problem is through the timely
payment by Member States of their dues.
What is most disappointing, however, is the lack of
any progress in an important aspect of the reform of our
Organization. I refer to the discussions on the reform and
restructuring of the Security Council in the high-level
Working Group of the General Assembly. Individual
Member States, as well as groups of States, have made
many important proposals on various aspects of the
reform and restructuring of the Council, from its
enlargement and composition to its working methods,
including the use of the veto. Regrettably, all these
proposals aimed at making the Council more
representative, democratic, transparent and accountable,
have not received the desired consensus.
Clearly what is lacking is not ideas and proposals
but the necessary political will on the part of Member
States, particularly those with strong views on specific
aspects of reform of the Council. If the reform and
restructuring of the Council continue to elude us in its
sixth year of discussion in the Working Group, we have
only ourselves to blame for our inability to demonstrate
our reasonableness, our goodwill and the necessary
compromises required from all of us to break the current
impasse. Additional years of continuing with the sterile
debate in the Working Group will only increase the
creeping sense of cynicism and pessimism among
Member States, which would be seriously detrimental to
the reform process.
As its contribution to the reform debate, Malaysia
reiterates its call for a comprehensive reform and
5

restructuring of the Security Council. We continue to
advocate enlargement of the Council in both categories of
its membership, permanent and non-permanent,
circumscribing, if not totally abolishing, the use of the veto
and improving the working methods of the Council, which
should include increased transparency, accountability and
participation by the larger membership of the Organization
through more open debates on issues of importance to the
international community.
As the discussions in the Working Group enter their
sixth year, it is the earnest hope of my delegation that there
will be increased focus, seriousness and urgency on the part
of Member States in arriving at a consensus. Otherwise, we
will lose forever the remaining window of opportunity to
reform the Council. We should remind ourselves that we do
not have the luxury of time and that this opportunity for a
comprehensive reform of the Council, if not realized, may
not present itself again for many years to come.
In conclusion, let me reiterate Malaysia’s belief in the
importance of these annual debates in the General
Assembly and their relevance to our continuing efforts to
enhance international cooperation and collaboration at the
multilateral level. The statements by Member States in this
Assembly serve to inform us and challenge us to further
action in pursuit of our common goals. In the final analysis,
the future viability of the United Nations will depend on the
perception by Member States of the continued relevance of
the United Nations to them and on their continuing support
for the Organization.


On behalf of my delegation, I should first of all like to
congratulate Mr. Opertti warmly on his election to the
presidency of the General Assembly at this session. My
country, the Republic of Guinea, is pleased with this
expression of confidence, eloquent proof of the international
community?s recognition of the very positive role played by
his country, Uruguay, in working for the noble ideals of our
Organization. I am sure his personal qualities and great
experience will ensure success at this session.
I should also like to take this opportunity to convey
our great appreciation to Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko,
President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second
session, for the skill, open-mindedness and efficiency of his
presidency.
I should also like to extend to the Secretary-General,
Mr. Kofi Annan, the confidence of the Government of
Guinea, which greatly appreciates his perceptiveness, his
great wisdom and his hard work, which together are
opening up new horizons for this Organization.
Despite encouraging results in many areas, the United
Nations still faces many challenges that threaten
international peace and security and jeopardize the
sustainable development of nations. It is the responsibility
of the United Nations, in accordance with its purposes and
principles, to become more involved in the enduring search
for peace, so that the human race, on the eve of the third
millennium, can establish a real foundation for the
prosperity of all States.
How can one ensure peace and the harmonious
development of our States if the international community
will not firmly commit itself to identifying and eradicating
the deep causes of the many conflicts and imbalances that
continue to impede mankind?s progress towards greater
well-being? At a time when we are preparing to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the world?s conscience is
still troubled by the indifference of the major players in
the international arena in the search for appropriate
solutions to the challenges that face us all.
In a number of countries, peoples and individuals are
deprived of fundamental rights. Civil wars continue to
cause great suffering to innocent victims. It has been
shown that respect for fundamental rights, including
promotion of the right to development, which underlies all
other rights, is an excellent instrument of preventive
diplomacy today.
Our session is opening at a time when the Middle
East peace process is completely deadlocked. My country
is following with great concern recent developments in
that part of the world, particularly in the Arab territories
occupied by Israel. My delegation is convinced that unless
the rights of all the interested parties are taken into
account, peace will remain elusive.
The search for peace in the Middle East is a matter
of concern to all States, first and foremost the States
members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC), which on several occasions has called on the
Security Council and the General Assembly for greater
United Nations involvement in achieving a just and
lasting peace in the Middle East through the return of the
occupied Arab territories, the creation of a Palestinian
state and respect for the rights of all States in the region
to peace and security.
My delegation appeals to all parties concerned,
particularly the authorities in Tel Aviv, to ensure strict
implementation of the Oslo and Washington agreements,
with a view to saving peace and thereby avoid the threat
of another crisis that jeopardizes the balance in the
subregion and international peace as a whole.
The African continent continues to be a central
concern of the international community. There is no need
for me to enumerate the many internal conflicts that have
occurred in Africa in recent years.
In West Africa, the collective awareness of the
member States of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) of the need to make our
subregion a zone of peace, security and stability has
15

contributed, thanks to the resolve shown by our heads of
State, to restoring peace in Liberia and has allowed for a
return to constitutionality in Sierra Leone.
These achievements, which are the result of the
unanimous desire of our peoples to manage their own
affairs, also attest to the vitality of the institutions of
regional integration as instruments for conflict prevention,
management and resolution. Here, I would appeal to the
international community for more cooperation with and
assistance to the peacekeeping mechanisms initiated by
subregional organizations.
There is a need to consolidate the great achievements
of the restoration of peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone
through massive assistance for their speedy reconstruction,
the return of refugees and national reconciliation. If the
young people who have been demobilized in these two
countries do not quickly find some activity in civilian life,
the temptation to return to disorder will remain. To
strengthen peace and security in the West African
subregion, the international community must help the
economies of Liberia and Sierra Leone return to the path of
growth.
While ECOWAS and the international community
were seeking ways and means to consolidate peace in
Sierra Leone and Liberia, another conflict erupted on 7
June 1998 in Guinea-Bissau. The Government of Guinea,
which has always advocated dialogue and consultation to
resolve conflicts, expressed, from the beginning of this
crisis, its grave concern because of the geographic,
historical, social and cultural ties uniting Guinea-Bissau and
my own country.
The existence of a mutual defence assistance pact,
signed on 25 January 1980, and the explicit invitation by
the Guinea-Bissau?s democratically elected President,
President João Bernardo Vieira both justified the sending of
a Guinean contingent to Guinea-Bissau to preserve
constitutional order and help end the war. Faithful to our
policy of peace and dialogue, the Government of Guinea
has been working since the beginning of this crisis in the
ECOWAS Committee of Seven to find a just, negotiated
solution.
We believe that complementary action by the
Economic Community of West African States and the
contact group of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking
Countries will make it possible for us to achieve the
objective of restoring peace and security in Guinea-Bissau.
If we are to preserve the achievements of
democratization in Africa, the international community
must adopt new, more binding legal instruments
prohibiting any seizure of power by force and banishing
those responsible for such actions at the international,
regional and subregional levels. The implementation of
such measures will help to strengthen preventive
diplomacy and to preserve peace and security within our
States, with respect for fundamental human rights.
I cannot end this section of my statement without
mentioning the thorny issue of refugees and displaced
persons, who are the victims of these crises. My country,
the Republic of Guinea, because of its geographic location
among three countries facing civil war, has of all the
countries in the world the highest proportion of refugees
within its territory. Over the last decade, Guinea has taken
in more than 700,000 refugees, which is one tenth of our
population. This massive and prolonged concentration of
people has had serious social, economic and
environmental consequences in the areas of Guinea
concerned, and is weighing heavily on my country and its
economy.
I would like to reiterate here the appeal made by the
Government of Guinea for substantial assistance, in
accordance with Security Council and ECOWAS
resolutions to help the Republic of Guinea bear the
burden of these refugees. On behalf of the Government of
Guinea, I should like to express our gratitude to those
States that have already responded favourably to this
appeal.
Concerned about the situation, the United Nations
Department of Political Affairs and the United Nations
Development Programme organized a special meeting on
the Republic of Guinea on 9 and 10 July this year in New
York. The Government of Guinea appreciated this
welcome initiative by the Secretary-General. We greatly
appreciated the recognition by the international
community, through the United Nations system, of the
great sacrifices made by the people of Guinea to help the
refugees from neighbouring countries, and especially the
will of the United Nations system to mobilize resources
to strengthen Guinea?s economic capacity and preserve its
stability, so that we can continue to be a small island of
peace and prosperity.
I should like to take this opportunity to urge
multilateral partners, all our partners, to continue to
pursue with us the activities undertaken in support of
Guinea, particularly in the area of the environment, which
16

has been seriously degraded by the long-term mass
presence of refugees. The future of the water supplies of
West Africa is at stake here.
The Republic of Guinea is closely following recent
developments in the political situation in the Great Lakes
region, particularly the crisis in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. My delegation is deeply concerned by the risk
that the conflict will spill over into the subregion. We
urgently appeal to all the parties to the conflict to call an
immediate ceasefire and to respect the territorial integrity of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in accordance with
the recommendations of the summit of heads of State of the
subregion held at Victoria Falls on 7 and 8 September this
year.
Promoting the right to development is part of the
overall search for greater prosperity for the human race.
While tangible political progress has been made in Africa
over the last decade, African States still face the challenge
of development, indebtedness and the negative impact of a
globalization which is not yet fully understood.
This terrible situation, aggravated by the negative
impact of internal conflict, is significantly weakening our
States and opening them up to new and dangerous forms of
foreign greed. The implementation of a policy to gradually
reduce the imbalances between rich and developing
countries would contribute to the emergence of a true
global market by the creation of centres of development on
all continents.
Each country in the world should be given every
opportunity for development and helped to become part of
the world trade system. Despite considerable efforts by
African countries towards political and economic
restructuring, and towards strengthening their credibility and
making their economies more competitive, the economic
situation in Africa continues to be critical. If urgent and
appropriate measures are not taken, the sacrifices made risk
having been in vain.
My Government has already undertaken far-reaching
political, economic and structural reforms and hopes that
special attention will be given to the situation in Africa. We
appeal to the international community and the developed
countries to continue to increase official development
assistance. Sustained assistance to African countries will
enable them to consolidate what they have already achieved
and thereby to enter the next millennium with a greater
sense of calm. In this respect, the Agenda for Development
should be strongly supported, with a view to its effective
implementation.
The question of disarmament and the non-
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is still a
concern for my Government. While the adoption of the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was a significant
step forward for the preservation of peace, recent
developments in the international arena require the
international community as a whole to consider more
deeply the underlying causes of the nuclear arms race. It
seems clear that as long as imbalances and injustices are
not put right, the spectre of proliferation will continue to
threaten international peace.
Countries that already possess nuclear weapons have
a special responsibility for the preservation of
international peace and must shoulder their responsibilities
by taking a more active part in strengthening prevention
and peacekeeping mechanisms, resolving existing or latent
conflicts, ensuring more equitable treatment for States
involved in conflict and, finally, making a more
substantial contribution to the development of less
fortunate nations.
The Government of Guinea believes that only
general and complete disarmament can prevent the risk of
proliferation. In the subregion of West Africa, the trade
in small arms endangers the internal equilibrium of our
States. Within the context of conflict prevention in West
Africa, subregional cooperation is under way to eradicate
this scourge. We invite the other regions of Africa to
support this initiative and to work to establish appropriate
structures in order to put an end to the illicit trade in
small arms and make Africa a zone of peace and security.
The Republic of Guinea welcomes the adoption and
signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel
Mines and on Their Destruction. The National Assembly
of Guinea has already ratified this important Convention
to show its support for the elimination of landmines,
which cause so much suffering to innocent victims.
It is reassuring to note the greater awareness at the
global level of the need to end drug-trafficking, whose
many consequences dangerously threaten the prosperity of
nations. The results of the recent world summit meeting
on drugs will doubtless enable us to further refine our
methods to combat the production, distribution, sale and
consumption of drugs, which are a real scourge.
17

The recent adoption in Rome of the Statute of the
International Criminal Court was a major milestone in the
progress of humankind towards the elimination of serious
violations of humanitarian law committed during
international or internal conflicts.
As our community prepares to enter the third
millennium, it is now more necessary than ever to adapt the
United Nations to the requirements of international life. The
new challenges facing us will require the adoption of new,
more appropriate arrangements to make the twenty-first
century one of peace, justice and prosperity within the
context of an equitable partnership that is beneficial to all
nations.
My delegation is convinced that the United Nations is
still the melting pot in which all nations can make their
voices heard in the search for just and lasting solutions to
their concerns. We therefore believe that the financial
capacity of the United Nations must be strengthened.
Contributions must be paid on time and in accordance with
the established scale. To that end, we must, together,
review the way in which the United Nations system
functions with a view to adapting it to current and future
circumstances.
My delegation believes in the need for the
democratization of the United Nations through the
restructuring of its principal bodies, such as the Security
Council, whose current membership reflects the state of the
world in 1945 and no longer corresponds to the political,
economic and social realities of the world today. The
reform of the principal bodies of our Organization must
enable all States to use their national capacities to seek and
consolidate international peace.
My country is more committed than ever to the
honourable mission of our Organization as set forth in the
Charter. Given the many challenges facing us, Guinea
believes in the need for all of us to work together to
strengthen and preserve humankind?s vision of justice,
freedom, peace and solidarity. That is what our peoples
would have us do.


Let me first associate
myself with the statement by my colleague, the Austrian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the European
Union.
We embark upon this session of the General Assembly
in the midst of challenges that affect all continents. We can
deal with those challenges only if we display resolve and a
common vision.
That vision, clear and simple, is enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nations. We must strive to maintain
international peace and security, respect for human rights
and dignified living conditions for all. Every State joining
the United Nations has committed itself to that vision.
To realize our vision, the rule of law must prevail. We
base our national societies on the rule of law, and much is
made of the rule of law within our societies. The rule of
law offers the strongest defense against arbitrary exercise
of power, but we sometimes neglect its importance in the
international context.
My call for greater commitment to the rule of law
internationally is not meant to belittle the progress made.
The Charter has inspired an impressive body of specific
treaty law governing the behaviour of States. Laws on
human rights, disarmament, the environment and outer
space, and the law of the sea and international trade law
are important examples.
We celebrate this year the fiftieth anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by
the General Assembly in December 1948. The
Declaration covers civil and political rights, as well as
economic, social, and cultural rights. It has had an
immense impact upon the standard-setting work of the
United Nations and within each Member State.
Human rights are universal. They must be
guaranteed to all persons without discrimination and
observed by all countries irrespective of their form of
government. That is the essence of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Indeed, it would be
contradictory to talk about human rights if they were not
accorded to all human beings, wherever they live.
To deny the universality of human rights is to deny
our common humanity. Freedom from torture, for
example, must be respected everywhere, regardless of
local traditions or local problems. Obviously, situations
differ, but the human rights foundation is the same
everywhere.
All States in Vienna in 1993 reaffirmed that the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights constitutes a
common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations. All States further proclaimed that the promotion
and protection of human rights is a legitimate concern of
the international community.
A feature of present-day international law is that, by
now, we have almost all the standards against which to
hold Governments accountable for their acts. What we are
still missing is an effective international machinery to
ensure the implementation of all the rules in practice â€”
to move from declarations to deeds. I wish to pay special
tribute to the many human rights defenders who struggle
in the front line for the defence of our common human
values, often at the greatest personal risk.
15

It is a most proper contribution by the United Nations
to adopt this year a declaration for the protection of the
work of human rights defenders, those who strive to realize
the solemn pledges contained in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
We also warmly welcome the progress made in firmly
establishing the rights of indigenous peoples.
Another landmark contribution was achieved this year
through the historic adoption in Rome of a Statute for a
permanent International Criminal Court. Time and again,
we have observed the failure of national criminal law
systems to punish the perpetrators of atrocities and those
behind them. The shocking events from Cambodia, the
former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and now Kosovo and
elsewhere are fresh on our minds.
The prospects for reconciliation and lasting peace are
undermined if the perpetrators remain at large. A key
objective of the International Criminal Court is exactly to
restore the rule of law and end impunity. This is a matter
not only of justice, but also of peace and security. The ad
hoc Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia have
been an important first step, but only a preliminary step.
We need a permanent institution.
Denmark urges all States to ratify the Statute of the
International Criminal Court. It is an urgent task to set this
historic building block in the construction of international
society in place. In light of experiences gained, the door is
open for adjusting the functioning of the Court to the needs
of the world community. The review clause in the
Statute â€” a proposition strongly advocated by Denmark all
along in the negotiations â€” assures that.
The signature in December last year in Ottawa by 121
States of the Convention to ban the use and production of
anti-personnel landmines has established a very important
norm in international humanitarian law. For too long has
this inhumane, indiscriminate weapon been allowed to
claim thousands of innocent civilian victims every year. We
welcome the entry into force of the Convention by 1 March
1999. Let us now intensify our joint efforts to clear the
many mines already in the ground. Denmark offers its
continued support.
A most disturbing factor in the international legal
order are the terrorist attacks taking innocent lives and
jeopardizing relations among States. The international
community must continue to condemn all acts, methods and
practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable under
all circumstances, wherever and by whomsoever committed.
No ends justify such means, but, apparently,
condemnation is not enough. We need to further
strengthen international cooperation to prevent, combat
and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations. There must be no safe haven for terrorists.
Those responsible for terrorist acts must be brought to
justice. If traditional extradition agreements cannot bring
about such a result, less traditional arrangements must be
contemplated, as envisaged in regard to the horrendous
terrorist bombing over Lockerbie.
In May this year, India, regrettably, decided to
resume nuclear testing after 24 years of self-imposed
restraint. Pakistan, regrettably, followed Indiaâs lead and
conducted its own tests for the first time. These tests not
only contradict the non-test norm that had developed over
the past two years. They also endanger peace and stability
in the region and internationally. Therefore, the nuclear
testing by India and Pakistan is of legitimate concern to
the international community.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons enjoys almost universal support. A substantial
number of countries have ratified the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and more are following every
month. These two Treaties are the cornerstones of the
international non-proliferation regime and the foundation
for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament. I urge those
countries â€” including India and Pakistan â€” that have not
yet done so, to sign and move to ratify these Treaties
without condition.
This year marks the first half-century of United
Nations peacekeeping. The first mission was established
50 years ago, based on the goals of the United Nations
Charter. Since then, United Nations peacekeeping has
developed norms and principles of its own: consent of the
parties, impartiality and non-use of force. These principles
continue to guide the international communityâs efforts in
securing peace and stability on all continents.
Peacekeeping operations are an important illustration
of the resolve of the international community, represented
by the United Nations. Their successes are real. In the
Middle East and Cyprus, the United Nations has been a
source of stability for many years. In Mozambique,
United Nations peacekeepers have demobilized thousands
of combatants and made room for democratic elections.
In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the
16

United Nations preventive deployment remains an essential
stabilizing factor. And in Bosnia and Herzegovina today,
the United Nations is responsible for the crucial task of
training and restructuring local police forces.
Denmark has a long tradition of contributing to United
Nations peacekeeping operations. Danish forces took part
from the very beginning and have served the United
Nations faithfully for the last five decades. In recent years,
Danish forces have served all over the world, from the
Middle East to the Balkans, as well as in Asia and in
Africa.
Todayâs peacekeeping challenges differ from those of
earlier decades and much work has been done to adjust the
United Nations to the new challenges. Denmark has taken
an active part in the process. Together with other countries,
Denmark aims to improve the United Nations capacity for
rapid reaction within the framework of the standby system.
Denmark is also engaged in the creation of a new
peacekeeping capacity of the Baltic States and of southern
Africa.
The demand for adjustment and reform continues.
There is still work to be done in areas such as preplanning
and logistic support. But peacekeeping goes beyond military
operations. A broader, integrated approach involving
components such as civilian police, preventive diplomacy
and humanitarian assistance is called for. Such conceptual
flexibility will add to the strength of United Nations
peacekeeping.
We, the United Nations Members, must be ready to
meet our obligations and equip the Organization with the
necessary tools for these future challenges. We must also,
of course, ensure the safety of personnel working for the
United Nations.
We are witnessing an enhanced role for regional
organizations. Their special expertise has proved valuable
in addressing causes of conflict and establishing a basis for
settlement. The Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe is a good example.
A division of labour between organizations is
necessary, but it must not lead to confusion in leadership
and responsibility. The United Nations remains the core
institution in the international legal order and must maintain
a central role in international efforts to ensure peace and
security.
We are approaching the twenty-first century, a
century in which international society also should be
governed by the rule of law. The norms of international
law are universal but, sadly, they are not always
universally respected.
Respect for national sovereignty cannot be invoked
as an excuse to avoid the obligations of international
cooperation and international law. International criticism
of violations of human rights and of international
humanitarian law is fully legitimate.
The role of the United Nations in this respect
remains crucial. Indeed, direct intervention by the
international community through the United Nations can
be fully justified and legitimate, including in grave cases
of humanitarian law being violated.
Respect for the rule of law in international relations
can be ensured only if the international community and
the United Nations possess the instruments and the
resolve to act. In this respect, regrettably, we must note
a certain paralysis in recent years in the face of grave
humanitarian conflicts and emergencies.
Disagreement among Member States on how to deal
with a particular crisis weakens the resolve of the United
Nations to act. But we must, unfortunately, also note a
lack of general support for the United Nations in certain
quarters. The least we can expect from Members is for
them to make the necessary resources available for the
Organization, inter alia, by paying their contributions in
full, on time and without conditions.
We must find ways which enhance the ability of the
United Nations to deal with violations of international
peace and security and other serious breaches of
international law. Failure to act on such challenges is
morally indefensible and betrays the principles of the
United Nations Charter.
Violations and breaches must be met convincingly,
with resolve and with the legitimacy of international law.
Legitimacy will usually be provided by the Security
Council. That is how it should be. Disagreement in the
Security Council about a particular line of action must,
however, never lead to the paralysis of the international
community.
If, for instance, members of the Security Council
cannot agree on a mandate for a peace operation, they
must allow for other possibilities for effective action.
17

When faced with an urgent agenda, the option should not
be action or no action, but what line of action.
There will usually be a broad range of actions
available for the international community. It is a question
of choice and political will. It does not suffice to leave
everything to the humanitarian agencies. Emergency relief,
however necessary, is not a substitute for political action.
A reform of the Security Council can serve to
strengthen the authority of the Council. But in the end we
depend on the readiness of the members of the Council to
act and to apply the same yardstick to all cases.
I should also like to emphasize the role and
prerogatives of the Secretary-General in the field of peace
and security. The Secretary-General has exercised these
functions in a highly commendable way.
Before concluding, I wish to refer to the normative
role of the United Nations as an important aspect of the
rule of law. In particular, the United Nations conferences of
the past decade have set valuable norms for improving
living conditions for mankind. Common standards have
been set in such important areas as eradication of poverty,
environmentally sustainable development, gender equality
and promotion and protection of human rights.
Achievements have been made in meeting these
standards, but much remains to be done. The responsibility
falls both to Member States and to the international
institutions. The United Nations system must ensure, on its
part, an effective and coordinated follow-up to the global
United Nations conferences.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the
financial resources are provided to attain these common
standards. Denmark will continue to contribute development
assistance in the amount of 1 per cent of our gross national
product.
Let me conclude by expressing my conviction that the
best way to promote the rule of law in international
relations is through respect for democratic norms in our
own societies.
The norm-setting activities of the United Nations have
given an indispensable impetus towards democratization and
good governance. Assistance to the establishment of
democratic institutions in developing countries and
countries with economies in transition can also make an
important contribution. This is an overriding objectives of
Denmarkâs considerable assistance to those countries.
Whatever challenges we face to the international
legal order, we must never fail in our determination to
follow the words of the preamble of the Charter:
â€œto reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in
the dignity and worth of the human person, in the
equal rights of men and women and of nations large
and smallâ€.


I have the pleasure of congratulating you,
Sir, on your election to the presidency of the fifty-third
session of the General Assembly. We are confident that
your wide-ranging expertise in international affairs will
facilitate your task and lead the deliberations of this
session to a successful conclusion. I should like also to
thank your predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his
wise leadership and invaluable contributions during the
preceding session of the Assembly. Nor can I fail to
express our thanks and appreciation to the Secretary-
General of our Organization, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the
efforts he is exerting to enhance the role of the United
Nations in international affairs.
Following the end of the cold war a decade ago,
many, especially in the countries of the North, believed
that this planet, which is home to approximately 6 billion
people, was going to become a more stable, secure and
prosperous world. That conviction proceeded from the
notion that the bi-polar system was unable to achieve
international security except in the framework of a
balance of terror. Nor was the old system able to resolve
regional conflicts due to competition for areas of
influence.
The question now before the international
community is the following: were these convictions
justified? Or did wishful thinking leapfrog reality,
ignoring the following salient facts?
First, nuclear weapons, which are unparalleled in
their destructive capability, have proliferated since the end
of the cold war and have now reached India and Pakistan.
This proliferation has also gained a sort of legitimacy
based on the fact that Israel?s possession of nuclear
weapons was not spoken of during the 1995 Review and
Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. My country,
Syria, Arab countries and most countries in the Non-
Aligned Movement appealed to the five nuclear-weapon
States during the review and extension conferences for
this Treaty not to exempt any country from adhering to
this Treaty, so that the world will not face a new nuclear
arms race. Unfortunately that urgent call fell on deaf ears.
Those who now assume that nuclear-arms proliferation
will be limited to a few countries are mistaken. Syria and
10

all Arab countries call for turning the Middle East into a
nuclear-weapon-free zone, as a serious contribution to
halting the nuclear-arms race.
Secondly, in the post-cold-war era regional conflicts
have multiplied, becoming more fierce, and with varying
forms and motives. This has happened to such an extent
that the United States, which is now the only super-Power
in a unipolar world, and the Security Council, the body
responsible for maintaining international peace and security,
are no longer able to contain these conflicts, let alone find
just solutions to them. Anyone who reads the statement
issued by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the five
permanent members of the Security Council, issued at the
beginning of this session of the General Assembly, will
have a headache and will be severely frustrated at seeing
this world face so many regional conflicts and so many
complicated crises without any light at the end of the
tunnel.
Thirdly, we have the recent economic and financial
crises in the world, particularly following the collapse of
financial markets in South-East Asia and the accompanying
sharp decline in the prices of raw materials, especially oil.
All of this has proven that economic globalization is a two-
edged sword and has repercussions which cannot be
confined to those countries tantalized by rapid prosperity
generated by an inflow of capital and foreign investments.
Rather, such effects go beyond those countries to the
countries exporting capital and investments, which were
also tempted by quick profits without paying much heed to
the consequences.
What is going on in the world now under the banner
of globalization is a cause for concern, because it gives
priority to profit over other development factors: economic,
social, cultural and environmental. It also strives to confine
the role of the State to providing guarantees and protection
to major market forces, ignoring the responsibility for the
achievement of social justice for the peoples. Furthermore,
the continuing marginalization of developing countries in
international economic decision-making and the continuing
severe restrictions on access by such countries to
international markets and financial and technological
resources render these countries unable to benefit from the
promised opportunities of globalization.
Strengthening development indicators and increasing
levels of productivity are the more durable means of
limiting the effects of economic crises and reducing the
effects of financial upheavals, especially in developing
countries. At any rate, we believe that such crises and
shake-ups may happen from time to time and may touch
every country, no matter how immune it may seem, so
long as the most powerful and prevalent monetary unit in
the world — the United States dollar — is not stable.
However, the imminent issuance of a European monetary
unit may contribute to establishing a more stable
international financial and economic system.
In any case, we believe there is no alternative to
opening a serious dialogue within the framework of the
United Nations between developing and developed
countries and international monetary institutions in order
to lay a solid foundation for international cooperation
which might save the world from economic surprises and
social upheavals and also contribute positively to the
interests of all countries in the world, in the South as well
as the North.
Since its beginning, the Arab-Israeli conflict has
been given high priority on the agenda of the international
community. International efforts to contain this conflict
have been unrelenting every time it has exploded, because
the Middle East, with its singular strategic position, its
tremendous material and spiritual wealth and its renowned
cultural heritage can be considered the most sensitive
parameter for measuring the state of world peace and
security.
The peace process that was launched in Madrid was
seen as a new beginning to settle this conflict with the
end of the cold war. The Madrid terms of reference, the
American assurances and the results reached constituted
a firm basis which cannot be ignored under any
circumstance.
The insistence of the Israeli Prime Minister on
pursuing a policy hostile to peace and his rejection of the
rights of the Arabs to regain the occupied territories under
the pretext of security for Israel alone — at a time when
Israel?s military arsenal is considered one of the mightiest
and most modern in the world — constitute a challenge
not only to the Arabs, but also to the will of the
international community as a whole.
It seems clear that Israel does not limit its
conception of security to the Arab territories it occupies;
rather it is working to establish a military alliance in the
region which will undermine the peace process and put
the region on a path fraught with dangers, tension and the
potential for explosion.
11

What the region and its peoples need is not the
establishment of alliances and axes but the establishment of
a just and comprehensive peace, based on the full
withdrawal of Israel from the occupied Syrian Golan to the
line of 4 June 1967 and from the south of Lebanon and its
western Bekaa, in implementation of the relevant Security
Council resolutions and the land-for-peace principle. In
addition, the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian
people must be safeguarded, including their right to self-
determination and the establishment of their independent
State on their national territory.
The peace process faces a real crisis. It has been in a
stalemate on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks for over two
years. It faces erosion on the Palestinian track, as well, due
to Israeli intransigence. The entire peace process is on the
wane and will be so long as the Israeli Government rejects
the principle of land for peace and attempts to impose on
the Arabs a peace based on occupation and settlerism.
However, Syria has been and continues to be committed to
peace; we consider it a strategic option that requires the
resumption of negotiations from the point at which they
stopped on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks and that
continues to build on the commitments and undertakings
reached until a just and comprehensive peace is established
in the region.
Syria stresses its concern for the unity and territorial
integrity of Iraq and calls for alleviating the suffering of
our brotherly Iraqi people and lifting the sanctions imposed
on them according to a specific timetable. In the meantime,
Iraq is called upon to implement the remaining Security
Council resolutions in a way that guarantees a just
resolution to the issue of Kuwaiti prisoners of war.
Syria also calls for an end to the sanctions imposed on
Libya, for it is our belief that it is possible to address this
crisis in an appropriate legal framework, separate from any
political motivation. We fully support the Libyan demand
for a solution to this problem on a just basis.
Syria stands against terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations; we condemn it on all fronts. We
differentiate between terrorism and the legitimate struggle
of peoples against foreign occupation and for self-
determination and national liberation, which cannot be
considered terrorism. We also condemn killing innocent
civilians everywhere, just as we condemn the State
terrorism exercised by Israel against the Arabs.
We believe that resorting to force and violence in
international relations, in contravention of the United
Nations Charter and the principles of international law,
does not promote international legitimacy but leaves the
door wide open to the law of the jungle. In this regard,
Syria finds the United States attack on the Al-Shifa
pharmaceutical facility in Sudan to be unjustified. We
believe that this attack constitutes a violation of the
principles of international law and the Charter of the
United Nations. From this perspective, Syria supports the
request of the Sudanese Government to the Security
Council to send a fact-finding mission to investigate the
American allegations relating to that installation.
Syria follows with great concern the sharp conflicts
sweeping some African countries. While expressing its
solidarity and support to the peoples of Africa, Syria calls
on the international community to make the necessary
efforts in close cooperation with the Organization of
African Unity to find solutions to these conflicts in a
manner that consolidates peace, stability and security on
the African continent. The international community is also
called upon to give all types of support to enable African
States to eliminate the scourge of poverty and free
themselves of the burden of debt in order to achieve
sustainable development.
We are also following with great concern the
situation in the Republic of Somalia. We urge all the
Somali parties to respect their undertakings and
implement the agreements reached among them. We call
on them to put the national interests of Somalia above all
other considerations and to cooperate with Arab, African
and international efforts towards the realization of
national reconciliation so as to guarantee the return of
security and stability for the Somali people.
Syria supports the measures taken to ensure the
achievement of peace and security in the Korean
peninsula, and we also support the Korean people?s
aspirations to achieve unity.
Syria stresses anew the urgent need to take all
necessary steps, as promptly as possible, to end the
economic, commercial and financial sanctions imposed by
the United States against Cuba for more than three
decades now. We second Cuba?s call for the resolution of
differences between the two countries through dialogue,
on the basis of equality, mutual respect and good-
neighbourly relations.
12

Syria is extremely concerned about the general
situation in Afghanistan and the continuing bloodshed.
Syria strongly condemns the killing of the Iranian diplomats
in Mazar-i-Sharif. This was a violation of the principles of
international law and of the tolerant values of Islam. We
call upon all parties to exercise self-restraint and to work
towards reaching a peaceful solution and national
reconciliation.
Syria supports the stand of the Non-Aligned
Movement which considers the reform of the Security
Council, its democratization and the expansion of its
membership as part and parcel of a package deal that is not
subject to a specific timetable. We emphasize the principles
of equal sovereignty among States and equitable
geographical representation according to the provisions of
the Charter. Syria also believes that the exercise of the right
of veto should be reduced and that its scope should be
limited.
We support the position of the Non-Aligned
Movement concerning the concept of general agreement,
specifically that such agreement should, in conformity with
the provisions of Article 108 of the Charter, require a
majority of two thirds of Member States.
The Secretary-General?s proposed plan for reform was
a positive step to improve the Organization?s efficiency and
enable it to cope with the changes required in the next
stage. The Syrian delegation participated in the discussions
relevant to reforming the United Nations in the spirit of
collective responsibility of Member States to enhance the
role of this international Organization. We believe that
Member States do have a major role to play in
consultations concerning the reforms and in the resulting
resolutions.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights is an important occasion for re-
emphasizing the fact that all human rights are universal and
interrelated and that the international community should
address human rights in a just and comprehensive manner,
free of double standards and manipulations for political
purposes or to interfere in the internal affairs of States, and
taking into account the national characteristics and the
historical, cultural and religious elements of each people
and nation.
Humankind continues to aspire to a world free of
wars, poverty, ignorance and injustice, a world in which
justice, security, stability and sustainable development
prevail. Peoples of the world have pinned their hopes on
the United Nations Charter, which specifies among its
purposes the importance of maintaining world peace and
security, developing relations among nations based on
respect for equality and self-determination of peoples,
achieving international cooperation in the economic,
social and cultural fields and enhancing basic freedoms
for mankind everywhere.
Let us work together seriously and confidently on
the basis of these principles and objectives. Let us not
disappoint future generations. This is not an easy task, but
it is certainly a noble one, which deserves our efforts,
sacrifice, patience and wisdom.


First of all, I would like to
express to Mr. Didier Opertti the sincere congratulations of
the delegation of Equatorial Guinea on his unanimous
election to the presidency of the General Assembly at this
session of the General Assembly.
I also wish to congratulate Ambassador Hennadiy
Udovenko of Ukraine and to express my appreciation for
the enormous amount of work he accomplished as President
at the last session.
May I also reiterate to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, our brother Kofi Annan, my country’s
support for the efforts he is making to find viable solutions
to conflicts in various parts of the world, and particularly
in Africa. I would like to encourage him to continue with
the reforms he has undertaken to adapt and restructure the
United Nations.
Once again, we are gathered here to consider and
reflect on the great challenges humanity is confronting and
will have to continue to confront at the threshold of the
new millennium. Every year in this same forum we see that
the same causes produce the same effects, but solutions
are slow to arrive. The fact is that we are all victims of
our own contradictions.
From this rostrum, we have been repeating for the
past 50 years that humankind wants no more wars, that it
wants a lasting peace. Nevertheless, the large industrial
complexes continue to produce more weapons that are
increasingly sophisticated and deadly.
We are assured that the priority at the end of the
century is the fight against poverty and the
underdevelopment of nations in the framework of the
globalization of our economies. Yet the problems of
hunger, malnutrition, disease and unemployment are
assuming alarming proportions, and in many cases the
growth of these problems is even more apparent than in
the past. In the meantime, the peoples of the world
continue to wait, and their future is filled with
uncertainty.
Let us be honest: disarmament is possible only if the
large weapons-producing complexes are dismantled. To
claim the contrary is pure contradiction. Disarmament
requires the same approach as the fight against drugs —
in other words, the destruction of the centres of
production, distribution and sale. There is no need for me
to elaborate on this issue, since the solution is in the
hands of those who benefit from this illicit trade.
However, I do wish to refer to two questions that are
the subject of debate at this session of the General
Assembly: the phenomenon of globalization and the fight
against terrorism.
In connection with the former, we have serious
doubts and questions regarding the sincerity of this
dialogue among nations. On the one hand, we have those
who offer many pretexts for continuing to obstruct free
trade, the free circulation of goods and persons and the
transfer of technology, and who erect other barriers that
prevent the developing countries from achieving
sustainable economic growth.
As for the African continent, we all know that the
Uruguay Round is an instrument for marginalizing the
developing countries, nor are we unaware that the
payment of foreign debt remains a means of exporting
capital precisely to those who do not need it. Under these
circumstances, how can we devise an agenda for the
globalization of economic relations between the developed
17

North and the developing South, in a framework of
fairness?
Globalization must begin with fair prices for our raw
materials. The immense opportunities and advantages
offered to the world markets by the developing countries of
Africa must be put to use in the context of a sincere
partnership between North and South. No one has chosen
marginalization. The question is, should it be forced on us?
Some detractors of the African continent apply
simplistic reasoning when they categorically state that the
principle causes of poverty and marginalization in Africa
are political in nature: poor governance, corruption and
armed conflict.
Without trying to discard these arguments, we believe
that they do not justify the unfair treatment of our raw
materials in the most profitable markets of the North. Nor
do we believe that the marginalization now suffered by the
African continent is an inevitable phenomenon. A great deal
is being done to inscribe our countries in the current agenda
of globalization. The ongoing processes of subregional and
regional integration are evidence of the political will that
today infuses African leaders.
We wonder about the degree of sincerity and
transparency in the dialogue aimed at facilitating the full
integration of the African economies into the mechanisms
for globalization of trade and into technological advances.
As for globalization, it should mean that everyone sells
what he has and wherever he wishes, without the customs,
administrative and tariff barriers that today prevent the free
access of the products of the South to the markets of the
North.
Furthermore, the ever present issue of foreign debt
remains an obstacle to economic growth in many
developing countries.
My country, Equatorial Guinea, sincerely believes that
this situation is not fortuitous, and far less is it due to a
lack of potential or a lack of opportunity. What we call for
is not simply assistance. We want our own efforts to be
valued; we want use to be made of the various
opportunities we can offer to the world of globalization that
lies ahead.
Nevertheless, all of this also requires the peace and
socio-political stability of nations. Unfortunately, it would
seem that everything is being done to create instability in
our countries. Today, we are seriously threatened from
outside and within our borders by terrorism and
mercenary actions carried out by individuals or groups
blinded by hunger for power, ethnic hatred, racism and
the desire for hegemony.
For the first time in its history, my country has
experienced, in the course of the past 18 months, two acts
of armed destabilization. One was on 17 May 1997, when
a ship carrying arms and mercenaries was detained by the
Angolan police in its territorial waters. The other was on
21 January of this year, when a group of individuals
attacked a number of towns in my country and murdered
six persons in cold blood.
What justification can there be for terrorist actions
such as those perpetrated against the United States
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania? What justification can
there be for a band of terrorists who murder peaceful
citizens in cold blood? What political claims can justify
the murder and mutilation of another human being, as
occurred in my country?
On this question, some countries present here are
acting with a double standard; depending on their own
interests, terrorist actions are justifiable or not. When
these actions take place within a developing country,
some powerful communications media invoke, among
other such fallacies, the “struggle for the freedom of
peoples” to do away with regimes that, according to them,
are dictatorial. But when similar actions of the same type
take place in any country of the North, then the story
changes, and those responsible for such actions are called
terrorists and enemies of society.
That double standard was evident when such actions
received the support and solidarity of certain Spanish
political groups and elements of the Spanish
communications media. Only the Government of that
country condemned those acts. On the other hand, a lobby
was formed from among several political parties — the
Basque Nationalist Party, the United Left and the Spanish
Socialist Workers’ Party — each of which published
communiqués expressing their solidarity with the
perpetrators of those terrorist acts. Since then, those same
groups have been trying to fabricate an ethnic problem in
my country. They have promoted a number of resolutions
against my country in various international forums,
including in recent meetings of the European Parliament
and the Joint Assembly of the European Union and the
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, in a clear
attempt to justify the terrorist acts in question.
18

My Government, however, faithful to its commitment
to establish a State based on the rule of law in Equatorial
Guinea, held a public trial, with procedural guarantees and
international observers. Furthermore, the 15 death sentences
imposed on the main perpetrators of those crimes have been
commuted by the President of the Republic of Equatorial
Guinea, Mr. Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in an effort to
preserve the social unity of the nation. But it seems that
such measures still do not satisfy the political circles that
are persisting in their attempts to destabilize the peaceful
people of Equatorial Guinea.
Nevertheless, I would like to assure the Assembly that,
thanks to the maturity of the people of Equatorial Guinea
and because of their peaceful spirit and openness to
dialogue and democratic debate, we have been free from
the serious upheavals experienced by some countries and
regions of our continent as a result of such actions.
The internal realities of Equatorial Guinea therefore
bear no relation to the systematic campaign of hounding
and harassment that has been waged against it for several
years. Peace and stability prevail, investments are flowing
in and there are real signs of growth. The political reforms
are irreversible, our State of law is being strengthened and
the better governance of the country is being promoted. To
that end, the Government of Equatorial Guinea has relations
of cooperation with several international organizations and
friendly countries for the establishment of technical
assistance programmes in the fields of economics,
democracy, human rights and governance. We are
continuing to cooperate with the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, and our cooperation with
the international financial institutions is positive in the areas
to which I have referred.
We are clearly living during a time of promise and
rebirth in our country. We appeal here to the international
community to show its solidarity by supporting our efforts
to consolidate the democratic process and the
implementation of the plan for the socio-economic
development of the country, outlined by the national
economic conference, which took place in Bata from 8 to
14 September 1997.
With regard to the African continent, we urge the
international community to find mechanisms geared to
achieving a ceasefire and ending the hostilities in the Great
Lakes region and to restoring peace and order in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Guinea-Bissau,
Sierra Leone, Eritrea and Ethiopia. To that end, we wish to
reaffirm here the recommendations contained in the Bata
declaration for the promotion of democracy, peace and
sustainable development in Africa, which was adopted by
the subregional conference on democratic institutions and
peace in Central Africa, held from 18 to 21 May 1998
under the auspices of the United Nations, at which the
President of Equatorial Guinea recommended the creation
of a subregional parliament to deal with issues so as to
guarantee peace and security in the subregion. Equatorial
Guinea pledges to make its contribution to the attainment
of that objective.
Finally, my country reaffirms its support for the
necessary reform of the Security Council. With regard to
the increase of its membership, we are in favour of
equitable distribution so that our Organization will be able
faithfully to reflect the geopolitical realities of today’s
world. In this context, Equatorial Guinea associates itself
with the position, adopted at the twelfth summit of the
non-aligned countries held a month ago in Durban, South
Africa, that Africa should have two permanent seats and
five non-permanent seats, in the interests of the credibility
and democratization of the United Nations.


The election of the Foreign Minister of
Uruguay as President of this session of the General
Assembly is a source of great pride to Latin America. It is
also a fitting tribute to Mr. Opertti, whose diplomatic
experience and skills augur well for the success of this
fifty-third session.
Just when it seemed that we had secured stability,
signs of a severe crisis reappeared in the horizon. Indeed,
commodity prices have declined on average by 30 per cent,
reaching their lowest levels in the last three decades in real
terms. Consequently, exports from Latin America to
developed countries, consisting primarily of raw materials,
have begun to shrink, and trade balance deficits in the
region have increased proportionately.
There has been a decline in growth of output in Latin
America. Businesses are reducing production volume,
paying less tax and going further into debt with the banks.
There is a proportionate decline in domestic savings and
investment in infrastructure, in the training of human
resources and in the production of goods and services.
Visible unemployment is on the rise, and shadow economic
activities are gaining ground.
This brief account — no less grim for its brevity —
of the current situation points to a dangerous recession in
Asia and Latin America.
Of course, the fact that this turbulence began about a
year ago in Asia, halfway round the world, before reaching
the Andes, reveals the extent to which the world economic
system has become interdependent. Both the scale and the
consequences of this interdependence would have been
inconceivable until recently. The planet has indeed become
the global village which was to be the sign of the future, as
we had all heard.
But there is an ugly and unfair side to globalization
that I wish to stress. Countries — and when I use the
word, I do not just mean abstract entities, but actual
people with spiritual and material needs — are not paying
only for their own mistakes but also for the economic
policy errors and negligence of others.
Let me take my own country as an example. A small
country, with enormous structural limitations, it made a
gigantic effort, at enormous cost and at the price of
enormous sacrifices, to put its accounts and institutional
structure in order. Bolivia overcame hyper-inflation,
restored its macroeconomic balance and made progress in
first- and second-generation structural reforms. We
established a democratic system which, while not perfect,
is being studied in our region as a model of political
cooperation and social dialogue. We are prepared to
commit all our energies to casting off the historic chains
of corruption and poverty.
This entire effort, just now beginning to be
productive, may be thwarted by causes that are beyond
our control and for which we bear no responsibility. It is
true that our progress may not have been sufficiently
rapid and that our economic and social structures are still
weak, but the crisis we face today does not stem from
these deficiencies.
Bolivia and other countries will have to foot the bill
for the mistakes of others, for far distant trivialities. We
are suffering, the analysts tell us, from the contagion of
the Asian crisis, and we would do well to pray harder to
prevent anything happening in our own country or
anywhere in the broad region surrounding us.
My country did what it had to do and did it well. No
one wants to go back to the past. No right-thinking
Bolivian wants for a moment to return to the days of
authoritarianism, hyper-inflation or the bureaucratic state.
No, this is not what it is all about. But nor is it about
acting as if nothing had happened — as if all that was
necessary to overcome this crisis was to take a stronger
dose of the same medicine. That would be an
unforgivable mistake.
The current situation has revealed such shortcomings
in the international system, particularly with regard to
international financial flows, that it would not make sense
to keep things as they are. Next month there will be a
meeting of the Ministers of Finance of the Group of
Seven — the nexus of world economic power — to
decide our fate. I do not know if our voice will be heard,
16

but I do believe that this Assembly of the peoples of the
world is itself a message that can at least remind them of
a few things.
There is a need for prompt and concerted action on
the part of the advanced and developing countries to
diminish the volatility of financial markets and to provide
some discipline and procedures for incentives and penalties
aimed at remedying the major shortcomings in these
markets. There must be an increase in the availability of
public financial resources in the International Monetary
Fund and other institutions to compensate promptly and
efficiently for damage caused by unduly heightened risk in
any given country or by the wanton recklessness of
speculators on the world’s stock markets.
There must be a discussion very soon about the nature
and the new role of the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank and of the necessary adjustments thereto,
because these bodies were created in a context quite
different from that of today and clearly have been
overwhelmed by the events of recent years, which could not
be prevented. Their structure, their resources, their
philosophy and their modus operandi were severely
criticized since the 1980s in Latin America and in the
Assembly, and today they have shown themselves to be
unable to contain the impact of the current crisis. We have
globalized the crises of poverty and unemployment. Let us
also globalize the commitment to solve them.
By virtue of the universal nature of this body, by
virtue of the terms of the Charter of San Francisco and
because it is here that the concerns and problems of the
States Members of this supreme world Organization should
be set forth, I must once again raise what is well known as
Bolivia’s maritime problem.
Almost 120 years ago, in a military confrontation not
of its own making, Bolivia lost a long strip of coastline on
the Pacific Ocean. Our country thus lost, temporarily, its
maritime status, its sovereign access to the sea — an
essential condition of its existence — as well as its
geopolitical role and status as a bridge between the great
basins of South America.
The economic damage wrought by this loss was
immense. I will not take time here today to mention the
value of the minerals and fishing resources of this territory,
as it is incalculable. Suffice it to recall that recent studies
have shown that the cost of the landlocked condition of my
country is estimated at $4 billion every 10 years, an amount
equal to that of our foreign debt.
However, perhaps the most serious consequence of
this ill-fated event was that my country was condemned
to be penned in behind the Andes, far removed from the
mainstream of the passage of goods, peoples and cultures,
which are the very lifelines of the development of
nations. Therefore, ever mindful of the magnitude of the
damage, my country never accepted this status of
isolation imposed upon us. We have unceasingly called
for this injustice to be redressed, but in doing so we have
abided by our tradition as peaceful people that rejects
conflicts. However, our voices never fell silent.
We sought bilateral negotiations with Chile and
brought our case to international forums.
On various occasions, the bilateral negotiations
concluded with agreements or concrete proposals for a
solution whose main objective was the return to Bolivia
of its sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean, with a
coastline, a port of its own and an overland link. For
reasons that I shall not go into now, these dealings were
never concluded and were added to the long list of lost
opportunities on the record of relations between our
countries.
Bolivia’s cause has always been met with the
sympathy and understanding of the international
community. There have been numerous expressions of
such solidarity. I would just like to refer to two, one in
the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement and the
other in that of the Organization of American States
(OAS). I will state only the relevant portion of the
resolution adopted by the ninth General Assembly of the
Organization of American States, which was held in La
Paz in 1979. That resolution states, in its operative part
that,
“it is in the inherent interest of our hemisphere to
find an equitable solution whereby Bolivia can
obtain sovereign and effective access to the Pacific
Ocean”
as part of a proposal aimed at,
“securing, in a spirit of fraternity and integration of
the Americas, the objective referred to in the
previous paragraph and to consolidate a stable peace
which would stimulate economic and social progress
in the region of the Americas directly affected by
the consequences of Bolivia’s landlocked condition.”
17

In spite of everything, the problem still awaits a
solution. It is a kind of throwback to another time, another
logic, another way of seeing relations between neighbouring
nations. This has left an indelible mark on the memory of
my country. I must therefore state emphatically before the
Assembly that Bolivia will never back down from its
demand and that it will not be discouraged by how long its
efforts may take. Bolivia has the staying power and
limitless patience of an ancient people and knows that the
time is sure to come when this long-standing issue will be
definitively resolved. Our hope becomes conviction when
we see how other nations find ways of unravelling the
Gordian knot of conflicts at least as complex as our own.
The case made by President Hugo Banzer last year in
the Assembly is still valid. He recently put it again to the
twelfth presidential summit of the Rio Group in the
following terms:
“There is no subject which cannot be discussed, if it
is approached in good faith, without preconceptions or
prejudices. The subjects of peace, security and
democracy are not items reserved for diplomats and
specialists. All the institutions of society have an
opinion to voice and ideas to contribute. These are
voices which must be heard and heeded. I would
therefore like to propose that wherever there is open
conflict between our nations or where the embers of
ancient conflicts still smoulder, let us call upon our
citizens to help us find the path to solutions. Let us
throw open the windows of Latin American diplomacy
and let in the fresh air of new opinions and the sound
of new voices. Only recently I made the same point
by suggesting that Bolivians and Chileans meet
together and talk about the vast potential of our
relationship and find a way of removing the obstacles
which block its path. I am repeating this here today,
because I am convinced that we must find a way of
breaking with the status quo. We cannot bind
ourselves to the inheritance of other times and other
problems.”
It could not be clearer that now is the time for
economic integration and a political solution for access to
the ocean, not for confrontations. The nature of the global
system requires the formation of large-scale spaces in
which ideas and goods can move freely, where common
institutions can be built and where new cultures can be
nurtured, the fruit of the mingling of diverse peoples. If this
is true anywhere, it is true in Latin America.
In order to clear the path along these major
highways, we must remove the obstacles that are blocking
or hindering the march towards integration. In the case of
relations between Bolivia and Chile, this means resolving
the age-old disputes which led to the breaking off of
diplomatic relations at the end of the 1970s. The
liberalization of trade, agreements on economic
complementarity and arrangements for free transit are all
essential parts of this picture, but not the whole picture.
For this to happen, what is needed is vision and
courage on both sides. If we want to find new, different
solutions in keeping with the times, we can no longer
remain mired in the juridical, diplomatic and military
logic of the past. If we want to find answers, we may
have to move outside those circles that have traditionally
handled these matters up to now. This is the sense of the
proposal of President Banzer: to bring businessmen,
workers, churches, professionals and the peoples of
Bolivia and Chile into the dialogue.
Of course, the international community has a crucial
role to play in the search for agreement. The counsel,
guidance and help of friendly countries within the
framework of the subregional integration processes in
which they are engaged may just be the missing factor
needed to get dialogue going, to bring diplomats to the
negotiating table, to make leaders shoulder their historical
responsibilities and to reach a solution bringing our
peoples together. My country is convinced that the
underlying problems must be dealt with because we know
that integration will be consolidated only when economic
agreements guarantee that it will be sustained by the
political will and confidence of our nations.
There are many initiatives that should not be left
only on paper. Last June, during the special session
devoted to the drug problem, important proposals were
made. Bolivia put forth the idea of creating a body,
similar to a consultative group, made up of countries that
would help finance the high cost of the fight against drug-
trafficking. We would like to know what steps have been
taken to implement this, as well as the other initiatives
that were proposed in that highly important specialized
forum.
The phenomenon of corruption, which is no stranger
to most countries represented here, is a disease that
spreads and damages our institutional structures, saps the
legitimacy of democracy, distorts the economy, creates
bad habits in public administration and erodes morality.
18

In compliance with a presidential order, last 21
September we had the honour of celebrating at a solemn
ceremony the signing of an accord among the principal
institutions of the State representing the three branches of
power, whereby the National Integrity Plan came into
effect. This Plan establishes a comprehensive strategy to
combat corruption. The judicial basis for the Plan is taken
from the Inter-American Convention against Corruption,
which was signed by the member States of the OAS in
1996 and which Bolivia was the first nation to ratify as the
law of the land.
After careful thought, we have made this policy one
of the highest priorities of the Government of Bolivia. We
have begun to put into effect the first concrete measures to
combat this evil and to make this proposal State policy. We
now invite the international community to follow our
endeavour closely and to support our initiative.
Bolivia vigorously adheres to all the statements that
have repudiated terrorism, a despicable practice that has no
justification whatsoever. It will support any initiative or
action that may be put forth to fight it.
In another area, we wish to underline the Secretary-
General’s task in the process of the reform of the United
Nations. We believe that there has been progress in the
efforts to reduce bureaucracy, rationalize expenses and
avoid duplication in the work of the United Nations. We
also believe that it would be healthy to enhance the
Economic and Social Council in order to turn it into an
economic, social, scientific and technological council. It
would also be worthwhile to create a council for
humanitarian affairs responsible for social problems of our
time, such as poverty, unemployment, discrimination and all
forms of exclusion.
We meet every year to express our concerns and
thoughts, to share experiences and reaffirm our faith in the
purposes and principles of the San Francisco Charter. Each
year, we would like to see positive advances in the solution
of problems, in joint responses to crises, in the spread of
peace on the world map. Thus, the United Nations will
continue to grow even stronger. Bolivia wishes, as always,
to contribute to the achievement of those goals.