NICARAGUA

Statement by

H.E. Dr. Jose Adan Guerra Pastora

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua

Fifty Fifth Session of the General Assembly

New York, September 22, 2000

Mr. President,

Mr. Secretary-General of the United Nations,

Distinguished delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me at the outset to congratulate you on your well-deserved election as President of this first Assembly of the millennium. Your proven ability and vast experience will guarantee the able conduct of our work during this session. At the same time, I wish to express our great friendship and gratitude to Finland, the country which you honourably represent and whose close friendship with Nicaragua has earned our sincere affection. I also wish to thank your predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, for the manner and dedication in which he conducted our work during the fifty-fourth session.

In turn, we wish to recognize and extend special thanks to the contribution made by His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of this Organization, who presented an extremely useful report on the role of our organization in the twenty-first century, a document which definitely stimulated the discussion held by the Heads of State and Government of our countries at the Millennium Summit. This unprecedented event has laid the groundwork for giving fresh impetus to the United Nations.

The process of renewal means the strengthening of its organ and institutions in order to enhance the effectiveness of its work in, inter alia, peacekeeping and international security, poverty eradication, the strengthening of health and education programmes and the struggle against environmental destruction. This strengthening doubtless depends on us, the States Members of the United Nations, who must guarantee our organization the necessary resources and means to fulfil its mandate and to be able to fully carry out its function as a centre of exchange and coordination of the efforts of the peoples of the world.

In this connection, I would like to reiterate the need to reform the Security Council, an organ of vital importance for peace and security, which should guarantee equitable and democratic representation of the various regions and more balanced representation between developed an developing countries in order to be able to respond fully and effectively to the current needs and future challenges of our peoples in this new millennium.

In this same connection, we believe that the veto is another aspect of this sensitive issue, which should be addressed seriously in order to reduce its scope to very specific situations with a view to its possible elimination. For these reasons, we believe that it is of paramount importance to achieve a consensus on all these issues inherent in the very structure of the new international order.

We would also like to highlight the importance of initiating, as soon as possible, discussions at the global level with a view to achieving greater levels of consensus and greater effectiveness in resolving humanitarian emergencies.

In another vein, we believe that the reaffirmation of our commitment to maintain and strengthen the universal mission of our organization in order to ensure that all the world's peoples, without exception, can be fairly represented, is indispensable. This assertion leads me to reiterate before this august Assembly the importance of heeding the longing of a people, with legitimate representation, to participate as a fully fledged member of our. Organization. I am referring to the Republic of China.

Mr. President:

Another important aspect which our organization should continue to address with greater determination in this new century is that of the control of drug activities, organized crime and terrorism. Indeed, the flow of drugs is rapidly increasing in our countries and has, in a few short years, become one of the most serious problems directly affecting our economic, political and social life. In order to cope with this critical situation, we must accord priority to the strengthening of our national drug control institutions responsible for combating this scourge, the establishment and modernization of our legislations and increased cooperation and international coordination in this area. In this respect, I wish to point out that Nicaragua has severe laws penalizing drug trafficking and has established a National Drug Control Plan under which institutions work jointly and in coordination to achieve the objectives established. We are also making continuous efforts to achieve greater international cooperation.

In initiating this new millennium, we note the urgent need to deepen and accelerate progress in measures and actions to achieve global disarmament, particularly those arms, which, owing to their great power of destruction, endanger the preservation of life itself on our planet. We therefore welcomed the outcome of the Review conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons held this year, which reaffirmed the conviction that the full and effective application of the Treaty and the non-proliferation regime in all its aspects play a vital role in the promotion of peace and international security.

Similarly, we focus singular attention on the problem of conventional weapons and the existence of anti-personnel mines, which are also a threat to human security. For this reason, we believe it is a priority to fulfil the obligations which each of us States has acquired under the international and regional conventions adopted on this matter.

In Nicaragua, one of the most serious consequences of the armed conflict of the 1990s, which, fortunately, we overcome, was undoubtedly the existence of a huge quantity of anti-personnel mines throughout the national territory, a situation which even today claims numerous innocent victims. Accordingly, my country, with the support of the international community, is making huge efforts to achieve a permanent solution to this problem. Hence, together with mine clearance activities, we have initiated the process of destroying mine stockpiles, and have thus far succeeded in destroying more than 40,000 mines, in strict compliance with the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

Nicaragua reaffirms its desire to do its utmost in the preparation of the third session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Ottawa Convention, to be held in our country in September 2001.

We also believe it is of tremendous importance to reaffirm our commitment to tolerance and respect for diversity. In this connection, we support, as of now, the preparatory work for the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

Mr. President:

It is essential for the future of our organization and for that of our peoples that we devote greater effort to the continual fulfilment of the proposals which, a half century ago, we laid down in the Charter of San Francisco, particularly with respect to peacekeeping and international security. This can be achieved only if we make a firm commitment to nonviolence and the principle of the peaceful settlement of disputes through the modalities established by international law. This is the determining factor for preventing future conflicts which have serious and permanent repercussions/consequences for humanity.

It is satisfying to us that one of the last vestiges of the cold war is on the way to being peacefully resolved. We are referring to the dialogue between the two Koreas, which was launched at the highest level and will without a doubt usher in a promising horizon in the Korean Peninsula.

Nicaragua also shares the concern of the international community at the continuation of some conflicts, particularly on the African continent, which have ravaged property and caused the loss of countless human lives in, inter alia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Burundi and the Sudan It is therefore gratifying that steps have been taken in a some of these countries in search of a solution to their conflicts such as, for example, the signature of the ceasefire between Ethiopia and Eritrea on 18 June and the implementation of the Djibouti peace initiative for Sierra Leone. We also hail Israel's withdrawal form Lebanon in accordance with Security Council resolutions and the stepped up efforts since the Camp David Summit, organized by President Clinton, in search of a peaceful settlement between Israel and Palestine.

In this same vein, my country, convinced of the importance of the principle of the self-determination of peoples, issues an appeal for the urgent need to hold as soon as possible the referendum pending in Western Sahara; to that end, all obstacles in the way of this process must be overcome.

Mr. President:

Much progress has been realized in this century; one of the most important strides has been in the field of the technology revolution. We therefore have today the tremendous responsibility and duty to initiate this new millennium by pooling our efforts to achieve adequate levels of the transfer of technology to developing countries in order to prevent globalization from becoming a negative phenomenon which aggravates the marginalization of the poorest countries.

The advantages and disadvantages entailed by globalization make it necessary for developing countries to integrate in order to increase their potential for successfully coping with this phenomenon. An example of this is the decision of the Presidents of Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador to sign a tri-national agreement aimed at giving fresh impetus to the Central American integration process, by providing an appropriate political framework for the establishment of a regional Customs Union, a process launched by El Salvador and Guatemala, which Nicaragua and Honduras have recently joined.

Apart from integration initiatives, continued efforts to achieve solidarity through cooperation for development, are of vital importance. We nonetheless feel strongly about pointing out that cooperation activities must be accompanied by adequate treatment, namely, favourable conditions so that small economies can have access to large international markets and obtain fair prices for their exports of raw materials or manufactured goods.

In this respect, we warmly welcome the decision to convenea High-level International Meeting on Financing for Development in 2001; such an event is of paramount importance in the efforts being made to realize the objectives of the Millennium Summit

Also of great importance is the strengthening of the multilateral trade system, which includes, inter alia, the prompt and urgent convening of a round of trade negotiations within the framework of the World Trade Organization, where problems are addressed in a global and integral manner leading to an effective reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers. Free trade and the rules governing it should be implemented within the framework of WTO so that they benefit all, particularly the poorest countries.

It is also essential that the poorest and heavily indebted countries be able to aspire to breaking the vicious circle of poverty. In this connection, as stated by Dr. Arnoldo Aleman, President of Nicaragua, during the Millennium Summit, "the unbearable weight of an immense external debt represents an insurmountable barrier to overcoming poverty and unemployment. In this respect, we are pleased to note the interest recently shown by the developed countries and multilateral financial institutions in seeking alternatives that would substantially relieve the situation of the heavily indebted poor countries. We hope that this interest will soon be reflected in specific and meaningful actions, so that countries like Nicaragua can break this vicious circle of poverty, and look towards a future with greater opportunities and expectations for sustainability and progress".

Another major challenge to which we must devote considerable effort is that of conserving natural resources and the global environment as it is of vital significance for the future of humanity and for the prevention and response to natural disasters.

Nicaragua is a country that has been cruelly struck by natural phenomena. The impact of Hurricane Mitch is still fresh, which lashed the Central American region in 1998, a strong telluric movement rocked the eastern part of our country, causing loss of human life and considerable material damage. Taking this reality as a premise, Nicaragua, with the valuable assistance of the United Nations Development Programme, became the third country in Latin America to adopt a modern law on taking the necessary measures to establish an integrated disaster prevention and response system.

Moreover, despite its limited resources, Nicaragua has channelled great energy into the search for a Sustainable Development Model and one on the Conservation of Natural Resources. In this connection, the Government of Nicaragua has established the National Council on Sustainable Development (CONADES), a pluralistic body in which all the main sectors of civil society participate in order to promote actively, in accordance with Agenda 21, the implementation of this sustainable development model.

Mr. President:

Our leaders have had an historic opportunity to undertake decisive commitments for the future of humanity. Nicaragua fully shares and reaffirms its commitment to the basic values contained in the Millennium Declaration, namely, freedom and equality, the right of all of us to lead a decent life, without misery or violence, but rather in good health, with access to education, equity and solidarity, for all peoples of the world have the duty to share and exchange knowledge and experience which tomorrow will be decisive for human development, tolerance and non-violence; we can forge ahead only if people respect each other and if States are always prepared to reach an understanding and resolve their differences through peaceful means while respecting nature, in order to be able to transmit to our children a future in which they can be proud and optimistic, in which they can walk with their heads high, confident that they are heading down the right path.

Today, this is a time to sow, so that we will be able to harvest tomorrow. Today is when we must be aware that we have a common responsibility, both collective and individual at once: to strengthen this United Nations in order to be able to erect a more just, secure and equitable international system for all.

Many thanks.