MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY AGO, WHEN THE UN CHARTER WAS.SUBSCRIBED, THERE WERE OTHER TIMES. OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES REIGNED.

A WARLIKE CONFLAGRATION THAT SHOOK HUMANITY HAD ENDED. MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CONSTITUTED THE ESSENTIAL OBJECTIVE OF THE UNITED NATIONS. THE SEARCH FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE OF NEW STATES, CONSTITUTED AN OBJECTIVE, PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC VALUES, THE RESPECT OF HUMANS RIGHTS AND COOPERATION AMONG THE PEOPLES. CONTROVERSIES WOULD ONLY BE SOLVED BY PEACEFUL MEANS.

THUS A NEW ERA OF HOPE WAS OPENED. THESE OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES CONTINUE BEING VALID. NEVERTHELESS, THE END OF CONFRONTATION BETWEEN EAST AND WEST DIDN'T BRING SUBSTANTIAL BENEFITS IN THE ECONOMIC FIELD, MAINLY FOR THE LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

THIS CONFLICT HAS BEEN SUBSTITUTED BY A SORT OF ANTAGONISM BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH; THAT IS TO SAY, BETWEEN DEVELOPED COUNTRIS AND THE NATIONS THAT STRUGGLE TO IMPROVE THEIR LEVELS OF GROWTH.

IT IS CERTAIN THAT, IN THE PERIOD BEGINNING IN 1945, THE FEARED NUCLEAR WAR DIDN'T TAKE PLACE, AND IT IS ALSO CERTAIN THAT IMPORTANT SPACES OF COOPERATION HAVE OPENED UP.

IN THIS FIELD THE UNITED NATIONS COMPLETED AN IMPORTANT ROLE. BUT, IT IS ALSO EVIDENT THAT TENSIONS SUBSIST UNDER OTHER CHARACTERISTICS, GENERATED, IN ESSENCE, BY THE BACKWARDNESS, POVERTY AND INEQUALITIES THAT HAVE GROWN DANGEROUSLY. THOSE FACTORS HAVE DETERMINED NEW DIVISIONS T14AT AFFECT CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AND IT IS URGENT TO CORRECT.

FOR THAT WE ARE GATHERED; TO MEDITATE ON A NEW CALENDAR THAT INCORPORATES THE CURRENT CHALLENGES AND PREPARES US, APPROPRIATELY, IN WAYS THAT WE CAN RESPOND, WITH EFFECTIVENESS, TO THE CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE. BUT, THIS ENCOUNTER OF THE MILLENNIUM HAS TO MEAN MUCH MORE THAN THAT.

IN My OPINION, IT IS URGENT TO REACH AGREEMENTS AND TO ASSUME COMMITMENTS ON A GROUP OF ESSENTIAL TOPICS; BECAUSE THE CALENDAR OF THE MILLENNIUM CANNOT LIMIT ITSELF TO A LISTING OF GOOD PROPOSALS. IT SHOULD MEAN A GREAT COMMITMENT, OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, IN ORDER TO LEAD OUR COUNTRIES TOWARD THE COMMON DESTINATION THAT WE ALL YEARN. A FUTURE BUILT UPON THE SOLID FOUNDATIONS OF EQUITY AND JUSTICE, OF TOLERANCE AND DIALOGE, OF RESPECT TO MAN AND NATURE, TO THE VALUES OF REPRESNTATIVE AND PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY, A FUTURE THAT WOULD LEAD US TOWARD THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CONDITIONS THAT SOFTEN THE INEQUALITIES, ORIGIN OF THE CONFLICTS OF THIS TIME. FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, I WILL TOUCH ONLY ON SOME ASPECTS OF THE REFLECTION THAT THE GENERAL SECRETARY HAS REQUESTED US.

THERE IS, IN DEFINITIVE, A NARROW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FREEDOM AND POVERTY, BETWEEN POVERTY AND VIOLENCE. NOBODY CAN CALL FREE HUMAN BEINGS THAT LIVE CHAINED TO THE LIMITATIONS THAT MISERY IMPOSES UPON MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

THERE WONT BE NEITHER ECONOMIC NOR POLITICAL STABILITY IF WE DO NOT FACE UP TO SOCIAL IMBALANCES. FREEDOM IS ALWAYS THREATENED WHEN MISERY IS AROUND. WE MUST EQUATE THE DIFERENT INTERESTS, WITHN A FRAMEWORK OF INCLUSIVE PROSPERITY OF THOSE WHO HAVE MORE WITH THOSE WHO CAN ONLY OFFER THEIR LABOR FORCE. THESE ARE THE ROOTS OF CURRENT AND FUTURES DANGERS.

SOCIAL DEMANDS ARE UNQUESTIONABLY LEGITIMATE. THE COMMITMENT OF FIGHTING AGAINST THE POVERTY, MUST BE DONE UNDER THE PRINCIPLE OF SHARED RESPONSIBILITY, AS WITH THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DRUG TRAFFIC, A FIELD WHERE BOLIVIANS HAVE REACHED SPECTACULAR RESULTS, FACT THAT IS KNOWN INTERNATIONALLY.

ACCORDING TO THE GENERAL SECRETARYS REPORT, THERE IS MORE OF A BILLION PEOPLE THAT SUBSIST WITH LESS THAN A DOLLAR A DAY, IN THIS ERA OF KNOWLEDGE. GLOBALIZATION MUST BECOME AN INSTRUMENT TO FIGTH TIES PAINFUL REALITY, AND NOT TO SPREAD THE CRISES, AS HAS RECENTLY HAPPENED.

TO THESE ENDS, WE HAVE THE DIAGNOSIS THAT IS TECHNICALLY NON OBJECTIONABLE. WHAT IS LACKING. THEN, IS TO REACH AGREEMENTS, I INSIST, THAT ALLOW THE PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BASED ON AN ETHIC OF SOLIDARITY, MORE UNIVERSAL, MORE EQUAL, LESS CONCENTRATED AND THAT DISTRIBUTES REVENUES IN A BETTER WAY.

THE SHARED RESPONSIBILITY THAT WE PROPOSE HAS TO BE EXPRESSED IN A TRULY DEMOCRATIC FORM IN THE TERMS OF EXCHANGE, WHERE THE ECONOMICALLY LARGE COUNTRIES CAN, OBVIOUSLY, CONTRIBUTE IN GRATER MEASURE.

IT IS FUNDAMENTAL THAT IN A SO CALLED OPEN ECONOMY MARKETS MAY NOT BE CLOSED WITH DISCRIMINATORY MEASURES, AND PROTECCIONIST CRITERIA. IT IS INDISPENSABLE THAT A DIFFERENCIATED PREFERENCIAL TREATEMENT BE APPLIED AND THAT A SPECIAL SUPPORT BE GIVEN SO THAT COUNTRIES WITH WEAK INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES MAY GO FORWARD, AS BOLIVIA HAS DONE. THE REFORMS THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO ATTRACT LARGER FLOWS OF CAPITAL. IT IS VITAL THAT PROGRAMS OF DEBT RELIEF LIBERATES FROM THE ASPHYXIA TO MANY COUNTRIES.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CANNOT BECOME AN EXCLUDING COMMODITY. THEY SHOULD CONSTITUTE A SHARED WEALTH OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN ALL THE CORNERS OF THE EARTH.

ONLY THUS WE WILL BETTER DISTRIBUTE THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL POWER IN THE WORLD, MAKING BIG AND SMALL STATES BE GUIDED BY THE SAME AGENDA IN FUNDAMENTAL TOPICS, BY MEANS OF A TRUE DEMOCRATIC EXERCISE, WHERE IT IS NOT THE FEW THAT DICTATE THE NORMS THAT THE REST HAVE TO ACCEPT.

ONLY WITH THIS VISION WILL WE ACHIEVE THE COMMITMENT THAT WE ALL AGREE AT THIS MILLENIUM: RESPOND TO THE SAME ETHICAL VALUES, SURE THAT THERE WILL BE DISPARITIES. PEACE NOR SECURITY IN A WORLD THAT IS BUILT OVER IMMENSE

NOW THEN, THE EXECUTION OF SUCH A GREAT MANDATE REQUIRES A FORTIFIED INSTITUTION. TO ACHIEVE IT WE MUST INVIGORATE THE ROLE OF UNITED NATIONS, WHICH WE ARE, IN THE FINANCING OF DEVELOPMENT, IN ORDER TO BALANCE ITS RESPONSIBILITIES WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF PEACE AND SECURITY.

I HOPE THAT THOSE WHO WILL EVALUATE, AFTER 50 YEARS, WHAT WE ARE DOING TODAY, VERIFY THAT WE HAD THE CAPACITY TO ADOPT THE CORRECT DECISIONS, AND THE WILL TO APPLY THEM IN BENEFIT OF HUMANITY.

THANK YOU.

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