SG: Thank you very much Mr. President, Ladies and Gentleman.
Mr. President, let me start by thanking you for the very warm hospitality you and the people of Chile have extended to me. But your hospitality is not limited to me as Secretary-General, you are already a home here to a large UN office, ECLAC [the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean], where you have provided good hospitality and I know the staff here feel very much at home and that is an essential requirement for them to be as productive as they can.
Mr. President, I also enjoyed very much our discussion this morning where we touched on the problems of the region. We talked about democratization, social and economic reforms, respect for human rights and we are both going to be attending the Iberoamerican Summit where we will have the chance to seize some of these issues, with some of the other leaders from the region who will be there.
I would also want to thank you, Mr. President, for the important role Chile is playing in the United Nations and I think anyone who doubted that the elected members have a role to play in the Security Council saw the elected members in action during the important debate on Iraq, a debate that took place before the war in Iraq, which almost brought the Foreign Ministers, including your Minister to New York on a weekly basis. I have always said that the elected members have an important role to play, without them there cannot be any positive decision by the Security Council. The veto wielding members have a power but it is a negative power, they can block a resolution, they cannot make it happen, so the elected members like Chile have an important role to play, and I hope they will continue to play that role.
On the question of Iraq and troubled spots around the world, from Iraq to Middle East, to Afghanistan, the UN is actively engaged. As we speak, the Security Council is visiting Afghanistan. On the Middle East, the Quartet has its road map on the table. It is a bit in distress but it is not dead and we are hoping that the process can be revived and I am encouraged by recent activities of civil society on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side: we need to hear those voices of peace. We need to listen to them and, above all, the leaders of the two communities have to listen to their own people and their desire for peace. What I am hearing from the people in that region both Israelis and Palestinians is that there ought to be another way, enough killing, enough despair; let's find a way out and I hope the leaders and the international community would work with them.
On Iraq we are in a very difficult situation as you all read about it, daily in your newspapers, as you listen to the news on televisions, the UN will do its utmost. We had a reasonably successful pledging Conference for reconstruction in Madrid, we would want to see political transformation but of course it does require a secure environment so security is a very important aspect for the plans we have for the future. I know every effort is being made to secure the environment but to succeed, as the President said, is going to require a real international effort by the UN and all stake holders. We are going to need the UN, we are going to need the neighbours and the region. The stabilization of Iraq is in everyone's interest, no one can afford to see a destabilized Iraq in the middle of a turbulent region, and of course rightly the neighbours are also worried and we need to find a way of pooling our efforts and working together to pacify Iraq. I can assure you as Secretary-General that I will play my role and do my best with the Member States to help the people of Iraq. Thank you.
Q: (In Spanish) I would like to know if the United Nations is going to play a more leading role and in which way, in order to stop the increasing violence in Iraq and the withdrawal of humanitarian force that has been taking place in the past few days.
SG: The Security Council, as you know, voted for the dispatch of a multinational force into Iraq. You already have over 130,000 troops in Iraq today, mainly from the US but you have other countries who are active on the ground. I hope in time as the situation evolves other countries will find ways of assisting the situation but of course as the President indicated, there is a link between the military activities on the ground and the political process and the political evolution on the ground. We do not see in the near future the UN taking over the multinational force or the military action. The Council has voted and given a mandate for deployment of a military action which I think will continue to help pacify the situation. On the humanitarian front even though because of security we have had to withdraw quite a lot of our staff -almost all of them- we have 4,000 Iraqi staff who are still working for us, continuing the humanitarian effort and we have other staff in the region operating from Amman and Cyprus, who also do cross-border activities. We will continue to operate that way until the security situation allows us to redeploy our staff in larger numbers. Thank you.
Q: (In Spanish) Two questions: what does it mean and what work will Mr. Blix have as the head of this special commission which will be dedicated to the subject of terrorism. And secondly, what does your presence in South America mean and your promise that there will be an increase of the priorities of the United Nations and the Secretary-General towards this continent.
SG: Can I get you to repeat the first question, you are asking me what news from Mr. Blix, is that right?
Q: (In Spanish) About which will be the role Mr. Blix will play, because this morning we learnt that he will be heading a special team, named by you, on terrorism. Which will be his exact role and its importance?
SG: I think there must be some misunderstanding. Mr. Blix is today heading a commission set up in Stockholm, a commission on weapons of mass destruction, where his experience is being brought to bear. This is a commission that embraces not only Swedes but several nationalities and I look forward to the report that they will do. As far as his relationship with the UN, he did not renew his contract when it ended and I have not asked him to take any special responsibility in the area of terrorism, so there must be some misunderstanding. But he is a good man, he did a very good job for the United Nations. He brought professionalism, integrity and determination to the issue of disarmament, when he headed UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission), and we are all very proud of his performance.
On the question of my presence here, I think this is a region that has done very well on many fronts. We have some countries in the region that are going through some difficulties, but I think all of us, the UN and the international community and the region should work with them to overcome their difficulties. I think we tend to focus so much attention on countries that give us difficulties, that we do not have time for the good ones. I think periodically it is important that you visit a country like Chile, that does not have the problems of others, to send out the message that there are countries where things are going well, that there are lessons that we can all learn, so I would want to be able to work with the governments of the region and already the UN agencies are very active, from UNDP, UNICEF, human rights. We are very active all over the country but we are going to redouble our efforts particularly in those countries where there are major difficulties in the Andean region and others, and I myself will be paying particular attention to this region. Thank you.
Q: Good afternoon, Secretary General. I would like to ask a question in relation to the recent vote in the UN, in which 179 countries approved the resolution condemning the US, a resolution condemning a blockade that has caused my country in 40 years, over 70 thousand million dollars. What can United Nations say to the Cubans after 40 years?
SG: As you indicated the General Assembly voted very clearly and indicated that it was against the economic blockade of Cuba. But of course you must also know that that blockade is a decision of one Member State and a sovereign Member State. It is not a decision by the United Nations, so it is not up to the UN to lift the sanctions but the voice of the UN and the Members of the UN speaking with a collective voice, I hope it has some weight and importance. What is important is that they have indicated that they believe the sanctions should be lifted and that is my personal view too. Thank you.