In 2006, several important anniversaries coincide and
provide a background for our debate. For the United
Nations, 2006 represents a new opportunity to assess
progress since the adoption six years ago of the
package of commitments generally known as the
Millennium Development Goals, which received
renewed impetus during the 2005 World Summit. The
outcome of that summit provides the main theme of our
debate during this Assembly, as well as the guidelines
for the reform of our Organization. For this great city,
the site of the Headquarters of our Organization, 2006
marks the fifth anniversary of the tragic events of
11 September 2001, which altered history forever. For
Guatemala, 2006 marks the tenth anniversary of the
signing of the Peace Accords that put an end to a
bloody internal conflict lasting over four decades. For
our Secretary-General, it marks the end of his 10-year
term, which has had a highly positive result: a result
that I want to acknowledge and for which I would like
to thank him.
I will move on to address some of these
substantial issues. But before doing so, I would like to
state our appreciation of Mr. Jan Eliasson’s
stewardship and exceptional leadership of the previous
session of this Assembly. At the same time, we
welcome your election, Madam President, and have no
doubt that you will bring us to a safe port.
I should like to allude very briefly to four
matters: compliance with the Guatemalan Peace
Accords, a process in which the United Nations
participated very closely; follow-up of the 2005 World
Summit, especially Millennium Goal 8, namely, to
foster a global partnership for development; our views
on certain aspects of United Nations reform; and our
views on certain positive developments that affect
international relations.
The brief time allotted to me does not allow me
to go into detail, but it is undeniable that we have
advanced substantially in the direction of giving
concrete expression to the vision contained in the
Peace Accords. More to the point, if we contrast
today’s Guatemala to that of 1996, we now have a
society that is more plural, tolerant, deliberative and
participative than in the past. Our representative
democracy is taking root, after three free and
transparent elections. The army is truly subordinated to
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the civil Government. Important progress has been
achieved in strengthening a multi-ethnic and
multilingual society. The State is committed to
respecting of civil, political and human rights and to
promoting greater participation of women in our
society. Significant efforts have been in strengthening
the administration of justice and consolidating the rule
of law. The proportion of public expenditure assigned
to the provision of social services has increased
significantly in the past few years. We have assisted the
victims of the conflict through a programme of
reparation payments. We promote the National Front
against Hunger as a priority of my Government.
Likewise, we recently adopted a policy on rural
development, which was prepared and will be
implemented with the participation of entrepreneurs,
peasants and trade unions.
At the same time, we recognize that much
remains to be done. Human rights violations persist,
often linked to an increase in crime, including
organized crime. It is for this reason that we invited the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
to open an office in Guatemala and to join us in
strengthening our own capacity to defend and protect
vulnerable groups. We have also invited the United
Nations to support an initiative to establish a
commission to investigate illicit and clandestine
groups. Furthermore, we have promoted domestic
legislation to combat the scourge of crime, including
the recently promulgated law against organized crime.
The commitments contained in the Peace Accords
entail serious budgetary implications. To address them,
we recently sent to Congress, and Congress approved,
an act to combat tax evasion. At the same time, we
have forged a broad consensus on an agreed tax
package that ensures the financing of future
development through improvements in the allocation
and administration of public expenditures and the
collection of taxes.
My Government assigns priority to the
recognition of the identity and rights of indigenous
peoples. In this regard, we trust that the General
Assembly will soon adopt the Draft Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which saw light in the
Human Rights Council and which will contribute to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
In summary, our Government Plan has embraced
the Peace Accords and is committed nationally to
complying with them. In 2005, a Framework Act on the
Peace Accords was passed in order to strengthen the
institutional aspects of the peace process. One of our
goals is to achieve socio-economic development that is
participatory and responds to the needs of the entire
population.
This leads me to the second item, namely, the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Indeed, a
major part of our Government programme is entirely
consistent with those goals, especially with regard to
combating poverty and hunger and achieving universal
primary education. Our policies, which emphasize rural
development, take an approach that favours the poorest
strata of our society. The efforts undertaken have been
based mostly on domestic resources — Government
and civil society — but we have also received support
from the international community in the context of a
genuine partnership.
The international community’s respect for our
priorities has grown, and it has increasingly adapted its
methods to our budgetary procedures. From our
country’s point of view, significant progress has been
achieved since the International Conference on
Financing for Development was held in 2002. We have
also noted a reversal, over the past four years, in the
earlier trend towards declining official development
assistance (ODA). It is hoped that the new trend of
increasing ODA will persist and accelerate, especially
in favour of the least developed countries.
In contrast to the relatively encouraging picture
in the area of financing for development, it is a source
of great concern that the negotiations of the Doha
Development Round have been suspended. That is a
serious setback for the global economy and especially
for the chances of developing countries to improve
their participation in international trade.
If the potential of the Development Round is not
salvaged, which must include the dismantling of
agricultural subsidies as well as other restrictive
practices of trade in agricultural products that persist
among the main developed economies, it will be
difficult to continue referring to a global partnership
for development as posited by the Millennium
Development Goals. In that regard, it is urgently
necessary to renew the negotiations of the Doha Round
under the aegis of the World Trade Organization. On
that subject, we also support the strengthening of
South-South cooperation in all areas.
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Moving on now to the third part of my remarks,
we believe that the reforms undertaken at the United
Nations since 2000, and in particular since the 2005
Summit, have been significant and headed in the right
direction. We identify with the new Human Rights
Council, of which we are a member, and support the
fulfilment of its role in promoting and protecting
human rights at the global level.
We also understand the considerable potential of
the new Peacebuilding Commission to contribute to the
joint work of the Security Council and the Economic
and Social Council for the benefit of countries now in
post-conflict situations. We promote the revitalization
and strengthening of the General Assembly as the only
universal body with enough legitimacy to debate and
adopt policies, as prescribed by the Charter and as
agreed in the Millennium Declaration and at the 2005
Summit.
We reiterate our strong support for the Economic
and Social Council as a meeting place to foster
sustainable development. We especially applaud the
decision to convene a high-level meeting on
development cooperation every two years. We add our
voices to all the others urging an end to the stalemate
in the discussions on Security Council reform. The
parameters of that debate are well known. For our part,
we have historically favoured a moderate expansion in
the number of non-permanent members, but more
recently, we have signalled that we could support any
formula that would be capable of bringing about a
consensus, including the expansion of members in both
categories. We also support a more representative,
transparent and effective Council.
We are candidates for a non-permanent seat on
the Council for the biennium 2007-2008, because we
believe that our experience as a country that made the
transition from conflict to peace and democracy
provides us with insights that would contribute to the
work of the Council. In addition, we are one of the few
original signatories of the Charter that have not yet had
the opportunity to serve in the work of that body. If
elected to the Security Council, we commit ourselves
to carrying out our responsibilities in a professional,
responsible and dignified manner — in the
representation of our region — and also to promote
from within the reform of that crucial forum for
assuring peace and stability in the world.
My country’s foreign policy is in accordance with
our national interests based on improved participation
by Guatemala in the globalized world, as well as the
strengthening of multilateralism and regional
integration. We have promoted a deeper integration
with our immediate neighbours in Central America,
and important progress in the establishment of a
customs union has been achieved. We, the five Central
American countries, have also agreed on a free trade
agreement with the United States of America, and in
2007, will begin negotiations on an association
agreement with the European Union.
Moreover, my Government has endeavoured to
deepen its bilateral relations with Belize, while at the
same time seeking to find a definitive, just, equitable
and honourable solution to the territorial dispute
between our countries. Thus, on 7 September 2005, we
signed, under the auspices of the Organization of
American States, an Agreement on a Framework for
Negotiations and Confidence-Building Measures,
which covers a wide range of subjects and will bring us
closer. One of the tangible results of that effort has
been a free trade agreement signed just a few months
ago.
Guatemala participated actively in the High-level
Dialogue on International Migration and Development
held in this same Hall less than a week ago. In that
context, we emphasize that attention to the situation of
Guatemalan migrants is another priority of my
Government. An essential element of the public policy
on that subject is full respect for the human rights of all
migrants, an element which will only be fulfilled when
all States become parties to the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
My Government is working with the recipient
countries, in particular with the United States of
America, to promote comprehensive migration reform
that would include mechanisms to manage the supply
of workers in the countries of origin and the demand
for workers in the recipient countries. That would help
regularize the situation of emigrants, whose
contribution to the well-being of their communities is
substantial, and would make it possible to overcome
the great vulnerability of our population.
We feel solidarity with other countries that have
endured under conflict situations. This is why we have
taken part in an increasing number of United Nations
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peacekeeping operations. We are proud of our
presence, along with many other Latin American
countries, in our neighbour Haiti, and we celebrate the
democratically elected Government of President René
Préval. We also have troops in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and military observers in six
other countries in the African continent.
We deplore the violence that has affected several
countries in the Middle East, in particular Lebanon. We
call for a solution that will allow Israel and a sovereign
Palestinian State to live in peace within safe borders in
the wider context of a region that finds its own destiny
in harmony and progress.
Given the importance of coordination among
States of the region, Guatemala organized, from 11 to
13 September 2006, the first regional security meeting
of Central America and the Dominican Republic, with
the goal of achieving a consensus among the countries
of the Central American group, as well as Mexico,
Colombia, Belize and the Dominican Republic, to
develop a comprehensive strategy and to counteract the
main threats to the area, a consensus to unify the
security policies and procedures already agreed and
contained in multilateral regional and international
agreements, treaties and conventions, as well as those
adopted at summit meetings. We hope we can continue
to count on the support of the international community
and of the United Nations to organize three more
meetings to complete the development of that strategy.
It is important to emphasize that Guatemala is
organizing, jointly with Transparency International, the
12th International Anti-Corruption Conference, from
15 to 18 November this year. The theme for the
conference will be “Towards a fairer world: Why is
corruption still blocking the way?” This effort reflects
my Government’s firm commitment to fight the
scourge of corruption that has corroded our institutions
for many years and has prevented our citizens from
making the transition to a more just country. On that
note, you are all welcome, and we are eager to share
our challenges, progress and difficulties in this
common struggle.
Under your leadership, Madam President, at this
session the General Assembly will have to address
issues of great importance for humanity and for our
Organization. Guatemala pledges to participate actively
in the debates planned for this year. From this moment
on, we offer you our full cooperation for the success of
your presidency.