Chile

In our times, a unique advance has been made in the search for peace, understanding and cooperation among peoples. Mankind is progressively becoming more and more aware of this new reality. Accordingly, the present juncture is an appropriate one for reflection and dialogue within the framework of the United Nations, for a review of our achievements as well as of our shortcomings, and for a serious, in-depth study of the role we assign to the Organization and the hopes we seek to fulfil, hopefully in the near future. I wish to reiterate here the conviction of President Aylwin's Government regarding the moral, political and social imperative of placing the needs of people at the heart of United Nations activities. Reducing poverty. increasing employment and promoting social cohesion are needs shared by the entire international community. For these reasons, the importance of this forty-seventh session of the General Assembly is inarguable. We welcome the new Member States that have joined the United Nations and that will take part with us in its endeavours. We welcome your election, Mr. President, since it will permit an experienced figure in world politics to guide our deliberations and lead them to an outcome which is satisfactory to all. At the same time we appreciate the judicious administration of your illustrious predecessor, Ambassador Shihabi.* The world is on the threshold of the twenty-first century. We have left behind us the senseless ideological confrontations between the super-Powers and the danger of nuclear holocaust. But there is no guarantee of peace. There are still old tensions and new ones the result of racism, religious fanaticism and extreme nationalism; there remains the historic challenge of development for all; and there is still a terrible social debt which cannot be rescheduled to the most disenfranchised members of all our societies. Our Organization is still faced with many challenges calling for more effective action. The war in Bosnia and the grave reports of massive violations of human rights, reaching the point of genocide, in the territories devastated by the conflict in the former Yugoslavia demand concerted and vigorous action. The auspicious but still uncertain process launched in South Africa poses new challenges for our Organization. The ongoing negotiations on the Middle East augur well for the future, but other situations in the world still pose a threat to peace. Social confrontation, the outcome of the growing gap between well-being and poverty, has become a source of global instability. Today more than ever, development with equity is the new requirement for peace, a common task we are called upon to join together and undertake. Now that the cold war is over, the role of the United Nations has taken on more relevance than ever before. The Organization has a central role to play in building a new international order which will make it possible to face the crises that constitute serious threats to peace in many parts of the world. These crises, and a whole series of economic, social and environmental challenges, can be overcome only if the Organization is strengthened, commands more respect and becomes more efficient in the pursuit of its lofty goals. Of course, it is essential that this enormous task we are calling on the world Organization to perform be complemented by the preventive activities carried out by regional organizations. Our own regional organization, the Organization of American States, is carrying out that mission by engaging in a realistic and tenacious effort to forestall or resolve the region's varied and difficult problems. But it is in the United Nations that we must develop the concepts, principles and agreements which will make the security of individuals a priority objective of international cooperation. This, in turn, will enhance coexistence among States. We must search together for new political directions that allow us to strengthen the role of the Organization in the maintenance of peace and security, in the defence of human rights, in the protection of the environment, in the struggle against drug trafficking and terrorism and in closing the gap between North and South. The starting-point must be the values that inspire our action. Chile proclaims before this worldwide forum its unswerving dedication to peace and respect for the dignity of the individual, its conviction that justice is the foundation of any truly stable society, its belief in the universal value of human rights, its respect for individual creativity and democracy as an ideal form of government its commitment, in short, to the needs of the most humble in all our societies and its recognition of the validity of law and of the search for consensus as a foundation for major national and international agreements. Chile firmly believes in the Charter of the United Nations. There is no substitute for this Organization as a world parliament, as a forum for international debates and agreements, as a source of innovative technical analysis and as a multilateral body responsible for peace, security and development. Just as we back the role of the United Nations without reservation, we likewise set no limits on our demand that it should be efficient and democratic in the attainment of its objectives. Certainly, that depends on the will of Governments, as well as on the strengthening of the competence and autonomy of the Secretariat. Above all, a balance needs to be struck between the General Assembly as the principal political organ, the Security Council as the organ responsible for dealing with the traditional problems of peace and security, and the Economic and Social Council as the primary body for promoting sustainable and equitable development. Mutually respectful interaction among these three levels should permit the United Nations to take the lead in creating an international order of peace in which the interests and problems of all countries are adequately represented. In this new world order which is taking shape and which all members of the Organization must contribute to designing, a vitally important place is occupied by the Secretary-General's report, entitled "An Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), which contains ideas and suggestions regarding preventive diplomacy and peacemaking, peace-keeping and peace-building. Chile agrees that the role of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security should be strengthened. While preventive diplomacy is playing an increasingly significant role on the international scene, the concept of peace-building, in the sense of creating a new climate and strengthening security through economic, social and cultural development, is a fundamental issue. Our country is collaborating with the United Nations and is prepared to increase its participation in the future, should that prove necessary. Chile's readiness in this regard has been expressed in its support for the Security Council in the decisions that have been adopted. Likewise, it has in recent years placed at the service of the United Nations the knowledge and professional experience of its armed forces and forces of public order. Chilean soldiers have traditionally been among the members of the United Nations observer forces in the Middle East and the Asian subcontinent. Our marines are initiating their activities in Cambodia, our pilots have been active in Kuwait, and our police are collaborating with the peace force in El Salvador. In this spirit of service to the cause of peace, Chile is a constant participant in the debates in multilateral forums on disarmament on a global scale, without prejudice to our active involvement on the regional level. We support the Convention on chemical weapons and reiterate our legitimate desire to become a full member of the Conference on Disarmament once the issue of its enlargement becomes the subject of real discussion. In the regional sphere, we see as important the initiative we have taken, together with Argentina and Brazil, that is designed to give full effect to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean through a set of amendments intended to strengthen its monitoring system and which the conference of signatories has approved by acclamation. In the context of the positive spirit that has succeeded the cold-war period and is characterized by the search for agreements and a climate of friendship and collaboration between the Powers, my country considers that the time has come to undertake, on a carefully thought-out time scale, the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and to put a definitive end right now to the testing of such weapons. I join my voice with those of the Ministers of the Nordic Group who, meeting at Svalbard, welcome the efforts being made, particularly the halting of the French tests in the Pacific, and expressed their wish that the voluntary moratorium on all nuclear explosions should become a permanent one, removing from the world once and for all these practices which threaten our security, coexistence and environment. In the years to come, we shall have to take up the issue of the composition of the Security Council. We believe that this important body should reflect new international realities, and we are accordingly ready to consider with interest and sympathy new formulas that would appropriately reflect the aspirations of new world Powers which are seeking to become regular members of the Council. It is also essential to strengthen the presence in that body of the various developing regions. Inevitably, this will entail greater participation numerically, as well as new forms of regional representation. With improvements over time, this practice could become a mechanism for representation of the regional groups which would combine freedom of action for the country elected with the expression of the will of the countries of its region. This system, if effectively operated, could ensure that all Members of the Organization feel that they are participating to the proper extent in the decisions of the Security Council. Chile is also interested in strengthening the Economic and Social Council. According to the Charter of the United Nations, this is the principal specialized body of the system for analysing in an integrated way the political, technical and operational dimensions of current economic and social problems. The Council should be strengthened and renewed in order to become a true council for development, capable of guiding high-level dialogue, formulating development policies and providing proper guidance for the operational activities of the system. We shall be participating actively in discussions under way on these issues on the basis of the interesting proposals submitted by the Nordic countries and the Group of 77, and of the resolutions of the most recent session of the Council. A factor that will contribute to the reform of the" Economic and Social Council will be the establishment, under it, of the commission for sustainable development, which is called upon to become the body for monitoring environment. problems. The link between the commission on sustainable development and the world environment fund is also the key to the success of Agenda 21, the ambitious programme of action approved by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The practical results of the Conference, which were characterized by the great effort made to reach agreement, are being carefully watched by the public at large, which is participating in ever-greater numbers in this process. The signing of the Conventions on biological diversity and climate change, the convening of the world conferences on desertification a subject of great interest to many countries, but of vital importance to the African nations and the conference on fishing on the high seas are milestones in the international effort to preserve the environment. We cannot enter a new era of world peace although it is potentially within our grasp if we forget the human being. In the final analysis, our capacity to lead and the raison d'être of the United Nations will be measured by the success we achieve in the field of social development. Without greater well-being for all our citizens, there will be no peace, security or lasting stability at either the national or the international level. That is why we put forward the initiative for a world summit for social development. This proposal was recently endorsed unanimously in the Economic and Social Council, which approved a positive recommendation to the General Assembly that it convene the summit at the beginning of 1995 at the level of Heads of State and Heads of Government. I should like to take this occasion to thank all the Member States which participated in that consensus, and in particular the 121 countries that sponsored the relevant resolution. I should also like to thank the Secretary-General for having assigned to our representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Juan Somavia, the task of bringing to a successful conclusion the consultations required to put this initiative into effect. The first step has now been taken. Much remains to be done. There is no doubt that the primary responsibility for resolving this situation is borne at the domestic level. Each country must take steps to stabilize the functioning of its political system, encourage investment, trade and technological development and ensure equitable distribution of income. Chile has accepted that challenge. It is growing today at an annual rate of 7 per cent and has reduced unemployment to about 5 per cent and inflation to 13 per cent a year. In addition, under President Aylwin's Government, the process of solving the problem of external debt has been concluded, the real income of salaried workers has increased by 15 per cent and policies designed to alleviate the poverty of the most disenfranchised sectors of the population have been implemented. This has been done on the basis of an open economy which has concentrated on both economic and social efficiency against a background of personal freedom and political democracy. Although the success of these programmes has been recognized by the various sectors in our national life, we are aware that much more still needs to be done with our resources. But we are equally aware that the benefits for our country would be significantly greater if the ground rules of the international economy were more equitable. Even while most of the world is calling, with growing clarity and force, for the abolition of protectionism and the formulation of stable and non-discriminatory rules to govern international trade, unilateral measures are reversing this world-wide trend and giving rise to direct forms of protectionism in the main world markets, in a departure from the principles and regulatory framework established under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. I now wish to say a few words on the Secretariat. First, we welcome the election of the distinguished scholar, diplomat and politician Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary-General. The Members of the United Nations are witnesses to Chile's consistent support for the African continent's aspiration to see one of its own in that high post. We have already expressed our opinion publicly at the bilateral level, within the Non-Aligned Movement and in the General Assembly last year. We already have evidence of the Secretary-General's character and decision-making ability. We support him in his task. The Secretariat is of course a vital organ under the Charter and in the United Nations system. In order to meet the challenges that lie ahead, it must act with the maximum efficiency and autonomy. The Secretariat is at the service of all countries, and accordingly all of them must be properly represented at its various levels. The efficiency of the Organization depends to a large extent on the confidence Governments have in the technical ability, experience and impartiality of its staff. At a time when we are asking the Organization to perform all the tasks that arise in this era, its constant financial insecurity is absurd. It is essential to enhance the fluidity and automaticity of countries' payment of their assessments. This is doubtless a responsibility that is shared by all, but to the greatest extent by the main contributors. We cannot have a strong Organization with a weak financial base. The specialized agencies and regional commissions are called upon to continue playing a vital role in such fields as cooperation for development, protection of the environment and economic and social analysis. The contributions they have made, to the benefit above all of the developing world, must be assessed at their true value.* The support of the United Nations for the second Space Conference of the Americas, to be held shortly in Santiago, is another example that regional and global efforts are complementary. Chile has long had the privilege of being the site of important regional offices of the world Organization. Their presence in our country is proof of Chile's commitment to the activities of the United Nations, which we shall always be prepared to support. The subject of the United Nations, which is certainly what has brought us together, is an exciting one for the international community. Indeed, fulfilment of the purposes and principles of its Charter has been a constant concern of our country. Likewise, failure to respect them arouses a sense of frustration. The duties and rights of each Member State vis-a-vis the Organization can in no way be reduced to a matter of legalities or to simple mechanical action. We recognize a real commitment to the United Nations system, and consequently we discharge each of our duties responsibly. The nations assembled here and indeed the world have before them the best possible opportunity of firmly guaranteeing the future of coming generations, a substantial improvement in the quality of life, the elimination of the development gap and the attainment of peace in short, the opportunity of building a better world for all and with all. Let us all take up that challenge.