Nicaragua

I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the fine work done by your predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan. All of us were shocked by the terrorist attacks on United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. In last month’s attack the precious lives of several innocent United Nations staff members were lost, including that of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The world must not be intimidated by terrorism. The role of the United Nations as a guarantor of collective security is irreplaceable. Global security is the responsibility of all nations, just as we are all equally bound by international law. Nicaragua has come to the General Assembly to make suggestions with regard to the building of a new world order and to cooperate actively within the multilateral system to combat, among other scourges, terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, the illegal trafficking in arms and persons, and transnational crime, all of which are harmful to strengthening democracy and the progress of the world. That is why we have begun a new era in Central America, in which the region will be more united than ever before and serve as a model for democratic security that includes an innovative strategy to overcome both traditional challenges and modern threats. At the meeting of Central American Presidents that took place in Guatemala on 17 July 2003, I made a proposal for a programme for arms limitation and control in Central America to achieve a reasonable balance of forces and to foster stability, mutual trust and transparency. The idea behind my Government’s proposal is to establish the necessary controls to achieve a reasonable balance in defence forces; to put in place modern policies for regional defence and public security while strengthening mechanisms for the peaceful settlement of disputes. The Central American Presidents meeting in Belize at the beginning of this month enthusiastically approved that plan. I am also pleased to inform the General Assembly that technical teams have already begun to work to implement the plan. In the current situation, the subject of international trafficking in small arms and light weapons is equally worthy of our attention. Nicaragua will soon be the site of a major project to achieve progress in that area. Drug trafficking is global threat that constitutes an assault on democracy and its institutions and imperils comprehensive human development. Due to our privileged geographical position, international organized crime is continuing to attempt to make inroads into our region in order to make it a gateway between producers and consumers of illicit substances. We have cut off its advance in Nicaragua, a country that enjoys high levels of domestic security. However, it is essential that we strengthen the cooperation of all international actors on the basis of shared responsibility to prevent the expansion of organized crime and increased drug use. My country’s commitment to democratic security is consistent with the struggle for peace and the establishment of a just international order. A country that has experienced war, like Nicaragua, is in a better position to make a more effective contribution to preventing war than countries that have not. We Nicaraguans have suffered the horrors and the aftermath of war. It is for that reason that Nicaragua has the ability to make a contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security. It is also for that reason that I have come to General Assembly, namely, to convey to the Assembly the resolute desire and just aspirations of my Government and people to be elected as a non- permanent member of the Security Council for the 2006-2007 term. Our candidacy has garnered increasingly strong support, which we hope to strengthen decisively in the coming months. The fight against corruption is an unrelenting undertaking for my Government. We have achieved major successes and are proud to know we have set an example that is already being emulated by some of our sisterly countries. I wish to express my gratitude for the support of the international community, which understood our desire to bring morality to public administration. Corruption is the cause of many evils, and it takes a huge toll on the economy, in addition to undermining public and private institutions. Nicaragua greatly appreciates efforts to develop a United Nations convention against corruption. In that 6 regard, we also welcome the progress made during the sixth round of meetings in Vienna, which will provide a solid foundation for the establishment of international legal norms to help combat that scourge, thereby strengthening political stability in our countries. However, the fight against corruption in my country also requires a strengthening of the judicial and electoral systems. Resistance to change makes it difficult to make progress in those areas at the pace and scope required to meet my country’s needs. I therefore recently presented to Nicaragua’s political, economic and social actors my proposal for a national development plan, in order to obtain the input of all segments of Nicaraguan society. That plan also specifies the actions to be taken by every State entity in evaluating and modifying the plan to achieve the country’s comprehensive development. Nicaragua needs foreign assistance. That assistance should be coordinated in a manner that takes into account national plans and strategies pertaining to how assistance is utilized. The quality, effectiveness and impact of such cooperation should be improved by employing new ideas that lead to tangible results in the area of sustainable development. Additional new resources will also be necessary to fulfil the Millennium Development Goals. We appreciate the United Kingdom’s proposal for an international financing facility as a way to increase the flow of short-term resources by issuing negotiable instruments backed by future assistance. Cooperation in solidarity by the international community has been particularly meaningful in the area of mine clearance in my country, where substantial progress has been made, thanks both to the fine work of national and international institutions participating in that humanitarian endeavour and the professionalism of the our army’s sappers. Nicaragua is also a thankful country. On several occasions, we have received significant amounts of humanitarian assistance from many countries. As a token of our gratitude, we have made our small, but full, contribution of humanitarian assistance to neighbouring countries in need. We are now taking part in the purely humanitarian mission involving mine clearance and the provision of medical support for the civilian population in Iraq. However, international cooperation alone is not enough to achieve economic development. We must promote a more equitable international trade system through the World Trade Organization. In other words, what good is cooperation for productive development when there are tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade? We want fair treatment. That is the issue, and we hope the developed countries will support us in bringing about a new trade relationship with developing countries — such as Nicaragua. With fair treatment and with markets for our products, we will have a more competitive Central American market and will attract greater investment in order to generate more jobs at fair wages, reaping the benefits of the region’s strategic geographic location. The Central American integration process has made much progress and has been one of the pillars of my foreign policy. We have achieved our most notable results in economic integration, and we have paved the way for successful negotiation of free-trade treaties with other countries and regions, such as the one we are currently working out with the United States. Nicaragua will insist on preferential treatment in our negotiations because our economy is less developed, very open and highly dependent on trade and external financing. With greater development and wealth generation, we will keep our citizens from migrating to the North or to other countries. Peace is still only a hope in some regions of the world. Nicaragua advocates multilateral action to find peaceful solutions in keeping with international law. We are concerned at the escalation of the situation in the Middle East and its consequences, which is why we believe that the international community must contribute, through the United Nations, to finding a just and lasting peace in the region. My Government supports an immediate resumption of the peace process begun this year through the peace plan known as the road map. We confirm our commitment to strengthening the universal vocation of the United Nations so that all peoples of the world, without exception, can be fairly represented in it. That is why I reaffirm before the Assembly the importance of considering the desire of a people with legitimate representation — the Republic of China — to participate as a full-fledged member of the United Nations. 7 Nicaragua recognizes its responsibility in the building of a new international order that is more humane, more just and more secure. It has been our lot to live through difficult times since that fateful day of 11 September. Let us be capable of building a different world, so that future generations will not blame us for a lack of consensus on humanity’s problems requiring urgent action. Nicaragua is aware of that responsibility, and therefore we pledge to work with other Member States to defend multilateralism and to overcome current security problems, remaining united in the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations and in strict adherence to and respect for international law. May God bless the Assembly, may God bless the United Nations, may God bless all peoples of the world, and may God always bless Nicaragua.