Uruguay

A very good afternoon, everyone. I would like to greet everyone here, all delegations. Today is my last speech here as President to this Assembly, and I would like to take this opportunity to greet everyone here, and in particular, the delegation of Uruguay, who has worked so hard here at the United Nations. As my la-... As this is my last statement, I was looking over the previous statements I had delivered, and in these previous statements, there was a common thread, and this is in line with how I see my vision for our country and how states relate between each other. This is the concept of freedom with responsibility, responsible freedom. I would venture to say that the first can't exist without the second. The l- life in society is about the development of the individual, and at the same time, the common good. That is what our constitution said since our country became independent. And of course, this has evolved over time with the changes in social customs. It is impossible to understand humanity without understanding the concessions that the individuals make for the common good. Essentially, we are social beings, and this ultimately impacts everyone, or at least it should, that should be the case. And that is what inspired me, as president of my country and in the spirit that I have come with to this Assembly. I am convinced that globalization will only continue further, and this represents an excellent opportunity to understand ourselves better and to take advantage of the synergies that can be taken advantage of when different cultures meet. This can be the case provided that we are tolerant and respectful of those who may think differently from us. At the same time, we must also deepen the criterion of freedom and justice, in particular here in the international stage. For this to be possible, we must all make this effort as far as we are able to. The efforts to make concessions, of course, that doesn't mean the loss of freedom or independence or the loss of any sovereignty. At the same time, we also need to have fair mechanisms where international law is applied to all equally, regardless of the country's size and regardless of the country's economic power. We must work together to build international law, which is credible and robust. Agreements, treaties, conventions, documents that are signed and are not implemented only leads to weakening international law. Of course, no country was obliged to participate in these organizations. That means that we can be, and we are, critical of how the organizations work in some ways. But what's the other option? It would be to isolate oneself in this interconnected world. Well, that wouldn't make any sense. So, a large part of the freedom within our countries and the international stage and to uphold justice, a large part of this falls on those who govern and lead us. And in this modern world where speeches lead to actions, an important leader, just with what they say, can lead to positive or negative repercussions in their country or indeed beyond. That means that we must be much more careful when we try to stimulate unity and not division within and beyond nations. Politics have, has meant that some leaders have used division as a tool to reach power and to stay in power. But of course, there's one thing to defend one's own beliefs or those shared by some individuals, and it's quite another thing to attack others' beliefs and others' way of life. In some countries, formal democracy in terms of elections, constitutions, and laws, such as the material, which is the material democracy that citizens experience on a daily basis, sometimes when that is weakened, that means that people, people's freedom can be affected. And I cannot ignore to mention what is happening in Venezuela. Among other things because this isn't a new position that we are taking. Fortunately, we have always been far from this authoritarian regime, this intolerant regime, which has attacked freedom and the common good. We all know what has been going on for quite a while in that country, and many governments and many global leaders have turned a blind eye. And for a l- a, a lack of interest, some of them, or un- unfortunately, because of their interests for some. I'm not going to go into the situation on the, of the elections. Ultimately, one has to call out the regime and the situation of the elections and not just the distorted electoral process. This also has to be done in terms of the political persecution that is going on and the violations of human rights and arbitrary detentions.I know that many heads of state and government have spoken about this. It seems to me that now is the time to act. We need to act for Venezuela and for the Venezuelan people. And also, if the international community tolerates these attitudes, then we just, we'll just wait to see what the nec- con- next country would be that would be subjected to a similar fate as the Venezuelans are. Another matter that I touched upon in my previous statements here pertains to the environment and the economy. What we have is a vocation in terms of caring for the environment. There's always this separation that we see between the economy and the environment, and the first time that I came to this assembly and I heard speeches from heads of state on this matter, since then, I am pleased to see that there has been something of an evolution, quite a quick evolution on this matter. Now, we are seeing how the economy and the environment are interlinked, and this is excellent news for humanity. Sustainable financing, for instance. My country has been a pioneer in issuing instruments such as green bonds or access to loans where fulfilling environmental goals and caring for the environment is tied to these financial products according to performance. And this has a very important and interesting domino effect because it helps states, it helps states to access financing and also to care for the environment, but also governments can then reward producers and those in industry for good behavior, for caring for the environment, and for creating a clean economy, and ultimately that will lead to greater benefits in the future. I mentioned a few minutes ago the concept of justes- justice and international law. Now, this law is applied, uh, differently in different cases. There are countries who pollute, and we see some countries w- who are making major efforts to try to improve their environmental situation. In order for this path to be sustainable in the medium and long term, the goals domestically should be fulfilled for each country and at the same time, countries need to shoulder economic commitments. And in addition to just un- undertaking commitments, they have to fulfill them because the, in the absence of this implementation, ultimately that would lead to a loss of stimulus in caring for the environment. Lastly, I just wish to mention one other, one other point that I have also touched upon previously, and on this there hasn't been much positive change. I'm convinced that it is not possible to fully enjoy freedom in the international community if there isn't the freedom of trade, if there isn't free trade. Protectionism has hindered the development of our peoples. It has led to a vicious cycle where isolation is being stimulated and protectionism is being stimulated given these barriers that are being erected. We have to aim for a more open world for other countries' goods and services, and that does not in any way mean neglecting the domestic economy. It is possible to have open-facing policies in terms of trade, and also stimulate domestic, the domestic economy. We have to build a more open world if we really believe in the equality of opportunities. The reverse case would be clear, that is to say we would not be able to generate wealth, and generate jobs, and ultimately not be able to generate prosperity if we do not do this. I wish to repeat today a concept that I mentioned in one of my previous statements to this assembly. We are all one. I, at that point, was referring to what's, to the lessons of the pandemic, if some of, some people hadn't noticed that at the time. Ultimately, this is an affirmation of common sense, and I think it should also be a compass for us in our daily work as we exercise power, both domestically and also in our bilateral relations and in the multilateral domain as well. Believe me, I am convinced that we will progress much more quickly and much more united if we do this. Thank you.