Twenty-one
years ago, on a day like today, a terrible earthquake
battered my country. We remember the victims, and we
express our ongoing solidarity with their family
members.
Madam President, on behalf of Mexico, let me
congratulate you on your election to the presidency of
the General Assembly at its sixty-first session. We wish
you every success.
The Mexican people thank Mr. Jan Eliasson for
his leadership during the Assembly’s sixtieth session
06-52737 4
and for his contribution to the United Nations reform
process.
Mexico warmly welcomes the people of
Montenegro to this Organization of free and juridically
equal nations. We welcome all nations that today have
joined the free and democratic nations, through
genuine representation of their peoples, and are united
in the struggle against terrorism and in favour of
human rights.
A few days ago, we commemorated the fifth
anniversary of a terrorist act that plunged many
families of this and other countries into mourning. We
offer our sympathy to those who have suffered the
violence and cruelty of terrorism. Mexico strongly
condemns that terrible evil, as it condemns all acts of
aggression or violence. We repudiate any action that
undermines peace or conflicts with the noble principles
and purposes of our Organization.
Throughout the past six decades, the peoples of
the United Nations have seen that the use of force does
not solve problems; on the contrary, it often aggravates
them. Peace and development are the fruit of mutual
respect and the cooperation to which such respect gives
rise.
The peoples of the United Nations are well aware
that the deterioration of peace and security is the result
of insufficient international dialogue and cooperation.
We know, too, that many of the setbacks — such as
those in the field of disarmament and those that take
the form of aggression against other people or the
environment — are caused by a lack of respect among
nations.
These are very challenging times. Our peoples
today face such situations as the persistence of long-
standing international conflicts or the emergence of
new tensions and threats to international peace. They
also must tackle problems ranging from poverty,
disease and illiteracy to inequality of opportunity and
the urgent need for more inclusive dialogue aimed at
increasing mutual understanding.
Humanity is desperately seeking respect,
understanding, and cooperation among nations. There
will be no peace without respect among nations, no
development without cooperation among them.
These are challenging times, but also times of
hope. I believe that hope and goodness alone can give
us the necessary strength and drive to achieve our goals
and fulfil our dreams.
This house, the foremost of the international
forums established by mankind, is built upon the
principles and values shared by all peoples, the product
of their common essence. Here, we summon up what is
best in us. Here, we show that what unites us is not
force and animosity, but hope and solidarity. Here, we
are united by our ideals and our will to preserve future
generations from the scourge of war. Here, we work
together to foster the dignity and worth of the human
person, and, shoulder to shoulder, we promote the
economic and social progress of all of our peoples.
Here, we make firm commitments, such as the
Millennium Development Goals, and we work
enthusiastically in order to go forward and achieve
those goals. This is no small task. There are many
challenges, because the goals are ambitious. The
magnitude of the challenges cannot and should not
overshadow the scope of our common will.
Mexico’s message is one of hope and of faith in
what we are capable of achieving together. It is a
message of confidence in the work done by our United
Nations. This is the message of Mexico, whose people
conquered democracy in 2000 and in so doing inspired
hope for a new future of prosperity and justice.
Mexico is a country with well-established
institutions which guide and lead our nation. It is
currently experiencing unprecedented freedoms. My
people live and work in peace, enjoy stability and have
their eyes set on new horizons of well-being and
justice.
The democratic Mexico is firmly committed to
protecting human rights. We are very proud to be a
founding member of the Human Rights Council and to
occupy its first presidency. We will continue working
with enthusiasm and determination in order to make
the Council an organ that responds effectively to the
challenges posed by human rights.
Mexico is a country that cherishes its roots and
traditions and treasures its heritage as a land of many
and diverse cultures. We prize the legacy of our
indigenous peoples and are proud of our indigenous
present. We are actively engaged in the recognition and
promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples at the
international level.
5 06-52737
In May, a Rarámuri woman from the state of
Chihuahua named Isabel said to me, “Mr. President, it
is certainly true that all human beings are different
from one another, that we see the world through
different lenses and that we do not all share the same
beliefs. Nevertheless, all human beings are equal in
dignity and stature”. She asked me to pass on that
message. I promised her that I would do so, and today I
am keeping my word by bringing Isabel’s voice and
those of our other indigenous sisters and brothers to
this forum. Isabel’s voice is the voice of all Mexican
women and men who are fighting discrimination.
Thanks to the commitment of the members of the
Human Rights Council, the General Assembly will
have before it for consideration a draft United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On
behalf of the indigenous peoples of Mexico and of the
rest of the world, I call upon each and every State
Member of this Organization to adopt that draft
Declaration and to endow it with the means necessary
for it to promote respect for the rights of indigenous
peoples.
Five years ago, in a spirit of great enthusiasm and
in the quest for a more just and human-centred world
for millions of people with disabilities, my country,
Mexico, presented the General Assembly with a
proposal for a draft United Nations convention on the
protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of
persons with disabilities. We now have a draft text that
will prompt Governments and society to pay more
attention to people with disabilities. I urge all nations
to sign and ratify that legal instrument — proposed by
my country and already endorsed by many of the
nations represented here — with a view to creating a
world of greater justice, humanity and dignity for all.
Mexico believes in the United Nations — in its
present and in its future. We have always worked here
in a constructive manner, promoting consensus and
harmony and putting forward initiatives to address the
greatest challenges of our times.
I would like to thank and pay tribute to the heads
of State of Algeria, Australia, Canada, Colombia,
Chile, Germany, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Spain and Sweden for
their support for the Mexican initiative to establish the
Group of Friends for United Nations Reform. Together,
we presented proposals that were taken up in the
Secretary-General’s report of March 2005 (A/59/2005).
I am certain that our commitment to reform of the
United Nations will result in a stronger Organization
that is capable of accomplishing the lofty objectives for
which it was created. Mexico is convinced of the need
to promote a reform of the Security Council that can
guarantee the Council’s representativeness, efficacy
and transparency, as well as ensure accountability. That
objective will not be reached by creating new
permanent seats.
We are an Organization based on the principle of
the juridical equality of States. The reform of the
Security Council should ensure more frequent
participation by all Member States in the activities of
that body. That is why Mexico proposes an increase in
the number of non-permanent seats, with the
possibility of immediate re-election.
As this is the last time that I will speaking in the
Assembly in my capacity as President of Mexico, I
would like to express my gratitude to all Member
States for their support for all of our efforts and
initiatives over the past six years.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a good friend of
Mexico. He will be remembered for his efforts to
reform and strengthen this Organization and for his
passion for peace and harmony among nations.
I would like to reaffirm my country’s
unconditional commitment to the objectives of the San
Francisco Charter, to the reform process currently
under way and to our common quest for a world free
from poverty, fear and despair — a world of mutual
respect, peace and harmony.
From this rostrum I appeal, on behalf of Mexico,
for respect and peace among nations. In particular, I
call on the United Nations to continue to promote an
effective peace process in the Middle East.
There is no greater enemy or obstacle than
hopelessness, unkindness and lack of solidarity. Let us
build a future based on the strength of our ideals and
values, confident that our United Nations can achieve
great things.
In the same spirit that made our peoples free,
sovereign, democratic and human-centred nations, I
invite the Assembly today to set its sights on a future
of greater freedom, justice, brotherhood and solidarity
among human beings.