Many times in history, assassinations have been the prologue to great tragedies. Based on the rejection or hatred of their victims, the perpetrators of such actions have upended the public order and opened the gates to enormous social discord. Entire peoples have succumbed to such prophets of hate. For that very reason and in order to underscore the values of rational democratic coexistence, I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude for the solidarity that the entire world has shown with Argentina with regard to the attempt on the life of our Vice-President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
In Argentina, the attempt on the life of Vice-President not only affected the public order; it also sought to undermine the virtuous collective achievement that next year will see the celebration of its fortieth anniversary. In 1983, we restored democracy and began a long historic cycle during which different political parties have alternated serving in the Government.
We Argentinians adopted the “never again” agreement on State terrorism and political violence. We value democracy as a model of social development that demands respect for others in their diversity.
I am sure that fascist violence under the guise as republicanism will not succeed in changing the broad consensus to which the vast majority of Argentine society adheres. By exploiting the unrest caused by the pandemic and the economic effects of the war, extremist and violent narratives have proliferated and found fertile ground for promoting anti-political sentiment in our societies. Remaining silent before such glaring signs could make us responsible for jeopardizing the rule of law itself. Those who seek to weaken and erode democracies have a special interest in fostering extreme polarization. Let us not resign ourselves to such a scenario. Let us forge a robust global condemnation of those who promote division in our communities.
It is incumbent upon the General Assembly to respond to the warning signs on the planet in a timely manner. As survivors of a pandemic that struck humankind, we face the choice of learning from that tragic experience or watching the world move towards ever-greater confrontations. The pandemic revealed the enormous inequalities endured by the world’s population. Is it fair that the wealth of 10 men alone represents a sum greater than the combined income of 40 per cent of the world’s population? Where are the ethics in the fact that the pandemic has claimed four times as many lives in the poorest countries than in the richest? Failing to condemn this model of capital accumulation that concentrates wealth among a few people while millions of others drown in poverty makes us complicit in creating such a level of inequality. We still have time to stop many of the threats facing humankind. The injustices we are seeing will only get worse if extreme positions take root; if wars become protracted, while exacerbating hunger; and if persistent inflation erodes the incomes of the most vulnerable.
We must work together in solidarity. We must strengthen a cooperative multilateralism that will ensure the strengthening of the rule of law, the principle of non-violence and greater equity to reduce social gaps. In order to overcome such challenges, we must restore the primacy of peace. We have always advocated for the peaceful settlement of all disputes. It is imperative that all ongoing hostilities cease. For that reason, we need to work together to pursue dialogue and restore peace in the dispute that began with the Russian Federation’s military encroachment on the territory of Ukraine. As we seek to reach the horizon of global peacemaking, we must abandon the economic and financial practices that the developed world demands of the developing world. Maintaining the current situation will only increase poverty and marginalization. If we do not change, we will be unable to build fairer, freer and more stable societies committed to upholding their institutions.
Indebted nations suffer much more from the effects of the established system. Argentina is among them. For that reason, I would like to thank all the States that have supported us in the complex process of renegotiating our foreign debt. My Government did not create that debt but is addressing it in all seriousness. Our criteria are known. They respond to the provisions of resolution 69/319 of 2015, which stipulates that sovereign debt restructurings must promote sustained and inclusive growth while minimizing economic and social costs, warranting the stability of the international financial system and respecting human rights. While we call for a change in the paradigms that govern the international financial system, we subscribe to the same principles underpinning the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Food security must be guaranteed to all who live on the planet. Hunger cannot be allowed in this day and age. The recent reports of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations warn of the impact of the excessive volatility in some food prices and the changes in input markets that influence their production. All of that has had and continues to have a significant effect on increased inflation worldwide; all of those factors are to the detriment of the most vulnerable. Argentina will fulfil its role as a reliable producer and exporter of nutritious and quality food, as well as a supplier of technologies to improve food production. We must guarantee a fairer and more transparent, equitable and predictable international trade system for agricultural products. If we ensure such a system, food-producing countries will be able to make the needed investments to increase production and help alleviate world hunger
Just as we must ensure food security, we must have secure and predictable access to energy. Argentina will continue to stand ready to help overcome that great challenge. We are ramping up production to provide the world with clean energies ,and others that, like natural gas, will enable us to reduce carbon emissions during the transition. We have the world’s
second largest unconventional gas reserves and the fourth largest unconventional oil reserves. We hold large reserves of lithium and the potential to develop solar and wind energy, as well as low- and zero-emission hydrogen. We are working to ensure that our path towards achieving environmental sustainability and food and energy security will be feasible, but all our efforts will be in vain if we do not walk on that path within a framework of increased equitable economic and social development. In that spirit, we are deploying our industrial capabilities and creating added value along the entire production chain. We must include our industrial, scientific and technological suppliers at every turn. Production that creates dignified employment is the path we have chosen to develop.
Just as it is incumbent upon us to seek development that benefits everyone, the environmental situation of our planet urgently requires us to take firm and decisive action for the sake of future generations. Ecological problems require the involvement of everyone. They need a constructive relationship between States and societies — a crucial partnership, without which sustainable development becomes an illusion.
Urgent issues, such as climate change, biodiversity and plastic pollution, should mobilize our efforts in the hope that we can build a broad consensus to ensure the preservation of the planet and humankind. We are not all equally responsible for the climate crisis. Neither Latin America and the Caribbean nor Africa are at the forefront of carbon emissions. Responsibilities must clearly be differentiated, and that requires immediately alleviating the efforts of those that were not to blame.
We want to continue strengthening Argentina’s long-standing position based on the principles of international humanitarian law, unrestricted respect for the sovereignty of States, the self-determination of peoples, the gender perspective and cooperation.
Through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, holding the presidency pro tempore, we are reinforcing the principles of collaboration, promoting democratic pluralism and fostering South- South and triangular cooperation.
Argentina is actively involved in peacekeeping operations, an essential instrument of the United Nations. We will continue on that path.
I would like to draw attention to the use of unilateral coercive measures. Under the Charter of the United Nations, the only legitimate sanctions are those imposed by the Security Council to enforce its resolutions regarding the maintenance of peace and security. Argentina therefore joins the demand by the peoples of Cuba and Venezuela that the blockades suffered by those nations be lifted.
I would like to thank all Member States for having entrusted Argentina with the presidency of the Human Rights Council this year. For us, the defence of human rights is part of our identity and our history. The Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo taught us to persist and to fight. They showed us the way so that, with political will and social consensus, we could carry out a process to eradicate impunity that is unique in the world, based on memory, truth and justice.
In the same spirit, our country has expanded citizens’ rights by developing laws and public policies that promote the equality of women and diversity, based on an intersectoral, intercultural and human- rights approach.
The much-declared social equality requires that we all have access to the advantages offered by the present. In the digital era in which we live, we believe it a priority to universalize access to information and communication technologies and to promote actions that reduce the inequality gaps seen today.
The United Nations is the right place for the international community to achieve the necessary agreements to ensure the maintenance of a free, open, stable, secure and, above all, peaceful cyberspace, where hatred and violence are not fostered through anonymity.
Argentina condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It must be countered in the context of the rule of law and full respect for international law. We continue to fight against impunity, investigating the attacks on the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and on the headquarters of the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in 1994, which claimed the lives of 107 people and injured hundreds. We want those responsible for such heinous attacks to be identified, tried and ultimately sentenced. Once again, we urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate with the Argentine judicial authorities to advance the investigation into the AMIA bombing. We also urge the international community to join us in our struggle by refraining from receiving or harbouring any of the accused, even if they enjoy diplomatic immunity. We must remember that international arrest warrants and INTERPOL red notices are pending against them.
Latin America and the Caribbean is a region of peace. We are working to also make it more just and equal. We know the tremendous comparative advantage that the Southern Common Market, in particular, and all of Latin America, in general, have in sustainable food production and energy supply.
We have a great opportunity to develop. If we improve the quality of life of our people by creating genuine employment, we can eradicate the pockets of poverty that persist in our societies today.
I wish to reaffirm the legitimate and inalienable sovereign rights of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas. They are part of Argentina’s national territory and have been illegally occupied by the United Kingdom for almost 190 years. The request made through resolution 2065 (XX), of 1965, has remained in force and has been reiterated on many occasions,
The United Kingdom persists in its attitude of disregarding the call to resume negotiations on the territorial dispute. Moreover, it has exacerbated the dispute by its calls for the illegal exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources in the area. It also insists on an unjustified and excessive military presence on the islands, which only brings tension to a region characterized as an area of peace and international cooperation. We request that the Secretary-General renew his efforts to fulfil that request and that the United Kingdom agree to heed the call of the international community and put an end to that anachronistic colonial situation. In that context, I wish to reiterate my country’s full readiness to return to the negotiating table and seek a solution that will put an end to this long-standing sovereignty dispute.
We live in a world where injustices and inequalities are increasing. At the same time, democracies are increasingly at risk, peace is crumbling and uncertainty is increasing. We have an urgent moral duty that cannot be postponed, and that is now. We must work and implement effective global agreements that eradicate hunger, drastically reduce inequalities and ensure democratic stability, peace and coexistence. Humankind is threatened. Argentina humbly calls on all the countries of the world to build a new social model that ensures prosperity through social justice.