Brazil

Brazil congratulates you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. Your personal record in defence of democracy and human rights, which was forged in the struggle of the people of Namibia for liberty and self-determination, offers an inspiring example for our work. 4 As a sister nation of Uruguay, we take pride in the work done by your predecessor, my friend, Minister Didier Opertti. I would like to express the appreciation and gratitude of the Brazilian Government for his decisive role in presiding over the fifty-third session. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is equally deserving of special recognition. In these times of far-reaching and uncharted challenges before the international community, his sense of proportion and the strength of his serene leadership have been valuable aids in the search for realistic and innovative solutions. We appreciate and support his endeavours in the cause of peace, development and justice. The Brazilian Government warmly greets the admission of Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga, which have just joined the United Nations family. Year after year, for over half a century, we have gathered here to discuss and debate the issues of our time. Year after year, the representatives of the Member countries of the United Nations have come to this rostrum to set forth their vision of global affairs and to provide analysis and to propose solutions. As the requirements of our societies become ever greater over time, there grows a sense of an ever-widening gulf between our words and our deeds, a distance that serves only to feed the scepticism of some and the pessimism of others. Whenever an unfolding crisis and its human tragedy break through international indifference and become newsworthy, it is to the United Nations that the public opinion of our countries looks for meaningful answers. Unfortunately, however, the international community feels compelled to act in a coordinated fashion, mobilizing the necessary resources and political will, only when long- festering problems threaten to get out of hand, making a satisfactory solution all the more difficult. The upshot is a sense of frustration and impatience towards the United Nations. This may be because the necessary initiatives are in the end adopted outside the United Nations framework, as was the case in Kosovo. Or it may be because the measures agreed are not up to the concrete needs, as we have seen in East Timor. Or it may even be because the United Nations finds itself once again confronted, as in Angola, with well-known conflicts of catastrophic proportions that the international community has failed to address in a timely manner. Why is it that certain predicaments generate intense mobilization of ways and means, but not others? Why does human suffering in some parts of the globe fuel greater indignation than when it takes place elsewhere? The plight of Angola and that of East Timor offer two glaring examples of what amounts to a clear pattern of one-sided and unequal attention. In Angola, UNITA’s refusal to abide by the Lusaka Protocol and hardened positions threaten to rekindle in all its intensity the same civil war that over a quarter of a century has caused incalculable suffering to millions in that country, particularly the defenceless and the deprived. In Angola, which has special bonds with Brazil, the international community is squarely faced — despite the limited international press coverage — with an immense political challenge and a humanitarian disaster of shocking proportions. Urgent and priority action is called for. The Security Council can no longer allow its resolutions to be blatantly ignored, as has been the case. No less urgent — and in this case the United Nations is now actively engaged — is the task of helping guarantee the right of the East Timorese people to decide their own future as an independent nation, a decision unmistakably voiced in a free ballot. Brazilian society, which shares linguistic, cultural and historic ties with the Timorese, joined in their rejoicing when the vote returned a resounding verdict for independence. There was consternation in Brazil at the violence against our brothers in East Timor and at the loss of innocent lives that followed. Brazil cannot accept, nor can Brazilian citizens understand, that the self-determination of the Timorese people is not fully assured. We therefore believe that the multinational force authorized by the Security Council — a force in which Brazil was determined to participate from the very outset — will put a stop to the atrocities committed since the popular ballot and will be able to re-establish the necessary conditions for a peaceful transition to independence. Over the past decade, Latin America, long viewed as a land of backwardness and dictatorships, has fashioned a new international image for itself through the transformations it has undergone. The return to democracy in our countries has had a decisive role in this, as did our important achievements in fostering respect for human rights — although much remains to be done. The adoption of consistent economic policies, in turn, has 5 made it possible to overcome the endless dilemmas that had ensnared us, and to put an end to the inflationary spiral that had brought so much uncertainty and injustice to our citizens. Let there be no doubt that the difficulties that we experienced, on and off, throughout 1999 will not cause us to lose faith and relinquish our achievements. For a few days, or maybe weeks, at the beginning of the year, Brazil was dubbed by some “the sick man of Latin America”. It was thought that we might slip back into the trap of high inflation, that we would experience deep recession, that we would once again resort to the panacea of stoking short- term growth and return to the old boom-and-bust cycles of the past. Yet we have arrived at the end of the century with an inflation rate under 8 per cent. We fully expect to embark on a course of sustained annual growth of more than 4 per cent and are set to bring to completion a large-scale modernization programme by means of important reforms in tax, fiscal and social security matters. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso will not flinch in his determination to lay the groundwork for our country to become modern, economically fit and dynamic, as well as socially more just and politically mature. With the advent of democracy, Brazil and Argentina have developed the solid friendship that binds our peoples, and have over a short space of time built a lasting monument to integration. Our bilateral agreements in the field of nuclear cooperation are exemplary and a stabilizing force in the region and worldwide. The Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) — which our two countries joined Paraguay and Uruguay in establishing and with which the democracies of Bolivia and Chile have associated themselves — has fundamentally altered the economic face of the hemisphere and indeed of the world. Our integration process is not directed against anyone, but, on the contrary, seeks to strengthen our historical ties both within and beyond the Americas. Both individually and within the framework of MERCOSUR our countries have become a powerful force in the drive to set the international trade system on a more open, balanced course, one that no longer aids and abets protectionist privileges at the expense, more often than not, of developing countries. Democracy has made it possible for the countries of Latin America to provide mutual assistance — without undue and unsolicited foreign interference and in a spirit of collaboration — whenever there is a jointly perceived threat to the institutional stability of one of them. Thanks to democracy, the countries of our region have successfully solved disputes that for long disturbed the harmony of the more peaceful and stable of continents. At the end of last year, Ecuador and Peru, with the diplomatic support of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the United States, signed in Brasilia the agreements that put an end to their long- running boundary dispute. Thus, despite all manner of difficulties, Latin America is transforming itself into a tightly knit entity that is politically, economically and socially integrated. It is in this spirit of integration, and in the abiding awareness that we belong to one family, that Brazil feels closely attuned to the various efforts at renewal under way in the region. The elections scheduled for next October in Argentina will no doubt confirm the political vitality of this great neighbour of ours and guarantee the necessary economic conditions for stability and reinvigorated growth. These same favourable expectations, we are sure, will be fulfilled at the elections to be held in Chile and in Uruguay this year, and in Mexico next year. Their outcome will most certainly underline the democratic character of Latin America. The political and economic achievements of Bolivia since the 1980s in overcoming obstacles that 20 years ago seemed insurmountable are a further indication of how much our region has changed for the better. Peru as well has gained international recognition through its resounding successes in reversing the adverse economic trends of past decades and in the war against terrorism and drug trafficking. This capacity to overcome obstacles is equally noticeable in Ecuador, where, with the support of international financial institutions, political forces will — through democratic and constitutional channels — undertake the needed reforms to overcome the present crisis. Paraguay, in turn, successfully dealt with a delicate political crisis at the beginning of this year and is moving steadily along the road of democratic institution-building and economic development. Brazil, as always, will continue to decisively support Paraguay in that endeavour. Guyana provides a further demonstration, not only of our commitment to upholding and fostering democratic values, but equally of the integrationist spirit that inspires us. It is our hope that Suriname will join in the efforts and achievements of the region in bringing about these positive changes. The transformations that Venezuela is undergoing have drawn great international attention. This process of change must be respected, for it clearly and legitimately reflects the Venezuelan people’s desire for renewal. The expression of this aspiration through 6 institutional channels is the best guarantee that the changes under way will stay on the track of respect for the norms, rights and duties that define democracy. Brazil is also confident that the Government of President Andrés Pastrana, in Colombia, will persevere in its endeavours to bring peace to this kindred nation. Undue foreign interference would only aggravate an already complex situation, which it is up to the Colombians themselves to overcome. It is on the success of our neighbours, in which we trust, that hinges the success of the Brazilian people and its Government in solving their own problems and in overcoming their own challenges, which are neither few nor small. Organized crime and drug trafficking today pose a major challenge to democratic societies. They clearly represent a serious threat to the security of national institutions and to citizens directly, who pay with their own lives the intolerable price for this scourge of our times. The spiralling stockpile of and trade in small arms is closely linked to organized crime and drug trafficking. As its citizens find their lives daily at risk because of contraband firearms, Brazil gives the utmost priority to tackling this question. At the regional level we approved the important Inter-American Convention on Transparency in Conventional Weapons Acquisitions. We would like this Assembly to endorse the proposal to hold an international conference on illicit arms trafficking in all its aspects. Similarly, Brazil attaches considerable importance to the work being done on a draft convention against transnational organized crime. In turn, the continued existence of weapons of mass destruction remains a threat to the security and even the survival of humankind. All actions contrary to the aims of the non-proliferation regime should be firmly condemned by the international community. At the same time, it behooves the nuclear-armed States, as well as the threshold States, to move towards the complete and irreversible elimination of nuclear armaments. For this reason, Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden will once again submit, at this session, a draft resolution on a new agenda for nuclear disarmament. The draft resolution, which seeks to pave the way for a constructive dialogue on this issue, is grounded on a realistic and balanced appraisal of the nature of the nuclear disarmament process. Our countries’ democratic institutions and the international organizations, particularly the United Nations, face fundamental challenges today. Our countries are confronted daily with economic difficulties and acute social grievances, such as poverty and extremes of inequality, which heighten impatience: impatience with economies unable to grow at a rate compatible with faster improvement of the well-being of societies; impatience in the face of vulnerability to crises and to turbulence in international markets; and impatience with political processes that sometimes appear slow to respond to the legitimate and pressing demands of citizens. It is vital, however, that this collective impatience be voiced and guided through democratic channels. Brazil’s commitment to democratic institutions and to the primacy of law also applies to international relations. At the outset of his second term of office, to which he was elected last October by an absolute majority of Brazilian voters, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso made it clear that: “The rule of law is the only admissible foundation for the international order. Should unilateralism and the use of force come to be accepted as organizing principles of international relations, in the long term it will be more rational to side with the instruments of power politics rather than to strive for order and to abide by law. If we are to see a truly new world order emerge, one of its cornerstones must be the acceptance that multilateral institutions — not least the Security Council — are the source of legality and legitimacy for those actions that guarantee peace and the peaceful resolution of disputes”. Our societies await, again with increasing impatience, seeing multilateral organizations, and in particular the United Nations, show themselves to be up to the challenge of playing a meaningful — in fact, crucial — role in establishing an international order attuned to the shared aspirations and values of humankind as a whole. The road ahead calls for renewal and change. If the Governments of the world desire a strong and effective United Nations, they must not only change how they think and act with respect to this Organization, but they must also think and act to bring about change in the Organization. This is what is at stake. This is the challenge before us.