Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda offers hearty congratulations on the election of the president of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. His efforts towards bringing about the independence of Namibia are well known, and many of us remember when he occupied a seat on the right side of 33 the main section of this Hall, sitting as an observer behind the name plate of the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). Mr. Gurirab's call for the return to Africa of its plundered artwork and artifacts struck a chord, as those of us who studied the African liberation struggles will recall that some 25 years ago, when he was a younger individual, he pleaded with this body for the return of African icons which adorned European and North American museums and private collections. My country is most supportive of his plea and would urge that the priceless treasures of artwork, icons and relics be returned to the continent from which they were taken. My country also wishes to thank his predecessor, Didier Opertti, who hails from Latin America and the Caribbean, for the astute and skilful manner in which he conducted the affairs of the fifty-third session. Likewise, my nation's sentiments go out to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and we wish him continued success in the arduous tasks of bringing peace, harmony, development and justice to a global community not yet united into a true family of nations. A warm welcome is simultaneously extended to the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga on becoming full-fledged members of the United Nations. To the people of our sister Caribbean Community (CARICOM) State of the Bahamas, we extend our profound sympathy in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Floyd upon the islands of Abaco, Eleuthera, San Salvador and Cat Island, as well as other parts of the country. We thank donor countries and international institutions for the assistance given in the past, and we hope that there will be a speedy response to the needs of the Bahamian community at this time. In this regard, special mention has to be made of Kuwait for the manner in which it follows up on assisting small Caribbean countries in times of peril, and we urge the international community to work towards the preservation of that country and the maintenance of the dignity of its people. It was with delight and glee that I read the Secretary- General's descriptive definition of globalization, as it took in some of the considerations that my country has brought before this body over the past three years. He stated, “Globalization is a summary term for the increasingly complex interactions between individuals, enterprises, institutions and markets across national borders. The manifold challenges it poses, challenges that cannot successfully be addressed by nation States acting on their own, provide the most immediate and obvious reason for strengthening multilateral cooperation. Globalization is manifest in the growth in trade, technology and financial flows; in the continuing growth and increasing influence of international civil society actors; in the global operations of transnational corporations; in the vast increase in transboundary communication and information exchanges, most notably via the Internet; in transboundary transmission of disease and ecological impact; and in the increased internationalization of certain types of criminal activity. Its benefits and risks are distributed unequally, and the growth and prosperity it provides for many is offset by the increasing vulnerability and marginalization of others — and by the growth of 'uncivil society'.” (A/54/1, para. 220) Clearly, globalization leads to the reduction of the sovereignty of States, with the weakest and the smallest being the biggest losers. Sadly lacking in the arguments for globalization is the need to give consideration to the pace, direction and content of liberalization due to different levels of development and the need to build up national capabilities. Above all is the insistence on the principle of free trade for the developing world and an exemption from the same for the industrialized countries. Protective devices are inbuilt for farmers in the dominant economies, which include subsidies, guaranteed markets, payments not to produce beyond a certain level in order to maintain price levels and quite often insistence that imported farm belt products come in by way of limited means of processing and under the most stringent of guidelines. On the other hand, when former colonial countries provide preferences to their previous colonies of exploitation, challenges are mounted through the World Trade Organization by multinational enterprises. There is no more blatant example than Chiquita in regard to the Caribbean banana producers. The sad thing is that there is clear knowledge that in modern times there has never been free trade. It is not my intention to de-glorify Richard Cobden and John Bright, but the repeal of the corn laws in nineteenth-century Britain had more to do with the failure of the potato crops in Britain and Ireland, strikes by workmen against wage reductions and an alliance of industrial and commercial 34 interests against the landed gentry than it had to do with free trade. Yet irrespective of the fallacy of this free trade argument, recipients of benefits under the Lomé Convention are literally being told that they, but not the dominant Powers, must conform to and operate under the fallacy. Any disaster to banana production in the Caribbean will affect not only the banana-producing countries, but all of the Caribbean Community. Our countries are striving to remove themselves from dependence on aid. Glenys Kinnock, a member of the European Parliament, put it succinctly when she stated that the banana trade provided a ladder out of poverty for the Caribbean region and that the call for the regime to be dropped and direct aid to be substituted was unrealistic. She went on to state that it was wrong to claim that attempts to diversify were not taking place. In CARICOM, we do not wish to become international mendicants; otherwise the current situation, in which some dominant countries exercise undue pressure upon our modus vivendi, will increase to the point where we will have to dance to whichever tune the piper or pipers play. The United Nations should be viewed as the foremost international body with a semblance of egalitarianism. It should not be viewed as the institution of the dominant countries in the five regional groups; and, more than that, it ought to be the body that stands up to the encroachment of multinational enterprises that attempt to stifle the lifeline or lifeblood of legitimate and sovereign countries. If indeed the United Nations is the champion of equality, of sovereignty, of the maintenance of traditional practices which in reality do not harm others, then the collective countries should denounce this imposition by a multinational entity, which will bring ultimate and profound hardships upon our humanfolk — be they young men or old men, children or maidens, matrons or old women. We have said it before, and will reiterate that what is being inflicted upon the Caribbean banana producers is an act of war. The perils of our States are certainly not limited to bananas, and Antigua and Barbuda, as well as the majority of countries represented on the Executive Board the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), were most surprised to experience a challenge from a member of the Security Council relating to our first-country cooperation framework. This was presented, by a country with which we have cordial relations, as being a matter of principle, as Antigua and Barbuda's per capita income is $8,000 and in 1998 it ranked twenty-ninth in the Human Development Report. There was absolutely no mention of the fact that in the vulnerability index, Antigua and Barbuda ranks extremely high, due in part to the frequency with which hurricanes batter our twin-island State or threaten our lovely shores. Consequently, Antigua and Barbuda once again had to offer a reminder that its graduation from the loan windows of international financial institutions and from development assistance of other international agencies, based only on the narrow criterion of per capita income, which ignores the serious and persistent problems confronted by Antigua and Barbuda and most Caribbean small island developing States, is both unfair and unjust. We also had to point out that 5 per cent of our country's population consists of Montserratans who have been displaced by volcanic eruption. This has meant expanding our infrastructure to accommodate the unfortunate souls from the Emerald Isle. Antigua and Barbuda supports the concept of UNDP and the United Nations Population Fund working with and rendering assistance to countries described as having transition economies, as well as countries which have suffered the ravages of internecine warfare, that have absorbed significant numbers of refugees and which are subject to many vulnerabilities, including natural disasters, and are victims of economic practices which work against their advancement. The work of UNDP is valued worldwide, and countries which are most vulnerable should certainly be at the forefront for assistance and guidance. We have to ask once again if we must be penalized because of our successes. I sincerely hope that in this body, particularly among the major financial contributors, that it is not the view that small island developing States cannot advance beyond a certain level of development, as, otherwise, they would be overreaching themselves and delving into a domain reserved for members of a certain club. Antigua and Barbuda takes its role in the United Nations very seriously and will remain dedicated to the principle of egalitarianism. We annually recite our vulnerabilities, paying most attention to the furore of natural disasters, and over the last 10 years my country has experienced four hurricanes. Whereas it is a glorious sight to witness volcanic eruptions in Montserrat from Antigua, the reality of the dangerous consequences is always present. We are additionally faced with the activities of Kick'em Jenny, an undersea volcano off the spice island of Grenada. The Caribbean Development Bank is providing a grant to the Seismic Research Unit of the University of the West Indies for the establishment of a mechanism for 35 continuous monitoring of the volcano. According to one scholar, “Not only will the communities of the Grenadines and nearby islands have to guard against debris ejected during a volcanic explosion, but the entire Caribbean will be jeopardized by the threat of seismic waves, known as tsunami”. This is yet another example of our vulnerability. Irrespective of our trials, tribulations and unfair castigations, my country, when appraised objectively, has been considered a marvel; hence its continued high ranking on the human development index. We practise the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy and do so effectively. Our national elections are open and transparent. Our first national hero, Sir Vere Cornwall Bird, appropriately dubbed Father of the Nation, died this year, and Members of Parliament in both the House and the Senate were lavish in their praise of one who was internationally acclaimed — particularly in Africa, where he had an impact on many of its leaders, both during and after the colonial era, and in the African diaspora of the New World. We have remained committed to the empowerment of the socially and economically challenged. Women occupy senior positions in the civil service and are represented in significant numbers in the professions. In one they outnumber men. In the area of violence against women, legislation has been enacted to give greater protection to the female members of our society. In the desire of the Government to ensure that its people enjoy a decent standard of living and an improved quality of life, the Government has energetically tackled this responsibility. And, in the absence of truly vibrant private sectors to lead economic growth and development as in developed countries, the tasks performed by the Government have expanded and have become more demanding. Antigua and Barbuda has, however, never been short on ideas as to how to help itself and as to how it can be assisted internationally in overcoming vulnerability and accelerating sustainable development. Sustainable development is foremost in our thinking. At the sixth meeting of the Commonwealth Consultative Group on Environment at the United Nations in April, we received support from the attending States for the ideas posited. In the first place, Antigua and Barbuda hopes that the vulnerability index being developed by the Commonwealth secretariat and the World Bank task force will be introduced as soon as possible into international organizations. This must be borne in mind from the perspective that we have repeatedly addressed the limitations and unfairness of using per capita income in assessing our economic efficacy. Secondly, following the decision of the disputes tribunal of the World Trade Organization supporting the contention of the discrimination directed at the banana regime operating under the Lomé Treaty, there is an urgent need for the World Trade Organization to apply special and differential treatment to small island developing States as it does to least developed countries. If markets in Europe are eroded for small States, those States will deteriorate economically, socially and politically to the point of placing yet another burden on the international community. This deduction is made from an analysis of the dispute tribunal's ruling, which suggests that the entire quota system for imports by the European Union from the African-Caribbean-Pacific countries for all products is now under threat. In the third place, we would like to reiterate the call made for a disaster fund in 1995 by our Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Lester Bird. He made that call following the devastation of hurricane Luis, which wiped out one year of Antigua and Barbuda's gross domestic product in 36 perilous hours. Whereas the existing mechanisms address the purpose of relieving immediate suffering and agony, they are woefully insufficient for reconstruction and rehabilitation. As one who represents his country on the Committee of 24, the so-called Decolonization Committee, I was somewhat taken aback to hear the Foreign Minister of a country that had previously supported non-intervention state that the United Nations has failed to address well- known conflicts of catastrophic proportions in a timely manner. It would therefore seem that more and more countries are moving towards the acceptance of joint action in a given country if there is a clear case of genocide and a total violation of human rights. What happened in East Timor goes well beyond the point of frustration. Since my country has from quite early on advocated the right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination, we have been saddened each time that plans for a referendum among the Sahraoui people have been delayed. We believe that each and every postponement interferes with and impedes the will of self- determination. The happenings in East Timor will have a 36 further impact on the will of the staunch and hardy Sahraoui people, and this gives us cause for great concern. It is important that everything be done to avoid a repetition of what has happened in East Timor after people have exercised their right of self-determination. Like other countries, my country believes that intervention in affairs within another State should be the last resort. But there are many questions to be answered in regard to oppression, degradation and dehumanization. The East Timor example should set us working to avoid another catastrophe of that magnitude. I have long marvelled at the prophetic brilliance of the former Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Eduardo Rodr'guez Larreta, who in 1946 argued that non-intervention could not be converted into a right to convoke one principle in order to violate all other principles with impunity. Nothing, however, is being advocated here except that we address ourselves meaningfully towards measures to avoid another East Timor. So much have we been looking forward to the new millennium that we have defied the laws of mathematics and brought forward the beginning of the twenty-first century by making it come about in the last year of the twentieth century. Even at the United Nations is the year 2000 being proclaimed as the beginning of the new millennium. Be that as it may, it is not sufficient to proclaim a new millennium and to have the grand, planned celebration. The commitment to the eradication of poverty, the achievement of peace and security and cooperation for development should be sincere, meaningful and followed through to the level of profound accomplishment. Antigua and Barbuda cherishes the United Nations and is not unmindful of the numerous advances that have come about as a result of its impact in conflict resolution, the maintenance of peace, the shelter and sanctuary provided to refugees, the promotion of human rights, the eradication of certain diseases and numerous other tangibles. Thus, Antigua and Barbuda remains ready to continue contributing to the advancement of humanity and will, as it has done in the past, insist on the principle of multilateralism. Together, our countries, large and small, can make contributions in overcoming the plagues with which we are afflicted and move towards peace, cohesion, harmony and the alleviation of poverty in the coming century.