Permit me to
congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election, which symbolizes the spirit
of renewal of the present period in international relations. Many of our
countries aspire to emulate your country's efforts to overcome obstacles and
spread political and economic freedom and become a productive part of the world
system.
The Government of Peru shares those same objectives, and is seeking to
restore the legitimacy and trustworthiness that have been lacking in the
past. To that end, we are seeking to modernize, to consolidate democracy and
economic competitiveness and, above all, to base our actions on the interests
of the majority. In a word, we are attempting to engage in a true process of
redefinition and national reconstruction.
The majority of the Members of the United Nations face similar problems,
but nothing can be done if the Organization cannot begin to function as a
genuinely multilateral association of sovereign nations with equal rights and
duties as provided for in the Charter. To that end we must reform the United
Nations and make it more effective, with the same perseverance and
determination our Governments have shown in their national reconstruction
efforts.
Democratization through decision-making by consensus; administrative
reform; a balance among the various bodies of the Organization; and improved
cooperation for development: these are among the crucial factors for the
future of the United Nations and for its prestige and authority. The
developing countries have the ongoing task of ensuring respect for the
principles of the Charter. On the basis of those same principles, the major
Powers must redefine their real national priorities. It would then be
possible to decide on a mandate agreeable to both sides that would orient the
rebirth of the United Nations and prevent erratic extremism.
The collapse of communism did not mean the automatic disappearance of the
world's problems, but it has given the world community its first opportunity
in 50 years to reorient international relations towards peace and well-being.
We face an unprecedented, formidable effort that can now begin in propitious
circumstances. The bases of this common effort are: development; the
solution of disputes by diplomatic means; respect for law; and the application
of fundamental economic and political freedoms. The United Nations system is
the only mechanism creative enough to put this into effect. Only though
multilateral cooperation will it be possible to conflate collective action and
respect for national sovereignty without manoeuvring to preserve or increase
international influence which would be even worse in a world free of
ideological motivations or the imperatives of the cold war.
For our countries as a group, it is vitally important to resume the
North-South dialogue on a constructive and realistic basis. None of the
global problems threatening the survival of mankind can be dealt with
adequately without the active participation of the developing countries. The
economic and social aspects of multilateral policy are in the interests of all
Member States. United Nations action in this realm has been notoriously
inadequate.
With the ideological confrontation of the post-War period overcome, the
most urgent problem today is the world recession and the consequent risk of
regional isolationism. Undue concern for political and security matters or a
narrow view of world problems can cloak conservative impulses and new
protectionist tendencies, which would pose the threat of undue interference.
The threat of this new world division can be dispelled only if we all agree
that the various aspects of North-South relations together constitute the most
urgent, critical factor of international security.
None the less, Peru recognizes the importance and urgency of maintaining
peace and preventing conflicts. We are prepared to expand our traditional
participation in peace-keeping operations. The Secretary-General's Agenda for
Peace sets out many innovative ideas for the future of United Nations action
in this sphere, and we firmly support them.
The situation of Peru exemplifies the unyielding relationship among
national, regional and world bodies. In our case, this relationship,
frequently addressed by the theoreticians of international relations, becomes
something of a paradigm, because my country has worked to promote its national
interests, respect for national sovereignty and multilateral action. In other
words, Peru seeks to reconcile a political programme dealing both with the
viability of its internal plans and with foreign affairs through a consistent
economic and financial programme. At this point in international relations,
we cannot imagine that a State like Peru can exist without coherence among
those three factors. Without this, we would be under constant threat from
fragmentation of sovereignty which has already done damage in other parts of
the world or from harsh limitations of sovereignty resulting from the
interventionist nature of the new global challenges and the consequences of
hasty multilateralism.
We view regional action as relevant, because we consider that the future
of the multilateral system is based on the development of trustworthy regional
organizations. These must play a growing role in the promotion of democracy,
fostering development, in overcoming conflicts, in supplying humanitarian
assistance and in maintaining peace.
In our region, Peru is working to ensure that the Organization of
American States will play its new role and go beyond the rituals of rhetoric
and ostracism. We cannot continue to hold back a hemispheric organization
whose work must be based on solidarity and must be effective to address the
fundamental issues that threaten democracy and development.
The democratization of international relations can be achieved in a
number of ways. Peru believes that one of the most effective of these is the
strengthening of regional organizations, which are ideal forums for dealing
with any substantive issue. All the situations that now call for speedy and
effective action are the legacy of the dynamics of the cold war. Today we
need imaginative solutions that combine the global vision of the United
Nations with contributions by regional bodies. This is no easy task, because
both approaches require the political will of Member States; but given the
uncertainty of international relations, that will must consistently be made
manifest in all bodies where States come together, as is obviously the case
with the wide range of neighbourly relations we enjoy within our Organization.
The Government of Peru shares the desire of the Government of Ecuador,
expressed by the President of that country, Mr. Duran Ballen, in his statement
last Friday. He spoke about the need to promote joint development between the
two countries. In this context, and bearing in mind the fact that Peru gives
priority to the strengthening of its fraternal bonds with Ecuador,
President Alberto Fujimori in November 1991 put forward a proposal for
friendship, cooperation and integration. This proposal was aimed at
reorienting bilateral relations to reflect the desires of our peoples to
strengthen good-neighbourly relations and development.
Peru is convinced that the common will for understanding expressed during
the State visit by President Fujimori of Ecuador in January 1992, as well as
in the interview with President Duran Ballen in Quito last August, when he
assumed the presidency of Ecuador, will continue in further meetings between
the two Heads of State, making it possible gradually to harmonize our
respective positions and to deepen our relations.
As is well known, the crisis in Peru has reached an extreme because of
the actions of terrorist groups and as a result of our dire economic
situation. But we must avoid simplistic interpretations which maintain, for
example, that ours is an ethnic problem pitting an indigenous population, the
descendants of defeated Incas, against a political class descended from the
Spanish conquistadors. This interpretation is thought-provoking and linear
but inaccurate. Exploitation of man by man is a historic fact which many
generations of Peruvians have striven to cancel out. But it is also a
struggle to reconcile characteristics of an idiosyncrasy rooted in a profound
and extensive mixing of races - characteristics that at times may clash but
that at others can mesh fraternally throughout the breadth of Peru, fragmented
as it is by its topography, and to the depth of the baroque culture of this
the oldest nation State of South America.
The cumulative ancestral problems of five centuries have given rise to a
social breakdown which may now be called historical. To this unstable legacy
are now added new challenges, including a quarter of a century of economic
stagnation and internal migration, with its accompanying demographic explosion
and mushrooming slums, and culminating during the past decade in
narco-terrorism. Quite naturally, this has produced a tacit alienation
between the State and society and as a result rightly or wrongly people
have perceived the State as an obstacle or impediment instead of as a
guarantee of meeting the basic needs of society.
In the face of these challenges, an ambitious and difficult programme to
put the country's economy and finances on a healthier footing was begun in
1990; it is now on the verge of bringing economic recovery and renewal of the
State apparatus. An anti-terrorist strategy culminated a few days ago in the
capture of the founder of the terrorist group Shining Path.
The conciliation Peru now seeks between its ancestral culture and the
modern-day exigencies of competition is not impossible. It can be achieved by
modernizing the economy and public institutions and by eliminating insecurity
through joint efforts of the State and society against terrorism. What is
needed is a representative democracy that is more attentive to the real
immediate interests of the people, along with institutions that can guarantee
an efficient dialogue between the State and society. This civic progress can
be successfully made through a modern parliament, through integrity and
efficiency in the administration of justice, and through the constant efforts
of the political classes, both new and traditional, in order to surmount the
country's problems in light of reality rather than of doctrine.
At this complicated juncture Peru does not stand alone. It has enjoyed
the understanding of other countries in the hemisphere and the thoughtful
support of countries in other parts of the world. The understanding reached
with regard to Peru's problems in the Organization of American States
represents a historic landmark in the work of that organization and augurs
well for its intelligent and dynamic responses to future challenges.
The decision to respond positively to Peru's request for technical
support and to send observers to the elections to be held in November is the
expression of a joint effort to interpret, in a definite and transparent
manner, the desires of the people and the Government of Peru to elect a
constituent congress which will lead to new institutional viability for our
democracy.
The Shining Path obsession has not only divided the country but created
antagonisms between the State and society, destroying both and creating
instead a totalitarian response to the national crisis. The various stages
of the Shining Path, stripped of anecdote and rhetorical effect, began with
the exploitation of a short-lived and fairly confined Andean uprising,
followed by coercive recruitment, employing intimidation and violence against
peasants. In this context, given the movement's tenuous strength in the rural
areas, it launched an assault on the cities, carrying out fierce
assassinations of true urban leaders and bombing civil targets.
During recent stages, the Shining Path had already established an
unnatural alliance with Peru's most powerful and illegitimate transnational
force, drug trafficking. It had filled the growing popular vacuum with its
radicalized violence, taking new terrorist forms to extremes and moving from
the countryside, where it had never taken root, to the city in a so-called
"strategic step" which only the narcissistic cult of its leadership could
sustain. This final stage of self-intoxicated obstinacy was the beginning of
the end.
Society reacted. From apprehension and despair, we moved silently to
indignation and took the offensive, making it possible to create an atmosphere
propitious to the recent capture of the founder of this Utopian movement that
Peru considers to be the antithesis of its nationality. While it would be
overly optimistic to say that we are approaching the light at the end of the
tunnel, we can indeed perceive the fresh air of a new era of hope.
The Peruvian people have overcome their paralysis and are now taking
action against terrorism. Now that its genocidal practices have been
uncovered and the Shining Path is being stymied by the renewed thrust of
democracy in Peru, the efforts of the hemisphere must lead to international
cooperation. In essence what we are trying to do is to promote the most
effective integration of Peru into the world economy; at the same time, we
must contribute to the country's internal security and cooperate in the
dismantling of external agents who are still promoting terrorism in this
nation. Here, in a word, lies the solidarity demanded by Peru and which the
Charter requires of us, the United Nations.