This is the second time I have addressed the Assembly in my 20 months as President. I come here to share our experiences with the Presidents of the many countries of our world. I wish to take this opportunity to say how pleased I am at the election of a new Secretary- General, who will be leading the international Organization for the good of humankind, and above all, for the good of the abandoned and the dispossessed. For that reason, I wish to briefly comment on my own country. For the first time in Bolivian history, the groups most forgotten, despised, hated and reviled throughout the history of Bolivia — we indigenous peoples — have assumed the leadership of our country to change our beloved Bolivia — to make political and economic changes, to reshape and re-establish our country, orienting it towards searching for unity, respecting our differences and respecting our identity so that we can work together to resolve our economic and social problems. In this brief period, I have felt and seen that it will be difficult and will mean fighting for the equality and justice of peoples, of all of us who live in the homeland. But at the same time, we shall do so with a great deal of strength, because the popular movement, the indigenous movement and the intellectuals and even the business and professional communities, have taken a chance on their land and their people, and are striving peacefully for democratization, ensuring a cultural revolution in my country. But sometimes it is more important to regain our natural resources. I very much regret to say that in my country, during the neoliberal regimes, natural resources and State-owned enterprises were privatized under the pretext of capitalization. In fact, they decapitalized the country, claiming that private enterprise would be the solution for unemployment and corruption. We actually saw an increase in unemployment and in corruption. Just a few years ago, Bolivia was considered to be the world's runner-up of corruption, but now I am delighted to see that international organizations have said that there has been a great decrease in corruption in Bolivia. We want to eradicate it. I want members to know that in 2005, before I became President of the Republic, Bolivia received only $300 million in revenue from hydrocarbons. That was a time when hydrocarbons, oil and natural gas were privatized, when they were given to the transnationals. Now that we have changed the oil laws and nationalized and recovered these very important natural resources, Bolivia will receive more than $2 billion in revenue this year. For that reason, Bolivia wants to share its experience with all leaders and with all nations where natural resources have been privatized. It is important, with the strength of the people, to recover these natural resources so that they can benefit the people and the nation. Of course, I completely understand that companies have the right to recover the economic resources that they have invested. They have a right to profit, but not like in the past when all they were concerned with was plundering our natural resources. The most important thing in all of this is that we have begun to decolonize Bolivia, both internally and externally. I say internally because my country previously had masters. If we look back at our history, there were masters that were descended from the viceroys, religious groups and the oligarchy. They ruled and the people were powerless. Now we are building up the power of the people so that the people are sovereign, not groups of families, and so that we, the peoples, have the right to decide on our future. That is the best kind of democracy we can implement, because it does not mean merely accepting certain policies or being subjugated by masters or bosses in my country. When I say that we are decolonizing externally as well, I mean that right now, there are no ambassadors in my country who change or appoint ministers. Before, unfortunately, United States ambassadors changed and appointed ministers. That is over. Thus, we have begun to decolonize our country. Once, policies were imposed on us by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. That is over too. I would like to share a little story about our country that I remember clearly. In 2003, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund told our leadership to choose between a gasoline tax and an income tax to avoid a deficit. The Government decided to put a tax on workers' wages. In two days more than 15 people died in Bolivia because of clashes among Bolivians. Now let me say that last year, without income taxes, without gasoline taxes, Bolivia had a surplus thanks to the return of a natural resource, hydrocarbons, that is so important for my country. That is why I say that we have begun external decolonization. We are gathering the proposals and initiatives of our peoples organized in civic and trade union forums, in particular people who have economic problems. They have the wisdom to propose initiatives and solutions from their own neighbourhoods and from their own trade unions. That is my experience, and so I think it is important to create people's power. Let social forces take the decisions, and let the leaders follow the wishes of the people. In that way we can resolve our problems. Over the past few days I have listened to some very encouraging statements, but also some that were rather disappointing. They spoke, for example, of global warming and of climate change, and I know that many countries are victims of these natural phenomena. But I cannot understand why so many lives are lost to floods, interventionism, war and hunger? It seems that economic models are not going to solve the problems of humankind. I am all the more convinced of that after having heard many of those statements and the experiences that have been shared by world leaders. Concentrating capital in the hands of the few is not a solution to the problems of humankind. Having the wealth of the world in the hands of the few does not solve the problems of human existence. Indeed, it exacerbates problems of the poor who inhabit planet Earth. We talk of global warming and the melting of the ice, but we do not say where it comes from. I am convinced that it comes from that ill-termed globalization — or selective globalization: a globalization that does not respect plurality and that does not respect differences. If we are to talk about globalization, first of all we must globalize the human being. I do not know how everyone here got to New York - or to the United States - but my delegation had many visa problems. Our parliamentarians could not obtain United States visas. When I arrived at the airport, I was blocked, and my ministers - my indigenous compatriots - were subjected to hours and hours of controls at the airport. Some of us, the representatives of countries, were practically threatened by our hosts, by President Bush. If that continues, perhaps we should seriously consider, as Presidents and nations, changing the site of the United Nations. I personally am not willing to come here to be the subject of investigation. I feel that the decolonization of the United Nations too should begin and that everyone should respect us, whether we are small or large, whether we have or do not have problems. I listen to statements about glaciers melting, and they are made without addressing the underlying causes of melting and global warming. It is capitalism and the exaggerated, unrestricted form of industrialization in some countries which are creating so many problems on our continent and on planet Earth as a whole. When we organize alongside social movements to protest and condemn these unsustainable policies, these economic models that do not solve economic problems, then what we get is military bases and interventions, wars, demonization, accusations of terrorism, as though peoples had no right to speak out about their needs, their rights, or to formulate new approaches to saving lives and humankind. I therefore believe that it is important for us, as Presidents, nations or delegates, to tell the truth in all sincerity about these economic problems, which are not exclusive to Bolivia, North America or South America. When the democratic change is under way in South America - i.e. the kind of democracy that liberates and does not submit to imperialism - there are further accusations and misrepresentations. There are accusations of people being cruel dictators, such as those I heard from the lips of President Bush yesterday with respect to the President of Cuba. I wish to greet all revolutionaries, especially President Fidel, for whom I have a great deal of respect. Fidel also sends troops to many countries, but they are sent to save lives, whereas the President of the United States sends troops to end human lives. Therefore, since we here today are presidents, let us think about life, humankind, how to save planet Earth and the question of climate change, which is a subject of ongoing debate throughout the world. I am convinced that it is not possible for basic services to remain private enterprises. Fortunately, thanks to the foreign ministries of the Americas, water has been recognized as a human right. If water is a human right, it is important that it should become a public utility, instead of a private business. It is important that energy should now also be a human right. I hope that we can all ensure that energy is a human right. If energy is a human right, then it will never again be a private business. It must be a public utility so as to meet the needs of our people. I cannot understand how we can continue, under the guise of hegemony or of concentrating capital in a few hands, to do damage to humankind, to affect the poor and to marginalize other needy sectors. I feel we are making statements here in order to change these economic policies that have done, and continue to do, so much damage and that are leading humankind down the path to genocide. I still fail to understand why some countries are involved in an arms race. I cannot accept war. In Bolivia we are discussing, as a social and political endeavour, how a new political constitution could lead us to renounce war. I am convinced that war is the industry of death and that the arms race is one more industry that complements the industry of death. In this new millennium, how can countries and presidents keep thinking in terms of interventionism, authoritarianism and arrogance on the part of some countries towards other countries, and not think about humankind? I believe that we must work together to save planet Earth. That is the most important thing, if we want to save life and humankind. Yesterday, too, I heard, and tried to comprehend, statements about biofuels and agrofuels. I do not understand how we can make use of agricultural products or food when it comes to cars. I cannot accept that that is what the products of the earth should be for. I believe that food should be for human beings and that soil should be for life. Are we really going to divert our land and food resources to provide for automobiles because of a gasoline or diesel shortage? Two days ago, I said that if we are really talking about life, then let us give up luxury. It is important to give up luxury. We cannot continue to accumulate garbage, we cannot continue to think about just a few families instead of thinking about all of humankind. I think we have profound differences, when we talk about these matters of life and about our national majorities. I want to take this opportunity to express thanks for the support received from everyone, with the exception of four Governments, for the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We feel very gratified. The peoples of the Americas have waited for over 500 years for their rights to be recognized. We are part of a culture of patience. I wish to say that the fact that we now have this Declaration does not mean that we will act vindictively towards others. Indigenous people are not vengeful. We are part of the culture of dialogue and, most fundamentally, part of the culture of life. I want to ask the United Nations to convene very soon a United Nations world summit of indigenous peoples to compile data on different cultural experiences. We are compiling data on our experiences in Bolivia through a programme called “Living Well”. To live better, one must sometimes exploit. To live better, one must sometimes rob. To live better, one must sometimes discriminate. To live better, one must sometimes plunder. But to live well means to live in community, collectively. This does not just apply to living among human beings. It also means living well in harmony with Mother Earth. The earth, for the indigenous movement, is something sacred. Mother Earth is our very life, it is Pacha Mama, as we say in our languages. Mother Earth cannot be turned into merchandise. Mother Earth cannot be turned into a business. If we talk about global warming, if we protest and fight global warming, let us remember that we are talking about Mother Earth. Since Mother Earth gives us life, we need to review our policies, but we also need to pay attention to what has been stated by our indigenous movement. We have lived in communities, collectively. What is being debated is collectivism and community against capitalism. Let us continue to debate, to reclaim these ways of life in order to defend life and to save humankind. I also want to take a moment to say that this new millennium must be the millennium of life, equality and justice, of respecting our identities and upholding human dignity. That is why we are talking about changing economic models, those systems that do harm to mankind. But if we want to make changes, then it is important for us to change ourselves first. Let us not be selfish, individualistic, greedy, ambitious or sectarian in our attitudes, concerning ourselves with just a few families instead of with the entire family on Mother Earth. So as presidents, as representatives of our different nations, we are talking about changing ourselves first, with a view to also changing economic models in a quest for equality and justice. During my 20 months as President, I have learned that I must work with the people and listen to their needs. There will always be groups who do not wish to lose their privileges, but those are ill-gotten privileges or privileges that enable them to use the State for family business rather than thinking of the families of others. I have learned, during my 20 months as President, how wonderful it would have been to work for the homeland and not for money, how wonderful it would have been to work for those abandoned by the peoples, how wonderful it would have been to work together with people who do not have many economic problems but who cherish their homeland and want to work for it in solidarity and with a sense of complementarity. I would also like to say that, as members know, we have a historic problem with our sister republic of Chile on the subject of the sea. We have now succeeded in laying the foundations of a certain trust between us: trust between our peoples, our Governments and our Presidents, through peoples' diplomacy. It is our hope that these historic claims can be worked on and resolved, within the framework of complementarity, because neighbouring countries, Latin American countries and the countries of the world need to work in a complementary way if we want to resolve the problems of our peoples and nations. Complementarity is very important, and that is why we want to continue to work for humankind. In conclusion, as sometimes the red light on the rostrum makes one nervous, but never mind - I would like to say that I hope we can keep learning from events of this kind, in which so many participate. These are the best universities we have. But let us speak clearly and sincerely. Let us not falsify the truth, when we talk only about the effects of humankind's problems and not their causes. In that context, I want to say that it is important to change our economic models and eradicate capitalism.