On behalf of the Government and the people of the
Dominican Republic, it is a pleasure to extend our
warmest congratulations to Mr. Srgjan Kerim of the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia upon his
recent election as President of the General Assembly.
We would also like to take this opportunity to greet the
members of the General Assembly.
During the four years following the Millennium
Summit of 2000, the Dominican Republic went through
a crisis, during which our national currency was
devalued by 100 per cent. Our working class had to
double its efforts simply to meet their basic subsistence
needs. Drug trafficking and high levels of crime gained
a foothold, and our credibility went down worldwide.
According to the statistics of the World Bank, the
United Nations Development Programme and the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean, more than 1.5 million out of the 9 million
Dominicans sank into the lowest levels of poverty. At
that time, we were facing one of the most dramatic
crises in the modern history of the Dominican
Republic.
Since we took the reins of administration in 2004,
the Dominican Republic has managed to recover the
confidence of investors and entrepreneurs. We have
been able to reactivate economic growth. We have been
able to reduce inflation. We have increased jobs and
improved social conditions and quality of life for the
Dominican people.
However, exactly when we began, just like the
phoenix rising from its own ashes, a gloomy
international picture threatened to darken our prospects
for future growth. In recent weeks, for example, the
price of oil on the international market has reached an
unprecedented rate, and projections point towards
continued increases. These price increases are
asphyxiating our economies.
Similarly, in recent times, as a result of changes
on the international stage, free zone companies in the
Dominican Republic, alongside those in Mexico and
Central America, have been losing their competitive
edge to Asian countries. This drop in competitiveness
has resulted in the loss of jobs, production stagnation
and a shortage of new investment.
Moreover, while the price of oil is rising, and
with the prices of goods in the global economy
fluctuating, we also find ourselves unexpectedly
affected by price increases for food. All of a sudden we
are surprised by the news that owing to the elimination
of export subsidies in Europe, the price of milk has
increased on the international market. The same has
occurred, although for different reasons, with the cost
of corn, soybeans and wheat as well as with other
products that comprise the basic nutrition of the family.
Because of the climbing prices of those products, the
cost of chicken, turkey, bread and eggs have also risen.
As will be appreciated, we are facing a dangerous
situation which could lead our people towards
widespread famine and, consequently, a plunge into
extreme poverty. Those factors have led to a vicious
cycle that is spreading throughout the global food
chain, while, in spite of the plea for free trade,
producers in the world’s most powerful countries
remain protected. As an example, while a United States
farmer has access to state-of-the-art farming
equipment, the most modern facilities and
technologically proficient staff, that farmer also
receives government subsidies of approximately
US $750,000 per year. Furthermore, the farmer might
produce a pound of corn for a mere 7 cents.
At the same time, Félix David García Peña, also a
corn farmer, who belongs to the Association of Farmers
in San Juan de la Maguana in the southern part of the
Dominican Republic near our border with Haiti, is
struggling alone to make ends meet and to lead a
decent life. His farming equipment is outdated. His
tractor emits clouds of smoke every morning when he
attempts to turn it on. His facilities are dilapidated. He
receives no government subsidies since the
Government is in no financial position to help him, and
his production cost for one pound of corn is 12 cents,
almost double the production cost of the subsidized
United States farmer. When we asked Felix how we, as
the Government, could help him, he stated, “I don’t
want anything. All I want is fair trade to be able to sell
my corn.
The fact is that the challenges of globalization are
having a marked impact on countries like the
Dominican Republic. What we are experiencing is the
interdependent character of current international
trends. What seems to be a distant or remote event
nevertheless has a direct impact on the daily lives of
our peoples.
Another example that illustrates the undeniable
interdependence of all nations on earth is climate
change. That topic is not new to our discussions in this
Organization, but with each year that passes we find
ourselves closer to the predicted disasters.
In the Dominican Republic, we are already
experiencing the impact of climate change in various
ways: an increase in the volatility and frequency of
floods, droughts and hurricanes that destroy our
ecosystem, our biodiversity and our infrastructures.
Also, we are experiencing increased coastal erosion
and loss of beaches as well as frequent bleaching of
our coral reefs, thus reducing our marine biodiversity
and making tourism less attractive.
Given all those challenges presented by
globalization, a country like the Dominican Republic
asks itself: where is international solidarity, where is
cooperation between peoples, how are we going to
address together all of those challenges which affect
most of the peoples of the world?
The truth is that there cannot be solidarity when
there are those in the world who seek to accumulate
wealth even while others suffer. There cannot be
cooperation when there are people who think only of
conducting business without taking into account the
pain and anguish of others.
The United Nations system was created to
promote solidarity and cooperation, and it is only fair
to recognize that there is no other organization at the
world level that has the prestige, capability and
vocation of the Members of this world Organization.
However, this grand forum of humanity, established
after the enormous sacrifices of the Second World War,
must also reform itself, if it intends to fulfil the ideals
that inspired its creation, as enshrined in the Charter at
the San Francisco Conference.
The current structure of the United Nations is no
longer adequate today. The structure still corresponds
to the cold-war period, even though humankind has
advanced beyond an era when all events of importance
were determined by the rivalry of two super-Powers.
Now, in the twenty-first century, we in the
Dominican Republic do not truly comprehend why the
President of the World Bank must be an American and
the Managing Director of the International Monetary
Fund, a European and why major global decisions are
the responsibility of only five countries.
As one of the founding Members of the United
Nations, the Dominican Republic aspires to a position
on the United Nations Security Council as a
non-permanent member. In that position, we would
strive to be a voice in favour of the weak, those
without protection or shelter, the forsaken of the world.
That is our sole aspiration. The Dominican Republic
will uphold, responsibly and with conviction and
determination, the values and principles the
Organization has pledged to represent, as a beacon for
peace, human dignity and the civilized coexistence of
all inhabitants of the Earth.