Brother Vice-President of the General Assembly. Diego Pary Rodriguez. it is a source of joy and pride for Bolivia to see you lead the General Assembly of the most important multilateral Organization created by humankind, and we are sure that, together with President Dennis Francis and his leadership, you will elevate the names of the countries of our Latin American and Caribbean region.
A year ago in this forum (see A/77/PV.5). we denounced the fact that the world was facing a capitalist crisis that put humankind and the very existence of the planet at risk. Unfortunately, a year after that declaration, that sensitive scenario has not changed. The capitalist system, in its eagerness to impose its decadent hegemony, replicates practices of colonial domination and exploitation that should already have been overcome. Unfortunately, many of the brilliant proposals that have emerged from the heart of the Assembly have been ignored or simply omitted, owing to the functional interests of the savage system of capitalist exploitation that prioritizes the production and reproduction of capital, rather than safeguarding the lives of human beings and the existence of the planet.
It is evident that we are facing a weakened economy due to the effects of the multiple armed conflicts that are currently shaking the world and our reality. Peace and security are at imminent risk due to the lack of will of the international community to propose solutions that privilege dialogue and put an end to the belligerent efforts promoted by transnational war corporations.
Added to this are the serious effects of the ecological crisis on life systems in all corners of the world. According to experts, due to the prevailing system, we have exceeded six of the nine planetary limits within which humanity and Mother Earth as a whole can continue to develop and prosper. It is worth highlighting that this tragic situation has deteriorated even further over the recent decades of unipolarity and unilaterality, of inaction and unfulfilled commitments.
The pending challenges remain numerous and enormous, but today we find ourselves at the dawn of a new international configuration. We are convinced that we are witnessing the construction of a new world order, a situation in which the General Assembly, in accordance with the principles by which it was created, must play a main role; a new world order in which we all participate with equal rights and obligations, without impositions of any kind, without masters or slaves, without double standards to measure one another, without sanctioners or sanctioned; a new order in which solidarity, complementation and collaboration are set above selfishness and meanness. In the certainty that this better world is possible and necessary, the Plurinational State of Bolivia wishes to share the following seven ideas and approaches:
First, we reiterate, as we did last year, our proposal that the world be declared a territory of peace. We must put an end once and for all to the arms race and prioritize sincere dialogue and peoples’ diplomacy to resolve the armed conflicts that threaten the existence of humankind. It is urgent that our nations join together in a collective effort with diverse voices, especially those that come from regions far from confrontational rhetoric and that nevertheless suffer the repercussions of war in its various dimensions. We must give peace a chance, and in that task the United Nations has a fundamental role to play in reducing tensions and advancing dialogues that allow us to consolidate political and diplomatic solutions to the conflicts on the agenda of our Organization.
In that order of ideas, we reiterate our deep concern about the escalation of violence in the conflict in Eastern Europe and the threat emanating from several countries to exacerbate the situation through a confrontation using weapons of mass destruction, weapons that incorporate depleted radioactive elements and unconventional weapons, which are prohibited by international law through various binding international instruments.
We see with great concern that military spending in the world has reached historic heights. As of April, the world had invested more than $2.24 trillion in weapons and the war industry. If those resources were invested in peace, mediation, dialogue, the development of peoples and life instead of in destruction and death, we would not find ourselves on the brink of a crisis that amplifies inequalities in the world and which, contrary to the objectives that we have set in this Hall, deepens poverty on the planet.
The ways and means of waging war cannot be unlimited. A growing number of countries are seeking to use outer space to improve their military capabilities in order to protect their national security, further endangering the peace and security of our planet. We deeply regret that the maintenance of peace and security has become an increasingly challenging goal. Genuine peace can be achieved only through the effective implementation of the mechanisms provided for in the Charter of the United Nations and the complete elimination of all types of weapons.
Bolivia will always be committed to defending and strengthening multilateralism and to continuing to contribute to disarmament in compliance with international law and international humanitarian law. based on a vision focused on peace with social justice, the well-being of people and peaceful coexistence. .
We reiterate our regional commitment by proclaiming Latin America and the Caribbean a zone of peace, based on the promotion and respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law. as we set out in the framework of the seventh Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Likewise, at the CELAC-European Union Summit held in Brussels in July, we expressed our desire for a peaceful Latin America. Caribbean and Europe. May our peoples achieve the peace that the capitalist model has not been able to offer them, abandoning practices that, historically, have not resulted in an equitable and complementary relationship between our regions.
Second, it is necessary to break as soon as possible with the unjust international order that overwhelms our people, to sit down now to debate within the framework of the United Nations and to build a new pact for the future. In Bolivia, we have begun to discuss the possibility of a new pact for the future, but to do so we must remember the past, resolve the present and prepare for the future. We are obliged to address the needs of present and future generations equitably. We cannot allow a child to die of hunger today to ensure a snack for another child who has not yet been born. Eliminating poverty and inequalities today will prevent unimaginable economic and ecological distribution conflicts in the future.
To rebuild trust we need to abandon petty interests and build reciprocity, for example by enabling all technology transfer that helps to save lives and restore Mother Earth. To revive global solidarity, we need to recognize ourselves in each other and repair our relationships as human beings. For example, in the context of climate change, let us agree that each State shall dedicate resources to the Loss and Damage Fund in proportion to its historical responsibility for greenhouse gases.
Action on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be accelerated if we make peace and solidarity the engine of prosperity. Let us dare to transform the expenses of war and death into investments for life. With those resources, the sustainable development objectives could be far exceeded. Likewise, we will be able to keep Mother Earth within a safe operating space for humankind only if sustainability with ecological and social justice becomes the only path to progress. But we must achieve those objectives in a fair and equitable manner, with everyone and for everyone, and without political or financial impositions.
Third, it is necessary and urgent to change the capitalist system in times of neoliberalism, which multiplies and reproduces the forms of domination, exploitation and exclusion of the great majorities. The multidimensional crisis of capitalism has been exposed in the post-pandemic context and exacerbated by the effects of the military conflict in Eastern Europe. Those are nothing more than expressions of the transition towards the configuration of a world order different from the current one.
In response, and as has never happened before, the global South is rising peacefully and constructively through regional and interregional processes of cooperation and integration. We are hearing a rising call to reconfigure the international financial system and transform our understanding of what scientific development, respectful of Mother Earth, should be and how to pursue it equitably, recognizing the respective historical responsibilities of our nations in all dimensions.
Given the irreversible march towards a multipolar world, the increasingly stronger influence of new initiatives of economic, commercial integration and cooperation between countries is undeniable. The emergence of trade blocs such as those in Asia. Africa. South America or the BRICS countries Brazil. Russia. India. China and South Africa, today allows nations to access international markets without the need to compromise their sovereignty.
In that context, despite an adverse international context. Bolivia has developed its Economic and Social Development Plan 2021-2025. “Rebuilding the Economy to Live Well. Towards Industrialization with Import Substitution”, which lays the foundations to confront the global economic crisis and develop public policies to strengthen the national economy and promote our development capabilities. In that regard, the actions taken for the economic and reproductive reconstruction of our economy exceeded 6 per cent in 2021. and in 2022 reached 3.5 per cent. Our nominal gross domestic product (GDP) increased from $40,703 billion in 2021 to $44,315 billion in 2022. the highest figure in our history. In the same way. GDP per capita increased by 7.4 per cent compared to the 2021 figure, reaching $3,691. which was also the highest figure in the history of our country.
I also note that so far this year, accumulated inflation is only 1.6 per cent, the lowest figure in our region and with respect to many countries of the planet. We have achieved that indicator without raising interest rates, without practicing neoliberal monetary policies and always taking care of the pockets of the poorest, which is where inflation hurts the most. The achievements of our country are based mainly on the civilizational concept of living well, which vindicates the culture of community life in fullness, respecting the coexistence in harmony, balance and complementarity of the human being with the rest of nature on Mother Earth.
Fourth, the climate crisis requires concrete actions and renewed commitments. Bolivia proposed the recognition of Mother Earth in the General Assembly through resolution 63/278. adopted on 22 April 2009. in an effort to ensure that we. as an international community, became aware of the importance of restoring natural processes for the survival of human beings, proposing an alternative, anti-colonial vision against capitalism and mercantilism. In that understanding, our vision for the sustainability of development has strong roots in our vision of living well and in harmony with nature. That vision is born from the ancient and ancestral thinking of the nations and indigenous peoples who constitute the basis of our plurinationality.
Regarding the needs for mitigation, adaptation to the climate crisis and growing losses and damages, it is important that all countries shoulder their responsibilities. In that framework, the developed countries must assume their corresponding share of the climate debt and compensation and historical reparations to developing countries. The first step towards that end is to fulfil outstanding commitments on the provision of financing, technology transfer and capacity development.
In that global problem, there is a common problem that is beginning to take its toll on the poorest countries: water scarcity and the increase in the evaporation rate of fresh water. We urge our Assembly to pay unflagging attention to that problem, which mainly affects the poorest of the five continents and is already beginning to affect social sectors that are not found in the conventional frameworks of poverty.
Bolivia highlights the fact that this year the High Seas Treaty on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction was concluded and adopted by consensus because it represents a significant step towards the protection of our oceans and the sustainable use of their resources, greatly benefiting developing countries and especially landlocked developing countries. The Treaty will establish rules and regulations to prevent the sustainable exploitation of resources, which will protect the interests of landlocked countries and prevent the depletion of marine resources. The Treaty is a historic opportunity to make a difference in the protection of our oceans, because they constitute a common good of humankind. In that context, we highlight the special mention of indigenous peoples and landlocked developing countries. Together, we can ensure that the oceans continue to provide life and prosperity for present and future generations in an equitable manner.
Fifth, we must continue promoting a broader view of rights humans and democracy. Despite the progress achieved, the world remains unequal. While it is true that people build their own destiny, it is also true that the well-being of our peoples has been undermined for centuries by legal, economic and ideological colonialism.
Representatives here know better than I do that it has not been possible to exercise the right to development due to a matter of historical magnitude. The systematic transfer of wealth from the South to the North has put us at a disadvantage to this day. We have had to navigate the gale of a crisis imposed only on the South. From that perspective, talk of economic, social and cultural human rights — such as the rights to health, education, food, access to knowledge and technologies — is different on one continent than it is on another, in the South or in the North.
In that context, it is not possible to plan without addressing historical responsibilities. Unless we do so. it will be impossible to reach our full potential as peoples and make our right to development possible. In the Plurinational State of Bolivia, we understand that no democracy is possible without development, and development cannot have a better indicator than the exercise of collective rights, promoted, protected and guaranteed by the State, but also combined with a high democratic participation of social groups.
In Bolivia we understand that economic stability also means a substantive change in favour of food sovereignty, access to intercultural and multilingual education, and the sexual and reproductive health of Bolivian women. From our experience. I want to highlight that the active participation of indigenous peoples in State affairs is what has made our recent achievements possible, and I therefore call on the Assembly to continue advancing in strengthening their rights and participation.
Another topic of special interest to my country is women’s rights. It is estimated that 736 million women in the world — that is. one in every three women — have been subjected to physical violence and/ or sexual violence. The violence suffered by women must stop being a solitary and private experience and be recognized as a public issue concerning which we must take urgent action.
Maternal mortality is another of the major problems that we must face, given that 800 women die every day from causes related to pregnancy. Sustainable development will not be possible if we do not give women the opportunity to live without fear of violence and to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights with access to universal health services.
Sixth, we must banish the implementation of sanctions and unilateral coercive measures from the international system. Another issue that I cannot fail to mention on this occasion is related to the unilateral coercive measures and sanctions that are applied to brother peoples, undermining their development and most basic human rights. Such measures are an example of a dysfunctional system alienated from international law and multilateralism. A clear example of such measures is the illegal, inhuman and criminal economic and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba. The restrictions imposed have made it difficult for Cubans to access food, medicine and other
basic goods, generating human suffering and impacting their economy and development. We call for compliance with the multiple resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and to build a more just and supportive world in which all countries can prosper regardless of their political differences.
Likewise, we reject and condemn the inclusion of Cuba as a promoter of terrorism within the unilateral lists of the United States, using that argument to impose greater restrictive measures against the Cuban people. Those measures are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and the mandate of the Security Council, and they therefore have no support or validity in the light of international law; worse still, they seriously affect the right to development of the Cuban people.
Seventh, let us stop the abuse of the Palestinian people as soon as possible. Regarding Israel’s occupation of Palestine, we cannot continue to allow the suffering of the Palestinian people. We reiterate our support for global and regional initiatives, international law and United Nations resolutions that seek to guarantee a solution whereby the Palestinian people can exercise their right to self-determination and build their own free, independent and sovereign State within its pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Finally, the current crisis demands a strong United Nations consistent with the principles that created it and committed to peace; a United Nations that maintains its intergovernmental character but without subordination to any hegemonic Power, be it economic, political or military. The solutions to the multiple challenges facing humankind will become a reality only with the genuine commitment and political will of all countries and their actors, prioritizing the common interest of humankind, the peoples and the most vulnerable sectors of society.