Brazil

Through Foreign Minister Jean Ping of Gabon, I greet the representatives of all peoples gathered here today. I fraternally salute Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who 5 has been guiding the work of the United Nations with wisdom and devotion. For the second time, I address this universal Assembly on behalf of Brazil. I have a lifelong commitment to those silenced by inequality, hunger and hopelessness. In the powerful words of Franz Fanon, the colonial past bestowed on them a common legacy: “If you so desire, take it: the freedom to starve to death”. Today, we are 191 nation-States. In the past, 125 of us were subjected to the oppression of a few Powers that originally occupied less than 2 per cent of the globe. The end of colonialism confirmed, in the political arena the right of peoples to self- determination. The Assembly is the highest expression of an international order based on the independence of nations. However, such a political transformation has not taken place in the economic and social fields, and history shows that that will not happen spontaneously. In 1820, the per capita income of the richest nation in the world was five times greater than that of the poorest one. Today, that disparity has reached a ratio of 80-to-1. The former subjects have become perpetual debtors in the international economic system. Protectionist barriers and other obstacles to balanced trade — aggravated by the concentration of investments, knowledge and technology — have followed colonial domination. A powerful, all- encompassing and invisible wheel runs the system from afar. It often revokes democratic decisions, causes the sovereignty of States to shrivel and imposes itself on elected Governments. It demands that legitimate national development projects be renounced. The perverse logic of draining the needy to irrigate the affluent still stands. In recent decades, an ill-inclusive and asymmetric globalization has deepened the devastating legacy of poverty and social regression, which is now bursting into the agenda of the twenty- first century. Today, in 54 countries, per capita income is lower than what it was 10 years ago; in 34 countries, life expectancy has decreased; and in 14 countries, a greater number of children are starving to death. In Africa, where colonialism resisted until the twilight of the twentieth century, 200 million people are caught in an existence marked by hunger, disease and neglect, to which the world has become oblivious, numbed by the routine of the distant suffering of others. Lack of basic sanitation has killed more children in the past decade than all military conflicts since the end of the Second World War. Love cannot spring from cruelty. Peace will never rise from poverty and hunger. The hatred and senselessness that are spreading throughout the world feed on despair and on the absolute lack of hope for many people. This year alone, more than 1,700 people have died as a consequence of terrorist attacks around the world — in Madrid, Baghdad and Jakarta. Those tragedies must be added to so many others in India, the Middle East and the United States, as well as to, more recently, the barbaric slaughter of children in Beslan. Mankind is losing the fight for peace. Only the enlightened values of humanism, applied with clarity of mind and determination, will be able to counter barbarism. This situation imposes a new sense of collective and individual responsibility on the peoples and the leaders of the world. If peace is our goal, it is our task to build it. If we wish to eliminate violence, we must address its deep-rooted origins with the same resolve employed against the agents of hatred. The path to lasting peace must encompass a new international political and economic order, one that extends real opportunities for economic and social development to all countries. It therefore requires reform of the global development model, as well as international institutions that are effectively democratic and based on multilateralism and on an acknowledgement of the rights and aspirations of all peoples. The tortured look in the eyes of the outcast should do more to stir our conscience than the no less dramatic statistics on social inequality. Their gaze calls to us for a future of hope. Just as our destinies are now intertwined, every conflict has global effects. When the sky is shown to us from between iron bars, let us not mistake the cage for freedom. We have the scientific knowledge and the scale of production necessary for resolving global economic and social challenges. Today, nature and progress can be reconciled by means of development models that are ethically and environmentally sustainable. Nature is not a museum of untouchable relics, but neither should it be further degraded by human and environmental exploitation in a search for wealth at any price. 6 A generation is remembered not only for what it accomplishes, but also for what it fails to accomplish. If our resources are so much greater than our achievements, how will we explain to future generations why we did so little when so much was within our reach? A neglectful civilization is condemned to wither like a body without a soul. The exhortations from the great New Deal leader Franklin Delano Roosevelt still resonate with inescapable pertinence. What is needed today is “bold, persistent experimentation”. “The only thing we need to fear is fear itself.” Such boldness stems not from instinct, but rather from political courage; not from irresponsible wilfulness, but rather from a daring ability to reform. What sets civilization apart from barbarism is a political architecture that promotes peaceful change and advances social and economic life by means of democratic consensus. If we fail against hunger and poverty, what else will be able to bring us together? I believe the time has come to state clearly that for us to once again grow in a fair way, an important shift in the financial flows from international multilateral organizations is necessary. Such organizations were created to provide solutions, but, by adopting excessive rigour, they themselves have sometimes become part of the problem. They must adjust their focus on development, thus restoring their original objectives. The International Monetary Fund should be able to provide the guarantees and the liquidity that are necessary for productive investments — especially in infrastructure, housing and sanitation — and which can also restore poor countries’ capacity to pay. Brazilian foreign policy, in all its dimensions, is focused on joining other nations in efforts aimed at the establishment of a world of justice and peace. Yesterday, in a historic meeting, more than 60 world leaders gathered to give new impetus to international action against hunger and poverty. I firmly believe that the process launched yesterday will bring the fight against world poverty to a new level. As we advance in this new alliance, we shall have better means to attain the Millennium Development Goals, especially with regard to the eradication of hunger. It was in this same spirit of contributing to the reduction of poverty that Brazil, India and South Africa established, last year, the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Fund. Our first project, in Guinea-Bissau, will be launched tomorrow. HIV/AIDS and its nefarious connection to hunger and poverty is also a priority. Our international cooperation programme with other developing countries in fighting HIV/AIDS is now operating in six developing countries and will soon be extended to another three. I am fully aware of the serious security problems that pose a threat to international stability. There seems to be no prospect for improvement in the critical situation in the Middle East. In that and other conflicts, the international community cannot allow violence — whether sponsored by States or by other actors — to prevail over democratic dialogue. The Palestinian people are still far from achieving the self- determination to which they are entitled. We know that the underlying causes of insecurity are complex. The necessary fight against terrorism cannot be conceived strictly in military terms. We must develop strategies that encompass both solidarity and firmness, but with strict respect for international law. On that basis, Brazil and other Latin American countries have responded to the call of the United Nations and are engaged in the stabilization efforts in Haiti. If we seek new paradigms in international relations, we cannot shirk our responsibility to address the concrete situations that emerge. The promotion of equitable development is crucial to addressing the centuries-old causes of Haitian instability. In our region, despite grave social and economic problems, a culture of peace prevails. Our continent is experiencing a period of democratic coming of age, with a vibrant civil society. We have learned that development and social justice must be sought with determination and an openness to dialogue. The bouts of instability in our region have been dealt with while strictly respecting our institutions. Whenever requested, and within its means and capabilities, Brazil has made its contribution to help friendly countries overcome crises that threatened their constitutional order and stability. We do not believe in interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries, but neither can we condone omission and indifference in the face of situations that affect our neighbours. Brazil is committed to the establishment of a South America that is politically stable, prosperous and united, on the basis of strengthening the South 7 American Common Market (MERCOSUR) and its strategic relationship with Argentina. The possibility that a community of South American States could emerge is no longer a distant dream, thanks to decisive initiatives in the areas of structural, economic, commercial, social and cultural integration. Brazil is at work in multilateral negotiations with a view to reaching just and equitable agreements. At the last meeting of the World Trade Organization, we took a fundamental step towards the elimination of abusive restrictions that hamper developing countries. Coordination among countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America in the Group of 20 was decisive for keeping the Doha Round on the right track of trade liberalization with social justice. If successful, the Doha Round could lift more than 500 million people out of poverty. It is essential to carry on building a new world economic and commercial geography that, while maintaining the vital ties to developed countries, allows for the establishment of solid bridges among the countries of the South, which have remained isolated from one another for too long. Brazil is committed to the success of the international climate change regime. We are developing renewable sources of energy. That is why we shall continue to actively strive for the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. South America contains approximately 50 per cent of the world’s biodiversity. We stand for combating bio-piracy as well as for the negotiation of an international regime for sharing the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. I reiterate what I stated at this very rostrum last year: only an international order based on multilateralism can promote peace and the sustainable development of nations. Such an order must be based on a constructive dialogue among different cultures and world visions. No organ is better suited than the United Nations to ensure the world’s convergence around common goals. The Security Council is the only source of legitimate action in the field of international peace and security, but its composition must reflect today’s reality — not perpetuate the post- World-War-II era or the Cold War era. Reform proposals that simply dress the current structure in new clothes and do not provide for an increase in the number of permanent members are manifestly insufficient. The difficulties inherent to any reform process must not cause us to lose sight of its urgency. There will be neither security nor stability in the world until a more just and democratic order is established. The community of nations must give a clear and urgent response to this challenge. We can find such a response in the wise words of the Prophet Isaiah: the fruit of righteousness will be peace.