Chile

I wish to express our satisfaction at seeing Mr. Ping preside over this fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly and we wish him a successful presidency. 24 Ever since the signing of the Charter of San Francisco, and before that during the time of the League of Nations, Chile has been firmly committed to the international community, to multilateral cooperation and to the best values of peace, security, development and human rights which this Organization represents. Chile has been an active participant in the international system because we believe that governance at the global level is the logical extension of the institutional order that each State has achieved and can demonstrate in this global forum. While in the last century our main task was to establish rules of coexistence and conduct for the international community, today, faced with the challenges of the twenty-first century, that task, in our opinion, has become more urgent and ineluctable. What we have before us is a panorama of positive opportunities, on the one hand, and of complex threats, on the other. For countries such as ours, integration into the global community creates opportunities which a closed society would preclude. We see integration into the global community as providing possibilities for growth and for creating space for our efforts, and we feel that this is the inescapable destiny of all of us. Countries need freedom, peace, security and respect for international law; based on scrupulous respect for treaties, we need to work towards the building of a shared global order. Stability can be achieved only through governance under which all interests are represented. Thus, voices are being raised in various countries in order to state the obvious: no one can shape the world that is emerging except through agreements and negotiations. The complexity of the world emerging before our eyes is too great to be handled in a centralized or unipolar manner. Of course, little will be achieved if, at the same time, each country does not put its own house in order. Without justice, solidarity and respect for human rights, there can be no stable or genuinely beneficial governance in our own societies in the medium term. I therefore believe that it is the responsibility of each of our societies to apply the principles of the United Nations and to make them realities. We have an ethical duty to be efficient and effective in the attainment of those goals and ideals. It is clear, however, that globalization also includes negative aspects that can affect us all. Today, we are afflicted by such public evils as terrorism and organized crime; illicit trafficking in persons, arms and drugs; and the money-laundering associated with those activities. Nothing is more counter to our principles than terrorism, a virtual dark force of globalization. Accordingly, here in the United Nations, Chile has contributed through its efforts in chairing both the Al Qaeda/Taliban Security Council sanctions Committee and the Counter-Terrorism Committee, key instruments of the international community for waging this combat. Globalization also has negative spill-over effects on the environment and exacerbates the marginalization of millions of people in societies or even continents who are unable to achieve integration into the global economy and global society. Faced with that reality of light and shadow, countries like Chile have a stake in helping to improve the positive aspects of globalization and to eliminate its negative aspects. But how do we turn those aims into reality? In our view, the best way to guide the agenda of globalization is through multilateralism. It is in the strengthening of multilateralism that each country has a stake and a national task to fulfil. As a non-permanent member of the Security Council, Chile has assumed its responsibility to the global community and has sought to act consistently with our values and convictions. Last year, with regard to Iraq, we said that only the United Nations could give the necessary legitimacy for the use of force and for addressing in an effective and unified manner the threats to peace arising from that country. For that reason, and in order to be consistent with our commitment to multilateralism, we said yes to the United Nations when the Security Council requested the presence of a multinational interim force in Haiti. We reacted in solidarity by dispatching to Haiti, in less than 72 hours, a military force and humanitarian assistance. We have shown that our region is capable of assuming the responsibilities required to ensure international peace and security. Not since the period of our national independence have forces from different Latin American countries acted collectively and independently of the great Powers in a mission to maintain peace in one of our countries. Today in Haiti, 25 the troops of a number of Latin American countries, supplemented by the joint Spanish/Moroccan force, are under the command of a Brazilian general and the representative of the Secretary-General is a Chilean. If we wish to strengthen multilateralism, reform of the United Nations is becoming increasingly necessary. Its ideals and founding purposes remain valid, but, as a number of speakers have noted here, the power structure upon which the Organization was built at its inception corresponds to a world that is very different from todayís world. Not only do we need to expand the Security Council to make it more democratic; comprehensive reform of the Organization is also needed. In addition, the United Nations needs specialization, not a proliferation of similar institutions. It needs greater accountability and a more transparent system of recruitment. It needs to derive the maximum benefit from every last cent that it spends. Many of our States are making those or similar changes in their own public systems. The United Nations can be better than we can in that area. It is a challenge for the Organization and for each of our States. I had the opportunity to exchange ideas with some members of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. That is why I am convinced that the Panel will offer to the Secretary-General recommendations aimed at strengthening two key areas: first, generate a political commitment that reaffirms the values of the Charter of the United Nations; and, secondly, strengthen the system so that it can face the challenges and opportunities of a world that is more global than it was 60 years ago. The world requires a larger and better United Nations. We have unacceptable humanitarian crises, such as that in Darfur, Sudan; a steady deterioration in the outlook for peace in the Middle East; and terrorist attacks, such as those in Beslan, Russia, and in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. In the Security Council, Chile supported the transfer of national sovereignty to the people of Iraq, and we hope to see the elections scheduled for next January. In the case of Afghanistan, United Nations electoral assistance has been essential in the preparations for the elections scheduled for the beginning of October. The world to which we aspire will be better and reflect greater solidarity with the effective participation of citizens. In that spirit, we will host in Chile next year the Third Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies. Likewise, we are convinced that globalization will be better only if civil society is recognized as one of its principal actors. That consideration has been a decisive factor in the Action against Hunger and Poverty, which we ó together with the leaders of Brazil, France and Spain and the Secretary-General ó have promoted to effectively contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Goals. Yesterday's meeting presented us with a great challenge: have specific answers within 12 months, before the next General Assembly session. Some of the actions proposed depend on governmental decisions; others are the responsibility of multilateral organizations and civil society ó particularly non- governmental organizations, the business community, trade unions and universities. We say clearly: it is time to recognize that, in practical terms, the exclusive monopoly of States or Governments in the international sphere has ended; everyone is called upon to participate. The question is whether reform is possible. Why would the powerful give up some of their power? Our modest experience has shown us that one can negotiate free trade, for example, with the worldís most industrialized countries and reach agreements beneficial to both sides. Today, trade agreements cover two thirds of our exports, more than half of which are already free from tariffs. That has not been a simple matter; it requires time, preparation and patience. And why not say this? It involves a degree of conflict with the more developed countries. Trade agreements, in and of themselves, do not provide solutions for a set of issues that can be resolved only at the multilateral level. That is why we need to successfully conclude the Doha round, because there, decisive issues are at stake that we have not been able to resolve through bilateral negotiation. There we must resolve the issue of anti- dumping, the situation of subsidized agricultural and textile products, complex issues such as those related to intellectual property, and the question of how to deal with pandemics by using generic or low-cost drugs. Those issues are multilateral in nature. We must therefore deal with them multilaterally, and in doing so 26 we must be strong - we, the countries that understand that we are going to define more just trade rules. It is in that area that common sense is of much more help than dogmatism. One cannot ask others to give up their fundamental interests, but neither can anyone hope complacently for unfair results. That is why integration into the global society is a stairway with many steps. What is important is not to lose a sense of progress ó progress towards trade that is free, but fair; towards capital flows that are free, not predatory; towards cultural expansion, not destruction of what is local: our roots, what we are, our identities; towards an exchange of ideas, not lockstep thinking ó in short, towards pluralism, so that we all can be better. I have tried to share with the Assembly the vision and the responsibilities of a country of the South ó an open country that is interdependent with the rest of the world. Our modest experience has shown us that it is imperative to strengthen multilateralism as the only approach with the legitimacy necessary to ensure inclusive globalization that reflects solidarity - as has been said here, globalization with a human face. In conclusion, todayís world requires a larger, not a smaller, United Nations and more, not less, multilateralism. Our experience tells us that we can make a reality of our shared dream - the dream that was dreamt 60 years ago in San Francisco, but that now obliges us to meet the challenges of the twenty- first century that is beginning.