I
should first like to congratulate you, Sir, an outstanding
public servant from our region, on his recent election
to preside over the General Assembly. I would also
like to express my heartfelt solidarity with the people
and Government of Mexico in the wake of the storms
that have seriously affected their country, and with
the people and Government of Kenya, after the acts
of terrorism that have had such a terrible impact. I
would also like to emphasize that during this period of
meetings, Heads of State and Government from almost
all corners of the planet will have the opportunity to
exchange views, share experiences and, most important,
generate the momentum essential to building together a
future commensurate with the ideals, dreams and hopes
of the men and women represented here.
The fundamental inspiration behind the founding
of the United Nations, almost seven decades ago, was
the desire to be able to depend on a place designed to
bring into harmony the actions of every nation aimed
at attaining peace and development, a place where all
individuals, nations and peoples of the world — whatever
flag they pledge to honour, whatever god they worship
and whatever ideas they embrace — can feel part of one
big family, the human family.
That requires many things of us, but none so
important as holding an open, free and respectful
dialogue among ourselves, a dialogue that, far from
fearing dissent, values it and is nourished by it, because
it understands that only when the various nations and
cultures join forces will we also see our opportunities
expand.
We are living in a world that is very different from
the one that witnessed the birth of the Organization and
of other agencies such as the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank after the end of the Second
World War. This new world is not the result of war or
of the ideological struggles waged during the second
half of the twentieth century; rather, it is the child of
a revolution in knowledge, science, technology and
information that has been taking place for some time
and that is now knocking at our doors and creating
opportunities for material and spiritual progress for
millions of men and women around the world that many
of us could not have imagined even a few decades ago.
This new world is no longer divided by walls or iron
curtains, but is connected and integrated by the bridges
of increasing globalization and the massive exchange of
goods, services, capital and people.
In this new world we certainly face dangers,
challenges and opportunities that are also new, and which
in many cases transcend the borders and jurisdictions
of individual countries, demanding to be tackled by
distinguishing where the responsibility of some people
ends and where the responsibility of others begins.
Such challenges and problems can be successfully
dealt with only by harnessing the force of the unity of
all and the responsibility of each. However, although
we know we are living in a world that is undergoing
enormous transformations, many of our international
organizations often seem resistant to the change that
such an evolution demands, allowing themselves to fall
behind instead of leading the process.
Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations
states that the principal purposes of the Organization
include to maintain international peace and security,
to develop friendly relations among nations and to
promote international cooperation in the economic,
social, cultural and humanitarian spheres, as well as
respect for human rights and the permanent protection
of human freedoms without distinction as to race, sex,
language or religion. But let us be clear. None of those
desires is exclusive to one nation, one era or one specific
organization: they all emanate from the depths of our
souls and of each human heart. For that reason, we are
not here only to proclaim their value and existence
but to ensure their enforcement and application. We
therefore appeal not for those values to be changed or,
still less, to be forgotten. Quite the contrary: we appeal
for the will and the courage to put them into practice.
In order to do so, we must perfect our democracies and
strengthen grassroots participation, but we must also
modernize our regional and global organizations. In
that task, as we all know, there is a long road ahead of
us.
A good first step in that direction is to move
towards real and far-reaching reform of the Security
Council, including the enlargement of its permanent
and non-permanent membership to ensure proper
regional representation, as well as to strengthen its
transparency. working methods and decision-making,
all aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and legitimacy
of its activities.
In that regard, Chile, which was present at the
creation of the Organization in 1945, supports the
inclusion of Brazil, Germany, Japan and India as
permanent members of the Security Council, as well as
the African continent’s request for fair representation
in the Organization. And we join in the appeals to the
five countries with the right of veto to refrain from
exercising that right in situations of crimes against
humanity, war crimes, genocide or ethnic cleansing,
since the use of the veto in such cases prevents or
undermines the Council’s efforts to effectively defend
the most fundamental values that enable humankine to
advance.
However, Security Council reform is not limited
to changes in its membership and organization. It also
means abandoning the logic of vetoes and replacing
it by a logic of special quorums, so that the most
important decisions concerning international security,
which inevitably affect all countries sooner or later, can
be adopted in a way that is truly representative of the
community of nations that make up the United Nations.
In the end, if we advocate democracy, dialogue and
participation when we govern our own countries, we
should advocate for those same principles when we
address the form in which the United Nations governs
itself.
I should like to take this opportunity also to express
my gratitude for the many expressions of support for
Chile’s candidacy as a non-permanent member of the
Security Council in the next two years and to reaffirm
our strongest commitment to the principles and values
that have for decades governed and guided our foreign
policy. I mention in particular our full, unconditional
respect for international law, the inviolability of
treaties, legal equality among States, the peaceful
settlement of disputes and the self-determination
of peoples — all values that provide the essential
foundation for international stability and peaceful
coexistence among nations. In our opinion, however,
those values should be complemented by the principle
or notion of the responsibility to protect. That concept
holds that it is the primary duty of each State to protect
the population within its borders. And if a State cannot
or does not want to comply with that primary duty, then
the international community can and should intervene
on the basis of three universally recognized pillars,
namely, prevention, support and the proportional use
of force in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations, but only as a last resort and when strictly
essential to prevent, avoid or deter genocide, war
crimes, ethnic cleansing or crimes against humanity.
In addition, my country once again reaffirms its
strongest commitment to democracy and respect for the
human rights of all persons, from their conception to
their natural death, at all times and in all places and
all circumstances, as well as our ongoing endorsement
of multilateralism, of a regionalism that is open to
the world, and of fair and constructive economic
competition among all countries.
In that regard, we reiterate our appeal not only to
end the proliferation of nuclear arms and weapons of
mass destruction but also to dismantle those that already
exist. We strongly condemn the use of the chemical
weapons in Syria, as well as the indiscriminate use
of force against the civilian population, which has to
date produced tens of thousands of innocent victims,
including women and children, and has caused a
serious humanitarian crisis that represents a wound
to our universal conscience and seriously threatens
international peace and security.
We therefore welcome and strongly support the
framework agreement for the elimination of chemical
weapons in Syria, concluded recently by the United
States and Russia, as well as the efforts made by the
Secretary-General and the Joint Special Envoy of the
United Nations and the League of Arab States to reach
a peaceful and lasting solution to this prolonged armed
conflict as soon as possible.
Similarly, Chile has always defended and will
continue to defend the cause and rights of the
Palestinian people to have a full, free and democratic
State — a State that, like the State of Israel, enjoys
agreed, recognized and secure borders with all its
neighbours, allowing its inhabitants to live and develop
in stable and lasting peace and security. We therefore
recognized Palestine as an observer member of the
United Nations and hope very soon to welcome it as a
full Member of the Organization.
With regard to regional matters, in March
2012, Chile ratified the Protocol on Commitment to
Democracy, adopted by the member countries of the
Union of South American Nations, and we hope that it
will enter into force as soon as possible. In addition, we
have reiterated our commitment to the Inter-American
Democratic Charter and shall work tirelessly for the
cause of democracy, freedom and the full respect for
human rights in all the countries on our continent and
throughout the entire world.
Chile has also assumed the presidency pro tempore
of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States and hosted the first summit of its 33 members,
at which we signed the Santiago Declaration, in which
the entire region stated its commitment to democratic
values and respect for human rights. In addition, we
headed the first joint summit of the Heads of State
and Government of Latin America, the Caribbean and
Europe, at which nations on both sides of the Atlantic
Ocean undertook to promote sustainable development
policies in order to encourage high quality investments
of both social and environmental value.
In the social sphere, although two years still remain
before the deadline set at the Millennium Summit, we
can announce with great satisfaction that Chile has
attained practically all the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) set by the Organization in 2000. We
are nevertheless redoubling our efforts to attain the
remaining goals by 2015, and working to ensure that the
countries that have requested our help can also achieve
them. We are also participating actively in the efforts at
the United Nations to define a new global sustainable
development agenda beyond 2015 that follows on the
MDGs and establishes specific, measurable, bold
and feasible responsibilities, both for developing and
developed nations, with special attention being given
to ensuring that economic development is compatible
with social development and the protection of the
environment.
In addition, Chile, together with Mexico, Colombia
and Peru, took part in co-founding the Pacific Alliance,
one of the most far-reaching integration initiatives in our
region, designed to promote an area for the free flow of
not only of goods, services and capital but also of persons,
thus allowing higher growth rates and development and
greater opportunities for our countries and peoples. We
are delighted to see that the Pacific Alliance, which
represents a population of over 210 million, one third
of Latin America’s gross domestic product and more
than half of its foreign trade, has, despite its recent
emergence, already achieved significant results and is
increasingly attracting the interest of the international
community, which can be seen in the fact that it has
attracted more than 20 observer countries, including
Australia, Canada, China, Spain, the United States and
Japan.
Lastly, I should like to mention the recent approval
by the National Congress of my country of legislation
submitted by the Government that abolishes tariffs on
imports from the least developed countries, as defined by
the United Nations. That is an important demonstration
of the Chilean people’s solidarity with and commitment
to the development of almost 50 countries in Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.
A few days ago, Chileans marked the fortieth
anniversary of the most far-reaching and lasting
upheaval ever to affect our democracy in our two
centuries of independent life and which ushered in a
period characterized by hatred, division and exclusion
not only in Chile but also in a world torn apart by the
Cold War. However, in a few days’ time, on 5 October,
we shall be marking another anniversary in Chile — the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the start of the peaceful
recovery of our democracy by the free and sovereign
will of a vast majority of Chileans, which has allowed
us to recover our democracy in a wise and peaceful
manner and with the advice and consent of all sectors
of our country. From both experiences, Chileans have
learned lessons that I should like to share with the
Assembly today because I humbly believe that they can
shed light on how to resolve conflicts that are negatively
affecting other nations of the world today.
The first lesson is that we must acknowledge
without reservations of any kind that even in extreme
situations, including external or internal warfare, there
are moral and legal rules that must be respected by all
and that can never be ignored without falling into a
serious and unacceptable moral vacuum. Among those
rules, there is the strict respect for the human rights of
all, in every time and place, under all circumstances.
The second lesson is that the values of democracy,
peace and civil amity are much more fragile than we
usually think, so we cannot, and should never, take
them for granted. They are somewhat like a tree that
needs to be watered every day in order not to wither and
dry up. Such care must be provided not only in deeds
but also in words, gestures and formal actions, because
all of them can and must be placed at the service of
truth, justice, reconciliation and peace.
The third lesson is that there is a very close
relationship among the quality of democracy, economic
progress and social justice, since all of them are mutually
reinforcing and since the decline of one of them would
sooner or later have an adverse effect weakening the
others. Our task, therefore, is not only to strengthen our
democratic institutions but also to promote economic
and social policies based on freedom, responsibility,
justice, equality of opportunity and the fight against
poverty, and based on uniting the forces of both private
and public initiative and respect for fundamental
rights, because such policies are the main engines of
development of our nations and peoples.
The fourth lesson that we have learned in our country
is that the past is over. We can discuss it, interpret it
and, of course, remember it, but we cannot change it,
and therefore we have no right to remain prisoner to it,
because when the present is anchored in the past, the
only thing we lose is the future. For that reason, our
generation, which is celebrating the bicentennial of our
country, has no right to bequeath to future generations
the same hatreds, quarrels and divisions that caused so
much harm and suffering 40 years ago. The challenge,
then, is not to forget but to overcome the past with a new,
positive and hopeful outlook, trying to learn from past
experience in order to avoid making the same mistakes
and letting it illuminate the way to the future, and to
face with greater resolve and efficiency the problems
and opportunities of the present and the future.
Those and other lessons painfully learned by Chile
enabled us to recover our democracy peacefully and to
move forward over the past 25 years on the paths of
truth, justice and reconciliation among all Chileans.
But that was an old transition, one that, I believe, we
accomplished successfully. Today we Chileans are
facing another transition. This is a new, young and
forward-looking transition that, before the end of this
decade, will allow us to turn Chile into a developed
country that overcame poverty and became fully
integrated into the community of democratic and
developed nations. Those are the commitments that the
Government that I have the honour to lead made to all
Chileans almost four years ago. We are deeply gratified
to observe the solid and sustained progress of Chile
towards their fulfilment.
Despite the devastating earthquake and tsunami
that struck us in 2010 — at the time, the fifth most
serious in the known history of humankind — and the
global economic crisis that began in 2008 and is not
over, Chile has resumed its leadership, momentum and
ability to create jobs and strong growth. For example,
our per capita gross domestic product, which four years
ago was about $15,000, now stands at $20,000. Poverty
and inequality are declining and real wages are rising
rapidly. All indicators show that in key spheres such as
quality education and health, we are making progress in
the right direction, further stimulating innovation and
entrepreneurship and better protecting our consumers,
workers and the environment.
At the same time, we have rebuilt virtually 90 per
cent of everything destroyed by the earthquake and
tsunami. Obviously, our Government is very proud
of the contribution that its policies have made to
the attainment of those goals. But we have no doubt
that most of the credit goes to all Chileans, men and
women, who have made enormous contributions to
arrive at this point. If there is something that we
in Chile have learned it is that in order to be able to
grow and to reduce poverty and excessive inequalities,
nothing works better than to rely on the skills of people
themselves, expanding their freedoms and unleashing
the forces of imagination, creativity, innovation and
entrepreneurship that lie within the hearts of each of
my compatriots and also — I am sure — the hearts of
every man and woman around the world.
Those are some thoughts and lessons that I, both as
President of Chile and as a citizen of the world — wanted
to share with Heads of State and Government. Those
are the lessons and thoughts of a country that may be
small on the international stage and remotely located
on the world map, but that today enjoys a stable and
consolidated democracy, broad and guaranteed public
freedoms and an economic system that, after two
centuries of republican life, has finally brought us to
the threshold of development.