We bring to this sixty-eighth session of the
General Assembly the fraternal and friendly greetings
of the people of Equatorial Guinea. We also bring our
fervent desire for peace and prosperity for all countries
in the world at this difficult time, when the international
community has to deal with major challenges that are
thwarting the aspirations of the peoples for well-being
and happiness.
May I also extend my congratulations to Mr. John
William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda on his election
to preside over the work of the General Assembly at
this session. We wish him all the very best and every
success in his difficult task, and we assure him of our
support and cooperation. We would also like to thank
his predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for the excellent work
he carried out and the dynamic style with which he
presided over the work of the Assembly at its previous
session.
This sixty-eighth session is beginning its work on
a tragic note, namely, the criminal and barbaric attack
against innocent people in Kenya. It was an attack on
a supermarket, a mall, which is a peaceful gathering
place for people, which reflects the criminality of the
perpetrators. Equatorial Guinea strongly condemns
the heinous attack against the freedom and dignity
of the Kenyan people, which also retards its national
development and violates its freedoms. I convey
our condolences and a feeling of solidarity to the
Government of Kenya and the families of the victims.
We also call on the United Nations to take severe
measures against crimes of that nature.
Although the international community has become
increasingly conscious of the importance of peace, we
still see, unfortunately, that the United Nations has not
yet achieved its main objectives, namely, a peaceful
and developed world, one ensuring the dignity and
well-being of all peoples in the world. Thus, despite the
major efforts that have been made over the past 68 years,
peace is still as yet an unrealized dream in many parts
of the world. The sovereign equality of all States can be
seen only in declarations of principles. Economic and
social development has not yet been achieved by most
States, and the principles of cooperation for mutual
benefit are being undermined in international relations.
At the same time, in addition to that disturbing
situation, we see an increase in natural disasters, wars,
terrorism and acts of violence, which take human lives
and force large groups of populations from their homes.
Hunger haunts almost three quarters of the world’s
population, and there are still major endemic diseases
that cause many deaths in less developed countries:
they affect in particular the most vulnerable segments
of society.
Against the backdrop of that difficult political,
economic and sociocultural situation around the world,
Equatorial Guinea would like to acknowledge the
efforts of the Secretary-General to preserve the noble
principles of the Charter of the United Nations and to
seek to achieve the goals set forth therein. However, the
almost incomprehensible ideological tenor of relations
among States creates almost a kind of cold war between
those that proclaim themselves moral authorities and a
majority that want freedom of action to determine the
futures of their peoples.
As far as the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is
concerned, questions of the peace and security of
States should be given full priority and consideration
by the United Nations, since without peace, there can
be no development, and without development it would
be difficult to ensure human beings’ dignity, integrity
and freedom. For that reason, we firmly support
the principle of the peaceful settlement of conflicts
through negotiation, mediation and arbitration. In
that connection, we would like to commend and
acknowledge the efforts of Mr. Tomislav Nikoli.,
President of the Republic of Serbia, for presiding over
the special session of the General Assembly held in
April of this year on the peaceful resolution of conflicts
in Africa.
Equatorial Guinea’s political, economic and
sociocultural situation is positive and encouraging,
because our country enjoys productive peace and
stability and harmonious political development and is
consolidating a genuine national democracy. All of that
has allowed us to carry out significant infrastructure
work, enabling the people to participate directly in the
country’s overall growth. The Government, together
with all the political institutions, is carrying out major
political reforms, thanks to the agreements reached in
the binding national political pact, which was signed
with all the country’s political groups and which
establishes standards for the political conduct of all
stakeholders and their participation in public affairs
administration. Happily, the people of Equatorial
Guinea are aware of the changes in the areas benefiting
them, and they recognize and support them.
At the international level, we are very concerned
about the negative effects of the so-called humanitarian
interference from the United Nations, which, far from
ensuring the human rights and well-being of the peoples
affected, is more focused on imposing political systems
and democracy based on unacknowledged interests. That
interference is being carried out in total disregard of the
sacred principles of national sovereignty and the dignity
of peoples. Democracy is indeed the ultimate expression
of natural law; it is also an act of the people’s sovereign
will. We have never seen any country in the world
accept democracy when it was imposed on it. And why
has it now become the excuse for intervening through
force in conflicts within self-governing countries? That
represents a provocation against our peoples, who are
being deceived in the name of democracy, while the
fundamental attributes of independence and national
sovereignty are disregarded, provoking civil disorder,
which leads to loss of life, social divisiveness and the
destruction of basic infrastructure, which is difficult
to rebuild. We see, therefore, that everything is easily
traced to the neocolonialist activities of certain parties
that wish to recover the resources that nature reserved
for our countries.
Equatorial Guinea understands and agrees that
security and development are an essential whole, and
we affirm that peace and security, development and
human rights are intrinsically bound together, which is
why we disagree with the argument that indiscriminate
destruction can be planned in order to then introduce
reconstruction and reconciliation at somebody else’s
expense. In that belief and in the face of such hidden and
complex plans, I am pleased to declare before this world
forum that Equatorial Guinea and its Government are
willing to host the next session of the United Nations
Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions
in Central Africa, at a suitable date to be agreed on by
the parties.
Uncoordinated actions such as those I mentioned,
which worsen global insecurity, are being carried out
today, while the United Nations — whose role as arbiter
and conciliator is being openly flouted by special
interests — looks on, powerless. Let us be honest with
ourselves, because democracy, as a just and equitable
system, should prevail in all the organs of the United
Nations system, the epicentre of the international
community, aspiring to peace, order and development.
We therefore have no alternative but to reform those
organs, particularly the Security Council, in order to
make them more democratic, so that they can protect
the interests of every nation impartially.
Within the framework of efforts to meet the
Millennium Development Goals, the level of basic
infrastructure that has been created and the policy of
promoting social institutions in Equatorial Guinea have
resulted in a drop in the number of cases of malaria
and in infant and maternal morbidity and mortality; in
lower illiteracy rates; better technical and professional
training; the increased empowerment of women; the
gradual integration of persons with disabilities and a
rise in the well-being of the people. Equatorial Guinea
is contributing and collaborating actively with its
North American partners, Noble Energy, Marathon and
Sanaria, with a view to completely eliminating malaria
through the development of a vaccine that will be ready
for official use in 2017.
In order to work towards the main objective of
the theme for this session, which is “The post-2015
development agenda: setting the stage”, Equatorial
Guinea has adopted a development programme aimed
at reaching the goals of an emerging country by 2020,
which is now our priority. We therefore believe that
Equatorial Guinea should move up gradually from its
status as a least-developed country in order to achieve
that new rank in 2020.
While that is the central theme of this session,
to which we all must give our support, we also note
that the attention of the General Assembly should be
focused on the normalization of relations among States,
not only by adopting appropriate standards, but even
more by ensuring that our States apply them.
While the African continent and other developing
countries strive to move towards sustainable
development, they are unfortunately diverted from
their efforts and forced to address man-made conflicts
that are fuelled by the surreal approaches to freedom,
democracy and respect for human rights in Africa that
certain Powers are promoting. We are not convinced
that the United Nations has adopted a particular model
of democracy that is applicable to all States. Africa is
more in need of special attention from the international
community to ensure its security, since it is now a
breeding ground for terrorist operations, mercenaries,
pirates and organized crime, due to the fragility of its
structures.
The United Nations should not cling to methods
and practices that do not resolve conflict or meet the
desires of the people — or even worse, are a burden
for them. We are referring here to the use of force and
embargoes, which always inflict great suffering on the
affected peoples and deprive them of their most basic
rights. That was not the purpose for which the United
Nations was established. We therefore call for the
lifting of the embargoes imposed on the Republic of
Cuba and the Republic of Zimbabwe, as they harm the
lives of their peoples.
With respect to armed conflict, the conflict between
the Israelis and the Palestinians has demonstrated the
inability of the United Nations to impose solutions
during armed hostilities. However, we believe that
politically influential countries of the Middle East
can and should play a prominent role as arbitrators
and mediators between the parties to the conflict. The
solutions have already been laid out by the United
Nations, and all that is needed is to implement them
by ensuring respect for the limits set in 1967, because
both countries must coexist and need clearly defined
borders.
Regarding the situation in Syria, we regret
and condemn the use of chemical weapons and the
escalation of violence fuelled by opaque interests that
are decimating a people because of alleged internal
problems. Wars have always bequeathed a negative
balance, and their victims tend to always be innocent
people. That is why we ask for an immediate cessation of
hostilities and the withdrawal of the countries involved
in the conflict, in order to honour and respect the Syrian
people and fulfil the United Nations responsibility to
maintain peace and security around the world. The only
interventions should be pacification and the destruction
of chemical weapons, which the United Nations must
demand of the Syrian Government.
Repetition implies concern, and indeed, in its
creation and in the framework of its Charter, the
United Nations is seriously committed to maintaining
peace and security in the world. It is also committed
to promoting economic development, moral, human
and material welfare, and relations of friendship, trust
and cooperation among nations. But far from achieving
these goals, we continue to experience the horrors of
war on a daily basis, and to allow people to go hungry
and nations to continue to live with the threat of
instability and espionage.
It is high time for us to stop this global misery in its
tracks and look to our past while moving forward in a
spirit of solidarity to forge a world that fulfils the hopes
of humankind for well-being and happiness.