Bolivia

I come from the city of La Paz to add Bolivia’s voice to this universal support the United Nations has received through the Nobel Peace Prize. This award expresses better than all the speeches could possibly do the way in which the world appreciates the Organization and its Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan. The mediating role performed by the Organization, its calls to nations to agree among themselves, the courage it has in assuming risks and the willingness it has shown to offer lives for a cause go beyond the mere performance of a duty; they are an example to all our Governments. The active role played by the Organization is more necessary now than ever before. This is a time in which the evil, malignant shadow of terror is rising on the horizon as the new century dawns. The Berlin Wall was the symbol of ideological divisions during the second half of the twentieth century. We must now, after 11 September, tear down the wall of terrorism and intolerance that a few people wish to raise to divide the world. On one side of this new wall are those of us who have built up and believe in democracy with pluralism. On the other side are those that wish despotically to impose their beliefs, with no respect for the rule of law. On one side of this new wall are those of us who permit and encourage the freedom of worship and expression. On the other side are those that do not practice, permit or tolerate it. On one side of this wall are those of us who every day try to create equality of opportunities for all women. On the other side are those that oppress and dominate them. On one side of this wall are those of us who value freedom above all. On the other side are the terrorists that wish to destroy and restrict it. Let there be no doubt that Bolivia will always be on the side of democracy, freedom and tolerance. We want a life in peace and harmony. This is why my Government, without any hesitation, with total conviction and in all forums, has expressed its full support for the measures undertaken by the coalition led by the United States Government after the attacks that took the lives of thousands of innocent people, the majority of whom were in this very city of New York. Terrorism is to a large extent incubated in and fed by the underground world of drug trafficking. We must not accept that in attacking freedom, terrorism disguises itself by putting forward political claims. We cannot accept that drug traffickers, seeking to undermine our democracies, drape themselves in the mantle of legitimate social demands. It is clear that terrorism and drug trafficking are Siamese twins and enemies of the free democracies. This is why we must combat each of them with the same vigour and determination. Bolivia, with all its limitations, is performing its task in fighting drug trafficking. By the will of the majority of the Bolivians, expressed through our own national dialogue, guided by our own interests and encouraged by our own public opinion, we are irreversibly moving forward towards eradicating illegal coca crops used to prepare cocaine and are entering 13 into the final stage of the Dignity Plan, whose purpose is to remove Bolivia from the drug circuit. But the work is not finished. International solidarity and support are now more important than ever before. To complete the task, Bolivia needs support on two levels. First of all, the international community must realize that sustained support for alternative development programmes is more necessary for the countries that have eliminated the bulk of illegal coca crops and cocaine, and in which many people have been displaced as a result. Bolivia has reduced more than 90 percent of its illegal coca leaf production. However obvious it may seem, this percentage must be repeated over and over, because many international bureaucracies allocate resources according to the size of the problem, which is mistakenly defined as the volume of production of coca leaves and cocaine, when the real economic problem arises from the size of the reduction that has been achieved and the proportional reduction of the income generated by this activity. Bolivia deserves and needs more support than ever before, because it has made more progress than ever before. Secondly, and of more relevance now, it is necessary to provide access to markets; the opportunity to fight for a place under the sun; and the right to work, produce and sell. And here, at this point, the decision by the United States and the European Union to open up their markets to the products of alternative development takes on critical and definitive significance. Bolivia is the least developed nation of South America, the economy that is most open the region and the only country that has achieved such a dramatic reduction in such a poisonous and harmful product as cocaine, within so short a time. For these three reasons, we feel that we have every right to call for access to markets through free trade — triply free trade: free from tariffs, free from subsidies and free from non- tariff measures. We need free trade, the triply free trade that applies to sectors such as telecommunications, banking, computers and turbines, must also apply to agriculture, textiles and leather. Unfortunately, these last three labour-intensive sectors are governed by nineteenth-century rules in the midst of the third millennium. In Bolivia we are moving forward with decentralized and participatory programmes on health and education. An educated and vaccinated citizen who does not have a market, however, is not a full-fledged citizen of the present-day world of ours. In Bolivia we have straightened out and opened up our economy, but we have not seen full reciprocity in the developed world or on the part of our neighbours. In Bolivia we have almost entirely eliminated the production of cocaine, which however harmful it might be, was an export product that was not subject to subsidies, barriers or tariffs. This is why we require access to markets to guarantee the completion of the Dignity Plan and avoid frustrating the will of our citizens, who have assumed the challenge of moving from illegal activities to legitimate work, without, however, having achieved the same access to the market. On the threshold of the twenty-first century, in the midst of a severe economic and political crisis that affects all the countries of the region, Bolivia is facing another challenge that can decisively change its future. In the few years since the work on the most important gas pipeline of South America was completed, Bolivia’s natural gas reserves grew exponentially, and have made my country a significant player in the hemisphere-wide market. We are now serving a growing part of the energy demands of Brazil, and we firmly intend to go on from here to reach the markets of the Pacific, Mexico and the United States. The tragic events of 11 September saw to it that energy and gas integration must be based on a long- term vision that takes into account three elements: extensive gas reserves, a reliable economy and a solid democracy. Bolivia has these three elements. The projects that are now being studied and negotiated will transform the productive structure of my country, propel the growth rates, reinforce our role as a hub and the environmentally clean heart of the continent, while expanding our role and presence on the Pacific. Bolivia will thus take another step on the march that it began more than 120 years ago to return to the sea of our ancestors. Bolivia thus will reassert its unflinching determination to regain its status as a maritime nation, something with which we were born into independent life. 14 Bolivia supports the struggle against terrorism and for freedom. My country, more than any other country, is making a gigantic effort to fight the ally of terrorism — that is, drug trafficking. Given this effort, given our determination to be open, and given the need to fight poverty, my country calls for access to markets. Bolivia will play a central role in working towards reliable gas and energy integration in the twenty-first century. Finally, we realize that the long struggle for freedom and the fight against terrorism is just beginning and will end only when all the citizens of the world, men and women alike, will be entitled to vote, to elect, to offer their opinions and to profess their faith, to move about freely and, above all, to live free from fear and terror. The United Nations must be the place where the world comes together to walk down this shared path. And together we will build this road towards integration and peace, as these times demand.