I begin by saluting Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser,
who presides over the current session. His long
experience at the United Nations augurs well for our
work.
I also acknowledge the outstanding work of
Mr. Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, the outgoing
President. Our delegation worked very closely with
Mr. Deiss, and we can testify to his exceptional
commitment to the United Nations and his immense
capacity for work.
I also salute Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. I
reiterate our appreciation of his management, and
congratulate him on his re-election for a second five-
year term. I thank him for the support he has given to
my country and Central America, shown especially by
his recent visit to Guatemala.
My presence at every General Assembly session
during the four years of my presidency testifies to our
backing for the United Nations and our gratitude for its
support.
This occasion is unique, for two reasons.
First, I can tell the Assembly about the
achievements of my Administration over the past four
years and also about some pending issues. Secondly, I
can report that just 10 days ago the first round of
general elections was held in my country, in a calm,
normal climate with broad citizen participation, thus
consolidating our progress towards a democratic and
participatory society.
Let me then start with a few words about the
progress made in Guatemala, despite the exceptional
obstacles created by the international financial crisis of
2008-2009, a severe political crisis in Guatemala in
2009 that was overcome in compliance with the rule of
law and truth revealed by investigations, and the
impact of three major natural disasters, which led to a
109-day state of emergency, as well as historical
challenges that we face now and shall face in the
future.
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I shall sum up in a few words the significance of
my period in office, as follows.
First, my Administration gave priority to the
individual by dealing with social issues that had not
been addressed for 50 years. We have tried to reduce
poverty and extreme poverty, with tangible results,
especially through our social cohesion programmes,
particularly conditional transfers of cash to mothers of
extremely poor families — more than 940,000 families.
Second, space was recovered for the State in
areas previously dominated corporately by private
interests.
Third, we began to contain and reverse a
shocking escalation of the criminal violence that had
started in earlier periods, by reorganizing the security
forces and promoting policies that confronted, instead
of coexisting with, organized crime.
Fourth, in accordance with those measures, we
recovered whole territories previously dominated by
drug traffickers, particularly the Mayan biosphere in
the northern Department of Petén, consisting of more
than 138,000 hectares; 48,000 head of cattle were
expelled from the area, and the Government has
retaken control of it. Unprecedented seizures of drugs
have taken place. In three and a half years we have
seized $12 billion, the equivalent of almost two
national budgets. By comparison, over the eight-year
period before my Government came to power scarcely
$1 billion was seized.
However much we do in the Central American
region, Mexico and Colombia, it is essential that drug
consumption be controlled. Drug-consuming countries
must accept co-responsibility for the daily killings in
our countries, and for the uncontrolled sales of arms
entering it. They must take co-responsibility for the
control of money-laundering and of arms, which bring
death to our region, and for the control of factories
producing chemical precursors for drug production.
Responsibility must be taken for the destination of the
products and arms.
We cannot control organized crime in Central
America without the support of Mexico and Colombia.
We can win the battle only if the consumer markets do
their share. We cannot go on shedding blood and being
wounded by bullets. That is unfair. The consumer
markets must assume true co-responsibility.
Fifth, a series of wide-ranging policies was
adopted to gain greater transparency. They included the
creation of the Secretariat for Transparency and the
adoption of a law on public information.
Sixth, the energy matrix was renewed and
upgraded to make it more environmentally sound and
to counter the effects of the rising cost of
hydrocarbons.
Seventh, we promoted two major economic
corridors in poverty-stricken regions. In addition, the
construction of the Northern Transversal Strip will
unite the Mexican State of Chiapas with our neighbour,
Honduras, and Polochic.
Eighth, we pursued a dynamic foreign policy,
putting the Central American region on a new footing
and making possible a closer understanding with our
neighbours of Latin America and the Caribbean. I shall
return to this matter a little later.
Ninth, municipal power was given full respect
and strengthened, being recognized as a fourth power
in the democratic system.
Tenth, the independence of the different branches
of the State was faithfully respected.
Finally, while everything that I have described
was achieved we preserved and improved a solid,
stable macroeconomic system. Guatemala is one of the
three countries that had no shrinkage of their economy
during the financial crisis.
Some important topics require the participation of
every State institution; we need legislation by the
Congress of the Republic and rulings by the
institutions that constitute the country’s judicial
system. Among other matters, I wish to refer to the
struggle we have waged against impunity, experienced
in Guatemala for many years. Seven of the most
wanted drug traffickers, who are known to all
Guatemalans, are now in jail, awaiting trial. The
Government has initiated trials for crimes against
humanity committed during our 36-year civil war,
which ended in 1996. Sentence has already been passed
in some cases, and other trials are continuing.
Here I wish to highlight the crucial role played by
the United Nations through the International
Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, a unique
United Nations exercise which enjoys the strong
support of not only my Government, but also
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Guatemalan civil society. We are pleased that the
Commission’s mandate has been extended for two
more years, until September 2013. We recognize the
significant achievements it has recorded since its
establishment.
Among the main challenges facing us, I wish to
mention the following.
First, despite the progress in social matters, we
must acknowledge how much remains to be done to
eliminate poverty and raise the level of wellbeing of
the Guatemalan population. There were many years of
neglect, especially of the most vulnerable, such as
children, single mothers, and a disproportionate part of
the indigenous population.
I am convinced that the actions taken should be
institutionalized through social cohesion programmes
and presidential programmes. That will require a
substantial fiscal transformation to provide the State
with the necessary funds. It should be recognized that
that is not possible without the support and
participation of Congress, even where the Central
Government promotes it, as in my case.
In economic matters we need a revival of
productive activities in a framework of financial
stability and fiscal reform compatible with financing
for development.
Secondly, due to our geographical location,
Guatemala has become an important transit point for
illicit activities, including drug trafficking and human
trafficking, both of which are increasingly in the hands
of transnational organized crime. We have made
strenuous efforts to deal with them and to address the
public demand for improved security for every citizen.
It is essential to have regional and international
cooperation. Member countries of the Central
American Integration System have adopted a historic
Central American Security Strategy, which was jointly
presented, with the support of the Governments of
Colombia and Mexico, to the international community
at an international conference held in Guatemala on
22 and 23 June. The main point is that we have acted
forcefully, but that it is imperative to implement the
22 projects that need funding.
Here I recall the words of President Calderón of
Mexico at the June conference, when he asked what
peace there would be in Central America, and Mexico
and Colombia, if we were north of Canada; if we
simply changed our geographic position we would
eliminate the problem of drug trafficking. Once again I
stress the co-responsibility of the drug-consuming
markets.
Thirdly, it is difficult to promote development
when we repeatedly face severe natural disasters,
which recently have been occurring at a rate of at least
one a year. This can be attributed, at least in part, to
climate change, given the high vulnerability of Central
America to the effects of this phenomenon. Therefore,
it is imperative that humanity close ranks in defence of
our common habitat: our planet. So far, progress has
been minimal. We urge the international community to
redouble efforts to take tangible steps at the next
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held
in Durban, South Africa, in December.
In my previous statements to the Assembly, I
have concluded with references to our foreign policy,
especially as it affects, or is impacted by, the United
Nations agenda.
My Government has developed an active foreign
policy, which includes strengthening the integration
process in the framework of the Central American
Integration System. We are confident that, as part of
that active policy, in some three weeks we shall attain
one of our main objectives at the multilateral level —
Guatemala’s election by the General Assembly to a
non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the
next biennium. This will renew our commitment to the
United Nations, and also strengthen our foreign policy,
exposing us to a broad and complex diplomatic agenda.
We shall carry out our work with responsibility and
independence, and with respect for the principles and
values enshrined in the Charter.
I thank our regional group, the Latin American
and Caribbean Group, for endorsing our candidature,
and I thank all Member States in advance for the
support that I trust we shall receive when new
members are elected to the Security Council.
The central theme of the session is mediation. I
reiterate our full commitment to strengthening
preventive diplomacy and the instruments that the
United Nations possesses to prevent conflicts. In this
context, we can even accept sanctions regimes,
provided that they come about as a result of collective
decisions taken by the Security Council.
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The other side of the coin is that we reject
sanctions and coercive measures taken unilaterally. In
this regard, we urge the Government of the United
States of America to abandon the economic embargo of
the Republic of Cuba. We believe that such a step
would have many favourable consequences in both
countries.
We are following closely, and with hope, the
events affecting several countries of North Africa,
which will give a greater voice to their peoples.
Clearly, it is up to them to decide their own destiny.
But in the midst of the current turbulent situation,
it is not possible to delay a solution to the secular
conflict resulting from the confrontation between the
State of Israel and its neighbours. We support the
creation of a viable and prosperous Palestinian State
living in peace and harmony, behind secure and
defensible borders, side by side with the State of Israel.
We understand that the international community can
take part in the process of fulfilling that vision, as
indeed is happening through the so-called Quartet
comprising the United States, the Russian Federation,
the European Union and the United Nations, but its
realization is up to the two parties — Israel and
Palestine — and should be achieved through direct
negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues.
We reiterate our commitment to the relaunching
of the regional integration process of the Central
American Integration System to bring about even
closer relations with our neighbours of the Caribbean
and Latin America, and we enthusiastically support the
creation of the Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States.
In another crucial area, we regard as an important
step towards resolving our age-old territorial dispute
with Belize the signing of the Special Agreement,
which, when the domestic juridical processes are
concluded, will enable both countries to seek a legal
solution through the International Court of Justice. I
am pleased to report that the Congress of Guatemala
has approved the Agreement unanimously. The next
step will be to submit it to a national referendum.
In the ancestral Mayan calendar today is the day
of balance, the day of dawn, the day that the
Guacamaya sings, announcing the coming of a new
dawn. Today we have come together to witness a new
dawn. It should be the dawn of peace, the dawn of less
poverty, the dawn of harmony and above all the dawn
of respect for fundamental human rights.