For Venezuelans, Latin
Americans and Caribbeans, it is an honour, Sir, to have
you as President of the General Assembly at this
session. No one is a more authentic Christian than a
progressive Christian. It is a risky position and one
which requires sacrifice for a person like yourself,
whose life has been a testament to his lofty values.
Indeed, this criterion is valid for Muslims, Jews,
Buddhists, animists, Hindus, atheists, and so on if their
lives are a testament to their respective ethical
obligations.
There is another religion whose adherents and
priests preach from their temples. It is the religion of
neoliberalism, whose god is the market.
A few years ago, a well-known academic,
captivated by his own materialistic image, announced
the end of history, claiming that we had reached not the
fountain of eternal youth but the secret to eternal
prosperity. Today, prompted by the sixtieth anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we
qualify that thought as a curse that reflects the
insensitivity of the most egotistical and corrupt.
At the time of the French Revolution someone
said “Freedom, how many crimes are committed in
your name?” These days we could say “Free market,
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how much poverty, how much violence, how much
torture, how many wars, how many invasions, how
much oppression, how much social injustice is
committed in your name?” We are, therefore,
sympathetic with President Nicolas Sarkozy’s peace
initiatives and his appropriate ideas about a regulated
capitalism and a summit of countries affected by the
financial crisis.
Accustomed as we were to suffering the perverse
effects of the brutal application of neoliberal policies,
today we see the pain, anguish and anger of millions of
our brothers in the United States. They have been
swindled by upper-class criminals, an experience that
we Venezuelans know well.
Since memory is fragile and the neoliberal global
dictatorship uses private communications media to hide
its crimes, allow me to recount a terrible event that
occurred in the country that was the first lab rat for the
most radical formula from Wall Street and the
International Monetary Fund. I am speaking of my
country, Venezuela.
In only two days, in February 1989, a
spontaneous people’s rebellion was mercilessly
crushed. It was a protest against the application,
without anaesthesia, of the magic formulas that the
great financial centres imposed on us. Several
non-governmental human rights organizations at the
time registered thousands of deaths, but the official
statistics recognized only 259 dead, without
mentioning those who were injured or material
damage — only 259 dead in two days.
As a diplomat in those terrible days, I assumed
that there would be complaints and condemnations
from friendly Governments with good human-rights
track records. Nothing of the sort happened. Venezuela
was the pet project of Latin American democracies
and, at the same time, a neoliberal laboratory whose
failure had to be kept secret. The media accomplices of
yesterday that kept these crimes secret are the same
that today slander the democratic, peaceful, socialist
revolutionary Venezuelan process led by President
Hugo Chávez.
In Venezuela we practice extreme democracy:
extreme freedom of expression, extreme participation,
extreme challenge to the neoliberal monster and
extreme commitment to social justice, hence the
international media campaign to attempt to slander and
stifle democracy in Venezuela. The instruments of that
campaign have a name: the Fox network in the United
States, the Grupo de Diarios de América, the Inter
American Press Association, the neocolonialist group
Promotora de Informaciones, S.A., the El Pais daily,
the Cadena de Ondas Populares de España (COPE)
radio network of the blessed Catholic Bishops’
Conference of Spain, the El Mercurio daily in Chile,
the El Universal daily in Mexico, the pro-coup
Venezuelan television station Globovision, and many
other lackeys of the international far right.
That brings to mind a topic that no one talks
about. Some people think that Nelson Mandela did
away with apartheid. In the United States, the people
we see on the television screens are like the people we
see in the streets. Not so in Latin America, in
Venezuela and in multi-ethnic Latin American
countries. On their televisions we do not see people of
mixed races, nor indigenous people, nor Afro-Latin
Americans unless they are playing the role of the
servants. Hence the racist hatred against the indigenous
majority in Bolivia. Racism is the most perverse form
of discrimination. In the worst dictatorships and under
persecution, it is possible to hide one’s thoughts, faith
and political affiliation. But what one can never hide is
the colour of one’s skin.
Democracy, international social justice and peace
cannot survive under the schemes of unilateralism and
the muscular exercises of hegemonic powers. Dissent
should not be punished but rather recognized as an
expression of democratic and pacifist values.
Appreciation of and respect for those who are different
is a guarantee of the fulfilment of the principles
enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Democracy
and peace should stem from creativity and the
confidence generated by the variety of ideas, colours,
interests and proposals.
Progressive democracy has burgeoned in Latin
America and the Caribbean, particularly within the past
10 years, just as the continent has been undergoing
profound social change. Long ago, during the sixties
and seventies, the magic solution to attain the complete
democracy and social progress that some preached was
through free and transparent elections, although in
certain select circumstances the elections were neither
very democratic nor very transparent. Nevertheless,
they were welcomed into the so-called democratic
club, since they adhered to unspoken patterns of
political behaviour dictated by the global metropolis.
23 08-53141
It is a fact that today in Latin America elections
are more participatory, more transparent and freer than
ever. Nevertheless, the results are not welcomed when
the winners have previously been labelled as villains
by the imperial super-Power.
The spectre of progressive democracy is lying in
wait for the continent of social injustice. People are
deciding their own destiny, as they should. But they are
making this choice with a clear preference for leftist
movements that offer a response to their circumstances.
That does not suit the far right, which is no lover of
democracy, as much as it claims to be.
That reminds me to some extent of Henry Ford,
when he spoke of his great success in selling the
Model T. He said “Any customer can have a car
painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black”.
Something similar is happening with the super-Power
and its partners on our continent. Anyone who wins
free and transparent elections monitored by credible
international observers is accepted, provided that
person is right-wing.
Dissent is not accepted by some people in the
global village. The new movements, which are
supported by the majority of those who are excluded,
are not welcome. The magnates of private media are
themselves a threat to democracy and freedom,
aligning themselves with the interests they serve, while
poisoning the collective psyche of the more timid
groups in society.
Concerted efforts to undermine legitimate
institutions are being launched and consolidated under
fundamentalist doctrines. New witch hunts identify that
phenomenon, and the fundamentalists of the right are
embarking on well-coordinated and well-financed
ventures while continuing to sign off on huge corporate
deals. Such is the case with the Halliburton company,
whose balance sheets are spattered with Arab and
American blood. All the while, Al Qaeda is bigger than
ever, and the weapons of mass destruction have still
not been found.
Homegrown right-wing and racist forces,
emboldened by foreign support, do not recognize the
legitimacy of new or renewed institutions and cause
political and social instability and separatism. Look at
Bolivia. In Ecuador, those groups will not accept the
overwhelming popular support provided yesterday to
President Correa’s draft constitution, so we will have
to invite him to come in and join the axis of evil.
In any case, there is not much to worry about
when it comes to the leftist democracies. They are very
modern, in the sense that they do not have religious or
gender police, while on the other hand they are
antiquated democracies, where those who gain the
most votes come in first and are elected.
The drama of poverty, social exclusion and
uneven distribution of income still tyrannizes our
countries. The current model of development is not
sustainable. It endangers life, the planet and peace. As
long as there is still hunger, our democracies and our
environment are threatened. The time for profound and
demanding changes has come. Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, in his address to this Assembly at its 5th
meeting, referred to the need for a new understanding
on business ethics, with more compassion and less
unconditional faith in the magic of the markets. Greed
and consumerism have brought about climate change,
the energy crisis, financial chaos and the food crisis.
The world food crisis continues to expand. Food
has become just a form of merchandise used to
maximize profits, with the human right to food
ignored. According to the statistics of the Food and
Agriculture Organization, global food production has
consistently exceeded global population growth. That
means that sufficient food is produced in the world to
provide more than 2,800 calories every day to each of
the world’s inhabitants. Close to 18 per cent more
calories are produced per person than was the case in
the 1960s, despite the increase in the total population.
If sufficient food is produced in the world, how can we
explain the fact that more than 850 million people now
suffer from hunger or malnutrition, that 25,000 people
die from hunger every day and that 18,000 of those are
children?
The Secretary-General has stated that
development is in a state of emergency, and he
continues to appeal for progress on the Millennium
Development Goals.
Venezuela promotes policies for social inclusion,
public policies to ensure everyone’s rights. In order to
build a new model for development on the basis of
solidarity, social justice, equity, cooperation, respect
for human rights and the participation of the people,
Venezuela has a comprehensive social development
policy based on the human being. The foundation of
that policy is social missions undertaken through wide-
ranging and free social and economic programmes to
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reach out to all sectors of society, with a particular
emphasis on the most vulnerable, in order to guarantee
the social and economic rights of our people in peace
and democracy.
With great satisfaction and humility, our country
can share with the Assembly the progress we have
achieved in implementing the Millennium
Development Goals. The number of people in extreme
poverty has dropped in our country, and there has been
an increase of 10.8 per cent in primary school
attendance. Unemployment has dropped from 23 per
cent to 7 per cent. In recent years, gross domestic
product expenditures on health have increased by 57.1
per cent. We provide total coverage to those suffering
from AIDS. The proportion of the population with
access to drinking water has increased from 80 per cent
in 1998 to 95 per cent in 2007. During the period from
1996 to 2007, infant mortality dropped from 23.4 to
13.4 per 1,000 live births.
Venezuela has made major contributions to
efforts for cooperation and complementarity between
the countries of the South. The Bolivarian Alternative
for the Americas (ALBA), which was established by
Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominica, Honduras and
Venezuela, is an initiative that brings together the
abilities and strengths of its members to bring about
structural change and the relationships necessary to
achieve development and continue to exist as sovereign
and just nations.
Petrocaribe is an energy cooperation agreement
proposed by the Government of Bolivia to resolve the
asymmetries in the region between energy producers
and consumers by means of a new, equitable and just
system of trade between the countries of the Caribbean
region.
The Union of South American Nations
(UNASUR) is an ongoing political endeavour, which,
in its short existence, has shown that it is politically
effective and respects the sovereignty of peoples. It has
arrived at common positions on projects in the fields of
energy, social affairs, finance, education,
infrastructure, dispute resolution and defence, and has
gone beyond mere talk to become part of daily life of
the citizens of South America. The recent unanimous
support of President Evo Morales and democracy in
Bolivia is a good example of that.
The President of the General Assembly,
Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, stated that more than
a half of the peoples of the Earth languish in hunger
and poverty while ever-increasing amounts of money
are wasted on arms, wars, luxury items and totally
superfluous and unnecessary goods.
That addiction to war is the only thing that can
explain the fact that, after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, war-loving countries and alliances continued to
chip away, day after day, at Russian democracy and to
intrigue in the region against Moscow instead of
abandoning their threats of war and trying to resolve
the lack of trust that is the source of conflict and
violence. It is a disgraceful situation that has not
wanted for ignorant cowboys who think they are
heroes. The Russian bear is awakening from its
hibernation.
How many human lives have we lost among
Iraqis, Americans, Latin Americans, Europeans, Asians
and Africans? And how many lives could we save if the
resources devoted to war and to the recovery of
financial institutions were devoted instead to social
investment?
The reform process requires the adoption of
measures to strengthen the authority of the General
Assembly, including on matters of international peace
and security, given that it is the principal deliberating,
participatory and democratic body of the Organization.
Venezuela supports the expansion of both the
permanent and non-permanent membership of the
Security Council, the abolishment of the
antidemocratic post-war mechanism of the veto and the
improvement of the Council’s working methods, so
that it may be more transparent and accessible and so
that never again will anyone resort to lying to the
Council.
We must remain vigilant to ensure that the
Human Rights Council continues to operate on the
basis of principles of impartiality, objectivity and
non-selectivity without stigmatizing anyone and to
promote constructive dialogue, without diversions
about certification, cooperation without preconditions
or vetoes, and respect for the particular circumstances
of nations and regions, as well as for our diverse
historical, cultural and religious pasts.
We reject racist, xenophobic and discriminatory
measures that clearly deny the human rights that
should apply universally to all, including migrants.
Criminalizing migrants and their families violates their
fundamental rights. Measures such as the Return
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Directive approved by the European Parliament incite
racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination
and intolerance. That is incompatible with the defence,
promotion and protection of human rights, democracy
and the rule of law. We prefer a Europe of light,
integration and reconciliation to a Europe of shadows.
We know that we are not at the end of history; we
are not even at the beginning of the end of history.
What we do know is that we are apparently at the close
of a chapter of history, at the end of a neoliberal
nightmare in which unbridled capitalism — as John
Paul II described it — social violence and the
persistent worldwide violation of all human rights
prevailed.
This afternoon, the House of Representatives of
the United States of America took an historic decision
whose effects will be felt throughout the world in the
times to come. Very soon next year, we hope to be able
to say that the worst has past and that the perverse
effects of the religion of the market will be replaced,
God willing, on the global level, allowing us to move
towards democracy, progress and social justice,
ensuring peace among nations — among nations that
are free and stand together, among nations that are
united.