On behalf of the delegation of the Republic
of Nicaragua — cradle of Rubén Darío and Augusto C.
Sandino, the home of a people firmly committed to
their principle, their efforts for a better world and their
calling for universal peace — I extend the brotherly
greeting of our President, Comandante Daniel Ortega
Saavedra, and of all our authorities and citizens.
Listening to the words of the representatives of
the States taking part in this sixty-third session of the
General Assembly, we find that we have a common
vision of the major serious problems affecting all
humankind today. In particular, we agree on the urgent
need to act as one in facing those problems and solving
them successfully, once and for all, for the benefit of
those who inhabit planet Earth.
Hunger, poverty, the high cost of oil and food, the
tragic consequences of climate change, terrorism, the
urgent need to observe human rights worldwide, the
trafficking of and trade in persons, drug trafficking and
civil insecurity are, among other issues, matters that
must lead us to focus our attention and our efforts.
At the same time, they are questions that arise
from the nature and functioning of our Organization
and that call for in-depth consideration so that we can
make this Organization more effective and democratic,
with sufficient guarantees, and so that all countries of
the world represented here can have our interests taken
into account, our voices heard and our will expressed
in the most transparent and effective way possible.
For Nicaragua, an international system based on
the hegemony of a few over the majority is
unthinkable. Such an anachronistic system, unjust in its
very essence, is the reason for the deep political,
economic and social inequality in the world. It is the
reason for the accelerated and advanced arms race led
by countries that have set themselves up as world
referees in situations affecting us all. It is the reason
for wars of aggression that behind the smokescreen of
the globalization of democracy and the promotion of
certain freedoms, illegally and illegitimately
appropriate scarce energy and natural resources and
lead to the political subjugation and grief of entire
peoples deprived of their freedom, national
independence and their right to their own development.
The international security situation has become
increasingly volatile in various parts of the world,
bringing new threats to international peace and security
and to peoples’ desire for peace. We must act
intelligently, cautiously and resolutely to ensure that
new fratricidal wars do not assail the world. Therefore,
we agree with the priority given by the President of our
General Assembly to actions aimed at achieving
comprehensive and complete disarmament and nuclear
control.
As a country that has fought and continues to
fight for its independence, sovereignty and
self-determination, and as the victim of military and
foreign political intervention several times in its
history, Nicaragua understood early on that there was
no greater value than freedom. Our national heroes,
those who fought in our wars for freedom, are taintless
witnesses to the determination of the Nicaraguan
people to have a free homeland or death.
43 08-52272
The persistence of poverty and inequality in the
world today cannot be justified. Hunger and poverty
are sapping economic and social progress for future
generations. Despite the efforts made in recent years,
the gap between the rich and poor has continued to
grow, and millions of people now suffer from hunger
and live in poverty or in extreme poverty. It is ethically
and politically crucial to put an end to that long-
standing injustice to so many human beings.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
await greater impetus from countries, primarily those
with larger economic resources, and from international
financial organizations, which are also called upon to
contribute to their accomplishment. Those countries
and bodies must clearly demonstrate their genuine
political will to achieve all the MDGs and that they are
not merely paying lip service to them.
It was established in the Monterrey Consensus,
adopted at the International Conference on Financing
for Development, that the Bretton Woods institutions,
the World Trade Organization and the United Nations
must recognize the needs and interests of developing
countries and make them central to the work of the
financing for development programme to be reviewed
in Doha this year.
By and large, we can say that most donors are not
honouring the pledges they made to increase their aid
unconditionally. United Nations calculations on the
total official development assistance needed between
2010 and 2015 in order to achieve the MDGs amount
to some $130 billion per year. However, global arms
expenditures in 2007 alone reached some $1.399
trillion, according to the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute. Today more than ever, the
commitment to allocating at least 0.7 per cent of gross
national income for official development assistance
without condition must be honoured so that developing
countries can have these resources available for our
national priorities.
Nicaragua reiterates that, in order to consolidate
our efforts in the coming years to eradicate poverty,
extreme poverty, hunger and unemployment, we must
first eradicate the unjust relationships among States.
Those injustices can be felt most tangibly in unfair and
imbalanced trade relations between the rich and the
poor countries.
My country calls for a fair international market
and fair, democratic and balanced international trade
that will contribute to strengthening the economy of
our countries, allow us to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals, and end the criminalization of
migration by some receiving countries.
We must ensure the maximum possible economic
complementarity among all countries of the world. The
developing countries are working hard on that issue in
the context of South-South cooperation. We note the
successes that have been achieved in very little time in
some regions, such as the agreements between some
Latin American and Caribbean countries.
The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas has
become a comprehensive platform for cooperation for a
number of our countries, complementing their
economies. The complementarity we have built seeks
to create advantages for our raw materials and
agricultural products, as well as for our fishing,
mineral and energy resources, to mention but a few. We
need complementarity, solidarity and the accelerated
transformation of purely economic relationships based
on a sense of shared responsibility and unity in the face
of the major challenges of the present and the future.
Nothing could be further from that spirit than
unbridled capitalism, which is speculative and
inefficient and has led the world economy into a
serious crisis the effects of which, according to some
experts, we are only just beginning to feel, as we have
seen recently in the United States financial system.
Just a few hours ago, the President of the World
Bank, Robert Zoellick, told the world press that the
United States financial crisis will have a severe effect
on development assistance, primarily that earmarked
for the poorest countries. In other words, the crisis in
the financial system will have serious repercussions on
our peoples. The same solutions being sought to avoid
collapse will need to include measures to ensure that
our peoples are not affected by a crisis that we have not
brought on ourselves but that we may pay for with
worsening poverty and a further delay in our
development.
We have also seen that multilateralism in
international relations is a means to achieve mutually
respectful relationships and peaceful coexistence and
to implement development policies based on our own
realities. In that conviction, we have been actively
committed to the principles and objectives of the Non-
Aligned Movement. The reconciliation and national
unity Government of Nicaragua, presided over by
08-52272 44
President Daniel Ortega Saavedra, is firmly committed
to that vision of the world and is working hand in hand
with the people to rebuild a country that, after almost
two decades of neoliberalism following a decade of
unjust war that was firmly condemned by the
International Court of Justice, was in a state of
political, social and economic collapse.
Our Government seeks to overcome poverty and
to transform Nicaragua through a new alternative
model of development that is more just and a new
power structure that is truly democratic. Citizens will
play a leading role in carrying out that task and will
directly redefine the path of the country in line with
their own interests.
We propose to improve the quality of life of our
people by basing our policies on principles to defend
the environment and nature and to conserve our natural
heritage. We must establish a participatory new world
environmental order with clearly set goals that puts an
end to the commercial and utilitarian exploitation of
our planetary resources that, as has now been proven,
are being depleted at an uncontrollable rate. Those
efforts must also include the commitment of the
countries that are the largest emitters of the greenhouse
gases that have resulted in global warming and have
already had other negative and irreversible effects on
the planet.
We are also focusing on the development of food
sovereignty as a means of feeding our people through
our own domestic efforts and through unconditional
solidarity with brotherly peoples. At the same time,
food security will guarantee that every Nicaraguan has
reliable access to nutritious food at a fair cost so as to
lead a healthy and active life.
We are developing programmes to eradicate
hunger and profiteering. We are providing low-cost
seeds, stoves and butane tanks for low-income
families. We are also supporting small businesses and
working for the establishment of a bank to encourage
production.
For Nicaragua, the word “solidarity” is not an
empty concept, but rather the cement of the society we
wish to build. With that in mind, I cannot fail to stress
at this general debate the solidarity of my people with
the Government and people of Bolivia, who have been
subject to unacceptable and ongoing attempts to
destabilize the country. The indigenous people of
Bolivia, led by President Evo Morales, have taught us
all a lesson in democracy by defending the democracy
that they have gained after years of humiliating
marginalization.
Once again, Nicaragua denounces the cruel
blockade maintained against Cuba in violation of
international law. That pathological obsession against
Cuba seems to justify all actions and ignores that
country’s own problems in combating the terrorism
that has been brought from this country to that
Caribbean island. The five Cuban patriots who have
been jailed in Florida for attempting to prevent terrorist
acts against the Cuban people should be set free.
Although it may seem untrue, the process of
decolonization is not over. Entire peoples are still
oppressed and denied their right to independence and
to self-determination. We salute and stand side by side
with the people of Puerto Rico and the Western Sahara,
with the Polisario Front, and with Argentina in
opposition to the occupation of the Malvinas Islands.
We also firmly reiterate our call for freedom for the
Cypriot people and for putting an end to the partition
of that great nation.
We support a comprehensive and peaceful
solution in the Middle East that will end once and for
all the horrors of war and allow the Palestinian and
Israeli people to live as brothers and sisters, and in
which the Palestinian people can finally enjoy all of
their rights and have a State of their own.
We are convinced that, if we are to achieve the
noble objectives embraced by our Organization, we
need the true political will to devote time and energy to
reviewing our own house. That is even more important
in a world of constant change and crisis and requires
each of us — our peoples and our States — to be active
participants in our own future. As has been said before,
we must work together to democratize the United
Nations. We are pleased to welcome the proposal of the
President of the General Assembly to hold a high-level
dialogue on the democratization of the Organization, in
which we would consider one by one the pressing
problems of and between its various bodies. We are
prepared to play a constructive role in that necessary
and urgent dialogue.
The times our peoples are facing and the
responsibilities we have here in this house will be
decisive for millions of people, now and for future
generations. It is urgent that we find points of
45 08-52272
convergence so that we can work together to meet the
challenges of the times and our responsibilities.
The United Nations Charter is a fundamental
reference point to guide our action. In respecting the
Charter and ensuring that it is respected, we are
respecting ourselves. Its principles must prevail over
selfish and petty interests. Above all, the future of
humankind is at stake.
Nicaragua reaffirms its call for peace and
humanism to contribute to a more just, more humane
and more united world in which individual destinies,
interconnected and inspired by their love of justice and
freedom, come together in the universal task of
creating a world that is better for all.
As was said yesterday at the high-level event on
the Millennium Development Goals, the unjust
international order in which we live must change if it is
to be credible, legitimate and effective. Fundamental
decisions cannot continue to be taken by one, seven or
eight stakeholders and without the participation of the
vast majority of humankind. Solutions to this situation
are well known and well accepted, at least in principle.
Through the millenniums and centuries, our
species has developed institutions — and above all,
law — in order to govern human relations and to
mediate conflicts through peaceful means. More
recently, humankind has developed democracy to that
end and, in particular, in order to structure power and
authority peacefully. Those are the solutions that our
species has developed over the millenniums, and it is
difficult to imagine another alternative.
The question before us now is whether we have
the political will to apply democracy at the
international level, beginning by democratizing the
United Nations and by strengthening international law
within the framework of United Nations institutions.
That is the solution. That is what will overcome the
chronically postponed solutions to problems and help
us to deal efficiently with urgent new problems. It is
possible. Why not? We are speaking of human
institutions that we ourselves can change. The question
is whether or not we have the political will to do so. I
propose that we work together at this sixty-third
session of the General Assembly to build that political
will through increasingly broader progressive
consensus.