The Government of Bolivia has given me the task of conveying its most sincere congratulations to you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session, which is a recognition of your personal merits and a tribute to your country. At the same time, I thank Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab for his work during the fifty-fourth session and for his dedication during the preparations for the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Assembly. Special thanks must also go to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his report preparatory to the Millennium Summit, the content of which has given us an opportunity to reflect upon and address specific issues with which the United Nations has been concerned in its 55 years of existence. We also welcome the recent admission of Tuvalu as a new, fully fledged Member of our Organization. 10 The recent Millennium Summit reaffirmed the recognition by the international community of the importance and significance of, and the prospects for, the United Nations Organization. It also highlighted the urgency of adapting it to, and equipping it for, the new realities in which we live, which are certainly quite different from the situation and circumstances that prevailed when our Organization came into being. The concerns of peoples and Governments today are also different. Poverty, underdevelopment and exacerbated inequalities contribute to new divisions, which threaten to lead to violence. These realities must be corrected, because they have the potential of spawning conflicts that, if allowed to persist, could seriously jeopardize the world's economic and political stability, and, it goes without saying, international peace and security. Our Organization needs to be strengthened if it is successfully to channel the expectations and opportunities of globalization while controlling, and indeed preventing, the dangers implicit in it, especially for the more vulnerable economies, which are now threatened by new forms of exclusion. The United Nations must be renewed so that it can continue to be the effective instrument for dialogue that is required to build a world in which greater security and solidarity prevail. We must consequently redefine the Organization's priorities in such a way as to make it conducive to clear-sighted and effective action. This will require substantial reform of the system's economic and financial bodies, modernization of the General Assembly's methods of work, and the adaptation of the Security Council to these new realities. Other, equally important tasks include ensuring that the necessary resources are available to the Organization; obtaining financing for development and peacekeeping operations; and adjusting the scale of assessments in accordance with the basic principle of a country's capacity to pay. A few short days ago, at the Millennium Summit, the President of Bolivia, Hugo Bánzer Suárez, referred to the close relationship between freedom and poverty, and between poverty and violence. He called for the fight against poverty to be waged in accordance with the principle of shared responsibility and with a genuine commitment to democracy, in order to mitigate present inequalities, which are threatening to intensify. It is unfair, in an open economy, for markets to be closed and for discriminatory measures to be applied with protectionist intent. It is also vital to favour countries with small-scale economies through greater capital inflows and debt relief programmes. Science and technology must become the heritage of humankind. Scientific and technological knowledge must not widen already existing gaps and divisions. At the historic meeting of South American Presidents, held recently in Brasilia, the heads of State of the region stressed the importance of access to the new information and knowledge age, which will open the way for our countries to strengthen a system of continuing education that ensures education at all levels for the all sectors of society and permits unrestricted access to knowledge and information. Democracy, which essentially seeks to organize life in society, is a vital concept that changes and is updated in tune with the changing pace of societies themselves, without in any way detracting from its fundamental values. Convinced as we are that democracy must go beyond electoral formalities and that sovereignty is vested in the people and expressed through its representatives, we in Bolivia have declared the principle of political dialogue and consultation to be the basis of a pluralistic and participatory democratic system. In that context, the practice of holding a national dialogue was instituted during the administration of President Bánzer. That mechanism is aimed at establishing a new relationship of joint efforts and shared responsibility between Government institutions, the political system and organizations throughout society. The creation of key State policies grew out of the first such national dialogue, held in 1997. This year, a national dialogue has been initiated once again to lend fresh impetus to institutional reforms and to put together a national anti-poverty programme. A new plan, involving over 3,000 inhabitants in townships across Bolivia, is being elaborated whose objective is to assign rights and responsibilities that, within the framework of a market economy, will make it possible for us to combat the poverty that still afflicts vast sectors of our population, despite nearly 20 years of life under democracy. Shortly after taking office, in August 1997, President Bánzer Suárez vowed that during his mandate Bolivia would be removed from the drug- trafficking loop once and for all, through the implementation of an integrated policy that encompasses alternative development, the eradication of illegal coca crops, confiscation, prevention and rehabilitation. Despite doubts as to the feasibility of this plan, we can now affirm that we will be fulfilling our commitments ahead of time. In 1997, there were approximately 38,000 hectares of illegal coca cultivation in Bolivia. Today, more than 80 per cent of such illegal crops have been eradicated. Our concern now is essentially whether we can sustain these achievements. Conditions must be created which in future will obviate a return to coca-leaf production as a result of the lack of jobs and income. Our major efforts now are aimed at alternative development, to see to it that illegal coca income is replaced by legal earnings from other productive activities. If we do not achieve concrete results, we run the risk of seeing those persons who cannot hope to find any other means of subsistence fall once again prey to the temptation of cultivating coca. That would constitute a surrender to the drug dealers and signify a defeat not only for Bolivia but for the world community. What Bolivia needs, then, is support in two basic areas: first, in the area of investment, to promote our economic growth in the sectors that generate the most job opportunities; and secondly, in the opening of secure markets for our exports. At previous sessions of the Assembly, Bolivia has aired the historical, political and economic arguments on which it bases its absolute need to regain the maritime status that gave rise to its existence as an independent country. To that end, Bolivia has been encouraging direct dialogue with the Republic of Chile. As a consequence of prior contacts, the Foreign Ministers of Bolivia and Chile met in Portugal in February this year, where an agreement was reached to prepare a working programme, to be formalized in the subsequent stages of dialogue, that will incorporate, without exclusion of any kind, the essential points of a bilateral relationship and seek to surmount the differences that have impeded full integration between Bolivia and Chile, the main obstacle to which has certainly been Bolivia's unresolved maritime demand. In a significant advance, on the occasion of the recent meeting of Presidents of South America, the Presidents of Bolivia and Chile, Hugo Bánzer and Ricardo Lagos, reiterated the willingness of their Governments to enter into dialogue on all topics relating to bilateral relations, without exception, in order to create a climate of mutual trust enabling the establishment of closer ties based on the structure and positions maintained by the two countries. The world community, the Americas in particular, is following with great expectation the course of this diplomatic process and the progress achieved therein. The proposal to hold a dialogue on all topics without exception is a challenge to the creativity of those involved and puts to the test our political will to correct once and for all an unjust situation that has prevailed since 1879. Furthermore, Latin America's capacity to settle its own disputes in a fair, peaceful and negotiated way will be strengthened and progress thus made on the road to regional integration. In that context, we propose the implementation of a programme to promote the integrated development of western Bolivia and northern Chile. We are also confident that Peru will participate in this programme in order to mobilize the resources and capabilities of the three countries of the region. In this way, a contribution will be made to linking the Atlantic and Pacific basins. The persistence of Bolivia's landlocked status at the heart of the continent is, without doubt, an obstacle to the creation of a major opportunity for thoroughgoing understanding and dialogue in the South American region and minimizes the effectiveness of work to promote integration being carried out in the area. This occasion provides a fitting opportunity for us to thank Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his interest in relations between Bolivia and Chile, which has been brought to the attention of the authorities of both countries. The Secretary-General has expressed his satisfaction with respect to the conversations held, according to the terms laid down by the parties, at the levels of heads of State, Foreign Ministers and other authorities of Bolivia and Chile. My country pledges to make every effort to translate the desire recently expressed by the Presidents of Bolivia and Chile into action that will enable us, Bolivians and Chileans alike, to advance towards the resolution of our differences, with a view to the future and in a spirit of brotherhood. 12