Bolivia, 1995

Allow me to convey to the President of the

General Assembly the congratulations of the Government

and people of Bolivia upon his election to the presidency of

the fiftieth session of the General Assembly. He can be

assured that my delegation will cooperate with him to

ensure the full success of this important session.

The commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the

entry into force of the United Nations Charter affords a

fresh opportunity for critical and renewed reflection on the

scope, difficulties and role of the multilateral system.

During the year 1995 important meetings of universal

scope have taken place, such as the World Summit on

Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on

Women, and the Review and Extension Conference on the

Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Those

meetings, together with others of a bilateral, subregional or

regional character — notably the Hemispheric Summit in

Miami — show that the principles which presided over the

creation of the United Nations are still very much alive, and

demonstrate the need to make significant further headway

in promoting peace, human rights, democracy, and

economic and social development.

Meetings at the highest level of the world’s political

leaders and their representatives, ready to assume

undertakings on issues of such significance, are indicative

of a strong political will and reveal an interest in finding

concrete collective responses to the problems of our time.

As a result of those Conferences, the world

community has at hand new approaches that enrich and

strengthen prior agreements as it seeks to cope successfully

with contemporary challenges. For example, social

development and recognition of the due role of women in

society have ceased to be mere promises; they are

becoming definite realities before the end of this century.

The International Decade of the World’s Indigenous

People will make it possible for priority attention to be

given to that important sector of the community.

The end of the cold war has not released the material

and human resources that were committed to that contest.

Nor has it freed our minds of concern over war and

destruction. There persist negative situations and

prejudices, which were born during that period when the

world was divided into antagonistic blocs, and which no

longer have any justification.

The long-awaited peace dividend has not been

forthcoming; on the contrary, we see a proliferation of

conflicts in many parts of the world. Many of these

situations are due to still unresolved social and national

problems, to a backlog of injustices and long-standing

resentments, to geopolitical and economic interests which,

from within and from outside, have exacerbated

confrontation for decades, and, above all, to

Governments’ difficulties in defining an effective form of

cooperation for the peaceful solution of problems.

In this context, we reiterate our support for the

principles and the renewed objectives of the Movement of

Non-Aligned Countries, whose chairmanship is shortly to

be assumed by the sister republic of Colombia.

We feel a sense of solidarity with the peoples of the

former Yugoslavia, who are enduring the torment of an

unjustifiable war. We also express our solidarity with the

millions of human beings affected by military conflict,

unilateral blockades, hindrances to free contact with the

outside world, and by having been uprooted from their

lands.

We reiterate what the Heads of State or Government

of the Rio Group stated at their recent summit meeting in

Quito:

“We express our concern over attempts to

enforce domestic laws beyond territorial boundaries

in violation of international law and the fundamental

principles governing coexistence in the region. Such

actions violate the sovereignty of other States and

are contrary to unanimously adopted transparent

trade practices”. (A/50/425, annex, para. 13)

Bolivia expresses its condemnation of grave

violations of international law, war crimes, violations of

the fundamental rules of coexistence, manifestations of

racism, and other offenses against humanity, all of which

should be vigorously condemned. The work of the United

Nations in this field has been important, but it needs to be

further refined. In that work, the role of regional and

subregional organizations for cooperation and

coordination is essential and should gain greater

importance in years to come. These organizations include

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the Organization of American States, the Rio Group and the

various regional and subregional instruments of economic

integration, to which my Government lends its full support.

We rejoice that Haiti and other countries have made

firm strides towards peace and democratic governance.

Likewise, Bolivia notes with particular interest, and

commends, the peace process in the Middle East, whose

advances in the face of difficulties give us cause to be

optimistic and to hope for reconciliation through the

fashioning of innovative solutions with a distinctive explicit

political content. The agreement signed yesterday between

Israel and Palestine is an example of determination and

vision of historic proportions.

Bolivia has expressed its rejection of the resumption

of nuclear tests, which jeopardize negotiations towards the

speedy adoption of a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty.

We condemn terrorism and organized crime, whose

scope and reach cut across national boundaries and which

thus threatens security and constitutional stability

everywhere. Bolivia has signed several bilateral treaties

intended to advance international cooperation on legal

matters within a framework of strict respect for sovereignty,

but at the same time closing off avenues to impunity for

international crime.

As our awareness of the rights and duties of

multilateral interdependence grows, cooperation in

achieving the inherent right to development of all the

world’s peoples should come to the fore.

In the new international situation, Bolivia supports

initiatives aimed at strengthening the United Nations and

shares the conviction that it is necessary to carry out major

reforms in its structure and functioning. Bolivia believes it

essential as a first step in that direction to strengthen the

General Assembly as the principal organ providing for

effective participation by all countries.

My Government supports initiatives aimed at

expanding the Security Council, in both its permanent and

its non-permanent membership. Such an expansion should

reflect the diversity of the world’s regions and enable all

States to participate effectively and responsibly in the

commitment to guarantee peace, security and the timely

settlement of conflicts, in a transparent manner and in

keeping with the interests of the international community,

not only in the narrow framework of the individual interests

of States.

I also highlight the importance we attach to the

United Nations in the area of international cooperation,

especially in the economic sphere and on matters of social

and technological development, and the urgency of

restoring to the Economic and Social Council the high

stature it originally possessed.

The principles of justice and international law must

be our main guiding light in seeking solutions to the

problems we face.

With regard to Bolivia’s maritime question, which

we have brought before international forums, I wish to

declare to this Assembly the political will of my

Government to embark upon negotiations that are

consonant with our historic responsibility, that serve the

rights and interests of all parties involved, and that ensure

a sovereign Bolivian presence on the Pacific Ocean.

Bolivia has to contend with the consequences of the land-

locked position imposed upon it, the economic, political

and moral effects of which demand a solution in the

framework of international solidarity, justice, equity and

law.

Just as countries call for international justice, we are

obliged also to apply that principle within our own

societies. That is the golden rule of the Administration of

President Gonzalo Sánchez de Losada. Our message is

one of change. Never before in the history of our republic

have such profound and rapid structural changes been

democratically and peacefully carried out as those that

began in Bolivia in August 1993.

First, we are implementing the law on the people’s

participation, which is integrating civil society into the

political system. Traditionally disadvantaged populations

now have in their hands the ability to diagnose their

problems and to prescribe public policy, especially

regarding self-help to meet their own needs. This is

essentially a policy of redistribution, which enables a

large part of the nation fully to assume their status as

citizens.

Secondly, the foregoing requires training the people

so that they will be able to meet internal and external

challenges. To that end, another reform undertaken by

President Gonzálo Sánchez de Lozada’s administration is

educational reform, viewed specifically in the light of

Bolivia’s ethnic and cultural diversity and with the aim of

institutionalizing bilingual and multicultural education.

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Thirdly, I am pleased to inform this Assembly that

capital investment in Bolivia’s main public enterprises is

moving forward successfully and strongly. We are

transforming the largest productive and service units of the

country to enable them to double their capital in the space

of a few months, modernize their management in

accordance with the requirements of international life, and

secure a series of real benefits for the Bolivian population,

making possible individual investment by citizens of 50 per

cent of the share capital.

Such initiatives represent an effort to make Bolivia

equal to contemporary demands, especially those resulting

from the international economy, which is characterized by

great dynamism, innovation and competitiveness.

International economic cooperation is indispensable

and should enjoy the firm political backing of developed

countries and international financial institutions. For that

reason my country expresses concern about the declining

and negative trends of some sources of cooperation and

financing. This situation is especially disturbing when seen

in the light of the fact that Bolivia has to contend in its

territory with a universal problem — namely, illicit drug

trafficking.

It is paradoxical — to say the least — to urge an

increase in Bolivia’s contribution and in Bolivia’s tasks in

that common struggle precisely at a time when cooperation

resources are decreasing. The task at hand is simultaneously

to fulfil the commitments in the struggle against drug

trafficking and to prepare to embark on genuine sustainable

development, especially in the rural sector, where the most

acute poverty exists.

Given the magnitude of the tasks falling to Bolivia in

this matter, strong backing from the international

community is needed for Bolivia’s national strategy in

regard to interdiction, prevention, the eradication of surplus

crops, and alternative development. That contribution is

essential to Bolivia’s effort to cease being a link in the

drug-trafficking chain and, at the same time, ensure

political and economic stability and promote development

of the country’s productive apparatus.

With a view to consolidating the vision of shared

responsibility with regard to the problem of drug-

trafficking, the nations of the Americas support the holding

of a world conference to take stock of the situation and the

state of international cooperation in the struggle against

demand for and production, sale, trafficking and illicit

distribution of narcotics. In that context, Bolivia actively

advocates the holding in 1977 of a second international

conference against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking,

under the aegis of the United Nations.

Before concluding, I must refer to the topic of

sustainable development.

We must stimulate vigorous and sustained economic

growth, with social equity, in conditions that protect and

make efficient use of natural resources and ensure rational

distribution of the fruits of that growth. Henceforth, we

must adopt a mode of development that is nurtured by

technological advances designed to curb the waste and

pollution that have characterized industrialized societies.

Accordingly, it is with special satisfaction that I

announce to this Assembly that in the latter half of next

year Bolivia will have the privilege of hosting, in the city

of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the American Hemispheric

Summit on Sustainable Development. We hope that the

ideas and proposals that emerge from that important

meeting will contribute to the development of our

countries and to better preservation of the environment in

this part of the world.