Brazil, 1996

Please accept my

congratulations, Sir, on your election as President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-first session. The Brazilian

delegation is confident that, under your leadership, this

body will find new strength in the pursuit of the

principles and purposes of our Charter.

I also wish to pay tribute to my dear friend, Mr.

Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for the dedication with which

he conducted the historic fiftieth session. We are grateful

for his steadfast commitment to ensuring that our work

was consistent with the high expectations of the fiftieth

anniversary celebrations.

My delegation extends a word of gratitude and

recognition to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros-Ghali,

for the perseverance he has shown in carrying out his

tasks.

For the first time, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde,

Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and

Principe come to the General Assembly as members of

the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, a body

dedicated to cooperation and political coordination. The

member States of the Community intend to consult and to

work closely together at the United Nations with a view

to better promoting their common interests and fostering

their linguistic, cultural and historical identity.

The countries of the Southern Cone Common Market

(MERCOSUR) — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and

Uruguay — have also come to the General Assembly

with an enhanced sense of unity. MERCOSUR gives living

and concrete expression to economic integration and open

regionalism and represents one of the creative forces at

work in the Americas. It is a new and striking feature of

our continent’s identity and a reflection of democracy and

the commitment to economic reform in our region.

With the customs union firmly in place, Chile has now

joined MERCOSUR as an associated State by means of a

free-trade agreement with far-reaching political and

diplomatic implications. Bolivia will also shortly associate

itself with MERCOSUR. We look forward to other

countries’ of the region joining as well to further bolster the

dynamic and open nature of MERCOSUR.

Now firmly rooted in the process of expanding and

acting as an important partner of a growing number of

countries and regional groups, MERCOSUR is a positive

response by South American countries to the challenges and

opportunities of today’s world. Such achievements as

MERCOSUR and the Community of Portuguese-speaking

Countries enhance their credentials and help to make the

presence of those countries in the world an instrument for

economic development and social progress.

My country comes to this General Assembly proud to

present itself before the international community with a

stronger presence in the world. Brazil owes this to the

consolidation of its democracy, to economic stabilization

and liberalization and to the resumption of economic

growth with a deeper sense of social justice. It owes this as

well to its participation in regional integration and in the

globalization of the world economy. We are in tune with

the two main forces that are shaping the world today:

political and economic freedom, on the one hand, and

cooperation through integration and trade on the other.

I am pleased to say that, through decisive action rather

than words, we have made genuine strides in enlarging our

dialogue and cooperation with friendly nations worldwide,

developed and developing alike. We have strengthened

traditional partnerships and established new ones, especially

in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. We are aware that, if

the Brazilian people are to consolidate these achievements,

we will need to persevere in the policies that have brought

us this far. We know that these policies have yet to meet

many challenges Brazil faces in the social, economic and

cultural fields. But they are an important beginning.

We are convinced that Brazil’s growing interaction

with its region and the world, the consolidation of its

international partnerships and a fruitful dialogue and

cooperation with its many friends are necessary conditions

for our country to continue to pursue its policies at the

domestic level.

Brazil is one of the world’s largest democracies, a

dynamic and diversified developing economy, an

attractive opportunity for productive foreign investment

and a market of huge potential — in a word, a country

capable of enjoying fruitful ties with all nations on the

basis of mutual respect and reciprocity. By its very

nature, Brazil can act as a bridge between the many

different worlds that make up its own internal reality.

Our aspirations to enlarging the scope of our

participation in the international decision-making bodies

will always reflect a careful assessment of our own

merits, of our specific weight and of the contribution that

we can make to the community of Nations. We seek to be

a force for peace and integration.

The fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations

understandably raised the expectations of the international

community — expectations that we would not dwell only

on the past and on the many achievements of the

Organization, but also look to the future in search of

ways for it to come to grips with new realities and

problems.

We can confidently say that the celebration of the

fiftieth anniversary produced good results. As world

public opinion was focused on the United Nations, leaders

and Governments were compelled to reflect on the

Organization and to make room for it in their political

agendas.

The historic meaning of the San Francisco Charter

was recalled, as was the importance of the United Nations

as a forum for political debate and as a sounding board

for conflicting interests in the post-cold-war era.

Our collective reflection clearly revealed that,

without the United Nations, the world would only have

been more violent, more unstable and insecure, more

unjust and cruel — especially to the weak, who are prey

to power politics and arbitrary decisions.

We celebrated great advances in international law

and in the political and ethical commitments to the issues

that concern humanity — issues such as sustainable

development, protection of the environment, respect for

human rights, disarmament, non-proliferation and the fight

against poverty, terrorism, organized crime and drug

2

trafficking. We have thus given a positive account in the

first 50 years of the United Nations.

We cannot say with the same confidence that the

fiftieth anniversary has ushered in a renewed commitment

to the United Nations and its future. Our efforts have fallen

well short of the expectations of the international

community. They have been disappointing even in the light

of the predictions of some of the most cautious analysts. A

stalemate persists — an uncomfortable stalemate that leads

to a feeling of uncertainty and frustration, of insecurity

about the future of the United Nations, and thus of

apprehension.

In the wake of momentous changes on the

international scene, the United Nations has embarked upon

a new phase in its history without the means and the

effectiveness to act as the highest political forum of

mankind and to fulfil the mandate conferred upon it by the

international community — a mandate that remains as valid

today as it was half a century ago.

Back in 1961, President John F. Kennedy referred to

the United Nations as “our last, best hope”. In the face of

the threat of nuclear war and in the midst of various

conflicts, those words expressed the confidence of the

international community in an Organization founded on the

universal principles of peace, understanding and prosperity

for all peoples.

At that time President Kennedy renewed a pledge to

the United Nations, offering:

“our pledge of support — to prevent it from becoming

merely a forum for invective, to strengthen its shield

of the new and the weak and to enlarge the area in

which its writ may run.”

Thirty-five years after these inspired words, the United

Nations finds itself at a crossroads. The world has changed,

the correlation of forces has changed, and so have the

hopes and expectations of countries with regard to the

United Nations and its capacity to manage, prevent and

settle conflicts. Yet various confrontations still cause

suffering, instability and misery throughout the world.

This is happening just as the Organization faces the

worst financial and motivational crisis in its history. There

is a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction — sometimes

veiled and sometimes explicit — with an Organization that

still embodies the loftiest ideals ever conceived by the

human spirit in the search for peace and understanding

among peoples.

Brazil is committed to the United Nations Charter

and to the Organization’s political, legal and diplomatic

legacy of the past 50 years. That commitment is part of

the diplomatic history of my country and of the principles

that have always governed our actions in this body and in

our relations with all peoples, particularly with our 10

neighbours, with whom we have lived in peace for well

over a century.

Compelled by that commitment, we sound a word of

caution to those who, like ourselves, wish to see the

United Nations as a source of leadership in international

relations, as an instrument for promoting an international

society based on freedom, the rule of law and the rights

of the citizen.

With the political and ideological constraints of the

cold war behind us, the world is now organized around

much more concrete and pragmatic variables, such as

international trade, investment flows and the transfer of

technology. The emphasis on political and ideological

coalitions has given way to an emphasis on economic

coalitions. Pressured by public opinion, Governments are

today concerned with social well-being, the quality of life,

economic and social indicators and unemployment.

The focal point of the political debate is shifting

irrevocably from strategy and ideology to economics and

integration. That is why the world is following the path

of large-scale regional economic agreements. North-South

and East-West — the main axes of international politics

in the last 50 years — have given way to groups of

countries dedicated to the goals of economic integration

and the coordination of macroeconomic, financial and

trade policies.

North, South, East and West are no longer the

cardinal points on the international political compass. The

World Trade Organization and its body of universal rules

and regulations for fostering free trade, the European

Union, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council

(APEC), the North American Free Trade Agreement

(NAFTA), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation

and Development (OECD), the Group of 7, the

Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), the

South African Development Community (SADC), and the

Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) have

become, in their respective areas of action, the catalysts

3

for development, cooperation, understanding and, indeed,

for peace.

The peace that the founders of the United Nations

envisioned may come about as a result of the response by

the various regions and groups of countries to the

challenges, opportunities and risks of a new world, which

today is called the world of globalization. It is a world that

generates prosperity and a healthy competition among

countries and regions; but it is also a world that swells the

ranks of the destitute and the outcast among and within

countries, a world that breeds conflict and increases

inequality, a world that demands reason, reflection and

constructive action.

Through peace, cooperation, respect for human rights

and development, the United Nations has a major role to

play in preventing the divisions of the cold war from

finding new expression in a widening gap in well-being.

The Organization must evolve in order to successfully

play that role as it has so often done in the past. It must

adapt its structure and methods of work in order to

optimize its human, material and financial resources. It

must make use of the great political, strategic, and moral

power it is able to muster. It must implement and follow up

on its decisions, on the rules with which it updates and

consolidates international law and on the commitments it

has won from the international community.

Much remains to be done in the wake of the great

conferences that have shaped the international agenda in the

present decade. The conferences on the rights of the child,

the environment and development, human rights, population

and development, social development, women and human

settlements have sealed commitments that must be

honoured, decisions that must be implemented and follow-

up work that must be carried out.

The United Nations must ensure that its agenda

becomes more appealing and results-oriented, in order to

earn the esteem of the public and to retain its primacy in

international relations. We must correct the tendency to

convene meetings whose only purpose is to produce other

meetings or to adopt resolutions of a rhetorical nature. We

must rid the United Nations of its image as a lethargic body

incapable of rising to the challenges of our times.

Brazil is convinced that United Nations reform

remains within reach, that it is still possible to ensure that

the United Nations will play a paramount role in this new

phase of its existence. We believe in reform as a means to

ensure that the United Nations becomes a viable and

logical alternative to unilateralism and power politics. We

believe in reform as a means to empower the United

Nations to act in a radically changed world. We believe

in reform as a means to restore the United Nations as a

unique forum for political and diplomatic action and

debate.

One year after our Heads of State and Government

drew attention to the seriousness of the financial situation

of the United Nations, a solution to the problem remains

elusive.

To stifle the United Nations little by little by

depriving it of the means to perform its functions is no

way to secure greater administrative efficiency. Should

this scenario persist, then the capacity of the United

Nations to adapt to the dynamics of the contemporary

world could be seriously jeopardized. We could very well

witness a situation where other bodies come to occupy the

space left by the United Nations, bodies with their own

goals and agendas, which may or may not reflect the

prevailing sentiments of the international community and

the interests of world peace, security and stability. That is

why we need perseverance, courage and, above all, the

political will to advance the discussion on issues which

reflect a true commitment to the United Nations, issues

which relate to the very relevance of the Organization in

international relations on the eve in the twenty-first

century.

One of these issues is the reform of the Security

Council. There is a virtual consensus that the Security

Council should be enlarged to allow for greater

participation by countries with the capacity to act on a

global scale and the willingness to bear the

responsibilities that would entail. We must now set a

course for this process. Its outcome is essential for

strengthening the United Nations.

Brazil has made several commitments in the field of

nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of

mass destruction and their delivery systems. We are now

committed to having the southern hemisphere recognized

as an area free of nuclear weapons. It is our firm belief

that this is a right to which the peoples of the southern

hemisphere are entitled, and an obligation on the part of

those throughout the world who possess nuclear weapons

or the means to develop them.

A further commitment to disarmament in all fields

that I now wish to convey to the General Assembly is the

4

decision by the Brazilian Government to declare a

moratorium on the export of anti-personnel land-mines. The

experience of the Brazilian contingent serving in the United

Nations Angola Verification Mission has underlined for us

the importance of a universal moratorium of this kind and

the need to rid the world of the scourge of land mines,

which pose a threat to the daily lives of millions of human

beings. We would like to see all countries that export land-

mines or that have the capability to do so join in this

decision.

The international community has placed its hopes in

a Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). These

hopes are fully justified. We have a historic opportunity to

put an end to an outdated practice which has increasingly

drawn repudiation and condemnation from international

public opinion. We are taking an important step towards

general and complete nuclear disarmament and stating

unequivocally that there is no room in today’s world for

nuclear weapons or regional arms races.

Brazil is committed to the non-proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction and to the elimination of

nuclear arsenals. It has consistently expressed its

disapproval of nuclear tests. Brazil strove for approval of

the CTBT at the Conference on Disarmament and

considered the blocking of consensus in Geneva a grave

setback. It was inconceivable to Brazil that we could have

let the moment pass, that we could have run the risk of

seeing the CTBT meet the same fate as so many other

initiatives which were allowed to lapse into oblivion.

This is why Brazil was one of the first sponsors of the

Australian initiative to seize the historic opportunity of

submitting the CTBT for approval by the General

Assembly. This decision reflected the commitment to

bequeath to present and future generations a safer and

nuclear-weapons-free world. This is why Brazil will

immediately sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban

Treaty. We call upon all nuclear- and non-nuclear-weapon

States to do the same.

The peoples of the world expect action and leadership

from the United Nations. They expect that the United

Nations will continue to be an essential benchmark of

international politics over the next 50 years and that it will

always be not the last, but our best hope.