Brazil, 1998

Mr. President, your election

to preside over the fifty-third session of the United

Nations General Assembly is especially gratifying for us

Brazilians. Brazil and Uruguay came into being as sister

nations, and our bonds are becoming ever stronger. With

each passing day, our destinies are more and more linked

together. The opportunity I have of working closely with

my friend, Didier Opertti, allows me to say with

conviction that at this session the Assembly will have a

formidable President. In the exercise of this important

task, you will benefit from the example set by your

predecessor. At the helm of the fifty-second session,

Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko was able to guide and motivate

delegations and to provide valuable impulse to the

proposals for reform put forward by the Secretary-

General.

Because of his dedication to the task of modernizing

our Organization and, above all, because of his decisive

role in situations that pose a real threat to international

peace and security, the Secretary-General deserves our

applause. The diplomatic talent and serene daring revealed

by Mr. Kofi Annan confirm that we have in him a leader

who is up to the challenges and opportunities before us.

It was an honour for us to have welcomed him in Brazil

this past July.

The defining trait of this particular moment is the

troubling instability that besets global financial markets.

Since the last quarter of 1997, when we first felt the

shock waves of what was then called the “Asian crisis”,

the world economy has been suffering the effects of a

phenomenon whose reach, depth and permanence are still

not clear. But the international community cannot wait,

with arms crossed, for the course of events to shed light

on our quandary.

It is both legitimate and necessary that Governments

act to try to prevent problems that may arise. In an era

marked by the rapid integration of national economies,

such action by Governments will increasingly have to be

made through coordination in the international sphere.

Although there is still no consensus as to the

dimension of the crisis we face, nor on the prognosis for

its duration, there seems to be a growing convergence of

points of view regarding the impact of the high volatility

of capital movements. The events of the past few months

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have revealed a serious lag between growing financial

interdependence and the modest effectiveness of existing

international mechanisms for dialogue and coordination.

Since the beginning of his Administration, President

Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil has been calling the

attention of other world leaders to the task of making the

global financial system more stable and predictable. In

repeated messages to G-7 members, beginning in 1995, he

offered concrete proposals: to increase cooperation among

monetary authorities; to expand coordination of

macroeconomic policies among countries that can have

considerable impact on world finance; to upgrade

international monitoring capacity over domestic

macroeconomic policy; and to expand mechanisms aimed

at stabilizing currencies under speculative attack. There

have been, of course, considerable advances along some of

these lines, but the measures adopted still fall far short of

what is needed. Until now, political will has not

corresponded to the magnitude and gravity of the situation.

The crisis will not resolve itself. We must join together to

face it.

In this, as in other fields of international life, we must

avoid at all costs an attitude that, back in the seventies,

Brazilian Foreign Minister Azeredo da Silveira described as

“the postponement syndrome”.

Experience teaches us that inaction can have a high

cost. It also teaches that answers given by various countries

to crisis situations, if guided by irrational or spur-of-the-

moment reactions, can turn these situations into even

greater problems, prolonging their effects over time and

aggravating people’s suffering.

One can imagine extreme scenarios of a return to

closed economic models, to the search for elusive self-

sufficiency and isolation, to notions of national security

based on distrust of others and on the insecurity of others.

Such scenarios must not become reality. We cannot allow

it.

Progress in international relations depends

fundamentally on the perception of the international arena

not as a source of potential threat, but as an environment in

which risks can be reduced and difficulties overcome by a

pooling of wills and resources.

Ours is not a world in which nations should be left to

their own devices. The cost of such a course is invariably

higher than the energy or resources saved by attempts to

distance oneself from the problems of others. The

willingness to deal collectively with problems will

motivate individual countries to believe in the benefit of

seeking international consideration of matters in their

direct interest. The world cannot depend only on the

willingness, capacity and interest of a select number of

countries to mobilize and lead international efforts in this

or that direction.

We can no longer accept situations, such as the

present financial crisis, in which, despite the undeniably

international nature of the phenomenon, Governments and

societies simply do not fully trust any of the existing

organizations or mechanisms as a source of support,

guidance or even interpretation of the problem at hand.

We must give serious consideration to the fact that

growing interdependence renders indispensable effective

governance at the international level.

We have before us an essentially political challenge.

This does not mean simply modernizing decision-making

procedures or administrative structures, but also giving to

multilateral treatment of issues the priority it so often

receives in our speeches and statements.

A large gap still remains between the recognition

that the central problems facing humanity must be dealt

with at the international level and the resistance of

Governments and societies to act in accordance with that

recognition. This is most evident in the allocation of

resources and in the adoption of policies capable of

generating external repercussions.

In that same vein, if the link between the national

and the international is ever greater, peace and

development are also increasingly related. A world racked

by economic instability or despair cannot be a safe

environment, free of the threat of war, conflict and

violence. But the reverse is also true: material and social

progress presupposes minimal conditions of security and

peaceful coexistence among and within countries. We

must advance on both fronts by working to establish a

climate of confidence in the political-strategic realm and

in the essential context of the global economy.

Brazil’s relative weight and the history of our

international behaviour are some of our country’s most

important credentials. These credentials are strengthened

today by the maturity of our democracy and by the

vigorous modernization of the Brazilian economy.

Under the leadership of President Cardoso, we have

renewed our permanent willingness to play a more active

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role in building a world order conducive to peace and

development. This spirit guides Brazil’s international action,

particularly within the United Nations.

I wish to point out that, in the Security Council and

other United Nations bodies, our delegation, led by

Ambassador Celso Amorim, has faithfully reflected this

central guideline of Brazilian foreign policy.

In 1998, we have completed our participation in the

international non-proliferation regime. We have ratified the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and

acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

Weapons (NPT), which was approved by Brazil’s National

Congress this past July. Three days ago in Washington, I

had the satisfaction of personally depositing the instrument

of accession to the NPT, in tandem with our Ambassadors

in London and Moscow.

These decisions lend formal and symbolic support to

the commitment to use nuclear energy for exclusively

peaceful purposes. This commitment is enshrined in the

Brazilian Constitution and is strengthened by the bilateral

and regional pacts we have signed. The existing agreements

and the cooperation between Brazil and Argentina, as well

as the Treaty of Tlatelolco, are exemplary achievements in

this field.

Brazil thus feels particularly motivated to call upon

nuclear-armed States, and upon those with the capability of

producing such weapons, to take decisive steps towards

disarmament. We also expect that Governments which have

still not become party to the NPT, the CTBT and other

relevant instruments and mechanisms will do so at an early

date.

As an expression of the determination which motivates

us to work for this cause, Brazil, together with seven other

friendly countries, signed the “Declaration on a Nuclear

Weapon Free World: the Need for a New Agenda” on 9

June of this year. During the current session of the General

Assembly, together with our partners in the Declaration, we

intend to present a draft resolution aimed at boosting and

guiding efforts towards the complete and definitive

elimination of nuclear weapons.

There is no longer room or justification for postponing

action in the nuclear field or in the broader fight to

eliminate all weapons of mass destruction. The cost of a

failure to do so could be truly catastrophic, and the risks

are evident to all.

The Brazilian Government, as the coordinator of the

guarantor countries of the Rio de Janeiro Protocol, has

been making a sustained effort to assist Ecuador and Peru

in reaching at the earliest possible date a solid and final

agreement on the border differences that have kept them

apart for decades. Our diplomatic services — together

with those of Argentina, Chile and the United States —

stand ready to continue making the best possible

contribution.

Recent developments confirm the prognosis that the

peace process is on its way to a conclusion and reflect the

political will and the high level of engagement with

which Ecuador and Peru have been working towards that

end.

The fact that South America is a region in which

countries essentially live in a harmonious, peaceful and

increasingly integrated manner is for Brazil a vital and

defining trait that our peoples are determined to preserve.

The same applies to the permanence of democratic

regimes as a common thread of the nations in our

continent. It is a higher value to which we are collectively

committed in the Southern Cone Common Market

(MERCOSUR), the Rio Group and the Organization of

American States (OAS).

The advent and consolidation of democracy was the

determining factor in the extraordinary work of

integration in which South American nations are engaged.

This is an accomplishment of our societies that the

Governments of the region must always be prepared to

defend as one. This is a basic tenet of Brazilian foreign

policy.

Brazil attaches the utmost importance to the

advancement of human rights. As we celebrate the fiftieth

anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, we should recognize the persistent gap between

principles and generally accepted rules of international

law, on the one hand, and the prevalent realities of the

world, on the other.

The Brazilian Government is engaged in the fight to

overcome the distance between norms and facts in our

country. We are prepared to draw from the international

environment elements that may help us realize an

aspiration shared by all Brazilians. This was the main

thrust of President Cardoso’s submission to the National

Congress of the decision to recognize the mandatory

jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

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President Cardoso is also committed to the fight

against the drug trade. His presence at the special session

of the General Assembly this past June was clear proof of

this commitment.

Our participation in the effort to build a lasting peace

extends beyond the Americas. The Brazilian military and

police have taken part in United Nations forces in many

parts of the world, particularly in Portuguese-speaking

countries in Africa, to which we are bound by history and

culture.

Brazil has followed developments in Angola with

concern. The United Nations must firmly insist that UNITA

fulfil the commitments undertaken in the Lusaka Protocol.

An unravelling of the situation could jeopardize the

progress achieved in the peace process and would be tragic

indeed. Angolans have been subjected to untold suffering

for decades. The international community must do

everything within its reach so that Angola may finally

dedicate itself to reconstruction and development.

The Brazilian Government, along with the other

members of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking

Countries, is engaged in seeking a peaceful solution to the

grave internal crisis faced by Guinea-Bissau. The

Community, in close coordination with countries in the

region, has contributed to spurring significant progress. We

will continue to pursue favourable conditions for the urgent

and complete normalization of life in that sister nation.

As for East Timor — to which we are also bound by

history and a common language — Brazil welcomes the

new spirit that presides over this delicate and complex

issue, especially in the context of the tripartite negotiations

between the Portuguese and Indonesian Governments, under

the auspices of the Secretary-General.

The Brazilian Government has maintained a positive

dialogue with the parties involved and is determined to

assist, to the limit of its possibilities, in finding an adequate

equation for all concerned, with progressive participation by

the Timorese themselves.

Since the advent of economic stability in 1994, Brazil

has shown renewed dynamism with the strengthening of our

domestic market and the outlook for development with

social justice.

But present-day Brazil does not see its development as

isolated or self-contained. We realize that the destiny of our

economy is increasingly linked to that of the economies of

our neighbours and partners, in the framework of an

integration process that has decidedly contributed to

progress in the region and to the well-being of our

societies, particularly within MERCOSUR.

The fruits of this process serve not only the goal of

economic development but also, and most importantly, the

cause of social justice, which remains the foremost task

of our region.

We welcome the results of the most recent edition of

the United Nations Human Development Report. The

numbers show that, in spite of all that remains to be done,

our country has made extraordinary social progress over

the past two decades in the areas of health, education, the

fight against poverty and the reduction of disparities

among the various regions of the country. Even though

we still face daunting challenges, Brazilians are leading

a better life, as our presence among those nations of

greater human development indicates.

Consistent with its domestic policies and its regional

role, Brazil will continue to fight for a more balanced

allocation of the benefits of economic interdependence,

without distortions such as those resulting from

protectionist policies of developed countries.

Such policies affect in a particularly cruel manner

the developing countries and serve to reinforce the

arguments of those who preach domestically a return to

closed economic models. In the current context of global

economic turbulence, we must demand that the developed

countries establish greater coherence between free-trade

rhetoric and their unfair trade practices.

President Cardoso has stated that we must abandon

the path of globalization with exclusion — in the

decision-making process as well as in the distribution of

benefits — and seek globalization with solidarity in both

of those dimensions.

Reforming and strengthening the United Nations is

an essential part of building a world of greater solidarity.

The Brazilian Government recognizes the significant

progress that has already been made in terms of structural

and functional modernization of the Organization. We

agree with the Secretary-General when he says that

reform must not be seen as an event, but as a process; but

we cannot but stress that an important part of that process

has yet to be undertaken.

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For Brazil, reforming the United Nations necessarily

implies updating the functioning and composition of the

Security Council, which still mirrors a period of history that

is now long gone. That does not mean — and I have stated

this before in this forum — that the particular interests of

this or that country should be taken into account. What it

does mean is that fundamental deficiencies in terms of

legitimacy, representativeness and effectiveness must be

redressed. We will continue to defend expansion in both

categories of members, with the presence, in both, of

developing countries.

It is inconceivable that, on the eve of the new

millennium, reform of the Organization could exclude the

restructuring of the Security Council.

The basis of global solidarity is the establishment of

trust between societies. There is no other way if we are to

establish a peaceful, stable and constructive international

environment. Our so-called global village is still far from

becoming a truly integrated community, in which people

can consider themselves as participants in the same

historical process.

Of the many merits of international organizations, one

of the most important is that they offer a framework of

interaction that favours the development of a true sense of

universal communion. In dealing with common problems,

Governments learn in practice just how much they need to

work more and more closely together. In international

forums, we are constantly weaving a web of relations based

on a stronger identity and trust between our nations and

their leaders. Countries must trust one another, but they

must also have a reason to trust in the legitimacy and

efficiency of multilateral organizations and procedures in

order to tackle their most important problems.

The dynamics of international life demand a constant

updating of the instruments at the disposal of the

community of nations to allow it to act collectively in the

face of its greatest challenges.

We must have the courage to recognize that never

before have the risks and the cost of procrastination been so

high. We must, above all, have the will to make the

decisions that can ultimately restore our faith in ourselves,

in our capacity to state that history does goes on, and that

we are pointing it in the direction of a more just and better

world.