Brazil, 1999

Brazil

congratulates you, Sir, on your election as President of

the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. Your

personal record in defence of democracy and human

rights, which was forged in the struggle of the people of

Namibia for liberty and self-determination, offers an

inspiring example for our work.

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As a sister nation of Uruguay, we take pride in the

work done by your predecessor, my friend, Minister Didier

Opertti. I would like to express the appreciation and

gratitude of the Brazilian Government for his decisive role

in presiding over the fifty-third session.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is equally deserving of

special recognition. In these times of far-reaching and

uncharted challenges before the international community,

his sense of proportion and the strength of his serene

leadership have been valuable aids in the search for realistic

and innovative solutions. We appreciate and support his

endeavours in the cause of peace, development and justice.

The Brazilian Government warmly greets the

admission of Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga, which have just

joined the United Nations family.

Year after year, for over half a century, we have

gathered here to discuss and debate the issues of our time.

Year after year, the representatives of the Member countries

of the United Nations have come to this rostrum to set forth

their vision of global affairs and to provide analysis and to

propose solutions.

As the requirements of our societies become ever

greater over time, there grows a sense of an ever-widening

gulf between our words and our deeds, a distance that

serves only to feed the scepticism of some and the

pessimism of others.

Whenever an unfolding crisis and its human tragedy

break through international indifference and become

newsworthy, it is to the United Nations that the public

opinion of our countries looks for meaningful answers.

Unfortunately, however, the international community

feels compelled to act in a coordinated fashion, mobilizing

the necessary resources and political will, only when long-

festering problems threaten to get out of hand, making a

satisfactory solution all the more difficult.

The upshot is a sense of frustration and impatience

towards the United Nations. This may be because the

necessary initiatives are in the end adopted outside the

United Nations framework, as was the case in Kosovo. Or

it may be because the measures agreed are not up to the

concrete needs, as we have seen in East Timor. Or it may

even be because the United Nations finds itself once again

confronted, as in Angola, with well-known conflicts of

catastrophic proportions that the international community

has failed to address in a timely manner.

Why is it that certain predicaments generate intense

mobilization of ways and means, but not others? Why

does human suffering in some parts of the globe fuel

greater indignation than when it takes place elsewhere?

The plight of Angola and that of East Timor offer two

glaring examples of what amounts to a clear pattern of

one-sided and unequal attention.

In Angola, UNITA’s refusal to abide by the Lusaka

Protocol and hardened positions threaten to rekindle in all

its intensity the same civil war that over a quarter of a

century has caused incalculable suffering to millions in

that country, particularly the defenceless and the deprived.

In Angola, which has special bonds with Brazil, the

international community is squarely faced — despite the

limited international press coverage — with an immense

political challenge and a humanitarian disaster of

shocking proportions. Urgent and priority action is called

for. The Security Council can no longer allow its

resolutions to be blatantly ignored, as has been the case.

No less urgent — and in this case the United

Nations is now actively engaged — is the task of helping

guarantee the right of the East Timorese people to decide

their own future as an independent nation, a decision

unmistakably voiced in a free ballot. Brazilian society,

which shares linguistic, cultural and historic ties with the

Timorese, joined in their rejoicing when the vote returned

a resounding verdict for independence. There was

consternation in Brazil at the violence against our brothers

in East Timor and at the loss of innocent lives that

followed.

Brazil cannot accept, nor can Brazilian citizens

understand, that the self-determination of the Timorese

people is not fully assured. We therefore believe that the

multinational force authorized by the Security Council —

a force in which Brazil was determined to participate

from the very outset — will put a stop to the atrocities

committed since the popular ballot and will be able to

re-establish the necessary conditions for a peaceful

transition to independence.

Over the past decade, Latin America, long viewed as

a land of backwardness and dictatorships, has fashioned

a new international image for itself through the

transformations it has undergone. The return to

democracy in our countries has had a decisive role in this,

as did our important achievements in fostering respect for

human rights — although much remains to be done. The

adoption of consistent economic policies, in turn, has

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made it possible to overcome the endless dilemmas that had

ensnared us, and to put an end to the inflationary spiral that

had brought so much uncertainty and injustice to our

citizens.

Let there be no doubt that the difficulties that we

experienced, on and off, throughout 1999 will not cause us

to lose faith and relinquish our achievements. For a few

days, or maybe weeks, at the beginning of the year, Brazil

was dubbed by some “the sick man of Latin America”. It

was thought that we might slip back into the trap of high

inflation, that we would experience deep recession, that we

would once again resort to the panacea of stoking short-

term growth and return to the old boom-and-bust cycles of

the past.

Yet we have arrived at the end of the century with an

inflation rate under 8 per cent. We fully expect to embark

on a course of sustained annual growth of more than 4 per

cent and are set to bring to completion a large-scale

modernization programme by means of important reforms

in tax, fiscal and social security matters. President Fernando

Henrique Cardoso will not flinch in his determination to lay

the groundwork for our country to become modern,

economically fit and dynamic, as well as socially more just

and politically mature.

With the advent of democracy, Brazil and Argentina

have developed the solid friendship that binds our peoples,

and have over a short space of time built a lasting

monument to integration. Our bilateral agreements in the

field of nuclear cooperation are exemplary and a stabilizing

force in the region and worldwide. The Southern Cone

Common Market (MERCOSUR) — which our two

countries joined Paraguay and Uruguay in establishing and

with which the democracies of Bolivia and Chile have

associated themselves — has fundamentally altered the

economic face of the hemisphere and indeed of the world.

Our integration process is not directed against anyone, but,

on the contrary, seeks to strengthen our historical ties both

within and beyond the Americas. Both individually and

within the framework of MERCOSUR our countries have

become a powerful force in the drive to set the international

trade system on a more open, balanced course, one that no

longer aids and abets protectionist privileges at the expense,

more often than not, of developing countries.

Democracy has made it possible for the countries of

Latin America to provide mutual assistance — without

undue and unsolicited foreign interference and in a spirit of

collaboration — whenever there is a jointly perceived threat

to the institutional stability of one of them. Thanks to

democracy, the countries of our region have successfully

solved disputes that for long disturbed the harmony of the

more peaceful and stable of continents. At the end of last

year, Ecuador and Peru, with the diplomatic support of

Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the United States, signed in

Brasilia the agreements that put an end to their long-

running boundary dispute. Thus, despite all manner of

difficulties, Latin America is transforming itself into a

tightly knit entity that is politically, economically and

socially integrated.

It is in this spirit of integration, and in the abiding

awareness that we belong to one family, that Brazil feels

closely attuned to the various efforts at renewal under

way in the region. The elections scheduled for next

October in Argentina will no doubt confirm the political

vitality of this great neighbour of ours and guarantee the

necessary economic conditions for stability and

reinvigorated growth. These same favourable expectations,

we are sure, will be fulfilled at the elections to be held in

Chile and in Uruguay this year, and in Mexico next year.

Their outcome will most certainly underline the

democratic character of Latin America.

The political and economic achievements of Bolivia

since the 1980s in overcoming obstacles that 20 years ago

seemed insurmountable are a further indication of how

much our region has changed for the better. Peru as well

has gained international recognition through its

resounding successes in reversing the adverse economic

trends of past decades and in the war against terrorism

and drug trafficking. This capacity to overcome obstacles

is equally noticeable in Ecuador, where, with the support

of international financial institutions, political forces

will — through democratic and constitutional channels —

undertake the needed reforms to overcome the present

crisis. Paraguay, in turn, successfully dealt with a delicate

political crisis at the beginning of this year and is moving

steadily along the road of democratic institution-building

and economic development. Brazil, as always, will

continue to decisively support Paraguay in that endeavour.

Guyana provides a further demonstration, not only

of our commitment to upholding and fostering democratic

values, but equally of the integrationist spirit that inspires

us. It is our hope that Suriname will join in the efforts

and achievements of the region in bringing about these

positive changes. The transformations that Venezuela is

undergoing have drawn great international attention. This

process of change must be respected, for it clearly and

legitimately reflects the Venezuelan people’s desire for

renewal. The expression of this aspiration through

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institutional channels is the best guarantee that the changes

under way will stay on the track of respect for the norms,

rights and duties that define democracy.

Brazil is also confident that the Government of

President Andrés Pastrana, in Colombia, will persevere in

its endeavours to bring peace to this kindred nation. Undue

foreign interference would only aggravate an already

complex situation, which it is up to the Colombians

themselves to overcome.

It is on the success of our neighbours, in which we

trust, that hinges the success of the Brazilian people and its

Government in solving their own problems and in

overcoming their own challenges, which are neither few nor

small.

Organized crime and drug trafficking today pose a

major challenge to democratic societies. They clearly

represent a serious threat to the security of national

institutions and to citizens directly, who pay with their own

lives the intolerable price for this scourge of our times. The

spiralling stockpile of and trade in small arms is closely

linked to organized crime and drug trafficking. As its

citizens find their lives daily at risk because of contraband

firearms, Brazil gives the utmost priority to tackling this

question. At the regional level we approved the important

Inter-American Convention on Transparency in

Conventional Weapons Acquisitions. We would like this

Assembly to endorse the proposal to hold an international

conference on illicit arms trafficking in all its aspects.

Similarly, Brazil attaches considerable importance to the

work being done on a draft convention against transnational

organized crime.

In turn, the continued existence of weapons of mass

destruction remains a threat to the security and even the

survival of humankind.

All actions contrary to the aims of the

non-proliferation regime should be firmly condemned by

the international community. At the same time, it behooves

the nuclear-armed States, as well as the threshold States, to

move towards the complete and irreversible elimination of

nuclear armaments. For this reason, Brazil, Egypt, Ireland,

Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden will once

again submit, at this session, a draft resolution on a new

agenda for nuclear disarmament. The draft resolution,

which seeks to pave the way for a constructive dialogue on

this issue, is grounded on a realistic and balanced appraisal

of the nature of the nuclear disarmament process.

Our countries’ democratic institutions and the

international organizations, particularly the United

Nations, face fundamental challenges today. Our countries

are confronted daily with economic difficulties and acute

social grievances, such as poverty and extremes of

inequality, which heighten impatience: impatience with

economies unable to grow at a rate compatible with faster

improvement of the well-being of societies; impatience in

the face of vulnerability to crises and to turbulence in

international markets; and impatience with political

processes that sometimes appear slow to respond to the

legitimate and pressing demands of citizens. It is vital,

however, that this collective impatience be voiced and

guided through democratic channels.

Brazil’s commitment to democratic institutions and

to the primacy of law also applies to international

relations. At the outset of his second term of office, to

which he was elected last October by an absolute majority

of Brazilian voters, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso

made it clear that:

“The rule of law is the only admissible

foundation for the international order. Should

unilateralism and the use of force come to be

accepted as organizing principles of international

relations, in the long term it will be more rational to

side with the instruments of power politics rather

than to strive for order and to abide by law. If we

are to see a truly new world order emerge, one of its

cornerstones must be the acceptance that multilateral

institutions — not least the Security Council — are

the source of legality and legitimacy for those

actions that guarantee peace and the peaceful

resolution of disputes”.

Our societies await, again with increasing

impatience, seeing multilateral organizations, and in

particular the United Nations, show themselves to be up

to the challenge of playing a meaningful — in fact,

crucial — role in establishing an international order

attuned to the shared aspirations and values of humankind

as a whole.

The road ahead calls for renewal and change. If the

Governments of the world desire a strong and effective

United Nations, they must not only change how they

think and act with respect to this Organization, but they

must also think and act to bring about change in the

Organization. This is what is at stake. This is the

challenge before us.