Brazil, 2004

Through

Foreign Minister Jean Ping of Gabon, I greet the

representatives of all peoples gathered here today. I

fraternally salute Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who

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has been guiding the work of the United Nations with

wisdom and devotion.

For the second time, I address this universal

Assembly on behalf of Brazil. I have a lifelong

commitment to those silenced by inequality, hunger

and hopelessness. In the powerful words of Franz

Fanon, the colonial past bestowed on them a common

legacy: “If you so desire, take it: the freedom to starve

to death”.

Today, we are 191 nation-States. In the past, 125

of us were subjected to the oppression of a few Powers

that originally occupied less than 2 per cent of the

globe. The end of colonialism confirmed, in the

political arena the right of peoples to self-

determination. The Assembly is the highest expression

of an international order based on the independence of

nations.

However, such a political transformation has not

taken place in the economic and social fields, and

history shows that that will not happen spontaneously.

In 1820, the per capita income of the richest nation in

the world was five times greater than that of the

poorest one. Today, that disparity has reached a ratio of

80-to-1.

The former subjects have become perpetual

debtors in the international economic system.

Protectionist barriers and other obstacles to balanced

trade — aggravated by the concentration of

investments, knowledge and technology — have

followed colonial domination. A powerful, all-

encompassing and invisible wheel runs the system

from afar. It often revokes democratic decisions, causes

the sovereignty of States to shrivel and imposes itself

on elected Governments. It demands that legitimate

national development projects be renounced. The

perverse logic of draining the needy to irrigate the

affluent still stands. In recent decades, an ill-inclusive

and asymmetric globalization has deepened the

devastating legacy of poverty and social regression,

which is now bursting into the agenda of the twenty-

first century. Today, in 54 countries, per capita income

is lower than what it was 10 years ago; in 34 countries,

life expectancy has decreased; and in 14 countries, a

greater number of children are starving to death.

In Africa, where colonialism resisted until the

twilight of the twentieth century, 200 million people

are caught in an existence marked by hunger, disease

and neglect, to which the world has become oblivious,

numbed by the routine of the distant suffering of

others. Lack of basic sanitation has killed more

children in the past decade than all military conflicts

since the end of the Second World War.

Love cannot spring from cruelty. Peace will never

rise from poverty and hunger. The hatred and

senselessness that are spreading throughout the world

feed on despair and on the absolute lack of hope for

many people.

This year alone, more than 1,700 people have

died as a consequence of terrorist attacks around the

world — in Madrid, Baghdad and Jakarta. Those

tragedies must be added to so many others in India, the

Middle East and the United States, as well as to, more

recently, the barbaric slaughter of children in Beslan.

Mankind is losing the fight for peace. Only the

enlightened values of humanism, applied with clarity

of mind and determination, will be able to counter

barbarism.

This situation imposes a new sense of collective

and individual responsibility on the peoples and the

leaders of the world. If peace is our goal, it is our task

to build it. If we wish to eliminate violence, we must

address its deep-rooted origins with the same resolve

employed against the agents of hatred. The path to

lasting peace must encompass a new international

political and economic order, one that extends real

opportunities for economic and social development to

all countries. It therefore requires reform of the global

development model, as well as international

institutions that are effectively democratic and based

on multilateralism and on an acknowledgement of the

rights and aspirations of all peoples.

The tortured look in the eyes of the outcast

should do more to stir our conscience than the no less

dramatic statistics on social inequality. Their gaze calls

to us for a future of hope. Just as our destinies are now

intertwined, every conflict has global effects. When the

sky is shown to us from between iron bars, let us not

mistake the cage for freedom.

We have the scientific knowledge and the scale of

production necessary for resolving global economic

and social challenges. Today, nature and progress can

be reconciled by means of development models that are

ethically and environmentally sustainable. Nature is

not a museum of untouchable relics, but neither should

it be further degraded by human and environmental

exploitation in a search for wealth at any price.

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A generation is remembered not only for what it

accomplishes, but also for what it fails to accomplish.

If our resources are so much greater than our

achievements, how will we explain to future

generations why we did so little when so much was

within our reach? A neglectful civilization is

condemned to wither like a body without a soul.

The exhortations from the great New Deal leader

Franklin Delano Roosevelt still resonate with

inescapable pertinence. What is needed today is “bold,

persistent experimentation”. “The only thing we need

to fear is fear itself.” Such boldness stems not from

instinct, but rather from political courage; not from

irresponsible wilfulness, but rather from a daring

ability to reform. What sets civilization apart from

barbarism is a political architecture that promotes

peaceful change and advances social and economic life

by means of democratic consensus. If we fail against

hunger and poverty, what else will be able to bring us

together?

I believe the time has come to state clearly that

for us to once again grow in a fair way, an important

shift in the financial flows from international

multilateral organizations is necessary. Such

organizations were created to provide solutions, but, by

adopting excessive rigour, they themselves have

sometimes become part of the problem. They must

adjust their focus on development, thus restoring their

original objectives. The International Monetary Fund

should be able to provide the guarantees and

the liquidity that are necessary for productive

investments — especially in infrastructure, housing

and sanitation — and which can also restore poor

countries’ capacity to pay.

Brazilian foreign policy, in all its dimensions, is

focused on joining other nations in efforts aimed at the

establishment of a world of justice and peace.

Yesterday, in a historic meeting, more than 60 world

leaders gathered to give new impetus to international

action against hunger and poverty. I firmly believe that

the process launched yesterday will bring the fight

against world poverty to a new level. As we advance in

this new alliance, we shall have better means to attain

the Millennium Development Goals, especially with

regard to the eradication of hunger.

It was in this same spirit of contributing to the

reduction of poverty that Brazil, India and South Africa

established, last year, the India-Brazil-South Africa

(IBSA) Fund. Our first project, in Guinea-Bissau, will

be launched tomorrow.

HIV/AIDS and its nefarious connection to hunger

and poverty is also a priority. Our international

cooperation programme with other developing

countries in fighting HIV/AIDS is now operating in six

developing countries and will soon be extended to

another three.

I am fully aware of the serious security problems

that pose a threat to international stability. There seems

to be no prospect for improvement in the critical

situation in the Middle East. In that and other conflicts,

the international community cannot allow violence —

whether sponsored by States or by other actors — to

prevail over democratic dialogue. The Palestinian

people are still far from achieving the self-

determination to which they are entitled.

We know that the underlying causes of insecurity

are complex. The necessary fight against terrorism

cannot be conceived strictly in military terms. We must

develop strategies that encompass both solidarity and

firmness, but with strict respect for international law.

On that basis, Brazil and other Latin American

countries have responded to the call of the United

Nations and are engaged in the stabilization efforts in

Haiti. If we seek new paradigms in international

relations, we cannot shirk our responsibility to address

the concrete situations that emerge.

The promotion of equitable development is

crucial to addressing the centuries-old causes of

Haitian instability. In our region, despite grave social

and economic problems, a culture of peace prevails.

Our continent is experiencing a period of democratic

coming of age, with a vibrant civil society. We have

learned that development and social justice must be

sought with determination and an openness to dialogue.

The bouts of instability in our region have been dealt

with while strictly respecting our institutions.

Whenever requested, and within its means and

capabilities, Brazil has made its contribution to help

friendly countries overcome crises that threatened their

constitutional order and stability. We do not believe in

interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries,

but neither can we condone omission and indifference

in the face of situations that affect our neighbours.

Brazil is committed to the establishment of a

South America that is politically stable, prosperous and

united, on the basis of strengthening the South

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American Common Market (MERCOSUR) and its

strategic relationship with Argentina. The possibility

that a community of South American States could

emerge is no longer a distant dream, thanks to decisive

initiatives in the areas of structural, economic,

commercial, social and cultural integration.

Brazil is at work in multilateral negotiations with

a view to reaching just and equitable agreements. At

the last meeting of the World Trade Organization, we

took a fundamental step towards the elimination of

abusive restrictions that hamper developing countries.

Coordination among countries from Africa, Asia and

Latin America in the Group of 20 was decisive for

keeping the Doha Round on the right track of trade

liberalization with social justice. If successful, the

Doha Round could lift more than 500 million people

out of poverty. It is essential to carry on building a new

world economic and commercial geography that, while

maintaining the vital ties to developed countries,

allows for the establishment of solid bridges among the

countries of the South, which have remained isolated

from one another for too long.

Brazil is committed to the success of the

international climate change regime. We are

developing renewable sources of energy. That is why

we shall continue to actively strive for the entry into

force of the Kyoto Protocol.

South America contains approximately 50 per

cent of the world’s biodiversity. We stand for

combating bio-piracy as well as for the negotiation of

an international regime for sharing the benefits derived

from the use of genetic resources and traditional

knowledge.

I reiterate what I stated at this very rostrum last

year: only an international order based on

multilateralism can promote peace and the sustainable

development of nations. Such an order must be based

on a constructive dialogue among different cultures

and world visions. No organ is better suited than the

United Nations to ensure the world’s convergence

around common goals. The Security Council is the

only source of legitimate action in the field of

international peace and security, but its composition

must reflect today’s reality — not perpetuate the post-

World-War-II era or the Cold War era. Reform

proposals that simply dress the current structure in new

clothes and do not provide for an increase in the

number of permanent members are manifestly

insufficient. The difficulties inherent to any reform

process must not cause us to lose sight of its urgency.

There will be neither security nor stability in the

world until a more just and democratic order is

established. The community of nations must give a

clear and urgent response to this challenge. We can

find such a response in the wise words of the Prophet

Isaiah: the fruit of righteousness will be peace.