Chile, 2001

Mr. President, I wish to congratulate you on your

election, which is a mark of recognition of the

Republic of Korea and of your distinguished personal

record in the public and academic spheres. I am

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confident that, under your guidance, the work of the

Assembly will be successful for the States Members of

the United Nations.

Today New York is receiving us as it always has.

Why, then, did we witness, two months ago, a terrorist

act that shook the world? If I may be allowed to say so,

it is because New York is the city that best represents

the values that the twentieth century defended at the

cost of tremendous suffering. It is a city that welcomes

those persecuted by intolerance of all kinds; respects

all nationalities, races and religions, all ideas, and the

freedom to think and to create; offers opportunities for

all to succeed; and protects individual rights through

democracy.

It is not by chance that it was here in New York,

on the banks of the East River, that the Headquarters of

the United Nations was erected. It was built here

because the values of this city are the values of our

universal Organization of nations.

The terrorist attack on New York was therefore an

attack on the unity of our nations. It was our values,

our security and our faith in a better world — a world

based on dialogue and cooperation — that were the

targets of terrorist fanaticism. That is why we have felt

so close to the United States during this period: its pain

is our pain; its grief is our grief; and its response to

terrorism is our response.

We are here to reiterate our condolences to the

people and to the Government of the United States. The

sight of thousands of persons bearing photographs of

their lost family members amid the smoking ruins gave

rise to a profound sense of empathy among Chileans.

Hence we wish to express our admiration for the

unity and courage of the American people and of the

city of New York. We pay tribute to the Government of

the United States and to President Bush, who, faced

with an attack of this magnitude, has managed to act on

the basis of reason rather than emotion in seeking

diplomatic support and in building an extremely broad-

based coalition.

The holding of this General Assembly marks a

sound defeat for the terrorist cause, which seeks to

replace dialogue with the cult of violence, and reflects

our renewed faith in this world forum.

We are here to extend to the Secretary-General

and to the United Nations our warmest congratulations

on having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which

this year has recognized the outstanding contribution of

the United Nations to our quest for peace.

Many have remarked that the twentieth century

has been one of the most violent and deadly in the

history of humankind. However, the twentieth century

was also the century that produced major advances,

improved our quality of life and eliminated great evils

forever.

The First World War was followed by the League

of Nations and by a new awareness of the fundamental

equality of peoples. The Second World War was

necessary to put an end to fascism in its most

monstrous manifestations, but also out of it emerged

the United Nations, the decolonization process, the

Bretton Woods economic agreements and a new

awareness of the fundamental equality of human

beings. The cold war brought about a clash between

two political and economic visions, but, once ended, it

left in its wake a new awareness of democracy and

individual freedoms.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, we are

confronting a new conflict of global proportions. Our

first objective must be to put an end forever to

fanaticism and to the kind of intolerance that is

translated into terror.

Chile believes that this vast diplomatic alliance

must also pursue other objectives. Like other victorious

coalitions throughout history, it must begin to ask now

what new progress it will seek to achieve for humanity

after its victory. We must start to envision the new

world that must emerge from this tragic period in our

history — a world that is better organized and that

shows more solidarity. Indeed, the terrorists will have

achieved their objective if, as a result of their attacks,

the globalization process changes direction and begins

a trend towards less freedom and decreased

international trade.

On the other hand, as the Secretary-General has

so rightly said, in order to achieve success in the

globalization process, we must learn how to manage it

better and, above all, how to manage it better together.

I think that it is very important to understand that

of the 6 billion people in the world, half are struggling

to live on less than $2 a day. They have no personal

computer; they have never made a telephone call. They

have never seen these things. Though wealth has

increased, there has been no significant decrease in the

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number of poor people, and the gap between rich and

poor is daily becoming increasingly difficult to bridge.

The balance of our world is becoming precarious, and

we must address this issue.

The recent tragic events have shown us that no

nation on earth that can consider itself invulnerable and

that genuine security can be attained only through

cooperation among peoples and States. What makes

our citizens vulnerable today — besides terrorism —

are such phenomena as ignorance, hunger, drug

trafficking, climate change, uncontrolled population

movements, and the erratic flow of $1.5 trillion every

day in financial markets. We must devise ways of

tackling these phenomena.

Chile therefore supports the coalition of countries

that, in exercise of the right of self-defence, have

embarked on a campaign aimed at eradicating

terrorism. At stake here are the universal principles and

values that we share and that we must defend. These

actions, therefore, are not targeting the Afghan people

or the Arab world, nor are they aimed at any particular

religion, all of which we deeply respect and admire.

In order to put an end to terrorism, there is a need

for broad, ongoing and resolute cooperation. That is

why Chile has supported the responses decided upon in

this Organization. We are actively implementing

Security Council resolution 1373 (2001). We are

already a party to the 12 global conventions against

terrorism, and today we will deposit with the

Secretary-General the respective instruments of

ratification. My country has ratified all United Nations

agreements.

Similarly, we are working to coordinate

America’s response. We are partners in a

comprehensive dialogue to review and improve each

country’s domestic legislation and legal order to root

out the terrorist threat.

We reaffirm the need to strengthen measures to

promote mutual confidence and cooperation in the area

of defence. In that regard, Argentina and Chile have

standardized their data on military expenditures, and

we are working towards the same objective with our

neighbour Peru.

Yet we cannot conceal our frustration at the

difficulties blocking progress towards limiting the

manufacture of and illicit trade in small arms and light

weapons.

We also feel obliged to say that we view with

horror the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.

That conflict poses a threat to international security.

Like other delegations that have spoken today, we hope

for recognition of the inalienable right of the

Palestinian people to self-determination, including the

right to establish an independent State, as well as the

right of Israel to live within secure and internationally

recognized borders and at peace with its neighbours.

Recent acts of international terrorism have

affected our economies, which are the basis for social

progress for our peoples. Fear has gripped the markets.

The only certainty today is that uncertainty will prevail

in the future so long as there is armed action because of

this conflict. If that proves to be the case, and if

international markets fall, terrorism will have achieved

an unexpected victory.

I therefore want to say that institutions such as

the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

must address the concerns of the international political

bodies and devote special attention to the additional

costs of the response to terrorism. We are confident of

success at the Doha, Qatar, ministerial meeting, which

will be discussing ways to make trade freer. We want to

address items of concern to all: agricultural products,

services, intellectual property, anti-dumping and the

settlement of trade disputes. They are all on the

agenda, and they must all be addressed.

The great coalition assembled to combat

terrorism must also promote cooperation among

Governments in order to ensure that no areas are

excluded from globalization. That is the best way to

guarantee security for us all. To create a safer world,

we need more and better globalization, not more

autarky. We need more and better democracy, not more

dictatorial authoritarianism. We must do a better job of

protecting human rights. Here, I believe we must act

preventively to safeguard our democracies and to

ensure respect for human rights.

Democracy is strengthened with each free and

secret election with the participation of an informed

electorate. It is strengthened with higher levels of

justice and social equality. To restore people’s

confidence in democracy, democracy must be

complemented by an end to social injustice. Neither

lack of development nor specific cultural

characteristics can be used as a pretext to justify

curtailing rights recognized in the Universal

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Declaration of Human Rights. The fight against

discrimination and intolerance must be a frontal attack

on poverty.

We need institutions that ensure respect for

human rights. Hence the importance of the

International Criminal Court, which should serve as an

key instrument for the universal protection of

fundamental human rights, whatever the status of the

violator.

I have come from afar, from the South of the

world, with an optimistic vision. Before leaving my

country, I met with young people of varied origins and

with dignitaries of different religions. I met with

Catholic and Protestant bishops; with Jewish and

Muslim representatives: all those with whom we share

an annual joint religious service — unique in the

world — to celebrate our national independence. I saw

in all of them — Jews and Muslims; Catholics,

Protestants and freethinkers — a renewed capacity for

understanding and comprehension that I am sure is

shared among western and eastern countries, among

ethnic groups and religions — in short, among all those

here today — with the objective of attaining our

common objective of peace and progress.

Let us learn from our experience in assembling

this great global coalition to respond politically and

militarily to the terrorist threat. Let us make it into a

coalition that also seeks other goals. In this coalition,

all are important, irrespective of creed, race, political

history or ideology; in the coalition there are no small

or large countries.

Let us ensure that international institutions take

due account of the interests of all countries, large,

medium-sized and small. Let us ensure that this grand

coalition will bring us security not only against

terrorism but also against hunger, vulnerability and

discrimination. I propose that we should update the

institutions that the founders of the United Nations

created here 50 years ago.

That would be the most fitting tribute to the

victims of terrorism and the best gauge of our

commitment to the weak and powerless of the Earth.