Colombia, 2014

First, on behalf of the Government of Colombia, I would

like to congratulate Mr. Kutesa for his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly and to express

Colombia’s support for his work in promoting a post-

2015 development agenda that responds to humankind’s

current challenges. The sustainable development

goals recently adopted after an open, transparent and

inclusive negotiation process should be at the centre of

that agenda.

In a world full of bad news, war, terrorism and

disease, I would like to bring a ray of hope to the

Assembly: that, after more than half a century of

conflict, Colombia will soon enjoy peace. If we achieve

this goal, which Colombians have unsuccessfully

sought for so long, there is hope for peace anywhere in

the world, despite how difficult things may seem right

now. Today, I can say to the international community

that we are closer than ever before to achieving that

peace. The process that has been taking place in

Havana over the past two years with the guerrilla group

known as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de

Colombia (FARC) has been serious, realistic, credible

and effective and has produced concrete results.

We agreed on an agenda with five substantive

points, of which we have achieved agreements on

three: comprehensive rural development, political

participation and the illicit drug problem. In the first

of those areas, we have agreed to unprecedented

investment in agricultural development, working to

give farmers access to land and to generate a better

standard of living for farming families. Regarding

political participation, what we are striving for is very

simple. We want to broaden our democracy in order

to build peace and promote citizen participation, and

to forever sever the link between politics and arms.

Regarding the illicit drug problem, we have agreed

to continue dismantling the drug mafia structures,

promote a national crop substitution and alternative

development programme and address the issue of

consumption from a public health perspective. The

agreement also includes a commitment on the part

of FARC to contributing effectively to a definitive

solution to the illicit drug problem and to ending any

relationship it may have had with it.

A Colombia without coca and without conflict

was an impossible dream just a few years or decades

ago. Today, I can affirm that it is a real possibility.

We have already begun discussions on the last two

substantive points of the plan: the victims and the end

of the conflict. This war has left in its wake millions of

victims who never had a voice before and who are now

at the centre of the process. We are working to fulfil

the rights of victims to justice, truth, reparations and

non-recurrence. Above all, we are working to ensure

that there are no more victims.

In an act that I believe to be without precedent in

the history of the world, representatives of the victims

are explaining their situations, exposing their pain and

setting out their expectations before the Government

and guerrillas. The victims are the main protagonists

and the main beneficiaries of the peace that we seek.

Constanza Turbay, who represents the courage of our

women and who lost most of her family at the hands

of the guerrillas, had the opportunity to confront her

victimizers, look them in the eye and to directly hear

their expressions of sincere remorse. In her own words,

Ms. Turbay stated that the victims are “replacing

their pain with the hope of peace”. Another woman,

Ms. Juanita Barragan, who spent several years of her

youth within the ranks of the FARC, was able to tell her

former leaders in Havana: “Please do not enlist more

children to fight your war”. Today, Ms. Barragan wants

to be a lawyer and to work for children. There are so

many cases and so many voices that are finally being

heard.

We have also created a subcommittee that

includes active military and police personnel. This

subcommittee is beginning to consider the details of

a definitive bilateral ceasefire process, as well as the

demobilization and disarmament of guerrillas upon

signature of the final agreement. I can therefore now

report to the international community that Colombia has

made substantial progress in its effort to end the armed

conflict that has affected us to such a great extent, and,

inevitably, impacted the region and the world.

When the post-conflict phase begins, we will face

immense challenges in reintegrating those who have

demobilized, ensuring a State presence in conflict-

affected areas, and guaranteeing civic security.

The support and contributions of the international

community are key in that regard, and we call for

that support. I take this opportunity to express

our gratitude to the many nations and multilateral

agencies — especially the United Nations — for their

commitment to the peace process and their willingness

to provide all manner of support, not only now but also

in the future as we implement those agreements in the

post-conflict stage.

In my inaugural speech upon taking office for a

second term as President of Colombia on 7 August,

I stated the following, and repeat it today before the

world’s nations. While conflicts rage around the world,

Colombia aspires to bring the good news for humankind

that the final armed conflict in the western hemisphere

is coming to an end. If we are successful, as we truly

expect to be, we will be ready to share our experience

with other countries. We are sure that our case can

become a model and a beacon of hope for the world’s

other conflicts.

In Colombia, we seek peace because the suffering

of our fellow citizens pains us. We do not want any

more victims, or women or children involved in war.

We therefore understand the pain of and express our

solidarity with the many nations that today are suffering

from war and unutterable atrocities, due — it must be

said — to the impotence of the international community

We are not oblivious to the suffering of those who

live in such countries such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and

Ukraine and in regions like the Sahel. We condemn

the ruthless terrorism of the Islamic State in Iraq and

the Sham. We are not indifferent to the suffering of the

many families in Palestine and Israel who are victims

of armed confrontations, or to the loss of life due to

epidemics, such as Ebola in Africa.

As we approach the Organization’s seventieth

anniversary, we find ourselves at a defining moment in

the consolidation of the international system embodied

by the United Nations. Full respect for international

law and the purposes and principles enshrined in the

Charter is essential to attaining lasting solutions to

overcome conflict and achieve progress in fulfilling the

legitimate aspirations of the people. In confrontations,

we must restore the ethical principles that are

fundamental to the human condition, and children,

women and civilians must be spared such tragedies.

Colombia favours negotiated political solutions.

Today, we must ask questions that are not only rhetorical

but also true. Why are there people who stand against

peace? Why do some see war as the only way out?

Perhaps they do so because without war they would lose

their power, accustomed as they are to making a living

and profiting from it, and unable as they are to imagine

life without it. We have to convince the promoters of

war that this is not the way, and convert them into

promoters of peace. We are doing just that in Colombia,

and we must do the same in every corner of the planet.

The United Nations was established precisely to prevent

conflict and to seek peace.

Undoubtedly, the drug trade and drug trafficking

are fuelling the conflicts in Colombia and elsewhere in

the world. Colombia has promoted a serious, technical

and objective discussion of the methods and results

of the so-called war on drugs. This war has not been

won, but we have had some success at the hemispheric

level. Last week, at the Special General Assembly of

the Organization of American States in Guatemala, we

achieved hemispheric consensus on several positions

and adopted a resolution that shows that we can move

forward together on this issue. Those results will help

us to be more prepared to be able to achieve progress

at the United Nations special session on drugs that has

been called for 2016.

Last month, in the inaugural speech of my second

mandate, I set out for Colombians the vision that will

guide our actions. I want to make Colombia a country

of peace, a country with equality, and the most educated

country in Latin America by 2025. At the same time,

this vision also draws us towards the future sustainable

development goals for the post-2015 period — ambitious

goals that address humankind’s most pressing social,

economic and environmental problems.

The good economic climate that Colombia is

experiencing, progress in the social indicators,

particularly poverty reduction and job creation, and the

peace process itself allow us to believe in the possibility

of achieving this vision. It is this Colombia, the one

that is overcoming poverty, has regained control of its

territory, is growing at the world’s highest levels and

has successful social equality policies in order to find

more fairness, which is also searching for peace.

I envisage the same things for Latin America and

the Caribbean as I envisage for my country — that

we can be a region at peace, with greater equality and

better education; a region that makes the transition

from resource-based economies to knowledge-based

economies; a region in which entrepreneurship and

innovation are the engines of development; a region with

socially and environmentally responsible companies

that transform our future.

As I said in the Assembly in 2010 (see A/65/PV.15),

this should be the decade of Latin America and the

Caribbean. And now, before the world’s nations,

I reiterate the call on my region, Latin America and

the Caribbean, to remain true to that intention. To the

international community, I make an impassioned appeal

for us to put everything we can — everything — into

ensuring that the sense of humanity overcomes war. We

are losing our way when we look at the tragedies that

humankind is suffering without being pained by them,

without the world waking up and taking decisive action

to address them. We cannot allow ourselves to lose the

capacity to be shocked by war. It is time to wake up. It

is time to act.