Costa Rica, 1997

Allow me to begin by congratulating you, Sir,

on your election as President of the General Assembly at

its fifty-second session. Costa Rica joins the previous

expressions of appreciation that have been addressed to

you and wishes you every success in this period that will

be remembered for its special contribution to the reform

of this highest forum of international politics.

Ten years ago Central America surprised the world

by proclaiming peace. Ten years ago nations separated by

hatred and divided by ancestral injustices decided to put

an end to their differences through dialogue and

reconciliation and to move, without haste, but also

without delay, towards a more promising future of

equality and sustainable development.

The world has changed greatly in this decade. The

walls of intolerance fell in Berlin and in Pretoria; the

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Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have not lost any more

children. There is no doubt that we live in turbulent times

but, most world leaders, regardless of their religion or

ethnic origin, subscribe to the widespread conviction that

the models of the cold war cannot guide us through the new

millennium. Moreover at the global level, despite the

temporary images from Sarajevo, Kigali, Rwanda and

Monrovia, there prevails a vision of a twenty-first century

in which democracy, reason and justice reign.

My people believes in peace. My people believes in

disarmament. My people believes that the destiny of the

human family is one of harmony and solidarity under the

auspices of international law. These beliefs are not the

product of intellectual speculation. Costa Rica has lived for

more than 100 years in a democracy protected by pluralism

and respect for human rights. My compatriots, men and

women, are aware that they are the sons and daughters of

a nation whose history proves that there is no force stronger

than that of reason. This is why, when our armed forces

were abolished as a standing institution in 1948, almost at

the same time as the United Nations was being born, Costa

Rica declared peace to the world and thus unequivocally

showed its profound love for harmony among all the

peoples of the world.

Central America comes to this forum united around an

ideal of common integration and working together on a

shared democratic project. For the first time in history, our

countries come before the General Assembly to declare not

just their reiterated adherence to the Charter and to the

principles and obligations inherent in civilized coexistence

in the community of nations, but also their intention to

march decisively towards unity as a higher stage in the

communitarian partnership that we already enjoy under the

1991 Protocol of Tegucigalpa.

For the last three years, Central America has made a

great effort to link up with the rest of the world, something

we regard as essential if we are to realize the objectives

and priorities of our Alliance for Sustainable Development.

This initiative, signed in 1994, was the first in the world to

be adopted since the Declaration of the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development.

The fruits of this effort have been abundant. Central

America has established preferential relations with Canada,

Chile, the United States, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of

Korea and the European Union. The biggest innovation has

been the definition of agendas based not on short-term

interests, but on regional strategic priorities. We are now

concentrating on improving integration by thoroughly

reforming regional institutions. Convinced that economic

growth can be achieved only if accompanied by

increasing levels of sustainable development, the Central

American countries wish to inform the international

community of our decision to move forward resolutely

towards a common future, a future of great progress and

solidarity for our peoples.

The world today is still diverse, still divided. Many

cultures and societies live on a single shared planet. In

today’s complex scenario, now that the Cold War is over,

divisions remain and new dangers threaten international

society. This is why the United Nations continues to be

the meeting point, the unifying institution for all of us. It

will continue to play that important role, provided we

shoulder our commitments, face our challenges and make

progressive changes.

Since our Secretary-General presented his proposals

for reform in July, the Central American countries have

expressed firm support for his ideas about a modern,

efficient, nimble Organization with better coordination in

line with current administrative and financial trends, an

Organization enabling us, without further delay, to move

from lofty aspirations to real actions that will help

everybody, especially those in developing countries,

which comprise the overwhelming majority of the

members of this body. We take this opportunity to

reiterate our clear and firm support for the Secretary-

General’s proposals submitted to Member States for

consideration at this session.

United Nations reform should be accompanied by a

constructive review of the scale of assessments. In Central

America we believe that the criteria for the scale of

assessments need to be changed so that all Member States

contribute financially to the Organization in accordance

with their means.

The Central American countries believe that the

international peace and security system designed in 1945

should be subject to detailed review in a broad and

consensual exercise. In principle, we support the idea of

increasing the number of Member States with permanent

membership in the Security Council. We believe, at the

same time, that any such proposal must be democratic

and representative of the plurality of States and regions

that make up the United Nations. In particular, we

strongly support the argument that the three developing

regions of the world should have permanent

representation in that organ and that the veto power, if

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there is no willingness to eliminate it, should be confined

to topics under Chapter VII of the Charter.

The founders of the United Nations saw a world that

had to decide between peace and extermination. Still

affected by the Second World War, they were well placed

to understand that humanity had no other choice but to

shelter under the protection of international law as the only

way of preventing a new Holocaust. More than 50 years

later, we have a similar duty, but one that is less dramatic

thanks to the significant progress made since the end of the

Cold War: the duty to provide the United Nations with the

political, financial and administrative conditions it needs so

that it can continue its work for peace and international

security. Central America is ready to make its contribution

so that these noble objectives may be attained.