Costa Rica, 2004

On behalf of the Government and the people

of Costa Rica, may I convey to you, Mr. President, our

warmest congratulations and best wishes on your

assumption of the important post of President.

The nineteenth century was, for vast sectors of

mankind, the century of freedom. However, in many

regions of the world, there were and continue to be,

unacceptable levels of repression. The twentieth

century was, for a good number of nations, the century

of economic development. Nonetheless, the end of the

twentieth century witnessed a prevalence of poverty,

oppressive hunger and injustice, that have conspired

together against aspirations for peace, security and

justice.

The twenty-first century should be devoted to

making freedom universal and consolidating economic

development, but above all, to creating an opportunity

for social justice, international cooperation, equitable

relations among nations and the eradication of poverty.

Since the beginning of my administration and in

keeping with that idea, I have advocated a

globalization that is tempered by justice and focused

on fulfilling the basic needs of all human beings and

their right to happiness.

At my inauguration in May 2002, I noted that just

a few years earlier, when I began to speak of the need

to globalize justice and to humanize globalization,

some skeptics considered me a lonely voice crying out

in a desert of fierce competition. Today we are many

more and our voice is much more powerful in

demanding that the process of globalization be made

more humane.

I am therefore very encouraged today by the fact

that world opinion shares the same concerns which are

reflected in the recommendations of the ILO report

entitled “A fair globalization: Creating opportunities

for all”. That report correctly states: “We believe the

dominant perspective on globalization must shift more

from a narrow preoccupation with markets to a broader

preoccupation with people.” (Preface, p. vii)

As greater integration develops between peoples

and economies, it is urgent that we incorporate

elements of a humanistic ethic into the globalization

process, as an opportunity to spread the benefits of

economic development and scientific and technological

progress. These significant developments, the product

of human wisdom and intelligence, are and must be

enjoyed by all as part of the patrimony of all mankind.

Today, this Organization unites 191 States with

different identities and diverse histories, but with

futures and presents that grow more interdependent

with every passing day. In international forums, it has

become commonplace to speak of the need to

formulate inclusive national models of development. I

believe that it is high time to speak of an inclusive

global society. This General Assembly, which

represents and expresses the common will of all

25

mankind, must play a central role in promoting a

markedly humane globalization.

Economic development is a force that must be

directed and guided. The economy’s positive and

powerful forces should not be left to the invisible hand

determined, in most cases, by the obvious inequality

among nations. In that regard, it is necessary to

consider some concerning data regarding the global

economy. The rate of growth of the global gross

domestic product decreased progressively from an

average of 3.6 per cent in the 1960s to an average of a

1.1 per cent in the 1990s. If we compare the per capita

gross domestic products in constant dollars of the 20

poorest countries and the 20 richest, we note that,

between 1960 and 1962, the former were almost 54

times poorer than the latter, while four decades later, in

the period 2000-2002, they were 121 times poorer. The

differences have been accentuated and the gap has

broadened. These results show an inverse relationship

to what we should be looking for if we really seek a

peaceful, stable and fair world.

In light of those realities, and in order to enable

the 1.2 billion poorest people in the world to

participate in the benefits of economic development,

we must promote policies and strategies that create

opportunities for all. To that end, it is necessary to

make progress at the international level in the

following two directions. First, we must agree on and

strengthen rules and policies that provide a fair

normative framework for globalization. Secondly, we

should create or broaden the venues for the effective

international negotiation, management and

implementation of those agreements.

Poverty, the lack of opportunities, deficient

medical services and limited access to education,

frequently accompanied by excessive expenditure in

armaments, cause the suffering of most peoples. It is

noteworthy that, in 2003, the world set a new record by

devoting $956 billion to military expenditure. That

represents a 17-fold increase in the amount of

resources devoted worldwide to official development

assistance and more than the sum of the foreign debt of

the 64 countries with the lowest gross domestic

product. Those numbers demonstrate that mankind has

yet to understand that security results not from

multiplying weapons, but from multiplying loaves of

bread. Peace and security are built, above all, by

combating injustice, satisfying basic needs, striving for

common social goals and establishing fair and honest

Government.

As pointedly noted by Mr. Oscar Arias Sánchez,

former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize

laureate,

“the billions of dollars spent every year on

weapons and on military contingents deprive the

world’s poorest peoples of the chance to fulfil

their basic needs”.

In that regard, Costa Rica fully supports the draft

framework convention on international arms transfers.

That project, based on the obligations already

undertaken by States, seeks to regulate the export of

weapons and their marking and tracing in order to

prevent arms transfers to terrorist and rebel groups and

to those States that breach international humanitarian

law or basic human rights principles. I respectfully

urge all United Nations Member States to adopt that

instrument of international law. I am convinced that it

will contribute substantially to our struggle against the

illicit traffic of weapons around the world.

The aphorism that “the security of one is

inseparable from the security of all” is growing truer

every day. Global democratic governance requires

strengthening both the United Nations and the

competences of the General Assembly. Every State

Member must have a voice and every people of the

world must be represented, in conformity with the

principles of equality and universality that govern the

United Nations system. The Security Council must be

reformed by enlarging its membership and making it

more democratic.

The maintenance of prerogatives for some States,

to the detriment of the great majority of States

Members, is not only antidemocratic, but contrary to

the principle of sovereign equality among States

enshrined in the San Francisco Charter itself.

Committed to the principles of universality and

democracy on which the United Nations is based, I

renew Costa Rica’s longstanding call for the admission

to the United Nations, in conditions of full legal

equality, of the Republic of China on Taiwan, whose

Government has often reiterated its willingness to

assume the obligations imposed by the Charter.

Allow me to refer to one of the worst scourges

affecting peaceful relations among the nations: the

threat of terrorism. The grave attacks committed all

26

over the world over the past few years — in particular,

those committed in New York, Madrid and

Beslan — prove how far terrorists are prepared to go.

Costa Rica is fervently committed to the culture of life

and, in consequence, our people and Government

condemn all acts of terrorism.

Even the loftiest ideals from the most legitimate

sources become mere excuses and pretexts when they

are taken over by terrorists. The first victims of the

terrorists are the causes that they claim to defend.

International society must firmly and resolutely

confront all acts of terrorism, the painful and deadly

consequences of which touch so many nations and

innocent victims. It is essential to combat all forms of

terrorism as well as its sources of financing and safe

havens. It is equally essential to combat with the same

resolve the poverty, inequality and hunger — both for

food and for justice — that afflict many peoples.

The coordination of the international struggle

against terrorism must be assigned to an independent,

professional and permanent organ located at the centre

of this Organization. For that reason, we propose the

creation of the post of United Nations high

commissioner on terrorism that would assist the

Security Council, the General Assembly and the

Economic and Social Council in the comprehensive

fight against that threat and its causes. Only by

creating such an organ, which would draw together

resources and multiply efforts, will it be possible to

respond adequately and jointly to the challenge posed

by international terrorism.

Today, global democratic governance has two

fundamental pillars: the International Court of Justice

and the International Criminal Court. The International

Court of Justice, whose obligatory jurisdiction Costa

Rica accepts without reservation, provides us with an

impartial instance for the peaceful solution of

controversies within the framework of the rule of law,

thus avoiding haphazard or arbitrary interpretations of

the legal norms.

Nevertheless, we note with concern that very few

States accept the obligatory jurisdiction of the Court

without conditions. Most States have made reservations

that exclude, in some cases, all the possible or even all

the conceivable situations in which they would have to

submit to the authority of the principal judicial organ

of the United Nations.

The International Criminal Court, whose

establishment Costa Rica supported enthusiastically,

provides us with an impartial organ to judge the most

serious crimes against mankind. Ironically, while we

all repudiate those crimes, only 94 States have ratified

the Rome Statute and accepted the competence of the

Court.

I would also like to refer to the need to globalize

criminal justice in order to prosecute those who, taking

advantage of public office, rob their own peoples. How

many generations will be condemned to pay the odious

debts created by leaders irremediably sick of greed?

We must never forget that corruption is the mother of

poverty because it deprives the poorest peoples of the

world of the resources necessary to finance their

education, health, housing and social security.

Mr. Verbeke (Belgium), Vice-President, took the

Chair.

It is time to give justice its rightful place. There

should be no loopholes. Asylum and protection should

not be given to those who ransack their own peoples.

All safe havens of impunity must disappear.

As we have a duty to protect the oppressed and

persecuted, we also have a duty to protect those who

do not yet have a voice. In particular, there is a

pressing need to agree on a normative framework,

internationally binding, to uphold human dignity from

the moment of conception. It necessarily follows,

therefore, that to defend life is to defend the very

essence of man itself, all the promises, joys and hopes

of the human being.

I believe in science within ethical limits. As a

medical doctor, I reject human cloning, while I firmly

support research on adult stem cells, which does not

present the same ethical and legal problems as does

cloning. I invite you all to join us in our efforts to

adopt an international convention to ban all forms of

human cloning.

We owe a great debt to nature. It is time to ensure

that globalization be sustainable from an ecological

point of view, in order to maintain the viability of

human life on planet Earth. Notwithstanding the

commitment of 120 nations, we have been unable to

obtain the necessary support for the entry into force of

the Kyoto Protocol.

In 2001, the High-Level Panel on Financing for

Development proposed that the various international

27

entities on environment be consolidated into a single

organization with a standing similar to that of the

World Trade Organization or the International

Monetary Fund. Regrettably, this proposal, as well as

similar initiatives, has not yet enjoyed the necessary

consensus for its approval. Undoubtedly, something

must be done soon in this regard.

We live in a globalized world. This is the logical

outcome of the natural evolution of things and the

progress of mankind, especially in the areas of

telecommunication and information technology. This

fact has brought nations closely together and, at the

same time, it has created unavoidable multilateral

responsibilities.

Today, we live in a world that tries to follow not

only the rules of the global market but also democratic

principles, one that tries to uphold higher standards

regarding the observance of human rights, while

rejecting all forms of odious discrimination and

showing concern for the environment. The observance

of these minimum standards, adopted by the

international society itself, should be the rule for

measuring each State.

Costa Rica would like to see the following

principles recognized and practised by the whole

international community: greater respect for human

rights and labour guarantees, greater protection for the

environment and greater social investment in exchange

for less military expenditure. States should have

greater opportunities to access international

cooperation, credit and markets, while prices should be

fair, reflecting real costs. It is not fair that poor

countries, such as Costa Rica, which are making efforts

in the areas of disarmament, respect for human

rights, labour justice, protection of the environment,

and greater social investment, be penalized by

excluding them from the lists of beneficiaries of

cooperation programmes and from systems of

preferential treatment for the access of their products

to the markets of developed countries.

If we desire lasting peace and a secure world, we

should give a humane dimension to relations among

the various nations. Let us undertake together the

challenge to overcome poverty, hunger, malnutrition

and injustice, as we committed ourselves to do just

yesterday, in the meeting convened by the President of

Brazil, His Excellency Mr. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Let us make this task the centre of the international

agenda for the short term. A better world is possible. It

is in our hands to build it.