Eritrea, 2024

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Your Excellency Philemon Yang

President of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly;

Your Excellency Antonio Guterres

Secretary General of the UN;

Honourbale Heads of Delegation;

Distinguished Delegates;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Mr. President,

Allow me to join previous speakers to congratulate Your Excellency for

your election to the Presidency of the 79th Session of the UN General

Assembly.

The current session is taking place at a crucial juncture of transition in the

architecture of global governance.

Before delving into the main subject, allow me to digress a bit and dwell

on some historical perspectives.

As it will be recalled, “Maintenance of Global Peace” was indeed the

overarching mantra and proclaimed objective when the League of Nations

was established one century ago in January 1920 in the immediate

aftermath of the First World War.

But, in spite of the lofty pronounced objectives, the League of Nations

could not fully measure up to the noble task and deter the eruption of the

Second World War.

Twenty-five years later in October 1945, the United Nations was solemnly

established to prevent another World War and guarantee durable global

peace. But yet again, our global community was plunged into the era of

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the “Cold War” whose hallmark was a confrontational, bi-polar,

international world order.

With all its dynamics and deleterious consequences to global peace and

stability, the Cold-War era culminated, after 45 years in 1991, in the

collapse of the “former Soviet Bloc”.

As it happened, this later phase ushered in a new, precarious, epoch of a

“uni-polar” world order, which was, in essence, bereft of any new

ideology. As a matter of fact, the new dispensation represented a

retrograde relapse to, and revival of, centuries-old colonialism and

slavery. Indeed, the resources and wealth of others were usurped to

mollify the insatiable greed of the few through force and other tools of

repression.

The manifestations of this policy are myriad and include:

o pronounced policies of “containment” by the architects and

proponents of a uni-polar world order in the European theatre and

especially reckless acts in Ukraine;

o provocative “containment” policies against China pursued in Asia

for analogous objectives and considerations;

o trends that these policies portend to global peace.

In our neighborhood, the ramifications of this policy include:

o The perilous war unleashed to stifle the Palestinian cause and evict

them from their land; the commotion that it continues to engender and the

wider regional conflagration that it may trigger;

o Acts of subversion conducted and multiple crises fomented in

several parts in Africa under various pretexts to preserve and maintain

colonial slavery;

o Overt interventions carried out in the same manner in Latin America

to install surrogate regimes;

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o Various subterfuges conducted to stifle and roll-back burgeoning

public protests in Europe and the US against the backdrop of

fragmentation of traditional coalitions;

All these distressing developments and trends amplify the innate flaws

and dysfunctionality of the reckless policies of the Uni-polar world order.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Efforts exerted during the various epochs to imbue institutional structure

and mandate to the “Global Architecture” were not ultimate aims and

objectives in themselves.

As it is indeed palpable, institutional formats are mere mechanisms and

modalities for achieving the desired goals and objectives. Peace and

stability constitute indispensable pre-requisites for the promotion of

prosperity and growth and the attainment of the ultimate human

aspirations of justice and the prevalence of a just political order.

In other words, the assertion and guaranteeing of a just global order where

domination, deceit, coercion and intimidation, plunder and

monopolization are not countenanced or tolerated. The unequivocal

aspirations of the peoples of the world in the past one hundred years were,

precisely, the crystallization – through the “League of Nations” and later

the “United Nations”’

- of a “just global order”.

The perplexing question remains whether these lofty aspirations and

profound wishes were achieved? The poignant answer is: “No; these have

not been realized!”

On the other hand, the logical corollary to failure is not despondency but

redoubled and more vigorous commitment and resilience in order to

achieve the cherished objectives and goals.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me now to revert to the predicament of the Eritrean people which

epitomizes, in all respects, the typical ordeal of numerous other peoples.

Three generations of Eritreans were doomed to pay precious and

inordinately huge sacrifices for almost 80 years since the end of the

Second World War merely because the Dulles Brothers determined that

“Eritrea does not serve US strategic interests”.

As it happened, the people of Eritrea were compelled to wage political

and armed struggle of liberation for 50 long years.

And even when they achieved their hard-won independence in 1991, they

were denied respite and the opportunity to funnel their energies for nation-

building. Indeed, the same “hegemonic” policy consideration and defunct

ploys were ramped up to foment unremitting crises and instability by

instigating “border conflicts” and other ruses. The suffering and economic

damage that was inculcated, the opportunity loss incurred, have been

enormous by any standards.

Still, and in the face of unwarranted onslaught, the resilience of the

Eritrean people was not dampened.

And yet, the spiral of mindless hostility continued to intensify without let

up.

In 2009, Eritrea was subjected to “sanctions” on the basis of

unsubstantiated and trumped-up charges. As it happened, the forces of

hegemony plotted to “further punish” the people of Eritrea and invoked a

preposterous pretext for a people and country that have waged a relentless

struggle against terrorism and domination for decades.

The “sanctions” were ultimately lifted in 2018. But the question remains:

why was it imposed in the first place? Furthermore, it must be borne in

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mind that illicit unilateral sanctions; futile demonization campaigns; as

well as subversive acts to instigate conflicts in the region still continue

unabated.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The ordeals meted out to the people of Eritrea is only the tip of the iceberg.

The tribulations imposed on other peoples in Africa, Latin America, Asia,

Europe and the Americas are severe indeed. In the event, we urge for the

categorical lifting of the unilateral coercive measures and sanctions

imposed on countries like Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Cuba,

including the 60-years-long embargo against Cuba and its unjust

placement on the dubious list of ‘state sponsors of terrorism.’ Meanwhile,

we need to pause and ask what is the relevance and impact of the

fundamental principles enshrined in the UN Charter against the backdrop

of the law of the jungle that the hegemonic powers are bent on imposing?

This precarious reality amplifies the imperative and urgency for the

peoples of the world to strive - with higher vigour, fortitude and enhanced

solidarity than what has transpired for one hundred years - to install a

global order that guarantees peace and stability. This is not an option that

can be left to circumstances. The forces of hegemony must also be made

accountable for their crimes for the dispensation of justice.

Let me conclude my brief address by reiterating our best wishes for

success in our current endeavours.

I Thank You.