Guinea-Bissau, 2003

You have assumed the presidency of the General

Assembly, Sir, at a particularly critical time, when the

applicability of rules, the reliability of mechanisms and

even the authority of institutions have been called into

question. We are now living through a period of

uncertainty and questioning — uncertainty regarding

the validity of certain fundamental principles that have

been taken for granted and questions about the path to

follow and the actions to be taken. Against such a

difficult backdrop and at a time that is, to say the least,

unpredictable, it is encouraging to know that we can

count on your experience and myriad talents to guide

our work. Guinea-Bissau is gratified by your election

and congratulates you most warmly.

Our programme of work is a heavy one because

once again we have been unable to draft an agenda that

is more streamlined and less repetitive. As in the past,

we will therefore be confronted by claims that are all

equally legitimate; unfortunately, however, as always,

rancour will occasionally raise its head. This

demonstrates the extent to which you, Sir, will require

the contribution of each and every one of us in order

successfully to complete your mission. In this respect, I

note with satisfaction that all delegations that have

preceded us at this rostrum have assured you of their

full support. You may rely on the full cooperation of

the delegation of Guinea-Bissau. This is all the more

true since you have established your mandate under the

sign of action, for it is clear that it is indeed vigorous

action that we shall need to convince those who today

doubt the ability of the United Nations to meet their

expectations.

We need resolute action to ensure respect for the

principles and implementation of the objectives of the

Charter. We need collective action to strengthen the

United Nations capacity to resolve such urgent issues

as poverty and hunger throughout the world, the

HIV/AIDS epidemic, the right to full enjoyment of

human rights, control of weapons of mass destruction,

and the deterioration of the environment, our most

precious heritage, to name but a few. We need

concerted, multilateral and vigorous action against

terrorism and all those practice, finance, instigate or

are involved in it and commit such cowardly and

dastardly crimes as the attack on the United Nations

headquarters in Baghdad. We also need action to

promote the adoption of urgent measures to guarantee

the security of the Organization’s personnel.

We need urgent and consistent action, too,

designed to extinguish hotbeds of tension, resolve

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conflicts and restore peace wherever it is threatened.

We need thoughtful, participatory and realistic action

designed to improve the functioning of the United

Nations system by introducing the necessary structural

reforms and more democratic, transparent and rational

practices in the Security Council, in particular, and

here in the General Assembly as well. We need

equitable and united action to redress inequality in

trade, which was recently denounced at the World

Trade Organization Conference in Cancún, and to

advance socio-economic development in the most

disadvantaged countries.

Each of us is aware of the daunting nature of the

intricate task facing us. All these objectives and many

others require of us the steadfast will to harmonize our

points of view while keeping in mind the crux of the

matter — our shared responsibility to work together in

the interests of all Member States. This collective

endeavour can and must succeed, without, however,

obliging us to renounce our principles or ignore those

rules, the relevance and utility of which we are well

aware. To that end, we have a unique and irreplaceable

framework — the United Nations, the sole truly global

forum.

To be sure, our Organization is far from perfect,

but how could it be otherwise in a world as complex

and unequal as ours? Moreover, we are the United

Nations, as was so well recalled by the Secretary-

General before this Assembly. Thus, it is not

unreasonable to believe that, if we agree and if we so

decide, our Organization could be restructured and

better adapted to the rapid transformations we are

witnessing and, in response to the hopes of all, more

capable of meeting the growing challenges. The

necessary reforms are possible so long as Member

States have the genuine and unflagging political will to

implement them.

We have undeniably been sorely tried and tested

this year. The tragic events of 19 August are still vivid

in our memories, along with the bitterly painful

memories of our late colleagues and friends, who were

killed in a cowardly manner and cruelly wrested from

their families. We will never be able fully to express

our debt to Sergio and all the others who lost their lives

in the service of the United Nations and the noble goals

and ideals that we champion and shall continue to

champion together. We must emerge from this ordeal

more resolute and more united. Circumstances require

no less and we are ethically compelled to do so.

I wish here and now to congratulate the

Secretary-General on his leadership and dedication to

the cause of peace and to hail the dignity, compassion

and humanism that he demonstrated in the face of such

a tragic ordeal as the brutal, wrongful and unforeseen

deaths of colleagues and personal friends.

The United Nations, for the first time in a long

while, has been bypassed — indeed, forced to take a

back seat — in the management of a crisis, the nature

and gravity of which required it to play its due role

therein. Beyond the differences that emerged within the

international community, and in particular among the

members of the Security Council, regarding the right

way to deal with an outlaw, recidivist and dangerous

regime, the issue of Iraq once again highlighted the

limitations of an Organization that, while universal,

nevertheless depends on a small number of its

Members. That is one of the reasons behind the many

frustrations voiced year after year from this rostrum.

Our continent, Africa, still faces difficulties of all

kinds. Poverty and endemic malnutrition are

compounded by the agonies of HIV/AIDS, which

continues to kill millions of individuals. There is also

the growing number of conflicts and the proliferation

of small arms, which pose an ongoing threat to the

peace and stability of the countries of our continent.

This unfortunate picture is particularly accurate

for West Africa, where several armed conflicts have

erupted in recent years, with Liberia as their epicenter.

Everyone is now aware of what some of us, the

Republic of Guinea in particular, have been saying for

years: The civil war in Liberia is contagious and the

trigger of a series of crises and armed conflicts in the

subregion. It has now touched countries that were once

held up as examples of political stability and economic

growth and were believed to be immune to such

disasters.

My delegation should like to welcome the

progress recently made in Liberia. The people of that

country deserve finally to live in peace. It is a people

that, as we all know, has suffered greatly from many

years of war and destruction. We were also totally

shocked to see all those children being used as cannon

fodder in a war that was unjustified and unjustifiable.

We also note with satisfaction the progress made in

Sierra Leone. There, too, it was high time for peace to

be restored. We are also pleased that our friends in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo have finally

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committed themselves on the path to progress and

national reconciliation.

My country, Guinea-Bissau, has undergone some

changes, the nature of which and the methods used to

effect them have been subject to criticism, running the

gamut from simple regret to formal condemnation.

These are positions of principle that we understand and

accept, for we have never ceased to proclaim our

devotion to democracy and the rule of law. I recall here

that my country was one of the first in Africa to wage

an exemplary liberation struggle on behalf of freedom,

human rights and democracy.

However, the sad realities of life, particularly

when they are characterized by chronic and dangerous

constitutional instability, can unfortunately lead to the

overthrow of an existing regime specifically to prevent

the exacerbation of social and political tensions in the

country that could lead to confrontation or even civil

war.

In Guinea-Bissau, a military committee decided

to reflect in action the hopes for change of the majority

of the population. Not a single shot was fired. No one

in Guinea-Bissau has been arrested and I welcome the

fact that the military has rejected any consideration of

exercising power. In such circumstances, it is hardly

surprising that the people have adhered to this

movement, which has effected the changes they

desired. Indeed, the people’s support was total.

The members of the military committee for the

restitution of the constitutional and democratic order

were in fact acclaimed as genuine liberators. In

Guinea-Bissau, we had been in an untenable situation.

Our people, whose courage and dignity cannot be

overemphasized, had had enough. They had reached

the limit of what one can decently ask someone to put

up with. I cannot sufficiently reiterate the extent to

which our people deserve to be encouraged, supported

and assisted.

Now that we have decided to turn the page, to

look towards the future and to determine how we, the

citizens of Guinea-Bissau, can be reconciled, unite our

forces, create synergy and act together for the well-

being of our people, the international community

should intercede on our behalf and to provide the

financial assistance we need. It is indeed financial

assistance that we need, because our country and our

State are destitute. We need international assistance to

recover, to meet our challenges and to ensure that our

people can eat. We need to see to it that those who

chose freedom some 30 years ago can finally see it

flourish, enjoy its benefits and understand why they

fought and why they have a right to a decent and better

life.

I should like to say here that, right now in our

country, a process is under way that is bringing

together all the vital forces of our nation. The political

parties, the military committee and civil society —

everyone has come together to meet the challenge as

one and to answer the call of the people to join forces

and work together. As I speak before this Assembly,

the membership of the Government is under discussion.

Thanks to concerted action and a professional and

intensive analysis of the situation in our country, we

have been able to adopt an interim charter that

specifies all the stages required to restore as soon as

possible the constitutional and democratic order that

we and the international community wish to see return

to Guinea-Bissau.

An Interim President has been chosen by

consensus. This President is dedicated to working for

the unity of the country. He intends to strengthen

national unity and to serve as a catalyst so that we can

return to our ideal of progress and freedom.

In conclusion, I should like to thank our brothers

and sisters of the Economic Community of West

African States (ECOWAS) subregion, who have striven

to help us get back on our feet, discuss and find the

most appropriate solutions to our problems. I thank

first of all the Heads of State of Ghana, Senegal and

Nigeria, who have visited Guinea-Bissau, as well as the

ECOWAS ministers, who have never failed to support

Guinea-Bissau. I also wish to note the assistance

provided to us by the Community of Portuguese-

Speaking Countries, which dispatched the Minister for

Foreign Affairs of Timor-Leste to advise us and to

voice the solidarity of that linguistic community, to

which we belong.

A country’s national unity is its most precious

asset. I cannot overemphasize that fact and I hope that I

shall soon see democracy fully restored in my country.

Above all, however, I wish to see the people of Guinea-

Bissau happy. It is a proud and dignified people that

has suffered in silence — a most eloquent silence —

and that deserves the trust and assistance of the

international community.

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