Equatorial Guinea, 2013

We bring to this sixty-eighth session of the

General Assembly the fraternal and friendly greetings

of the people of Equatorial Guinea. We also bring our

fervent desire for peace and prosperity for all countries

in the world at this difficult time, when the international

community has to deal with major challenges that are

thwarting the aspirations of the peoples for well-being

and happiness.

May I also extend my congratulations to Mr. John

William Ashe of Antigua and Barbuda on his election

to preside over the work of the General Assembly at

this session. We wish him all the very best and every

success in his difficult task, and we assure him of our

support and cooperation. We would also like to thank

his predecessor, Mr. Vuk Jeremi., for the excellent work

he carried out and the dynamic style with which he

presided over the work of the Assembly at its previous

session.

This sixty-eighth session is beginning its work on

a tragic note, namely, the criminal and barbaric attack

against innocent people in Kenya. It was an attack on

a supermarket, a mall, which is a peaceful gathering

place for people, which reflects the criminality of the

perpetrators. Equatorial Guinea strongly condemns

the heinous attack against the freedom and dignity

of the Kenyan people, which also retards its national

development and violates its freedoms. I convey

our condolences and a feeling of solidarity to the

Government of Kenya and the families of the victims.

We also call on the United Nations to take severe

measures against crimes of that nature.

Although the international community has become

increasingly conscious of the importance of peace, we

still see, unfortunately, that the United Nations has not

yet achieved its main objectives, namely, a peaceful

and developed world, one ensuring the dignity and

well-being of all peoples in the world. Thus, despite the

major efforts that have been made over the past 68 years,

peace is still as yet an unrealized dream in many parts

of the world. The sovereign equality of all States can be

seen only in declarations of principles. Economic and

social development has not yet been achieved by most

States, and the principles of cooperation for mutual

benefit are being undermined in international relations.

At the same time, in addition to that disturbing

situation, we see an increase in natural disasters, wars,

terrorism and acts of violence, which take human lives

and force large groups of populations from their homes.

Hunger haunts almost three quarters of the world’s

population, and there are still major endemic diseases

that cause many deaths in less developed countries:

they affect in particular the most vulnerable segments

of society.

Against the backdrop of that difficult political,

economic and sociocultural situation around the world,

Equatorial Guinea would like to acknowledge the

efforts of the Secretary-General to preserve the noble

principles of the Charter of the United Nations and to

seek to achieve the goals set forth therein. However, the

almost incomprehensible ideological tenor of relations

among States creates almost a kind of cold war between

those that proclaim themselves moral authorities and a

majority that want freedom of action to determine the

futures of their peoples.

As far as the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is

concerned, questions of the peace and security of

States should be given full priority and consideration

by the United Nations, since without peace, there can

be no development, and without development it would

be difficult to ensure human beings’ dignity, integrity

and freedom. For that reason, we firmly support

the principle of the peaceful settlement of conflicts

through negotiation, mediation and arbitration. In

that connection, we would like to commend and

acknowledge the efforts of Mr. Tomislav Nikoli.,

President of the Republic of Serbia, for presiding over

the special session of the General Assembly held in

April of this year on the peaceful resolution of conflicts

in Africa.

Equatorial Guinea’s political, economic and

sociocultural situation is positive and encouraging,

because our country enjoys productive peace and

stability and harmonious political development and is

consolidating a genuine national democracy. All of that

has allowed us to carry out significant infrastructure

work, enabling the people to participate directly in the

country’s overall growth. The Government, together

with all the political institutions, is carrying out major

political reforms, thanks to the agreements reached in

the binding national political pact, which was signed

with all the country’s political groups and which

establishes standards for the political conduct of all

stakeholders and their participation in public affairs

administration. Happily, the people of Equatorial

Guinea are aware of the changes in the areas benefiting

them, and they recognize and support them.

At the international level, we are very concerned

about the negative effects of the so-called humanitarian

interference from the United Nations, which, far from

ensuring the human rights and well-being of the peoples

affected, is more focused on imposing political systems

and democracy based on unacknowledged interests. That

interference is being carried out in total disregard of the

sacred principles of national sovereignty and the dignity

of peoples. Democracy is indeed the ultimate expression

of natural law; it is also an act of the people’s sovereign

will. We have never seen any country in the world

accept democracy when it was imposed on it. And why

has it now become the excuse for intervening through

force in conflicts within self-governing countries? That

represents a provocation against our peoples, who are

being deceived in the name of democracy, while the

fundamental attributes of independence and national

sovereignty are disregarded, provoking civil disorder,

which leads to loss of life, social divisiveness and the

destruction of basic infrastructure, which is difficult

to rebuild. We see, therefore, that everything is easily

traced to the neocolonialist activities of certain parties

that wish to recover the resources that nature reserved

for our countries.

Equatorial Guinea understands and agrees that

security and development are an essential whole, and

we affirm that peace and security, development and

human rights are intrinsically bound together, which is

why we disagree with the argument that indiscriminate

destruction can be planned in order to then introduce

reconstruction and reconciliation at somebody else’s

expense. In that belief and in the face of such hidden and

complex plans, I am pleased to declare before this world

forum that Equatorial Guinea and its Government are

willing to host the next session of the United Nations

Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions

in Central Africa, at a suitable date to be agreed on by

the parties.

Uncoordinated actions such as those I mentioned,

which worsen global insecurity, are being carried out

today, while the United Nations — whose role as arbiter

and conciliator is being openly flouted by special

interests — looks on, powerless. Let us be honest with

ourselves, because democracy, as a just and equitable

system, should prevail in all the organs of the United

Nations system, the epicentre of the international

community, aspiring to peace, order and development.

We therefore have no alternative but to reform those

organs, particularly the Security Council, in order to

make them more democratic, so that they can protect

the interests of every nation impartially.

Within the framework of efforts to meet the

Millennium Development Goals, the level of basic

infrastructure that has been created and the policy of

promoting social institutions in Equatorial Guinea have

resulted in a drop in the number of cases of malaria

and in infant and maternal morbidity and mortality; in

lower illiteracy rates; better technical and professional

training; the increased empowerment of women; the

gradual integration of persons with disabilities and a

rise in the well-being of the people. Equatorial Guinea

is contributing and collaborating actively with its

North American partners, Noble Energy, Marathon and

Sanaria, with a view to completely eliminating malaria

through the development of a vaccine that will be ready

for official use in 2017.

In order to work towards the main objective of

the theme for this session, which is “The post-2015

development agenda: setting the stage”, Equatorial

Guinea has adopted a development programme aimed

at reaching the goals of an emerging country by 2020,

which is now our priority. We therefore believe that

Equatorial Guinea should move up gradually from its

status as a least-developed country in order to achieve

that new rank in 2020.

While that is the central theme of this session,

to which we all must give our support, we also note

that the attention of the General Assembly should be

focused on the normalization of relations among States,

not only by adopting appropriate standards, but even

more by ensuring that our States apply them.

While the African continent and other developing

countries strive to move towards sustainable

development, they are unfortunately diverted from

their efforts and forced to address man-made conflicts

that are fuelled by the surreal approaches to freedom,

democracy and respect for human rights in Africa that

certain Powers are promoting. We are not convinced

that the United Nations has adopted a particular model

of democracy that is applicable to all States. Africa is

more in need of special attention from the international

community to ensure its security, since it is now a

breeding ground for terrorist operations, mercenaries,

pirates and organized crime, due to the fragility of its

structures.

The United Nations should not cling to methods

and practices that do not resolve conflict or meet the

desires of the people — or even worse, are a burden

for them. We are referring here to the use of force and

embargoes, which always inflict great suffering on the

affected peoples and deprive them of their most basic

rights. That was not the purpose for which the United

Nations was established. We therefore call for the

lifting of the embargoes imposed on the Republic of

Cuba and the Republic of Zimbabwe, as they harm the

lives of their peoples.

With respect to armed conflict, the conflict between

the Israelis and the Palestinians has demonstrated the

inability of the United Nations to impose solutions

during armed hostilities. However, we believe that

politically influential countries of the Middle East

can and should play a prominent role as arbitrators

and mediators between the parties to the conflict. The

solutions have already been laid out by the United

Nations, and all that is needed is to implement them

by ensuring respect for the limits set in 1967, because

both countries must coexist and need clearly defined

borders.

Regarding the situation in Syria, we regret

and condemn the use of chemical weapons and the

escalation of violence fuelled by opaque interests that

are decimating a people because of alleged internal

problems. Wars have always bequeathed a negative

balance, and their victims tend to always be innocent

people. That is why we ask for an immediate cessation of

hostilities and the withdrawal of the countries involved

in the conflict, in order to honour and respect the Syrian

people and fulfil the United Nations responsibility to

maintain peace and security around the world. The only

interventions should be pacification and the destruction

of chemical weapons, which the United Nations must

demand of the Syrian Government.

Repetition implies concern, and indeed, in its

creation and in the framework of its Charter, the

United Nations is seriously committed to maintaining

peace and security in the world. It is also committed

to promoting economic development, moral, human

and material welfare, and relations of friendship, trust

and cooperation among nations. But far from achieving

these goals, we continue to experience the horrors of

war on a daily basis, and to allow people to go hungry

and nations to continue to live with the threat of

instability and espionage.

It is high time for us to stop this global misery in its

tracks and look to our past while moving forward in a

spirit of solidarity to forge a world that fulfils the hopes

of humankind for well-being and happiness.