Guatemala, 2002

It is

difficult to come to New York at this time without

recalling the dreadful events of exactly one year ago,

which brought the whole of the international

community together in support of this country, and this

city. On this occasion, we reiterate our solidarity and

our conviction that the best way to cope with terrorism

is within the multilateral framework, and above all here

at the United Nations.

I also take this opportunity to convey our

appreciation to Mr. Han Seung-soo of the Republic of

Korea for his excellent presidency of the last session. I

would also like to congratulate you most sincerely, Sir,

on having assumed the presidency of the General

Assembly at this session. I have no doubt that your

proven ability and recognized experience as an

academic, a statesman and an official in the Czech

Republic and abroad will enable you to guide our

deliberations successfully. We also congratulate the

Swiss Confederation and Timor-Leste, the former one

of the oldest countries in the world, and the latter the

youngest: one is now a full Member of the

Organization, and the other soon will be.

I would like to address two subjects. The first is

developments within Guatemala, particularly regarding

fulfilment of the peace agreements, in whose

negotiation and subsequent implementation the United

Nations played such a significant part. The second area

I shall be addressing relates to our position on the most

important items on the agenda of this session.

On the first subject, let me say that the past year

has been marked by intense activity in Guatemala.

There were important advances, but also some

setbacks. We confront an unfavourable international

situation that has had a negative effect on our economy.

Conditions have been made more complex by a severe

drop in the price of our traditional export products.

Unusual rainfall patterns have affected the

production of grain in several regions. I make these

points because it would certainly be easier to comply

fully with the commitments contained in the peace

agreements in a context of economic expansion, instead

of having to do so in the face of serious fiscal

restrictions and increasing demands on our

Government.

Yet we have made headway, even when we had to

take decisions that were politically unpopular but that

were necessary to attain the goals of the peace

agreements. This was the case with our tax reform,

which included an increase in the value added tax. That

reform is already in force, and my Government has

thereby fulfilled one of the specific commitments of

the peace agreements. This measure laid a financial

foundation without which the fulfilment of other peace

commitments and maintenance of macroeconomic

stability would simply have been unthinkable.

It has fallen to me to preside over the first

Government of Guatemala in the new era of peace. The

peace agreements were our second declaration of

independence and they mark the road to building a

tolerant and non-exclusionary society, a State that is

democratic, participatory and where the rule of law

prevails.

During my administration public expenditure has

focused on education; but we also address, as matters

of priority, access to land and the reduction of poverty.

Guatemala is a country of marked contrasts between

wealth and poverty. We labour under age-old

conditions of injustice. We turned to the Government to

promote reform for the well-being of our people,

particularly indigenous peoples, children, women,

peasants and the victims of the internal armed conflict.

Reforms are essential in order to uphold democracy.

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There is powerful resistance to change, and this

carries political and even personal costs. But our

commitment to democracy, social justice and equity is

unshakeable.

There are just too many things to do in

Guatemala. After governing for three years, our

awareness of what is lacking makes us feel dissatisfied.

On gender equality, we have made some progress on

the institutional plane, and we now, jointly with the

women's movement, have forged an approach with the

effect of State policy.

We are promoting educational reform, literacy

campaigns, scholarships for girls in the rural areas and

country-wide nutritional programmes in schools. We

are working also on poverty reduction strategies.

These are long-range policies, whose results will

be fully enjoyed only by later generations. The recent

enactment of three laws a reformed municipal code,

a law on development councils and a law on

decentralization forms the basis for the most far-

reaching reform of the State to have occurred in 100

years.

The peace agreements are comprehensive in their

scope. We have promoted a substantive social agenda,

and we have adopted measures towards free markets.

We have undertaken reforms in the area of

security, although much remains to be done. The

military is now focusing increasingly on national

defence. We have reduced the number of military

personnel as well as their functions, and some of the

resources thus freed up will be been used for public

education and civilian security services. Military

reconversion, however, will not be easy; we will have

to make a special effort to achieve a smaller and better

equipped army. Civilians are preparing to take over

more complex roles and society is being called upon to

participate in elaborating important public policies,

such as overall public security and national defence.

We are fostering dialogue with civil society on

important issues such as agriculture and rural

development, transparency, combating corruption and

providing compensation and reparation for victims of

armed conflict. Our aspirations do not stop there,

however. Guatemala has not yet achieved full

reconciliation. We need to reconcile the elements of

our society and provide opportunities for development

without excluding anyone. Essential steps for achieving

reconciliation include identifying all the parties to the

conflict, making symbolic gestures to repair the

damage done, finding out and acknowledging the truth

about what took place, allowing justice a free hand and

promoting forgiveness. Our nation has undertaken

these tasks in a diligent manner, although some

uncertainty persists.

My Government's term of office will expire in a

little over a year, by which time the United Nations

Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) will

be planning to withdraw. The Mission has played a

fundamental role as the critical conscience of the State

and has actively supported the fundamental changes

that have taken place. We appreciate the work that it

has done and we would like here to request the

extension of its mandate to the end of 2004 so that it

may accompany us as we make the transition to a new

Administration. Our hope is that MINUGUA will hand

over its functions in an orderly manner to national

bodies and, where appropriate, to the programmes and

agencies of the United Nations.

Let me turn now to the agenda for this session.

First of all, I would like to reiterate our full and

unconditional support for the United Nations as the

highest form of multilateralism. We are convinced that

this Organization will have to play a crucial role in the

twenty-first century. We believe that the Millennium

Declaration provides an adequate road map enabling us

to set out our priorities and the steps to be taken to

fulfil the goals set. Its implementation has been given a

powerful boost by the Monterrey Consensus and the

Plan of Action adopted in Johannesburg a few days

ago. We also fully support the stewardship of the

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.

We agree that this Organization must adapt to the

challenges of globalization. We are aware that progress

has been made in this respect in recent years, but much

remains to be done. In this context, we look forward

with great interest to the new reform proposals to be

submitted by the Secretary-General towards the end of

the month. We pledge to participate actively in

analysing and debating them.

Few would doubt that Security Council reform is

the most urgent of the outstanding reform efforts. We

must not delay our efforts to ensure that that organ is

made more effective, representative and transparent. To

that end, we advocate the expansion of the membership

of the Council and believe that the veto power should

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be used strictly in conformity with the United Nations

Charter.

We also believe that it is necessary to strengthen

the General Assembly and the Economic and Social

Council so that the three principal organs of the United

Nations mutually support one another. We reiterate our

total rejection of all forms of terrorism, and support

collective action by the international community to

combat that scourge through, inter alia, action in

accordance with Security Council resolution 1373

(2001).

We believe that we must strengthen our collective

capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts, whether of a

transboundary or internal character. With regard to

disarmament, we favour the complete elimination of

nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons, an end

to the illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons and

a ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines and other

explosive devices. We support all United Nations

actions aimed at achieving such goals as well as at

establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones in all parts of

the world.

We believe in particular that the United Nations

must continue to address the development challenge.

Working with the multilateral financial institutions, our

Organization must play a crucial role in ensuring that

the benefits of globalization are widely shared among

all countries. This will require common efforts within

countries and in the international community as a

whole. Furthermore, Guatemala is a party to the

principal environmental treaties, and we reiterate our

commitment to maintaining the ecological equilibrium

of the Earth.

We recently made a contribution in this respect

by offering to host the headquarters of the secretariat of

the Convention for Cooperation in the Protection and

Sustainable Development of the Marine and Coastal

Environment of the North-East Pacific. We participated

actively in drafting that Convention.

My country is aware of the divisions between

sister peoples in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We

fervently hope that it will be possible to resolve those

differences by peaceful means through dialogue so that,

without discrimination, all the peoples of the world can

be represented here. I would like to make special

reference to the 23 million people of the Republic of

China on Taiwan, whose aspirations to participate in

the work of international organizations have not yet

been fulfilled. The countries of Central America in

general, and Guatemala in particular, view those

aspirations as beneficial to global peace and

democracy; they deserve our support.

It is likewise our earnest hope that a solution will

be found, based on security Council resolutions 242

(1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002) and 1402 (2002) to

the difficult situation in the Middle East, which has

worsened over the past year.

Finally, we reaffirm our strong support for

Central American integration and our commitment to

the other countries of Latin American and the

Caribbean. The Government of Guatemala has

participated in important initiatives in the area of

regional and subregional integration. In that

connection, I would like to point out that, in

accordance with a constitutional mandate, Guatemala

has done its best to strengthen bonds of friendship and

good-neighbourliness with the State of Belize, without

prejudice to the active search for a peaceful,

honourable, equitable and permanent solution to our

territorial dispute, which dates back over a century.

On Monday, 16 September, at the headquarters of

the Organization of American States, the

representatives of our two countries will be presented

with the conclusions and recommendations of a

conciliation process that has taken place under the

auspices of that organization. Any definitive settlement

will have to be approved by referendum in Guatemala.

We commend the solidarity displayed by the

Government of the Republic of Honduras with a view

to facilitating amicably the delimitation of the maritime

areas in the Gulf of Honduras.

In conclusion, I would like to quote a Guatemalan

poet, Otto RenÈ Castillo, who was a victim of internal

armed conflict. Fifty years ago, he wrote:

Smiles will return to the face of humanity,

because children born in the twenty-first century

will be happy.

Our mission must be to make this come true.

Such is the goal of our tireless struggle.