Guatemala, 2011

I begin by saluting Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser,

who presides over the current session. His long

experience at the United Nations augurs well for our

work.

I also acknowledge the outstanding work of

Mr. Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, the outgoing

President. Our delegation worked very closely with

Mr. Deiss, and we can testify to his exceptional

commitment to the United Nations and his immense

capacity for work.

I also salute Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. I

reiterate our appreciation of his management, and

congratulate him on his re-election for a second five-

year term. I thank him for the support he has given to

my country and Central America, shown especially by

his recent visit to Guatemala.

My presence at every General Assembly session

during the four years of my presidency testifies to our

backing for the United Nations and our gratitude for its

support.

This occasion is unique, for two reasons.

First, I can tell the Assembly about the

achievements of my Administration over the past four

years and also about some pending issues. Secondly, I

can report that just 10 days ago the first round of

general elections was held in my country, in a calm,

normal climate with broad citizen participation, thus

consolidating our progress towards a democratic and

participatory society.

Let me then start with a few words about the

progress made in Guatemala, despite the exceptional

obstacles created by the international financial crisis of

2008-2009, a severe political crisis in Guatemala in

2009 that was overcome in compliance with the rule of

law and truth revealed by investigations, and the

impact of three major natural disasters, which led to a

109-day state of emergency, as well as historical

challenges that we face now and shall face in the

future.

11-50847 2

I shall sum up in a few words the significance of

my period in office, as follows.

First, my Administration gave priority to the

individual by dealing with social issues that had not

been addressed for 50 years. We have tried to reduce

poverty and extreme poverty, with tangible results,

especially through our social cohesion programmes,

particularly conditional transfers of cash to mothers of

extremely poor families — more than 940,000 families.

Second, space was recovered for the State in

areas previously dominated corporately by private

interests.

Third, we began to contain and reverse a

shocking escalation of the criminal violence that had

started in earlier periods, by reorganizing the security

forces and promoting policies that confronted, instead

of coexisting with, organized crime.

Fourth, in accordance with those measures, we

recovered whole territories previously dominated by

drug traffickers, particularly the Mayan biosphere in

the northern Department of Petén, consisting of more

than 138,000 hectares; 48,000 head of cattle were

expelled from the area, and the Government has

retaken control of it. Unprecedented seizures of drugs

have taken place. In three and a half years we have

seized $12 billion, the equivalent of almost two

national budgets. By comparison, over the eight-year

period before my Government came to power scarcely

$1 billion was seized.

However much we do in the Central American

region, Mexico and Colombia, it is essential that drug

consumption be controlled. Drug-consuming countries

must accept co-responsibility for the daily killings in

our countries, and for the uncontrolled sales of arms

entering it. They must take co-responsibility for the

control of money-laundering and of arms, which bring

death to our region, and for the control of factories

producing chemical precursors for drug production.

Responsibility must be taken for the destination of the

products and arms.

We cannot control organized crime in Central

America without the support of Mexico and Colombia.

We can win the battle only if the consumer markets do

their share. We cannot go on shedding blood and being

wounded by bullets. That is unfair. The consumer

markets must assume true co-responsibility.

Fifth, a series of wide-ranging policies was

adopted to gain greater transparency. They included the

creation of the Secretariat for Transparency and the

adoption of a law on public information.

Sixth, the energy matrix was renewed and

upgraded to make it more environmentally sound and

to counter the effects of the rising cost of

hydrocarbons.

Seventh, we promoted two major economic

corridors in poverty-stricken regions. In addition, the

construction of the Northern Transversal Strip will

unite the Mexican State of Chiapas with our neighbour,

Honduras, and Polochic.

Eighth, we pursued a dynamic foreign policy,

putting the Central American region on a new footing

and making possible a closer understanding with our

neighbours of Latin America and the Caribbean. I shall

return to this matter a little later.

Ninth, municipal power was given full respect

and strengthened, being recognized as a fourth power

in the democratic system.

Tenth, the independence of the different branches

of the State was faithfully respected.

Finally, while everything that I have described

was achieved we preserved and improved a solid,

stable macroeconomic system. Guatemala is one of the

three countries that had no shrinkage of their economy

during the financial crisis.

Some important topics require the participation of

every State institution; we need legislation by the

Congress of the Republic and rulings by the

institutions that constitute the country’s judicial

system. Among other matters, I wish to refer to the

struggle we have waged against impunity, experienced

in Guatemala for many years. Seven of the most

wanted drug traffickers, who are known to all

Guatemalans, are now in jail, awaiting trial. The

Government has initiated trials for crimes against

humanity committed during our 36-year civil war,

which ended in 1996. Sentence has already been passed

in some cases, and other trials are continuing.

Here I wish to highlight the crucial role played by

the United Nations through the International

Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, a unique

United Nations exercise which enjoys the strong

support of not only my Government, but also

3 11-50847

Guatemalan civil society. We are pleased that the

Commission’s mandate has been extended for two

more years, until September 2013. We recognize the

significant achievements it has recorded since its

establishment.

Among the main challenges facing us, I wish to

mention the following.

First, despite the progress in social matters, we

must acknowledge how much remains to be done to

eliminate poverty and raise the level of wellbeing of

the Guatemalan population. There were many years of

neglect, especially of the most vulnerable, such as

children, single mothers, and a disproportionate part of

the indigenous population.

I am convinced that the actions taken should be

institutionalized through social cohesion programmes

and presidential programmes. That will require a

substantial fiscal transformation to provide the State

with the necessary funds. It should be recognized that

that is not possible without the support and

participation of Congress, even where the Central

Government promotes it, as in my case.

In economic matters we need a revival of

productive activities in a framework of financial

stability and fiscal reform compatible with financing

for development.

Secondly, due to our geographical location,

Guatemala has become an important transit point for

illicit activities, including drug trafficking and human

trafficking, both of which are increasingly in the hands

of transnational organized crime. We have made

strenuous efforts to deal with them and to address the

public demand for improved security for every citizen.

It is essential to have regional and international

cooperation. Member countries of the Central

American Integration System have adopted a historic

Central American Security Strategy, which was jointly

presented, with the support of the Governments of

Colombia and Mexico, to the international community

at an international conference held in Guatemala on

22 and 23 June. The main point is that we have acted

forcefully, but that it is imperative to implement the

22 projects that need funding.

Here I recall the words of President Calderón of

Mexico at the June conference, when he asked what

peace there would be in Central America, and Mexico

and Colombia, if we were north of Canada; if we

simply changed our geographic position we would

eliminate the problem of drug trafficking. Once again I

stress the co-responsibility of the drug-consuming

markets.

Thirdly, it is difficult to promote development

when we repeatedly face severe natural disasters,

which recently have been occurring at a rate of at least

one a year. This can be attributed, at least in part, to

climate change, given the high vulnerability of Central

America to the effects of this phenomenon. Therefore,

it is imperative that humanity close ranks in defence of

our common habitat: our planet. So far, progress has

been minimal. We urge the international community to

redouble efforts to take tangible steps at the next

Conference of the Parties to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held

in Durban, South Africa, in December.

In my previous statements to the Assembly, I

have concluded with references to our foreign policy,

especially as it affects, or is impacted by, the United

Nations agenda.

My Government has developed an active foreign

policy, which includes strengthening the integration

process in the framework of the Central American

Integration System. We are confident that, as part of

that active policy, in some three weeks we shall attain

one of our main objectives at the multilateral level —

Guatemala’s election by the General Assembly to a

non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the

next biennium. This will renew our commitment to the

United Nations, and also strengthen our foreign policy,

exposing us to a broad and complex diplomatic agenda.

We shall carry out our work with responsibility and

independence, and with respect for the principles and

values enshrined in the Charter.

I thank our regional group, the Latin American

and Caribbean Group, for endorsing our candidature,

and I thank all Member States in advance for the

support that I trust we shall receive when new

members are elected to the Security Council.

The central theme of the session is mediation. I

reiterate our full commitment to strengthening

preventive diplomacy and the instruments that the

United Nations possesses to prevent conflicts. In this

context, we can even accept sanctions regimes,

provided that they come about as a result of collective

decisions taken by the Security Council.

11-50847 4

The other side of the coin is that we reject

sanctions and coercive measures taken unilaterally. In

this regard, we urge the Government of the United

States of America to abandon the economic embargo of

the Republic of Cuba. We believe that such a step

would have many favourable consequences in both

countries.

We are following closely, and with hope, the

events affecting several countries of North Africa,

which will give a greater voice to their peoples.

Clearly, it is up to them to decide their own destiny.

But in the midst of the current turbulent situation,

it is not possible to delay a solution to the secular

conflict resulting from the confrontation between the

State of Israel and its neighbours. We support the

creation of a viable and prosperous Palestinian State

living in peace and harmony, behind secure and

defensible borders, side by side with the State of Israel.

We understand that the international community can

take part in the process of fulfilling that vision, as

indeed is happening through the so-called Quartet

comprising the United States, the Russian Federation,

the European Union and the United Nations, but its

realization is up to the two parties — Israel and

Palestine — and should be achieved through direct

negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues.

We reiterate our commitment to the relaunching

of the regional integration process of the Central

American Integration System to bring about even

closer relations with our neighbours of the Caribbean

and Latin America, and we enthusiastically support the

creation of the Community of Latin American and

Caribbean States.

In another crucial area, we regard as an important

step towards resolving our age-old territorial dispute

with Belize the signing of the Special Agreement,

which, when the domestic juridical processes are

concluded, will enable both countries to seek a legal

solution through the International Court of Justice. I

am pleased to report that the Congress of Guatemala

has approved the Agreement unanimously. The next

step will be to submit it to a national referendum.

In the ancestral Mayan calendar today is the day

of balance, the day of dawn, the day that the

Guacamaya sings, announcing the coming of a new

dawn. Today we have come together to witness a new

dawn. It should be the dawn of peace, the dawn of less

poverty, the dawn of harmony and above all the dawn

of respect for fundamental human rights.