Honduras, 2003

This is the first time that I come the house of the

peoples of the United Nations. This is also a crucial

time in history, as it is for the Organization. A few

years ago, the international community met in this Hall

to restructure the agenda for the new millennium. We

placed pressing issues and commonalities on that

agenda, as well as the vision and goals necessary to

guide our work. In fact, that agenda became our guide

to ensure international peace and security, democratic

governance and the joining of efforts to combat the

most serious scourges afflicting the peoples of the

world. That notwithstanding, a condemnable terrorist

attack changed the course of our common agenda and

forced all nations of the world to make adjustments to

the priorities that had been set. Security then became

the key, most pressing and compelling focus of

collective action.

Honduras rejects and condemns terrorism in all

its forms and manifestations, regardless of where it

takes place and regardless of its material and

intellectual authors. In that regard, our Organization,

wherein reside the hopes and desires of all the peoples

of the world, also suffered the backlash of that new

threat that sows terror and suffering. From this rostrum,

I wish to pay tribute to Sergio Vieira de Mello, a victim

of injustice and fratricidal hatred.

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Aware of our responsibilities as a member of the

United Nations, Honduras and the Government over

which I preside have fully assumed their commitment

to the challenges before us. It is for that reason that

Honduras today is party to a greater number of

international conventions aimed at guaranteeing the

security of the inhabitants of the planet. Despite our

modest resources, we have responded to Security

Council resolutions by sending a clearly humanitarian

mission, comprised of a contingent from the Honduran

armed forces, to Iraq in order to contribute to the

reconstruction, stability and democratization of a

friendly people. In the same spirit, Honduras has

renewed its commitment to the United Nations Mission

for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

In addition, along with our sister republics in

Central America, we have worked arduously to develop

a plan to prevent and combat terrorism, as well as a

plan to fight organized crime in all its manifestations. I

have also proposed to the heads of State and

Government of Central America timely initiatives to

increase the exchange of information and to establish a

regional regime for arrests that will keep criminals

from enjoying impunity simply by crossing the borders

of Central America. I am also pleased to report that we

Central Americans have moved forward with an agenda

to ensure adequate limits and a balance in weapons.

That will make it possible for us to invest the resources

freed up in priority social areas.

We have done all of that without forgetting or

setting aside the extraordinary declaration of solidarity

and commitment that we have all undertaken to

eradicate poverty and hunger. Our commitment and

focused efforts have been appropriately reflected in the

Human Development Report, which was recently

presented in the Latin American and Caribbean region

by the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP). My Government and people were extremely

honoured to have been selected as the site of that

presentation. It is clear from the UNDP report that,

compared to averages in other countries, Honduras has

been able to considerably reduce inequality vis-‡-vis its

economic growth. In other words, although relatively

low, economic growth in Honduras during the reporting

period was rather equitable. We have also made very

significant progress in social spheres and in the area of

institutional reform, and we have benefited from the

support of the United Nations in that regard.

We would like to express our gratitude for our

access to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis

and Malaria, which has made it possible to considerably

increase our focus on those diseases to historical levels.

Again with the support of the Organization, we

have greatly expanded our school lunch programme. In

just 20 months, from an initial figure of 16 per cent, we

have succeeded in reaching 80 per cent of the children

who were going to school hungry. That programme is

being carried out with the support of the World Food

Programme (WFP). It also serves as a model for a WFP

programme that purchases ingredients for town mayors

and mothers of families that are then used to distribute

prepared meals. Meal costs in that programme amount

to $.09 per meal, which means that it costs $18 to feed

a child during 200 school days.

We have also achieved considerable progress in

the area of institutional reform, thanks to an agreement

signed during the last electoral process by all political

parties in Honduras, under the aegis of the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in

Honduras. At the centre of that agreement is the fact

that an independent superior court of justice has been

established. In addition, the main State monitoring

body is now more independent, electoral bodies are

being made more professional and other reforms of

great importance for democracy are being carried out

to strengthen the trust of citizens in their institutions.

The UNDP has also been involved in our

programme to reduce corruption. We have established

an aggressive programme to delegate much of the

State's procurement to UNDP and other non-

governmental organizations in order to ensure honesty

and avoid the temptation of corruption.

My Government has therefore come to this world

forum with facts testifying to our desire to follow

through with our commitments to reduce inequality and

exclusion. However, Honduras is also here in the hope

that the slow pace of human development in the world

can, because it must, be overcome with increased and

heightened international solidarity. I therefore appeal

that the opportunities and benefits of globalization be

made more equitable and just for all peoples and nations.

In that regard, I should like to refer to the

Organization. The United Nations must increasingly be

the meeting place for cultures and civilizations.

Common effort is essential to achieve the purposes we

agreed upon in San Francisco, and which we enshrined

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in the Charter. We need a more efficient Organization

to meet the challenges faced by peoples and to be able

to channel our differences towards the peaceful causes

we have agreed upon.

Undoubtedly, there are pressing situations that

require our attention. The situation in the Middle East

is of great concern to us. As in other countries, people

whose ancestors came from that part of the world live

peacefully in our country. They, along with all

Hondurans, want peace to be a reality for the Palestinian

and Jewish peoples, as well as for others in the region.

Hanging by a thread, peace in the Middle East is

precarious. It is our clear duty to strengthen that peace.

We are also concerned by clashes on the African

continent and by the hotbeds of tension that occasionally

flare up in Asia, whose consequences, were they to

develop further, could jeopardize the entire world.

Good sense must always prevail. It is for that

reason that we look forward to promising results from

the negotiating table. Peace in the world is our peace.

We are therefore committed to respecting and

promoting human rights. While respecting human

rights, Honduras is also committed to combating the

various scourges besetting our societies.

Today in Honduras we have a very serious

problem with juvenile crime, which has reached

alarming levels that affect all of our citizens. In that

regard, I would like to highlight one aspect of that

violence. A number of years ago, criminal activity led

to the tragic deaths of a number of young people under

the age of 18. Given that tragic situation, my

Government established a presidential commission for

the physical and moral protection of young people. It

also ordered an investigation of this phenomenon

whose results were published in September 2002. In

addition, we have set up a special unit to investigate

the death of minors, which ensures that such

reprehensible crimes are punished. In that connection,

Honduras has adopted the recommendations contained

in the report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,

summary or arbitrary executions of the Commission on

Human Rights, which has already begun to produce

very positive results.

The time is ripe to categorically reiterate that the

State of Honduras does not in any way tolerate, accept

or promote the killing of children and young people.

We have committed a considerable amount of our

limited resources to mitigate, and if possible eradicate,

this affront to human dignity. It is inconceivable for a

violent minority to take hostage and threaten the

peaceful and honest majority. Organized civil society is

working on behalf of the majority of Hondurans in that

effort, and together we are succeeding in reducing the

level of crime in its various forms.

In order to deal with that evil which is closely

related to other forms of international crime, such as

drug trafficking and terrorism, whose causes extend far

beyond my homeland my Government requires

understanding and brotherly support from the

international community. We also require that

understanding and support in order that we can reach

satisfactory agreements with the International Monetary

Fund, thereby making possible the comprehensive

implementation of the Stockholm Agenda for the

Reconstruction and Transformation of Central America.

Foreign debt relief must not continue to be mere words; it

must become a reality. With the resources freed up by

debt relief, my Government and the Governments to

follow will have on hand extremely valuable capital to

continue to combat poverty, illiteracy and HIV/AIDS

and to meet other goals of the Millennium agenda.

Cooperation and solidarity is an obligation, not

charity. It is an assumed commitment. Honduras hopes

that greater and immediate efforts will be made so that

the percentages agreed upon for cooperation will

become a reality. We also recognize the fact that

globalization, and specifically with regard to increased

international trade, holds out the promise of growth for

our peoples. We are involved in negotiating a free trade

agreement with the United States and Canada, and will

do the same with the European Union and others next

year. However, we would ask more developed countries

to allow our products access to their markets, which

now benefit from outdated protection schemes.

We also ask for the elimination of agricultural

subsidies, as well as for better benefits for our

producers, who today receive only a minimal part of

the value of the fruits of their labour. I would like to

refer to the case of coffee as an example of the lack of

equity in the added value of basic goods from our

region. The recent crisis in the price of coffee beans

has led to the unemployment of 600,000 persons in

Central America. Over 80,000 small producers, most of

whom are poor people from rural regions, carry out

coffee production in Honduras. That is an enormous

advantage during times when prices are good, because

it provides a very efficient mechanism for the social

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distribution of income. However, the contrary is true

now that prices are at historical lows.

Six years ago, in 1997, it was estimated that the

total value of the retail coffee market was $30 billion.

Forty per cent of that amount, which is to say, $12

billion, was returned to producers. Today that market

price has more than doubled, to $65 billion. However,

producers are now getting less than half of what they

had been getting, namely, $5.5 billion; which means that

only 9 per cent of the final market value goes to

producers. I wish to reiterate that it is essential that we

redistribute the benefits of globalization and that we

increase solidarity.

That situation is not limited to just one of our

export products. The actual terms of trade for our main

export products conspire against democratic governance,

but the Honduran people require, as I have said, clear

actions to redistribute the benefits of globalization and

increase levels of solidarity.

International peace and security require all our

efforts. The attitude adopted on conflicts is very

important. Hence, Honduras is taking part in two cases

before the International Court of Justice. In both cases,

Honduras has come forward in peace to seek justice.

We are certain that in the case of El Salvador, there

will be a positive outcome to the 1992 ruling of the

Court. In the case of Nicaragua, we are also certain that

the definition the International Court adopts regarding

our respective maritime claims will be fully respected.

Honduras has always faithfully and strictly complied

with international rulings. Rest assured, Sir, of our firm

determination to respect in both these cases the

decisions of the International Court of Justice.

I cannot leave this rostrum of universal

conscience without expressing my congratulations to

you, Sir, on your election and wishing you every

success in your sensitive tasks.