Panama, 2012

I congratulate the President on his election to preside

over this session of the General Assembly. I respectfully

offer him the support of the Panamanian delegation

during his tenure. We welcome his proposal to focus

this high level debate on the theme “Bringing about

adjustment or settlement of international disputes or

situations by peaceful means”. That theme is based

on Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter, which

addresses the peaceful settlement of disputes.

Since its establishment, the United Nations

has played an essential role in the prevention and resolution of international conflicts. The commitment

of the United Nations continues to be to protect future

generations from the scourge of war and to ensure that

peace and respect among nations are the permanent

conditions for global coexistence.

International conflicts have always been and will

remain a challenge for the international community

and a grave threat to freedom and the right to enjoy a

peaceful coexistence among all the nations and peoples

of the world. That is why all the countries of the world

have the responsibility to ensure the maintenance of

international peace and security.

The Panamanian people possess the strong

conviction and the commitment to use all existing

peaceful means to solve international conflicts on the

basis of the United Nations Charter and international

law. Those are simple truths that are easily forgotten,

but which we all must defend. They are the basic

condition for our existence in full peace, freedom and

independence.

Panama advocates for the solution of all international

conflicts by peaceful means. We support the promotion

and defence of multilateralism and of all multilateral

organizations as ideal frameworks for solving, through

dialogue and cooperation, the problems that afflict

humankind so that we may thereby maintain peace and

international peace and security.

The search for mediation and dialogue has

been the stance that Panama has historically always

maintained with regard to the conflicts that disturb

peace and international political stability. That search

must include legitimate representatives of the parties

in conflict, who must make efforts to recognize the

rights of their counterparts and comply with their own

obligations, with sincerity and a generous spirit, to

reach just and permanent solutions.

For that reason, the Government of the Republic

of Panama considers that Palestine has the right to be

recognized as a nation-State. However, it must resolve

its differences with its neighbour, Israel, recognizing

that Israel has the right to a peaceful and safe existence

within its national territory — a right that has already

been recognized historically and legally by the

international community.

Panama expresses its concern at the escalating

violence that has been developing in the Middle East

and calls upon the international community to propose and attempt to enforce plans and solutions oriented

towards peace, contributing to ending violent acts that

affect the most vulnerable populations.

The Government of the Republic of Panama

expresses is concerned about the severe crisis that has

affected the fraternal Syrian Arab Republic for over

a year. We therefore respectfully remind all parties

involved that peaceably resolving conflicts is the only

means acceptable to the community of nations and

peoples of the world for achieving a just and permanent

solution.

The Panamanian people deeply deplore the

murder of His Excellecy Mr. J. Christopher Stevens,

Ambassador of the United States of America to Libya,

as well as the Foreign Service personnel who were

victims of the nefarious attack against the American

Consulate in Benghazi. Our prayers and thoughts are

with their families. Panama energetically condemns

such actions, which cause sorrow and grief to a friendly

nation and which violate the fundamental principles of

international law, particularly the Charter of the United

Nations and the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and

Consular Relations.

The recent attacks on the diplomatic missions of

the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom,

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel and France are absolutely

unjustifiable. We reiterate that host States have an

obligation to ensure the principle of the inviolability of

the diplomatic and consular missions of the world and

to safeguard international peace and security, as they

are the source of communication and understanding.

We call loudly and clearly for tolerance, dialogue and

peaceful coexistence,

The Republic of Panama is convinced that all

international conflicts should be settled by peaceful

means, using the instruments and mechanisms that

have been created for those purposes. For that reason,

Panama formally joined the Group of Friends of

Mediation, demonstrating its historic commitment to

the peaceful solution of conflicts, which is the central

topic of this debate at the current session of the General

Assembly.

As a firm believer that dialogue is a powerful tool

for facilitating peace and the international political

stability so necessary to ensure economic and social

development for our peoples, Panama wishes to reiterate

its call, as it has done on other occasions, to support the

Chinese people in Taiwan so that they may have greater participation as observers in international forums,

organizations and initiatives and may cooperate and

support the development and maintenance of peace

both in Asia and other parts of the world.

Panama is a multicultural country where people

of diverse ethnicities, cultures and religions coexist

in peace and harmony and which has historically

maintained friendly relations with States of different

political and ideological orientations. I am speaking

of a demilitarized country, one that by virtue of its

domestic law adheres to the doctrine of human security

and that possesses a canal that is neutral. In addition,

Panama has tradition and experience as a participant

in efforts for the peaceful solution of international

controversies. Those conditions are our guarantee and

asset in advocating for a world that is peaceful and

respectful of international law.

Panama continues to be committed to

multilateralism, dialogue and negotiation among States

as the only way to seek and achieve just solutions in

global affairs. As a part of this commitment, in 2013 we

will host a series of important international meetings at

the global and regional levels.

Panama will welcome the International Congress

of the Spanish Language, an event of a universal

character and a forum for the ref lection on the status

of the Spanish tongue, which shapes our identity as

a nation and unites the peoples of Hispanic America.

In 2013, Panama will also host the Conference of the

States Parties to the United Nations Convention against

Corruption. That demonstrates that the fight against

corruption and the promotion of transparency are

essential elements of the modern rule of law to which

my Government is fully committed.

We will also host the fifty-fourth annual meeting

of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American

Development Bank, at which ministers of economy and

finance, central bank presidents and representatives of

various multilateral financial institutions will discuss

topics related to their financial appointments.

In addition, we will host the Americas

Competitiveness Forum, which will address the issue

of the development of the region’s competitiveness

agenda on the basis of the 10 general competitiveness

principles of the Americas.

We will also host the Ibero-American summit,

which will bring together the 22 States of Latin

America and those of the Iberian peninsula. That

summit represents an effort, involving dialogue and

cooperation, to foster the development of our countries

by opening up new markets and new opportunities

for trade and cooperation with the peoples and the

countries of Europe.

The international meetings set to take place in 2013

will be held in the context of the celebration of a historic

event that marks Panamians to this day. I note that

today is the anniversary of that event — the discovery

of a passage, through our country, to the Pacific Ocean.

Today — 25 September — marks almost 500 years since

the so-called discovery of the South Sea, later known as

the Pacific Ocean, a feat that changed the geography of

world navigation and the history of humanity.

With the discovery of a passage from the Atlantic

to the Pacific, we saw the beginning of a process of

economic and demographic globalization around the

world. From that moment on, Panama began to play

an important role in global navigation and trade that

continues today. Since then, Panama has become the

primary hub of the Americas. Indeed, it is one of the

most important telecommunications and navigation

routes in the world.

We continue to make good progress in the expansion

of the Panama Canal and Tocumen international

airport, which will become the largest airport in Latin

America. Both of those projects will make it possible

to further develop the Panama Canal route and will

have a tremendous impact on international trade and

on tourism.

The feat accomplished by Vasco Núñez de Balboa

on 25 September 1513 helped to forge Panama’s

character as a country dedicated to the global transit of

goods, and, with the construction of the Canal, it was

consolidated as the hub of worldwide maritime trade.

There is no magic formula for the resolution of

conflicts. Nor do the global conditions exist for the

complete fulfilment of Chapter VI of the Charter of the

United Nations, on the peaceful settlement of disputes.

The world still has some important steps to take in

order to ensure that dialogue is always the means of

adjudicating differences. There must be a commitment

at the State level for meeting that goal.

One of the major steps forward we must take is

in the area of education. Education not only sets us

free: it makes us free thinkers. It helps us understand and respect different ideas. It provides us with an

opportunity to be dreamers. Through education we can

learn to value cultures that might seem strange to us;

being different does not make us enemies. But in order

to understand this in an all-encompassing way, we need

a good and objective education.

Access to information through the Internet and

social networks is an indispensable tool to raise the

level of knowledge and discernment among all peoples.

While I advocate for the responsible use of those

tools, I think that we have to go further. I believe that

we must also address the issues of equality and self-

esteem, which help distance us from resentment and

violence. Once again, education is the answer.

Such intangible wealth leads us to honest

competition. The substitution of competition for

violence can be achieved only through a modernization

process in which our principles are preserved. A good

education is one that is built upon a foundation of ethics

and values. Money is not the best type of assistance

we can give our children. The best assistance we can

give them is an education that is divorced from politics,

passions and paradigms. That is the only way to achieve

excellence.

We must focus our educational efforts on young

children. Good, balanced primary education is the base

of a solid pyramid. Educating our children properly

today is the best guarantee of a better future for all

tomorrow.

Without education, there is no possibility of

dialogue and vice versa. That is the reason for my

Government’s focus on the well-being of Panamanian

children through the improvement of our schools

and classrooms; the creation of a free national

Internet network; the provision of free computers; the

implementation of a universal scholarship, without any

distinction on the basis of class or politics; and, finally,

the transformation of our educational curriculum.

However, access to information must be provided

to children in keeping with their developmental stage,

respecting the fact that they are children and requiring

that they do the best they can for their age. To respect

children is to harvest peace.

As I stated at the recent Connect Americas Summit,

held in our country in July, we must continue to harness

our respective wills to reduce the digital divide and to

maximize Internet access around the world. Every step in that direction will be key to the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Nevertheless, I remain uneasy about the risks

posed by the misuse of cyberspace for boys, girls and

adolescents.

Our job will not be finished if we do not assume the

responsibility of facing up to one of the most significant

ethical and moral challenges of our time: the protection

of children and young people from the threat posed to

them by the misuse of cyberspace.

For that reason, we support the initiative promoted

by the International Telecommunications Union in that

respect. I also invite all States represented here to share

their experiences in order to establish and harmonize, on

the basis of international telecommunications criteria,

norms that will allow us to ensure that minors are no

longer exposed to the risks and dangers disseminated

through cyberspace. That should in no way be

interpreted as a means of limiting or distorting freedom

of expression or the universal use of the Internet, which

we defend firmly and with great conviction.

Panama is preparing draft legislation in order

to establish minimum regulations geared towards

protecting our children and adolescents from the

dangerous content spread through the Internet and

other electronic media. We are currently working

to pass that legislation based on consensus with all

of Panamanian society. We must become allies and

close ranks against Internet sites that promote child

pornography and pornography in general, obscene and

lascivious conduct, and physical, sexual and emotional

violence.

Let us combine efforts and take concerted action

against sites that facilitate the making of weapons or

explosives, that incite illegal drug use, and that promote

racism, xenophobia or any other type of discrimination

that runs contrary to human dignity.

Let us take measures against those who dedicate

themselves to making public, using and disseminating

minors’ personal information and to making threats of

all kinds against our boys, girls and adolescents. Let us

harness information and communications technology

for the benefit of development and to ensure a better

quality of life for our children, and let us not allow the

benefits of accessing the Internet to put them at risk.

The Government of the Republic of Panama

supports the international community and the United Nations through two large-scale projects. The first is

the United Nations Regional Centre for Latin America

and the Caribbean in Panama, which will host the 16

United Nations subregional offices already established

in our country. That Centre will contribute to greater

coordination and synergy within the United Nations

system, thereby contributing to its operational process,

as outlined in the report of the High-level Pannel on

United Nations System-wide Coherence, “Delivering as

One” (see A/61/583). We invite friendly nations who are

committed to those reforms to financially contribute to

that project, which will soon be open to international

bidding. The other project is the regional humanitarian

assistance logistics centre for the Americas for the

delivery of humanitarian aid in the event of disasters in

the region. Panama is committed to being a responsible

humanitarian actor in the region, and we place our

advantages as an international logistical platform at the

disposal of the international community.

Panama’s economic growth is widely recognized

throughout our region. From 2012 to 2013, Panama

moved up nine places — from 49 to 40 — in the Global

Competitiveness Index, which represents our biggest

jump in that ranking since 2005, when our country

began to be monitored by the World Economic Forum.

Such an increase indicates we are doing things well.

Panama’s economic growth is the greatest in

Latin America. It is based on free market principles,

is respectful of the environment, social standards and

free enterprise initiatives, and is strongly committed

to social inclusion. That has made it possible for us to

significantly reduce unemployment in our country to

4.6 per cent and to reduce poverty, including extreme

poverty, from 33.4 per cent to 25.8 in just three years,

without compromising the riches of our environment.

At the same time, our economic growth allows us to

allocate resources to confront the threats of climate

change, which is affecting and will continue to affect

large and small nations without regard for their level

of development. We all need to be more responsible in

that regard.

Panama will continue to advocate for the

international community to work on an institutional and

multilateral structure that would reinforce the rights of

all people to a planet with an environment suitable for

the development of a healthful and peaceful life. We

will insist on a new high-level discussion forum on

the protection of the environment in the context of the

General Assembly.

Finally, Panama reaffirms that it is a country that

favours peaceful and respectful coexistence among

all the peoples and Governments of the world. We

Panamanians believe that humankind will always be

capable of fighting for that cause, united by the hope

that we can all build a better tomorrow. There is still

time to share, as brothers, in the feast of existence on a

peaceful planet that truly belongs to all.