Peru, 1998

Through you, Sir, I would like to congratulate the

President of the General Assembly on his election, which

was so richly deserved because of his vast experience in

international affairs and his well-known personal qualities.

Uruguay, a friend to Peru, represents the authentic

aspiration to peace and respect for international law that are

standards of conduct for Latin America and for Peru.

I hereby reaffirm my countryâs unwavering adherence

to the purposes, principles and standards enshrined in the

Charter of the United Nations, which provide a guarantee

of harmonious relations among States and of the full

applicability of international law, as well as a foundation

for the worldwide promotion of human rights, economic

and social development and cooperation for development —

all touchstones of international peace and security.

Only 10 years ago, the community of nations was

moved by the dream of building a peaceful, democratic,

equitable and multilateral new world order. Today, while

we appreciate the continuing extension throughout the

world of those positive tendencies, we note as well an

accumulation of negative developments that threaten to

initiate a period of uncertainty and change posing

unprecedented challenges to our multilateral institutions

and urgently demanding analyses and strategies to

confront them.

The world financial crisis is affecting the very

foundations of the international system. The provision of

emergency financial relief may help individual countries,

but it does not contribute to the health of the system as a

whole, and it highlights the imperfections of the existing

supervisory mechanisms. There is thus a need for a

review of the Bretton Woods institutions and a revision of

their policies so as to adapt them to current reality.

The growing imbalance among countries in the

economic and social areas is another deeply troubling

element. The 1998 Human Development Report indicates

that 20 per cent of the inhabitants of high-income

countries consume 86 per cent of the worldâs goods and

services. In contrast, the poorest 20 per cent consume less

than 2 per cent. This reality underscores the urgent need

to foster real sustainable human development throughout

the world, as well as within our countries, which are

confronting the challenge of relieving excruciating

poverty.

Not only is it urgently necessary to strengthen

multilateral institutions and achieve friendly cooperation,

but it actually can be done. A few indications of current

positive trends are the worldwide consolidation of

democracy, the recognition of the central value of

individuals and their inherent rights, the participation of

civil society, the need to modify patterns of consumption

and production for the advancement of sustainable

development, the development and dissemination of

technology and the significant though as yet insufficient

progress in the fight against drug-trafficking and the

struggle against poverty.

Understanding continues to grow among States

regarding the concept of sustainable human development.

For the past eight years, we Peruvians have been engaged

in a process of national reconstruction and structural

reform, the overriding aim of which is the eradication of

poverty.

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The Peruvian Government, under the leadership of

President Alberto Fujimori, continues to implement a series

of policies and programmes to improve the quality of life

of all our citizens. The fundamental element of these efforts

is the strategy for the fight against poverty. Our firm

commitment to eradicating poverty is reflected in the

national budget, which allocates more than 40 per cent to

social spending. The national priority is the reduction of

extreme poverty by 50 per cent — from 19 per cent to 10

per cent of the population — by the year 2000. Along the

same lines, the Peruvian Government accords great

importance to policies aimed at achieving gender equality

and the full participation of women, population policies and

policies for the protection of the most vulnerable: children,

the elderly, the handicapped and internally displaced

persons.

In the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, Peru remains committed to

giving substantive meaning to its content, incorporating its

principles in legislation and putting them into practice

through education and information and by including them

in policies of development. The protection and fostering of

human rights is a priority and a duty for Peruvians, which

is why we defend the universality, indivisibility,

comprehensiveness and non-discriminatory application of

human rights.

My country has signed and ratified almost all the

international instruments concerning human rights, both

universal and regional. Consequently, we call upon those

countries that still are not parties to the two International

Covenants on human rights and to the American

Convention on Human Rights to ratify them, not only in

honour of the fiftieth anniversary but also so that they will

be consistent with the principles they continually espouse

in the international arena.

The persistence of new non-military global threats —

such as international terrorism, the intensification of

organized crime, corruption and the problem of drugs —

adds to the gravity of the present international situation.

Peru, which has suffered from terrorist violence, knows that

this barbarism constitutes an assault on the individual and

on society as a whole. It aims to destroy democracy and

fundamental freedoms, in addition to threatening the peace

and security of nations. In consequence, we consider all

terrorist acts a systematic and deliberate violation of human

rights that cannot be justified by any ideology or for any

other reason, and that they should therefore be treated only

as criminal acts.

Peru categorically condemns terrorism in all its

forms and manifestations and urges the international

community to combat it vigorously. With the same

determination, Peru reiterates that cases of international

terrorism should be resolutely combated within the

framework of international law.

In 1990 there were 120 thousand hectares of coca in

Peru. Today, in a spectacular decline, this has been

reduced by half, and with it the number of peasant

families linked to the coca economy. Through

programmes of alternative development it is possible to

avoid a resurgence in the supply of coca leaves. We

therefore need to combine national efforts with

international support to overcome a complex problem that

is a matter of shared responsibility. In this regard, we are

promoting debt-swap programmes for alternative

development projects. We have also convened a donor

consulting group, which will meet next November,

sponsored by the Inter-American Bank, the Inter-

American Commission for the Control of Drug Abuse and

the European Union.

As President Alberto Fujimori stated during the

special session of the General Assembly devoted to the

drug problem,

“The purpose of the meeting is to secure the

complementary financial resources required to

implement alternative development, prevention and

rehabilitation programmes within the framework of

anti-poverty policies and the sustainable management

of natural resources.” (A/S-20/PV.2, p. 2)

I strongly reaffirm that my country is committed to

fighting drug-trafficking and its related effects until they

are eradicated. The criminal structures of drug-trafficking

cannot be given any respite during which they might

reconstitute themselves. For this reason the international

community must intensify its joint efforts to put an end to

this scourge that affects humanity.

Because Peru has recently experienced a crisis

situation, we face major difficulties resulting from

internally displaced communities. Throughout the world

there has been a dramatic increase in the number of the

internally displaced in recent years, which makes it

essential to strengthen United Nations action in this

sphere. Consequently, we declare before the General

Assembly the urgent need to further deepen and expand

the mandates, programmes and sources of funding for the

systemâs specialized agencies and bodies, with the aim of

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prioritizing assistance to those countries affected by this

problem.

Peru is a peace-loving nation which works for peace

and rejects conflict; which aspires to strengthen political

and economic cooperation with all countries and groups of

countries in different regions, on the basis of common

interests and mutual benefit.

In the realm of peace and security, the international

community must now unite against new tendencies towards

nuclear proliferation and a growing number of internal

conflicts and conflicts between States in various parts of the

world. To this must be added conventional arms races and

the hundreds of thousands of anti-personnel mines that are

still deployed in the world, whose shocking and unjust

consequences we all know. These facts together threaten to

overwhelm the existing capacities of our countries and our

international institutions.

Peru vigorously supports general and complete

disarmament under strict international control. This is both

a necessary condition for peace and an ongoing task of our

Organization.

Deplorable recent developments in the sphere of

nuclear proliferation underscore the urgency of perfecting

the existing non-proliferation regimes and the imperative

need for negotiations on nuclear disarmament to go

forward. The proposed fourth special session of the General

Assembly devoted to disarmament will have to consider

these questions on a priority basis. We Latin Americans

now appreciate all the more the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which

created in our region the first inhabited zone of the planet

to be free of nuclear weapons, and we are continuing to

develop ties of cooperation with other nuclear-weapon-free

zones.

My country was the first Latin American State to

ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and

consequently rejects any kind of nuclear test anywhere in

the world.

The Convention on anti-personnel landmines is a

positive sign of change on the international scene. This

makes plain the humanitarian concerns that inspire the

conscience of the world. We are pleased that it will enter

into force in March 1999, and are particularly interested in

its full implementation after that date. Accordingly, the

international community will have to give its active

cooperation and make the utmost effort to remove or

destroy the mines already planted in every region of the

world.

Peru was one of the first countries to ratify the

Ottawa Convention and it already begun to adopt its

applicable provisions. We call upon all countries which

have not yet done so to ratify or adhere to the Ottawa

Convention as soon as possible, as a contribution to

peace, security, human coexistence and the development

of our peoples. We trust that those States which have

already signed it but have not yet ratified it will comply

with article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of

Treaties, under which signatory nations must abstain from

acts which would frustrate the purpose of the Ottawa

Convention.

We believe that the United Nations Regional Centre

for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin

American and the Caribbean, which has its headquarters

in Lima, can contribute to promoting a culture of peace

and strengthening the efforts towards disarmament in the

region, including dealing with the problem of mines.

In the foregoing scenario, the reform and

strengthening of the United Nations system take on even

greater importance. Change and adjustment lead to greater

efficiency. The process of structural and functional reform

of the United Nations, rendered imperative by

globalization and changes on the international scene,

makes it necessary to ensure the coherence of its

programmes and activities and to transform the

Organization into an agent of sustainable human

development.

We believe that it is appropriate and timely to

continue our efforts to define the criteria that should

guide reform of the Security Council. Decisions on this

fundamental matter should necessarily be adopted on the

basis of the broadest possible agreement and in the spirit

and letter of the Charter of the United Nations, which

would itself be revised. The modifications we desire aim

towards a more representative and efficient world

Organization. In that regard, this effort must not give way

to confrontation and discord. Let us rather support all

efforts directed towards allowing the Organization to

respond to the real needs of all its Member States.

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Peru pays tribute to the peacekeeping operations of the

United Nations on their fiftieth anniversary and honours the

memory of the men and women, soldiers, police and

civilians, including Peruvian nationals, who have sacrificed

their lives in this noble mission. The peacekeeping

operations, in some of which my country took part, are

emblematic of the responsibility that the Charter assigns to

our Organization.

We wish to reiterate, Mr. President, our best wishes to

you and to the Assembly in this new period we are

entering, which will surely have important implications for

the international community.