Venezuela, 2001

Just

over a year ago, we were here, attending the

Millennium Summit, some 100 days before the dawn of

the twenty-first century. At that time, I made a

statement on behalf of Venezuela and its Bolivarian

people, referring to the supreme example of Christ and

his struggle for justice, peace and life.

In the brief span of time since then, having

embarked on the new century — albeit with very

painful steps, I should say — we have suffered the

abominable terrorist attack of 11 September. In

opposition to the culture of peace, to the dialogue

among civilizations declared by the United Nations in

2001 and to the good will of the peoples of the world,

the drums of war are suddenly thundering again and we

say, louder and more passionately than we have in the

past, that this struggle for peace is of fundamental

importance.

From the outset, Venezuela and its people,

Government and institutions have joined in the chorus

of voices that first rose to reject these heinous acts. At

this meeting in New York, in this incredible city, in this

nation of North America, we take this opportunity to

reiterate our grief and sympathy for the people and

Government of the United States and its institutions

over the attacks and the pain they have caused. We say,

as we have said from the very day of the tragedy that

has plunged the world into mourning and peril, that the

fight against terrorism should become a war against

war — a fight to achieve peace.

At the Millennium Summit, we also said, like

Simón Bolívar, the liberator of South America,

remembering his dream of the summit of Chimborazo:

Let us speak the truth to all men and women. And

precisely on the basis of the horrible and frightful

truths that we are experiencing today in the world, let

us call for a new world pact in the United Nations. We

said in that speech just over one year ago that at the

present time in our world human beings continue to die

each day, but now the figures have doubled, and not

because of a world war. No, now the principal causes

of the horrible truth affecting the world’s people are

poverty, marginalization and hunger. What is foremost

in this dramatic and tragic moment is that we must

recognize the truth and then build a new global pact in

the United Nations without delay.

Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century

and the third millennium, we at the United Nations

should concentrate our greatest possible efforts on the

moral, intellectual, scientific, social, cultural, economic

and financial order in the fight against the demons of

hunger, poverty and death that afflict the planet. This is

what we said a year ago in this beautiful setting. I

believe we are fulfilling the mandate of Bolívar to state

the truth to all men and women.

Venezuela recognized the validity, the necessity,

the great vision and the truth that our Secretary-

General launched as a challenge to all of us in the

preparatory document that subsequently became the

Millennium Declaration. Today, our dear friend Kofi

Annan reminded us of that challenge in his comments

opening this session of debates, when he recalled, for

example, that last year we committed ourselves to

reducing poverty 50 per cent by the year 2015, having

set quantifiable and precise goals, such as reducing by

half the number of human beings who survive on

incomes of less than one dollar per day.

At the Millennium Summit, great truths were

stated and we heard the appeals of our peoples. We said

then and continue to say that all of the world’s children

must have access to a full education by the year 2015.

As the Secretary-General also reminded us, all human

beings should have access to potable water. We are not

talking about the Internet — we are talking about

drinking water, the water basic to life.

The goals set last year were discussed over the

following weeks in hundreds of marvellous speeches.

But today, one year later, we must continue to ask

ourselves how we are going to achieve them. What are

the successful strategies that can be employed to

achieve these lofty goals? The answer is justice, the

only path to true peace. We said that we had come to

uncover truths; that for the honour, dignity and life of

our peoples, we must come here to speak without fear.

We said that here, in this setting, we must speak

without the double standard that sometimes invades our

discussions. As I see our brothers from India here, I

think of the Hindu philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti,

who spoke of truth as a basic dynamic in understanding

the secrets of life. Truth, truth, truth. We want truths. If

we do not recognize truths, it will be difficult for us to

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find true solutions to the horrible tragedies that the

world is living through.

On behalf of the people of Venezuela, I return

here today to contribute ideas to the effort to seek

truths and to speak true words that spring from a

combination of reason and passion. They are not just

cold words on paper but come from the heart, and they

must not remain on paper as cold discourse but must

touch the wound of real truth. Today, truth is an open

wound and it is our ultimate challenge to heal it. We

come, then, without fear, in good faith and with much

optimism about life, brotherhood, unity and the

possibility that we, as the leaders of our countries, can

seek, grasp and build together real solutions to real

problems in the quest for justice and peace.

We in Venezuela believe that the world must be

examined under a great and powerful magnifying glass,

because it has gone to bad to worse, stumbling and

struggling from error to error. At the end of the Second

World War, the United Nations was born to struggle for

peace and prevent new horrors from happening. We

have not avoided those horrors. The Berlin Wall and

the Soviet Union fell at the end of the twentieth

century, and voices were raised saying history has

come to an end: we have arrived at the end of our path,

the final era, one of technology, of the global village,

of globalization, of the new world order. This is the

triumph of a model — the triumph of one philosophy

as the result of the collapse of another. But that claim

was a lie. Who can claim victory in today’s world,

which is filled with poverty and tears, pain and death?

What model could claim victory?

Venezuela would like to make a fervent and

passionate appeal, hopeful that we will be properly

understood — indeed, we are sure that we will be,

because we are speaking with love, faith and hope,

calling on the Lord God, invoking life and peace and

respect for brotherhood. Let our words be properly

understood. We must undertake a thorough

examination of and review the political models that

exist in our countries today. In America we speak of

democracy — yes, democracy. But in Venezuela we ask

what kind of democracy we are talking about. A

democracy such as Venezuela had for 40 years, from

1958 to 1998, which ended up destroying a people,

taking away their sovereignty and causing them to live

in poverty in a fertile land rich with resources such as

oil and gold? That was no more than an ornamental

flourish that mimicked democracy, and it ended in

tyranny. We never again want such a democracy in

Venezuela, and we are certain that we will never have

it again. Democracy must be based on popular

participation, ethics, justice and equality.

We in Venezuela have been saying that we must

also review the economic models that some tried to put

in place among our peoples. Is neoliberalism the way?

Yes — it is the way to hell. Let us traverse the streets

and cities of Latin America and we will see the

consequences of neoliberal policies run wild, as His

Holiness John Paul II has said. We must review our

economies, our ethics, our policies — everything must

be re-examined today if we want the world to be a

viable place and if we want peace to reign on earth.

Is globalization the path to development? It could

be, if it were based on justice, equality and respectful

relations among all. We need to re-examine everything.

As Viviane Forrester said, using the phrase “economic

horror”, the world is undergoing a process of change,

and that should also be cause for optimism. The world

is changing; it is moving on. New developments are

taking place; let us move with them, peacefully and

democratically, while searching for justice. As Ignacio

Ramonet said in his reflections in Le Monde

Diplomatique, alternative paths are appearing all over

the world. Venezuela is making its humble contribution

through a peaceful and democratic revolution. We are

committed to the human being, to an international

policy of peace, friendship, respect and multipolarity.

And we are here today to reaffirm that commitment.

Venezuela is speaking out in condemning

terrorism. Venezuela is speaking out — and taking

action — in expressing its solidarity in the struggle

against terrorism. At the same time, in speaking out we

are giving voice to the mandate of the United Nations

to ensure respect for international law and human

rights. Any action taken against any crime must be

legitimate. It must be based on respect for human rights

and international law. No one should understand

Venezuela’s words to be a condemnation of anything or

anyone. We are calling for reflection so as to ensure

that we act within the norms of international law and

the mandates of the United Nations. We cannot throw

that overboard.

Venezuela has also shouldered its responsibility

in various forums and international arenas. Within the

Organization of American States, we are proposing that

a social charter be adopted, in addition to the

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Democratic Charter, to give more weight to our

continent’s struggles to place the human being at the

forefront of our endeavours. Within the Organization of

Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which we hold the

presidency of the conference of heads of State, we

proposed — and achieved consensus among all — to

ensure balance and dialogue between the producers and

consumers of oil, aware as we are of the need to

guarantee supplies and a fair price for all for that vital

resource for development and for life.

Within the Group of Fifteen, Venezuela, which

holds the chairmanship, is promoting the North-South

dialogue, in particular the need to revitalize it. It

should not be a dialogue of the deaf, but a dialogue of

equals who are seeking solutions — dialogue and

cooperation of South with South and of Latin American

and the Caribbean with Africa, Asia and all the peoples

of the world. Within the Group of 77, Venezuela is

working for the same strategic consensus, dialogue and

unity. We are very optimistic, as everyone should be.

Despite everything, however, we need great

political will — greater political will — to bring about

all of those changes and transformations. To use the

vocabulary of the theory of war, we must put the

cavalry on the front line. The cavalry is policy; the

cavalry is ethics and the will for change, which we

must promote.

Finally, I believe that, over and above the pain,

the condemnation and the struggle against terrorism

and against the savages who perpetrated those horrific

attacks, the greatest honour must go to the fallen — the

innocent victims of those acts, and the many other

victims throughout the world, those who have suffered

and for whom we have wept: the innocent children who

have fallen, the men and the women. The British Prime

Minister, Tony Blair, said something that I thought was

wonderful in response to a comment that I made during

a conversation we had in Downing Street a few days

ago. He said that if anything good can come from this

crisis and this pain, it is a global alliance to combat the

causes of violence throughout the world.

Those who have spoken before me have pointed

out many of these causes. The Emir of Qatar and

Chairman of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference also made a very important point. He said

that our words should not once again remain empty. As

we say in our part of the world, there is a big difference

between words and action. Now is the time to move

towards concrete action. We want to see a Palestinian

State become a reality. Let us not come here day after

day, month after month and year after year just to

repeat the same old words. Let us move on towards

reality. We want to see the transformation of the

Bretton Woods institutions. We want to see the

transformation of the International Monetary Fund and

the World Bank. We want justice for the wretched of

the Earth, as Frantz Fanon said. But we want it now,

not tomorrow; tomorrow may be too late.

In conclusion, as I said during the debate on 7

September last year, quoting from the Bible,

“To everything there is a season, and a time

to every purpose under the heaven”. (The Holy

Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Sisters and brothers of this planet in sorrow, of this our

world, let us do all that we can. Truly, we must

transform this difficult time in which we are living into

a time of the people, a time of justice; that is the only

way to achieve genuine peace. As I ended by saying

last year, let us save the world!