Bolivia, 2002

I would

like to congratulate Mr. Jan Kavan on his deserved

election as President of the General Assembly at this

session. We wish him every success. I would also like

to pay tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi

Annan, whose efforts to promote peace and

cooperation among nations are invaluable. Yesterday,

in this city, we remembered the victims of a horrendous

attack that was the very image of intolerance and

fanaticism and revealed the darkest drives of human

nature. I was deeply moved by this event and feel duty

bound on behalf of my compatriots to express our pain,

sorrow, and solidarity with those lost loved ones, and

to all the citizens of the United States at this time of

affliction.

This terrible episode in history ought, however, to

prompt us to rethink a number of dogmas concerning

the current world paradigm for development, dogmas

that prevent it from being sustainable over time, and

which, like a dangerous mirage, may lead the whole of

humankind into a collapse that could jeopardize our

common future.

I say this from the standpoint of a country, which,

in its small way, is joining the collective endeavour to

solve key problems that involve the fate of the whole

planet. I am also convinced that it is in the poor

countries of the world that the destiny of all is at stake.

What we do, but above all what is done by those who

possess more, and have put into effect a specific vision

of society and of the economy that prevails today, shall

determine whether our path will be one of hope or of

catastrophe for all.

On 9 April 1952 50 years ago Bolivia took

the lead in a revolution that sought to democratize

politics and end economic, social and ethnic exclusion,

in order to attain a fairer national community. For the

past 20 years we have kept that democracy functioning

and we have been a pioneer nation in regulating our

economy. Today, this process based on stability and

dialogue is continuing.

However, all that has been done is still

insufficient. The road that lies ahead is very long, and

we must travel it amidst crises and turmoil from which

we have been unable to extricate ourselves. The social

and economic problems we face are serious. Much of

what we have achieved could be destroyed by pressure

exerted by those, who in spite of everything, have been

marginalized and excluded. This situation is rooted in

overwhelming poverty, the unfair distribution of

wealth, and the loss of faith in politicians, associated

with corruption and the lack of answers to pressing

daily problems.

Our team became the Government of Bolivia as a

result of a popular vote only thirty-six days ago, and

we are committed to tackling these risks and challenges

with resolution. We are doing this within the

framework of a new democratic landscape. The

election of 30 June 2002 established a new parliament

that is diverse; this took place without violence or

dramatic disruption and within a context of democratic

and political maturity. Its main effect has been to begin

to dismantle the walls of exclusion, on the basis of the

recognition of others and tolerance and respect for

different visions of the world.

For the first time in our history, an essential part

of Bolivia's population, the Quechuas, Aymaras and

Guaranis, are represented in fair proportion. A

pluralistic legislative branch in ethnic, economic,

political and social respects is a promising setting for

courageous dialogue about our ongoing problems. Our

unswerving resolve is that this dialogue should be real

and productive, because it will help us to find a way of

working together on the political and social levels,

while seeking to resolve these crises and working

sincerely to break the long-standing social exclusion of

indigenous people and discrimination against women,

children, and older persons.

I would like particularly to mention the resolve of

our Government to make combating corruption a state

policy. Only genuine and resolute efforts in this area

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will make it possible for Bolivia to overcome one of

the greatest impediments to development, one that

threatens to destroy the essential foundation of our

society. This resolve is part of a historic course

followed, despite their different positions, by two

parties in Bolivia: the Nationalist Revolutionary

Movement and the Revolutionary Left Movement.

Their leaders, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Jaime

Paz Zamora, have understood that, at such a time, it is

necessary to set aside legitimate party interests and

long-standing political differences in order to build a

project of responsibility vis-‡-vis Bolivia. This is the

only response possible for our nation at such a historic

moment. This decision led to an alliance that has given

rise to Plan Bolivia aimed at tackling the crisis by

means of an ambitious programme of public investment

that will stimulate the economy, encourage private

inputs, create jobs, and reduce social inequities by

favouring the most vulnerable sectors of our society.

Plan Bolivia also seeks to respond to the complex

challenges of globalization, redefine the role of the

State in promoting sustainable development, respond to

local and regional demands, and establish a full rule of

law with robust and credible institutions.

We know that we are not alone in this; we have

seen such ideas elsewhere in recent decades. In spite of

this, we urgently require our efforts to be backed by the

international community. Bolivia has undertaken with

determination the struggle to combat illicit drug

trafficking as a moral imperative, in which we truly

believe; but, in doing so, it has paid a high price in

terms of human lives, economic effects, and violent

social conflict. It is only right that those countries

where drug consumption has greatest impact

demand as you know is the key factor in this cycle

give us support in proportion. We continue to fulfil our

commitments. But we urgently call on the international

community to fully endorse the concept of shared

responsibility, which has been fostered and promoted

in this forum more than once.

A combination of internal efforts and

international support to attain reasonable levels of

sustainable social and economic development must be

reached through a new logic that reformulates all of

our earlier ideas of progress and development.

Our afflicted Latin America was yesterday the

hope of the planet and today is a continent caught in an

emergency situation, with widespread social pressure,

and economic collapse and facing a dangerous threat of

an international domino effect. From its modest

position, our country wishes to help halt these trends

by being an example of how creative and democratic

solutions can be used to address problems and

overcome differences. This prompts us to emphasize

that the most effective international aid is that which

respects the decisions and plans of the countries that

must use them. Imposing strict and unilateral recipes

usually generates more problems than it solves.

If equity is one of the first demands of

humankind today, there is no better system than that of

equitable international trade. Poor countries demand

access for their products to the markets of the rich

countries under adequate conditions. This is one of the

key points of nexus of poverty and social tensions in

the most disadvantaged countries and their population.

That is why the Andean Trade Preference Act

constitutes a step forward; although only conditional, it

shows the will of a friendly nation to modify a still

unfair relationship.

We must understand free trade from a new

standpoint, where the rules of the game are designed

rationally to bridge the gap between the rich and the

poor, a situation that has already reached scandalous

levels. It is unacceptable for prosperous nations to

impose limits on us, while they are not prepared to

apply them within their own territories.

I cannot conclude this intervention without

reaffirming that recovering our status as a country with

a coastline on the Pacific Ocean constitutes an

important factor of our foreign policy.

This claim, which we have made for the past 123

years, is not the product of stubbornness or whim; it is

related to our insufficient economic resources and to

the enormous geographical barriers that affect our

competitiveness. The lack of direct access to the sea

constitutes an obstacle to our growth and to the welfare

of our citizens. The recovery of sovereign access to the

sea is not only a matter of justice, but an ineluctable

need for which we shall continue to seek the solidarity

and support of the community of nations, and even

more so now that century-old conflicts of this nature

have been resolved in this new century.

Bolivia is part of the world and, through vigorous

participation within its region, will continue to

contribute to a profound process of reflection regarding

the type of global society that we must, wish to and can

25

build, based on its experiences and its own formulas

for integrating and for making its own society

participative.

We are probably experiencing one of the most

difficult moments since the end of the cold war and it

has become necessary for us to be able to imagine a

different and better world in which no idea is

untouchable and no hope for change is smothered.