Bolivia, 2010

This is the first time I have participated in the general

debate since the declaration of the Plurinational State

of Bolivia and my fifth as President — since I took on

enormous responsibilities towards my people, acting

through social movements.

I would like to quickly say that in four and a half

years in government, we have begun to bring profound

structural and social change to Bolivia. Fortunately,

two weeks ago, the United Nations recognized that

extreme poverty had decreased from 41 to 32 per cent.

In four and a half years, our small country of

10 million inhabitants has seen its national reserves

grow from $1.7 billion to $9 billion. The rate of

economic growth is currently 5 per cent, while before I

arrived it was barely 3 per cent.

There has been a democratization of the national

economy, with grants and subsidies that have allowed

for the improvement of the economic situation of the

poorest and most abandoned — in particular those of

the rural and indigenous movement, but also our

brothers and sisters the workers, and our brothers and

sisters from the barrios of Bolivia’s big cities.

However, the improvement of our economy has

basically come with the recovery of our oil and gas

reserves, and with the nationalization of these natural

resources. Let me say that earlier, and unfortunately,

under instructions from the International Monetary

Fund (IMF), our natural resources were privatized.

Moreover, the IMF contracts stated that the owner, the

transnational oil company, would have the rights from

the wellhead. The Fund Governors were telling us that

as long as the oil or gas was underground, it belonged

to the Bolivian State and the Bolivian people, but that

once it was taken out and reached the wellhead, it was

the property of the transnationals. From these

mega-fields the oil transnationals received 82 per cent

of the gas and oil revenue, while the Bolivian people

were left with only 18 per cent.

It is a matter of responsibility. Countries that

invest have the right to recover their investment and

they have the right to make profits, but not 82 per cent

of all of the profits from our oil and gas resources. On

1 May 2006, the Government decreed, first, that the

State would take control of all oil fields. We

nationalized them. Secondly, so that the investing

company, seeking to recover their investment, could do

so and make a profit. We looked at the numbers

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carefully in order to ensure that the company would not

be harmed. Our data showed that with 18 per cent of

the profit, they would recover their investment and

they would even have access to profits.

What I did with our supreme decree, after taking

total State control of gas and oil, was to ensure that the

State, the Bolivian people, received 82 per cent of the

profits and the investing oil company, 18 per cent.

These companies continue to be present in our country

and continue to invest in Bolivia. We had discovered

that there was an ongoing sacking of our natural

resources and this alone has brought changes to our

economy. For example, since 1940, Bolivia had never

had a budget surplus, only deficits. But once we had

nationalized oil and gas, in 2006, the first year of my

administration, we had a surplus. With this surplus, we

were able to provide grants and subsidies for some of

the most vulnerable sectors of the population, namely,

young people and the elderly.

In February 2003, when I was a union leader and

National Deputy, the International Monetary Fund

instructed the then Government to institute an income

tax or to increase fuel prices in order to decrease the

budget deficit — not to eliminate it, but to decrease it.

The Government decided to institute an income tax.

There was an uprising by those affected by this tax,

and in two days of confrontation there were 15 dead.

I would like to say from here at the United

Nations to the world and to the Bolivian people that,

without income taxes and without increasing fuel

prices, we had a surplus in the first year of our

administration. It was so important to have recovered

our natural resources and to have recovered our

companies providing basic services.

Sooner or later the International Monetary Fund

has to redress the damage it has done to Bolivia and to

Latin America. But it appears that the International

Monetary Fund, under the pretext of structural

adjustment, is continuing to impose policies on some

countries — policies of pillaging natural resources. It

did us great harm. I am demanding officially that the

International Monetary Fund pay for the economic

damage and the damage to human beings that resulted

from these impositions which, in Bolivia, resulted in

death, injury and hunger. So I am very pleased that we have begun to

change Bolivia. Of course, it is impossible to meet all

the demands that our indigenous brethren have been

making for 500 years, or that other brethren or regions

have been making for hundreds of years — or indeed

the demands which have arisen from 20 years of

neoliberal Government in our country.

We are living in times of deep and sweeping

changes. We have an enormous responsibility to future

generations. The fate of Planet Earth depends on what

we do or do not do.

We know ourselves. We have many ideological

differences. We have many differences in our

programmes, our cultures and our societies. We have

many differences from one continent to another. The

economic asymmetries are profound. But despite these

differences we at the United Nations must work

together, united. Why united? We must be united so

that human rights will be well and truly protected

around the world. I come here to propose an alliance of

all presidents and Governments so that we can save

humankind and save Planet Earth — or save

humankind by saving Planet Earth.

There are four main objectives, the first being the

protection of human rights. I commend the many

Governments that last week adopted a proposal from

the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

that water be recognized as a human right. Next will be

energy and after that communication. We must move

forward and respond to the needs of the most

vulnerable — the poor, the disenfranchised, the

migrants. All basic services in Bolivia are a human

right under the Constitution. And we are currently

translating that concept into practice, so that all these

basic services will truly be a human right. That is why

I think it important to have an alliance now, in this new

millennium, to see that human rights are guaranteed for

all.

I should also like to say that it is indefensible in

the twenty-first century to continue to persecute and

expel migrants — whether they are migrants because

of economic problems or because of climate change or

a natural disaster. I would like to take this opportunity

to say that I learned from the media that President

Obama is rejecting the Arizona law. We must recognize

the need to put an end to policies — wherever they

originate, including the return policies of Europe —

that have the effect of expelling migrants. When our

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ancestors migrated because of war or famine from

Europe to Latin America there was no expulsion of

migrants. Those European migrants took over

thousands of hectares and pillaged natural resources,

and no one said anything. But now that our brothers

and sisters, driven by lack of work, emigrate in search

of jobs in the United States or Europe, they suffer

persecution, discrimination and expulsion. This has to

stop. Our alliance must also examine the fate of these

brothers and sisters.

I have also heard it said that walls or fences are

being built in, for example, Mexico and Palestine. As

far as I know, fences are only built to keep in cattle,

sheep and cows. We cannot confuse human beings with

animals and build fences to keep them in. It makes no

sense. But I also want to say: how can we prevent

human beings from going from one continent to

another? We have heard much opinion in this debate on

the subject of free-market policies. Are commodities to

circulate freely around the world but not human

beings? What type of discriminatory policies do we

have? Those walls of shame must disappear. I listened

carefully to the address by the Secretary-General. He

wants the United Nations to be strong in the interests

of good governance. I share that opinion but believe

that we can only achieve this when we resolve the

problems of the world’s most defenceless people, who

are migrants in this case. And that is why it is

important for us to be rid of these walls.

But there is something else that is unthinkable in

the twenty-first century: the economic blockade of

Cuba. Everyone calls for the lifting of this embargo,

imposed because Cuba was a Communist or socialist

country. I want you to know that I too preside over a

Government that is anti-capitalist, which, I think, is

why the United States Department of State tries to

marginalize and exclude us. That is not a solution.

People will continue to rebel against systems and

economic models that do not resolve the problems of

the majority in all our countries. I respectfully ask

President Obama to put an end to the economic

blockade of Cuba and the economic blockade of the

Gaza Strip in Palestine. If the United States is — and

we all know this to be the case — the supreme world

Power, it has the authority to end this injustice and this

violation of the human rights of millions around the

world.

The second objective of this alliance of

Governments to save humanity is its most important

responsibility: determining how to save Mother Earth.

What concerns me greatly is that some countries,

instead of conserving Nature, are looking at how to

make a business out of climate change, putting a price

on Nature. We must not privatize our forests; we must

not sell carbon bonds as if the forest’s only role were to

absorb carbon dioxide. Any country that does so is

making a grave mistake.

I want to share something from our culture and

our experience in the indigenous world. We indigenous

peoples live in harmony with Mother Earth, in

harmony with Nature. Why do we live in harmony with

Nature? We came from the Earth, we live on the Earth

and to earth we will return. The Earth, Planet Earth,

Nature, “Pachamama”, Mother Earth — this is our

home, this is our mother. The Earth gives us life: water,

natural resources, the abundance of Nature. How can

we turn Mother Nature into a business?

Because of the discussion I have with social

movements around the world, particularly with

indigenous movements, I am convinced that the planet

can exist without human beings, but human beings

cannot exist without the planet. As human beings have

rights, like the right to life, so too does the planet,

Mother Nature, have the right to life. Just as we human

beings reproduce, biodiversity has a right to

regenerate. For these and many other reasons besides,

we have the obligation to save Planet Earth.

Within that context, our proposal is quite simple.

Here at the United Nations we must develop a project

to protect the rights of Mother Earth. This morning

President Obama referred to the adoption in 1948 of

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the

United Nations. That was 62 years ago; before that we

did not have rights. Later civil, economic and political

rights were adopted. Three years ago the rights of

indigenous peoples were adopted here. Now in this

millennium we should adopt the rights of Mother

Earth. And if we do not do this, we will be responsible

for a world disaster.

To take an example: in a plane some people travel

in first class, others in business class, while the

majority travel in coach, economy class. If the plane

crashes, no one survives — neither the first-class

passenger nor the economy-class passenger. Is that

what we want? It will be the same if we do not save

Mother Earth. The transnational company with lots of

money, the millionaire — all of us will be equally

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affected by the environmental problems that come with

climate change.

That is why I want to tell you how important it is

that we prepare for Cancún, where we will have a great

opportunity. I will propose there that we have an

alliance of all the presidents and heads of government

of the world, headed by the Secretary-General of the

United Nations. What will the alliance be for? So that

together we can determine how to cool the planet. We

are talking about global warming. How can we cool the

planet? We, as peoples and Governments, are

responsible for humankind. The people, at a summit in

Cochabamba, Bolivia, said that we must stabilize the

temperature increase at 1 degree Celsius. The

developed countries, which are primarily responsible

for global warming, must commit to reducing their

greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent during the

second period of the Kyoto Protocol. Let us assume our

responsibilities to cool Planet Earth.

I would like to discuss the serious situation in

which my country finds itself. We sometimes buy drills

to deal with droughts, and yet even by drilling we

cannot find water. And if we do find it, it is buried ever

deeper and occurs in ever-smaller quantities. Soon,

despite all our drilling to obtain water, we will not find

it. So what use will the drills be then? Our mountains

are losing their snow fields. This is extremely serious. I

therefore find it extremely important that we stabilize

the temperature increase at 1 degree Celsius, as the

people of the world have said.

The third objective, so frequently mentioned in

statements, is peace. We are all fighting for peace. We

are all fighting for freedom, but the basis of freedom is

equality and justice for all peoples. There will not be

peace without social justice. Moreover, peace is not

made with military bases; peace is not ensured by

military interventions undertaken on the pretext of

fighting against drug trafficking and terrorism but

really aimed at developing geopolitical interests —

aims I do not share. Yes, we must combat drug

trafficking. The best way to do so, I would say, is to

put an end to banking secrecy. It is not right that the

United States Government should decertify countries

that are not following the capitalist line. The Bolivian

Government is making an effort to reduce coca crops.

But while the major cocaine-producing countries are

certified, the country that makes a real effort against

drug trafficking, a small country, is decertified.

These are, of course, political decisions, and that

is why I draw the conclusion that anti-imperialist,

anti-capitalist countries will never be certified by the

United States Government. In the end, this does not

concern or affect my Government. We are convinced

that there will be this type of scare tactic, harassment

and intimidation. That has always existed. But there

are contradictions here as well. The United Nations

tells us that coca cultivation has increased by 1 per

cent, while the United States Department of State says

that coca crops have increased by 9.4 per cent. Whom

are we to believe — the United States or the United

Nations? Imagine the spin that is put on this to penalize

a Government or a country. The reports recognize the

strong efforts undertaken by the national Government

in the fight against drug trafficking. For example, dried

coca is down to 43,000 tons from 43,500. But even this

effort is not recognized, which is why we are

convinced that this is clearly a political problem.

I believe that it is important to put an end to the

acts of aggression, to the interventions in such

countries as Afghanistan and Iraq, and to the threats to

Iran. Let us put an end to the entire nuclear arsenal,

because the nuclear arsenal is a threat to life. Let us

begin with the United States and then continue with all

the other countries. And this is not merely an attempt

to punish a country that may wish to implement other

policies. Instead of spending so much money allegedly

on defence and security, in the end it is for war. If we

are responsible to humankind, we must change

everyone’s mindset.

The last objective of this alliance would be to

work together to strengthen the United Nations, but we

also have to begin to democratize the United Nations.

This is a very difficult task, of course. We have heard

statements made by heads of government and by

presidents. Some anti-capitalist presidents are accused

of being authoritarian or totalitarian, of being dictators.

Delegations know, and the world knows, how a coup

d’état in a country such as Honduras can be ensured

here. This morning President Obama talked about

working with countries that fight against poverty. In

Bolivia we have greatly reduced poverty, and yet

investments are cut. He has said that he will work with

democratic Governments. In Bolivia, in five years I

have won two referendums and three elections, all with

more than 50 or 60 per cent of the vote. Where is the

dictatorship? Where is the authoritarianism? The

authoritarianism is here at the United Nations. Some

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Governments, some countries have permanent seats

with the right to veto. That is authoritarianism, and that

is why we must begin to democratize the United

Nations if we want to move ahead with a democratic

mindset or focus. We must start by practising

democracy here. But, above all, I want to tell you,

brothers and sisters present here, that we must work

together to ensure that, sooner or later, the United

Nations becomes an anti-capitalist Organization, if we

are to save humankind. If we do not do that, we will be

held responsible. And I assume my responsibility by

telling you this in a direct and straightforward way. I

am not at all scared because I know what the

consequences of capitalism are — in particular, with

regard to the destruction of Mother Earth.

I was thinking that our United Nations — and as

a President I feel part of the United Nations — should

have a slogan, a war cry for the effort to save

humankind. I propose to the Assembly and its

President that our war cry should be “The planet or

death; we shall win!” And I wish to say that, from what

I have learned in my four and a half years as President

of my country, if there is the political will to serve the

people of the world, the people of the world can be

saved.