Brazil, 1994

It is with great pleasure

that I present my compliments to you, Mr. Amara Essy,

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Côte

d’Ivoire, and congratulate you on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its current session.

I would also like to extend my recognition to

Ambassador Samuel Insanally, who, as President of the

Assembly at its forty-eighth session, dignified not only his

own country, Guyana, but all the countries of the Amazon

and South American region as well. I also greet the

Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, to whom

I convey my gratitude for the tireless efforts he has been

undertaking at the head of this Organization.

The close of this century is marked by the force of

transformation. In the last few years there has been

prodigious change. This has been of such a radical nature

that we could, like Hamlet, say that "The time is out of

joint" (Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, scene v). The process

has been so fascinating that some have deluded

themselves with the fantasy that the future is already

under control. That is not the case. Transformation does

not have a fixed, inexorable course. We must not allow

ourselves to be enticed by hasty interpretations or by

mere appearances. It is our responsibility to give

meaning to change and to guide trends in accordance with

the greater interests of the world community.

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It will be five years next November since the Berlin

Wall crumbled. That period is sufficient for evaluating the

distances that have been covered and, above all, for

charting a course that will lead us to a safe harbour. The

cold war took place under the sign of denial, a situation

reflected even in the language that marked the period. The

expressions that identified and explained almost 40 years of

tense relationships denoted confrontation, exclusion or, at

best, uncomfortable coexistence of opposites. The

catchphrases of the day were "iron curtain", "containment"

and "balance of terror".

Today we are in the midst of transition. Taking stock

of these last few years, we can say that the results, though

tenuous and imperfect, are positive. The cause of peace

has made significant headway. Nuclear war has ceased to

be an impending threat. Conflicts which many of us judged

insoluble either have been or are in the process of being

settled through dialogue and negotiation. In southern

Africa and in the Middle East, steps of historic significance

have been taken toward a more just and a more peaceful

world. In Central America and in South-East Asia,

progress is tangible. Throughout the greater part of our

planet, the logic of confrontation is giving way to the logic

of cooperation.

It is that very logic that we wish to see firmly

established in our own region. Peace and fraternity are

Latin America’s vocation. We have been striving to bring

the sister Republic of Cuba fully into the inter-American

and international fold by means of a policy of outstretched

hands, of dialogue and of rapprochement. Political,

economic and commercial isolation, apart from being

unjustifiable, only contributes to aggravating the hardship

endured by the Cuban people at a time when we perceive

positive indications of democratic reform and of

reconciliation. Here too the stasis of confrontation must

give way to the dynamics of dialogue, putting to rest this

remnant of the cold war.

Given a set of entirely different characteristics, we are

equally interested in promoting a lasting solution to the

Haitian crisis, the return to office of President Jean-

Bertrand Aristide, and national reconciliation. The

diplomatic efforts of the international community, which we

firmly support, must have as their point of reference the

prompt removal of the de facto authorities by peaceful

means - the only means to avoid even greater suffering for

the Haitian people. We consider it disturbing that the

principles of non-intervention and self-determination are the

object of interpretations that are incompatible with the

charters of the United Nations and of the Organization of

American States. The gravity of the Haitian crisis and

the urgency of the need to solve it do not make us unable

to see the inherent risks of a situation that evokes traumas

and scars that are still very vivid in the memory of Latin

America. Once the legitimate Government is re-

established, it will be the responsibility of the

international community to provide Haiti with assistance

in the daunting task of national reconstruction.

We are still far from universal peace. Conflicts of

enormous cruelty shock the world and are the cause of

unspeakable suffering for millions of human beings.

Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina are emblematic

tragedies of our times. The scenes of horror shown by

the media attest to the difficulty of finding effective

solutions to the imbalances which challenge all peoples.

The intensification of migratory flows toward developed

countries has been accompanied by an exacerbation of

xenophobia and racial discrimination.

Critical situations continue to challenge the

international community’s ability to ensure peace and

harmony. In Angola, a country so closely linked to

Brazil by historic and cultural ties, we witness with pain

and indignation the prolongation of a conflict that is the

longest and most devastating civil war today. We are

encouraged by the prospects that the negotiations under

way in Lusaka between the Government of Angola and

UNITA may be promptly concluded. In paying a tribute

to President José Eduardo dos Santos for his political

conduct, we urge UNITA to demonstrate a real

commitment to stability and peace in the country, and we

call upon all those with an influence on the Angolan

crisis to do likewise.

We welcome the progress achieved in Mozambique.

The process of national reconciliation will culminate in

the general elections to be held next October, when the

people of Mozambique will be able to choose, in free and

fair elections, the government that will lead the country

in this new era of its history. President Joaquim Chissano

has played a central role in this process. Brazil takes

pride in the fact that Brazilian troops are participating,

through the United Nations Operation in Mozambique

(ONUMOZ), in the reconstruction of Mozambique.

In the case of East Timor, we have also noted

positive signals in the negotiating process promoted by

the Secretary-General, to whom we pay a tribute.

Democracy and the values associated with it are the

greatest conquest of our time. We are experiencing an

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ethical revolution. The concern with human rights gains

universality alongside a growing awareness of the

imperative of public probity. The international context has

ceased to be the exclusive domain of the raison d’état and

has acquired a more human dimension directed to the

welfare of the individual.

In the economic and commercial sphere, recent

developments are also positive. After eight years of

difficult negotiations within the Uruguay Round of the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), we

adopted the Marrakesh agreements. The World Trade

Organization (WTO) will open up new and promising

outlooks for the economic relationship among nations.

Unilateralism and protectionism, derived from parochial

interests, will lose any semblance of legitimacy.

The effective progress achieved cannot obscure the

fact that there are challenges that continue to demand firm

resolve from the international community.

The fundamental rights of individuals, despite having

been incorporated into the realm of universally recognized

values, still demand the firm and decided support of all

those who believe in them.

The social conditions of the majority of the world’s

population continue to deteriorate. In the last 20 years, the

gap has widened between rich and poor nations, between

the millions of people who are adequately fed and educated

and have a surplus for leisure and the billions who are

struggling for survival. The pressures for migration toward

the developed North and the many conflicts of the

impoverished South are two sides of the same coin. Youth,

in particular, continues to be a victim of deprivation and of

a lack of prospects in most of the world.

The globalization of the economy and the

strengthening of free trade have yet to demonstrate in

practice their undeniable potential as factors of growth and

well-being. Lingering protectionism, now draped in new

colours, resists the assault of economic rationality. The

positive impact of the Marrakesh agreements is under

substantial threat from new conditionalities that will have

a restrictive effect on the flows of international trade.

Issues that are in themselves legitimate, such as the

protection of the environment and universally accepted

labour standards, cannot and should not serve as pretexts

for even greater barriers to the access of goods produced in

poor countries to the markets of wealthier nations. The

cost of readjustment of the most prosperous economies

cannot be shunted onto the shoulders of those who

possess little or nothing.

The mastery of technology is a major watershed

between industrialized and developing countries. The

difficulties in access to advanced technologies are an

obstacle to overcoming the disadvantages of developing

countries, reducing their competitiveness and creating

barriers to the transformation of productive processes.

The new international division of labour cannot re-enact

past formulas that have proved to be inefficient. The

competitive integration of developing countries into the

world economy must build upon dynamic comparative

advantages, not static ones, with an increasing integration

of knowledge into the productive process. Alongside the

indispensable internal efforts of each country, such a

qualitative leap requires an international environment

based on cooperation.

In order to consolidate peace and ensure that the

progress already achieved shall be irreversible, we must

be able to develop a vision for our future, an attainable

and forward-looking Utopia. Brazil is convinced that a

truly new order must be based on a pluralistic and

democratic perspective on international relations.

We do not contend unrealistically that States and

other international players will refrain from affirming

their specific and often conflicting interests. The fact is

that we all stand to gain, and our interests will be better

served, once the basic aspirations of the great majority

have been reasonably satisfied.

Interdependence must be understood in an integrated

way, and not merely as the expression of a market-

economy phenomenon. It presupposes the political ability

to act in coordination with others toward the fulfilment of

objectives shared by all mankind. In an interdependent

world the improvement of living conditions in a poor

country may have an impact on the creation of jobs in a

developed nation. The integration of those that are

excluded and the promotion of participation by all in

world affairs is not only a moral obligation, but, first and

foremost, a demonstration of lucid judgement.

The fundamental commitment to development is the

cornerstone of the order to which Brazil aspires. This

concept has the advantage of encompassing the essential

needs of all nations, large and small, rich and poor.

Development reinforces freedom, invests the dignity of

man with a concrete dimension, stresses efficiency,

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promotes stability and enhances democracy. Development

builds peace.

The promotion of development stands to benefit from

the lessons of the past. We must formulate a concept of

development that recognizes each country as the main actor

in creating its own prosperity, while incorporating the

various features of its international dimension in the fields

of trade, investment and flows of technology.

A renewed international effort in favour of

development will be successful only under an active and

mutually advantageous partnership between the countries of

the North and those of the South. Advancement of the

interests of the richer nations requires their involvement in

efforts to overcome the backwardness of the less

prosperous. To hold the opposite view would be

tantamount to believing that a fire in our neighbour’s house

cannot reach over the fence into our own. In short, it is an

absurdity the price of which even the wealthiest cannot

afford.

The nations of the world have a fundamental role to

play in the construction of an open and equitable

international system.

We must undertake a profound reformulation of the

United Nations performance in promoting development. No

other task under the United Nations mandate will more

adequately support and promote peace and establish a just

and stable order.

We must avoid the crystallization of an undesirable

division of labour between the United Nations on the one

hand and the Bretton Woods institutions on the other.

Peace and development constitute an indivisible whole and

must support each other. This great forum cannot be kept

outside decisions on matters arising from objectives

inscribed in its very Charter.

These concerns have been at the root of the launching

of the Agenda for Development, in which Brazilian

diplomacy has been deeply involved.

Several United Nations Conferences, some having

already taken place, others yet to come, are significantly

contributing to shedding light upon the need for a

comprehensive and coordinated consideration of the

development issue. In one way or another, development

was a central concern, or will continue to be so, in Rio de

Janeiro at the Conference on Environment and

Development, in Vienna at the Conference on Human

Rights, and in Cairo at the Conference on Population and

Development, and it will continue to be so in the

forthcoming meetings in Copenhagen on Social

Development, and in Beijing, on Women. Awareness of

the fact that the decisions reached at these encounters will

produce effective results only if all these issues are

examined in an integrated fashion is becoming

increasingly firm and universal.

With a view to fostering a debate on all such issues

in a wider conceptual framework, the Brazilian

Government proposes the convening of a United Nations

conference on development, possibly in 1996, which

would seek to synthesize the initiatives and programmes

designed to promote human dignity and well-being.

Democracy should be the rule for political relations

within and among States. To bring democracy into

politics and international relations is a goal which can be

turned into reality. The strengthening of the role of the

General Assembly and the expansion of the Security

Council, with the participation of developing countries in

all member categories are important and necessary steps

on the road to democratization and greater legitimacy.

Like other Member States, we favour a reform of the

Security Council that will increase its effectiveness. We

understand that such effectiveness will be ensured only by

a composition truly representative of the world

community. At the beginning of this month the Heads of

State and Government of the 14 nations from Latin

America and the Caribbean which form the Group of Rio

met in Rio de Janeiro and stated that

"in accordance with their legal tradition and their

contribution to the cause of peace, the Latin

American and Caribbean region must be included in

any expansion of the Security Council".

Brazil has participated actively in the debate on the

expansion of the Security Council. We have clearly

stated our readiness to assume all responsibilities required

of countries eligible to occupy permanent seats.

Elected to the Security Council for the current

period, Brazil has lived up to its responsibilities. We

have based our positions on respect for principles such as

non-intervention, as well as on the sovereignty and

territorial integrity of States; we have consistently

favoured peaceful and negotiated solutions to conflicts, as

well as consensus; we have stood by the rule of law in

safeguarding the international public order; we have risen

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in defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms; and

we have increasingly participated in peace-keeping

operations in several regions of the globe.

As part of Latin America, we are proud of sharing its

long history of peace. Latin America is the least armed

region of the world and the only one to have become, by

virtue of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, definitively free from

nuclear weapons. Cuba’s adherence to the Treaty,

announced in a letter from President Fidel Castro to

President Itamar Franco - in response to a Brazilian

initiative - has brought this process to a conclusion.

Latin America has been a factor of international

stability in a turbulent world. Our legal tradition, built

through decades of efforts to regulate inter-American

relations, represents a relevant contribution to the

international community. As pioneers in the promotion of

disarmament, we feel entitled to seek equivalent gestures

from the entire international community, and in particular

from the nuclear-weapon States. In this context, we

attribute special significance to the prompt adoption,

through multilaterally negotiated commitments, of effective

measures to reduce, and not merely control, their arsenals,

including sensitive nuclear material such as plutonium. It

is likewise imperative that negotiations on a comprehensive

test-ban treaty be successfully concluded, leading to

signature.

Brazil is ready to join in the construction of a new

international agenda based on universal participation and

cooperation for peace and development.

This readiness derives from our own identity. We are

a pluralist and open society, having emerged from the

meeting of different cultures and ways of life, which in turn

produced a new culture and way of life, founded on

tolerance and understanding. We enjoy peacefully defined

borders with 10 neighbouring countries, and an absence of

conflicts for more than 120 years.

Forged through dialogue, conciliation and peaceful

reform, Brazilian society is experiencing a moment of

intense democratic affirmation under the leadership of

President Itamar Franco. In a few days we shall be holding

the largest elections in our country’s history. Nearly 100

million voters will cast their ballots, in an atmosphere of

absolute freedom, to choose their representatives in the

executive and legislative branches at the State and federal

levels from as many as 35,000 candidates.

Ours is one of the most diversified economies in the

southern hemisphere. As we head toward economic

stability, with a strong currency, conditions become

favourable for the resumption of a sustained process of

economic growth which will undoubtedly place Brazil

once again among the most dynamic economies in the

world.

We have made important advances in increasing the

exposure of our economy to world trade. As of next

January, we will have brought into force a common

external tariff, along with Argentina, Paraguay and

Uruguay, and will have consolidated a Customs Union

capable of generating growth and prosperity, one of the

first customs unions among developing countries. The

interest expressed by other South American countries in

joining MERCOSUR - Common Market of the South -

provides ample proof that the vision of a South American

free trade area is gradually materializing. These

accomplishments represent a telling example of the

enterprising capacity of Latin American nations, and

constitute a fundamental step toward a harmonious and

integrated South America.

Our efforts in developing political and economic

cooperation go well beyond Latin America. In line with

the universal inspiration of our diplomacy, we have set

out to reinforce the ties that associate us to friendly

nations in all regions of the globe, as well as to expand

into new and important political and commercial

partnerships. Such actions range from the intensification

of traditional relations within our hemisphere and with

industrialized countries to new and creative formulas for

cooperating with countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle

East. In all cases, we have tried to raise the dialogue to

increasingly higher levels and, in many instances, have

succeeded in establishing dynamic and privileged

relationships.

The ties between Brazil and African nations have

been strengthened through the action taken to give

structure to the community of Portuguese-speaking

countries. This new and important forum will unite our

brothers and sisters on different continents and lead to

even greater understanding and cooperation.

Beginning in the South Atlantic which we share, we

intend to expand the horizons of cooperation between

America and Africa, with the added strength, in the

political and moral spheres, brought about by the election

of Nelson Mandela in the new South Africa.

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The zone of peace and cooperation of the South

Atlantic will transform this area into a zone free of nuclear

weapons, constituting an example of solidarity and

brotherhood between two continents. With this objective in

mind, the 24 countries that make up this forum have just

met in Brasilia, with very encouraging results for friendship

between Africa and South America.

Brazil desires for itself what it desires for each and

every other nation. We know that there can be no

happiness and prosperity in the midst of strife and

misfortune. Together with the family of nations, Brazil,

which does not countenance any form of hegemony, seeks

to move forward in a spirit of confidence toward the

creation of a world order responsive to the aspirations for

democracy, stability, disarmament and respect for the

sovereignty of States and a world order committed to

development.