Chile, 2006

I

come before the General Assembly as the first woman

to be elected President of Chile, a country that has

learned from its history.

We Chileans are living through difficult times;

the Assembly knows this. The learning curve was

difficult but productive. From pain hope was born.

Major dissent gave way to major consensus. I come

from a country where today the rule of law prevails,

where the rights of persons are respected and

promoted. It is a democracy that is experiencing

economic growth, which in the past 16 years has

helped millions of Chileans out of poverty. Chile

stands with its region and looks at the world. My

presence here today is a symbol of that Chile, a Chile

that is unafraid to look back at the past and is united in

building its own future. We can say with pride that

today Chile is more free and more fair. As a society we

have granted every citizen the basic dignity and respect

that he or she deserves.

The world looks different from the far distant

south, and that is the viewpoint my country wishes to

bring here, a viewpoint that is optimistic about the

opportunities of globalization but cautious about its

risks. We can and must steer the course of the planet.

Humans cannot and must not avoid being the

instruments of their own advancement.

We wish to reaffirm our commitment to

international law and institutions. Only through them

shall we be able to build the fairer and more integrated

world of which we dream, where large and small

coexist in peace and harmony. The United Nations is a

special instrument in this construction. A year ago we

agreed on a programme for the reform of the

Organization based on development, security and

human rights. This has been called the millennium of

hope. Let us make that hope a reality and do so from

here, from this forum.

06-52879 6

Development is a responsibility shared by all

members of the international community, including the

developed countries. Its attainment requires

imagination and the political will to consolidate the

world alliance endorsed by the Millennium

Declaration. All this presupposes a more open,

transparent and fair commercial and financial system.

To our developed friends I say “Opening your markets

to products from the south is a requirement of justice.”

That will represent a huge step forward towards the

elimination of poverty. Let us therefore redouble our

efforts to bring the Doha Round to a successful

conclusion and make progress in integration processes

at the regional level.

As an early supporter of the idea of President

Lula of Brazil, Chile joined other countries in the

initiative Action against Hunger and Poverty. We have

introduced a solidarity tax of $2 on international airline

tickets, and the funds produced will finance the

International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID)

project, which will provide millions of quality drugs to

people in developing countries suffering from malaria,

tuberculosis and AIDS.

The most serious failure of the 2005 Summit was

its silence on the multilateral disarmament agenda.

Chile bases its multilateral foreign policy on the

principle that collective security is indivisible. We all

share a responsibility to preserve peace and

international security. That is why Chile has joined in

efforts to revitalize the disarmament agenda and move

towards prohibition of the use of fissile material for

military purposes.

The security of States is linked to the security of

the human beings that make up those States, because it

allows the exercise of freedom. Terrorism negates these

freedoms and runs counter to the values that we share.

Accordingly, we support the advance of United Nations

reform in the area of counter-terrorism. Terrorism must

be combated within democracy. Whenever we restrict

constitutional guarantees and yield to the temptation to

employ illegal methods to fight terrorism we are

handing a victory to its proponents, because it is only

then that they succeed in threatening the spirit of our

democracy.

In a spirit of solidarity we are participating

actively in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in

Haiti (MINUSTAH). Chile will continue to support the

Haitian people, and I appeal from this rostrum to all

donor countries to provide the economic and financial

assistance already pledged.

The creation of the Peacebuilding Commission

was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding

achievements of the 2005 Summit. Chile has joined

enthusiastically in the work of the Commission and

will endeavour to ensure that its results live up to the

hopes placed in it by nations.

My country deplores the serious crisis affecting

the Middle East and strongly condemns any armed

action targeting innocent civilians. Self-defence may

be exercised only within the framework of

proportionality and containment outlined in

international humanitarian law. The delay in the

Security Council’s call for a ceasefire in Lebanon was

also inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the

Charter. The credibility of the Organization requires

that all stakeholders do their duty without

discrimination and without subordinating collective

security to their individual interests.

Chile supports the deployment of the United

Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with its

expanded mandate, and will continue to respond to the

appeal to meet urgent humanitarian needs in Lebanon

and Palestine. We urge full implementation of Security

Council resolution 1701 (2006), which calls on the

international community to cooperate in a full

cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, the

restoration of Lebanon’s sovereignty over its territory

and the guaranteeing of Israel’s security.

The promotion and defence of human rights and

democracy is the cornerstone of Chile’s foreign policy.

As I said at the outset, we have learned a great deal

from our own history. Exactly 30 years ago the General

Assembly received terrible news: Orlando Letelier, the

former Foreign Minister and Defence Minister of

President Allende, had been brutally murdered on the

street in Washington D.C. Representatives were

horrified by that crime and today I remember with

emotion how we felt. I mention that to illustrate how

we have learned the lessons of the past. Nothing

justifies the violation of human rights. Chile rejects

impunity.

I assure all members of our commitment and

enthusiasm to participate in initiatives designed to

promote human rights and democracy. We therefore

welcome the launching of the United Nations

Democracy Fund and the creation of the Human Rights

7 06-52879

Council. We very much value the Council’s adoption of

the International Convention for the Protection of All

Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

The promotion of human rights does not

contradict the principle of non-intervention in the

internal affairs of States. Chile has been, and will

remain, in the front line in the defence of human rights.

The General Assembly must continue United

Nations reform. It must revitalize itself, reform and

expand the Security Council, reform the Economic and

Social Council and modernize the management of the

Secretariat and the administrative procedures of the

Organization.

Allow me to reaffirm our hope in the United

Nations. As a woman, a doctor and the political leader

of a developing country, today I ask that we choose

life, affirm justice, promote social justice and make

this noble Organization the common and continuing

response to our peoples’ dreams of peace, development

and dignity.