Colombia, 2006

I

congratulate you, Madam President, and wish you the

greatest success in this session.

Four years ago I attended this global forum for

the first time to announce that Colombia was beginning

an era of democratic security. I explained why security

in our time is a democratic value without which

freedoms cannot prosper; it is also a centre of

resources, in whose absence investment does not flow

and the possibility of eliminating poverty and building

equality remains elusive.

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Four years ago I explained to the Assembly why

our concept of security is democratic and thus deserves

the support and confidence of all peoples and of the

United Nations.

I am aware that I could not address the Assembly

today to propose a theory of democratic security;

having been President of my country for four years, I

feel compelled to present the results of this policy.

Colombia has held four general elections and countless

local elections over this period. The referendum and

the election of mayors and governors in 2003 were

events that tested our democratic meaning of security.

This year the presidential and congressional elections,

held on two separate dates under a high threat of

terrorism, were nonetheless among the most peaceful

in many decades. All political groupings enjoyed

effective guarantees, regardless of their level of

support for or opposition to the Government.

Under democratic security, Colombia has elected

mayors, governors and members of Congress of all

political colours. Security has contained terrorism in

order to give democracy free expression.

There is still much to be done in the area of

security, and a definitive peace is not yet within sight,

but progress is undeniable. The effective protection of

Colombians translates into the reduction in the number

of homicides, kidnappings, acts of terrorism, crimes

and threats against journalists and trade union leaders.

All governors and mayors exercise their powers in

their own jurisdictions, overcoming the nightmare of

exile that many were subjected to as a result of terrorist

actions that were not countered by the State.

To guarantee the sustainability of security over

time, our citizens must give it credibility. Our task is to

build credibility based on effectiveness and

transparency. Consequently, human rights are an

imperative of security. In recent years we have

increased our security forces by 30 per cent, military

operations have tripled, and at the same time

complaints against the security forces have fallen by 38

per cent. This is all the more important because we are

a country with full internal democracy, completely

open to supervision and international criticism, as

borne out by the presence of an office of the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In spite of the work still to be done, the most

important achievement is our citizens’ positive

assessment of security and the collective determination

to consolidate it.

We regard organized violence for fictitious

political motives as terrorism, and security as the path

to peace. When a country has a pluralist, vigorous and

guarantee-granting democracy, armed actions against it

are pure terrorism. To deny this would erase the

difference between armed combat against dictatorships,

which merited the recognition of insurgent groups in

other countries, and the violent aggression suffered by

our democracy, which is terrorism.

The demobilization of more than 40,000 members

of violent groups, as a result of democratic security,

and the efforts proposed by the country to reintegrate

them into constitutional life, prove that for us security

is the path to peace and reconciliation.

Talking about 40,000 demobilized is easy;

tallying them up is very difficult; demobilizing them is

even more difficult; and reintegrating them is a

monumental task. Amidst understandable controversy,

we have made progress in dismantling irregular forces.

Today the vast majority of illegal self-defence

groups — which, together with the guerrillas, until two

years ago seemed like powers greater than the State —

are demobilized, and a large percentage of their leaders

are being held by our justice system. These results are

more eloquent than rhetoric ever could be. I must add

that the number of demobilized guerrillas is higher

than the number killed by official forces.

I have come to the United Nations today to ask

for resolute support for our security policy and our

reintegration programme. The violence in Colombia

has received much international media coverage,

constant criticism of the Government and little support

to overcome it. It is time for the international

community to urgently call on violent groups to make

peace without any further delay. The Government is as

firm in implementing security as it is rigorous in

respecting democratic rules, and is open and generous

in looking for peace. A sincere willingness for peace

will not face governmental obstacles to a definitive

reconciliation.

The international community must support our

security policy more decisively. This will bring quicker

results from our overcoming violence and seeking

peace.

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The financing of violent groups by illicit drugs is

one of the fundamental aspects that differentiate those

groups from former guerrillas in other Latin American

countries. This criminal, bottomless and autonomous

financing is the main obstacle to peace.

It grieves me to say that progress in the fight

against illicit drugs has been small compared with the

sacrifice made by the people of Colombia and the

Government’s willingness to eradicate those drugs. The

number of extradited citizens, the confiscation of illicit

wealth and the areas sprayed represent enormous

efforts, but the results are not proportional. For the

second straight year, we have a programme for massive

manual eradication, which will mean 70,000 hectares

of coca destroyed.

Production and consumption require a global

commitment transcending formal declarations, so as to

increasingly apply programmes that reflect actions of

shared responsibility.

There are successful alternative development

projects. A few weeks ago, the United Nations

positively assessed the forest keeper families

programme, which covers 43,000 rural families that

have replaced drug cultivation with protection of the

forest and the growing of alternative crops. Some, such

as those in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, offer

ecotourism services. According to the United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime, drugs have been

eliminated in 80 per cent of the area of the forest

keeper families, covering 2 million hectares. More than

136,000 hectares of tropical forest have been

reclaimed. Thanks to payments by the Government,

these families have already acquired more than 30,000

hectares of productive land. Nevertheless, to protect a

high percentage of the Colombian Amazon jungle and

tropical forest, we need to reach 120,000 families. That

is a great budgetary challenge, requiring more general

and decisive international support.

The programme halts the cutting down of tropical

forest and the Amazon jungle, which have suffered the

destruction of nearly 2 million hectares because of

drugs. I ask the world: why is there not less rhetoric

and a greater and more effective commitment, so that

Colombia, which is absolutely willing to achieve it,

may finally and definitively overcome the scourge of

illegal drugs?

We Colombians do not want to be left with efforts

and sacrifices; we require results. We are willing to

revise our strategy and improve it, but we need the

entire world to get involved with us. I ask the United

Nations for additional efforts to help us find ways to be

effective.

We reiterate our enthusiastic commitment to meet

the Millennium Development Goals. Social cohesion,

overcoming poverty and building equity are essential

aspirations of our democracy. In 2002 poverty reached

almost 60 per cent of the population; in 2005 it was

down to 49 per cent. We will do everything possible to

ensure that it does not exceed 35 per cent by 2010 and

to reach the goal of 15 per cent by 2019, the second

centenary of our independence. Fortunately, the Gini

coefficient is beginning to show a trend towards

correction in income distribution.

Our goals for the upcoming four-year period are

ambitious: achieving full coverage in health and basic

education and significant progress in basic sanitation

and providing microcredit for 5 million poor families.

We want a modern democracy with security,

freedom, social cohesion, transparency and

independent institutions. This is our dream; this is what

we are fighting for. We want a nation without

exclusions and without class hatred, with harmony,

rectitude and prosperity; a nation in permanent

democratic dialogue, with fraternity and without

insurmountable antagonisms; a nation integrated into

multilateralism, grateful for the efforts of the United

Nations, receptive to the international community’s

suggestions and willing to share its experiences and

improve its results.