Costa Rica, 1996

The delegation of Costa Rica is pleased to

extend its warmest congratulations to the President of the

General Assembly on his election. In addition to his

distinguished personal and professional qualities, we are

inspired by the respect and friendship that we share with

Malaysia, a living example of many peoples joining their

efforts without losing their identity, as is appropriately

stated in the motto of Malaysia: Unity is strength.

I am also pleased to convey Costa Rica’s respects to

the former President of the General Assembly, His

Excellency Mr. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, for his excellent

work presiding over the deliberations of the Assembly.

Mr. Secretary-General, your work in favour of world

peace and security and your efforts to renew the United

Nations have granted you a place of honour in the pages of

the history of this Organization and of the international

community. My delegation wishes to convey the gratitude

and respect Costa Rica feels for your commendable work.

A session of the General Assembly is necessarily a

time for meditation for all Member States. Each and every

delegation asks itself the same questions: what progress has

been made towards fulfilling the purposes and principles of

the United Nations during the last 12 months? What has our

country or region done to contribute to that task? Is the

United Nations playing the role we would like it to? What

can we do to ensure that this Organization lives up to the

hopes placed in it? What progress have we achieved in the

reform of the United Nations?

We are keenly aware that in this post-cold-war era the

United Nations agenda has grown considerably.

Nevertheless, the present situation does not seem very

encouraging. The establishment of this Organization, as we

were reminded during the celebration of its fiftieth

anniversary, was one of the most extraordinary

consequences of the end of the Second World War.

However, the so-called balance of terror between the super-

Powers that prevailed in the cold-war years has been

followed by a long series of conflicts that, despite their

limited geographical scope, are nonetheless damaging and

bloody. We have watched in anguish as, in several parts of

the world, national, religious, tribal and racial hatreds

have re-emerged. Even within pluralistic democracies,

situations of extreme poverty and social injustice in some

instances, or of crime and drug trafficking in others, have

unleashed varying degrees of violence. To all this we

must add the recent events of recent weeks in the Middle

East, which have given rise to deep concern and may

have grave consequences for the maintenance of

international peace and security.

Nonetheless, there are grounds for optimism. We

hope that the elections in Bosnia, which took place in a

harmonious environment, will allow for the establishment

of a durable multi-ethnic State, in the spirit of the peace

agreements.

In the same vein, my delegation welcomes the

resumption of negotiations between the State of Israel and

the Palestinian Authority aimed at achieving harmonious

relations among the peoples inhabiting the Holy Land. I

am pleased to inform the General Assembly that a

plenipotentiary envoy from Costa Rica met recently with

Chairman Arafat to convey to him Costa Rica’s solidarity

with the Palestinian people and its steadfast determination

to support and contribute to compliance with the Oslo

agreements in order to achieve a stable and lasting peace

in the Middle East.

Costa Rica, which will soon celebrate the fiftieth

anniversary of the abolition of its armed forces, also

welcomed the Advisory Opinion of the International

Court of Justice regarding the legality of the use and

threat of use of nuclear weapons, and it is deeply satisfied

by the opening for signature of the Comprehensive

Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Since 1958, in the framework

of the Organization of American States, my country has

been proposing the limitation of conventional weapons

and the prohibition of nuclear weapons within the inter-

American system. In keeping with this civil and pacifist

inclination, Costa Rica signed the Treaty at the General

Assembly. My delegation further calls fraternally upon all

Member States of the United Nations to do likewise as

soon as possible. Similarly, my nation considers most

favourably the draft resolution proposed by Malaysia

regarding the follow-up to the Advisory Opinion and its

call for the start of negotiations to conclude a treaty

providing for global nuclear disarmament.

We are also of the view that greater consideration

needs to be given to the problems raised by international

arms transfers and trade. The delegation of Costa Rica

would like to take this opportunity to recall the draft

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international code of conduct on this issue, proposed by the

former President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, and other

Nobel Prize laureates, in accordance with the principles of

the United Nations and with the aspiration of maintaining

world peace.

Costa Rica is also pleased to say that Central America

has continued its progress in consolidating peace and

democracy. Although we still suffer serious problems and

still face harsh social and economic realities, the bloody

crisis of the 1980s belongs to the past. The Central

American countries are firmly committed to consolidating

peace and maintaining democracy. Honest and pluralistic

electoral processes have become the norm where before

they were the exception. National reconciliation is

becoming a reality. The recent, definitive progress in the

Guatemalan peace process augurs well for the definitive

attainment of peace in the entire Central American area. In

this regard, I am pleased to extend special congratulations

to the Government of President Alvaro Arzú Irigoyen, to

the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG),

to the Group of Friends, particularly the Government of

Mexico and President Ernesto Zedillo, and to the Secretariat

of the United Nations, for the progress recently achieved.

The existence of peace and democracy in Central

America, a region usually considered turbulent, proves that

will and perseverance can overcome any of the negative

legacies of history. We, the Central American peoples, hope

that other peoples will join in this experience, without

having to pay so high a price. Nonetheless, precisely

because all the countries in the region were affected, in one

way or another, by this political and security crisis, all of

us are now working determinedly to ensure that that chapter

will not be reopened.

We know, furthermore, that without development there

will be no lasting peace. With this conviction, the Central

American region has found a common goal in the

endeavour to attain sustainable political, economic, social

cultural and environmental development.

Two years ago, the Central American nations decided

to unite in an Alliance for Sustainable Development. In

addition to reconciling humankind with nature, this Alliance

aspires to establish in our countries a society that will allow

present generations to fully develop their capabilities in all

areas and that will ensure future generations a prosperous

future.

Our Alliance is based on a common political project

that combines economic growth, environmental balance and

individual freedom. For the first time in its long history,

Central America has a common developmental goal, and

this in turn strengthens its dedication to regionalism.

In the same line of action, Central America has set

out on a quest for innovative approaches to the rest of the

world that will help it realize its political, social,

economic, cultural and environmental goals. This joint

fraternal action aimed at reincorporating Central America

into the international community has sought to

institutionalize new links with other countries and regions

that have supported our efforts to attain peace and

democracy in the isthmus, and that are now cooperating

in our struggle for sustainable development. Central

America has thus established special mechanisms of

dialogue and cooperation with Mexico, Chile, Canada, the

United States of America, Japan, the Republic of Korea

and the Republic of China on Taiwan. We have also

redefined our relations with the European Union,

institutionalized since the start of the last decade in what

is known as the San José dialogue. We hope that in the

near future these activities will be extended to other

countries and regions.

The conviction that it is possible to consolidate

peace only through development is not exclusive to

Central America. This year my country has had the

honour and the privilege to preside over the Group of 77

and China in New York. This has allowed us to represent

and defend on numerous occasions the points of view of

the countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the

Caribbean.

One fifth of humanity continues to live in conditions

of extreme poverty; discrimination on the basis of gender

continues to be the order of the day; millions of children

continue to lack access to education, health services and

nutrition. My delegation views these facts with deep

regret and attaches the utmost importance to the Agenda

for Development.

In this connection, I wish to reiterate the conviction

expressed recently on the occasion of the adoption of the

report of the Working Group on this matter — that that

forum must remain open. A true United Nations system

is inconceivable without an integrated and comprehensive

plan of action for development. If the issues of

development and international cooperation were to be

reduced or diminished in this Organization, the very

essence of the United Nations would be seriously

affected.

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In that same spirit of solidarity that holds sway in our

Organization, we believe that the preservation and

strengthening of the United Nations Conference on Trade

and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations

International Development Organization (UNIDO) are

essential. For small countries in particular, the linkage

between commerce, technology transfer and development

are, in and of themselves, outside the framework of the

World Trade Organization. In order to emphasize this firm

conviction, the President of Costa Rica travelled to South

Africa on the occasion of UNCTAD’s 9th meeting. At that

forum he expressed our country’s support for the just and

legitimate aspirations to development of the countries of the

third world.

International cooperation cannot be viewed solely in

terms of the richest giving aid to the poorest. We strongly

believe in the necessity and appropriateness of intensifying

the efforts aimed at increasing horizontal cooperation

between developing countries. In January 1997, at the

conclusion of its term as Chairman of the Group of 77 and

China, Costa Rica will convene — with the participation of

the private sector and non-governmental organizations — a

South-South conference on trade, finance and investment.

We hope that new and constructive approaches to speed up

the rate of economic and financial cooperation among

developing countries will result from that conference.

Directly related to the subject of the Agenda for

Development is the need for an integrated follow-up to the

agreements and programmes of action adopted at the

summits and conferences held by the United Nations in the

last decade. In them lies the real agenda of work for the

United Nations in such essential fields as the environment,

population, human rights, the rights of women and children,

habitat and social development. Accordingly, Costa Rica, in

its capacity as Chairman of the Group of 77 and China,

promoted and received unanimous support in the Economic

and Social Council for a resolution designed to give

coherence and provide follow-up to the agreements and

programmes of action of the international conferences and

summits of the United Nations.

Costa Rica, as an agricultural country, attaches great

importance to the food summit planned to be held at Rome

at the end of this year. As early as 1954, through the

initiative of then-President José Figueres Ferrer, Costa Rica

proposed to this Organization the creation of a world food

reserve that would enable us to confront the effects of

natural disasters and famines. Today we still believe that

international solidarity is decisive in facing food challenges

and that it constitutes a fundamental goal of contemporary

international relations that should not be disregarded in

the search for economic liberalization.

Of greatest importance, and closely related to these

issues, is the need to pay attention to the problems of

desertification and water resources, which during the early

years of the next millennium will gravely affect food

production and the very existence of the human species.

At the World Summit for Social Development, it

was reaffirmed that human rights are universal,

indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Among those

rights is the global right to development, which, in Costa

Rica’s opinion, right cannot be reduced to its mere

economic dimension. Development must also have a

moral and ethical dimension. We must accept the

responsibility of ensuring that the world that we are going

to leave to future generations is going to be more

peaceful, healthier, more humane and more democratic

than the one in which we have lived. This responsibility

must be shared individually and collectively, nationally

and internationally by all elements of society.

Reflection on what we have done and what we have

failed to do over the last 12 months leads us to the

question of what must be done in the immediate future.

In this connection, the revitalization and reform of the

United Nations system is pivotal. In its analysis of this

issue, the Government of Costa Rica has considered with

deep interest some of the proposals contained in the

report of the Commission on Global Governance. The

reform of the United Nations must reflect the realities of

change, including the capacity of civil society to

contribute to global governance.

My delegation attaches fundamental importance to

the restructuring of the Security Council. We cannot

arrive at the year 2000 still using the calendar of 1945.

The Council cannot continue to be held in a framework

that has been fully overtaken by the reality of

international politics. Costa Rica considers it a priority to

take up this task, both in order to grant permanent

membership to Germany and Japan and to a

representative of each of the three developing regions —

Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. In

addition, we must reorganize the powers of the Council

and of its members. If the political conditions for a

reform of this kind do not exist, we must then consider

other possibilities, such as the proposal made by the

Government of Italy.

25

We consider that there is a need to infuse the General

Assembly with new vitality, as regards both the need to

ensure the principle of universality and the modernization

of its agenda and procedures. We believe that no people on

Earth should be denied the right to be represented in our

Organization.

My delegation is also of the view that greater

importance should be given to the work of the Council and

the Secretariat in the area of preventive diplomacy. The

actions of these bodies at the outset of a conflict can be

decisive in achieving a solution, but they would be even

more so if their powers were increased so that they could

anticipate such situations. Similarly, we believe that there

is a need to restructure the Secretariat to give it greater

flexibility and effectiveness in the execution of its tasks.

As a country that entrusts its security to international

law, Costa Rica gives a place of honour to the International

Court of Justice. In our opinion, the acceptance of the

compulsory jurisdiction of the Court could become a duty

inherent in membership of this Organization.

Finally, the restructuring of the United Nations is also

directly linked to its financial capabilities. The new United

Nations cannot be the property of the major Powers, nor

can it become the sole responsibility of a small group of

States. The United Nations of the future should belong to

all, and this conception logically involves the duty of all its

Members to meet their commitments in accordance with the

scale of assessments. In this respect, my delegation believes

that the full reform of the United Nations system, if it

ensures a more rational administration and more equitable

distribution of the resources and programmes of the

Organization, will put the Organization in a better position

to insist that its Members States pay their assessments on

time.

Our world is approaching the third millennium. In the

midst of so much darkness, so many challenges and so

many overwhelming difficulties, the human race retains a

spirit that, together with the use of language, distinguishes

it from any other species: hope. This spirit, now more than

ever before, is embodied in this Organization. The United

Nations must remain united in its effort to make the present

better and united in its goal to design a promising future.

I should like to conclude by recalling a teaching of the

Prophet Mohammed which continues to resonate today as

a norm of conduct for all human beings and all nations on

Earth:

“Do not break the ties of friendship, do not feel

bitterness towards your fellow men, do not feel

loathing for them, do not envy them. Live as

brothers, as God has ordered us to do.”