Dominican Republic, 1994

On behalf of the Dominican

Republic and its Constitutional President, Mr. Joaquin

Balaguer, I offer to the President of the General Assembly

at its forty-ninth session, Mr. Amara Essy, Minister for

Foreign Affairs of Côte d’Ivoire, our congratulations on his

well-deserved election.

Likewise, our delegation pays a tribute of gratitude to

Ambassador Samuel Insanally, for his stewardship of the

work of the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly,

and, especially, to the Secretary-General of the United

Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who has dedicated all

his time and effort to ensuring full observance of the

purposes and principles enshrined in the United Nations

Charter.

My Government’s policy towards the pressing need for

development is exemplified by the urgent efforts it is

making on behalf of its people in the changing context of

today’s world.

Forty-nine years ago, when the United Nations system

was created following the end of a second major world-

wide conflagration, the idea and hope prevailed of bringing

about a new world order that would exorcize the spectre of

war and, once and for all, do away with war’s attendant

human degradation and hatred.

However, the victorious emergence of two

ideologically opposed Powers led to the creation of a

bipolar international system that gave birth to the so-called

cold war, marked by lateral confrontation and an arms race

which, because of the ever-present possibility of direct

confrontation, could have led to a nuclear holocaust and the

annihilation of mankind.

Thus it was that the General Assembly became the

stage par excellence for the airing and debate of the most

urgent world-wide problems. While its political

effectiveness may not have met all the requirements of

peace because of the structure of world power that had

prevailed since 1945, it did achieve overwhelming success

in the actions and programmes of its specialized agencies.

Born to foster peace and security and to promote

development, the United Nations was the fruit of the post-

Second-World-War era. At that time peace meant the

absence of war and of the justifiable fear of world-wide

self-destruction.

The hope for a renewed international order based on

new values has gained momentum. Unique and

monumentaL events symbolized by the razing of the "wall

of infamy" have created the propitious conditions and

opportunities for recapturing and relaunching the lofty

goals of the signers of the San Francisco Charter.

Those events summon us to struggle for a world

built on solidarity, respect for the self-determination of

peoples, and the quest for a better standard of living for

all.

A new world and its agonizing challenges require

new answers and clear and unambiguous objectives

combined with an iron will to achieve them. The human

being must be at the centre of all concerns. Our efforts

must thus be aimed at combating poverty and achieving

social justice. We must foster new democratic ways for

the exercise of power and genuine respect for human

rights. In other words, we must ensure that democracy

works, prospers and prevails.

Unquestionably, the present-day world is beset by

economic and political complexities incompatible with the

aspirations of people everywhere to a decent life.

Globalization of the economy, intense financial

competition, national cultural diversity, and the various

tensions between groups, countries and regions, typified

by the ethnic and religious regional conflicts of recent

years, constitute the features of the new reality.

The answers to these challenges and problems are no

longer to be found in the use of arms. They lie in the

will to build a consensus and in the ability to promote

development through fair competition regulated by rules

that are accepted by all participants.

Unless world peace is at stake, the threat or use of

force is no longer a viable instrument for achieving the

decent life to which all peoples are entitled.

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How, then, can we defend democracy and ensure that,

rather than perish, it becomes stronger and more effective

in dealing with starvation, unemployment, drug trafficking,

the depletion of natural resources, forced migration and the

new forms of trade protectionism that undermine

development?

If, indeed, we are to protect human rights and

strengthen democracy, we must undertake a thorough

review of this whole issue and of the very concept of

development on the basis of equitable access to markets,

capital and new technologies.

The Dominican Republic is one of the most solid and

deeply rooted democracies on the American continent. It

is one of the few Latin American democracies in modern

times with a record of lasting and commendable political

stability. It is an example of harmonious and civilized

coexistence in a society marked by contrasts. We have

shown to the world that our democracy is participatory,

with reconciliation and dialogue as the channels for the

solution of the major political and economic crises that we

have experienced.

In the economic arena, global interdependence poses

challenges, and yet offers opportunities. We must therefore

make progress in harmonizing financial, technological and

production policies in order to achieve growth at all levels.

The development of the most industrialized nations

may be inadequate without the growth of developing

nations. The greatest growth in outlets for the commodities

of industrialized countries will be found in the markets of

developing countries.

We are witnessing a transition towards trade

liberalization that can lead to freer trade and the eradication

of poverty through the creation of more and better jobs.

However, certain threats appear on the horizon. One

of them is neoprotectionism. Even though the "barbed-

wire" hostility of former protectionist tariffs is being

dismantled, the re-emerging protectionism may not be based

on tariffs, but it conceals certain invisible, yet genuine

enemies: environmental regulations, customs barriers,

quotas, anti-"dumping" rules, social clauses and others. In

this way the aspirations to free trade may become mere

rhetoric.

Impoverishment is another threat. Are we fully aware

that opening up our economies can cause us to overlook the

need to properly administer their attendant social costs?

Unemployment and the acceleration of social

investment plans threaten to negate the efforts we have

made over many years to democratize our political

systems. While the formation of economic blocs is an

established fact, it gives us pause nevertheless: To what

extent might this phenomenon constitute a stumbling

block for a world based on the democratic rules of free

trade and on equal conditions for all?

As members know, more emphasis is placed on

selling than on producing. However, we do not have

adequate means of production or fair access to them; yet

we are supposed to compete on an equal basis with the

more industrialized countries of the world. These are not

invalid complaints and claims. New rules must be

worked out to permit developing countries to gain access

to technology and finance their infrastructures on

favourable terms - in other words, to attain practical and

acceptable levels of competitiveness.

How can we meet these new challenges? To begin

with, any development policy must attempt to modernize

our sources of production. If we have little or nothing to

sell, what is the point of continuing to open up our

markets? This is closely linked to the development of a

proper transport and communication infrastructure and to

the optimum use of energy sources.

We must thus create new conditions of productivity,

particularly in the fields of technology social

development. If human beings are to be the focus of all

development policy, the fostering of effective programmes

becomes the best possible business. An investment in

health, education and housing is profitable not only

socially but economically.

All these initiatives and actions to meet the new

challenges that stem from the globalization of the

economy must be viewed in that context. Therefore we

need a new kind of cooperation, which must be the

keynote of international activities. Among other things,

we must adjust national policies to global objectives. We

should be able to achieve a new idea of cooperation.

Cooperation is the alternative to intervention, the way to

fulfil the international community’s desires for peace,

stability and democracy.

In this new age, we must be keenly aware of the

trends that are shaping the end of this century and the

beginning of the next. The world is becoming smaller,

more interdependent and globalized; the survival of

human life is gravely threatened by the deterioration of

12

the environment and by short-sighted, uncoordinated

policies to stem the tide of problems besetting the planet.

We in the Dominican Republic, have our share of

problems, but one stands out: we live geographically next

door to the poorest nation of the hemisphere. Haiti has

written glorious pages in the history of the struggle for

freedom and equality. Its past, heavy with confrontation

and long periods of authoritarian rule, has unfortunately

turned it into a nation requiring international assistance.

There must therefore be a determined and generous show

of cooperation on the part of the international community

so that the Haitian people may pursue its destiny -

economic and social, as well as political. The Dominican

Republic has always been ready to cooperate in effective

initiatives for the betterment and viability of needy

countries, whose peoples have every right to live in dignity,

with all the opportunities offered to others.

The problem of drug trafficking and narcotics

consumption continues to be a scourge of world-wide

dimensions. It is the Dominican Republic’s State policy to

deal most severely, in keeping with our legal provisions,

with the trafficking, consumption and possession of narcotic

drugs. What is more, our country has offered, and will

continue to offer, its cooperation to other nations in the

apprehension, prosecution or extradition of those who have

made this criminal trade the most lucrative activity of our

new times.

Although the developed countries are the most

attractive market for the sale of narcotic drugs, the

underdeveloped countries, whether or not they are

producers of narcotic drugs, have seen an increase in drug

addiction too. The entire international community must

continue resolutely to deal with this scourge so that drug

abuse does not become the side effect of a seductively

excessive well-being or the amnesia-inducing product that

helps some to cope with poverty.

The Dominican Republic, a nation of pacifist

traditions, will continue to support the efforts of the United

Nations in preventing armed conflicts and in the

establishment, maintenance and consolidation of

international peace and the internal peace of all nations.

In another field of endeavour, the Dominican Republic

retains the concern voiced at last year’s session of the

Assembly on the proposal made by the Secretary-General

to merge the United Nations International Research and

Training Institute for the Advancement of Women

(INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for

Women (UNIFEM). INSTRAW was conceived at the first

World Conference of the International Women’s Year,

held in Mexico City, and was created pursuant to the

decision of the Economic and Social Council.

The Dominican Republic takes this occasion to

reiterate its request that INSTRAW and UNIFEM not be

merged. We also request retention of the commitments

entered into under Economic and Social Council

resolution 1998/LX, of 12 May 1976, which establishes

the permanent headquarters of INSTRAW in the

Dominican Republic, so that our great city in the

Americas may continue to host that important organ.

We are deluding ourselves if we think that peace,

security and development can be pursued as separate

goals at either the national level or the international level.

The new order and new balance that are coming into

being call for new ways of thinking and new priorities.

They require a reappraisal of current international realities

in the light of established norms with regard to the

sovereignty of all nations and recognition of the pluralism

of the world’s peoples.

The new era demands that confrontation turn into

dialogue and that calls for justice be replaced by shared

commitments of peoples.

The promising, peaceful future of which we all

speak in meetings and assemblies will come about if,

above all, we, the Governments of our region, do our bit,

without haggling or imposing conditions, according to our

material and leadership potential.