Ecuador, 1997

I am honoured to extend to you, Sir, on behalf

of the Government and the people of Ecuador, warm

congratulations on your election to preside over this

session of the General Assembly. I am sure that your

efforts will contribute to the advancement of the activities

of our Organization. You may rely on the constant and

resolute cooperation of Ecuador.

I should like to speak of several matters of interest

to the international community that the United Nations

has incorporated into its working agenda. My country

follows with interest their development within the

Organization and will act on the basis of the principles

that guide Ecuador’s foreign policy.

Ecuador believes that the search for general and

complete global disarmament is a goal that our

Organization should pursue indefatigably. This is not a

utopian ideal but, rather, a constant objective that

requires the active participation of all States within a

global ethical context. True to this principle, my

country is a party to all international and regional

instruments related to disarmament.

The nations of the world have welcomed the end

of the cold war and the attendant reduction of the risk

of nuclear holocaust. Nevertheless, Ecuador views with

apprehension the persistence of nuclear-weapon-

development programmes and the continued existence

of large atomic arsenals and the risks they pose for the

peace and well-being of all. The international

community cannot relax its guard and cease to insist on

the elimination of such means of massive and

indiscriminate destruction. This conviction has led

Ecuador to lend its determined support to the global

non-proliferation regimen and to the establishment of

nuclear-weapon-free zones. Thus, at the last session of

the General Assembly, Ecuador was a sponsor of the

resolution calling for the establishment of a nuclear-

weapon-free zone in the southern hemisphere and

adjacent areas.

Furthermore, Ecuador supports the work of the

Conference on Disarmament in drawing up a draft text

for a convention on the control of fissionable material,

which is to be submitted to the General Assembly, and

fully agrees with the working document submitted by

members of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries

concerning the universal nature of the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

With regard to weapons of mass destruction,

disarmament has particular significance for the whole of

the international community. However, we cannot

overlook the fact that the subject of conventional

disarmament is equally sensitive and that it is an issue

that must attract the full and determined attention of the

United Nations. For this reason, Ecuador welcomes the

Disarmament Commission’s decision to include in its

agenda an item on guidelines for control, limitation and

disarmament in connection with conventional weapons,

with special attention to the consolidation of peace within

the context of General Assembly resolution 51/45 N.

Ecuador also supports the convening in 1999 of the

fourth special session of the General Assembly devoted

to disarmament, in accordance with the decision taken at

the Assembly’s last session. My country is especially

interested in including in the agenda of that special

session such relevant issues as the effective reduction of

conventional forces and weapons, the relationship

between disarmament and development, and confidence-

building measures among States.

Because of their humanitarian cost, I must refer to a

specific type of conventional weapon: anti-personnel

landmines. Ecuador is a contracting party to several

international agreements that ban and restrict the use of

such weapons, and we urge all countries, whether

signatories to those treaties or not, to observe them and

scrupulously respect their terms.

My country is convinced that the community of

States must persist in its efforts to reach agreement on

the total prohibition of the use, production, stockpiling,

and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Ecuador thus

supports the Ottawa process, which is to conclude in

December 1997 with the signing of a binding agreement

on a total ban on anti-personnel landmines.

Humankind has painfully come to realize that

international peace and security cannot be based on

atomic equilibrium, arms races or mistrust and mutual

suspicion. On the contrary, genuine peace must be based

on respect for the rule of law, on the acceptance of the

solidarity and interdependence of all States and on the

common desire to move dynamically forward towards the

solution of the critical problems of dire poverty, disease,

unemployment, illiteracy and economic and social

inequality among peoples and nations. In order to make

progress, we must recognize and live by universal

ethical principles and seek peaceful solutions to our

multilateral and bilateral problems through peaceful

processes, through dialogue and reconciliation.

The countries of Latin America, and Ecuador in

particular, are concerned by the fact that economic

development is not accompanied by social development.

It is ironic that in an ever wealthier world,

development-cooperation resources have fallen

20 per cent in real terms in recent years. How, then,

can the international community fulfil the commitments

entered into at the World Summit for Social

Development?

We, the developing countries, assume our

responsibility in fighting poverty, providing better

health and education to our people, reinforcing our

democracies and consolidating our institutions.

However, it is essential that international cooperation

for development be continued, since this will result in a

more just, stable and peaceful world.

There is no doubt that in recent years the world

has changed dramatically. We have moved from an

international society where political and military

confrontation weighed heavily on relations to a system

where cooperation and dialogue among the great

Powers have gradually eased the fear of a nuclear

holocaust. In this new environment of international

relations, in which economic questions have become

global in nature, the United Nations must also modify

some of its previous patterns of conduct and

management.

What do we want from the United Nations in the

twenty-first century? The Secretary-General has

submitted a comprehensive programme for the reform

of the United Nations system, a programme that must

be profoundly and carefully analysed by all Member

States, and Ecuador will actively participate in the

debate on this subject.

It must be pointed out that this world body must

confront the great challenges to mankind, such as the

promotion of economic and social development along

with the needed preservation of the environment; the

maintenance of international peace and harmony; the

achievement of total and complete disarmament; the

promotion of human rights; and the strengthening of

cooperation among all nations to eradicate poverty.

2

Since its establishment, the United Nations has

fulfilled a number of the purposes for which it was

created. It is true that the Organization, for various

reasons largely attributable to Member States themselves,

has not fulfilled some of the high expectations of the

international community. It is worth noting that one of

the most accurate phrases ever uttered in this forum

recognizes that the United Nations is exactly what its

Members want it to be. The successes and failures of the

Organization are the successes and failures of the States

that make it up. I do not wish to start listing past errors,

but we should not forget them, because they can serve as

useful lessons. We must above all be aware that today

there are new challenges, and that we must look ahead

and face them.

We must design an Organization which, through

practical mechanisms, leaves rhetoric aside and assumes a

dynamic role in the solution of world problems. This will

require substantial reform of the working methods of the

United Nations. Furthermore, it will require a new

attitude by Member States in order to create a just and

equitable international society based on the authentic,

democratically expressed will of the international

community.

For the Organization to respond more effectively to

the challenges now facing the international community,

these reforms should not be restricted to a single sector

within the institutional structure. Let me mention the

reform of one of the most important organs of the United

Nations: the Security Council. Ecuador attaches particular

importance to the reform of that body as part of the

strengthening of the United Nations. We believe that the

ultimate objective of these efforts must be to develop a

more democratic, transparent and truly representative

working system for the Council.

The reform of the Security Council must not be

limited to a mere discussion of the number of members

or of how many delegations should represent each

region — although here we believe that the number of

Security Council members must be increased in the light

of the new world realities, to obtain a more significant

presence of developing countries in accordance with

equitable geographical distribution. We also believe that

real reform of the Security Council should aim above all

at ensuring that decision-making machinery and processes

have the transparency, effectiveness and pluralism that

must characterize every democratic institution. This

includes, among other specific measures, the limitation of

the veto power of the Council's permanent members, and

timelier and more effective action to prevent

international conflicts at the request of any State

Member of the Organization.

As we approach the end of the United Nations

Decade of International Law, I would like to reaffirm

our hope that its objectives will be fully met,

particularly those relating to the promotion of and

respect for the principles of international law and to the

broadest possible recourse to ways and means for the

peaceful settlement of disputes between States. We

know that complex international disputes cannot be

settled solely by legal mechanisms, but it is no less true

that any settlement must be based on legal instruments

and must follow formal procedures.

An essential element of Ecuador's international

policy is the search for a just and permanent solution to

the Ecuador-Peru territorial issue. With the valuable

help of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the United States

as guarantor countries, talks between Ecuador and Peru

are currently under way in Brasilia on the remaining

impasses that affect our common border, in accordance

with the commitment of both countries to find a

peaceful and final solution to these issues. Ecuador will

continue to participate in these talks, motivated by a

true spirit of peace, because we desire a global, final,

honourable and realistic solution that reflects the

legitimate expectations of our people, which, together

with the other peoples of the Americas, are seeking to

create a future of mutual benefit and constructive and

peaceful cooperation. The efforts of the Ecuadorian and

Peruvian peoples are aimed at finding a definitive

solution to this dispute.

International interest in the progress of the Brasilia

talks and the immense prospects that would open for

both countries in the new millennium are factors that

should encourage our Governments to make all efforts

necessary to settle this age-old historical controversy,

and thus respond to the just aspirations to peace and

development that we all share. Our country longs for

peace and wants peace; it does not want war. We are

convinced that there is no victory in a war, only

different degrees of defeat owing to the incalculable

consequences that can affect the political, moral, social

and economic life of our countries.

The Charter of the United Nations states that

world security is not limited to the significant issue of

the prevention and settlement of violent conflicts. A

safer world is also a world where general prosperity

3

eliminates the causes of most conflict and human

suffering. The United Nations should continue to be a

forum for the discussion of critical issues concerning the

search for the economic development of more than three

quarters of the world's population.

To be sure, Ecuador is aware that economic growth

per se is not enough to generate adequate social justice

and an equitable distribution of income. My Government

has designed programmes and plans aimed at covering

the needs of the marginal populations of Ecuador. With

the assistance of the World Bank and the United Nations

Development Programme, we have established a national

social development plan that includes government action

in line with the commitments assumed by the

international community during the World Summit for

Social Development.

The socially oriented philosophy of my Government

leads me to join those who suggest that the eradication of

poverty throughout the world should be the main goal of

the international community's coordinated efforts in the

coming years. The globalization of the economy cannot

be limited to the use of cheap labour in the developing

world, the proliferation of profitable investments and the

exploitation of certain markets. It should also aim at

providing coordinated and systematic assistance to

immense populations whose only experience of

globalization has been their eternal poverty and

frustration.

Since time immemorial, the inhabitants of Ecuador

have had special devotion to nature. My country, which

has one the greatest biodiversity reserves in the world,

has a deep sense of respect for nature and an awareness

of its value, which are deeply rooted in our traditional

culture. Ecuadorian indigenous communities, for example,

possess ancestral knowledge concerning the rational

management of resources and the preservation of the

ecosystem.

Ecuador is aware of the difficult dilemma faced by

every society when it comes to choosing between

economic progress and the preservation of the

environment. Given the basic value that the natural

environment has for the Ecuadorian people, we have

dedicated all our efforts to preventing, or at least limiting

to the greatest extent possible, the degree of destruction

of nature caused by economic progress.

As it did during the special session of the General

Assembly held last June, my Government would like to

reiterate its strong commitment to the implementation

of Agenda 21 and to reaching the Agenda's goals of

sustainable development. The efforts of developing

nations will be successful only if they can secure the

effective support of developed countries through

compliance with the commitments assumed at the

United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development, the Rio summit. There can be no

universal environmental preservation without a genuine

change in the unsustainable consumption patterns that

bring about the increasing deterioration of the global

environment, without adequate financial assistance for

development in percentages proportional to gross

domestic product, and without adequate facilities to

access modern technologies.

The establishment of new trade and financial

regimes and the urgent need to restructure our

economies give rise to enormous challenges for

developing countries. We believe that we should

redouble our efforts in order to meet the requirements

of globalization, in such a way that our nations can also

benefit from the new international economic vigour.

Unlike developed countries, for developing

countries the globalization process is not only a way to

reactivate productive growth, maintain an upward trend

in stock market indicators or increase business profits.

For developing countries, the economic aspect of the

so-called globalization should be an opportunity to

accelerate the sustainable development of their peoples,

particularly with regard to social issues.

It should be recalled that developing countries

have made spectacular efforts to adjust to the new

economic realities. Trade adjustment and liberalization

programmes have had strong short-term impacts in

significant sectors of our society. Several States have

adopted severe economic measures, hoping that in the

end they will have positive results for all. However, we

cannot help but feel that this attitude contrasts with the

behaviour of some industrialized countries.

In trade matters, for example, although some

developed nations insist on the liberalization of trade,

they persist in keeping various barriers against trade

flows originating in the South. We are not opposed to

the moderate liberalization of markets regulated by

international trade in order to prevent negative effects

on sensitive sectors of local economies, but we are

opposed to those who preach freedom of trade for some

and then systematically avoid it for themselves as they

4

see fit. Developing countries demand a fair, equitable and

transparent environment for international trade that will

allow us to reap the benefits of economic globalization.

On the other hand, many developed countries with

influence in financial decision-taking circles maintain a

purely economic perspective — as opposed to a wider

social vision — of the financial difficulties affecting the

developing world. They continue to associate a nation's

economic health with the vigour of its macroeconomic

indicators alone. In fact, no nation can have a healthy

economy if a significant sector of its population lives in

extreme poverty or if internal growth indicators do not

guarantee a sustainable and continued development in the

future. Foreign debt still weighs heavily on my country

and prevents us from reaching the objectives of sustained

economic and social development and environmental

protection. With the same constructive spirit as that

which guides our trade policies, we are convinced that

the institutions of the international financial system

should support developing countries' efforts to facilitate

their economic advancement and fulfil the commitments

of the Earth Summit.

International trade and finance, disarmament and

security, environment and development are issues that

cannot be considered separately from one another. We

know that all the issues in the international agenda are

interrelated and we address them separately just for

convenience of consideration. In any case, we must never

lose sight of the principle of globality and interrelation in

the international agenda, or we may run the risk of

having an utterly limited historical perspective and

objectivity.

Accordingly, Ecuador shares the view of the United

Nations Secretary-General on the importance of human

rights in the modern world and that all relevant

programmes implemented by the Organization must be

fully integrated within the scope of activities of the

United Nations.

In the case of Ecuador, I am pleased to inform the

Assembly that one of the principles of my Administration

is to enforce a policy of absolute respect for human

rights. I have the ethical conviction that modern civilized

life is impossible without individual guarantees and

tolerance for diverging opinions. The Ecuadorian State is

committed to following this line of conduct and to

promoting and protecting all human, civil, cultural,

economic, political and social rights, including the right

to development. We are also committed to encouraging

inquiry procedures in cases of violations of such rights

and to punishing those found liable for them.

The battle against corruption is one of the essential

objectives of the National Government in order to

ensure that government institutions can recover their

respectability and the trust which our people is entitled

to place in them.

I wish to refer to a specific aspect related to the

human rights issue: the establishment of an international

criminal court to punish the most serious crimes, such

as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Ecuador strongly supports this initiative. We share the

view that this court should be established by

international convention. We therefore urge all States to

show the necessary political will to overcome the

remaining technical difficulties in order to convene the

conference of plenipotentiaries charged with approving

the court's statutes.

To conclude, as President of the Republic of

Ecuador, I have the pleasure to bring the message of

friendship and brotherhood of the Ecuadorian people to

this forum, in which all the nations of the world are

represented. Our people has consolidated its democracy

and balanced its economy and is moving boldly forward

to build its future. It is a people that sincerely aspires to

ensuring that international mechanisms understand the

realities of developing countries. Above all, at this

moment in our history, in the face of any potential

natural disaster, such as the El Niño phenomenon, we

would like to count on the timely, effective and direct

cooperation of the United Nations and the various

relevant international institutions. I wish to extend once

again our message of friendship and fraternity, as well

as my country's commitment to the lofty ideals that

guide the efforts of the United Nations in the

international sphere.