Ecuador, 2005

The people

of Ecuador wish to express their deepest condolences

and fraternal solidarity to the South-East Asian nations

affected by the tsunami, as well as to all our brothers

and sisters living in the southern United States who

were so severely affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Faced with the danger of natural disasters,

Ecuador is committed to the implementation of the

Hyogo Framework for Action and to support the

International El Niño Research Centre, based in

Guayaquil.

Today, the nations of the globe have come

together to celebrate 60 years of human hopes, 60 years

after the proclamation of the founding Charter of the

Organization that represents every man, every woman,

and every child. Six decades have passed since we

inaugurated this institution and its essential objectives

of human coexistence, peace and the international rule

of law. After six decades we can rejoice with old

Neruda, who lives on in our hearts, along with

Stravinsky, Garcia Marquez and Mother Teresa. Let us

celebrate, but let us also take stock of the dream yet to

be fulfilled. Sleeplessly, we face threats and challenges

that affect the survival of our species. When the second

millennium ended — quite unlike the first — our world

was not threatened by the terror-filled visions of the

apocalypse and the seven trumpets that would

transform a third of the world into blood, darkness,

smoke and locusts. However, our new millennium

faces the reality of increasing poverty in two thirds of

the planet. Water is becoming scarce, there are holes in

the ozone layer and, along with biodiversity, the

Amazon is being destroyed. Entire nations are being

disinherited and condemned to roam the earth, mortal

illnesses hover over humanity and terrorism lurks in

every corner.

I have come from the middle of the world to

speak of faith in the renewal of the dream. Ecuador is a

small nation in South America sharing an identity with

almost 400 million human beings living in an area of

8 million square kilometres. We have more than one

fourth of the fresh water of the world and immense

energy, mineral and food resources; we boast the

greatest tropical rain forest in the world and colossal

mountains, deserts and prairies. Yet, our region remains

a realm of social injustice.

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The world order that governs us is not the one we

want. It is unjust, inefficient and inhuman. We must

therefore set in motion factors that were unimaginable

in the middle of the twentieth century. The economy,

international law and biology constitute a fundamental

triangle from which the future of the human being can

be projected. I set out for the Assembly the idea of

building a new world order based on this trilogy.

First, with regard to international law, Ecuador

reaffirms its commitment to the San Francisco Charter

and the principles of non-intervention and the self-

determination of peoples, the peaceful settlement of

disputes, and the rejection of all forms of colonialism,

discrimination or segregation. In accordance with these

principles my country believes in the need to

strengthen the Organization, transform it and

democratize it. The United Nations must develop new

mechanisms to protect the survival of our species and

of all forms of life.

Secondly, the economy must eliminate

marginalization and redress the unequal nature of

opportunities, among both nations and individuals.

This is the conflict. In 1945, the vital need to establish

policies to promote a just and progressive distribution

of surpluses was proclaimed. Nevertheless, 60 years

later we see ever more regressive patterns of

distribution and growing gaps at all levels, basically

produced by the tragedy inherent in the accumulation

of foreign debt, which represents such a heavy burden

for developing nations. The burden of the debt has

pauperized our peoples. It has put a brake on

productive development and cancelled out the

aspiration of all to have access to food, health, shelter,

safety and education. The ethical mandate of our time

demands a change in the collective conscience of social

welfare. Heavily indebted middle-income countries

must organize their efforts to arrive at joint agreements

with the world’s creditors.

Thirdly, the incorporation of biology into the new

international order obliges the United Nations to

transfer its focus from man to biology. The presence of

this new factor — biology — brings with it the need to

raise the level of ethics and international law to the

highest degree of respect for biodiversity and the

preservation of all forms of life. Ecuador attaches

particular importance to this topic and is therefore

concerned at the controversial spraying of glyphosate

as a herbicide to eliminate illegal crops along border

areas between Colombia and Ecuador. Studies on this

substance suffer from technical and methodological

shortcomings. Ecuador therefore calls upon the United

Nations system to promote a comprehensive, reliable

and credible study on the actual impact of this

spraying. Ecuador considers that it is essential to apply

the precautionary principle that has been recognized in

many international agreements and other instruments,

in particular the Rio Declaration on Environment and

Development. Consequently, Ecuador has asked its

neighbouring Government of Colombia to suspend

aerial-spraying activities in a 10-kilometre strip north

of our border.

As I said in my statement during the High-level

Plenary Meeting (see A/60/PV.5), in my country’s

opinion the Millennium Development Goals constitute

a well-honed and effective tool for this century to carve

out a path towards a more just humankind. I am firmly

convinced that ethical regulations to preserve the

biological heritage of the planet constitute the

paramount goal for this third millennium. With

conviction and resolve, my country has adopted a date

for its future: 2015. Copies of the reports on my

Government endeavours to attain the Millennium

Development Goals are available in the General

Assembly Hall.

I should now like to talk about migrants.

Globalization is creating urgent demands for the new

century. One of these arises from the pain that is giving

rise to a new exodus. Today the United Nations must

take over the role of a new Moses. It must lead the

people to their homeland and provide the bread to calm

the hunger of the wretched of the world. More than 175

million human beings have been forced to leave their

homeland in search of better days. Today migrants are

treated worse than capital or commercial goods: we are

always looking to provide freedom of transit for these.

The mere existence of this fact forces us to recognize

that for the hungry of the third world there is no liberty

and even less the equality and fraternity symbolized

two centuries ago by the French revolution. The link

between the migrant issue and development is

undeniable and must be handled in a transparent

manner based on a vision of shared responsibility on

the part of all nations involved.

On migration routes we must overcome the police

stigmatization of the undocumented. Regularization

requires that the rights of migrants be viewed as a

fundamental human right and must be reflected in

every State’s population policy. The Government of

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Ecuador calls upon this forum to address the problem

of migrants in terms of equality for all nationals. We

propose that this problem be addressed at the high-

level dialogue on international migration and

development, to be held in 2006.

We in the Government of Ecuador, aware of the

need for migration and its consequences to be treated

in an integral and responsible manner, have approved a

law revising our criminal code to define crimes of the

sexual exploitation of minors and the trafficking of

persons. In addition, we have placed before our

National Congress a new proposal to punish all forms

of trafficking in human beings.

I should like to talk about indigenous peoples and

peoples of African descent. The International Decades

of the World’s Indigenous People, proclaimed by the

General Assembly, have been a valuable opportunity to

increase awareness of the situation of our brothers and

to promote respect for their identity and the chance to

find viable solutions to their problems. The biology of

the new world order requires recognition of their rights

as protagonists of history and as leading actors in

society. In the Ecuador of the last decade, indigenous

peoples have been significant components of our social

and political life. That is recognized in our

Constitution and in International Labour Organization

(ILO) Agreement 169.

In recent years, Ecuador has witnessed a serious

deterioration in its democratic institutions. Faced with

that situation, my Government has pledged to restore

the rule of law by means of profound political reform

legitimized through a referendum of the Ecuadorian

people. We are determined to firmly fight the

corruption that erodes democratic structures. Only

three days ago, on 15 September, my Government

deposited its instrument of ratification as the thirtieth

State party to the United Nations Convention against

Corruption, which made it possible for the Convention

to enter into force.

The voice of my people, the people of Ecuador,

echoes the deep-throated clamour of Latin America.

We want to be part of a greater nation, South America,

a human assembly that can make its voice heard and

follow the path to genuine, just development

accompanied by greater solidarity on behalf of the

principles that we have recalled here.