El Salvador, 2001

We congratulate you, Sir, on your election to

preside over the General Assembly at this session and

wish you every success in fulfilling your mandate. Our

appreciation also goes to Mr. Harri Holkeri for his

work at the last session.

We wish to convey to our Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, our sincerest congratulations on his

unanimous re-election for a second term as leader of

this Organization in a broad acknowledgement of his

abilities, leadership and firm resolve to promote the

purposes and principles of the Charter, which have

been rightly recognized with the awarding to him and

the United Nations of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The delegation of El Salvador believes that the

deplorable and irrational terrorist attacks on the people

and Government of the United States, which we

repudiated and condemned at the time and do so again

in this forum, have made it plain that terrorism in all its

forms and manifestations is a grave threat to peace,

freedom and democracy. Given the special nature of

that scourge, it is essential that we unite our wills and

pool our efforts to combat and eradicate it.

These acts of terrorism have affected us all

directly, because they represent an assault on

civilization, which is based on the values and

principles embodied in the Charter of the Organization.

Indeed, such acts affect not only international peace

and security, but also the growth and development of

our economies. In view of all this, the countries

represented here should not allow minority groups to

crush our peoples’ democratic spirit or to sow

permanent uncertainty and fear by means of violence

and threats directed against the most fundamental

principles of human coexistence.

It is precisely the norms of human coexistence

that underpin and sustain peace, freedom and

development for humanity, regardless of ideology,

culture, race or religion. We concur with many

delegations that the struggle against terrorism should

4

not be considered, much less interpreted, as a struggle

among civilizations or nations.

Pursuant to the decisions taken by the

international community, the Government of El

Salvador is taking the proper steps to fulfil the

provisions articulated in the pertinent resolutions of the

Security Council and the General Assembly and other

measures decided upon at the regional and continental

level. It is appropriate to mention that at the Central

American level, the Security Commission has adopted

an ambitious programme of action so that we can work

together to combat terrorism.

With respect to our national situation, on a

number of occasions we have reiterated the

commitment and political resolve of the Government of

El Salvador to tackle effectively the challenges of

building sustainable human development. We have

made much progress in the last decade.

However, as everyone knows, this year began

with serious natural disasters. The two earthquakes in

January and February shook the very foundations of

Salvadoran society, since 25 per cent of the population

was affected, and losses amounted to 13 per cent of the

gross domestic product. The devastating effects of the

earthquakes extended into the economic and social

spheres, obliging us to implement an emergency

programme, which meant changing and adapting the

Government’s plan to match the new priorities,

redirecting the State’s limited financial resources to

reconstruction. This was compounded by an

unprecedented drop in international coffee prices, our

major export commodity. We also suffered a

widespread drought, affecting agricultural production,

which is the unpinning of our economy.

Thus we believe that it is essential to reiterate our

special recognition of and gratitude to all the countries

and international organizations that provided us with

valuable assistance during these natural disasters. I

wish to thank in particular the World Food Programme

for its effective work in relieving the food-supply

problems of large sectors of the population affected by

the drought.

It is of the utmost importance to the Government

of El Salvador to refer on this occasion to something

that has marked a turning point in the history of our

nation and which, at the same time, represents a

success for United Nations peacekeeping operations:

the first multidisciplinary mission to resolve an internal

conflict, as was the case in El Salvador.

I wish to highlight, with great satisfaction, that 16

January 2002 will mark 10 years since the historic

signing of the El Salvador Peace Agreements, which

formally ended the armed conflict that had wreaked

havoc in our society for 12 years. The Secretary-

General participated actively and played an important

role as intermediary in the process of negotiation and

in the verification of the parties’ compliance with all

the commitments they had undertaken.

Since that date, we have engaged in a process that

we can divide into two phases — first, the transition

from war to peace, and second, the transition from

peace to democracy. During the process we have made

great efforts to fulfil the commitments of the

Agreements in order to achieve peace, democracy,

respect for and protection of human rights, national

reconciliation and reunification of Salvadoran society,

and we have achieved qualitative changes in these

areas.

The Government of El Salvador, as a signatory

party deeply interested in faithful observance of the

Agreements, has been gratified to see the success

achieved in executing these undertakings, putting into

practice a constructive policy that has enabled us to

deal with sensitive and complex issues. The members

of the international community, especially the donor

countries and the United Nations, can attest to this.

In fulfilling the Peace Agreements, all

Salvadorans shouldered the obligations with the

seriousness and responsibility that were required,

mindful of the solemn significance and the implications

of such fulfilment for the aspirations and expectations

that the Agreement outlined, both domestic and vis-à-

vis the international community. This is why we are

very pleased that in fulfilling our obligations we have

not betrayed the trust of those that showed us solidarity

and supported us throughout the process.

Now more than ever, new possibilities are

opening up for all sectors of the country — with a

vision of being a nation — to face the future with a

sense of shared responsibility, and for us to undertake

the new challenges involved in continuing to bolster

democracy and promoting economic and social

development. Consequently, we are committed to the

process of modernizing and strengthening democratic

institutions in conformity with the strategy of

5

sustainable development, whose focus and destiny are

to improve the quality of life of each and every

Salvadoran.

In a globalized and interdependent world, any

situation that affects the economy of the industrialized

countries and those with emerging economies has a

significant impact on the conditions in the remainder of

the countries of the international community. The trend

towards a slowdown in these economies becomes

disquieting for our countries because of its adverse

effects on fostering economic progress and maintaining

social stability.

In this regard, it is essential to pay attention to the

problems besetting the international economic order

and prevent them from spreading and becoming causes

that generate fresh conflict, especially in the

developing countries. For this reason, we hope that the

outcome of the meeting of the World Trade

Organization in Doha will be beneficial for the

developing countries.

It is appropriate to note that during the

participation of the President of El Salvador, Francisco

Flores, in the Group of Eight Summit in Genoa, Italy,

on 10 June, he voiced the anxiety and concerns that we

feel about the serious problems that exist and stated our

aspirations as developing countries to promote the

progress of our peoples. On that occasion, President

Flores noted that we do not want handouts or

concessions based on paternalistic approaches. We

want to become partners in development and achieve

mutual benefits so that we have the opportunity to

gradually improve our conditions and have better

access to and derive greater benefit from international

markets.

In El Salvador, we have put into practice a

number of measures concerning the free market and

promotion of foreign investment. They have led to

internationally recognized economic openness, which

in practice has included a process of privatization,

especially in the communications, energy and finance

sectors and in the area of social security, enhancing our

potential for growth and development.

At the beginning of this year, as part of a gradual

process that will lead finally to the elimination of the

national currency, the Government of El Salvador

enacted the Monetary Integration Act, establishing the

dollar as the unit of account in the financial system.

This will facilitate our trading and financial integration

and further improve conditions for national and foreign

investment and access to international financial

sources.

In the area of trade, in addition to having a free-

trade relationship with our fraternal Central American

countries, we have extended our ties with Mexico, the

Dominican Republic and Chile, establishing free-trade

treaties with them, while others are in the process of

being negotiated with Panama and Canada.

At the same time, we are making an effort to

strengthen the process of the Central American

Integration System (SICA), where we have taken

significant steps, including customs activities and a

regional proposal to modernize and transform Central

America. The proposal’s strategic projects for

development were presented this year to the

Consultative Group in Madrid. The implementation of

the Puebla-Panama Plan, in which Central America is

partnered with Mexico for its development, is part of

these efforts.

In general, we can say that, given the trend

towards globalization, which marks modern

international relations, and despite the difficulties and

complexities involved, our country is doing its utmost

to take advantage of the phenomenon. In this regard,

the least that we can hope is that there will be good

will and political resolve on the part of the developed

countries to grant us solidarity and support to enable us

to become effectively incorporated in the process.

In view of the importance of the commitment

assumed by the heads of State and Government in the

Millennium Declaration of the United Nations, we note

that the International Conference on Financing for

Development, to be held in Mexico, and the World

Summit on Sustainable Development will provide

opportunities to demonstrate the solidarity and

cooperation of the international community,

particularly on the part of the developed countries, by

the adoption of appropriate measures conducive to

achieving fair and equitable development, especially in

the developing countries.

With respect to other sensitive issues for the

international community, the Government of El

Salvador views with concern the continuation or

worsening of certain problems that, if not resolved,

will be a threat to international peace and security.

These include the ongoing conflict in the Middle East,

which is a source of great concern, especially because

6

during the past year we have seen unremitting violence,

leading to the irreparable loss of human life and

material and economic damage in the region, and to a

constant increase in the suffering of the Israeli and

Palestinian peoples.

In that context, the Government of El Salvador

reiterates its support for all efforts and measures aimed

at achieving a negotiated political solution that takes

into account the interests of the parties directly

involved, in order to achieve a firm and lasting peace.

The State of Israel’s right to exist and to live within

secure borders, as well as the inalienable right of the

Palestinian people to self-determination and to

establish its own State, are basic preconditions for

achieving peace, which will enable the leaders of the

region to devote themselves to promoting the progress

and well-being of their peoples.

The extraordinary situation of the Republic of

China in Taiwan is a case that the international

community should examine, particularly in the light of

the most recent changes in the international system.

Regarding the strengthening of the world

Organization, it is important that this opportunity not

be lost to address an item of priority interest for all

Member States: Security Council reform. In this

regard, we must emphasize the commitments contained

in the Millennium Declaration so that this reform can

be carried out. In that regard, we urge the Open-ended

Working Group established for this purpose to redouble

its efforts so that those commitments will be fulfilled

and so that we can achieve, on the basis of flexible

positions, a general agreement on the issue.

Finally, given the complex and uncertain

international situation, we urge all Governments,

groups and sectors of civil society to reflect on the

imperative importance of working together in a spirit

of human solidarity that will enable us to overcome all

differences that separate us in order to achieve great

global objectives that could not be achieved on an

individual basis, with a view to attaining the spiritual

and physical peace to which all nations aspire.