Guatemala, 2006

In 2006, several important anniversaries coincide and

provide a background for our debate. For the United

Nations, 2006 represents a new opportunity to assess

progress since the adoption six years ago of the

package of commitments generally known as the

Millennium Development Goals, which received

renewed impetus during the 2005 World Summit. The

outcome of that summit provides the main theme of our

debate during this Assembly, as well as the guidelines

for the reform of our Organization. For this great city,

the site of the Headquarters of our Organization, 2006

marks the fifth anniversary of the tragic events of

11 September 2001, which altered history forever. For

Guatemala, 2006 marks the tenth anniversary of the

signing of the Peace Accords that put an end to a

bloody internal conflict lasting over four decades. For

our Secretary-General, it marks the end of his 10-year

term, which has had a highly positive result: a result

that I want to acknowledge and for which I would like

to thank him.

I will move on to address some of these

substantial issues. But before doing so, I would like to

state our appreciation of Mr. Jan Eliasson’s

stewardship and exceptional leadership of the previous

session of this Assembly. At the same time, we

welcome your election, Madam President, and have no

doubt that you will bring us to a safe port.

I should like to allude very briefly to four

matters: compliance with the Guatemalan Peace

Accords, a process in which the United Nations

participated very closely; follow-up of the 2005 World

Summit, especially Millennium Goal 8, namely, to

foster a global partnership for development; our views

on certain aspects of United Nations reform; and our

views on certain positive developments that affect

international relations.

The brief time allotted to me does not allow me

to go into detail, but it is undeniable that we have

advanced substantially in the direction of giving

concrete expression to the vision contained in the

Peace Accords. More to the point, if we contrast

today’s Guatemala to that of 1996, we now have a

society that is more plural, tolerant, deliberative and

participative than in the past. Our representative

democracy is taking root, after three free and

transparent elections. The army is truly subordinated to

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the civil Government. Important progress has been

achieved in strengthening a multi-ethnic and

multilingual society. The State is committed to

respecting of civil, political and human rights and to

promoting greater participation of women in our

society. Significant efforts have been in strengthening

the administration of justice and consolidating the rule

of law. The proportion of public expenditure assigned

to the provision of social services has increased

significantly in the past few years. We have assisted the

victims of the conflict through a programme of

reparation payments. We promote the National Front

against Hunger as a priority of my Government.

Likewise, we recently adopted a policy on rural

development, which was prepared and will be

implemented with the participation of entrepreneurs,

peasants and trade unions.

At the same time, we recognize that much

remains to be done. Human rights violations persist,

often linked to an increase in crime, including

organized crime. It is for this reason that we invited the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

to open an office in Guatemala and to join us in

strengthening our own capacity to defend and protect

vulnerable groups. We have also invited the United

Nations to support an initiative to establish a

commission to investigate illicit and clandestine

groups. Furthermore, we have promoted domestic

legislation to combat the scourge of crime, including

the recently promulgated law against organized crime.

The commitments contained in the Peace Accords

entail serious budgetary implications. To address them,

we recently sent to Congress, and Congress approved,

an act to combat tax evasion. At the same time, we

have forged a broad consensus on an agreed tax

package that ensures the financing of future

development through improvements in the allocation

and administration of public expenditures and the

collection of taxes.

My Government assigns priority to the

recognition of the identity and rights of indigenous

peoples. In this regard, we trust that the General

Assembly will soon adopt the Draft Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which saw light in the

Human Rights Council and which will contribute to

achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

In summary, our Government Plan has embraced

the Peace Accords and is committed nationally to

complying with them. In 2005, a Framework Act on the

Peace Accords was passed in order to strengthen the

institutional aspects of the peace process. One of our

goals is to achieve socio-economic development that is

participatory and responds to the needs of the entire

population.

This leads me to the second item, namely, the

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Indeed, a

major part of our Government programme is entirely

consistent with those goals, especially with regard to

combating poverty and hunger and achieving universal

primary education. Our policies, which emphasize rural

development, take an approach that favours the poorest

strata of our society. The efforts undertaken have been

based mostly on domestic resources — Government

and civil society — but we have also received support

from the international community in the context of a

genuine partnership.

The international community’s respect for our

priorities has grown, and it has increasingly adapted its

methods to our budgetary procedures. From our

country’s point of view, significant progress has been

achieved since the International Conference on

Financing for Development was held in 2002. We have

also noted a reversal, over the past four years, in the

earlier trend towards declining official development

assistance (ODA). It is hoped that the new trend of

increasing ODA will persist and accelerate, especially

in favour of the least developed countries.

In contrast to the relatively encouraging picture

in the area of financing for development, it is a source

of great concern that the negotiations of the Doha

Development Round have been suspended. That is a

serious setback for the global economy and especially

for the chances of developing countries to improve

their participation in international trade.

If the potential of the Development Round is not

salvaged, which must include the dismantling of

agricultural subsidies as well as other restrictive

practices of trade in agricultural products that persist

among the main developed economies, it will be

difficult to continue referring to a global partnership

for development as posited by the Millennium

Development Goals. In that regard, it is urgently

necessary to renew the negotiations of the Doha Round

under the aegis of the World Trade Organization. On

that subject, we also support the strengthening of

South-South cooperation in all areas.

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Moving on now to the third part of my remarks,

we believe that the reforms undertaken at the United

Nations since 2000, and in particular since the 2005

Summit, have been significant and headed in the right

direction. We identify with the new Human Rights

Council, of which we are a member, and support the

fulfilment of its role in promoting and protecting

human rights at the global level.

We also understand the considerable potential of

the new Peacebuilding Commission to contribute to the

joint work of the Security Council and the Economic

and Social Council for the benefit of countries now in

post-conflict situations. We promote the revitalization

and strengthening of the General Assembly as the only

universal body with enough legitimacy to debate and

adopt policies, as prescribed by the Charter and as

agreed in the Millennium Declaration and at the 2005

Summit.

We reiterate our strong support for the Economic

and Social Council as a meeting place to foster

sustainable development. We especially applaud the

decision to convene a high-level meeting on

development cooperation every two years. We add our

voices to all the others urging an end to the stalemate

in the discussions on Security Council reform. The

parameters of that debate are well known. For our part,

we have historically favoured a moderate expansion in

the number of non-permanent members, but more

recently, we have signalled that we could support any

formula that would be capable of bringing about a

consensus, including the expansion of members in both

categories. We also support a more representative,

transparent and effective Council.

We are candidates for a non-permanent seat on

the Council for the biennium 2007-2008, because we

believe that our experience as a country that made the

transition from conflict to peace and democracy

provides us with insights that would contribute to the

work of the Council. In addition, we are one of the few

original signatories of the Charter that have not yet had

the opportunity to serve in the work of that body. If

elected to the Security Council, we commit ourselves

to carrying out our responsibilities in a professional,

responsible and dignified manner — in the

representation of our region — and also to promote

from within the reform of that crucial forum for

assuring peace and stability in the world.

My country’s foreign policy is in accordance with

our national interests based on improved participation

by Guatemala in the globalized world, as well as the

strengthening of multilateralism and regional

integration. We have promoted a deeper integration

with our immediate neighbours in Central America,

and important progress in the establishment of a

customs union has been achieved. We, the five Central

American countries, have also agreed on a free trade

agreement with the United States of America, and in

2007, will begin negotiations on an association

agreement with the European Union.

Moreover, my Government has endeavoured to

deepen its bilateral relations with Belize, while at the

same time seeking to find a definitive, just, equitable

and honourable solution to the territorial dispute

between our countries. Thus, on 7 September 2005, we

signed, under the auspices of the Organization of

American States, an Agreement on a Framework for

Negotiations and Confidence-Building Measures,

which covers a wide range of subjects and will bring us

closer. One of the tangible results of that effort has

been a free trade agreement signed just a few months

ago.

Guatemala participated actively in the High-level

Dialogue on International Migration and Development

held in this same Hall less than a week ago. In that

context, we emphasize that attention to the situation of

Guatemalan migrants is another priority of my

Government. An essential element of the public policy

on that subject is full respect for the human rights of all

migrants, an element which will only be fulfilled when

all States become parties to the International

Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All

Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

My Government is working with the recipient

countries, in particular with the United States of

America, to promote comprehensive migration reform

that would include mechanisms to manage the supply

of workers in the countries of origin and the demand

for workers in the recipient countries. That would help

regularize the situation of emigrants, whose

contribution to the well-being of their communities is

substantial, and would make it possible to overcome

the great vulnerability of our population.

We feel solidarity with other countries that have

endured under conflict situations. This is why we have

taken part in an increasing number of United Nations

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peacekeeping operations. We are proud of our

presence, along with many other Latin American

countries, in our neighbour Haiti, and we celebrate the

democratically elected Government of President René

Préval. We also have troops in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo and military observers in six

other countries in the African continent.

We deplore the violence that has affected several

countries in the Middle East, in particular Lebanon. We

call for a solution that will allow Israel and a sovereign

Palestinian State to live in peace within safe borders in

the wider context of a region that finds its own destiny

in harmony and progress.

Given the importance of coordination among

States of the region, Guatemala organized, from 11 to

13 September 2006, the first regional security meeting

of Central America and the Dominican Republic, with

the goal of achieving a consensus among the countries

of the Central American group, as well as Mexico,

Colombia, Belize and the Dominican Republic, to

develop a comprehensive strategy and to counteract the

main threats to the area, a consensus to unify the

security policies and procedures already agreed and

contained in multilateral regional and international

agreements, treaties and conventions, as well as those

adopted at summit meetings. We hope we can continue

to count on the support of the international community

and of the United Nations to organize three more

meetings to complete the development of that strategy.

It is important to emphasize that Guatemala is

organizing, jointly with Transparency International, the

12th International Anti-Corruption Conference, from

15 to 18 November this year. The theme for the

conference will be “Towards a fairer world: Why is

corruption still blocking the way?” This effort reflects

my Government’s firm commitment to fight the

scourge of corruption that has corroded our institutions

for many years and has prevented our citizens from

making the transition to a more just country. On that

note, you are all welcome, and we are eager to share

our challenges, progress and difficulties in this

common struggle.

Under your leadership, Madam President, at this

session the General Assembly will have to address

issues of great importance for humanity and for our

Organization. Guatemala pledges to participate actively

in the debates planned for this year. From this moment

on, we offer you our full cooperation for the success of

your presidency.