Guinea-Bissau, 1999

Guinea-Bissau is gratified,

Sir, at your assumption of the presidency of the fifty-

fourth session of the General Assembly. The unanimous

election of a distinguished African diplomat such as

yourself to this post is evidence of the conviction of the

Member States of the Organization that, under your clear-

sighted leadership, our work is certain to be successful.

Your election is also a concrete expression of Secretary-

General Kofi Annan's dedication to the cause of peace, as

well as a recognition of Namibia's significant contribution

to international peace-building. We pay tribute also to

your predecessor, Mr. Didier Opertti, for the great

sensitivity and skill he displayed in fulfilling his duties

during the fifty-third session.

We would like also to express, on behalf of the

people of Guinea-Bissau and on my own behalf, our

gratitude to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for

his efforts towards international peace and security.

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Guinea-Bissau also welcomes the new States Members

of the United Nations — Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga —

with which we intend to maintain relations of friendship

and cooperation.

On the eve of the new millennium, Africa is

experiencing an increase in armed conflict that threatens

regional peace and stability. Regrettably, West Africa has

not been spared this scourge. From the Liberian crisis to

that of Sierra Leone, not to mention Guinea-Bissau, our

region has been racked by periods of fratricidal violence

whose causes are manifold.

In the case of our country, the root causes of the

political and military crisis include a lack of effectiveness

and a loss of authority on the part of the State; poor

management; human rights violations; non-compliance with

the principle of the separation of power between sovereign

bodies; corruption and deteriorating living conditions; and

total frustration and despair on the part of those who fought

for freedom and their homeland.

The events of 7 June 1998 were a direct result of

these problems. Unfortunately, as is the case in every

conflict, the crisis also resulted in a tragic situation for the

population that included the loss of life, a massive flow of

refugees to neighbouring countries and large numbers of

displaced persons, not to mention the devastation of the

economic and social infrastructure of the country.

Having experienced the horrors of war, the people of

Guinea-Bissau today more than ever strongly aspire to live

in peace and security, with hope for the future and in the

full enjoyment of their fundamental rights. Guinea-Bissau

also wishes to consolidate its unity and to promote a culture

of peace and national reconciliation that is based on a

pluralist democracy with sound governance and on the rule

of law.

We are determined to promote and protect the dignity

of human beings and to enable their harmonious

development. In this regard, we are pleased to note that a

conference was convened recently in Guinea-Bissau for the

reconciliation and unity of the people of our country. That

event of rare scope raised the awareness of our fellow

citizens and mobilized them with respect to national peace

and reconciliation, which is a prerequisite for domestic

security and socio-economic progress.

The conference also received direct support from,

among others, Sweden, the Netherlands and the

representative of the United Nations Secretary-General. All

of Guinea-Bissau's vital elements participated, including

political parties, non-governmental organizations, the

Government, the military junta and our nationals living

abroad.

We take this opportunity to affirm that we will spare

no effort in working to consolidate the emerging

democracy in Guinea-Bissau, basing ourselves on the

social and cultural values of our people and on the

principles of good relations as set out in the Charter of

the United Nations and that of the Organization of

African Unity, in order to bring about a lasting peace in

our country.

In this context, we will be holding legislative and

presidential elections on 28 November, preceded by a

census and the registration of electoral candidates. We

would like to reaffirm before the Assembly our

determination to hold the elections as scheduled, despite

the slow response time of some of our partners in

development with respect to the commitments entered into

at the round table held in Geneva on 4 and 5 May.

We would like also express our heartfelt thanks to

Sweden, Portugal and the Netherlands for fulfilling their

commitments in a timely manner.

We take this opportunity to launch an urgent appeal

to the international community to support Guinea-Bissau

in its efforts to return to constitutional order, which is a

prerequisite for restoring normal relations of cooperation

with its development partners.

It is also important to underscore our very positive

relations with the peoples of the subregion, in particular

with Senegal, and our desire to renew our fraternal ties of

cooperation with the Republic of Guinea in order to help

consolidate peace and stability in the subregion.

Despite the progress we have made in the struggle

for human dignity and freedom, the vast majority of

humankind lives in degrading conditions that are

unacceptable to the collective conscience. This situation

is the result of selfish interests that go against the moral

and political values of the United Nations. The example

of East Timor is a case in point.

With regard to East Timor, we are deeply concerned

by the fact that after the popular consultation, whose

outcome was favourable to the Maubere people, we

witnessed very violent acts which were completely at

odds with the agreement of 5 May between Indonesia,

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Portugal and the United Nations. We express our fraternal

solidarity with the heroic people of East Timor in the face

of the genocide carried out by Indonesian militias. We

condemn those acts and demand respect for the desire for

self-determination expressed in the popular consultation of

30 August last. We welcome the strong — albeit late —

reaction of the international community aimed at restoring

peace and security in that territory. We appeal for efforts to

be intensified and call for technical, material and financial

aid for the rebuilding of East Timor, which has been

brutally destroyed.

Guinea-Bissau supports the international community,

the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity

in their ceaseless search for a peaceful solution to the

problems affecting our continent. In this context, the

situation in Angola is of great concern for our country. The

civil war has imposed great suffering on the majority of the

population of Angola, especially those in the most

vulnerable sectors. This situation requires vigorous action

on the part of the international community to restore lasting

peace in that neighbouring country. Guinea-Bissau demands

that UNITA unconditionally abide by the Lusaka Protocol

so as to put an end to this long and painful conflict in that

fraternal country.

In the Middle East, the peace process between Israel

and Palestine deserves our utmost attention. In this regard,

we note with satisfaction the positive development in

relations between Israel and Palestine under the impetus

provided by the President of the Palestinian Authority,

Yasser Arafat, and the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak.

In Latin America, we hope that the economic and

trade embargo against Cuba will soon be lifted. We believe

that the realism of the international community must prevail

so as to spare the Cuban people the suffering that they

continue to endure.

While it is true that peace and security are an

indispensable condition for social and economic

development, it is no less true that improving people's

living conditions is one of the foundations of social and

political stability. However, one of the obstacles to pursuing

those objectives is our country's external debt. That is why

the external debt burden is a matter of constant concern for

Guinea-Bissau. In this context, we welcome the Heavily

Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative. We also

welcome the decisions taken at the G-7 summit recently

held in Cologne.

We take this opportunity to pay a warm tribute to all

the organizations in the United Nations system working in

our country for their substantial contribution not only to

consolidating national peace and reconciliation but to

alleviating the suffering of our people. We also welcome

the decision to appoint Mr. Samuel Nana-Sinkam as

Special Representative of the Secretary-General to head

the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in

Guinea-Bissau, whose activities are greatly appreciated by

our people.

We believe that we have made sufficiently clear our

determination to hold elections on the scheduled date, 28

November 1999. However, we know that democracy does

not end with elections. Support for the special emergency

programme for Guinea-Bissau is therefore absolutely

necessary in order to ensure that the democratic gains are

irreversible and to give sustained development in our

country a chance. That is why we take this opportunity to

appeal once more to the international community not only

to take an interest in the elections but also to support the

determined efforts of Guinea-Bissau to build its future.