Mexico, 1992

The

Government of Mexico congratulates Mr. Stoyan Ganev on his election as

President to guide the work of the General Assembly. It also congratulates

Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali on his decision to engage in active diplomacy, to

initiate the changes called for in the Secretariat and to devise new ways of

strengthening the Organization.

Mexico extends a most cordial welcome to the 13 new Member States.

The new conditions in the world, the long-standing aspirations of peoples

and the pressures of all kinds facing this forty-seventh session of the

General Assembly require us to chart a clear course. The disappearance of the

blocs has not led to the emergence of the peaceful world of which we dreamed.

Uncertainty prevails. In many societies, one political order has disappeared

and the order which has taken its place is in the midst of a difficult process

of shaping itself. World trends are extremely contradictory. Some countries'

efforts to integrate are in contrast to the disintegration of other

countries. It would appear that the potential for conflict, now free of

ideological bonds, has increased in various regions of the world.

Despite the fact that bipolarity has vanished, international peace and

security continue to be threatened by aggressive nationalisms, political and

religious fanaticism and, above all, the conditions of critical poverty and

inequality of opportunities that separate some peoples from others. As this

session of the General Assembly takes place, thousands of people are

continuing to die in the fratricidal wars in former Yugoslavia and other parts

of the world. In Africa, the life of whole populations is threatened by

hunger. The life of more than half of the world's population is dominated by

unemployment and the impossibility of attaining decent levels of health,

education, food and housing.

Decisive progress in economic, social and human development and

root-and-branch rectification of the structural imbalances in international

society are necessary conditions for genuine and lasting peace. One fifth of

the world's population, 1 billion people inhabiting the most industrialized

countries, consume 70 per cent of the planet's resources. In income terms.

the polarization of inequalities is even greater. The richest fifth of the

world's population accounts for 83 per cent of total income, while the poorest

fifth has to make do with 1.4 per cent. Future prospects are no less tragic:

the World Bank estimates that the income of the population with the fewest

resources will fall from $370 a year to only $225 by the year 2000.

Now that the cold war is over, there is no argument strong enough to

justify the persistence of these imbalances. Plenty and overabundance for a

few cannot coexist with poverty and deprivation for the majorities. We can

already see the global impact of these inequalities: The increase in

migrations to the more prosperous countries is unprecedented. Millions of

people throughout the world are forming legions of refugees and displaced

persons. It would be a dangerous illusion for the rich societies to believe

that their security is not in jeopardy from the intensification of these

imbalances.

It must be recognized that it will not be possible to cure

underdevelopment and the resulting poverty and marginalization in many

countries by the use of market forces alone. What is needed is a major

internal correction effort involving both the State and private individuals,

or involving mainly the State, when private individuals are unwilling, do not

know how or do not have the resources to act. A favourable international

environment is also required to more effectively encourage a comprehensive

solution to the serious problems of underdevelopment.

The Government of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari is promoting the

expansion of markets and the need for flows of goods and services to grow

without artificial barriers of a political or economic nature. We therefore

already have a free trade agreement with Chile, and we have just negotiated a

treaty to establish the North American free trade area, which will be the most

potent trading zone in the world. With an open trading system, without

discrimination and protectionist barriers, the developing countries could earn

around $44 billion more from exports. That would undoubtedly increase the

viability of the structural reforms these nations have undertaken, and would

reflect international solidarity with these countries.

Mexico has been active in promoting reform of the United Nations. It has

joined the consensus that there is a vital need to redistribute functions and

responsibilities among its organs, increase coordination and democratize its

procedures. Our Organization is overworked and underfinanced. Its renewal

must include the fulfilment by all Members of their financial commitments.

That there is an endemic financial crisis at the United Nations, in the face

of the extensive tasks the community is seeking to assign to it, is an

incongruency which must be resolved without delay.

Mexico recognizes the relevance of the Secretary-General's report

entitled "An Agenda for Peace", submitted for the consideration of Member

States. It is a rigorous document, and proposes the innovative measures that

are needed in order to enable our Organization to respond to the challenges of

a new era. The ideas that it puts before us for achieving a better balance

between the principal organs of the United Nations appear to us to be on the

right lines.

We need to give the General Assembly the primacy it should enjoy as the

Organization's universal and pluralistic organ par excellence. We have to

achieve better coordination between it and the Security Council, above all in

matters of international peace and security. We agree with the strengthening

of the Secretary-General's capacity for action. We consider that the

Secretary-General should be authorized to seek advisory opinions from the

International Court of Justice on condition, of course, that the States

concerned have requested his involvement.

Mexico has also indicated the need for a better balance in the treatment

of the items on the international agenda. We pay too much attention to the

so-called new global issues at the expense of development problems, combating

extreme poverty and strengthening international cooperation. The best

preventive diplomacy is one in which programmes in support of development are

an essential element. These are the best guarantees of stable and lasting

peace.

The economic and social sector of the Organization needs to be

revitalized. Now is the time to increase the efficiency of the organs on

which rests the main responsibility for economic and social activities: the

Economic and Social Council and the Second and Third Committees of the

Assembly.

My country has reiterated that the internal transformation of the United

Nations organs, as well as of relationships between them, needs to be

supplemented by the democratization of decision-making. This will entail

reviewing, in due course, the anachronistic veto system. We must dispel the

risk of the Security Council's becoming merely an instrument for lending the

appearance of joint action to the designs of a few powerful countries. The

deliberative and decision-making processes must be transparent. The tendency

for the taking of decisions by consensus to become more widespread must not

pose an obstacle to participation by Council members, nor must it impede

in-depth debate among them.

Some of the measures proposed in the Secretary-General's report need to

be studied thoroughly and carefully, as they might prove to be

counterproductive. Deployment of troops along the borders of a State that

feels threatened might aggravate the problem it was designed to forestall.

The proposal for the conduct of preventive deployment operations in

conditions of national crisis gives grounds for concern. A measure of this

kind could involve the Organization in issues that are strictly within the

internal jurisdiction of States.

Similarly, what is known as "support for the transformation of deficient

national structures and capabilities, and for the strengthening of new

democratic institutions" (A/47/277, para. 59). should be examined with great

care, since these matters fall within the exclusive sovereignty of States.

The report also echoes positions that Mexico has supported. We agree

that States should accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of

Justice. Honduras and El Salvador have set the world an example of their

desire for harmony and peace by submitting their territorial dispute to the

International Court for resolution.

Mexico welcomes the insistence of the Secretary-General that diplomatic

action should be exhausted before use is made of the coercive measures for the

maintenance of international peace and security referred to in Chapter VII of

the Charter.

Despite the disquieting signs in the international environment, obvious

advances have been made which enable us to look with hope to the potential of

the United Nations to work towards a more stable and a more secure world.

Long-drawn-out conflicts that had been deadlocked for years are today on the

way to resolution. The peace process in El Salvador is perhaps the most

successful of those in which the Organization has participated. It is up to

the parties and the Organization itself to do everything in their power to

ensure the implementation, within the time-frame scheduled, of the commitments

entered into. Mexico appeals to the international community to provide, as

soon as possible, the economic assistance promised for the cause of peace in

El Salvador.

In the realm of disarmament, definite progress has been achieved in the

quantitative reduction of nuclear arsenals but we are far from having

eliminated the danger of a nuclear catastrophe. There has been an increase in

the number of States that possess nuclear weapons, and the doctrine of nuclear

deterrence continues to serve as grounds for justifying the existence and

improvement of such weapons.

In the face of these dangers, we must put an end to nuclear testing. We

therefore express our gratitude to those countries that have decided to

institute moratoriums. Mexico will continue to work to see to it that at this

session we are able to make progress together towards the total elimination of

nuclear weapons from the planet.

Therefore, the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons deserves our full attention. We are

gratified at the progress in respect of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. We welcome

the ratification by France of Additional Protocol I and the process leading to

the full incorporation of Argentina, Brazil and Chile in the

nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin America. We hope that Cuba will also soon

be incorporated into this regime, as well as Guyana and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Mention also needs to be made of the Convention on chemical weapons, the

outcome of 10 years' work by the Ad Hoc Committee of the Conference on

Disarmament. Although the Convention is undoubtedly subject to improvement,

Mexico hopes that it will lead to the elimination of one of the most

reprehensible means of mass destruction.

The Rio de Janeiro Conference, held last June, was a basic step towards

greater awareness at the world level of the relationship between the problems

of the environment and those of development. The General Assembly has the

responsibility of creating institutional machinery to follow up, promote and

perfect the implementation of "Agenda 21", approved at Rio. The establishment

of the Commission on Sustainable Development is a central item on our agenda.

In this regard, I should like to make three points: the first is that

this Commission should not confine itself to reviewing the progress made in

Rio, but should become a high-level forum for updating and introducing new

proposals designed to promote development and the protection of the

environment.

The second point relates to its mandate of supervising and broadening the

commitment with regard to financing. We shall achieve little in the struggle

for sustainable development of the planet if the countries that possess the

most and have contributed the most to pollution do not increase the resources

allocated to halting the destruction of the environment. The Commission to be

appointed by this General Assembly must ensure that it is the polluter who

pays.

Finally, following up on the Rio agreements calls for a competent

secretariat. We are expecting a small but high-level group with direct access

to the Secretary-General and a clear mandate to avoid duplication of functions

with other bodies.

We are living through a phase characterized by profound respect for human

rights and democracy as the foundations of peace, freedom and human dignity.

The defence of human rights has always been at the centre of our

Organization's attention.

Nevertheless, we are concerned at the desire to focus greater attention

on some aspects of human rights to the detriment of others. Only a

comprehensive view of human rights can ensure that their protection will not

be partial or motivated by veiled aspirations towards interference.

The Organization has the opportunity of becoming the cornerstone of a new

world order worthy of that name. It is our responsibility towards future

generations to bequeath to them a forum in which peace is guaranteed and in

which the conditions required for the development of all nations are created.

International cooperation for development cannot be approached from one

standpoint alone. We must not view it solely as a complement to actions to

resolve conflicts or to reduce it to technical assistance programmes, nor can

it be confined to general recommendations regarding the liberalization of

trade and internal and international competitiveness.

The priorities are clear: putting an end to extreme poverty and creating

the conditions in which all human beings will find real opportunities for

development. To this end, a tremendous and serious effort to coordinate

economic policies and the explicit will to make international law the

compulsory reference point governing relations among peoples are essential.

International- law is the binding force that will make it possible to

build a true international order at the end of this century. Our Organization

must assume with clear vision, dedication and courage world leadership in the

defence of international law. Respect for the internal jurisdiction of States

is the basis for our civilized and peaceful coexistence.

Mexico categorically rejects the claim of any State to have the right to

apply its laws beyond its own frontiers. Nor can acts that violate the

juridical order of another country on the pretext of ensuring respect for

one's law be legal. All States must conform in their actions to the rules

that have been accepted by the sovereign will of nations and agreements. This

is the only lasting foundation on which to base changes in a world order that

is in a state of transition.

Here in this universal forum, Mexico emphasizes its unswerving commitment

to the need to strengthen international law.