Mexico, 1998

The election of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay

as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-third

session is a source of pride for Latin America and the

Caribbean. I am personally familiar with the talent,

experience and diplomatic skill of Minister Opertti and I

am convinced that these qualities will help to guide,

motivate and strengthen our work.

My delegation would also like to express its

appreciation to Hennadiy Udovenko for the outstanding

work that he accomplished as President at the session that

just closed.

Last July, we had the honour of welcoming our

Secretary-General to Mexico. On that occasion we

observed anew his firm and resolute commitment to

strengthen the United Nations, adapting it to confront the

challenges of the end of the century. We recognize in

Kofi Annan a man with a clear vision of the future of the

Organization, and we are confident that he will know how

to guide it in this transition stage towards a new

millennium.

Mexico is a country with a profound multilateral

calling. Our desire to seek international agreement finds

fertile ground for development in this forum. It is for this

reason that we are convinced of the urgent need to

strengthen it and to seek within it shared answers to the

challenges that the new global agenda presents.

Mexicoâs commitment to the United Nations does

not consist of words alone. A week ago, the Government

of President Ernesto Zedillo reconfirmed this by sending

the International Convention on the Protection of the

Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their

Families to the Mexican Senate for approval. From the

very beginning of negotiations on that Convention, over

which Mexico had the honour of presiding, we insisted on

the importance of having legal instruments to ensure

respect for and protection of the rights of migrant

workers. By taking that step, Mexico is showing its

unswerving commitment to the norms of international law

and is making progress in consolidating itself as a State

of law.

Convinced of the need to strengthen the international

system that makes it possible for us to have the will and

the necessary instruments to confront together the

challenges of the end of the century, President Zedillo

promoted the convening of the special session of the

General Assembly devoted to the problem of drugs. As of

that meeting, principles of responsibility shared among

States and of strict respect for sovereignty, territorial

integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of

States replaced the scenario of mutual recrimination and

unilateral evaluations. We now have the bases for a global

consensus regarding the policies that must be adopted by

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States in order to consolidate an unprecedented effort at

cooperation based on this new global, integral and balanced

strategy. Mexico will not regress in its efforts to implement

the commitments that we adopted last June.

The international agenda today, as reflected in the

agenda of the General Assembly, is very broad and

complex. I would like to refer on this occasion to only

three questions which I consider to be of particular

relevance: disarmament, which has been a constant issue in

Mexicoâs foreign policy; the reform of our Organization,

which will help to shape the community of nations in the

next century; and the international financial crisis, which

greatly jeopardizes the efforts of our countries to attain full

development, as well as our ability to advance towards the

future.

As far as the subject of disarmament is concerned,

there is no doubt that the existence of nuclear arsenals

remains one of the central problems in international

relations. The threat of an atomic conflagration cannot be

disregarded, and we must reiterate our commitment to

fashioning a world which is free of nuclear weapons. For

Mexico, the objective of eliminating these instruments of

mass destruction is realistic and viable. It is time to set

aside arguments that, for strategic reasons, have served to

conceal the efforts of those who either do not want to give

up their present nuclear capacity or else want to join the

group of countries that possess this destructive ability. One

can contribute to nuclear disarmament only by eliminating

nuclear weapons. This is why we seek to broaden and

strengthen international commitments in this respect. Our

political conviction is that we must achieve new agreements

that remove this scourge from humankind.

Mexico condemns all nuclear testing from principle

and out of conviction. We affirmed this recently in the light

of the tests conducted by India and Pakistan. Far from

contributing to stability and regional balance, such actions

promote the proliferation of uncertainty and fear. They also

contribute to a climate conducive to the nuclear arms race.

I would like on this occasion to reiterate Mexicoâs

conviction that dialogue and negotiation are and will remain

the irreplaceable means of resolving disputes. It was in that

spirit that last 9 July we supported a ministerial statement

that sought to define a new agenda for the elimination of

weapons of mass destruction. We co-sponsors of that

declaration introduced a draft resolution that we hope will

receive the resolute support of Member States so that we

can in that way demonstrate the resolve of the community

of nations to move towards a world free of nuclear

weapons.

We are also committed to a new, integral approach

to the subject of disarmament and the prohibition of

weapons of mass destruction or weapons with excessively

cruel and inhuman effects. There has been progress

recently in the Conference on Disarmament related to

security guarantees and the prohibition on the production

of fissionable materials destined to be used for such

weapons.

We are likewise pleased at the growing support

being given to the treaties on anti-personnel landmines

and on chemical and bacteriological weapons. In

particular, we are gratified at the entry into force on

1 March 1999 of the Convention on the Prohibition of the

Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-

personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Once again we

urge the countries that have not yet done so to ratify as

soon as possible these conventions that seek to eliminate

such weapons from the face of the Earth.

The proliferation of small arms and its link with

criminal organizations and drug-trafficking constitute a

significant challenge to the majority of nations.

Combating this is a priority of the Government of

Mexico. The Inter-American Convention against the Illicit

Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms,

Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials,

which was the result of a Mexican initiative, is of crucial

importance and should therefore be taken into account in

further negotiations on transnational crime.

In the present situation, which demands that we

clearly define the framework for international relations

and adapt it in a timely way, the initiatives for reforming

our Organization presented by the Secretary-General

acquire special significance. The United Nations must

reform itself if it is to remain a central force in our

collective lives.

We must recognize that traditional mechanisms for

harmonization and negotiation are showing clear signs of

exhaustion. We must rethink these strategies in order to

deal with old and new problems. The consolidation of a

structure which is truly democratic, transparent and well

balanced, and which is consistent with the purpose and

principles of the San Francisco Charter must be our

common goal.

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In this context, I wish to stress the importance of

achieving a better balance between the principal organs of

the United Nations. The Security Council needs to be

reformed in order to strengthen its legitimacy,

representativeness, effectiveness, democracy and

transparency. In considering its structure, we must correct

the deficiencies in its present composition. It is not a matter

of size; rather, the problem is the lack of balance in its

representativeness. The Security Council must reflect the

plurality and diversity of the membership of the United

Nations, taking into account the profound changes in

political geography experienced in the last decade.

Likewise, we must avoid repeating or even broadening

existing inequalities. For this reason, Mexico is against

increasing the number of permanent members. Let us not

fall into the fallacy of believing that the Councilâs

effectiveness resides in the right of veto. All rights bear

responsibilities and these must not be abused. Otherwise,

the necessary legitimacy which makes the Security Council

efficient and effective is eroded. This is why I wish to

reiterate our appeal to the permanent members to join in an

open-minded way in designing a system to regulate the

sphere of application of that privilege.

Nonetheless, we recognize that structural reform of the

Security Council will not in itself guarantee its

effectiveness. Hence, we insist on the need to progress

towards a thorough revision of its working methods and of

the decision-making process. The community of nations has

given that organ the high responsibility of ensuring

international peace and security. Under paragraph 1 of

Article 24 of the Charter, the members of the Organization

recognize that the Council acts in our name in carrying out

these functions.

It is therefore clear that the Security Councilâs attitude

must be profoundly democratic and one of respect towards

the General Assembly, in accordance with paragraph 3 of

the same Article. Anything else would be a violation of the

letter and spirit of the Charter, and would mean an erosion

of the Councilâs legitimacy and its capacity to fulfil the

responsibilities that we have entrusted to it. We must break

this vicious circle and make serious progress in the design

and implementation of the needed reforms.

My country will continue to participate actively in the

Working Group charged with reform of the Security

Council. We hope to be able to submit to the Assembly

recommendations that can receive widespread support,

genuinely reflecting the collective aspirations of all the

members of the United Nations.

Our concerns about international security and the

capacity of our multilateral forums to respond effectively

to new challenges are compounded today by the

uncertainty caused by the international financial crisis.

It is obvious that the Bretton Woods system has

shown its inability to respond adequately to the challenges

of the current international financial crisis. We are

undoubtedly faced with a situation of high risk which

threatens to erode the important development attainments

of our emerging economies. Given the vicissitudes of the

international financial situation, we, the countries of Latin

America, have endeavoured to maintain our economic

strength through profound and sometimes difficult

processes of structural reform. We reaffirm our

commitment to continue to manage in a responsible way

the economic policy mechanisms that ensure our stability

and growth.

It is clear that this is not enough and that concerted

action is needed on the part of all countries and

international financial organs. Heads of State and

Government of the Rio Group meeting in Panama on

4-5 September urged the countries in which the financial

crisis originated to adopt the measures needed to correct

their imbalances. They made an appeal to the countries of

the Group of 7 to immediately take the necessary

measures to restore stability to financial markets and to

ensure the growth of the world economy. The Rio Group

also appealed to international financial institutions to be

involved more quickly and effectively in finding solutions

to the international financial crisis.

Overcoming the present situation must be our

priority. We must be creative in order to find formulas

that make it possible for us to avoid recurring financial

crises and banish the spectre of global recession. Just as

the community of nations has recognized the wisdom of

preventive action to protect international peace and

security, it is now necessary to take that same course in

order to prevent cracks in the fabric of the world

economy.

We must consider ways of implementing an early

warning system that will allow us to detect financial

crises in time and thus avoid their harmful effects. In the

recent past, there have been warning signs which in

isolation were not identified as a prelude to more serious

problems. We must collect such experiences, learn from

them and prepare ourselves better for the future.

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No country is free from responsibilities, just as no

country is free of the effects of international financial

imbalances. It is therefore up to us together and with a

clear sense of direction to seek the proper mechanisms to

respond early to signs that larger problems are imminent. In

this universal forum, I reiterate our conviction that we must

act resolutely in the short term. We need to define an

agenda for international economic stability. We appeal to

the Secretary-General so that, under his leadership and

guidance, we can share experiences and proposals that will

help us work toward global financial security.

By attaining that goal of preventive diplomacy, we

will be contributing to the development and well-being of

millions of persons who are victims of the financial

uncertainty that today afflicts all economies, particularly

those of a relatively lower level of development, and

endangers the stability of all nations.

In the face of an uncertain political and economic

panorama, the role of the United Nations takes on new

relevance. Recent changes on the international scene yield

unprecedented opportunities but at the same time present

challenges for which there are no easy answers. We must

act together in order to encourage the necessary consensus

as that will allow us to take advantage of the benefits of

globalization and confront its challenges.

We must fortify our individual and collective capacity

in order to take advantage of the positive trends towards

peace, stability, development and respect for law. Likewise,

we must strengthen our ability to banish confrontation,

violence, terror and inequality.

The United Nations is the necessary forum for facing

international problems and finding solutions to them. As we

reaffirm our commitment to the purposes of the San

Francisco Charter, we shall continue to promote the

participation of the United Nations in the definition of the

parameters of international coexistence.