Mexico, 1999

My

delegation welcomes the election of the Minister for

Foreign Affairs of Namibia, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth

session. Mexico knows him as an experienced diplomat

whose contribution will guarantee that our work strengthens

the ability of the United Nations to face the challenges of

the next century. In welcoming his election, we pay tribute

to the constructive role Namibia plays on the international

stage.

My delegation would also like to place on record its

appreciation to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay,

Mr. Didier Opertti, for his outstanding guidance of the

fifty-third session.

I wish also to express the satisfaction of Mexico at the

admission of the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of

Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga to membership of the

Organization. Their presence among us strengthens

universality, the very essence of the United Nations.

My delegation is participating in this session with the

will to negotiate and the desire to cooperate that have

always characterized Mexico's foreign policy. We are

convinced that the proposals we make and results we

achieve will contribute to designing the international order

of the twenty-first century; we shall be an active participant

in the debate.

Now more than ever it seem essential that we review

the system we devised at San Francisco in the light of our

experiences over the past 54 years and of the progress

achieved in the field of international law. In that review we

must ensure that the interests of all Member States are

taken into account in line with the Charter principle of the

sovereign equality of States.

Mexico is proud of its multilateral outlook. My

country has always seen the United Nations as the ideal

forum to propose, negotiate and agree on solutions and

common strategies that will enable us to face our collective

challenges. We Mexicans are convinced that it is imperative

to spare no effort to make our Organization the primary

forum for generating comprehensive policies, policies that

guarantee lasting peace and security, and the development

and welfare of all peoples on earth.

As it does every year, the General Assembly has a

broad and complex agenda before it at this session. I wish

therefore to focus my statement on three topics that I

consider to be of paramount importance for the future of

the Organization and of the community of nations: world

peace and security; international cooperation in the field

of natural disasters; and the financial architecture of the

new century.

The Preamble and Article 1 of the Charter state that

fundamental aims of the peoples of the United Nations

are to live together in peace and to solve their disputes

without resorting to the use of force. The attainment of

those aims is our only guarantee if we yearn for a stable

and secure international community that reveres friendly

relations and goodwill among all peoples and all nations.

We note with growing concern that, far from

disappearing, conflicts have multiplied and their nature

has changed as a consequence of the reshuffling of forces

in the international arena. Today, these ever-proliferating

confrontations are to a great extent internal ones,

presenting formidable challenges to an Organization

conceived to resolve disputes between States. We still

lack clear-cut mandates and a defined consensus on how

to address this new state of affairs. This often divides us,

not on the ultimate goal — peace — but on the means to

achieve it. Given the absence of a new political contract

that enjoys the support of all Members of the United

Nations, Mexico will continue firmly to maintain that the

search for solutions to conflicts, whether they be internal

or international, must be in conformity with the letter and

the spirit of the San Francisco Charter. Its principles

cannot be subjected to interpretations varying with

circumstances or to unilateral whims. We cannot allow

the authority or the legitimacy of the Organization to be

damaged. We cannot accept actions that openly contradict

the intentions of the founders and that weaken the rights

of the community of States.

Mexico has always maintained that the use of force,

even when motivated by the loftiest humanitarian

impulses, is no solution; to the contrary, it generates

further instability, uncertainty and violence. But my

country has shown restraint when the Security Council

has acted in strict compliance with Chapter VII of the

Charter. Even so, the Mexican Government reiterates the

value of the peaceful settlement of disputes and firmly

rejects the existence of an alleged right to intervene,

particularly when it is proclaimed outside the framework

of international law.

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This is one of the most pressing challenges that we

must face as we move towards the new millennium.

Essentially, we are striving to give the United Nations the

political underpinning that will enable it to face new threats

to peace and security in line with the thinking that inspired

the authors of the San Francisco Charter. If we fail, we run

the risk of eroding international negotiating tools and of

doing precisely what we want to avoid: weakening the

Organization.

For these reasons, my delegation invites all Member

States to begin an exercise in collective thinking that will

enable us to solve the dilemma of humanitarian crises

caused by internal conflicts on the one hand and of the

capability of the United Nations to respond on the other.

This must be an exercise in deep thinking that will lead us

to lasting solutions, which will both preserve peace and

protect the lives and human rights of those involved in

conflicts.

Allow me now to turn to another topic that I deem

central to the future of the United Nations: international

cooperation in the event of natural disaster. In view of the

regrettable recurrence of natural disasters, it is urgent to

think about a creative and effective international division of

labour so that responses by countries, regions and

organizations do not constitute isolated efforts or temporary

relief. They should instead constitute a comprehensive

strategy that will contribute to lasting stability.

We have all witnessed the sad consequences of natural

catastrophes. Recent experiences highlight the urgent need

for an effective machinery to address more rapidly and

more fully the needs of affected populations. These

experiences show also that at the very outset of the tragedy

it is essential to mobilize broader support efforts to

contribute to full recovery in the shortest possible time.

At the regional level, the countries of Latin America

and the Caribbean have taken important steps that serve as

an example of the proposed new division of labour to deal

with natural disasters. In the declaration on technical

cooperation for the prevention and relief of natural disasters

adopted at the summit meeting of the Permanent

Mechanism for Political Consultation and Concertation (Rio

Group), held in Mexico City in May, we undertook the

commitment “to promote permanent measures of technical

cooperation on every phase of natural disasters”. This

marks significant progress in the field of international

cooperation. It aims not only to repair the damage but also

to include preventive measures, and is designed to ensure

assistance not only at the time of crisis but also during

the reconstruction period.

Likewise, during their summit, held in June 1999 at

Rio de Janeiro, heads of State or Government of Latin

America and the Caribbean and of the European Union

decided to launch an important programme of cooperation

in the sphere of environmental and natural disasters. Its

goal is to help improve the capacity of the most

vulnerable nations of both regions so we can prevent and

deal with disasters. To that end, they agreed to establish

an appropriate system of international assistance at all

phases from prevention and early warning to emergency

assistance and mitigation, without neglecting rehabilitation

and reconstruction.

My delegation is convinced that these experiences

deserve to be considered by this Assembly so that their

merits may be assessed and disseminated throughout the

world. The United Nations must play a central role in

making this strategy international. It is urgent to have

national listings of civil defence organizations with

updated inventories of available resources to help in

disasters, and handbooks to guide us in the effective

management of international cooperation. In other words,

the Organization must respond in terms of who will

provide international cooperation when natural disasters

strike, what they will provide, and how they will provide

it.

Lastly, I would like to refer to the financial

architecture of the new century. A year ago, in this same

forum, I voiced the concern of Mexico about the harmful

effects that financial crises have on our societies. At that

time, I proposed that the Member States, coordinated by

the Secretary-General, should undertake to reflect on how

to improve our early-warning capacity in order to prevent

and confront in a timely fashion the occurrence and

proliferation of financial crises. This initiative found

support in resolution 53/172, entitled “The financial crisis

and its impact on growth and development, especially in

the developing countries”.

Subsequently, we proposed to the Secretary-General

the undertaking of an effort at the regional level in Latin

America and the Caribbean as part of a broader

endeavour that will have to involve other areas, including

developed countries and the international financial

agencies.

Earlier this month, in close collaboration with the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the

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Caribbean, we held a meeting in Mexico City under the

heading “Towards a stable and predictable international

financial system linked to social development.” High-level

Government officials of the countries of our region

participated, as well as specialists and prominent officials

of multilateral institutions working in financial and social

fields.

At that meeting, we undertook an in-depth analysis of

the international financial architecture and its connection to

the social development of our peoples. We also reaffirmed

our conviction that it is urgent and necessary to define a

new world financial scheme that includes a social

dimension. The conclusions of that regional meeting have

been conveyed to the Secretary-General, and I would like

refer to just a few of them.

First, we participants expressed our concern over the

fact that once the most visible effects of the crisis are

overcome, we observe a dangerous attitude of complacency.

The countries of the region are convinced that a renewed

effort is required in order to strengthen the global financial

system, and we reaffirmed our commitment to actively

participate in this task.

Secondly, we emphasized the need to have a stable,

transparent, predictable, organized and secure international

financial system. To this end, we, the various participants

must accept and fulfil our respective responsibilities. The

international financial agencies must redesign their policies

in order to respond to the great challenges created by

financial markets. They must develop early-warning

mechanisms and expand their resources to help economies

in trouble in a timely and appropriate way. For their part,

countries must commit themselves to following

macroeconomic policies that lead to growth and social

justice. They must recognize, in order to remedy the

problem, the part played in the crisis by the absence of

adequate supervision and regulation of national banking

systems. A solid banking system is essential to protect a

country from speculative movements of capital.

Thirdly, we recognized the devastating impact that

financial crises have on the social situation and the

prospects for development of our countries. In this respect,

we expressed the need to advance towards a financial

architecture that reconciles the economy with society and

international finance with sustained social development. We

reaffirmed in this sense our absolute conviction that

sustained growth is the most effective way to reduce

inequality and poverty.

Fourthly, we agreed that the ultimate goal of the

international development banks must be precisely human

development. We deemed it fundamental for those

institutions to give high priority to financial support for

the formation of basic networks of social protection in

times of crisis, without losing sight of the broader

objectives of growth and development.

Fifthly, we agreed that the United Nations must play

a central role in promoting integrated social development

through forging an international consensus that helps

support and rebuild the global financial architecture. It is

encouraging to learn that in the year 2001 the United

Nations will sponsor a high-level meeting on financing

development. That will be an ideal opportunity to address

comprehensively the problem of social and human

development, including its financial aspect.

Thus, we will follow up on the conclusions and

recommendations coming out of the meeting in Mexico,

and on those from other meetings and forums, in order to

include all actors in the design of the financial

architecture for the twenty-first century. We will be

attentive to efforts in this direction on the part of

Secretary-General.

The United Nations must strengthen its position and

its mandate as the principal forum of debate and for

seeking consensual solutions that guide the work of the

international community in the face of problems and

situations that affect us all. It is essential to continue the

task of establishing a more democratic and transparent

Organization that fully reflects the interests and objectives

of its Members and that is a forum that truly represents

all of them. I am sure that all of us want a United

Nations where fairness and justice reign.

Looking towards the Millennium Assembly, we must

continue to foster cooperation and closeness among

nations in order to strengthen peace and security, push

disarmament ahead, promote development and the

struggle against poverty and ensure full respect for

international law.

If we are really being overtaken by events in the

global arena, we must strengthen our frame of action. If

it is necessary to reform our Organization to guarantee its

effective performance, let us do so. But let us do so

collectively, with respect for the juridical principle of the

equality of States. Let us not allow this forum to lose its

prestige or its influence. Mexico will not retreat from its

commitment to the letter and the spirit of the San

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Francisco Charter. To the contrary, it will participate

actively in the effort to guarantee the vitality of the United

Nations in order to build a better world, both for ourselves

and for future generations.

This is the aim of the proposals I have made on behalf

of the Government that I have the honour to represent.