Panama, 2002

Allow me

to begin my statement by expressing the pleasure of the

Government and people of Panama on your well-

deserved election, Sir, as President of the General

Assembly at its fifty-seventh session. We fully

supported that election.

We value your understanding of most of the

issues that are the subjects of debate in this world arena

and the opportunities afforded us by the experience that

you have gained in your homeland, along with that in

general of the peoples of Eastern Europe, a region that,

in recent years, has been the crucible of the most

complex problems and, at the same time, the most

innovative solutions.

I also pay tribute to the extraordinary work of

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has made

undeniable and productive efforts to achieve

reconciliation among peoples living in the midst of

conflict.

I wish to express my satisfaction at having been

able to stand with the American people at the

commemoration of the first anniversary of the tragic

events of 11 September. Images of the moving and,

above all, authentic homage paid yesterday morning

will remain graven indelibly in my memory. If the

nationalities of the heroes had been noted along with

their names, we would undoubtedly have understood

more clearly that this crime was an assault not only on

the United States of America, but on the whole of

humankind.

Terrorism has become the gravest threat to

international security and to the environment of peace

that has gradually gained ground throughout the world.

This has come at the price of an immense sacrifice in

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terms both of human life and of resources that should

be devoted to promoting the collective well-being of

our societies.

That is why terrorism must be defeated utterly,

using all means available to us, wherever it may be

found. With such resolve, Panama has taken specific

steps, ratifying the major international instruments

against terrorism and adopting and implementing

domestic legal norms designed to control the sources of

financing. In the context of this collective endeavour,

our country has chaired the Committee on Hemispheric

Security of the Organization of American States,

seeking thereby to adapt to our realities all instruments

that are relevant to this issue, while strengthening

mechanisms of cooperation in the fight against

terrorism.

In the light of that commitment, on 7 March we

ratified the Rome Statute creating the International

Criminal Court and deposited our instruments of

ratification with the United Nations on 21 March. We

firmly believe that, as stipulated by the Statute, we

must end the impunity of those who commit appalling

crimes against humanity, regardless of the charges

brought by the victims and of the immunities that may

have been extended to the perpetrator within or outside

his own country.

However, the fight against terrorism and the

abuse of power that hinders democracy and undermines

human rights must go hand in hand with genuine

growth opportunities for the developing countries.

The Republic of Panama has unreservedly

assumed the commitment to broadly disseminate the

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on

women, as well as to implement the Platform's 12

critical areas of concern.

We also reaffirm that the progress of nations must

be based on sustainable development, guided by the

commitments undertaken at Rio de Janeiro and the

relevant processes culminating at Johannesburg, with

all their agreements and initiatives.

Our foreign policy is based on the fundamental

values of our people, such as the promotion of

democracy and good governance, solidarity and

international cooperation. For that reason, we have

embraced the free trade option, but, as we indicated in

Monterrey in March 2002, a more equitable economic

regime must be consolidated that will enhance

opportunities for cooperation, address the question of

our external indebtedness and stimulate free trade

based on equity and symmetry.

In that context, we currently host the interim

secretariat for the Free Trade Area of the Americas,

aspiring, as we have demonstrated, to become the site

of the permanent secretariat in 2005.

Panama is moving firmly in the right direction,

addressing the far-reaching themes of the new

millennium with the active participation of society. It is

modernizing the State administration, tackling the need

to modernize its educational and social security

systems and developing its rural sector. At the same

time, we are beginning to forge a new industrial

strategy with tools that will give us access to

international markets on a competitive footing in terms

of price and quality.

At the same time as the Panama Canal is being

rapidly modernized to respond to the demands of world

trade, we are enhancing our democratic stability

through increasingly efficient and transparent

processes. We respect and support human rights,

particularly the freedom of expression, and we are

taking innovative steps to guarantee a promising future

for our society.

In the context of all of these initiatives, which are

repeated in country after country, the United Nations,

without doubt, will have to play a much more

aggressive role, sustaining and enhancing capacities for

political dialogue and preventing the economic domain

from assuming that role. For that reason, this

revitalizing effort must be supplemented with sustained

action, as has been recommended by the Group of

Latin American and Caribbean States and other

regional groups.

Panama hails the way the Security Council has

conducted its work over the past year and continues to

believe that this important United Nations organ be

composed of a larger number of members. However, as

we did at the fifty-sixth session of the General

Assembly, we stress today that consideration of

permanent or non-permanent status must be linked to

justifications in keeping with the new vision of the

world and that changes must not be introduced that

could lead to the permanent distribution of privileges

that became manifestly obsolete years ago.

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Like the rest of the world, we are concerned at

the situation in the Middle East, in neighbouring

Colombia and in many other parts of the world where

international support is still being anxiously awaited.

Our Government believes that the benefits of the

United Nations system and its various bodies must be

extended to the people of Taiwan, while fostering a

broad debate with the aim of beginning formal,

peaceful negotiations that will lead the people of China

to resolve existing differences.

Our delegation is particularly gratified at the

presence of so many political leaders who have come

here in a gesture of fraternal solidarity with all the

citizens of the world who were victims of the madness

and the evil of groups that do not understand the

advantages of dialogue and civilized understanding.

We will only be able achieve the lofty goals we

are setting at this forum through the unity of those who

aspire to live in a fraternal, prosperous and peaceful

world. May God enlighten us and guide us in the

search for that legitimate aspiration.