Paraguay, 1999

At

the outset, I wish to greet the President of the General

Assembly, His Excellency Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister for

Foreign Affairs of Namibia, whom I congratulate on his

election and offer all the cooperation of the delegation of

Paraguay in his work.

In greeting Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I

congratulate him on his excellent work for the

Organization and reaffirm the full support of the Republic

of Paraguay for his efforts on behalf of world peace.

At the same time, the delegation of Paraguay wishes

to welcome the Republics of Kiribati and Nauru and the

Kingdom of Tonga to membership of the United Nations.

We are convinced that their work will contribute to

international peace and development and that their

presence among us is further evidence of the

universalization foreseen under the Charter.

This regular session of the General Assembly finds

Paraguay at a crucial moment in its political life and for

its expectations for economic and social development. The

Paraguayans have very recently overcome internal

destabilization. However, a rapid, broad and heroic

mobilization of the citizenry, in particular the members of

Parliament, youth, workers and peasants, formed an

impenetrable barrier against an attempt to foment a

constitutional collapse and provided support for the

resistance to this attack on democracy.

As a result of the crisis of March 1999, the gravity

and importance of which caused it to be followed by the

media throughout the world, a Government of national

unity was established in the framework of the National

Constitution. That Government, which I have the honour

to represent before this Assembly, is composed of all

political parties through democratically elected

parliamentarians. Today, it faces the great challenge of

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pulling Paraguay out of chronic economic stagnation and

great social inequity.

In various international forums, and yet again in this

arena of brotherhood among the States of the world,

Paraguay appeals for the solidarity and cooperation of the

multilateral and bilateral organizations in carrying out its

economic reactivation programme and the implementation

of social and anti-poverty policies. This activity will be the

basis and guarantee of the survival of our democracy.

In this context, for the first time in my country's recent

history, the political parties, the authorities of the State and

the representatives of civil society have agreed in a patriotic

consensus on policies and strategies to rechannel economic

growth, alleviate poverty, combat social exclusion and

achieve well-being for our people. Democracy, as an ideal

form of organization and coexistence, will be insured for

history by sustainable development, which will guarantee

the material well-being of the impoverished majority.

In this respect, my country has subscribed to and fully

supports the principles, objectives and measures adopted at

the United Nations Conferences on social development,

population and development, and women. We are

unswervingly committed to political democracy because we

know that we must consolidate it with justice, social equity,

economic growth and sustainable development. My

Government is firmly decided to participate and act jointly

with other countries of the world at all levels to enhance

natural resources and preserve the environment as an

irreplaceable framework for human development.

In a significant response to the requirements of the

Cairo Conference, Paraguay has adopted a national plan and

a Council for Reproductive Health. With the establishment

of the Women's Secretariat, we have strengthened women's

presence in government and made available a programme

for women's equality in education. This measure has

allowed us to incorporate gender equality into educational

reform and to adopt a women's equal-opportunity plan.

We have attributed equal importance to the

Convention on the Rights of the Child and to the

commitments made at the Children's Summit. In this

respect, the Executive Power has submitted a code for

minor's for parliamentary approval.

Clearly, these important steps have had a positive

effect. Paraguay today, according to the most recent report

of the United Nations Development Programme, is in a

comparatively improved position that favours its human

development indicators.

The dynamic of today's world is an unavoidable

challenge demanding not only domestic democratic

cooperation, but also negotiations that will raise countries

to a level of development at which they can work with

other regional and multilateral partners.

Convinced of this, Paraguay, freely and in full

sovereignty, has decided to join the great Southern Cone

Common Market (MERCOSUR) project, a regional

experiment that has proved to be a useful instrument for

addressing the challenges of an ever-changing world

economy. Thus, we look forward to the opening of

negotiations to establish a free-trade zone between

MERCOSUR and the European Union. Similarly,

Paraguay is actively participating in the ambitious Free

Trade Area of the Americas, an undertaking that will

have enormous repercussions for the American continent.

In its decisive struggle for comprehensive progress,

my country is participating with renewed hope and great

faith in the ideals that formed the basis for the

establishment and existence of the United Nations. We

therefore reaffirm our full commitment to the principles

of multilateralism, equal sovereignty of States and respect

for the legal order that support the essential principles of

the Organization.

In this respect, Paraguay is examining the process of

change and the strengthening of this Organization. We

will support all efforts to improve its efficiency and

operational capacity to maintain peace and contribute to

the human development of all peoples.

Nevertheless, my country believes that the structure

of the United Nations must be made less costly and more

efficient. The Organization should strengthen the

Economic and Social Council, continue to streamline the

Secretariat and reduce the overlap of its specialized

agencies, through efficient rationalization of the flow of

resources for cooperation for sustainable development.

Given the challenges facing the United Nations, we

attach considerable importance to the adoption of

measures to ensure the good financial functioning of its

organs, and we therefore urge Member States, particularly

the most developed, to meet their financial obligations as

an essential prerequisite for the reform of the

Organization.

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Similarly, the Government of my country does not

consider that the present composition of the Security

Council reflects the presence of all the main actors of the

international community, nor that its numbers are in

proportion to the totality of Members. Only an increase in

the number of permanent and non-permanent Members will

ensure more equitable participation within the Security

Council and, thus the necessary political balance. In that

respect, the progressive process of international

democratization must conclude with the elimination of the

right of veto of its permanent members.

Therefore, Paraguay supports the aspiration of Latin

America and other continents to have greater representation

in the Council, where the presence of Brazil as a permanent

member, could represent the great interests of our region.

Paraguay is convinced that maintaining international

peace and security must continue to be one of the priorities

of the United Nations, in particular in those areas of

conflict where its intervention can contribute decisively to

stabilizing the situation on the ground and achieving peace.

As proof of its commitment to these noble purposes,

the Government of Paraguay has officially offered the

Secretary-General the participation of members of its armed

forces in United Nations peacekeeping operations, a

decision which will contribute to this noble humanitarian

purpose. To that end, a battalion of elite officers of the

Paraguay army is receiving special training to participate in

those operations, in accordance with the memorandum of

understanding to be signed between the Republic of

Paraguay and the United Nations.

However, we truly believe that the best guarantee of

peace, together with the monitoring of human rights and

equal opportunity for development, is to reduce armaments

progressively and in a sustained manner until they are

totally eliminated.

Paraguay strongly condemns terrorism in all its forms,

regarding it as one of the most serious threats to our

societies. In that respect, we have supported all the United

Nations initiatives to counteract this scourge, making clear

our resolve to prevent it, combat it and eliminate it. It is

timely to recall that my country has itself suffered from the

effects of this terrible scourge; in this very year we have

suffered the horrendous assassination of the Vice-President

of the Republic, Luis Mar'a Argaña. I take this opportunity

for the President of the Republic of Paraguay to thank the

General Assembly for the tribute which was paid to him.

Paraguay will not cease its struggle to eradicate terrorist

bands, which are alien to our tradition and our history.

With regard to other scourges which afflict our

societies, I must emphasize with great satisfaction the

efforts which my country is making in the crusade against

illicit drug-trafficking and related crimes, a struggle which

is carried out with the greatest cooperation. The twentieth

special session of the United Nations, on the question of

drugs, held in New York in June 1998, conveyed in its

decisions that spirit, which should lead us inexorably to

the final destruction of the merchants of death, a victory

which will be achieved with the shared responsibility of

the nations committed to the crusade.

These purposes will be achieved with the faithful

fulfilment of the commitments undertaken with regard to

human rights and fundamental freedoms. In this respect,

my country has followed the recommendations of the

United Nations with regard to signing, adhering to and

ratifying those commitments, whose purpose it is to

strengthen the framework for the promotion and

protection of the rights of the individual. International

legal instruments in this regard form part of the law in the

Republic of Paraguay.

For that reason, my Government accepts verification

and monitoring by organizations concerned with the

protection of human rights, thus complying with the

provisions of the covenants which it has ratified, as a

commitment of its will to fulfil them. We must note here

that Paraguay has just received a visit from the Inter-

American Commission on Human Rights, which arrived

in the country in response to an invitation by the

Government.

With regard to the priorities of justice concerning

crimes of international scope, we find it very satisfactory

to note a most promising event: the approval in 1998 of

the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to

pass judgement on individuals accused of the crimes

which most offend the human conscience. Paraguay,

being one of the signatories, has submitted this document

for parliamentary approval.

Furthermore, Paraguay, whose population includes

15 per cent of foreigners, the majority of whom live in

border areas, free of segregation or discrimination, notes

with satisfaction that the problem of the Balkans is

moving back to its natural ambit, the United Nations

Security Council, which must necessarily approve any

decision.

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Our permanent, determined support for the Conference

on Disarmament is one of the pillars of our international

policy. Paraguay, which supported the process of

decolonization and the autonomy of peoples from the time

the United Nations was established, has followed with great

concern the events in East Timor. I sincerely hope that with

the efforts of the United Nations, the best solution will be

found to the problem, with the consecration of the rights of

this people, legitimized in the referendum and encouraged

by our Organization.

My country has firmly decided to keep to the essential

principles of coexistence and civilization; this is a necessary

result of its belonging to the international community.

Following the principle of universality, Paraguay supports

the right of all the peoples of the world to make their

voices heard at the United Nations.

Paraguay believes that the situation in the China Strait

must be resolved within the framework of international law,

non-aggression and peaceful coexistence of nations.

I cannot fail to state here that we share the sorrow of

the people of the Republic of China at the catastrophe

afflicting its territory. We must all commit ourselves to

offering cooperation and help to achieve its full recovery.

In my country there is an unswerving commitment to

democracy and the belief that this can be consolidated only

through justice, social equity, economic growth and

sustainable development. That is why my Government has

resolved to participate and act together with other countries

in all efforts aimed at preserving natural resources and the

environment, an indispensable task for comprehensive

development. For the same reasons, in this year when

humanity will achieve the surprising figure of six billion

inhabitants in the world, we, the Heads of State and

Government and political leaders and officials have the

historic responsibility to respond to the needs and

expectations of this huge world population. But let us not

do it with hunger, thirst, wars, terrorism, discrimination,

genocide, tyranny and injustice — let us do it with

responsibility, with positive actions, and with security for

the human person.

On the threshold of the new millennium, Paraguay is

prepared to participate in this urgent task of improving

human civilization.