Paraguay, 2001

As I begin my statement in the general debate, allow

me to express to you, Mr. Han Seung-soo, Minister for

Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, the pleasure

of my delegation at seeing you preside over the work

of this session of the General Assembly. Your personal

and professional qualities, with which we are familiar,

will ensure the success of our work. Your election is

also recognition of the sisterly Republic of Korea, a

country with which we have close links of cooperation

and friendship. You can be sure of the steadfast and

determined support of the delegation of Paraguay as

you carry out your duties.

Likewise, I would like to take this opportunity to

recognize the work being done by the Secretary-

General of our Organization, Mr. Kofi Annan, who was

recently honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for his

dedication to the cause of the United Nations, which is

peace itself. We are certain that under his leadership,

the efforts of the United Nations will reach all peoples

and the Organization will adapt itself to the new reality

and important challenges imposed on us by the context

of international politics.

Allow me today, two months after the tragic and

condemnable events of 11 September, to reiterate the

solidarity of my Government and of the people of the

Republic of Paraguay with the Government and people

of the United States and state our unswerving

commitment to the fight against terrorism in all its

manifestations. The Republic of Paraguay is not neutral

in the face of such a cowardly crime, and it will

continue to support all the efforts of this Organization

and the international community to put a definitive end

to these crimes against humanity. We must not confine

ourselves exclusively to demonstrations of solidarity

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and condemnation. We must make definite

commitments to the international consensus that has

been built in order to face this grave threat to humanity.

This general debate is taking place in

circumstances that would have been unimaginable to us

and that have reminded us of our vulnerability to

individuals and groups of individuals that commit

indiscriminate violent acts that are totally unjustified in

the minds or feelings of civilized human beings. We

must also recall that the theme of international

terrorism has been on our Organization’s agenda since

the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly,

and since then to date we have not been sufficiently

diligent in taking the legal and collective security

measures necessary to prevent events such as those we

are belatedly regretting

The urgent fight against terrorism in all its

manifestations, which should not be interpreted as a

clash of civilizations or of religious beliefs, is the top

priority on our international agenda, and we cannot

assert that any country is free of the danger posed by

international terrorism. Rarely in history have there

been such grave challenges to international peace and

security like the one we face today — a fact which

forces us take clear and firm positions that are in

keeping with the provisions of the Charter and the

prevailing norms of international law. Not only is

international security at stake today, but so is the

democratic system itself, which represents victory and

universal good in its constant aspiration to and struggle

for freedom and justice.

Immediately after these events, my Government

strengthened internal measures required by the

circumstances so as to be able to exercise greater

control and security over movements into and out of

the country, while respecting the principle of the free

movement of persons.

Mindful of its responsibility and consistent with

the commitment made as a Member of this

Organization, the Republic of Paraguay, by a decree of

the executive branch of 24 October 2001, established

an inter-ministerial commission to implement

resolution 1373 (2001), recently adopted by the

Security Council. The Republic’s judicial and

legislative branches and the Attorney General’s office

were called on to designate various governmental

division representatives. The commission was installed

on 6 November 2001, under the coordination of the

Ministry for Foreign Relations.

A draft law is also currently under consideration

by the judicial branch, which defines and sets penalties

for the crime of terrorism, and it enjoys the full support

of the executive branch.

On 12 October 2001, Paraguay signed the

International Convention for the Suppression of the

Financing of Terrorism, which is being referred to the

National Congress for adoption. The national

Government has embarked on constitutional procedures

so that the other conventions on this matter to which it

is still not a party will be signed and ratified or adhered

to as soon as possible.

We also expect the early adoption by the General

Assembly of the two conventions on terrorism, which

are under discussion in the Ad Hoc Committee created

for this purpose in the Sixth Committee. We must not

wait for a replay of the events of 11 September in order

to accelerate our strengthening of the international

legal framework. The time we delay in strengthening

our legal framework will be an opportunity for the

terrorists to increase their capacity and expand their

criminal activities to other countries.

Within the framework of the Organization of

American States (OAS), we have participated with full

conviction in deciding on actions and formulating

decisions that were recently adopted during the

consultative meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

In the context of our regional association — the

Common Market Southern Cone (MERCOSUR) — on

28 September 2001, it was decided to undertake the

broadest possible cooperation among its members in

order to carry out information exchange, studies,

concerted actions against terrorist acts and the

establishment of an open-ended working group to

appraise and devise common policies in the fight

against terrorism.

In recent weeks we have experienced once again

a new terrorist threat, and I am referring particularly to

the use of biological agents, whose effects could reach

a planetary level and threaten humanity itself as a

whole. This new criminal practice compels us to react

as rapidly and energetically as possible and be

determined in all our efforts to uncover the perpetrators

and their sponsors, who are acting in anonymity.

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International concern and actions generated by

the events of September must also prompt us to reflect

and evaluate other themes of transcendental importance

on our agenda, such as the fight against poverty, the

need to strengthen international economic cooperation

for development, access to markets and information

and communication technologies by the developing

countries so that the imbalances that still characterize

international relations may become less severe.

Achieving the goals set in the Millennium

Declaration, along with other commitments entered

into in the context of development in the various

forums of our Organization, must continue to be one of

our greatest and urgent challenges in coming years.

For this reason, we fully concur with the point

made by the Secretary-General in his report on the

work of the Organization that the most difficult battle

facing the international community is the eradication of

poverty — which is exactly why we must speed up the

economic growth of the developing countries. We trust

that the International Conference on Financing for

Development, to be held next year in Monterrey,

Mexico, will achieve the desired results. To this end,

we believe that consideration must be given to the

clear-cut differences among existing levels of

development, to the unevenness that prevails in the

capacity of countries to participate in international

processes and, in this regard, to the special situation of

landlocked countries, which, because of the nature of

their territory, face greater difficulties in engaging in

external trade, thus putting a brake on their economic

development.

It is our hope that the final outcome of that

Conference will not be confined solely and exclusively

to a mere political declaration or expression of wishes.

We hope that it will set clear objectives and goals to

ensure that the globalization process, rather than

widening the existing gap between rich and poor, will

promote the development of all nations within an

inclusive and equitable framework.

Given the new challenges and changes that have

arisen since the beginning of the new millennium, we

reaffirm our commitment to the urgent need to

strengthen our Organization, underscoring first and

foremost the central role that should be played by the

General Assembly as the most representative, universal

and equitable deliberative organ. We should not allow

the General Assembly to become a mere meeting place

where we participate in order to fulfil a routine

function within a pre-established timetable of work.

Speeding up reform of the Security Council is

another of the key aspects in strengthening the United

Nations. The Council should become a more

democratic, representative and transparent organ so

that it can strike a better political balance. This process

should provide for an increase in both permanent and

non-permanent members, so as to secure a better level

of participation for developing countries which, at the

present time, are under-represented. Likewise we

believe that, in the area of transparency of the

Council’s activities, it is appropriate to establish

interactive machinery involving the other Member

States of the Organization so that they will have greater

access to the Council’s work. For this reason, we have

welcomed the briefing meetings that the Chairman of

the Special Committee established pursuant to Security

Council resolution 1373 (2001) is giving to other

Members of the Organization.

Another outstanding issue that needs to be

resolved by our Organization, and one that gives us

utmost concern in view of the recent increase in

violence and loss of life, is the situation in the Middle

East. We believe that both the General Assembly and

the Security Council should redouble their efforts to

arrive at a solution that will respond to the rightful

aspirations of the parties concerned. It should include

recognition of Israel’s existence within secure and

well-defined borders and the Palestinian people’s full

enjoyment of the right to have its own homeland. We

need to tackle this issue firmly and resolutely, ensuring

that we work together with the necessary political will

to contribute to international peace and security.

My country, Paraguay, also hopes that other areas

of tension in the world may be settled. In this regard,

mindful of the principle of universality enshrined in

our Charter, we advocate a solution to the question of

the Republic of China and Taiwan within the

framework of the norms of international law.

The current economic and social state of affairs,

and its consequences, obliges us to mobilize efficiently,

with the greatest possible degree of responsibility and

solidarity, the cooperation required from the developed

countries and the international financial institutions to

tackle the challenges that we, as leaders, face when we

try to create conditions of equal opportunity for paid

employment, and when we seek to eliminate income

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inequities that undermine social stability, and to

provide for basic care and services for our peoples and

for the sustainable development of our countries.

In conclusion, we are aware today, more than

ever, of the need to begin a process that allows us to

work together in a rational way to build a more

supportive and participatory new economic world

order, the ultimate purpose of which would be to

promote development and well-being for all of our

peoples, once and for all. In this regard, I wish to

express my Government’s utter conviction that the

current international situation underscores the

importance of this process beginning and ending within

the sphere of the United Nations, thus ensuring full

participation in it of all Member States.