Peru, 1992

Permit me to

congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election, which symbolizes the spirit

of renewal of the present period in international relations. Many of our

countries aspire to emulate your country's efforts to overcome obstacles and

spread political and economic freedom and become a productive part of the world

system.

The Government of Peru shares those same objectives, and is seeking to

restore the legitimacy and trustworthiness that have been lacking in the

past. To that end, we are seeking to modernize, to consolidate democracy and

economic competitiveness and, above all, to base our actions on the interests

of the majority. In a word, we are attempting to engage in a true process of

redefinition and national reconstruction.

The majority of the Members of the United Nations face similar problems,

but nothing can be done if the Organization cannot begin to function as a

genuinely multilateral association of sovereign nations with equal rights and

duties as provided for in the Charter. To that end we must reform the United

Nations and make it more effective, with the same perseverance and

determination our Governments have shown in their national reconstruction

efforts.

Democratization through decision-making by consensus; administrative

reform; a balance among the various bodies of the Organization; and improved

cooperation for development: these are among the crucial factors for the

future of the United Nations and for its prestige and authority. The

developing countries have the ongoing task of ensuring respect for the

principles of the Charter. On the basis of those same principles, the major

Powers must redefine their real national priorities. It would then be

possible to decide on a mandate agreeable to both sides that would orient the

rebirth of the United Nations and prevent erratic extremism.

The collapse of communism did not mean the automatic disappearance of the

world's problems, but it has given the world community its first opportunity

in 50 years to reorient international relations towards peace and well-being.

We face an unprecedented, formidable effort that can now begin in propitious

circumstances. The bases of this common effort are: development; the

solution of disputes by diplomatic means; respect for law; and the application

of fundamental economic and political freedoms. The United Nations system is

the only mechanism creative enough to put this into effect. Only though

multilateral cooperation will it be possible to conflate collective action and

respect for national sovereignty without manoeuvring to preserve or increase

international influence which would be even worse in a world free of

ideological motivations or the imperatives of the cold war.

For our countries as a group, it is vitally important to resume the

North-South dialogue on a constructive and realistic basis. None of the

global problems threatening the survival of mankind can be dealt with

adequately without the active participation of the developing countries. The

economic and social aspects of multilateral policy are in the interests of all

Member States. United Nations action in this realm has been notoriously

inadequate.

With the ideological confrontation of the post-War period overcome, the

most urgent problem today is the world recession and the consequent risk of

regional isolationism. Undue concern for political and security matters or a

narrow view of world problems can cloak conservative impulses and new

protectionist tendencies, which would pose the threat of undue interference.

The threat of this new world division can be dispelled only if we all agree

that the various aspects of North-South relations together constitute the most

urgent, critical factor of international security.

None the less, Peru recognizes the importance and urgency of maintaining

peace and preventing conflicts. We are prepared to expand our traditional

participation in peace-keeping operations. The Secretary-General's Agenda for

Peace sets out many innovative ideas for the future of United Nations action

in this sphere, and we firmly support them.

The situation of Peru exemplifies the unyielding relationship among

national, regional and world bodies. In our case, this relationship,

frequently addressed by the theoreticians of international relations, becomes

something of a paradigm, because my country has worked to promote its national

interests, respect for national sovereignty and multilateral action. In other

words, Peru seeks to reconcile a political programme dealing both with the

viability of its internal plans and with foreign affairs through a consistent

economic and financial programme. At this point in international relations,

we cannot imagine that a State like Peru can exist without coherence among

those three factors. Without this, we would be under constant threat from

fragmentation of sovereignty which has already done damage in other parts of

the world or from harsh limitations of sovereignty resulting from the

interventionist nature of the new global challenges and the consequences of

hasty multilateralism.

We view regional action as relevant, because we consider that the future

of the multilateral system is based on the development of trustworthy regional

organizations. These must play a growing role in the promotion of democracy,

fostering development, in overcoming conflicts, in supplying humanitarian

assistance and in maintaining peace.

In our region, Peru is working to ensure that the Organization of

American States will play its new role and go beyond the rituals of rhetoric

and ostracism. We cannot continue to hold back a hemispheric organization

whose work must be based on solidarity and must be effective to address the

fundamental issues that threaten democracy and development.

The democratization of international relations can be achieved in a

number of ways. Peru believes that one of the most effective of these is the

strengthening of regional organizations, which are ideal forums for dealing

with any substantive issue. All the situations that now call for speedy and

effective action are the legacy of the dynamics of the cold war. Today we

need imaginative solutions that combine the global vision of the United

Nations with contributions by regional bodies. This is no easy task, because

both approaches require the political will of Member States; but given the

uncertainty of international relations, that will must consistently be made

manifest in all bodies where States come together, as is obviously the case

with the wide range of neighbourly relations we enjoy within our Organization.

The Government of Peru shares the desire of the Government of Ecuador,

expressed by the President of that country, Mr. Duran Ballen, in his statement

last Friday. He spoke about the need to promote joint development between the

two countries. In this context, and bearing in mind the fact that Peru gives

priority to the strengthening of its fraternal bonds with Ecuador,

President Alberto Fujimori in November 1991 put forward a proposal for

friendship, cooperation and integration. This proposal was aimed at

reorienting bilateral relations to reflect the desires of our peoples to

strengthen good-neighbourly relations and development.

Peru is convinced that the common will for understanding expressed during

the State visit by President Fujimori of Ecuador in January 1992, as well as

in the interview with President Duran Ballen in Quito last August, when he

assumed the presidency of Ecuador, will continue in further meetings between

the two Heads of State, making it possible gradually to harmonize our

respective positions and to deepen our relations.

As is well known, the crisis in Peru has reached an extreme because of

the actions of terrorist groups and as a result of our dire economic

situation. But we must avoid simplistic interpretations which maintain, for

example, that ours is an ethnic problem pitting an indigenous population, the

descendants of defeated Incas, against a political class descended from the

Spanish conquistadors. This interpretation is thought-provoking and linear

but inaccurate. Exploitation of man by man is a historic fact which many

generations of Peruvians have striven to cancel out. But it is also a

struggle to reconcile characteristics of an idiosyncrasy rooted in a profound

and extensive mixing of races - characteristics that at times may clash but

that at others can mesh fraternally throughout the breadth of Peru, fragmented

as it is by its topography, and to the depth of the baroque culture of this

the oldest nation State of South America.

The cumulative ancestral problems of five centuries have given rise to a

social breakdown which may now be called historical. To this unstable legacy

are now added new challenges, including a quarter of a century of economic

stagnation and internal migration, with its accompanying demographic explosion

and mushrooming slums, and culminating during the past decade in

narco-terrorism. Quite naturally, this has produced a tacit alienation

between the State and society and as a result rightly or wrongly people

have perceived the State as an obstacle or impediment instead of as a

guarantee of meeting the basic needs of society.

In the face of these challenges, an ambitious and difficult programme to

put the country's economy and finances on a healthier footing was begun in

1990; it is now on the verge of bringing economic recovery and renewal of the

State apparatus. An anti-terrorist strategy culminated a few days ago in the

capture of the founder of the terrorist group Shining Path.

The conciliation Peru now seeks between its ancestral culture and the

modern-day exigencies of competition is not impossible. It can be achieved by

modernizing the economy and public institutions and by eliminating insecurity

through joint efforts of the State and society against terrorism. What is

needed is a representative democracy that is more attentive to the real

immediate interests of the people, along with institutions that can guarantee

an efficient dialogue between the State and society. This civic progress can

be successfully made through a modern parliament, through integrity and

efficiency in the administration of justice, and through the constant efforts

of the political classes, both new and traditional, in order to surmount the

country's problems in light of reality rather than of doctrine.

At this complicated juncture Peru does not stand alone. It has enjoyed

the understanding of other countries in the hemisphere and the thoughtful

support of countries in other parts of the world. The understanding reached

with regard to Peru's problems in the Organization of American States

represents a historic landmark in the work of that organization and augurs

well for its intelligent and dynamic responses to future challenges.

The decision to respond positively to Peru's request for technical

support and to send observers to the elections to be held in November is the

expression of a joint effort to interpret, in a definite and transparent

manner, the desires of the people and the Government of Peru to elect a

constituent congress which will lead to new institutional viability for our

democracy.

The Shining Path obsession has not only divided the country but created

antagonisms between the State and society, destroying both and creating

instead a totalitarian response to the national crisis. The various stages

of the Shining Path, stripped of anecdote and rhetorical effect, began with

the exploitation of a short-lived and fairly confined Andean uprising,

followed by coercive recruitment, employing intimidation and violence against

peasants. In this context, given the movement's tenuous strength in the rural

areas, it launched an assault on the cities, carrying out fierce

assassinations of true urban leaders and bombing civil targets.

During recent stages, the Shining Path had already established an

unnatural alliance with Peru's most powerful and illegitimate transnational

force, drug trafficking. It had filled the growing popular vacuum with its

radicalized violence, taking new terrorist forms to extremes and moving from

the countryside, where it had never taken root, to the city in a so-called

"strategic step" which only the narcissistic cult of its leadership could

sustain. This final stage of self-intoxicated obstinacy was the beginning of

the end.

Society reacted. From apprehension and despair, we moved silently to

indignation and took the offensive, making it possible to create an atmosphere

propitious to the recent capture of the founder of this Utopian movement that

Peru considers to be the antithesis of its nationality. While it would be

overly optimistic to say that we are approaching the light at the end of the

tunnel, we can indeed perceive the fresh air of a new era of hope.

The Peruvian people have overcome their paralysis and are now taking

action against terrorism. Now that its genocidal practices have been

uncovered and the Shining Path is being stymied by the renewed thrust of

democracy in Peru, the efforts of the hemisphere must lead to international

cooperation. In essence what we are trying to do is to promote the most

effective integration of Peru into the world economy; at the same time, we

must contribute to the country's internal security and cooperate in the

dismantling of external agents who are still promoting terrorism in this

nation. Here, in a word, lies the solidarity demanded by Peru and which the

Charter requires of us, the United Nations.