Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 1998

On behalf of the delegation of Saint Vincent

and the Grenadines, I extend my warmest congratulations

to Mr. Didier Opertti on his election as President of the

General Assembly at its fifty-third session. His acumen,

scholarship and leadership skills are well known in our

region through his distinguished participation in various

high-level hemispheric forums over the years.

I also wish to express my delegation?s sincere

appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko

of the Ukraine, who presided over the work of the fifty-

second session with great distinction.

Our esteemed Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr.

Kofi Annan, has continued to provide outstanding

leadership in the discharge of his duties. My delegation

commends the Secretary-General for his reform initiatives

designed to make the United Nations a more efficient

organization, capable of responding to the many

challenges it faces, and for his untiring efforts in the

pursuit of world peace and security, long-lasting

prosperity and international cooperation. Our own

University of the West Indies, acting on behalf of the

region, has honoured him appropriately for his work in

this regard.

Since the signing of the Charter some 53 years ago,

the world can celebrate numerous progressive changes in

which the United Nations has played a significant part.

United Nations peacekeepers have been instrumental in

preserving peace and stability in troubled areas of the

globe, and the Organization?s humanitarian missions have

been effective in alleviating suffering among many people

throughout the world.

At the same time, there remains a massive gap

between aspiration and accomplishment. Despite the

unprecedented prosperity that technological advances and

the globalization of production and finance have brought

to many countries, especially in the developed world, the

majority of mankind is yet under the yoke of persistent

poverty.

The eradication of poverty remains a priority for

developing countries. The Government of Saint Vincent

and the Grenadines is committed to the uplifting of the lot

of the poor and disadvantaged sections of our society. In

this regard, my Government?s specific policy and

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programme objectives over the medium and long term are

designed to promote sustained economic growth and

development in ways that expand employment, raise

incomes, improve living standards, increase productive

capacity and reduce poverty. We therefore call for the

creation of a supportive international environment. We also

call on the developed countries to fulfil the commitments

undertaken for the provision of additional financial

resources in combating world poverty, that social

malignancy which is seminal many of the other problems

that plague developing countries.

It would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity

to thank the European Union for its unwavering support and

most recent decision on the banana regime for African,

Caribbean and Pacific countries, within the framework of

the Lomé Convention on economic cooperation, trade and

development. The new arrangements are compatible with

the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and will

allow this important regional industry to achieve a

sustainable level of growth. These new arrangements also

create an appropriate environment for the survival of a

restructured and competitive banana industry. It is therefore

quite alarming to learn that the United States of America

and some of our hemispheric friends in Latin America are

about to challenge the new arrangements.

Such actions force us to revisit the Charters of

regional and international organizations of which we are a

part and question the efficaciousness of our membership.

These incomprehensible stratagems on the part of friendly

countries nurture a pervasive cynicism among our peoples,

who chastise Governments for cooperating with those who

say one thing and then act in a totally contrary manner that

is injurious to our best interests.

My delegation is amazed by the blind and apathetic

position of the United States of America on the issue. We

are told that no harm is meant to Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines and other Caribbean banana-producing

countries, while efforts are made to undermine our social

stability, which is facilitated by the export of our bananas

under the provisions of the Lomé Convention.

How can we convince our citizens of the need to

combat the production, use and trade in illicit drugs if our

banana industry is destroyed? Is it really possible that our

friends, especially the United States, want to see the

proliferation of instability, insecurity and extreme poverty

in a region which has made steady socio-economic

progress since the widespread social turbulence of the

1930s?

In spite of the special difficulties faced by small

island developing countries like Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines, we are meeting all our international

obligations and have acceded to several bilateral and

multilateral programmes on the eradication of illicit drugs.

We have the will to fight this scourge in the international

community, but friendly nations should also understand

our vulnerabilities.

My Government is scrupulously committed to the

defense and enhancement of the democratic process which

has emerged in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and

other countries of the Caribbean Community since the

mid-1940s with the attainment of universal adult suffrage.

Our democracies are based on respect for human rights,

on recognition, in policy and practice, that the distribution

of national resources is disparate and that all our people

aspire to a decent standard of living, on the creation of

economic and other opportunities for personal

development and on the observance of free and fair

elections under our Constitution.

After the fourth consecutive election victory of 15

June 1998, the New Democratic Party (NDP) Government

of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, under the pragmatic

and visionary leadership of the Rt. Honourable Sir James

F. Mitchell, reiterates its commitment to these principles,

as we join with the international community in building

a better life for our people in the twenty-first century.

My delegation strongly condemns the recent acts of

terrorism which occurred in Kenya, Tanzania, Northern

Ireland and Cape Town, South Africa. Violence should

never be the way to settle disputes. The deaths of so

many innocent people in such outrageous acts can never

be justified. My delegation therefore urges that all parties

involved must review their policies, settle their disputes

peacefully and use reason instead of the bomb. My

Government fully supports the Good Friday Agreement

brokered by the United States in Northern Ireland. It

provides an acceptable framework for the resolution of

deep-seated, historic differences in that part of the world.

My delegation is very concerned about the illicit

transfer and proliferation of small arms and light weapons

and their accumulation in many countries. These activities

constitute a real threat to national and regional security

and can contribute to the destabilization of States. We

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urge Member States to cooperate in taking steps to deal

effectively with this increasing problem. My country was

pleased to sign the Inter-American Convention Against the

Illicit Production and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition,

Explosives and Other Related Materials, at the Organization

of American States in November 1997. My Government

wishes to express its appreciation for the adoption in 1996,

by the Disarmament Commission, of guidelines in

resolution 46/36 H of 6 December 1991. However, we feel

that there is need for greater urgency in advancing

initiatives to deal with this issue at a global level.

The end of the cold war rekindled aspirations for

lasting peace and prosperity. The dismantling of the Berlin

Wall heightened expectations for a peace dividend.

Unfortunately, the United Nations has to continue utilizing

most of its resources in managing or containing conflicts of

varying origins and intensity in many parts of the world.

The role of the United Nations in the maintenance of

international peace and security has become even more

relevant than before. The situations in Angola, Burundi, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Great Lakes region,

the Western Sahara and the Middle East, among many

others countries, continue to occupy the attention of this

Organization.

We are dismayed that, in spite of the end of cold-war

rivalry, the unfortunate people of Cyprus must continue to

accommodate the division imposed on their country.

As we approach the new millennium, our world is still

threatened by the existence of nuclear weapons and

weapons of mass destruction and the potential for their

further proliferation. The time has come for all countries to

commit themselves to the goal of complete eradication of

weapons of mass destruction. I call for universal support for

the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,

Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on

Their Destruction. The Convention is clear on the total ban

on anti-personnel mines, which have taken the lives of so

many innocent civilians, mostly women and children.

In the nation-States of the Caribbean Community, the

dawn of a new millennium challenges us to assert our

independence and demonstrate our maturity by crafting

creative constitutional arrangements, suited to our particular

historical, cultural and political evolution. We have come

thus far with constitutions moulded for us by colonial

masters. In the era of independence, we have experienced

the shortcomings of these original instruments. Many of our

sister countries have already embarked on this mission, and

the Government and people of Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines are beginning the process of forging a new

constitution for the governance of the country in the

twenty-first century.

As we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the

International Year for Human Rights, we call on Member

States to remember the rights of the 21 million people in

Taiwan. The Republic of China on Taiwan, both

prosperous and democratic, deserves to be readmitted as

a member of the United Nations, even as it pursues the

goal of reunification. It is necessary that the United

Nations provide the forum for discussion that will provide

the framework for the peaceful reunification of both sides

of the Taiwan Strait.

My delegation congratulates the Palestine Liberation

Organization (PLO), for its recent success in obtaining

additional rights and privileges, such as the right to

participate in the debate of the General Assembly and the

right of reply. We hope that this new status will serve to

enhance, rather than adversely affect, the peace talks

between the PLO and Israel. Saint Vincent and the

Grenadines strongly supports the Middle East peace

process and the negotiations which seek the full

implementation of the Oslo accords.

With the changing world environment, the

Organization has assumed new prominence, and there is

renewed hope and high expectations for, as well as new

ideas on, the functioning of the General Assembly and, in

particular, the reform of the Security Council. Let us not

lose momentum in our common quest to give new life to

this Organization.

We repeat our call, made during the Assembly?s

fifty-second session, for an increase in both the permanent

and non-permanent membership of the Security Council.

Japan and Germany deserve their seats as permanent

members, but Latin American and the Caribbean, Africa

and Asia must be given permanent seats, which should be

rotated among aspiring countries in those regions.

There has been much debate on whether new

permanent members should have the same rights as the

old permanent members. There must be no discrimination,

and no two classes of permanent members. As regards the

veto currently held by permanent members, in the opinion

of my delegation, it is time for its abolition. We must be

guided by the key word, “democracy”, as we move to

reform the United Nations.

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As a member of the Alliance of Small Island States,

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines fully supports initiatives

to protect the environment. The effects of global warming

are of grave concern to small islands like ours, whose

coastal areas may become submerged, and whose protective

coral reefs are at risk of total destruction. Meteorologists

tell us that July 1998 was the hottest month since reliable

records have been kept. We in the Caribbean can hardly

doubt this, given the exceptional heat wave and humidity

which we have experienced this year. Our region also

continues to be battered by more frequent and stronger

hurricanes, as evidenced this year again.

Hurricane Georges has devastated several islands in

the Caribbean, leaving over 300 dead and hundreds of

millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure, homes and

utilities in its wake. The Gulf coast of the United States

mainland has also suffered from the effects of that

hurricane, providing us with a stark reminder that the forces

of nature respect no borders. I take this opportunity to

extend condolences and solidarity to all those who have lost

relatives and loved ones, and to the Governments of the

affected countries. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with

its limited resources, has already embarked on a programme

of assistance to our sister countries in the Caribbean, where

we know that each one of us is our brother?s keeper.

The ecologically vulnerable islands and low-lying

coastal States of the Caribbean are subject to all the acute

consequences of urbanization and resource exploitation. We

are exposed to the danger of waste being dumped in our

seas and a rise in sea level as well as other effects of

climate change. There must be a strong commitment to the

reduction in greenhouse emissions. We must carry the

momentum to combat climate change well into the twenty-

first century in order to reduce the danger posed to our

States.

The issue of the sustainable development of small

island developing States involves much more than beaches

and coral reefs. It is about the existence of effective

partnerships between peoples and Governments, and

between developed and developing countries.

It is against this backdrop that we look forward to the

special session to review the Global Conference on the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing

States, which is scheduled for 1999. We expect the review

to result in concrete and practical outcomes, and to foster

the requisite political commitment to the process.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a small but

beautiful plural country, striving to maintain its

agricultural, tourism and other service industries in this

era of globalization. We, like so many developing

countries today, suffer from the problems related to

unemployment. We will continue to identify new and

non-traditional areas, such as informatics and financial

services, in order to create opportunities for our people,

particularly our youth.

We must express concern about Draconian

immigration laws and regulations being adopted by an

increasing number of countries. As a region where

emigration has been of historic importance, the Caribbean

could be severely affected by these restrictions. These

stringent immigration policies have led to massive and

summary deportations of immigrants from our region and

other developing countries. Some people face

dehumanizing abuse and death as they try to escape from

poverty by seeking refuge in more developed countries.

I need not emphasize how serious a threat these actions

pose to the social and economic well-being of the peoples

of the Caribbean region.

The United Nations stands at the threshold of a new

millennium. We pray that it continues to perform its

rightful role in addressing the many issues that occupy us

in our everyday lives. We believe that the reforms that we

all desire will build on progress already made in areas of

international cooperation.

Let us work together and give meaning to our

Charter, to save succeeding generations from the scourges

of war, poverty and hunger. Let us reaffirm our faith in

fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of the

human person and particularly the equal rights of man

and woman, and of nations large and small.