YouSaid · the spoken record

Hurst

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS HURST

lines on the record: 174
first: 1988-09-24
most recent: 1995-09-24
sittings or episodes: 7
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Yet, scarce financial resources must be diverted .to combat drug traffickers and criminal terrorists, while official development assistance slows to a trickle and borrowing, at lower than the market rate of interest, has become unavailable. My relatively poor island-developing country, with a per capita income barely exceeding $2,000 per annum, has been graduated to a middle-income country, thereby putting concessionary loans beyond our grasp. Small island countries so vulnerable to devastating natural catastrophes, so lacking in natural resources and with exceedingly small populations, cannot reasonably be judged by the same economic yardsticks as populous, resource-endowed, large countries. We therefore call once again for the use of more reliable economic indicators in judging the well-being of small island-developing countries.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Drug trafficking and criminal terrorism pose special security problems to island countries with hundreds of miles of unguarded shorelines and with scarce resources to match the ultra-modern equipment which wealthy drug barons have the wherewithal to purchase. But beyond security lies another problem. We have learned from other island countries in advanced stages of development, like Singapore, that investment in children and youth is the most certain route away from under-development. Priority in my island country has thus been given to the development of human resources. To neglect our human resource base is to undermine the potential for future economic growth.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“My country has thus formulated a regional plan of action in concert with eight other Caribbean island nations to deter regional drug traffickers and to dissuade criminals with grandiose schemes. We have formed a regional security force which is prepared to respond swiftly and forcefully to any threats to its members’ sovereignty. My Government has also given its support to the proposal, put forward by Trinidad and Tobago, to breathe new life into the idea of an international criminal court of justice. We are confident that such an institution would provide a workable mechanism as part of a whole range of services required for the fair administration of international criminal justice.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“My country thus welcomes the 1992 Conference on Environment and Development to be hosted by Brazil, and applauds the Maldives for the Conference on Sea-Level Rise held recently. One month ago at the United Nations Congress on Crime, held in Havana, my Government outlined its policies to combat international crime - one of the modern scourges of mankind. And, at the special session on drugs earlier this year, we shared with the Assembly our concerns and the approaches we have adopted to eliminate the danger posed by drug trafficking. At the Congress on Crime and at the special session on drugs, the consensus clearly pointed to a need for а multilateral assault on the purveyors of these evils.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Rain forests, the most valuable of mankind's terrestrial assets, are being destroyed at an alarming rate daily. Our oceans are polluted by various contaminants - including fertiliser run-off, industrial wastes and oil spills - while low-lying agricultural lands weld wide, including entire islands in the Caribbean and in the South Pacific, are threatened with submersion by rising sea- levels brought about by global warming and the melting of the polar ice-caps. Ours is an ill planet which will become more ill unless our countries are willing to alter significantly our patterns of consumption. Ironically, the wellspring of this state of affairs can be found in causes stemming from both wealth and poverty. Developed and developing countries both contribute. The solutions therefore, lie in both national and international actions.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Our contribution to the debate on the rational uses of Antarctica is an extension of our commitment to the preservation of the environment. Threats to the Earth's environment have multiplied a thousand-fold since the start of the industrial revolution, at the turn of this century. In less than 100 years, mankind has succeeded in upsetting the ecological balance which evolved over the 3,000 million-year history of our planet. Within the next 40 years, it is estimated that mankind will burn more fuel than has been consumed since the discovery of fire half a million years ago. Increasing levels of pollution, coupled with a simultaneous decrease in the ability of natural systems to absorb atmospheric wastes, will accelerate environmental decline.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“It would not be unreasonable to conclude that we are disappointed with the progress made thus far; yet we hold great expectations for the outcome of the environmental protection conference of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties to be held in Chile next month. We assert the right of Secretary-General or his representative to be present, though we acknowledge the greater need for non-Treaty parties to have a meaningful role in the decision-making process. It is our fins belief that Antarctica should be brought under the umbrella of control of the United Nations. The frozen continent must not become the possession of large States only. My country is unshakably pledged to the cause of preserving Antarctica as the common heritage of all mankind.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The islands of my Caribbean were once the home of several indigenous peoples that were virtually exterminated by war and slavery, beginning in 1492. Today's indigenous peoples fight, like the heroic Caribbean peoples of centuries past, against more formidable foes, who will surely also drive them into extinction. Antigua and Barbuda will thus readily give its support to the Group for the Study of Indigenous Populations, connected to the United Nations Subcommittee for the Protection of Minorities, in proposing that 1992 should be declared the "International Tear of the Indigenous Peoples of the World". Two years after becoming a Member of the United Nations, Antigua and Barbuda joined with Malaysia and several other developing countries to press for the protection of Antarctica.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Apartheid must be dismantled now in order to save South Africa's black and white children from suffering the pain and misery inflicted on adults and children alike by an oppressive and unjust system maintained by force. The continued violence against indigenous peoples in the modern world cannot be allowed to continue. A year ago Antigua and Barbuda issued a call for their protection following revelations that more than 200,000 indigenous people had perished by violent means in the preceding twelve-month period. The plight of the world's indigenous peoples since then has improved not at all, Gold-miners, land-grabbers and thoughtless criminals have invaded the lands of indigenous peoples, causing disease, environmental degradation and massive disruption of traditional life.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The evil system of apartheid has been shaken by continued universal condensation; the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners and the unbanning of the African National Congress and other political groups are the direct result of the counting pressure brought to bear on South Africa by sanctions imposed by the United Nations. Those sanctions cannot be relaxed at this time. My country and people welcome the far-reaching changes taking place in South Africa. We continue to call on the racist regime to move swiftly to dismantle apartheid, conscious of the fact that the longer official racism remains in place the more difficult will be the reconstruction period following its demise.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The United Nations is being asked to provide a tested method of assistance at the behest of the Government of Haiti. My small Caribbean country, determined to repay its historical debt to Haiti and to lend shape to the emerging new world order, has joined in sponsoring a draft resolution which is sure to be adopted unanimously by this Assembly. A resolution on Haiti does not, however, translate into material assistance; it behoves us to make pledges of financial support for the electoral process in Haiti and to contribute to the eventual rebuilding of an economically viable and politically stable Haiti. If we do not succeed with this initiative, if we fail in this venture, than we shall have failed in our effort to contribute to the creation of a fair and decent world. A fair and decent South Africa eludes us for yet another year.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“As a small State, we feel a bond with the people of Kuwait, we share their sense of loss and outrage, and we wish then to know that my small, developing, island country will do all that it can within these walls and elsewhere to help bring an end to the injustices perpetrated by the invaders. Another injustice, perpetrated by indifference and greed, brews without surcease in the Caribbean country of Haiti. In 1804, when the Haitian revolutionary Toussaiat L'Ouverture succeeded in eradicating slavery from Haiti, he heralded a new world order which, in the three decades following, hastened the end of the evil system of slavery throughout the Caribbean. Haiti became the first independent republic of transplanted Africans in the New World. As we stand on the threshold of another new world order, democracy in Haiti cries out for assistance.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“My delegation is firmly convinced that the unanimous condemnation of Iraq for its occupation of Kuwait is possible in 1990 because of the multilateral approach adopted in the hour of crisis. If nations large or small, wealthy or poor, are to be persuaded to turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, then multilateralism must become a tenet of the foreign policy of States, and the mechanism of the United Nations must be relied upon as an integral actor. The United Nations must not be made merely a convenient tool to be included in or excluded from tumultuous world events at the whim of States; the legitimacy of the United nations will quickly be eroded if it appears to be the handmaiden of a few. My Government and people join in the universal condemnation of Iraq.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Act the regional integration movement in the Caribbean gains momentum, our experience has confirmed the assertions made in 1965 by the founders of the Caribbean Community. They had long argued that seemingly intractable common problems within and community nations are best tackled by the multilateral approach. Out island country will thus continue to promote multilateralism, convinced that it does provide the mechanism for co-operation, continuity and peaceful coexistence. We view the United Nations as the principal stage for the promotion of this common-sense approach to problem solving. It is widely recognised, for example, that the prestige of the United Nations today is higher than it has ever been.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The people of my small country extend special thanks to former President Garba for the kind words addressed to me in his parting statement. Twenty-five years ago three outstanding Caribbean statesman - Errol Barrow of Barbados, Forbes Burnham of Guyana and Vere C, Bird, my Prise Minister - met at Dickenson Bay, Antigua, to lend their signatures to the charter of what is known today as the Caribbean Community. My small, developing, island country takes pride in knowing that it has served as the bedrock of regional integration in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Community, 25 years old this year, now embraces every English-speaking independent country in the Caribbean and three non-independent Caribbean States.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“However, if the events of the past eight weeks have taught a single new lesson, it is that large and powerful States have an equal need for the United Nations. The rule of law, so necessary for the preservation of peace, is of paramount importance if the principle of the sovereign equality of States is to endure. Small States can be assured of the permanence of their sovereignty by being members of the United Nations, the world's parliament and peace-making body. We congratulate the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, on the leadership role be has played in securing peace. Permit me also to express my profound respect for your predecessor, Ambassador Garba of Nigeria. His leadership during countless negotiating sessions confirmed the faith placed in him last year and explains the admiration he has won.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Please accept my country's congratulations, Sir, on your unanimous election as President of the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly. The people of Antigua and Barbuda feel connected to your country, not merely because we are members of the Commonwealth of Nations but also, and primarily, because Malta is a small, island country much like ours. Malta's role in international affairs serves as a beacon of achievement for small countries. We congratulate you Sir, on your election to this high office and hold great expectations for the success of this session. My delegation welcomes Liechtenstein to the family of nations and wishes to express particular pride in the admission of a small state. Small states need the United Nations; membership for us is neither a luxury nor an afterthought.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“My Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Doctor Vere Cornwall Bird, has for 50 years been in the forefront of the struggle to win our independence, to improve our standard of living and to foster in us pride in our heritage. He continues to pass on to us a legacy which we shall never abandon. Antigua and Barbuda will do all in its power to ensure our continued development, to ensure lasting peace, and to secure humanity's survival through, multilatra1 efforts. However, we are willing to part with no more of our sovereignty than is the most powerful country in any hemisphere.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“My delegation's request for United Nations assistance and support in our hurricane recovery efforts, in the establishment of a multilateral force, in the creation of an international court of criminal justice in the provision of leadership and support on environmental issues, and a few other natters catalogued earlier, might appear to suggest that my small island developing country and maybe other small countries are willing to surrender, or to trade in, elements of our sovereignty for greater security and improved conditions. My country guards its sovereignty jealously. Antigua and Barbuda will remain a free and fully independent country just as long as the nation-State system survives.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“It is unfair and unthinkable to burden with the by-products of affluent societies those that are endeavouring to keep their fragile ecosystems safe for this and future generations. It would be suicidal to accept the wastes of industrial societies in the Caribbean given the complete reliance of our peoples on every square mile of our land and sea. Antigua and Barbuda calls for a strict international regime to protect all developing countries from becoming dumping-grounds for hazardous wastes.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“In Cyprus, the fact that the leaders of the two sides involved in that conflict have committed themselves to achieving an overall settlement augurs well for the future. We are heartened by our Secretary-General's announcement that a critical juncture has now been reached. Antigua and Barbuda consequently gives its full support to the effort and urges the two parties to reach an acceptable solution within the year. Like snail countries Antigua and Barbuda looks increasingly to international law for protection, and we are keenly aware of the role of the United Nations in promoting respect for law. The lawless dumping of hazardous wastes in developing countries requires immediate United Nations action.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Antigua and Barbuda can find no logical cause or explanation for denying it membership; further, we consider it unjust that it is barred from membership for reasons other than those stipulated in the United Nations Charter. Last year at this time we were encouraged by developments relating to Cambodia. Unfortunately, the Conference convened in Paris at the initiative of the Government of France fell short of getting a direct commitment from the various factions. But it succeeded in working out significant elements of a comprehensive settlement and in identifying necessary aspects of a solution. It is hoped that there will be no slackening of efforts to bring about peace and justice in Kampuchea.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The decisions taken by the Palestine National Council at Algiers in November 1988 and at Geneva the following month created a diplomatic momentum which has since been supplanted by mistrust and doubt. It is imperative that there be an international peace conference. The interests of all concerned are best served through dialogue and negotiations in an atmosphere propitious to peaceful resolution. The United Nations must continue its quest to find a letting settlement, premised on the rights of all States and peoples in that region to exist within recognized and secure borders. In South-East Asia, two Koreas seem permanent. The Republic of Korea has repeatedly expressed its desire to become a Member of the United Nations.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Despite the Agreement on the Settlement of the Situation relating to Afghanistan, and despite the unanimous adoption of resolution 43/20 of 3 November 1988, the suffering of the sturdy Afghan people continues. My country reiterates its support to that people's struggle to achieve self-determination and total autonomy. In Lebanon, the people must be allowed to settle their differences without undue interference. My country stands ready to endorse any proposal that will lead to full Lebanese sovereignty over the entire country and guarantee the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanese soil. The entire Middle East conflict continues to have the propensity for generating repercussions in a far wider sphere.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The number of proxy wars, though, is fast diminishing, and we welcome the demobilization and repatriation of irregular forces. poor nations with bare material storehouses can ill afford the squandering of scarce resources brought on by wars. The strengthening of democracy in the region will continue if peace lasts; economic reform must also be instituted in order to guarantee peace. The people of Central America, and especially the people of Panama, are assured that our hearts are with them in this era of extreme difficulty; it is our sincere hope that their many crises will soon be resolved. Further a field, we are discouraged by developments in Afghanistan.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Continuing on the subject of the African continent, we turn now to Western Sahara. Antigua and Barbuda actively supports the peace plan of the United Nations Secretary-Genera' and the Chairman of the Organization of African Unity. We lend our support to the people of Western Sahara in their struggle for self-determination and endorse all international efforts aimed at securing peace and stability in the Maghreb region. Permit me to focus upon my own region briefly. Antigua and Barbuda applauds the developments in Central America, which are certain to bring peace. We endorse Security Council resolution 637 (1989), which relates to the Esquipulas II agreements. We adhere to our earlier statements that economic injustice is tine root cause of many of the Local conflicts there; these conflicts were exacerbated by the cold war.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The States Members of the United Nations cannot become complacent; we must not allow South Africa to jettison the agreements readied through our efforts here. If we fail to deter South Africa we shall disappoint the world, which is watching us, eager to see Namibia take its rightful seat as the one hundred sixtieth State Member of the United Nations. The men and women of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG), international civil servants who are on site in Namibia, have placed their lives in jeopardy; several nationals of my small country are serving in Namibia under UNTAG. The Assembly must ensure that they do not labour in vain, that South Africa complies with Security Council resolution 435 (1978). We cannot allow the effort to end in failure.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“South Africa must be compelled to lift all state-of-emergency regulations, end its ban on all political organisations, restore free speech and movement, and commence a dialogue with the representatives of the majority population. My country reiterates its call for the adoption of mandatory sanctions of a comprehensive nature against the racist regime as a means to compel it to comply. Antigua and Barbuda calls once again for the release of Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners and seeks the cessation of the harassment of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Reverend Alan Boesak. Antigua and Barbuda condemns the racist South Africans for creating impediments to an independent Namibia.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Antigua and Barbuda will readily give its support to the proposal by the Group for the Studies of Indigenous Populations - a part of the United Nations Sub-Committee for the Protection of Minorities - that 1992 be declared the international year of the indigenous peoples of the world. Africa's struggle for total liberation will come only with the eradication of apartheid. We are convinced that the oppressed majority of South Africa - the black people of South Africa - will soon win its freedom, with the unfailing support of the United Nations. This year the General Assembly will again devote a special session to apartheid. But we are certain that the racist Pretoria regime will completely ignore the resolutions which are likely to emerge since it has, with impunity, ignored those which were adopted last year.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The violence occurs, most frequently, when States or dominant groups attempt to exert complete control over ethnic or tribal minorities. Many indigenous people live in the more remote and least-explored areas of their countries. They have been pushed so far that they are making a final stand against aggression. But they fight, like the heroic Caribbean peoples of centuries past, against more formidable foes, to which they will most certainly succumb. Not many decades from now the fate of the world's remaining indigenous peoples could be decided once and for all.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The islands of the Caribbean were once populated by an ancient, robust, sea-faring people: because of man's greed and viciousness, their populations were decimated to the point of near extinction. Relics of their civilization can be found throughout every Caribbean island. Antigua and Barbuda is thus compelled to raise its voice in calling for the protection of indigenous peoples in the modern world. We make this appeal in the knowledge that in this century ft ere have been more ethnocides, genocides and extinctions of distinct ethnic and tribal groups than in any other period of history. In 1988 more than 200,000 indigenous people around the world were murdered and more than 2 million were forced to flee their homelands. The violence manifested against indigenous peoples is in no sense random.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“My country is nevertheless determined to use the products of science and technology to realize its development goals. Our long-standing efforts to build and strengthen our endogenous capacity in science and technology have taken on a sense of urgency as we seek to improve social and economic conditions through expanded production, increased export earnings and international competitiveness. If we are to enhance the infrastructure of our learning institutions in the fields of science and technology, if we are to improve the management of science and technology, then my country must press the international community to increase the flow of technology to small countries on conditions acceptable to us.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“This year we are greeted with a glimmer of hope as three of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties have declared that they will not sign the minerals convention and are advocating instead the establishment off an Antarctic wilderness park. We welcome this development. Antigua and Barbuda continues to call for the direct involvement of the United Nations and the fullest co-operation of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties with the Secretary-General or his representative. Many recent developments in technology have brought about major changes in the domestic well-being of several developing countries. As the pace of technology quickens, assail developing countries seeking to keep pace experience a strain on their resources.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Man's intrusion there, if not carefully monitored and regulated, can dramatically alter the global ocean currents and weather patterns. Antarctica is a meet significant regulator of the earth's weather systems; any change in the Antarctic environment can have a dire impact on the climate and environment of other parts of the earth. Last year we had much cause for regret when we learned of the decision of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties to disregard totally and completely General Assembly resolution 42/45, of 30 November 1987, which called for a moratorium on negotiations to establish a minerals regime until all members of the international community are able to participate fully in such negotiations.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The damage to our homes, our schools, our single hospital, agricultural crops and, most particularly, our fishing industry exceeds in dollars the aggregate export earnings off five years. combined. The difficulties resulting from hurricane Hugo are compounded by economic constraints posed by our smallness, by an increasing disappearance of preferential markets, by a decline in official development assistance and by access restrictions to soft-loan financing. Island developing countries once again present our case for the use of more reliable economic indicators and for special assistance from the United Nations and its many organs. Over the past six sessions Antigua and Barbuda has been in the forefront on the question of Antarctica. Again we seek to remind this body that Antarctica is mankind's last frontier.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Promotional spending takes place in the developed countries from which the tourists come, resulting in a continuous transfer of our hard-earned hard currency to developed countries. But this spending must take place. Promotion is the sine qua non of a successful tourist-based economy) 60 per cent of the gross domestic product off my country is generated by tourism. The gross national product per capita measuring device does not take that major fact into account; nor does it give an adequate representation off our country's governability. Last month a single hurricane destroyed in 12 hours the 50 years' work it took my Government to provide a functioning electricity delivery system.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Antigua and Barbuda also seeks the support of the United Nations community in promoting a new approach to measuring the economic well-being of island developing countries. We again reiterate that the use of conventional economic indicators to measure the economic standing of island developing countries is neither apt nor realistic. Conventional indicators distort our economic soundness, ignore the fragility of our economic base, and fail to compensate for the disproportionately high costs attached to providing routine services to small populations. The gross national product per capita is the major culprit. It does not take into account that tourism, the economic lifeline of many developing countries including my own, requires massive expenditures for promotion. The export of manufactured goods does not.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“And, although a number of other costly measures could be implemented, the simple act of establishing an international tree-planting programme is highly recommended. My country appreciates that the problem is most complex. Antigua and Barbuda accepts the view enunciated by the Commonwealth Secretary-General that "the current work on greenhouse gases and global warming requires the combined skills of physicists, meteorologists, biologists, geographers, economists, lawyers, engineers ... To deal with such problems satisfactorily is a challenge to both statesmen and thinkers." It is widely accented that all solutions require multilateral co-operation, we insist that the principle of multilateralism be applied, conscious of the fact that the mechanism of the United Nations mu3t again be called upon to provide technical leadership and support.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“There is undoubtedly an increased recognition in all countries of the gravity of the environmental problem and collectively there are specific measures which can be taken by the nations of the world to safeguard our planet. There should be the imposition of special taxes on carbon-dioxide emissions, which would serve to encourage conservation. Environmental review should become am integral part of lending procedures within countries so that local banks could be prevented from providing funds for projects that destroy habitats. Funding should be increased for research on alternative energy sources, including that of solar power, and safer designs for nuclear reactors. Financial assistance should be given to developing countries to enable us to construct high-efficiency power plants.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Many developing countries contribute to the degradation as their burgeoning populations cut down forests to provide timber and to make land available for cattle ranching and agriculture, much as the developed countries have done for centuries. The grave nature of the resulting, looming crisis can be gleaned from computer projections which indicate that the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a consequence of development could increase the earth's average temperature by 3 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit before the year 2050. Resulting weather patterns could make infertile large tracts of land now under food production, and oceans could rise by several feet to flood large areas of coastal land, thereby causing innocent, non-contributing island countries to disappear under the sea.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“In March of this year we witnessed the convening of a summit meeting on the protection of the global atmosphere. The leaders of 24 countries adopted a common declaration addressed to all nations. The Hague Declaration emphasized that the environmental problem is world-wide and requires solutions devised on a global scale. The nature of the dangers involved necessitates the seeking of remedies to preserve the ecosystem and to enable humanity to live in dignity in a viable global environment. All States have an obligation both to our populations and to future generations. There is therefore need for regulatory, supportive and adjustment measures to take into account the participation and potential contribution of States which are at varying levels of development.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The purveyors of this evil must be apprehended and punished. Small countries such as my own are conscious of the superior strength which the drug barons possess. Antigua and Barbuda will therefore be a co-sponsor of the draft resolution to be tabled by Trinidad and Tobago proposing the creation of an international criminal court of justice empowered with jurisdiction to bring to trial and to convict those dealers in death who have no nationality and for whom the sanctity of life has no meaning. The traffic in drugs and the threat of terrorism have the potential to undermine our sovereignty. But the harm to the environment, resulting in global warming, threatens the coastline of every country with flooding and our low-lying island nations with complete submersion.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Wealthy and powerful drug barons, when driven from their castles in one nation, will look to less defensive States from which to continue their criminal activity. To forestall the prospect of elevation fro*5 transit points in the trafficking of drugs to distillation centres for the production of the substance our island countries intend to seek increased United Nations protection. For an industry which ranks second in economic activity only to the arms trade and whose profits exceed the global cost of debt-servicing, we are fighting a disaster more horrendous in its implications than an entire summer of hurricanes, drug abuse eats away the very foundations of civilizations and cultures which generations passed have bequeathed to us. It turns its victims into unrecognisable creatures and destroys our youngsters as surely as no tempest can.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Such a unit would possess the ability to provide assistance in situations requiring intelligence and interdiction capabilities; both are currently beyond the wherewithal of the extant Caribbean regional security system. The mere willingness of many small countries and many island developing countries to lend their support to the concept evidences our increased faith in the United nations Over the past two weeks every Head of State from the Americas who has addressed this body has expounded on the scourge of drug trafficking. The Presidents of the United States and of Colombia have noted that the threat to democracy posed by the drug cartels is real and present. The threat to my nation's sovereignty is not imagined.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“My country will join forces with a score of small countries to sponsor a draft resolution proposed by the Republic of Maldives requiring the creation of a type of United Nations peace-keeping force to come to the assistance of any small State when requested so to do by its legitimate authority in the face of a terrorist threat to its sovereignty. In my immediate region, the eastern Caribbean, eight nations, including my own, have formed a regional security force which offers greater protection than any single member State can provide on its own. But Antigua and Barbuda none the less endorses a broader approach as proposed by Jamaica in a pending united Nations draft resolution. The creation of a multilateral unit established under the aegis of the United Nations is most appealing.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The choice for us is whether to buy more tractors, or to bring telephones into a distant village, or to offer scholarships to deserving youth, or to repair secondary roads for our farmers to transport their goods to market, or to increase our promotional budget for attracting business and visitors to our shores. But this looming terrorist threat requires a diversion of those scarce resources to rifles and ammunition and military uniforms. It is a threat which causes us to look towards the United Nations for support.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Two very disquieting and unrelenting man-made dangers which alarm my country and menace the most powerful countries in this hemisphere are terrorism and the trafficking in narcotics. Both are grave causes of concern to the decision makers in my twin-is land country. It was less than one year ago that Mercenaries unsuccessfully attempted to invade the Republic of Maldives. That blatant act of terrorism is a threat to the sovereignty of all snail countries in every hemisphere and an unsuspecting drain on our limited resources. My country can ill afford to spend our scarce foreign currency earnings on acquisition of military hardware.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Today the role of the United Nations is pivotal in the continued promotion of peace, in the stride towards economic development and in the reconstruction efforts of so many nations where the ability to function has beat impaired by disasters, man-made and natural. This year, as the people of Antigua and Barbuda struggle to overcome the devastation of a hurricane, the r a is on d'etre of the United Nations is made manifest. The Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator and the United Nations Development Programme deserve high commendation for the support and pledges of continued assistance extended to my nation immediately following upon the consequential dangers of this natural disaster.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Javier Perez de Cuellar, and to the organs of the United Nations for the support extended to Antigua and Barbuda in the wake of one of the most devastating hurricanes ever to have unleashed its fury upon the eastern Caribbean. The damage to my country was severe but the response of the international community reaffirms my faith and my people's faith in the effectiveness of the United Nations organs and in the goodwill of mankind. Fifty years ago the havoc, brutality and destructiveness of the Second World war was visited on mankind. The United Nations, be it remembered, was created at the end of the conflagration to promote peace, security, economic reconstruction and self-determination.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Mr. President, I bring you the fraternal greetings of my people and our congratulations on your elevation to your high office. Your country, Nigeria, and mine have deep historical and cultural links which underscore the need for mutual support and co-operation. However, on account of your personal qualities and the vision which you bring to the presidency, you are assured of the unfailing support of my delegation. Permit me here to express my thanks to the former President, Mr. Dante Caputo, for the skilful manner in which he has directed our deliberations over the past year. His guidance was most encouraging and the results, I must add, most gratifying. I wish to offer my country's sincerest thanks to the Secretary-General, Mr.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)