YouSaid · the spoken record

Carlos Mesa Gisbert

lines on the record: 29
first: 2002-09-24
most recent: 2003-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“Our vocation and our destiny to be integrated with and economically complemented by our neighbours compels us to exhort the Government and people of Chile to act with a view to the future and to repair a historical wrong that has anchored Bolivia to the past century. We are living through difficult times, complex and full of uncertainty. It is our obligation to stop and question the validity of many of the premises in which we believe. No question and no form of questioning is superfluous at a time such as this, in which the search for a clearer and fair horizon is a life or death necessity for our planet.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Today, more than ever, I wish to confirm before this Assembly that Bolivia will never waive its just claim of sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean, inasmuch as we were established as an independent republic with a sea coast. This claim, which we have been making for over a century, is a product not of stubbornness or caprice, but of the lack of economic resources and huge geographic obstacles that undermine our ability to compete. Our landlocked condition is a deterrent to our growth and the well- being of our citizens, as proven by the analysis of the challenges faced by all landlocked countries. Reintegration of our condition as a maritime nation is a matter of justice and we cannot set it aside. We will therefore continue to call for solidarity and support from the community of nations.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Poor countries demand access for our products to wealthy countries under fair conditions. This urgent claim is linked to a sustained policy of subsidies and protectionism for key production sectors on the part of the most developed nations. Herein lies one of the basic causes of poverty and social tensions in the least favoured societies. The issue of anti-personnel mines is a very sensitive one for Bolivia, not only as a matter of principle — inasmuch as these lethal artefacts continue to kill or permanently maim people throughout the world — but also because many such mines have been planted along our borders. We vehemently request the Governments responsible for planting these mines to continue their removal and destruction until the areas involved are totally free of mines.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“In this context, the decisions that will be made to establish the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas must seek a still uncertain balance for the group of member countries, taking into account the enormous gap between the first Power in the world and the poorest nations of the continent, in a way that will truly benefit everybody. This will be possible if and when, beyond trade issues, we prioritize the transport and communications infrastructures, science, the transfer of technology and education. The difficulties emerging from the worldwide debate on international trade are proof once again of the gap to be closed between rich and poor nations. If equity is the foremost exigency of mankind, the only true and effective response in order to achieve it is a fair trade agreement.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Bolivia is working 27 diligently in this direction, not only because it is a part of subregional blocs, such as the Andean Community and the Common Market of the South — of which it is an associate member — but also because it promotes the integration of both regional groups into one South American body that will provide greater benefits and targeted influence in the region. As hosts for the thirteenth Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, Bolivia is working for the genuine strengthening of that mechanism, which unites the heads of State and Government of a group of countries whose cultural, political and economic importance throughout the world is continuously growing.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Imposing rigid and unilateral prescriptions often generates more problems than it solves. Our continent, Latin America, has seen its role in the international concert diminished. The continent faces several core problems, one of which is the siege of its own democracy by poverty, corruption, inequality and a globalization process of which it is part, but that has not always generated positive results for the area. Integration is the only possible solution if we wish to face the future with optimism.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“The support of the international community in this fight has been an incentive and a security factor. However, our efforts require further support, proportional to the scope of its effect, in Bolivia as well as in those societies where drug consumption remains a priority problem to be solved. We shall continue to honour our commitments, but we shall also continue to insist that the international community fully assume the concept of shared responsibility. For Bolivia, international assistance represents an invaluable support. From this rostrum, I wish to thank the nations and organizations that offer their cooperation, but I emphasize the fact that the most effective assistance is that which respects the decisions and plans of those countries that receive it.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Corrupt civil servants have been given prison sentences and others are currently on trial for illicit acts. Furthermore, we have expanded the programmes for better management of public entities. We are launching a reform of the judiciary, strengthening a culture in which the rule of law is based on the concept of justice for all. We are also promoting a strategy that will transform political and productive institutions, especially those of the informal sector, and promoting governance that is compatible with fair human development opportunities. Our commitment to fighting illicit drug trafficking remains unchanged. For our country, this task has meant high social, political and economic costs, paid for with the blood of the Bolivian people.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We are assuming our responsibility in this area. It is the only way we can be tolerant of the ideas of others. Our aim is the urgent search for a true national encounter through national dialogue, an issue that we are deeply committed to, despite the difficulties that must be overcome. One year ago, in this very forum, I said that our Government would make the fight against corruption a State policy. Today I am proud to say that we are fulfilling that commitment. We have established the Secretariat to Combat Corruption, whose tasks are carried out from within the very core of the State, with broad participation from all levels of society, through citizen networks and mobile brigades. In one year of work, we have made public cases of corruption involving State authorities.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Unfortunately, in spite of the new democratic parliamentary participation, we have not yet been able to sustain a real and enriching dialogue about our most severe problems. I am convinced that one of our principal tasks is to generate a fundamental change in the behaviour of political parties and of every politician, but a less radical and more rational attitude of the social sectors in their relationship with the State is also indispensable. We are going through a very difficult time, when compliance with the law and respect for the authority of the State threaten to collapse. Loss of trust in these essential elements of democracy is one of the greatest dangers to the future of our society, which will only achieve its goals if it has a credible and legitimate administration that acts with authority.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We have given priority to the most vulnerable sectors of our society with measures such as an annual solidarity bonus for all citizens over age 65 and the consolidation of free medical insurance covering mothers and children under the age of five. This task is linked to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, to which we are deeply committed. In February of this year and a few days ago, my country lived through serious episodes of violence, which have forced us to reflect. We are aware of the fact that the last 21 years of democracy — the longest uninterrupted period in our history — are at stake as we face the legitimate pressure exercised by the marginalized sectors of our society, who deserve our attention.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Our Government has broadened its political base by integrating another political party, Nueva Fuerza 26 Republicana, into the alliance between the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario and the Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria in an effort to face an acute economic crisis that has taken the form of a persistent recession, which, fortunately, is beginning to reverse itself. We have implemented a programme that combines efforts to increase State revenues through an increase in public investment in order to stimulate the economy and improve private contribution, create jobs and decrease social inequality.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“This vision is also essential to defending the human rights of those citizens who have been marginalized throughout the course of our history. For one year now, under the administration headed by President Sanchez de Lozada, within the framework of a pluralistic Congress with a very significant percentage of indigenous representatives and of very different ideological positions, we are working to overcome levels of poverty that are threatening to break down the buttresses of order and the population’s faith in democracy, which has been achieved with great sacrifice by the people of Bolivia.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“It is a dangerous mistake to believe that we can coexist in a world of isolated and closed compartments. It is not possible to generate growth and well-being for a privileged few and expect that the excluded great majority will look on silently from the fringes of that reality. In our opinion, the only possible path to confront the future is the paradigm of equity. For over a half century, Bolivia has been opening democratic and participative spaces for its people. A nation such as ours, where 62 per cent of the citizens identify themselves as indigenous, must do away with the social, economic and ethnic exclusion that has been a historic millstone that our elite refused to eliminate. The process begun by us with the revolution of 1952 with its successes and set-backs of greater or lesser magnitude is part of our challenge today.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“This attempt strengthens our resolve to fight without giving any quarter against terrorism in any of its forms, but, at the same time, it shows us the need to support the joint efforts of the nations of the world with policies that are debated and adopted at the United Nations. This Organization and its bodies are a fundamental forum where our voice and that of all countries of the world can be heard. For that reason, we also believe that reforms are required to give the Security Council more flexibility and balance in order to guarantee greater participation in the decision- making process. The terrible episodes that we have recently experienced have forced us once again to reconsider the path that many nations have set for themselves in their vision for development.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“Allow me to congratulate the President on his election as President of this session of the General Assembly. We wish him every success. At the same time, it is a pleasure to greet the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, whose efforts for peace and cooperation between nations we highly value. For that reason, I take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the people of Bolivia and my Government, our sorrow and solidarity in the face of the terrorist attacks against the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which once again demonstrates intolerance for and lack of understanding of a peacekeeping mission, which is the only possible path in our search to resolve conflicts.”
2003-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 58 (2003)
“We are probably experiencing one of the most difficult moments since the end of the cold war and it has become necessary for us to be able to imagine a different and better world in which no idea is untouchable and no hope for change is smothered.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“The recovery of sovereign access to the sea is not only a matter of justice, but an ineluctable need for which we shall continue to seek the solidarity and support of the community of nations, and even more so now that century-old conflicts of this nature have been resolved in this new century. Bolivia is part of the world and, through vigorous participation within its region, will continue to contribute to a profound process of reflection regarding the type of global society that we must, wish to and can 25 build, based on its experiences and its own formulas for integrating and for making its own society participative.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“It is unacceptable for prosperous nations to impose limits on us, while they are not prepared to apply them within their own territories. I cannot conclude this intervention without reaffirming that recovering our status as a country with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean constitutes an important factor of our foreign policy. This claim, which we have made for the past 123 years, is not the product of stubbornness or whim; it is related to our insufficient economic resources and to the enormous geographical barriers that affect our competitiveness. The lack of direct access to the sea constitutes an obstacle to our growth and to the welfare of our citizens.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Imposing strict and unilateral recipes usually generates more problems than it solves. If equity is one of the first demands of humankind today, there is no better system than that of equitable international trade. Poor countries demand access for their products to the markets of the rich countries under adequate conditions. This is one of the key points of nexus of poverty and social tensions in the most disadvantaged countries and their population. That is why the Andean Trade Preference Act constitutes a step forward; although only conditional, it shows the will of a friendly nation to modify a still unfair relationship. We must understand free trade from a new standpoint, where the rules of the game are designed rationally to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, a situation that has already reached scandalous levels.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“A combination of internal efforts and international support to attain reasonable levels of sustainable social and economic development must be reached through a new logic that reformulates all of our earlier ideas of progress and development. Our afflicted Latin America was yesterday the hope of the planet and today is a continent caught in an emergency situation, with widespread social pressure, and economic collapse and facing a dangerous threat of an international domino effect. From its modest position, our country wishes to help halt these trends by being an example of how creative and democratic solutions can be used to address problems and overcome differences. This prompts us to emphasize that the most effective international aid is that which respects the decisions and plans of the countries that must use them.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Bolivia has undertaken with determination the struggle to combat illicit drug trafficking as a moral imperative, in which we truly believe; but, in doing so, it has paid a high price in terms of human lives, economic effects, and violent social conflict. It is only right that those countries where drug consumption has greatest impact demand as you know is the key factor in this cycle give us support in proportion. We continue to fulfil our commitments. But we urgently call on the international community to fully endorse the concept of shared responsibility, which has been fostered and promoted in this forum more than once.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“This decision led to an alliance that has given rise to Plan Bolivia aimed at tackling the crisis by means of an ambitious programme of public investment that will stimulate the economy, encourage private inputs, create jobs, and reduce social inequities by favouring the most vulnerable sectors of our society. Plan Bolivia also seeks to respond to the complex challenges of globalization, redefine the role of the State in promoting sustainable development, respond to local and regional demands, and establish a full rule of law with robust and credible institutions. We know that we are not alone in this; we have seen such ideas elsewhere in recent decades. In spite of this, we urgently require our efforts to be backed by the international community.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“Only genuine and resolute efforts in this area 24 will make it possible for Bolivia to overcome one of the greatest impediments to development, one that threatens to destroy the essential foundation of our society. This resolve is part of a historic course followed, despite their different positions, by two parties in Bolivia: the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement and the Revolutionary Left Movement. Their leaders, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Jaime Paz Zamora, have understood that, at such a time, it is necessary to set aside legitimate party interests and long-standing political differences in order to build a project of responsibility vis-‡-vis Bolivia. This is the only response possible for our nation at such a historic moment.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“For the first time in our history, an essential part of Bolivia's population, the Quechuas, Aymaras and Guaranis, are represented in fair proportion. A pluralistic legislative branch in ethnic, economic, political and social respects is a promising setting for courageous dialogue about our ongoing problems. Our unswerving resolve is that this dialogue should be real and productive, because it will help us to find a way of working together on the political and social levels, while seeking to resolve these crises and working sincerely to break the long-standing social exclusion of indigenous people and discrimination against women, children, and older persons. I would like particularly to mention the resolve of our Government to make combating corruption a state policy.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“This situation is rooted in overwhelming poverty, the unfair distribution of wealth, and the loss of faith in politicians, associated with corruption and the lack of answers to pressing daily problems. Our team became the Government of Bolivia as a result of a popular vote only thirty-six days ago, and we are committed to tackling these risks and challenges with resolution. We are doing this within the framework of a new democratic landscape. The election of 30 June 2002 established a new parliament that is diverse; this took place without violence or dramatic disruption and within a context of democratic and political maturity. Its main effect has been to begin to dismantle the walls of exclusion, on the basis of the recognition of others and tolerance and respect for different visions of the world.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“On 9 April 1952 50 years ago Bolivia took the lead in a revolution that sought to democratize politics and end economic, social and ethnic exclusion, in order to attain a fairer national community. For the past 20 years we have kept that democracy functioning and we have been a pioneer nation in regulating our economy. Today, this process based on stability and dialogue is continuing. However, all that has been done is still insufficient. The road that lies ahead is very long, and we must travel it amidst crises and turmoil from which we have been unable to extricate ourselves. The social and economic problems we face are serious. Much of what we have achieved could be destroyed by pressure exerted by those, who in spite of everything, have been marginalized and excluded.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“This terrible episode in history ought, however, to prompt us to rethink a number of dogmas concerning the current world paradigm for development, dogmas that prevent it from being sustainable over time, and which, like a dangerous mirage, may lead the whole of humankind into a collapse that could jeopardize our common future. I say this from the standpoint of a country, which, in its small way, is joining the collective endeavour to solve key problems that involve the fate of the whole planet. I am also convinced that it is in the poor countries of the world that the destiny of all is at stake. What we do, but above all what is done by those who possess more, and have put into effect a specific vision of society and of the economy that prevails today, shall determine whether our path will be one of hope or of catastrophe for all.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)
“I would like to congratulate Mr. Jan Kavan on his deserved election as President of the General Assembly at this session. We wish him every success. I would also like to pay tribute to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, whose efforts to promote peace and cooperation among nations are invaluable. Yesterday, in this city, we remembered the victims of a horrendous attack that was the very image of intolerance and fanaticism and revealed the darkest drives of human nature. I was deeply moved by this event and feel duty bound on behalf of my compatriots to express our pain, sorrow, and solidarity with those lost loved ones, and to all the citizens of the United States at this time of affliction.”
2002-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 57 (2002)