YouSaid · the spoken record

Iván Duque Márquez

lines on the record: 77
first: 2018-09-24
most recent: 2021-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
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

“Colombia is made up of good, honourable and hard-working people, who are today represented at this global meeting and would like to say through me that it is time for action on climate change and brotherly migration. They demand that, united together, we must not wait any longer.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Colombia also wants to contribute to the modernization and reform of this great multilateral organization in order to ensure its longevity and make it more relevant to the citizens whom it serves. We know that we have many challenges and obstacles to overcome, but Colombia is a great nation that thinks globally in its efforts to become an example and foster progress. This is the Colombia that believes in multilateralism and the Colombia that calls for joint action. This is the Colombia that solves problems involving democracy within democracy, faces adversity with the certainty of turning it into an opportunity, never lets up and will never let up in the face of any storm.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In 2018, I outlined our legality, entrepreneurship and equality agenda (see A/73/PV.8). In the year 2021, we have shown that, despite the situation that the pandemic has forced upon us, our agenda continues to march on. It has become State policy and is progressing in step with the circumstances. Colombia is moving forward on large-scale vaccinations. Colombia is moving forward on safely reopening. Colombia is moving forward with the largest budget for social programmes in the country’s history. Colombia is moving forward on energy transition and climate action. Colombia is moving forward on its fraternal approach towards migration. Colombia, which embodies peace with truth, justice, reparations and non-repetition, is also on a clear path ahead. Colombia has invested in gender equality among the members of the Cabinet.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In Colombia, young people have been hit hard by the pandemic, and today they are leading the major debates on climate action by proposing policies and joint action. We have signed a pact with the youth to make a genuine change in the policies that will benefit them. In December, the first open and popular elections will take place to form municipal youth councils. Such elections are unprecedented in Latin America and will legitimize young people as the citizens who will effectively pave the way forward so that policymaking prevails over protests. That represents the great determination of Colombia, and we will not fail, as we want those young, empowered citizens to demonstrate our true capacity for democratic change. This will be the last time that I address the Assembly in my capacity as President of Colombia.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The fight against crime and strengthening peace with legality demand that we continue to make progress in zero-tolerance for all behaviour by members of the public force that runs contrary to the Constitution and the law and that we continue to take substantial steps towards structural reforms of law enforcement, in tandem with unconditionally and constantly defending human rights. Our public force is patriotic and committed, and its mandate is to always act in line with the Constitution, the law and human rights. The realities that we are facing also demand that we constantly strengthen democracy to counter any threat posed by hatred and social division. All that we can do to ensure a solid democracy is a guarantee for a better future.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We are moving forward with resolve, but we must make a difference by acting together. In Colombia, greater coca production means lower levels of peace and environmental protection. Every gram of coca consumed in demand-driven nations translates into homicide and ecocide in Colombia. For every hectare of coca that has been planted, two hectares of tropical rain forest are destroyed. Dealing with the worrisome increase in narcotics consumption throughout the world is urgent. It is time for members of the international community to assume their share of responsibility.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Nevertheless, we continue to face multiple challenges due to the activities of FARC dissidents, the National Liberation Army and other criminal groups that have never been committed to peace. They persist in their attacks on social leaders, environmental leaders and those in the process of reintegration. Despite the many challenges, our peace with legality policy shows us that we have excellent reasons to be optimistic. In recent decades, we have recorded the lowest homicide and kidnapping rates in history since statistics were first taken for those heinous crimes, without losing sight of the fact that drug trafficking fuels violence and that we have to take firm measures to combat it. We have succeeded in confiscating the largest amounts of coca and manually eradicating the greatest number of illicit crops in the history of Colombia.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Thanks to our commitment to development plans with a territorial focus and our focus on those areas most affected by violence, the Ombudsman’s Office of Colombia has highlighted that, in the three years that our Administration has been in power, more progress has been made than in the first 20 months of implementation. In that context, we are moving towards the largest investment in tertiary roads and the largest property certification initiative in our history. We are also making progress in the implementation of a multipurpose land registry, with an agenda to ensure equity in the purchase of rural products without intermediaries. That has led us to enjoy the largest agricultural commodities exports ever recorded in the country.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The end of the dictatorship is the only viable path to the well-being of the Venezuelan people. That, above all, should be the purpose of international action in that regard. On the other hand, Colombia is also making progress in building on our “peace with legality” policy. Not even the effects of the cruel COVID-19 pandemic will deter us from our commitment to the demand of our people for an end to narco-terrorist violence. The fragile Final Peace Agreement, which was signed in 2016 with the terrorist group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), has seen significant progress made, allowing us to consolidate the reintegration process of those who are now entering legality, as verified by the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“The situation requires the disbursement of the commitments made by the international community through the donor conferences established. I therefore call for mobilization in that regard. I must pause here to state the following clearly: although the dialogue between the interim Government of Venezuela, which embodies the democratic resistance, and the narco-dictatorship offers some hope, there is no room for naivety. The only effective outcome of the situation would be the convening, as soon as possible, of a free and transparent presidential election with careful international observation. Any solution that perpetuates the shameful dictatorship and allows the regime to gain time will only exacerbate the greatest humanitarian disaster our continent has ever known.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Our region, Latin America and the Caribbean, needs to strengthen green financing, which urgently requires the capitalization of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America. That must be conducted alongside other tools. Colombia is tackling the pandemic, addressing climate action and, at the same time, dealing with the worst migratory crisis on the planet due to the millions of Venezuelans fleeing the infamous narco-dictatorship. Our work with the United Nations and the Office of Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has shown great progress, including by granting temporary protection status to 1.8 million Venezuelan migrants living in our country. We shoulder that challenge without being a rich country and at an enormous fiscal cost.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“I therefore propose to the international community that, for a certain period of time and with the support of the International Monetary Fund, a rule be established whereby all structural climate action expenditures and investments can be considered outside the traditional fiscal deficit measurement lines. Such tools, as well as multilateral debt relief and debt forgiveness in the face of concrete climate action achievements, should be applied as soon as possible and without conditions. When addressing urgent investments, we cannot be hindered by domestic political debates arising from conflicts over resource allocation. Action needs to be taken now, immediately and without delay.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We are exponentially expanding that legislation to include non-conventional and renewable energies in order to multiply by 20 our available capacity in comparison to when our Government first took power. We also hope to achieve zero deforestation by 2030, which will go hand in hand with the development of the circular economy, harnessing an efficient green hydrogen cycle and, above all, unrestricted defence of the Amazon. Limited fiscal stability as a result of the impact of the pandemic will become an obstacle for many in meeting our shared goals if we do not develop global tools.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We are a country that represents only 0.6 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, yet is one of those most threatened by the effects of climate change. Our action requires commitment, boldness and exercising leadership by example. That is why we will be attending the twenty-sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow with a commitment to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions by 51 per cent by 2030. We are also on course to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Our journey in that regard has already begun, as underscored by our rapid energy transition, which already has its own legislation.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“Given the high levels of debt and existing needs, a global consensus, led by the International Monetary Fund and multilateral development banks, is required to establish new minimum fiscal risk criteria during the post-COVID-19 recovery phase. Otherwise, in the short term, in the face of the demand for debt and a generalized increase in the cost of capital, we might see a debt crisis that could bring about further setbacks and global recessionary effects. All of the challenges and actions we are addressing today are also taking place amid the greatest threat faced by humankind, namely, the climate crisis. In the face of that challenge, Colombia is acting with determination and a moral commitment.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“It has also set us firmly on the path towards a growth rate of more than 7 per cent in 2021, which will allow us to achieve our highest levels of growth this century. The Colombian New Deal is the best way to recover in the wake of the pandemic’s impact on the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, it guides us and brings us closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Today I am making a global call. Many emerging countries, faced with the threat of COVID-19, have been forced to increase their debt and fiscal deficits. Many have not begun to go through the necessary fiscal reforms to pay for emergency expenditures and are now being evaluated by credit rating agencies with pre-pandemic standards and criteria.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We have made the most significant social reform of this century in Colombia by adopting the greatest fiscal reform. Revenue collection has reached 1.8 per cent of gross domestic product, thereby strengthening fiscal control of debt and deficit reduction and establishing a clear path to stabilizing public finances and ensuring a broad social safety net. That collective effort was achieved without populism or demagogy, while guaranteeing competition among businesses. Our achievements in health, social care and fiscal stability are all part of the Commitment to Colombia, our reactivation agenda. With private, public and public-private investments, we are already seeing economic gains — the second quarter of this year was undoubtedly our best quarter in terms of growth this century.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“In addition, we have created an employment subsidy that protects more than 4 million official workers and a scheme for refunding the value added tax for more than 2 million vulnerable households, thereby correcting the regressive effect of this tax. This unprecedented social agenda also includes paying a 25 per cent premium for the hiring of young people, which is tantamount to social security. This is today a State policy that reinforces the implementation of a policy that embodies true transformation for social good: public university education provided tuition-free on a permanent basis to the neediest as well as to the emerging middle class of our country. These advances, which have arisen from effort and fiscal responsibility, allow us to protect our social achievements.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“That is our moral duty. If we continue to fall behind in the equitable distribution of vaccines to all nations, we expose ourselves as humankind to new variants that may attack us with greater ferocity. Global immunity requires solidarity where there is no hoarding by some in the face of others’ needs. In caring for the most vulnerable, we have acted with determination and creativity, inspired by the path set forth in the 2030 Agenda. We can proudly say that we are the Government of Colombia that has launched the most ambitious social agenda in this century and, perhaps, in all of Colombia’s recent history. We will keep in place until December 2022 a basic emergency income, the Solidarity Income, which reaches more than 4 million vulnerable households and provides direct economic support to more than 25 per cent of our entire population.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“This reality provides me with the context to share with the General Assembly Colombia’s response to these global challenges and to propose actions that we must take together equitably, without divisiveness, and by thinking without restrictions about the future of humankind. In our country, we have taken on the pandemic with three approaches: health care, care for the most vulnerable and economic revival. Our progress on the national vaccination plan allowed us to cover at least 70 per cent of Colombians. We joined the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility mechanism, assuming regional leadership and coordinating with the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. Today I call on the international community to strengthen multilateralism in health and to improve equity in the distribution of vaccines.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“While some nations procure additional doses amounting to six or seven times the numbers of their populations and further announce the availability of third doses as boosters, other nations have not administered a single dose just to inject hope. The pandemic has exacerbated other crises whose effects are equally threatening. We are witnessing the increased effects of climate change, greater inequalities caused by economic downturns, and migratory crises triggered by those who are willing to risk their lives, fleeing dictatorships and abusive regimes, for a decent job or a plate of food. The pandemic has also had a major impact on peacebuilding and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“This lethal virus has tested our emotions and brought us to understand, now more than ever, the worth of the embrace of a father and a mother, how much it means to us to share as a family and how much an unexpected friendly encounter fills our hearts. While this fateful virus has threatened our economies and our education and health systems, technology — the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing and other applications — has revealed that advances in the virtual world are opportunities for human development. The pandemic has shown our strengths as well as our weaknesses. We have observed failures of multilateralism to respond equitably and articulately to the most acute challenges. The gaps between nations in terms of vaccination are unprecedented.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“We meet again in this global forum, which has historically been a vital space for the development of multilateralism, peacebuilding and responses to threats to our shared home, against the backdrop of a cruel pandemic that is battering our health systems, our economies, our gains in equity and progress on fulfilling the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Above and beyond all considerations, we find ourselves once again in this historic hemicycle recalling the fragility of the human being and, at the same time, recognizing the greatness and capacity of a human race that can overcome any challenge. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) abruptly burst into our lives, changing our daily lives and interactions and taking away loved ones.”
2021-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 76 (2021)
“I am convinced that when we look back on these months, we will see resilient peoples, who stood up to the challenges of their time and navigated the storms wisely. Presidents and Permanent Representatives, the future is in our hands. Many thanks.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“And the entire international community without exception must reject the situation, and we need to stridently call on all the nations of the world to raise their voices to demand truly free elections — not the staged electoral performance to which the Venezuelan people will be taken to in December only to perpetuate the dictatorship. We must, therefore, reject the process, which is seeking to legitimize Maduro’s dictatorship. Colombia says to the world today that it looks to the future with optimism, with its head held high, and calls on its leaders to unite more so than ever, since the founding of the Organization, so that together we can overcome the unprecedented difficulties that these times have placed before us. I am certain that our greatest strength lies in our own humanity.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Within that framework, the protection of regional democracy is a fundamental element. The threats to democracy we see today are putting at risk the freedom of nations, as well as preventing regional integration and cooperation to overcome challenges like those currently facing humankind. The Maduro regime is sustained by resources from drug trafficking, harbours terrorists and poses a constant threat to the democracies of the region and the world. The constant violations of human rights by the Maduro dictatorship, which we have condemned in our country and in international forums, including the International Criminal Court, have recently been confirmed by the United Nations. Why? The goal sought in Venezuela together with crimes against humanity is to perpetuate the tyranny.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Working together with organizations such as the Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization has been crucial throughout 2020 and will continue to be while we search for possible solutions to the crisis. Mechanisms, such as Vaccine Global Access, in which Colombia is actively participating, are essential to various nations’ collaboration in the search for and distribution of an eventual vaccine. Solidarity and sustained cooperation among nations are essential if we are to successfully weather the storm of the pandemic. The pandemic is proving to be a turning point in thinking about a sustainable and just future. Now that we are looking to revive our economies and restart leading productive lives, environmental sustainability needs to be the rallying point for building a more sustainable and responsible world.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Drug trafficking transcends borders, and my country has suffered as a victim because of this horrible fact. The transnational crime demands the joint action of all States, with a sense shared responsibility. In such shared challenges, we must act together, resolutely, energetically and unhesitatingly as a duty to future generations. The situation caused by the coronavirus disease has also become a threat owing to the fissures caused by social inequalities. The global crisis has highlighted both the strengths and weaknesses of multilateral tools. For instance, it showed that the need remains to define better cooperation mechanisms in circumstances of crisis, while those same tools have led to the search for joint solutions to overcome it, for example, in terms of finding a vaccine.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I underscore and am grateful for the support of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, which can exceptionally attest to the Government’s outstanding progress in achieving peace with legality, that is, real peace. Unfortunately, all our efforts face a common threat — drug trafficking and the illicit economies it generates. For my country, the fight against drug trafficking is an ethical imperative, as it produces all forms of corruption, comprises a ubiquitous link in crime and is the source of social decay. Drug trafficking fuels human trafficking, arms trafficking, illegal mining, deforestation and smuggling. Drug trafficking tears families apart, breaches social values, constantly puts at risk the lives of millions of people around the world and fosters inequality, sowing hatred, violence and death in peaceful areas.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We recognize their and all Colombians’ vocation to build a future by bridging and healing wounds, while, at the same time, ensuring that brotherhood under a reliable legal system gives us reason for pride. Today in Colombia there are no conflicts between the friends and the enemies of peace. Today we are one country on the path moving forward regardless of whether the wind is with or against us. Multilateral tools have been key to the international community’s contribution to that end, especially in terms of reparations for victims, strengthening rural development and formalizing property ownership in the remote corners of our country.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The Peace with Legality policy is benefiting more than 6 million fellow citizens in their territories, with an investment of more than $780 million, supporting the more than 13,500 former combatants, as well as changing their lives — with a sense of legal purpose and guarantees of non-repetition for more than 9 million victims. I would like to take the opportunity of being in this Hall to honour the victims of violence in my country. Likewise, I praise the work of those who every day make the million needed efforts into a reality — the social leaders who are building a more dignified and generous society, and who, despite the difficulties, are ceaseless in their efforts to build a country for all.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Colombia is a magnificent country inhabited by men and women as diverse as its nature. We have lived through the onslaught of violence and poverty and are therefore committed to building a sustainable future based on equity. Achieving true peace is the social decision to build prosperity based on truth, solidarity, respect for law and the firm rejection of all forms of violence. The Government has developed its Peace with Legality policy based on social stabilization and the institutional consolidation of the territories most historically affected by violence and poverty.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That demonstrates what we are achieving in imagining the future. And just as we have led actions to protect the Amazon, the rainforests and the oceans, we call on all the nations of the planet to protect high-mountain ecosystems. Colombia is home to half of the world’s paramos, and today I call on the members of the General Assembly to join us in creating a global strategy for safeguarding the high-altitude ecosystems to ensure their survival and the sustainability of the communities that inhabit them. The paramos are veritable drinking-water factories and the source of the watersheds that irrigate much of our country. Therefore, we also call on the nations of the world to contribute resources and understand that the protection of the paramos is a universal duty.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The Leticia Pact, which I announced a year ago within the context of the General Assembly, has seen the realization of part of the call made by the Colombian Government, around which we have united seven States to implement a concrete action plan, which currently involves 52 specific actions for the conservation and sustainable development of the Amazon, while recognizing its importance as a strategic ecosystem for the planet. Colombia has succeeded in getting more than 2,800 families from the Amazon region to participate in livestock restructuring projects and the production of nontimber products. In addition, more than 17,000 indigenous families are benefiting from governance and sustainable economy projects, and 15,000 of them are beneficiaries of payment for environmental services mechanisms involving nearly 219,000 hectares.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We reaffirm our commitment to making the Minamata Convention on Mercury a reality, and we declare our progress as a nation in the adoption of a law banning the use of asbestos and in promoting the use of electric vehicles. Likewise, we are waiting for the Congress of the Republic to adopt the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, known as the Escazu Agreement, which we signed at the end of last year.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Through the Artemis project, we are making our decision to turn diversity into a strategic asset a reality, and, accordingly, we have recovered more than 6,000 hectares of our Parques Nacionales Naturales and prevented 23,000 hectares of forest from deforestation, while, at the same time, we are planting more than 35 million trees to bring us closer to our goal of planting 180 million by 2022. We have also made progress in the area of capacity-building to produce renewable energy in the fight against climate change. Whereas in 2018 we had 30 megawatts of capacity connected to the national grid, today we have expanded that capacity almost five-fold, reaching an additional 140 megawatts, with the goal of continuing to increasing it 20-fold, in contrast to 2018, so that in 2022, our country will exceed 2,200 megawatts.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Colombia enjoys the fact that it accounts for 50 per cent of the world’s paramos within a country that is 30 per cent Amazon rainforest. Colombia has achieved an overall reduction of 30.9 million tons of carbon dioxide, while we have been waging an unprecedented battle against deforestation in our country’s history. We therefore consider defending the environment as part of our national security. That is how we have reduced deforestation by 19 per cent in the past two years and continue to do so.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“For example, we became the thirty-seventh member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and will become pro tempore President of the Forum for the Progress and Development of South America and the Pacific Alliance. That demonstrates our commitment to multilateralism and regional commitment to finding joint solutions that, in accordance with the United Nations call on us, will help us ensure that no one is left behind. The increase in the loss of biodiversity is currently one of the major global issues. The current situation has shown us the close relationship between human health and that of ecosystems, the declining state of which is putting our survival as a species at risk. Colombia stands out as the second most biodiverse country in the world with the greatest biodiversity per square kilometre.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“President of the General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, Excellencies, Heads of State and Permanent Representatives, It is once again an honour for me to stand before the General Assembly on behalf of the People of Colombia, especially this year as we commemorate the United Nations seventy-fifth anniversary, which marks a milestone in the decision made by sisterly democratic nations to seek out and create space for common growth. My country has understood the importance of dialogue to overcome obstacles and the urgent need for frank discussion to find common ground. That is why we exemplify a long tradition of participation in multilateral settings.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“It is the time for us to firmly confront tyranny. It is the time for us to show our greatness, so that all of us, citizens of the world, can live our lives with dignity.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“For all of these reasons, here, on this world stage, I courageously express to the international community that Colombia will continue to be committed to the defence of democracy in Venezuela, but, my fellow representatives, without the support of this community, without the true support of the States Members of the United Nations, those who left their homes with the desire to return will not easily find their way back. We will continue to work, with all love and passion, for the construction of a Colombia based on the rule of law, entrepreneurship, the promotion of individual initiative and the closing of all social gaps. All — absolutely all — of our efforts are oriented towards fairness. Today Colombia is telling the world that now is the time for us to find the determination needed to transform our societies.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We therefore strongly affirm that all these criminal activities, associated with the humanitarian crisis generated by the deterioration of the political, economic and social situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, represent a threat to the maintenance of peace and security on the continent. I would like to reiterate that this challenge requires constant collective action that develops the principle of global solidarity under the ever-present primacy of multilateralism. We are a strong voice in the region asking the Maduro regime to cease its support for narcoterrorist groups. We ask the international community to adopt all appropriate sanctions to safeguard the rights and freedoms of present and future generations of Colombians and, of course, of our Venezuelan brothers and sisters.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“That is why, last Monday, 23 September, the Thirtieth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Organization of American States, acting as the consultative body under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, adopted a historic resolution, which states that the participation of authorities and entities linked to Nicolas Maduro’s regime in illegal activities, in particular drug trafficking, asset laundering, terrorism and its financing, corruption and the violation of human rights, is a regional threat. For 16 Latin American countries, it is evident that the dictatorship is violating the obligations established in Security Council resolution 1373 (2001).”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“This is an unacceptable conduct, which as Head of State I must denounce before the international community. Let us not kid ourselves: Colombia is not and will never be an aggressor country, nor will it allow itself to be provoked by warmongering insinuations. But it will always — always — raise its voice to denounce tyranny. Venezuela needs an end to usurpation, the installation of a transitional Government, a Government that allows for economic and social recovery. And it urgently needs to hold truly free elections and to fully recover the rule of law. Nicolas Maduro’s crimes against his people can be compared only to those of Slobodan Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia. We cannot be idle witnesses of so much pain in our Latin America.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We also include the testimonies of Venezuelan citizens who complain about the presence of the ELN in their territory, the brazen presence of criminals in training camps, as well as the existence of 20 landing strips at the service of drug trafficking. This unequivocal evidence shows the sponsorship and support of Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship for the aforementioned criminal structures. Venezuela has become fertile ground for criminal structures allied with the ELN, which knows no borders. Those ringleaders who today enjoy Maduro’s protection are the same ringleaders who for years claimed responsibility for attacks on oil pipelines, causing irreparable environmental damage and turning them into the greatest ecocides that humankind has ever known.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As President of Colombia, I will proffer to the President of the Assembly and the Secretary-General evidence that supports these allegations. This 128-page file contains the body of evidence demonstrating the complicity of Nicolas Maduro’s regime with the terrorist cartels that attack the Colombian people. Before the international community, we present the list of a gang of less than 20 criminals who betrayed the generosity of the Colombians, and today reside in Venezuela, taking full advantage of the logistical capabilities provided by the dictatorship. In this report, we also reveal the location of more than 1,400 men in arms belonging to the most dangerous blocks of the National Liberation Army (ELN) and 207 locations controlled by this criminal organization in Venezuelan territory.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“As President of Colombia, I respectfully call for us, together, within the framework of international law and the instruments of multilateralism, to return Venezuela’s democracy and freedom to it. It is time to call a spade a spade. The Venezuelan dictatorship is one more link in the chain of transnational terrorism. Its corrupt structures serve the drug cartels. Its minions work for the mafia and feed the violence in Colombia. They shelter murderers, child rapists and the completely lawless. Of course, those who claim to be unaware of all these facts end up becoming accomplices of the dictatorship. My Government has strong and convincing evidence corroborating the dictatorship’s support for criminal groups and narcoterrorists operating in Venezuela to attack Colombia.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“All child in the world have the right to a nationality and, in this case, Colombia has given them one with affection and commitment. The migrant crisis that we warned of a year ago, in this very Hall, is a reality and is made increasingly worse the longer the dictator remains in power. The Venezuelan tragedy has a name and surname, and we all know what they are. Colombia’s position vis-a-vis the dictatorship is not about geopolitical disputes, but about the need of the Venezuelan people to see their democracy completely restored. Colombia is not alone in clamouring for freedom in Venezuela. The Lima Group and more than 50 nations around the world recognize the legitimate presidency of Juan Guaido and actively participate in denouncing all the crimes committed under the dictator’s leadership.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Venezuela is a country that once lived in peace and today suffers oppression, that was once an economic power and today has seen the destruction of all private initiative. Colombia has received approximately 1.4 million Venezuelans migrants who have fled hunger and despair and has done so with open arms, guided by the ethical principles of solidarity and fraternity. It is precisely because we understand the difference between the brotherly people of Venezuela and the regime that oppresses them that we reach out to our brothers who continue to cross the border. We are aware that solidarity and fraternity must translate into tangible actions and policies. We have set up various instruments to help Venezuelans. We have welcomed the 25,000 children born on Colombian soil to Venezuelan parents since 2017 who were at risk of statelessness.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Colombia believes in multilateralism not only as a means of integrating economies, ideas and politics, but also, above all, as the stage for solutions — solutions that are built on such inalienable principles as solidarity, fraternity, love for freedom, utmost respect for the decisions of peoples and the unrestricted defence of democracy, on the rejection of all forms of tyranny and on the economic pillars of free enterprise, workers’ rights and free trade. At least 4.2 million people have left Venezuela since 2015 on account of the brutal dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. They are fleeing from a nation that was once rich and today is starved, that was once a democracy and today is an authoritarian regime without means or freedoms, where there are no institutions because they have shut down or been completely co-opted by the dictator.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)