YouSaid · the spoken record

Leonel Fernández Reyna,

lines on the record
108
first
1996-09-24
most recent
2011-09-24
sittings or episodes
8
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

  1. “We urge that the necessary steps are be taken to intensify the cooperation and coordination between the two institutions, which would enable us to achieve our common goals. The countries of the Caribbean are facing the challenges of current circumstances, as the advantages of access to markets are being eroded because of the implementation of World Trade Organization agreements, the effects of a single European market, the consolidation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the movement towards reciprocity and similar trends. Our participation in preferential access schemes depends on the observance of established standards with regard to workers’ rights, human rights, intellectual property rights, the environment and civil liberty — matters that go beyond economic considerations.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  2. “We would be pleased to see formal contact with and backing from the United Nations for that recently created body, in support of the efforts we have made to strengthen our relations and to work for our peoples’ development. Similarly, we have been participating in the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States, which is made up of Caribbean countries that benefit from the Fourth Lomé Convention. This forum has carried out a series of regional projects financed with European Union resources. As an observer, and aspiring full-fledged member, of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), we view with great interest the widening and deepening relationship between the United Nations and CARICOM.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  3. “Lastly, it is the history of the peoples of the Caribbean to free themselves from their imperial masters.” This direct contact with the major Powers over the course of five centuries, a product of these confrontations, 5 has marked the Caribbean, perhaps forever, with a particular stamp of fragmented histories, and different cultures and languages. Yet we are always seeking unity within diversity. Recent years have brought greater understanding and closer bonds between us, based on the understanding that we have a common destiny. As proof of this, our country is a founding member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), an organization bringing together nations that are very different both in ethnic terms and in development levels, and thus reflecting the richness and variety of our region.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  4. “It is our humble suggestion that the Security Council should be extended to enable Asia, Africa and Latin America to have two permanent seats on that body and that the number of non-permanent representatives be increased to democratize the decision-making machinery in that forum for peace. In one of his most frequently-cited works on the Caribbean, entitled El Caribe, Frontera Imperial, the former Dominican President and author, Juan Bosch, wrote as follows: “The history of the Caribbean is the history of the struggle of empires against the peoples of the region in order to rob them of their rich lands. It is also the history of the struggle of empires against one another to rob the possessions each one had conquered.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  5. “Nevertheless, just as we understand that the world has changed, that there is a new international agenda governed by the common concerns of all peoples over environment preservation, population growth, respect for human rights, strengthening of democratic systems, recognition of women’s rights, and the social and economic development of nations, we also understand that this Organization must be renewed and readapted to the new world circumstances. Latin America and Africa do not have permanent representatives on the Security Council, and Asia has only one. This means that there is uneven representation in that important body, which is incomprehensible in an Organization whose Members enjoy equal footing, on the principle that they are all sovereign States.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  6. “To ensure our participation in the various forums of the United Nations forums, exercising all the rights that have been bestowed upon us, we proceeded, first, to pay our financial debts in full. To the Dominican Republic, the payment of our arrears is evidence of our confidence and faith in the capability of the United Nations to play a role in the international arena to guarantee international peace and security as well as respect for human dignity and fundamental human rights.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  7. “This reorganization of the international system on the basis of strategic economic objectives has been accompanied by a scientific and technological revolution, a revolution of knowledge that spread across the planet and brought about the most profound change ever experienced in the history of humankind, turning the world into one large neighbourhood. In the new international order that arose following the cold war, the Dominican Republic could not remain isolated. That is why we are here today: to proclaim to the world that the Dominican Republic is now actively joining the group of nations represented in this multilateral Organization, so that, through international contacts and exchange, it can contribute to forging a better future for humanity and, accordingly, a more promising future for Dominicans.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)

  8. “The Dominican Republic was among the countries that founded the United Nations. But this is only the third time, in 51 years, that its Head of State has come to address the General Assembly. Perhaps the reason for this noticeable absence of our country during the many years that this great annual event has been held is that following the Second World War, the international system revolved around super-Power rivalry, giving rise to the cold war. In context, it is probable that our leaders felt that their presence here would have been merely symbolic, with no real importance. That this may have been the case in the past, but the world has changed. From the dramatic transformations in the geopolitical environment, a multi-polar international system has emerged, in which the economy matters more than ideologies and military conflicts.”

    1996-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 51 (1996)