YouSaid · the spoken record

Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado

lines on the record: 99
first: 2014-09-24
most recent: 2020-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
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

“As we believe that it is necessary not only to provide criticism, but also solutions concerning a comparable global challenge, we respectfully propose that the Secretary-General convene a select group of world leaders, who have been successful in the areas of economic development, health-care systems, education, small businesses, and applying technology to the new reality facing the world, among others, to help create a plan or a road map. If we all succeed, we all win. It will only be then that the United Nations System will be able to say that it rose to the occasion and that our generation will have served our children and our children’s children. Farewell.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“It is only fair that such events and phenomena be taken into account so that the most vulnerable and poorest countries are not be punished with bad ratings. Tailored focus must be provided to address to their specific needs, as well as unique approaches to achieve economic and social growth. It is time for us to talk seriously about the financial relief that we must receive from our international creditors, by which I mean the multilateral lending agencies. So far, they have not been up to the task of dealing with this colossal tragedy and the response needed for financing, establishing moratoriums and addressing the collapse of our economies has been poor.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“An illustrious citizen of the world once said: “Insanity is doing always the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” We must do something soon to translate words into deeds and rhetoric into action in that and all other areas. Is no one bothered by this? Is no one’s conscience troubled that, year after year, things remain the same? It bothers me! I am certain that I am not the only one who is troubled and uneasy, and for everyone’s sake, I must say that we still have time. Mr. Secretary-General, Climate change, natural disasters and epidemics affect our economy, and those problems are not always the fault of small countries, but, by affecting the economy, they prevent us from complying with the parameters imposed on us by financial bodies.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We have been seeking and waiting for that funding for several years now, to no avail. By the way, does anyone know where it is, or why it has not materialized? Why has that funding not reached the countries that need it most, like ours? I wish to recall that Honduras is one of the three most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change in the world. Every year, we are affected by drought, heavy rainfall and floods and diseases that damage our crops, such as coffee and grain, which have severely suffered in recent years as a result of extreme weather. That has had a terrible impact on the economy and the health of our people. Coffee prices, for example, are now improving a little in comparison with previous years, but that demonstrates only the volatility of a sector that is the livelihood of millions of families in the world.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Several months have now passed and, although I spoke personally with some of the system’s senior official, the process has not yet been completed and those affected are still awaiting assistance. Ladies and Gentlemen: The events of the past, present and future have been, are and will be highly contingent upon climate change. New epidemics arise from changes in the environment, as do the scarcity of resources and hunger. They all share a common genesis in a lack of respect for nature and the plundering of our natural resources. It is now necessary that we move from theory to facts and from fine, eloquent words to hard-hitting statements of reality: climate change has been an emergency for several years and yet the famous Green Climate Fund funding is nowhere to be found.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We need a permanent, forward-looking analysis, with the best resources and technology, so that we do not continue blindly moving forward. Our peoples deserve equal access to health, technology, information and education. In view of what is happening today, it is imperative that the Sustainable Development Goals agreed upon in 2015 be revised, updated and reconsidered in line with the new reality we are experiencing today. Meanwhile, we must strive to avoid excessive and inefficient bureaucracies. For example, at the beginning of the pandemic, we sought the support of the United Nations Development Programme in launching a digital wallet project that would allow us to make transparent economic transfers to those most in need of an income in our country.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“If the pandemic does not change our attitude towards others, then nothing will. The virus has attacked us all equally — it does not discriminate between rich and poor. The disease has reminded us in the harshest way that, in the end, we are all vulnerable humans, members of the same species, even if we speak in different languages, wear different clothes or live in different parts of the world. That is something upon which we must reflect. I also believe, with all due respect, that it is high time we review the entire United Nations system. We must urgently seek its greater efficiency and effectiveness so that it may achieve the purposes for which it exists. This Organization must generate the knowledge and information necessary to prepare us for what lies ahead.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“When technology and science exist to anticipate certain situations, especially if information concerning a global health threat is available, then that information must be shared with all countries in a transparent and timely manner, thereby preventing such information from being manipulated to benefit the interests of particular nations. For example, it was very helpful for our doctors to receive and share information from and with doctors in Europe and the Americas. Had this not happened, we would have considered it a crime against humanity. It is also the obligation of all States participating in the system to put such sensitive information with a direct impact on human life at the service of the world, whether through the World Health Organization or directly to other countries.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Thanks to two treatments in particular, known as MAIZ and CATRACHO per their Spanish acronyms, we have been able to reduce the mortality rate from 9 per cent at the beginning of the pandemic to 3 per cent or lower. Furthermore, thanks to the Fuerza Honduras programme, which helped to provide each municipality with the required medical equipment and logistical support, we have been able to offer free health care to those in need through stabilization and triage centres, as well as medical teams conducting home visits. We will never tire of thanking our heroes fighting on the front line: our doctors, our health workers and our security and relief personnel.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Support from the PAHO in relation to the acquisition of medical supplies and equipment also served us well, but there were occasions on which we did not agree with their recommendations, for instance when we were told that the use of face masks was unnecessary. Nevertheless, we decided to provide masks to our entire population and continued to make our own decisions based on our own experience. We consider our doctors and health workers, who have been fighting this pandemic on the front lines, to be heroes. They have risked their lives and worked tirelessly on a daily basis over the past six months. Precisely on the basis of their experience, they been able to identify some medicines that, in practice, have yielded promising results and are cheap and freely available in our country.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“At a time when we are all looking to acquire medicines, hospital supplies, equipment or the much sought-after vaccines, only a few countries will be first in line with broad access to them — and they will not be those most in need. We have also seen how, when medicine is in short supply, the producing country withholds production. The same thing happens with medical equipment: in some countries, production has been appropriated for their exclusive use, while sales to other countries are prohibited. What about all the other nations? Will people just be left to die? What about the vaccines? Who will have access to them? Is there already a list of countries for that? In our particular case, we received certain recommendations from the World Health Organization at the beginning of the pandemic that we considered to be most timely and useful.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Over the past 75 years, we have heard magnificent orators in this forum and great speeches written by the top intellectuals from every country; we have seen great leaders in their finest attire speaking the best turns of phrase; however, we have not been able to avoid wars, prevent inequality, eradicate poverty or eliminate many endemic or epidemic diseases. Over the past 75 years, I do not believe that we have fully achieved the altruistic goals set out when this Organization was created, not least all the purposes and principles that were established in 1945. The pandemic has laid bare the true inequality that exists in our world.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Not only have we ceased to be one of the most violent countries in the world but, by joining forces, for the first time in history we have been able to confront our internal fearsome criminal and bloodthirsty structures, despite them having sufficient muscle and economic power to destabilize a nation. We did so without fear and fully aware of what we were dealing with. Honduras wishes to acknowledge and express its gratitude to the United Nations system for its support in our struggle to protect our people — one of the many crucial areas in which we have worked together. I take this opportunity to remind you of our request in recent years for non-State organized groups, such as gangs and drug traffickers, to be recognized by the United Nations as terrorist groups.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We must maintain the balance between protecting health and prioritizing life. We must restore confidence in our peoples, who are asking themselves “What next?” These global crises are likely to continue, along with social unrest around the world, not only due to the threat of greater public health problems but by conflicts over land ownership, food, water and political ideologies, inter alia. Before I continue to address this issue, which is our main focus here today, I would like to speak about certain notable achievements worth mentioning that we as a Government have realized together with the Honduran people: Today, Honduras has managed to reduce the number of violent deaths by almost 60 per cent.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In the same way, now that we are immersed in a new global crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we must seek new ideas and new consensus and to be more creative and wiser in order to make the purposes and principles set forth in 1945 a reality. I myself, as a survivor of this disease and as a leader of a developing nation struggling to beat the pandemic, would like to express our concern about the consequences of the emergency situation we are grappling with today. The multifaceted impact of the crisis has affected our generation in an unprecedented way in terms of health, education, migration, basic services, human rights and the economy, particularly in those most vulnerable countries. That has caused great social damage, with medicine and food shortages and job losses, and now the monumental task of rebuilding our economies looms.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Heads of State and Government, Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the United Nations General Assembly at its seventy-fifth session, Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Greetings to you all. Seventy-five years ago, 51 countries signed the Charter of the United Nations, hoping to rid the world of war and ensure respect for the dignity and fundamental rights of people with justice, social progress and freedom. As a founding Member State, Honduras has supported these lofty goals from the very beginning. We were all moved by the consequences of the two great World Wars and sought, back then, to show the best of our human species by uniting in this global forum, creating this Organization, which is the largest international organization in the world today.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We must hold accountable those who are truly responsible for climate change. We must put an end to organized crime, youth gangs and other gangs, and drug traffickers that undermine the fundamental rights of people. We must form a common front in order to generate prosperity and promote sustainable development. We must take action to combat climate change if we wish to live, if we wish to survive.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“One decade ago, the Green Climate Fund was established with great fanfare, but poor management and bureaucracy makes access almost impossible. In my country, I am asked if this an ugly joke. I also leave that to the Assembly’s conscience. In Honduras, we are promoting systems of agricultural production that are adapted to climate change, with our own resources. We are implementing new technologies and establishing centres for agricultural research and innovation. We are also building such protected agricultural structures as greenhouses, intelligent irrigation systems and water reservoirs. In addition, we are leading reforestation initiatives, creating jobs and encouraging our young people and children to preserve our forests. We fund all these efforts ourselves. It is now or never. Let us move from words to deeds.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We have to pay for the irresponsibility of other countries, which, I believe, is one of the greatest injustices of the twenty-first century. In some fraternal countries, being able to obtain a glass of water can mean the difference between life and death — survival itself. I wonder if we have to wait for that to be the case in Honduras and in the rest of the world? I leave it to the Assembly’s conscience. We in Honduras cannot wait. We in Honduras have decided to not wait. In my country, there are places where water is so scarce that it provokes violence. The Assembly should take note of it. Wars have been fought over oil. In the future, wars will be fought over water. Must we wait for that to happen? Honduras has begun its fight against climate change. We have allocated national resources to combat it because we could not wait.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Let us not fool ourselves — there are no concrete results. Will we continue to wait for floods and droughts to devastate us and for thousands of people to be displaced without a future and even lose their lives? This is the reality. Whoever needs proof, whoever wishes to experience those phenomena need only come to Central America, to Honduras. There are destructive rainfalls, protracted droughts, diseases and plagues like never before. They call this climate change and climate crisis. The Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index indicates that Honduras, Puerto Rico and Myanmar are the three places in the world most affected by extreme climate events. Nevertheless, neither Honduras, Puerto Rico nor Myanmar are among the greatest contributors to environmental degradation. This is not fair.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Our coffee-bean harvest decreased by 15 per cent, and we have lost revenue amounting to more than $400 million over the past two years. But the impact is also social because 90 per cent of those who produce coffee are small-scale coffee farmers. I would like to ask a question to all coffee consumers worldwide — would any of them dare to ask the sellers from whom they buy their cup of coffee whether they, the sellers, are paying a fair price to the coffee producers? We should think about it because I am sure that if the seller can answer in the affirmative, that would be a very powerful thing. It would be so powerful that it could change the lives of the more than 120 million families of coffee growers worldwide. I now want to bring up a topic that everyone talks about but does not yield any concrete results.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We are on the path to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. We are continuing to support our young people in order to guarantee a future for the building of our Honduras. We have an innovative programme of more than 15,000 students on national scholarships attending national universities, and hundreds are now obtaining graduate degrees in various specialties at the best universities all over the world. I would like to touch upon a very important theme that we discussed this morning. One of the causes of migration is the coffee crisis, which is driven by low prices and the effects of climate change. Honduras is the fifth largest coffee producer, and coffee production makes up 5 per cent of its gross domestic product.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We in Honduras have set up a scheme to encourage the creation of small businesses and their access to soft credit, in order to support those that generate 70 per cent of jobs in our economy but only account for 3 per cent, if that, of the loans granted by the financial system and have been historically excluded from the financial system. In a short amount of time, over 3,000 small businesses have been created under a programme entitled “My business online”. We have also built the “Better life” platform for social protection, which seeks to ensure minimum wage, food security, decent housing, job creation and competition. In the past five years, we have reached 4 million beneficiaries — almost half of our population — with at least one intervention for each of those beneficiaries.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Honduras is doing its part, with responsible macroeconomic policies designed to make the economy more certain, thereby generating stability that allows us to promote investments, create jobs and access to edit at concessional rates from multilateral organizations so as to develop productive and social infrastructure. In that regard, as an aside, I also want to express my gratitude to the Government and the people of Mexico for the support pledged to us to create opportunities for entrepreneurs and massively promote reforestation through the Sowing Lives programme. I would also like to thank Secretary-General Guterres for committing, at our bilateral meeting yesterday, to the fight to mobilize green funds and convene a pledging conference to finance the Comprehensive Development Plan for Central America.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Criminal organizations, human traffickers, unscrupulous non-governmental organizations and politicians seeking to destabilize the Government organized migrant caravans in which thousands of children, fathers, mothers, including pregnant women, have risked their lives on a path of cruelty, exploitation and false promises. I ask: Is this not a crime? Of course it is, because the freedom and lives of human beings are at risk. At the beginning of my presidency, in 2014, I said that irregular migration should be addressed by attacking the root causes, by taking shared but differentiated responsibility, strengthening institutions and increasing security and prosperity. To that end, States must promote opportunities to support the excluded and vulnerable.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We must be on our guard, as it is a destabilizing force, causes chaos and intimidation, undermines the economy and institutions and generates transculturation and a misinformation war. We are the victims of these political attacks with obscure interests aimed at destabilizing the country. The attacks are also coming from Venezuela, led by the regime of Nicolas Maduro, with his partner in Honduras named Mel Zelaya. This story is not new, nor am I the only one who has experienced it. It is a subject with global dimensions. Drug trafficking, gangs and organized crime generate violence. Violence slows down development and violates human dignity, which, in turn, generates forced and irregular migration.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Today, I decry the fact that, owing to the fight we have begun and continue to lead against organized crime, I am the subject of attacks and a smear campaign led by drug traffickers, gang members, corrupt police officers who have been terminated, confessed killers, certain business people who abet the criminals by funding their activities, even politicians. It is truly an international political structure that does not shy away from working with the criminal world, promotes hatred and instils fear in social communicators, leading them to self-censorship out of fear. Others serve to undermine our society through, inter alia, social networks and fake news. Today, I want to highlight what some scholars and friendly countries call “fourth-generation warfare”.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“They are brave, highly effective men and women who have given up everything, including, for some, their lives. We have taken up the fight on land and on sea in order to counter drug trafficking. We have created an extradition process, extradited the biggest drug lords and adopted laws against money-laundering, among other important measures. We have reformed the prison system and today have special anti-extortion and highly effective anti-gangs task forces. It has not been an easy fight.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“We must consider such transnational groups, including the Salvatrucha and 18th Street gangs, as non-State entities that violate fundamental rights. Is what I have just described not a true abuse of fundamental rights? And I ask myself — and I leave the Assembly to ponder the question — why it is that, today, we still cannot find grounds under international law to hold gangs, organized crime and drug traffickers accountable? We have set up a new system of institutions. We have also restructured some of our institutions to make them robust and prepared to confront organized crime. In this Hall, I would like to thank justice officials in my country, be they public prosecutors, the judiciary, the police, the military, intelligence agents and all those Hondurans who have undertaken the fight with us.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Gangs have been the armed branch of drug traffickers. They have committed extortion and terrible assassinations and massacres. They have managed to infiltrate demonstrations, turning them violent and engaging in looting, arson and attacks on society. They have attacked the media and the security force. These criminal groups are the allies and friends of some politicians who have admitted to being their friends and close collaborators. This enemy’s goal is to supplant the rule of law. It is a legacy of mourning and pain, with the loss of more than 67,000 lives in the last decade and a half, more than those killed in the Viet Nam war on the United States side. The violence displayed by these illegal groups affect the economy, security and national sovereignty.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I wish to extend to all participants a special greeting from a beautiful land called Honduras. I will begin by telling the story of my country. The last few decades have seen a major tragedy in relation to the history of our republic. Corruption prevails with impunity, creating a vicious circle in which criminal gangs has managed to infiltrate all sectors. We are tackling and will continue to tackle this impunity until the last day of our Government. At one point, we were the most dangerous country in the world; that is no longer the case. We had one of the highest homicide rates; today, we have more than halved it. We purged the police, set up investigation mechanisms, dismantled organized crime networks and built maximum security prisons, with the result that we now have much stronger institutions.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I call for respect for the principle of the best interests of the child and the family as the holiest institution of humankind. I call for leading by example when it comes to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, protecting the world’s small coffee producers so that they receive what they deserve through a truly fair trade, since this fair trade implies not only obligations for producers but also that their rights are respected, which is what access to a fair profit would be. In Honduras, we are ready to move from words and promises on paper to action. In Honduras, we are ready to act through actions that bring results.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We must honour that generation that had the vision to create the General Assembly and ensure respect for the sovereignty of nations and the self-determination of peoples. I represent a country that, like every country, has problems and faces great challenges. I represent a country that is small in the size of its territory but great in dignity. I emphatically wish to say that I could not forgive myself coming to the General Assembly and not making an appeal to the conscience of world leaders to adopt a transcendent attitude, demanding that we pass from words to concrete actions that change the lives of the peoples of the world for the better. I call for the protection of our democracies and human rights from attacks by armed non-State actors, gangs, youth gangs and criminal groups.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Therefore, I take this opportunity to ask that delegations draft a resolution that recognizes that gangs, youth gangs and other criminal groups should be considered non-State entities that violate human rights and threaten the stability of States. At a high cost and at great risk, we in Honduras decided to face this monstrous multiheaded challenge, and like very few countries in the region we have made progress, increasingly entrenching a climate of greater security and peace each day. But I can acknowledge that not enough has been done yet. That is why there can be no State Member of the United Nations that considers itself a supporter of democracy, pacifist or full of respect for life and does not heed our call, which is also the call of other peoples who have suffered under the same circumstances.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“It is my firm conviction that in Honduras these non-State actors are violating fundamental rights — the human rights — of thousands of their compatriots. More alarming is the fact that I have repeatedly made this denunciation in other United Nations bodies and in the Organization of American States, and until today we have not received any answers. That is why I wanted to clearly draw the Assembly’s attention to the issue. This situation should trigger alarms for States and specifically for the United Nations in the defence of the rule of law and representative democracy. I emphasize that it is a question of such fundamental rights as the right to life, freedom and the enjoyment of participatory democracy.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The first time I had the honour of addressing the General Assembly, I said that the greatest tragedy that Honduras has suffered in the history of the Republic has been the wave of violence resulting from drug trafficking (see A/69/PV.7). Our country is a transit zone for drugs produced in the southern part of the continent and consumed in the north. In addition to the scourge of drug trafficking, gangs, youth gangs and criminal groups have in the past literally supplanted States themselves in several regions, countries and circumstances. In my country, there are armed non-State groups that, when affirmatively confronted by good Hondurans who desire to live in peace, and are the object of the Government’s efforts to restore peace and security, go so far as to threaten electoral processes, democracy and the rule of law.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“We have been talking about the Sustainable Development Goals for a long time. However, I must ask, does it make sense to ignore the crisis that millions of small coffee producers are living through? In my country, there are only approximately 90,000, but in the Americas all together there are more than 14 million producers and in the world 25 million producer families, and millions more indirectly dependent on coffee production. We must act now — today. While the United Nations is taking action on this issue — I say this because I am convinced that it is going to take action on the issue — I call on all the Presidents of the coffee-producing countries and the coffee producers of the world to organize themselves, because it is clear that no one is in fact looking out for the interests of the world’s poor small coffee producers.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Since we are all promoters of the Sustainable Development Goals, we must not turn a deaf ear to the fact that generates extreme poverty. A cup of coffee in New York City can cost $5, or 500 cents. Do members of delegations know how much the small coffee producers in my country receive after working hard under the sun and rain, harvesting every single grain of coffee by hand? I want to tell them — these producers do not get even two cents for every cup of coffee, and it costs $5, or 500 cents, yielding barely two cents for the producer. Is this or is this not an injustice? I know that those who applaud recognize that it is an injustice. That cannot be. We cannot close our eyes, stop listening or cease allowing something to stir in our conscience and wake us up. That is why we are here.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Still, the SDGs have sadly been interpreted as setting forth double standards, as millions of coffee producers — mainly the smallest ones, who are today receiving a price below their costs, which undoubtedly leads them in to extreme poverty — have witnessed. That is the case with approximately 90,000 coffee-producing families in my country, Honduras — and when I speak of my country, Honduras, in terms of coffee production, I am not talking about just any country, because we are the fifth- largest coffee producer in the world, the third-largest in America and the largest in Central America. I would like to ask members of delegations a question. How many of them have a cup of coffee in the morning or during the day? We know that there is a very high possibility that, without knowing it, they have participated in an enormous injustice.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Today, from this rostrum, I invite delegations, on the basis of paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations, and with the support of the Organization of American States, to turn the region into an area of peace, prosperity and free trade, like the one Morazán and Bolívar imagined. A customs union seeks to facilitate trade, but trade in which justice and fairness prevail. Today, the item at the top of the agenda of the United Nations is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which in essence constitute a frontal attack on poverty. In the context of the commitments it has undertaken under the SDGs, my Government has already approved the establishment of a national commission for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Our objective is the establishment of a Central American common market, which entails the creation of a free trade zone and a common external tariff that establish the foundation for setting up a Central American customs union. That is one of those instances where the United Nations must become more aggressively involved. We are working on integrating into that system the other countries of Central America, thereby enhancing a zone that holds great potential and enormous resources to be developed. Once fully established in Central America, that effort will make us the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. This model represents an opportunity to promote an American customs union that ensures the economic integration of the entire continent.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“The members of the Assembly can never forget the commitment to universal and effective respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, in which the overriding interests of children must prevail. That is where we need diligence from senior United Nations officials and every Government of the world. Economic integration in Central America has been a major dream that we have longed for since 1951. Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador took the initiative today to take a step towards fulfilling that goal by creating the first customs union in the Americas. Our region enjoys a privileged location, with maritime borders on both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, thereby acting as a link connecting the rest of the world to the Americas.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“That undignified treatment is in addition to the daily abuse that thousands of migrants receive along the route of terror from South America through Central America to the United States, where they are victims of all kinds of violations by criminal networks, whether they be called coyotes, human traffickers, drug traffickers, maras or gangs. I reaffirm that the principle of the dignity of the human person is a fundamental part of the Charter of the United Nations. We must act against the circumstances in which the most sacred institution of humankind, the family, is trampled upon and destroyed. With much pain, to date we continue to await the reunification of 120 separated children, who are being deprived of a right so basic and, at the same time, so fundamental for their development as is the family unit.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“Every minute that those funds remain in bank vaults, the banking system gets richer and causes suffering to humankind. Migration is a human right. Human beings have been on the move and migrating for centuries, thereby contributing to the social and economic development of the countries that welcomed them as they sought better opportunities. Honduras and the Central American region are no exception. Unfortunately, in recent times the entire world has witnessed the cruelty with which migrants, including my compatriots, have been treated. We have all seen the subhuman conditions in which they are held in detention centres, which trample on the dignity inherent to the human person.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“I should now like to speak about the reality in my country, Honduras. We have been one of the countries most impacted by extreme weather events over the past 20 years, ranking first in the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index. Despite being one of the world’s most vulnerable countries, Honduran society as a whole has been working to combat the effects of climate change. Excessive bureaucracy has prevented access to financing from the vaunted green funds; were we to have access, it would allow us to undertake action and contribute to reforestation, conservation and mitigation. I am convinced that it is the obligation of the United Nations and of each and every one of us to review and resolve as soon as possible the way those funds are used, rather than keeping them locked up in the vaults of the banks of the world.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“If we want to live in a harmonious system, we must comply with the pillars of the Organization, as reflected in the Charter of the United Nations. We see international forces and actors constantly looking out for their own interests and interfering in our internal affairs, among other things, thereby affecting our democracy, which is a fundamental element for the development of nations that we are willing to defend. I say this today and I will say it tomorrow and always: it is necessary to protect the rule of law in our homeland. We live in new times with new realities and new challenges. The world demands great transformations and profound reforms. It is up to our current generation of leaders to live up to the demands of our peoples. That is an unavoidable responsibility.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“As well, the idea is to set up a new, modern and transparent technical system for authentic identification, all with a view to development. As we meet at this great world forum and express our most sincere desire to work together as a team in order to build peace and find solutions, I also cannot avoid expressing my frustration at the lack of will and courage to make possible many of the ideas voiced here, despite the enormous size and amount of resources managed by the United Nations. Since the creation of the United Nations, it has been well established that respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of every State must be a priority for world peace. The principle of sovereign equality is crucial for the stability of the world.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“In delivering my statement to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session, I would like to express my gratitude for the support of the United Nations to the national political dialogue under way in Honduras, undertaken at the initiative of several opposition leaders as well as my Government. Various political forces and civil society organizations are taking part in the national dialogue, which remains open to anyone wishing to participate. One of the main goals of the dialogue is to propose electoral reforms with a view to building a new model. Only yesterday, by 110 out of 128 votes, the National Congress of Honduras appointed a committee for modernizing and updating the national identification system from which the voter registry is established.”
2018-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 73 (2018)
“May those dreams continue. May dreamers imagine a new world and be fuelled by hope, turning their yearnings into reality. We have worked for that new world the last four years. That new world is the reason we are here today. We are confident that our actions will allow us to see the rising of a new sun, of a new day. Nothing and no one can forbid us to dream. Let us continue to dream. Together, we can build a better world for our children and for the children of our children.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)
“Our Honduran compatriots, who migrated when they faced difficult circumstances in our country, make us proud of their endeavours, and we therefore demand that they be treated in a way that is dignified and commensurate with their contribution to the countries to which they have gone to build a new life. Honduras is endeavouring to improve the conditions of our citizens so that they do not have to leave, to abandon their homeland and families in search of opportunities in other countries. However, we are also working with our brother countries in Latin America to ensure that there is recognition of the contribution of those who, due to natural phenomena, have been granted temporary protection status, and for children who had to leave with their parents, grew up far from their homeland and began to dream in another.”
2017-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 72 (2017)