YouSaid · the spoken record

Samuel Santos López

lines on the record: 124
first: 2009-09-24
most recent: 2014-09-24
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

“From our point of view, the resources freed up as a result of disarmament efforts should be directed to ensuring the attainment of the national social development goals of each of our countries. One only has to take a brief glance at the trillions of dollars spent on war to realize how many human problems could be solved with these funds, alleviating the pain caused by poverty and exclusion. The global economic and financial crisis has had little or no effect on global military spending. Nicaragua remains actively committed to the cause of general and complete disarmament.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“This saying of Benito Juárez, President of Mexico and the first indigenous president in the Americas, clearly reflects the conception of and will for peace among the peoples of the world. This apothegm should guide our Organization, and in particular the Security Council, ensuring that their actions adhere strictly to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Moreover, Nicaragua believes that there is a close relation between disarmament and development. Our commitment to security includes a commitment to the promotion of human rights, which we interpret as 10-55128 30 tantamount to sustainable development centred on the human being and implemented in an environment of good governance with direct citizen participation and social equality, which are indispensable to real development.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Security Council resolution 1929 (2010), which imposes new sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran, has only served to increase the possibility of a large-scale military conflict with unforeseeable consequences. The war games on the Korean peninsula increase tensions in that region, jeopardizing the gains achieved between the two Koreas. Neither Europe nor the Persian Gulf has escaped the expanding zone of militarization. Similarly, the establishment of military bases and the deployment of naval and air power on Latin American soil threaten the political stability of our nations. “Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace”.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“We do not accept the failure of reason. We do not accept war as the obligatory language among peoples. Nicaragua rejects war as a solution to conflicts between States. We reject war as a means for appropriating the planet’s natural resources or for imposing the hegemony of a few over the majority of the world’s nations. War will never lead to solutions partial or full, much less definitive. The invasion of Iraq by foreign troops under false pretexts has brought neither peace nor stability to that country. On the contrary, it has left that country in ruins and failed to bring greater stability to the region. The war in Afghanistan has become a dead end for the occupiers. At the same time, it has also had negative effects on its neighbours.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Furthermore, what is worse is that they tell us that no one is responsible and that it is a faceless disaster, seeking thus to exonerate the industrialized countries of the North. However, we know full well that the underlying cause of the serious crises we are experiencing is the nature of the system of economic, political and social relations established by global capitalism and the effort to have that system accepted as a universal paradigm. In this regard, the poor countries, which are referred to by the euphemism “developing countries”, can strip away the masks of those who — driven by greed, selfishness and the desire for absolute power in the name of manifest destiny or of divine reason — have brought humankind to the brink of extinction. Nicaragua, which has experienced the pain and injustice of war first-hand, is against war.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“In the name of the Nicaraguan people and of Comrade President Commander Daniel Ortega Saavedra, I convey my warmest brotherly greetings to you, Sir, and to each and every one of the peoples and Governments represented in the General Assembly. As the shadows of apocalyptic threats darken the world stage, we begin to doubt the capacity for reason and the strength of the most noble sentiments of human beings to face up to the serious problems confronting humanity. Various types of information are manipulated by the global communications media in order to continually discredit the independence efforts of the Governments of the South. They disseminate the idea that humanity is impotent in the face of the present state of disaster and that we must prepare for the worst.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“I send greetings to all on behalf of our President, Daniel Ortega Saavedra, and of all Nicaraguans who sing in praise of Darío and who proudly carry on Sandino’s legacy in order to defend ourselves today with peace and dignity. Nicaragua is proud of its devotion to peace, honour, solidarity and the relentless struggle against injustice.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The wide world of Latin America has ceased to be foreign, and as Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann said during his particularly outstanding presidency of the General Assembly, the current scenario is not a tragedy but a crisis. Crisis purifies. The pain we now feel is not the death rattle of a dying man but the pain of a new birth. Finally, I wish to inform the General Assembly that Nicaragua, respectful of international law, has abided by the ruling of the International Court of Justice in its decision of 13 July 2009, and has issued a presidential decree to regulate navigation in the San Juan River, over which Nicaragua has full, absolute and unquestionable sovereignty, as was recognized by the ruling.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The true objective of installing these “seven daggers in the heart of America”, as they are called by Commander Fidel Castro, is to salvage the moribund economic and political system with which capitalism flaunts its power by controlling the hemisphere’s water, oil and biodiversity. We believe in the strengthening of energetic and progressive positions in the defence of peace and respect for the sovereignty of the countries of our region. We are sure that it will ultimately serve to further advance the Latin American unity dreamt by Bolívar, Morazán, Martí and Sandino. Today, the solidarity practices of Fidel Castro and revolutionary Cuba have grown and spread like never before.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It is necessary to replace and find alternatives to the current socio-economic and political model, which has led to unjustified interventions such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to that now being committed against our region with the establishment of military bases in Colombia under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking. We cannot fail to be struck by the fact that, despite the $7,558,000,000 invested, the flow of drugs out of Colombia continues to grow. In 1999, at the beginning of Plan Colombia, the drug traffic to the United States and Europe was an annual 600 metric tons. Today, in 2009, that traffic has more than doubled to 1,450 metric tons. In other words, the strategy of militarizing Colombia has failed, absolute proof of which are the numbers I have cited.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It is not possible to put a kind face on perversion or arrogance. That is the essence of the prevailing economic system — the exploitation of one human being by another, the subjugation of nations, and the hoarding of wealth by the few. This is why we are in crisis; it is not because of a lack of resources, but because of the concentration of resources in the hands of a few, because of disregard for our environment, because of the rejection of moral values, because of human arrogance towards other species and, worst of all, because of disdain for human life itself. We are optimistic.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We believe that the United Nations Climate Change Conference, to take place in December in Copenhagen, should be a debate not on the need to act, but rather on the need for the developed countries to fulfil their historic obligation under the Kyoto Protocol and to end their attempts to repudiate the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. It is time for attitudes and actions to reflect a true commitment to counteracting the harmful effects of global warming. We firmly believe that it is the 09-53165 10 exclusive responsibility of the General Assembly — and in no case of the Security Council — to seek the consensus and commitments necessary for us to move forward in this struggle, which is a struggle for the survival of all humankind. It is not possible to democratize selfishness, exclusion or the manipulation of truth.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It is within the most representative institution that economic policies affecting millions should be decided, and not within exclusive groups, such as the Group of Eight or the Group of 20, defenders of the model of domination by the few over the majority. In that regard, we welcome establishment of the ad hoc open-ended working group that will follow up on the outcome of the Conference. For some years now, climate change has become not a threat of the future, but rather a very present threat.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I cannot fail to note with profound concern that we are meeting today under economic circumstances that are similar to or worse than those of a year ago, when the worst world economic depression of modern times arose to exacerbate the existing food, energy and environmental crises. Unfortunately, these world crises have met with a decrease in official development assistance, which remains conditional thanks to the international financial institutions, and with the reluctance of developed countries to replace the current model with one that is more just and respectful of Mother Nature. The United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development demonstrated that the Group of 192, as it has been called by my brother, Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, has a voice in world economic matters.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The time has come to make the General Assembly a forum in which substantive, irreversible decisions are taken. We cannot continue to have a Security Council with an abusive veto privilege. The time has also come for cooperation without humiliating preconditions, the construction of the most beautiful dream of Bolívar and Sandino, and the dawn of a realistic and coherent solidarity. I speak of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, composed of the peoples of Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela, and Honduras in its resistance. ALBA is the basis for cross-cutting and inclusive cooperation between our peoples. Its membership increases day by day.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“By means of the coup, its perpetrators have sought to kill the democratic hopes and initiatives of the Honduran people, just as they sought to thwart the fraternal process of Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Nonetheless, a change in Honduras that supersedes a formal and hypocritical democracy is inevitable. From this rostrum, we denounce the massacre of the Honduran people and point in no uncertain terms to the assassination plot against President Zalaya. We must heed this now, because later it will be said that he committed suicide. From this very moment, we unconditionally support and endorse the proposal made last night in this same forum by the Foreign Minister of Honduras, Patricia Rodas, to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We also call on Israel to withdraw from the occupied Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian territories. We stand unconditionally with the Palestinian people in their daily fight for their own sovereign State. That is why we advocate a peaceful, just and lasting solution that guarantees peace in that region. One year after gaining their independence, we congratulate the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and affirm that we have already established diplomatic relations with Abkhazia. We support the new and positive focus that Taiwan has adopted in its relations with the People’s Republic of China, as well as its participation in United Nations specialized bodies and agencies. We condemn the coup d’état in Honduras and hereby proclaim our definitive decision not to recognize the results of any electoral farce in that country.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It is also rightfully of interest to this Assembly that, while a criminal murderer of Cuban athletes enjoys total liberty, five anti-terrorist Cubans are imprisoned far from their families and incommunicado for the sole crime of simply being anti-terrorists. 9 09-53165 Today’s Nicaragua is an active militant in favour of solidarity, as well as a militant supporter of gratitude. We therefore appreciate the disinterested cooperation of the sister nations that contribute to the economic and social development of our people. We also embrace the just cause of Puerto Rican independence and support the return of the Malvinas Islands to their rightful owner, the Argentine people. In the same manner, we endorse the struggles of the Saharan and Cypriot peoples.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Government of National Reconciliation and Unity also seeks to reverse the exclusion to which native peoples and communities of African descent have been subject throughout history. Nicaragua is the enemy of terrorism in any of its forms, including State-sponsored terrorism. It is for that and many other reasons that we oppose the criminal embargo against the heroic people of Cuba, six generations of whom have been born since the embargo began. How many more generations must outlive it? How many more resolutions must the Assembly adopt on this topic? There are already 17 resolutions on this issue.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In order to refute the daily lies of certain media outlets in Nicaragua, FAO recently issued a published notice of the positive results of the programmes it coordinates with the Nicaraguan Government to fight hunger and extreme poverty. Food security cannot continue to be subject to the greediness of a few. There is enough food to nourish twice the current world population, but thousands die every minute around the world. While in some countries automobiles are fed, millions of boys and girls die with an empty stomach. That is simply criminal. We also express our profound rejection of the discrimination and persecution of immigrants and unequivocally support full respect for their human rights.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Today, we have an electrical power reserve of 42.6 per cent, although barely two years ago there was a shortfall of 3.29 per cent. This is thanks to the solidarity of the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela under the leadership of its President, Commander Hugo Chávez Frías. Meanwhile, we continue to make targeted efforts to promote the use of alternative renewable energy sources, such as water, wind, geothermal, solar power and, more recently, biomass. We also support initiatives aimed at developing civilian nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Clean drinking water has been made available to 217,000 families. We have launched programmes such as Zero Hunger and Zero Usury, which were highlighted in a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In our country, the mortality rate from this disease is one of the two lowest in America. These achievements have been made possible by the generous solidarity of the fraternal people and Government of Cuba, which has been consistent and has perpetuated the internationalist calling of Commander Fidel Castro Ruz. The Government of Nicaragua has opened the door to production credits. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) selected our school nutrition programme as one of the top four in the world. In that spirit, President Daniel Ortega has proposed the adoption of a Central American agriculture policy to transform the region into a food production zone, and in that same spirit, we welcome and support the World Summit on Food Security scheduled for November of this year.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Although few may know this, our country is one of the safest countries of this continent. Nicaragua is engaged in an exemplary, tireless and decisive campaign against organized and petty crime in an exemplary fashion, as acknowledged by international bodies and authorities. It does so not only with coercive and punitive measures, but, more significantly, by building an alternative model of development that transforms the structures of poverty and marginalization that are the breeding ground of public security problems. Our model is based on democratic reform expressed by the people’s will, which we call “citizen power”. By means of the “From Martí to Fidel” campaign, illiteracy has been reduced to 3.16 per cent. We have made progress in preventive medicine and have successfully controlled pandemics, such as that of the A (H1N1) virus.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Thirty years after the triumph of the people’s Sandinista Revolution and the start of a process of popular and participatory democracy, on behalf of the President of Nicaragua and Commander of the Revolution, Mr. Daniel Ortega Saavedra, I salute and congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election as 09-53165 8 President of this Assembly, which it is my honour to address. Nicaragua is a country impoverished by historical circumstances no different from, if not identical to, the histories and circumstances of countries of our Latin American and Caribbean region and others around the world. This history has been repeated over time and space, as we will outline later. Nevertheless, Nicaragua remains a land rich in beauty and natural resources. It is a nation symbolic of reconciliation and of national and international unity.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)