YouSaid · the spoken record

Fernando Lugo Méndez

lines on the record: 67
first: 2008-09-24
most recent: 2011-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
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

“Finally, I would like to thank all those who helped the Paraguayan initiative for the International Day of Friendship to come to fruition. The friendship of individuals, peoples and nations is not exclusively a question of diplomacy, much less a commercial enterprise to make money from the inclination of human beings to join together. Friendship is that bond which must necessarily be based on solidarity, and, in Paraguay, we believe that it is high time for the world to make it happen. I am pleased that this initiative has become universal. On behalf of the Paraguayan people, we greet all the peoples of the world in the hope that we will find the way to overcome global social injustices and thus guarantee a world culture of peace and friendship based on the well-being and genuine development of all our peoples, without distinction.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Given its commitment to the goal of fully respecting the human rights of our peoples, Paraguay has decided to present its candidacy for the Human Rights Council for the term 2014-2017. We hope to have the support of the international community. We must express our serious concern for the environmental crisis, which is worsening on a daily basis and even generating uncertainty about the survival of the human race. We fully support strengthening the only legally binding agreement in this area, the Kyoto Protocol, and its further extension. The agreements reached in Cancún are a great support in improving emissions levels but they are voluntary in nature, which contradicts the principle of climate justice that our peoples so favour.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“As a complement to beginning the preparations for the Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries, which will help us to overcome the adversities we face, we are promoting the Multilateral Agreement for the Establishment of an International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries, in the conviction that scientific advances in that area will be of great importance in overcoming the obstacles that such countries face. Regarding the Millennium Development Goals, Paraguay reaffirms its full commitment to achieving those goals and expresses its concern about the extent to which they will be met by 2015. This is why we encourage Governments, civil society organizations and the private sector to work together to achieve them.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In that capacity, we urge transit countries and their main neighbours, as applicable, as well as international organizations and the most developed countries, to increase their commitment to implement the Almaty Programme of Action, addressing the special needs of landlocked developing countries within a new global framework for transit transport cooperation. This will help such countries to overcome their limitations and will facilitate their overall development.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We are confident that, by coordinating and linking our economic initiatives, we will lay the foundation for integration, which will not only protect our countries from crises that are not of our creation, but also guarantee the comprehensive development of our peoples. Paraguay is among those nation States which, over the course of history, have fallen prey to various vulnerabilities, given their geographic situation and historical experience. Paraguay has been weakened by a historic model of socio-economic development based on the looting of its natural and strategic resources and administered through relations of structural dependence. That is why, in January 2010, Paraguay became the Chair of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“This will be a significant contribution to the peace process in the Middle East. We believe that urgent efforts are needed to design and build a new international financial architecture, one that responds to the new era in which we live and provides measures for avoiding systematic cyclical crises and for developing regional mechanisms for economic and financial cooperation. Under this new framework, nations with common histories and destinies can create their own spaces for cooperation and economic partnerships. The countries of South America have focused the actions of UNASUR on this goal.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Consistent with the stance it has taken in international forums, in particular the United Nations, and considering the resolutions that condemn the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, such as Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979) and 478 (1980), Paraguay established diplomatic relations with Palestine on 25 March 2005 11-50702 10 and recognizes a free and independent Palestinian State based on the borders of 4 June 1967. We are gratified that the agenda of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly includes the recognition of the free, sovereign and independent State of Palestine. We are convinced that this is a confirmation of the historic debt of the international community to recognize the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to have its own State with well- defined borders.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Paraguay has consistently supported the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly at previous sessions which call for the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba. In full observance of resolution 65/6, entitled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”, and before this Assembly, Paraguay once again reiterates its support for the resolutions adopted in that regard.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In the 50 years since the embargo was imposed on the people of Cuba, Paraguay has repeatedly expressed its opposition to that economic, commercial and financial blockade, as have the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Paraguay has stood together with those countries and called for the immediate lifting of the embargo. In particular, we deplore the impact of this unjust blockade on the Cuban people, which is a consequence of positive laws that affect free trade and the transparent practice of international trade. In that respect, Paraguayan legislation does not recognize the extraterritorial application of foreign laws that violate the sovereignty of other States. This practice also violates the principles of international law that we, the Members of the United Nations, defend and strive to uphold.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Thus, we insist and urge that efforts continue to be made to that end so that the Council can once again fulfil its mission of guaranteeing international peace and security. In terms of foreign policy, Paraguay, as one of the founding Members of the Organization, upholds and reiterates the constitutional principles governing its international relations: national independence, self- determination of peoples, legal equality of States, solidarity and international cooperation, international protection of human rights, freedom of navigation in international rivers, non-intervention, and condemnation of all forms of dictatorship, colonialism and imperialism.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We urge the Council to fulfil its primary role of promoting world peace and avoiding war, which is why it must be reformed and become more democratic. We must accord greater legitimacy to the Council by making it more representative of the new multilateral and multipolar world order, and by gradually doing away with veto rights. We must express our concern, here before the General Assembly, regarding the actions taken in Libya under resolution 1973 (2011) of the Security Council and in the context of the responsibility to protect. We believe that the use of force must always be a last resort. That is why we are concerned about the crisis affecting the United Nations Security Council, which can be overcome only through its reform and democratization.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Beginning this year, after more than a decade of uninterrupted contributions of military observers, Paraguay will be contributing a multirole engineering unit to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the first to be deployed under our national flag. The General Assembly should adopt the necessary reforms so as to reaffirm its inherent nature as a universal, democratic and equitable representative body. In this way, its powers will be recognized and will take precedence over those of other bodies in the Organization, such as the Security Council, in order to underscore the processes that help to overcome violence and globalized social injustice and build the multipolar, democratic and egalitarian world that we so greatly desire. In the same vein, democratizing the Security Council is becoming an increasingly urgent task.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It must be based on the shared but differentiated responsibilities of all countries, developing and developed, in order to guarantee the 9 11-50702 conditions necessary for a peaceful world that relies on the comprehensive and effective development of our peoples. Lastly, it must avoid ruinous hypotheses at all costs, such as those that led to “preventive attacks”, which culminated in the loss of many lives, the destruction of entire cities and vital elements of universal culture, and sowed the seeds for the dreadful mistrust of any subsequent such initiatives. The self-determination of peoples should not be shaped by the political or economic interests of those who oversee global equilibrium with weapons. It is, and must be, written in stone. Paraguay plays an active role in United Nations peacekeeping missions.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Article 1 of the United Nations Charter states that the purpose of our Organization is “to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace”. Thus, in the face of violence and today’s wars, whether traditional or silent, short or long-term, there is a demand for mediation as a mechanism for peace, as a tool to overcome global social injustice and thus a necessary foundation for achieving international peace and security. In that context, we advocate mediation in order to overcome global social injustice and both traditional and silent wars.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The financial, energy, social and environmental crises are proof of the contradictions and conflicts in the strategic interests of the great Powers as well as the weaknesses of the aid-dependent countries and those in the midst of development. We believe in mediation as a remedy to overcome social injustice and as a path towards peace. Among our peoples’ demands for strengthened democracy, we see the spirit of the words of Nelson Mandela when, in the past century, he said that there can be no democracy with poverty and no democracy with social inequality. That is why the theme of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly, on strengthening the role of mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, conflict prevention and resolution, has taken on greater relevance.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Paraguay therefore believes both in a stronger and more democratic United Nations, as a truly global organization, and in strengthening progress in the regional integration of peoples. For example, we have the Union of South American Nations — UNASUR — and the future Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, which provide common space for nations that share a common history, common values and common plans for sovereignty and independence. Global change is picking up speed. The still significant primacy of the central Powers in economic and military terms, and therefore in political and cultural terms, is facing demands for democratization of the world order and progress in multilateralism.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Finally, on this subject, a paradigm shift to ensure that human beings are at the centre of world concerns requires commitment on the part of those who govern the most powerful countries. We in turn must commit to supporting them and not abandoning them if that paradigm shift takes place. And the most intelligent form of support is, as we have just mentioned, to develop an awareness of what we are and the enormous potential with which our countries are endowed. Paraguay reaffirms its steadfast commitment to multilateralism based on a democratic and egalitarian new world order, an order that will ensure the comprehensive and effective development of our countries.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“In Latin America — the region to which my Government is committed — we live the daily paradox of poverty in the midst of the best basic conditions for generating wealth. Historically, since colonial times, our wealth has followed a one-way path to other regions of the world, without generating any structural improvements in our economies. We attend the prestigious world summits of the developed countries where the lot of poor countries has been debated for decades, yet we have had no luck. When will the countries of Latin America realize that we export nature, we export oxygen, we export fresh water, we export food, we export renewable energy? It makes no sense that our countries remain poor, when we have so many assets and products that enrich the rest of the world.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Achieving the good life for all should be the paradigm of our time. It clearly entails envisioning a post-development future in which thoughtfulness, objectivity and goodwill coexist in harmony and genuine solidarity reigns without delay between those in the powerful and wealthy world and those who live in poverty elsewhere. This is not just a moral vision. Of fundamental importance to progress is the sharing of wealth. And that brings me to the main theme of this forum, avoiding future conflict and future violence. But the paradigm of the good life requires plans that focus on the dignity of human beings and the future rather than on resource exploitation systems which almost never benefit the people.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“And we must admit that the world is at a crossroads; because one discourse that has been going on for five centuries in the name of progress and another for six decades in the name of development have only added uncertainty about any improvement in the future lot of broad regions and thousands of millions of people. The unrepentant incapability of the developed countries to understand a very simple equation in order to set up local development plans as local plans for development means that known errors will be repeated despite the urgent need for profound, convincing and radical rethinking capable of harnessing the mutual trust that can promote progress towards the only 11-50702 8 tangible parameter, the only valid outcome, the only genuine reality, which is a good life for all men and women.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The United Nations needs to discuss measures to enable or assist Member States to work their way through fiscal policies and international market regulations that contribute to the stark reality of the huge fortunes that exist in the hands of just a few in some countries as compared with the inequalities, droughts, humanitarian crises in others. Solidarity is a ten-letter word that is fine- sounding but sometimes empty: empty of free will, actions and especially results. Solidarity is no longer simply a moral imperative; it is a prerequisite for achieving progress and combating the dark side of ignoring it: violence and crime. We live in a world which urgently requires a paradigm shift.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Sometimes it seems as though we live in a world that, worse than resigning itself to poverty, resigns itself to inequality, to the pornographic spectacle of scandalous imbalances which reveal the inner workings of an ostentatious world celebrating its shame, as described by Gabriel García Márquez in his tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother. As long as that continues, the dialogue between the rich bank that sustains and coordinates the world economy and the poor world that provides the natural resources will gradually become senseless. My country’s growth rate in 2010 exceeded 15 per cent; but tensions made efforts to redistribute that wealth and reduce inequality more difficult than achieving the growth itself. I think that this is true all over the world.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Regions that enrich the economy of part of the world with the natural abundance of their waters, their oil, the precious stones hidden in the belly of their soil, continue inexorably to accumulate debt while their daily offerings increase the wealth of rich societies every day. The poor neighbour in today’s world possesses riches — those closer to the simplicity of well-being and happiness, such as water, food, forests and renewable energy — that are vital to its rich neighbours. But unbridled wealth cannot be the basis for political dominion and certainly not for wars and military might. We live in societies because our peoples and other human beings have mutual needs. Population growth is a serious global issue.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“At this stage in history, when we are thrilled by the most incredible technological achievements capable of keeping pace with our flights of imagination and our dreams, where does that leave the nightmare of starving children who fight for a crust of bread, smile if they get it — and still want to play? What benefit do we derive from the media hype about these great global and commercial achievements while in complicit silence the other half of humanity is holding out its hand, begging for a little help, for the love of God? What good does it do us to continue supporting a way of creating happiness in the world that has been loudly shown to be a failure over and over again?”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“The centrality of humans in the history of the universe in all their endeavours, interests and conquests will be constantly proclaimed in this forum. In order to begin to discuss the future of humankind, we must correct mistakes and rethink paradigms that for decades, sometimes even for centuries, have demonstrated their utter uselessness in bringing about change for good. Restoring men and women to centre stage in the concerns of the universe is a fundamental step in order merely to begin to trace a basic outline for a future of certainty that seeks to replace the frustrations of managing the development paradigm with the realities of a world in which well- being is much more tangible. What good does it do to discuss development plans if the goal of dignifying the human being is not the beginning and the end of the process?”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“On behalf of the people of Paraguay, Mr. President, I offer you sincere congratulations on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. I also thank Mr. Joseph Deiss for his laudable work as President of the previous session, and congratulate Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his re-appointment as Secretary-General. Throughout his tenure at the head of the Organization for the past five years, he has demonstrated his gift for leadership and his 7 11-50702 unwavering commitment to world peace and international security. The people of Paraguay and their President, in consonance with our extraordinary national history, believe deeply in the human being as the subject and end of and reason for every effort designed to benefit humankind.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Fourthly and lastly, I would like to state open concern about the sinister currents circling in the world with the unbridled arms race that can in no way be justified and can only be welcomed by the industries of death and barbarity. We must defuse the tensions that foster that interest in weapons and we must urgently clarify the elements that obscure the prospect for peace throughout the world. I reaffirm the commitment of my small and humble country to supporting any and all initiatives that seek to build a better world for future generations.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Thirdly, I would ask the peoples and the Governments represented here to vigorously condemn the trade embargo that the largest economy in the 33 09-52425 world imposes on Cuba — another intolerable chapter that, while it lasts, undermines the credibility of any discussion on pluralism, tolerance and humanism in these forums. We have complete faith in a new vision that breaks with the past and its uncompromising divisions. We believe that the hopes of Latin America and the Caribbean with regard to the humanistic approach towards Cuba of the new leadership of the most powerful country on Earth will be met sooner than later.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“It has brought about a rapid destruction of accumulated wealth. Unemployment has risen to unprecedented levels. The number of poor has increased. The crisis has jeopardized dozens of democratic political processes. Secondly, I would like to resolutely state that the violent rupture in the constitutional process in Honduras is a tremendous setback for the re-democratization of Latin America. Those involved in the coup who dealt a resounding blow to the honourable face of the continent’s democracy are responsible for the human sacrifices and the tremendous social unrest that is taking place. I would like to state my explicit solidarity and that of my people with Manuel Zelaya and the people of Honduras, who are bravely standing up to the effects of the coup.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Once and for all, we must believe in — and create — a different planet that is able to retrieve its vast natural wealth, having put an end to the terrible havoc wrought by petty interests. We must believe in a fairer and more balanced international economic system, in which the huge discrepancies are a thing of the past. I believe in the great solidarity of human beings. I believe in the dreams of great leaders who defiantly changed the world. I believe in Jesus Christ, in Gandhi and in Martin Luther King. Before ending my comments, I would like to take this opportunity to set out some clear positions on pressing matters that affect us. First, I would like to say that the economic crisis that began in the major Powers and spread worldwide has had serious consequences in all countries.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Security Council, as the organ entrusted with the maintenance of world peace, must also be reformed, not only so as to give it greater legitimacy by increasing its representativeness, but also so as to adopt new working methods to reflect a new multi-centred world order, founded on relations of cooperation, solidarity and peace, in which the community and human dignity are at the centre of every decision. It is difficult to say this in such a hallowed Hall but it is worth recalling that, at this very moment, thousands of people are dying of hunger in the world that we shape. The ease with which television news switches between pictures of pitiful children overpowered by appalling hunger and figures for the brutal arms business of the industrialized countries exposes human indifference.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“There is no time to lose. Historical justice and redress of the rich countries to the poor ones must be a priority on the agenda of the United Nations. In order for the United Nations to meet that important goal, we must support the General Assembly’s adoption of the necessary reforms, so as to reaffirm its inherent nature as a representative, democratic and equitable organ. We must uphold the precedence of its bodies over other internal organs of the Organization, such as the Security Council, in order to underscore the processes that will help build that greatly desired social justice.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In sum, it is a matter of developing a better and more humane world on the way towards a kinder living environment that is more supportive and much more in keeping with the future of humankind. I am fully aware of the scope of the challenge that I am suggesting. I am also completely aware of the difficulties that we will encounter in this epic fight, but in the twenty-first century we cannot continue to overlook an in-depth and open debate on realities of concern. I do not in any way underestimate the relevant role that the United Nations has played in its relatively short existence in promoting world peace and equitable social development, but we must not ignore the decades of failure with regard to comprehensive modernization, much less fail to creatively and resolutely make use of the greatest world forum of today.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We the peoples of the South are paying the growing and unsustainable social, 09-52425 32 environmental and financial costs of climate change. In the meantime, those States that bear greatest responsibility for global warming are not shouldering their obligations or the growing socio-environmental debt that they generate. They are perpetuating and aggravating a clearly unjust situation that must be reversed. As a matter of justice and urgency, we must heed the calls of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Fifthly and finally, we must promote gender equality and put an end to discrimination of all kinds based on sexual, political or ideological preferences or racial, ethnic or religious differences.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Secondly, we must promote the healthy political development of all nations of the world and ensure that the most powerful countries do not interfere in local affairs, above all when these interventions seek to destabilize genuine democratic processes. I would like to clearly reaffirm my concern over events in the brotherly Republic of Honduras following the savage coup d’état that opened a gaping wound in the heart of our regional democracy. Thirdly, we must promote peaceful solutions to international conflicts, firmly resolved to reduce the alarming levels of militarization and armament. Fourthly, we must advocate an end to the harmful criminal attacks on the environment, including global warming and the natural disasters that occur with increasing frequency.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“For example, we speak of least developed countries, middle-income countries and developing countries when the simple fact is that today we live in a world where there are countries that benefit until they can benefit no longer from world growth, while others are left behind and condemned to poverty. Since the United Nations was established, our unavoidable obligation has been to proceed fearlessly to change that reality. We must give serious thought to a new world economic order with simple and specific aims. First, we must promote and strengthen small economies based on the fair and equitable distribution of the benefits of the production of wealth. We must put an end to inequitable trade relationships and develop effective policies of solidarity with those countries that endure adverse geographical or climate conditions.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Those traits are shared by the majority of countries represented here, which, over and above their individual circumstances, like Paraguay are facing the threefold challenge of modernizing their economies, strengthening their participatory democracies, and eliminating serious and severe social inequities. As in Paraguay, in all poor countries the causes of the scourges we have suffered can be traced to the entrenchment of systems without justice or equality that ultimately widen the gaps between the rich countries and the poor. We have sought in vain to mask the failures of the policies of recent decades with ostensibly technical terms that do little to describe the pathetic global reality.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“A little more than a year ago, a historic transition occurred in Paraguay that left our economy in tatters — with backward and obsolete production mechanisms, weak democratic institutions rife with corruption, barely credible political parties and a lack of channels for civic participation in the decision-making process. Society was riven by serious contrasts, including about 40 per cent of the population living in poverty, tens of thousands of unemployed, high levels of migration, and unscrupulous minorities who lived well and sought to perpetuate their illegitimate privileges.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“My Government is not prepared to spend the cost of a loaf of bread on weapons or war machinery. Any investment in defence must be the bare minimum compared to the social expenditures of the Government. Paraguay will not pawn its daily bread to dance the blind waltz of the warlords. We believe that, in the context of globalization, there should be a call for the creation of a new world economic order capable of eliminating the sharp contrasts of the present and the clearly unequal access to the benefits of contemporary development. In that respect, I should like to describe the reality of life in Paraguay today. Our situation is essentially very similar to that of other countries that are also at the mercy of serious socio-economic problems.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Conflicts that mutilate, destroy and kill neighbours and condemn them forever to disgrace are at the same time opportunities for those who profit by, foment, create and manage the business of war. Who questions the bloodstained bank notes that lie untouched in the vaults of the most powerful bank? We are face to face in this Hall, but truly we, the Governments of the countries of the world, rich, poor and very poor, are face to face with history. If we could just for one minute believe in the great tenets of equality and the shared rights of the human race, it would be time enough to ask ourselves the question: How much longer will the warlords continue to maximize their future income on the physical elimination of human beings? My country, Paraguay, declares before the world that we are absolutely committed to peace.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We are very rigorous in estimating the high global costs of containing and providing public health insurance for pandemics such as H1N1 influenza. But we forget that our “defence expenditures”, promoted by the great weapons industries from high, snow- covered summits of complacency, end up exchanging a container of vaccine for a rifle or a significant part of the public health budget for a warplane. The United Nations was born to promote peace and to eradicate war. However, the voracious traffic in 31 09-52425 arms continues to pass through our countries with its convoys of machine guns, missiles and grenades. Select regions of the world continue to be opportunistic enclaves for the trade of the merchants of death.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I cannot forget that, while the first paragraph of the preamble of the Charter of the United Nations states that our peoples, gathered together, are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, the murderous onslaught of warplanes has continued to kill, mutilate and traumatize children in many civilian populations; in national coffers, amounts allocated to the death budget, glibly labelled “defence expenditures”, continue to swell; and the military industries of the world’s most powerful countries continue to reap the most lucrative benefits without any questions from politicians or any outrage on the part of the international news networks, in a game of perverse hypocrisy that is undermining our future with lies disguised as imposed truths.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I should like at the outset to express my sincerest congratulations to Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his election to preside over the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. I also wish to express the thanks of the delegation of Paraguay to Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the Assembly at its sixty-third session, for the progress made during his tenure. I wish to begin by discussing what is most important: life.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We hope that this initiative will resonate in various regions of the world and that friendship, with its values and its principles, sooner rather than later will replace the hostility which is so present in our times.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“In this globalized world where things happen so quickly and communication is immediate, we see clearly its greatest technological advancements, its powerful financial architecture and its scientific plans to colonize the universe, but, we have to ask ourselves, where has the human being been left in all of this? Men and women must always remain at the centre of that scenario. The only thing that will save us from post-modern savagery is if they recover their place from which no one should ever have been exiled. Humanity is the only value shared, without a single difference, by a child dying of hunger in a developing country and a child who eats breakfast every day in a developed country. Paraguay is a small country in the world, but it believes in friendship. That is why we have set 30 July as the Day of Friendship.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“We must not forget individuals who, for various physical and mental 08-51749 10 reasons, have special capacities. Those are our dearest brothers and sisters in a world that often excludes those who cannot compete in terms of physical strength or thought. We must create conditions to enable them to share in our everyday lives without suffering the burden of exclusion or indifference. Our efforts to support that sector of the population need not be extraordinary but should be carried out in daily actions, rich in sharing and informed by an awareness of brotherhood and nature.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“To that end, we must regain the level of expansion of official development assistance, which in recent years has been shrinking in a disturbing fashion. Terrorism must be eradicated from the face of the Earth. There is nothing more dangerous to the unity of civilization than terrorism as a fact of daily life: the terrorism that kills children through hunger; the terrorism of weapons anywhere; the terrorism that affects children in my country who die because of toxic produce; the terrorism that killed our brothers in the Twin Towers, which will continue to kill as long as war remains a business for a few and fanaticism continues to cloud our hearts. I know that love is a word not frequently used in political discourse, but there is no other way to rebuild a world so disfigured by hate.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“That is why Paraguay signed the constitution of the Bank of the South and will continue to support the strengthening of that institution so that it can meet its objectives of financing the balanced and stable economic and social development of its member States, promoting macroeconomic stability and strengthening integration in order to set the foundation for regional and financial autonomy. However, that does not mean that we no longer require the support, resources and cooperation of the most developed countries for the two modes of cooperation are complementary for development. Paraguay believes that the international community should ensure that the mobilization of external resources becomes a priority for international financial bodies and the developed economies.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“The most disadvantaged, those who remain in the sidelines of development are the ones we must listen to, and alleviating their suffering must be our priority. Today more than ever, Paraguay requires international cooperation in achieving its socio- economic priorities, in developing and strengthening its institutions and in providing preferential attention to the most vulnerable sectors. We hope that the opening of developing countries will favour the most disadvantaged and that the same restrictions demanded in the development of more developed economies will not be applied. We believe that this will be a vital tool for strengthening developing countries.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)
“In order to achieve the MDGs by 2015, we are calling for strengthening the combined efforts of Governments, civil society organizations and the private sector in the context of a global alliance for stronger and more effective development, increasing official development assistance for the most vulnerable economies in particular. We must not forget the thousands of millions of human beings worldwide who live below the poverty line. In our Latin American subcontinent, poverty has risen to 44 per cent of the population. In Paraguay, 35.6 per cent of our citizens suffer from this scourge, and of those almost 20 per cent live below the line of extreme poverty. Malnutrition now affects four out of every 100 Paraguayan children. This situation is unacceptable and demands a radical change in the approach taken to combat this state of affairs.”
2008-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 63 (2008)