YouSaid · the spoken record

Nayib Armando Bukele

lines on the record: 62
first: 2019-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“We are still a long way from where we want to be. but we will continue to work hard and make our own decisions, so that we can achieve the greatness we long for. We believe that the entire world also needs to be reborn, but that will be the decision of each nation. We in El Salvador are setting the example and marking a path in case someone else wants to follow it.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Those who visit us can have breakfast on the beach and surf world-class waves in a sea that has perfect water temperatures all year round. They can have lunch in the mountains, where they can try the best coffee in the world, with our superb volcanoes and beautiful lakes as a background, and dine in the capital, with all the modernity, comfort and. now. security that many first-world cities would like to have. And they can do all that in the same day. But the best thing they will find is our friendly, hardworking people, who are always looking to do something new. When you decide to visit our country, you will realize that we Salvadorans are proud to be Salvadorans. That was not the case a few years ago. El Salvador is being reborn, because we dared to challenge ourselves and decided that nothing and no one would tell us what to do.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“In a few months, we will host Miss Universe, an event that will once again put us in the eyes of the world and attract more tourism and more investment. In addition to all that, we are building more and better relationships with allied countries that want to support us in building our country and our dream. I am not just saying this to brag, although I do feel proud of everything we have accomplished. I am saying it because it is an example of what all countries can achieve when they begin to assert their sovereignty. Look at us. From being recognized for violence, today we are recognized for our landscapes, for our waves and. above all. for our bravery. Today the world can see our full potential. We have a country full of wonders to offer.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Many Salvadorans abroad who spent years without being able to return due to insecurity are now investing in the country or have plans to return. According to a study carried out in 2022 by the International Organization for Migration, from these very United Nations, more than 60 per cent of the many Salvadorans residing in the United States intend to return to El Salvador. There is still a long way to go to achieve it. but we are on the way to achieving our goal of reversing the mass exodus of Salvadorans, a product of the wrong policies of the past and the civil war. and to fulfilling our dream of achieving reverse migration. Let more Salvadorans return to El Salvador than leave. United Nations studies are already predicting it.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“The decisions we made were correct. We are no longer the world capital of death, and we achieved that in a very short time. Today we are a security benchmark, and no one can question that. The results are in. They are irrefutable. In El Salvador, we did what was right for El Salvador. Now that we enjoy this level of security, we have been able to open our country to the entire world. This year alone, we welcomed thousands of athletes to the Central American and Caribbean Games. We are the world epicentre of surfing. We have just signed an agreement with Google to digitize the State and services such as education and health. We have more and more tourism, internal and external. More and more people want to come and meet us and invest in El Salvador.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Each of the decisions we have made brought us to this moment. Today El Salvador competes with Canada for being the safest country on the continent. Not only are we the country in Latin America with the fewest homicides per capita by far. but we have reduced all crimes to a minimum. People can now walk on streets that were long declared off-limits by the gangs. Businesses no longer pay extortion money and children can now go out and play in parks without fear of being recruited or killed. Those are things that will sound basic or everyday to many here, but in my country they did not exist. They criticized and condemned us for each of the decisions we made at that time. Intellectuals, journalists, politicians and organizations from all over were engaged in a debate about what we were doing. Today I am here to say that debate is over.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Who bears the responsibility for internal security policy in any country in the world? It is the responsibility of the executive branch, which acts through the State security forces and the penitentiary system, in cooperation with the public ministry and the judiciary. It was an essential condition for the plan to work that everyone worked together and aligned themselves on the same side. If we had left the Attorney General, the magistrates of the Constitutional Chamber and the judges who many protected and against whom others even issued sentences when we removed them, we would still be the world capital of murders. If we had listened to them, we would have continued to lose thousands and thousands of Salvadorans at the hands of terrorists. Thank God we did not pay attention to them.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“So we made the decision to purge the public ministry, the judicial system and the prison system. Additionally, we changed the laws to ensure that terrorists would not be released from prison again. It was at that moment that international condemnations began. Some countries, some media and some experts began a systematic attack against each of the decisions we made. People who never used their power and influence to demand security for our murdered people were suddenly opposed to our decisions to stop that massacre. Countries that never condemned the murder of 30. 40 and even 50 Salvadorans a day suddenly demanded explanations from us as to why we changed the prosecutor, the magistrates and the judges. Is it not absurd that they questioned us about that?”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“The first was when they elected me to be their President; the second, when they decided to give us. through the legislative body, the right to govern. We knew then that we had an obligation to the people to make the decisions that were necessary to fix our most urgent problem, insecurity. The efforts we made to improve health or the economy would be of little use if they continued killing people and the judges and prosecutors let the murderers go free. It would be of little use to transform education if. from the same prisons, the gangs gave cowardly orders to kill our children and forcibly recruit our youth. We could not just invest millions of dollars in building and improving road infrastructure if Salvadorans could not walk freely in the streets.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Instead of giving us medicine to heal, they gave us poison. They wanted us to continue doing the same thing that was done in the past. They wanted the same people who had looted and massacred us to continue ruling or at least sharing power. But this time, we told them no. We rejected their poison and decided to try. for the first time, our own medicine. Thank God. it worked. The first thing we did was make sure we were on the side of God and the people, because no worthwhile transformation can happen by obeying external Powers. Secondly, we created our own method — one that was designed for our reality, created by those of us who live that reality first-hand. Then, the Salvadoran people gave us two votes of confidence. Actually, they have given us several, but those are perhaps the two most important so far.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“So we signed some false peace agreements, which had nothing to do with peace and served only to allow the two sides that fought the war to divvy up the country, as if it were loot. We tried every formula they gave us. and nothing worked. Then, protected by foreign Powers, we handed the country over to the right. And then, also protected by external agents, we gave power to the left. This is the state they kept us in for 30 post-war years, during which there were more deaths, more poverty and more violence than in the civil war. Nobody did a thing to change the root of the system or the institutions, much less the laws. Everything that happened during those years was done with the support, consent and imposition of those who have always called themselves great defenders of human rights and democratic institutions.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“There is no single recipe or formula that works equally for everyone, but I think that there is an ingredient that all recipes should include, or at least have the right to include. That ingredient is courage. You have to have the attitude, courage and determination to do what needs to be done, even when others question or criticize you. For decades, we tried everything that others said was best for us. They made us fight a civil war for a cause foreign to our reality, because they brought the conflict between the West and the Soviet Union to our land. More than 85.000 dead and a country destroyed later, they told us that this was no longer the recipe — that now there was a new one.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Especially in Latin America, but also in the United States and elsewhere, they see what is happening in El Salvador and wonder why it does not happen in their countries. The answer is clear and simple. They must make their own decisions and reaffirm their right to use common sense, to test their own recipes, to execute their own plans and to design their own systems. No country has the right to impose its ideas or its way of doing things, especially when those do not even work in our countries. In each of the decisions we have made, we have reaffirmed our legitimate right to govern ourselves, even if that meant making mistakes. But we were not wrong. We were successful — resoundingly successful. We therefore reaffirm not only our right to make our own decisions, but also our right to be right.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Despite all the obstacles, however, we decided to take the risk. We did not accept the destiny that others had outlined for us. Today, four years after our Government took power, no one can or dare deny that, for the first time in its 202 years of history, the smallest country on the American continent has taken the first big steps to achieve its dream of greatness. In a very short time. El Salvador has gone from being the world capital of homicides, from being literally the most dangerous country in the world, to being the safest country in Latin America. It is no longer a promise. It is a reality that Salvadorans are experiencing and that any foreigner can go and see for him or herself. For that reason, many in the world are paying attention to what is happening in our country.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“Since the first time I came to the General Assembly (see A/74/ PV.7). I have reminded members of the need to renew and reinvent ourselves. I am referring not only to the Organization or the General Assembly, but to all countries, especially those in circumstances similar to ours. Nor have I said it just to say it. but because I believe it and because in my country we are doing just that. El Salvador, like many developing countries, has always dreamed of being great. For some countries, that dream, at some point, seemed possible. For others, like us. it was unthinkable. We did not think it was possible to even get close to fulfilling it. I even believe that no person listening to this speech ever thought that he or she could pronounce or hear the name of El Salvador as a global reference or example of something positive.”
2023-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 78 (2023)
“I came all the way here to speak from this rostrum in a format I no longer believe in, to say something that most likely will not change the way powerful countries see others anyway. But perhaps it will change the way that we, as developing countries, see ourselves. If after these short words I have achieved that, at least with a handful of individuals who will go on to see themselves with respect and understand that they are capable of building their own path, then it was worth coming all this way to speak in this obsolete format. And who knows what will happen? Perhaps, in time, other nations — other peoples — will emerge who also decide to fight for their freedom. Then the United Nations will have become relevant again, at least for a humble servant like me. May God bless all the nations of the world.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“One of the main founding purposes of the United Nations is to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. Perhaps the transition from a unipolar world system to a multipolar one, a frequent topic of discussion, would be smoother if instead of moving from one super-Power to several super-Powers, we transitioned to a world in which all peoples were truly free to build their own path and our community of nations — all of us, big and small — would contribute our own experience and capabilities to solving humankind’s problems. No one could be against that, but as with freedom, it is easier said than done.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“Perhaps it will serve, among many other things, for me, the representative of that small country — the smallest on the American continent — to humbly recall that the United Nations was not established to divide, destroy or subdue us, but so that we could relate to one another, work together, build a better community of countries and seek solutions to the problems of the world — but with absolute respect for the sovereignty and self- determination of every country and in the manner set out in the Charter of the United Nations itself, the first principle of which states that the Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“Some will be able to do it sooner and others later. For some it will be easier and for others more difficult. But it will happen much quicker if the powerful countries help us. And if they do not want to help us, they should at least stay out of the way. All peoples should find their own path, and in doing so they will find friends. To those countries, I humbly offer the friendship of my small country, the smallest on the American continent, the country of surfing, volcanoes and pupusas — a country that is still fighting for its freedom but is about to secure it. Three years ago, I spoke here at the United Nations from this very this rostrum (see A/74/PV.7). At that time, I said that this format was already obsolete. Now, three years later, we can see that it has become even more so, but perhaps it still serves a purpose.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“We went from being a country that was unknown to many — while the few who knew it, knew it for its gangs, deaths, violence and war — to being a country known for its beaches, surfing, volcanoes, financial freedom and good governance and for having put an end to organized crime. Those achievements, which we have only just begun and have been obtained in a very short time, are immense for us. And we have the right to continue on the path of our development. That is why I initially said that freedom is something we are still fighting for — because our rights to freedom and genuine independence still need to be recognized. I wanted to say these words from the rostrum today because maybe they will resonate not only in my country, El Salvador, but also for the other peoples of the world who, like mine, want the freedom to build their own path.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“Because although we are free, sovereign and independent on paper, we will not be truly so until the powerful understand that we want to be their friends, that we admire and respect them and that our doors are wide open to trade and tourism so that we can build the best possible relations. But what they cannot do is to come and boss us around — not only because the land is ours, but also because it would not make sense to undo what we are achieving. In a very short time, El Salvador has gone from being virtually the most dangerous country in the world — literally, the most dangerous country in the world — to being on its way to being the safest country in America.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“The rich neighbour has no authority to order his poor neighbour to return to the past, first, because he has no claim to be in charge of another person’s house; secondly, because the poor neighbour had tried previously to follow her rich neighbour’s orders and the consequences could not have been worse; and thirdly, because the improvements she made in the first place were actually working. Why should her neighbour force her to go back to the way she was before? For what purpose? To what end? Should he not be happy that his poor neighbour is a little better off than before? That is why I say that freedom is something we are still fighting for in El Salvador.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“But the poor neighbour should at least have the right to clean her own house, repair and paint her own walls, change her own furniture, plant flowers in her own garden and redo her own roof so it is free of leaks and protects her from the rain. That should not bother the rich neighbour. He should not be ordering her to put her old furniture back, cut her flowers, strip the walls, remove the new roof, which is functioning fine, and put back the old roof — which is all the more aggravating because the leaky roof never worked in the first place.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“She is happy in her little house but decides to make improvements to it, paint it, fix it up and give it better furnishings — quite an undertaking, no doubt, but she is sure it will be worth it. Everything is going well, until the rich neighbour decides that his poor neighbour does not have the right to fix her house, buy new furniture or paint the walls. The rich neighbour decides that in addition to owning his own palace, he can also order around the person in the little house. He orders, without her permission, that everything in the house remain lousy as it was before. On the surface, the poor neighbour has no reason to despise or envy her rich neighbour or to aspire to what he has. She has no reason to plan to go to his palace and order him around or demand that he change his marble floors.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“They are the rightful masters of their own countries, but they are incorrect to think that they are also the masters of ours. The fact is that there is a group of powerful countries that not only have much more than everyone else, but also believe they are entitled to the little that we, the countries without power, have. We can compare that scenario to someone living in a very small and humble house, but who has a very wealthy neighbour, whose house is a beautiful and gigantic palace, with vast expanses of land and unimaginable treasures. The person living in the little house respects and admires her neighbour and does not mind that he is immensely richer than she.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“I speak of the freedom to choose where we are going and how we want to get there — the freedom to define our own path as human beings. But freedom, like much of what defines us, depends on how others see us and, most of all, on how we see ourselves. The people’s choice of freedom and the respect of the powerful for that freedom are therefore both essential requirements in that regard. I come from a people who for a long time saw themselves as less than others, who never had the courage to make their own decisions, and whose destiny was always controlled by others. The land of my people is the smallest country on the American continent, yet even countries with far more territory, money and power than us do not respect our dominion over that little piece of land.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“I bring the General Assembly greetings from the land of volcanoes, surfing, coffee, Bitcoin and freedom. Anyone who has been to El Salvador can easily confirm everything I have just mentioned. Our country is home to the world’s best surfing beaches, volcanoes are everywhere, we have incredible coffee, and anyone can walk around peacefully and safely in any corner of our country. Most of all, we are a united people who is fighting for its freedom. And freedom is precisely what I have come to the General Assembly to speak about from this rostrum. I speak of the freedom for which my people and all the peoples of the world yearn. Talking about freedom is easy, but achieving it requires struggle, perseverance and much sacrifice.”
2022-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 77 (2022)
“We are counting on the creative human imagination, which differentiates and will continue to differentiate us from other species. The human species will live thousands of years longer and always have something to invent. The possibilities of our —humankind’s — future are almost limitless. But we have to take control of our destiny. Humankind must always seek its path, and the purpose of certain pioneers is to ensure the consciousness and the courage to do so. If we unite and succeed in achieving that goal, we may even live to see ourselves as the architects of one of the golden ages in humankind’s history. May God enlighten us all and allow us to rebuild the future together as brothers. Thank you very much.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In El Salvador, members will enjoy the availability of a Government with the desire, ideas and the mission of a forward-looking people striving to create their own future, while, at the same time, contributing to humankind — as well as excellent weather and waves every month of the year. We are a country that is in the process of being built, which is extremely exciting, but we would like to speed up the process. That is why we are entreating the pioneers of the world to help us in both the public and private spheres in which we are almost completely connected throughout the world where with a few key strokes I can reach them in everywhere so that they can answer me, collaborate and build. That tool is there in order to move humankind at least a little bit in the right direction.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Our idea is to begin building a model society for the world, already embodied by several societies with their own particularities, as examples of what we can achieve as part of humankind. In advocating our vision of what can be accomplished as an interconnected society, I therefore call on all the thinkers and doers of the world who want to participate in the development and consolidation of a country to work with us to build the miracle sovereign State of El Salvador. El Salvador is a country where the political will exists to take the leap that is so urgently needed by the General Assembly.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“In our Administration, we have saved an average of nine lives a day from being murdered — and nine families from mourning the death of a loved one. I thank God that we have achieved that much faster than we thought possible. I pray to God that this trend continues and that we will soon be able to transform El Salvador into one of the safest places in the continent — a country that, until only two years ago, many considered as the most insecure country in the world. Much remains to be done. There are several issues that we have to resolve, but if we use the tools that we humankind have created, we can accelerate the process that all developed countries have had to go through. We are doing it. We are beginning to educate and build a new country.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“At the local level, in El Salvador we have seen how in a matter of months we have put an extremely precarious human health-care system on track to becoming a first-world system. Although progress remains to be made, we have realized that, if we try, we can achieve much more faster than we ever imagined. Every day that we fail to work together in order to solve the world and humankind’s problems represents lives that will be lost forever. We will lose those opportunities forever. In El Salvador, we are trying at the same time that we are cleaning house with regard to problems that lie ahead, but, thanks to God, we are seeing tangible results. With the help of friendly countries, we have succeeded in drastically lowering all insecurity indicators, including homicides, extortion and robberies, among others.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“We have only marginally tested that ability to change the world in recent months. Yet the results have been incredible at both the international and local levels. We are seeing that in the race for a vaccine and collaboration involving treatments of the virus at the global level. In that regard, I very warmly thank the members of the Italian medical community, in particular, whose research led to the initial treatment that saved thousands of lives in El Salvador, not to mention the entire world, at their own great personal risk, at a time when we knew little about the virus. I thank them on behalf of the people of El Salvador. The applause of the world would fall short of justly singing their praise.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Never in human history have we had so many opportunities to be able to do what we want to do, be honest with ourselves and create what we want to create. This network allows us to instantly connect with the best minds anywhere in the world. This network enables us to connect with people with the same interests, aspirations and vision of the world. I am speaking from the individual’s perspective. Imagine what we humankind can do. There is something wrong with this world when millions of people have supercomputers in their pockets and the problems remain the same — historical problems like hunger, homelessness, deaths from curable diseases, which are all relatively easy for humankind to resolve. If the whole world decided to resolve every one of them, they would be solved in a matter of months or even sooner.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Moreover, your mother may be listening to me with such a supercomputer. Any smartphone today has millions of times more computing power than the supercomputer that took us to the moon. The latest iPhone is far more powerful than the supercomputer of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s. There are also billions of these supercomputers scattered throughout the globe, connected to one another by the largest network in human history. A year ago, in this Hall, I mentioned the potential of this network, and, since then, it has become much larger and more powerful. In a year, it will be even more so. How do we manage it? I believe that we have yet to understand its potential and the potential of all the tools we have available both individually and collectively to us through it.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“The world we imagined speaks in a multifaced way to the future of humankind’s collective consciousness in a multicultural world, free of war, channelling its efforts to explore the stars and place them within humankind’s reach. What do young people imagine now, as they look towards the future? The answer is natural disasters, pandemics, wars, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic scenarios and dystopian societies. If you do not believe me, try the experiment once again, and ask the first young person you see: How do you imagine planet Earth in the future? But certain aspects of the future that many of us imagined as children are today realities. Technology has reached levels that even the most daring futurologists could not have imagined. Almost everyone listening to me has a supercomputer in their pocket.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Despite the fact that it was established mainly to deal with events such as the current existential threat facing humankind, there has been a lack of leadership on the part of the Organization to unite the world to counter the virus together. But crying over what could have been is counterproductive. We must see this as an opportunity and wake-up call so that we are prepared for a similar, or even more powerful, blow — the next global threat — and, more important, so that we take advantage of this unique historic opportunity to build and create our future. When I was a child — and I like to believe that it was not long ago — we thought about the future and our minds were carried away by the possibilities — flying cars and humans devoting their lives to the arts and humanities while robots would do the work that they did not want to do.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“On behalf of the people of El Salvador I also express my heartfelt thanks to all the countries, representatives of private enterprise and volunteers throughout the world who have helped and continue to help us. All the help has enabled us to continue saving thousands of lives, not only in terms of the pandemic, but also the future. Every life that we have saved and will save together represents generations saved — hundreds of thousands of future lives and stories that will have been preserved thanks to our recent action. I thank God for giving us the opportunity and everyone who has helped us to do that. Such help, however, has mostly been bilateral work, not necessarily owing to the United Nations system.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“It is in this connection that I would like to thank the countries and organizations that have helped and continue to help us survive the crisis. I thank the Government and the people of the United States, who helped us transform a public system with 31 intensive care units into one with more than 1,000 multifunctional units, while sending us about 600 respirators, at a time when they were in short supply in the world. I also thank the State and the people of Japan, without whose help we would never have been able to establish the largest hospital of the region and one of the most advanced and largest hospitals to treat the coronavirus disease in the world. I will forever be grateful to and in deep admiration of the Government and the great people of Japan, who as a society exemplify giving service to the world.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“That change alone is insufficient, and the world will continue to change, whether we do or not. To some, these word may sound harsh, but it is my high regard for the founding principles of the United Nations and the Assembly that compels me speak them. I want it to change so that it survives. I want it to change so that we as humankind can use this great tool. I want it to change so that all of us together have a hand in changing the world and our shared destiny, not only the General Assembly, which risks becoming irrelevant. As the year comes to an end, we continue to reel from the effects of one of the greatest crises in the modern history of humankind. And what have we the United Nations done? Let us perform the same experiment once again: ask the first person you see what the United Nations has done during the pandemic.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I say this as a proponent of self-criticism, given the fact that, as President of El Salvador, I am a member of the General Assembly and, as a human being, I am a firm believer in the potential for this tool to do good. However, as I warned the General Assembly last year, the world has already changed and continues to change increasingly rapidly, and whoever fails to change runs the risk of disappearing. Today’s world is very different from the world of just a few years ago. In no moment in recorded history, has society changed and continued to change to such an extent in such a short time. And what have we the General Assembly done? We merely send video-recorded statements, as we have been forced to make a change in response to the pandemic instead of a courageous change to build the future we want.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“For the vast majority of the world’s population, it is as if it did not exist. Not only do most people not watch these speeches, they do not even recall that the General Assembly exists. And depending on their age, some may be unaware that it ever existed. In order to test that theory, over the past several days, I asked people of every walk of life and age questions about the General Assembly. Most of them did not even know the Assembly was in session, and the minority of people, who did know, did not even know the theme or who was going to speak. If you do not believe the results of my experiment, ask the first person you see after watching this speech.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I thank all those listening to me, who could be doing something else with their time, which is a commodity that is becoming increasingly precious and scarce. I especially thank the Salvadorans both outside and inside our country for allowing me to be here me and work for them. And, above all, I thank God, as all that happens is because of Him. A year ago in the same General Assembly, I mentioned the urgent need for it to change its format and said that if it failed to do so, the Assembly would become irrelevant. Subsequently, the format of the General Assembly has changed slightly, but it has changed. The change was caused by a historic pandemic, but it has changed. What are the results of the change? The Assembly has become even more irrelevant. This year it has become so irrelevant that its relevance has not even been discussed.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“I bid greetings to all the peoples of the world and express my solidarity with regard to the times we are all going through, which are of a momentous and historical scale and more challenging than we have ever experienced. The pandemic has already claimed more than 1 million lives — millions of lost dreams, millions of people who are mourning the death of loved ones and millions of lives that will have forever been changed. We must continue working for them and prevent those numbers from increasing. God grant that my prayers be with them. This turning point for humankind has significantly heightened our responsibility. The fate of generations will depend on the actions we take or fail to take in the days to come. And here we are in the General Assembly 75 years after the founding of the United Nations, one of humankind’s great ideas.”
2020-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 75 (2020)
“Those politicians understood what won elections back then. Yet all politics today is personal. Few people understand that, but it is the reality. If those who understand that have been successful and if that is the right way to engage the citizens of the world in solving the most important problems we face, is that not what the United Nations should be doing as well?”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“The communication revolution is a fact, a democratic revolution and the start of a new human era. Societies have made progress organically, but the United Nations has not. We must change and adapt and accept that progress. Today, the citizens of the world are more empowered than ever before. Let us give them the voice that they deserve here at the General Assembly, instead of letting only the privileged few who are gathered here be the owners of absolute truth. Some will understand this message very well, others not yet. Unfortunately, some refuse to accept the new democratic form of communication, which is the freedom of expression on steroids — billions of people interconnecting, every one of them with an opinion, a solution, an idea and a voice. Successful politicians used to say that all politics was local and they were right.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Let us imagine the transformative and convening power that the General Assembly of the United Nations could have by using the same network that those children used. Why not harness that convening power? Why not use that platform to summon the citizens of the world to participate in the General Assembly? I do not want to be misunderstood here. The United Nations plays a crucial role in maintaining world peace, fighting against hunger, improving health, leading the search for development, promoting the rights of women and children, protecting our environment, addressing the plight of refugees and even tackling nuclear non-proliferation. Yet we must also acknowledge the fact that we are already reaching a point where the problems we face are overwhelming us.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Without even realizing that it happened, every person who has a cell phone or is connected to the internet is now a spokesperson and a source of information. They can even have political influence. The video of the children going viral animated thousands of voices that not only encouraged them but also asked the Government to take genuine and decisive action. The teacher from El Aguacate and the person who uploaded the video enabled something very ordinary and very local to be seen throughout the entire country, which brought about real change for those pupils. The environment those children inhabit is no longer just their community — like all of us, they are now also citizens of the world. We are talking about one teacher in a tiny school in a small village in a rural area in a small municipality in El Salvador.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“I am sure they never imagined that the patriotism and sheer joy of those children, despite their lack of resources, would make that video go viral in my country. In a matter of hours, the media had picked up the video, which was shared by thousands of Salvadorans and eventually reached me. After watching it, I instructed my ministers to improve conditions in the village of El Aguacate immediately. Right away, via WhatsApp, they agreed to visit the school there. Three days later, our ministers arrived to deliver real musical instruments for the children. Now, the streets are being paved, LED lamps are being installed and the school is being refurbished. The community will be transformed in a way that nobody could have imagined a month ago. It all started with a video that went viral.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)
“Communication today is direct and much more democratic — there are no filters. We all have a voice that can and must be heard. A few days ago, I proved that to myself again. On 15 September each year, El Salvador celebrates its independence. While the attention of the media and most of our Government was focused on a huge parade through the streets of the capital, the children of a small village named El Aguacate marched in their own parade along a narrow, rural dirt road. A teacher had dressed them up as if they were a first-rate band of peaceful protestors — almost everything was handmade, with powdered milk cans as drums and spoons to play them with. Someone from the community filmed the parade on their cell phone and uploaded it to their Facebook page, probably so that their friends and family could see it.”
2019-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 74 (2019)