YouSaid · the spoken record

Julio Maria Sanguinetti

lines on the record: 72
first: 1985-09-24
most recent: 1998-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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 thus consider that the fact that the creditor countries have not understood or have not wished to understand the real essence of the foreign debt problem, together with the obstacles that they set up against trade with the developing countries, the lack of results in the North-South dialog, the reluctance with which the principles of the new international economic order are accepted and applied, can only lead to a deep sense of frustration on the part of the developing countries. I do not believe that it is healthy for any of the sections into which the world is divided to continue this dialog of the deaf, where the only outcome has been to ease the guilty conscience of some and to offer only false and shallow remedies for the needs of others.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“These statements are made by Uruguay, a country which has just renegotiated its debt under the best conditions that can be expected in the present situation. We do not look at the problem, therefore, under the emotional influence of resentment. On the contrary, with the ease of mind provided by the long repayment periods obtained, we try to analyze it in historical perspective, over the long run and from the viewpoint of a legitimate mutuality of concerns.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“If the industrialized countries persist in denying the real origin and nature of these problems, if they do not shoulder their share of responsibility for the situation that prevails in the developing world, if they do not become less inflexible with regard to just demands for more equitable treatment, all our sacrifice will be a forlorn, wasted effort and there will be no reason for optimism regarding the survival of democracy. We do not expect acts of charity; we do not encourage anachronistic moratoriums. We ask for better trade; we ask for more technology; we ask to be allowed to sell *'n order to be able to pay and fulfill our obligations. We wish to grow in order to be able to pay, because we reject the alternative of paying and renouncing growth, just as we know that to ignore debts only leads to irresponsibility.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“It is short sighted and insensitive to believe that the only factors that have placed the debtor developing countries in this vertiginous spiral of debt that generates further debt are lack of responsibility on the part of those countries, their poor administration and their lack of foresight. We are raced with a situation that is imbued with tragic contradictions, not the least of which is that the creditor institutions and countries that demand payment of the debt and its interest are the same ones that, with their protectionist policies, their discriminatory messages and their subsidies, close off all the possibilities that the debtors have of generating the necessary resources to repay their debt.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“In addition, we carry the burden of our foreign debt, the servicing of which, in present circumstances holds back any dynamic trend in our economies. The countries of Latin America face an unprecedented situation arising from the astronomical dimensions of their debts. They are thus caught in a spiraling process, in which each turn makes the possibility of repayment more remote. How have we reached such a situation? There is no need to repeat the history of the economic misadventures of the developing countries, but here in the General Assembly we must once again point out something which at this juncture is obvious, and that is that the creditor countries are also responsible for the disastrous situation afflicting the debtor countries and that a large part of the responsibility for its solution rests with them.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“If Uruguay and Latin America as a whole wish to deal with the present situation speedily they must make an unprecedented effort in which the overall consensus on certain fundamental problems must take priority over domestic contradictions, divisive quarrels or sterile ideological disputes. However, we fully realize that our efforts, although indispensable, are not enough. It is our fate to live in a world in which international relations are beset by unprecedented difficulties. Our economies are affected by external factors that are beyond our control. Interest rates, which are still high, together with falling prices for our export products create situations that put a stranglehold on our balance of payments.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“We who are responsible for steering the destiny of those countries are conscious of the gravity of the situation and of the fact that we have to make enormous efforts in terms of work and austerity. We cannot ignore the fact that, in order to correct this alarming situation, we must rely on ourselves and use our own resources. Let us not deceive ourselves; the strength that will enable us to surmount the obstacles to our development is also to be found above all within ourselves. A vigorous and bold attitude on the part of both our public and our private sectors is necessary to drive and guide this strength and mobilize the available resources.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“It is our duty to ensure that our people can enjoy the basic conditions for growth and development, not only for reasons of honor - since it places its trust in us and we must comply with its will - or for humanitarian motives alone - considering, as we do, that the assurance of a full life is a fundamental right - but also because we must ensure peace, since we love life and cast in our lot with it. "A hungry people," said Seneca, "does not listen to reason, is not pacified by justice, does not yield to entreaties." The stability of democratic institutions is seriously threatened in many developing countries. The threat is real, grave and current.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“In other words, the close link between democracy and economic development must be recognized. When this condition is not fulfilled and poverty and unemployment prevail, violence emerges and is unleashed, the sowers of disorder take advantage of the fertile soil, the fabric of society disintegrates and, in the international sphere, political loyalties become erratic. This does not mean that we in any way deny the formal operation of democracy, which is always a substantial guarantee that rights will be respected, but, inasmuch as the formal operation of democracy is a necessary condition of the existence of such rights, it is not sufficient to ensure its stability.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“All of us who, in ate way or another, took part in the transition from authoritarianism to democracy know what sacrifices, patience and dedication were necessary to ensure that such a transition took place peacefully. But, great as the effort demanded by the restoration of democracy may have been, it was no greater than that which its maintenance is now requiring from us. Democracy is a fragile flower; we have ample and all too frequent proof of its fragile nature. It only grows and survives in the right soil and the right climate. A genuine democracy based on respect for the individual and on the periodical, free advice of the people can be preserved only within an economic context that allows its citizens to provide for their basic material and spiritual needs.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“As a country that is emerging from a painful experience in this area, we urge Governments that are dedicated to peace to demonstrate their respect for basic human values by ratifying the conventions on human rights. We feel entitled to make such an appeal. Uruguay was one of the first countries to ratify the International Covenants on human rights and one of the few to accept the competence of the Committee to look into the complaints of individuals who have been victims of their violation. Moreover, Uruguay has not only ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, but was the first State to accept the competence of the relevant Committee.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“Within the context of human rights, the international community must direct its attention to the effective application of that most basic of rights, the right to life. When one thinks of the tragic fact that millions of children die for lack of assistance it is impossible not to question the so-called progress of our human society. There could be no better way to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations than by concentrating our efforts on supporting the worthy task of child immunization undertaken by the united Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), so that the target of universal immunization by 1990 may be achieved.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“We have now set ourselves the task of carrying out as soon as possible the process of restoring the. rights that were violated and normalizing the situations that were altered by the previous regime. Uruguayan democracy is once more on the march. On the international level, one of the first acts of our Government was to ratify the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights. In keeping with our traditions, we have renewed our struggle for human rights everywhere, under all systems of government. We shall pursue that struggle without bringing ideological considerations to bear and without making choices on the basis of self-interest. For this reason, our Government cannot but strongly condemn apartheid, that remnant of a blighted era, and withhold recognition of the interim government of Namibia illegally established by South Africa.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“As it returns to democracy, Uruguay returns to its traditional position of scrupulous respect for human rights and for the promotion and development of mechanisms and institutions that will ensure the observance and protection of those rights. Because we were a people caught in the middle, between Spain and Portugal, the two great empires, because our Iberian roots were strengthened by a flood of Italian immigrants and later by the migratory currents of French, Swiss, Armenian, Jewish and other peoples, pluralism, tolerance, a belief in freedom and respect for human rights lie deep within the very nature of our being. On the domestic level, no sooner had the new Government assumed power than it declared a generous general amnesty for political prisoners and fully restored political freedoms and civil rights.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The profound symbiosis of the people and their leader, the governed and the governor, is admirably reflected in Artigasis own words: "My authority emanates from you and ceases in your sovereign presence." This is the concept of democracy that has remained in the soul of the of the Uruguayan people throughout our history and that now blooms once more as a part of our inner being, as an element of our -identity as a people, as a natural vocation that we can deny only at the risk of losing our way, of going astray, of being other than whom we are. With the democracy which we have now recovered, we have ourselves recovered.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“These convictions are rooted in the long-gone era of the struggle for independence, when Uruguayans, in an act of renunciation and loyalty almost without precedent .n history, abandoned their towns, homes and property to follow Artigas, their liberating hero, who never forgot that the only support of his political power lay in the will of the people.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“This commitment by Uruguay is, today, backed by the moral and political force that emanates from the existence of its own democratic institutions, recently regained in a peaceful process of institutional normalization firmly rooted in the vote of the people. As the fifth decade of the United Nations begins, the spirit that Uruguay brings to bear in this forum is different from that in the previous decade. We have begun a historic phase of restoration of democracy and democratic reaffirmation in keeping with the deepest convictions of the Uruguayan people.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“We, its Members, who are responsible for its continuing to exist, should insist that a collective effort be made to establish the mechanisms which will allow the Organization to be more effective without substantially altering its legal framework. The United Nations arose out of a cataclysm to replace the League of Nations, which was also the outcome of a tragic world upheaval. Let us not wait for a third cataclysm to improve and strengthen it. In this Assembly Uruguay renews its commitment to continue to support the Organization unconditionally. It is prepared to promote and share in any effort designed to revise the practices and systems of the United Nations to make it more flexible and effective in both the political and the economic spheres and to increase support for the political functions of the Secretary-General.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“The San Francisco Charter, although not perfect, seemed at that time adequately to reconcile the transparency of principles with the opacity of reality. But the world has changed and the forces of violence, destruction and discord have renewed their assault. It is true to say that .the United Nations has struggled for peace and justice for 40 years. But does this test of endurance, this persistence in existing despite so much adversity; give us grounds for hope with regard to the future? Do the conditions necessary to allow us to expect that future generations will celebrate a new anniversary of the Organization 40 years hence exist at present? The United Nations has become an indispensable element o£ contemporary international life.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“These achievements cannot disguise the weaknesses arising, above all, from the Governments' lack of faith in the Organization and the non-observance of the precepts of the Charter. For this reason, this is a propitious opportunity both to reform and change what must be changed and to undertake a cool analysis to determine which faults are to be attributed to the system as such and which to the flaws and inconsistencies of countries. The Organization, in the last resort, is a reflection of the countries themselves, their faults and their virtues. Its value, moreover, should be measured not only by what it has done but also by what it has prevented, what it has averted - a perspective that highlights the peace-making activities of the United Nations.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“In spite of the grave difficulties that it has had to face and the continuous crises that have tested its mettle, this vulnerable ship, which provides a refuge for the hopes of the world, has remained afloat and continued its journey, despite all skepticism, and has succeeded in living twice as long as its predecessor, the League of Nations. In spite of the criticism directed against- the system, the world has lived for almost two generations without conflicts of world-wide scope. That is no mean feat. Currents of solidarity and co-operation which had never before existed in the history of humanity have been generated. A splendid process of decolonization has been launched with the support of the Organization. Having started with 51 countries signatories to the Charter, the Organization today includes 159 independent, sovereign nations.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)
“I feel doubly pleased to be addressing this Assembly on behalf of the people of Uruguay. I am pleased in the first place to see you, Sir, the representative of a people linked to the Uruguayan people by a past of common roots and a present of shared ideals, presiding over this Assembly. Secondly, I. am pleased to be here for the celebration of an anniversary of singular significance: the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations. If having existed for four decades is in the case of any human institution a reason for rejoicing, this is even more true in the case of the United Nations, the embodiment of the ideal of the brotherhood of all mankind. Its survival from one day to the next in a world fraught with danger and dominated by national selfishness should be a cause for celebration.”
1985-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 40 (1985)