YouSaid · the spoken record

Burelli Rivas

lines on the record: 55
first: 1995-09-24
most recent: 1997-09-24
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

“There is a greater need every day for the United Nations to act as the voice and conscience of humanity, but never as the spokesperson or tool of any group, region or interest other than the community which created it and of which it is the core.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“He was not absolutely sure that he was actually standing on continental soil when in 1498 he reached Macuro, a small village on the eastern coast of Venezuela, but he certainly wondered as he witnessed the thrust of a strong current that overcame the gentle waves and gave proof of the presence of a great river, the Orinoco. This was an extremely important event for my country, which we plan to commemorate properly. It was the only time the great admiral stood on terra firma, which he called “Land of Grace”. In making this announcement, we hope the global community will join us in our celebration. In closing, I wish to express Venezuela’s faith in the ability of the Organization to act as a permanent arbitrator for peace and development.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“What Venezuela hopes to achieve by this debate is to make clear the responsibilities that each actor must play in a democracy, and the media are very important actors. That is the reason for this initiative: to warn and caution them, not by suggesting rules, but by appealing to a sense of responsibility, prompted by their own conscience, with regard to the worthy part that information must play in building a safe and trusting society. Following on from comments I made at this year’s Ibero-American Summit in Venezuela, I wish to mention the five-hundredth anniversary of the day when Christopher Columbus set foot on continental America, in August 1498, at the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela. Until then the feats of exploration by the discoverer of the New World had been limited to the islands of the Caribbean.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We consider this right to be the counterpart to the media’s right to carry out their activities in absolute freedom, given the fact that society legitimately aspires, in turn, to be properly, accurately and truthfully informed. In an era in which the media have the most amazing technologies at their disposal — such as those providing instantaneous communication — there can be no explanation for information that distorts, embellishes or tampers with the truth. All the power that we give the media, essential for the values of democracy, would be lost if the media were to step outside their role and begin voicing opinions instead of reporting or made themselves part of the day-to-day debate of ideas.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Yet it is obvious that the downfall of democracy is often due to carelessness on the part of the political parties on which it is based, when, setting aside the ethics of service, ideology and efficiency, they are tempted to take advantage of the resources of the State using the pretext of lengthy, complex and costly election campaigns. It would seem that the time has come to return to the old political ideas or to invent new means of expression in order to heal and revitalize democracy. Many people reacted by voicing doubts and fears when the subject of the people’s right to truthful information was raised. Media groups have even claimed that this proposal is full of hidden dangers. Nevertheless, the straightforward intent of this proposal is to strengthen the influence of the media at a time when they are virtually the first estate.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Despite the fact that democracy has taken root in virtually all the countries in our region — seemingly the desideratum of our times — it now faces a variety of dangers, such as elections rigged by international organized crime. The most specific and dangerous case has to do with the influential role that drug trafficking and money laundering now play in elections, allowing crime to become closely entwined with political power. My country’s position in this regard is to warn political parties to make sure their electoral campaigns are 13 transparent by keeping these campaigns short and to the point so as to avoid any improper financial influence. Democracy is, by its very nature, a system of political parties. There is no democratic system without political parties.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The subject of human rights, which I mentioned briefly at the beginning of my statement, is vitally important, and it would not be surprising if some day it were to replace “democracy” as a term and as a concept. Certain statements on this subject may have been exaggerated in the heat of the moment. But the truth is that we must march firmly forward towards a time when every human being, without exception, feels for his fellow man the same respect that he asks for himself. This is a matter of education, training and will on the part of Governments, so that the bad examples from the more developed countries that are passed on by the media do not lead the developing countries to continue violating these rights.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“That is the nucleus of the agenda for the meeting to be held on 8 and 9 November on Margarita Island. It is not out of place to explain to this Assembly that there are good reasons for this agenda. The economic changes and the political upheavals of our world have wreaked havoc on the set of values that was, until recently, the foundation on which people’s lives rested. The weakness of social justice is pathetic. In more than a few countries, unavoidable macroeconomic adjustments have affected vast numbers of people who are victims of injustice and who are unable, both mentally and physically, of coping with these changes, leaving them even worse off than they were before. Something must be done to improve the lot of these multitudes during a transition that, although necessary, is still painful.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The seventh summit meeting will be held on Margarita Island in my country. As the host country suggests the key topic for discussion at each meeting, the President of Venezuela, Mr. Rafael Caldera, has proposed the general heading of “Ethical values of democracy”, a suggestion that has been accepted with great enthusiasm. The Governments of Venezuela and the other 20 countries of Ibero-America insist that it is not enough to have formal democracy if corruption is rampant, if inefficiency persists, if justice is not effective, or if the action taken by the democratic sectors is neither satisfactory nor transparent. Thus, this general topic encompasses other very specific issues having to do with social justice, human rights, electoral transparency elections, the sincerity of political parties and, unavoidably, truth in information.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“While imposing their political power and territorial government, they also disseminated Christianity and passed on with conviction their European civilization and culture. Thus in Spanish and Portuguese America, the mixing of blood and cultures took root, making our world a different one, a world characterized by social egalitarianism, religious tolerance and a strong and deeply rooted freedom. The effects of this situation, which defines and unites American existence from north to south, makes this community stand out. It does not set it apart from others, but, in this era of globalization, it affirms the very particular features of Ibero-American identity. This idea has evolved well, beginning in Guadalajara, then continuing in Madrid, Salvador de Bahia, Cartagena, Bariloche and Santiago.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“By thus institutionalizing and centralizing the political will of States, we will help prevent the possibility of the winners in a conflict from being tempted to become the judges of the defeated. This seems the appropriate time and place to mention the Ibero-American community of which Venezuela is a part and the five hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s only landing on continental America in his voyages. Since 1991, 500 years after the discovery of America, thanks to an initiative of the King of Spain, the 21 countries that proudly share the honour of being members of the Ibero-American community have met once a year, in a different city each time. I say “proudly” because in their colonial endeavours both Spain and Portugal took a missionary approach.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“That is why Venezuela played an active role in the various stages of the drafting of the document, which required years of work, and led to the successful conclusion of a document that includes virtually all the provisions on this subject that exist in international law. My country signed the Convention yesterday and we call upon other countries to do the same. 12 As Venezuela has always been in favour of the establishment of an international criminal court, we wish to draw attention to what the international community has done to deal with and punish international crimes against peace and security, first with the creation of ad hoc courts and then with the creation of a permanent body such as that court.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Such mechanisms must include the mobilization of capital resources for investment in non-industrialized countries while at the same time, opening the door to the opportunities offered by the private sector. Non-governmental organizations — increasingly active in today’s world — could contribute even more towards attainment of the aims of the Charter of United Nations in this field of action. My country has launched an intensive round of consultations with these organizations in what it has called a “Dialogue between senior Government and non-governmental organizations”, so as to draw up a plan for the promotion, protection and observance of human rights in Venezuela. We welcomed the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses as a well-conceived initiative.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“It goes beyond an analysis of the opportunities and rules of the veto to the elimination of the veto altogether. It has to do with the reform of the Secretariat itself and with economic and social issues, especially funding for development, as envisaged in the relevant document. That is why we feel that consideration should be given to the ideas recently expressed by both the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement as regards not only this subject, but also consensus on the other reforms. Venezuela supports the convening of an international conference on financing for development, in cooperation with international financial institutions, to propose innovative and bold mechanisms in this area.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Venezuela supports an increase in the number of permanent Members on the Security Council, provided there is no discrimination of any kind and that there is due regard for the interests of the international community, including fair representation of all geographical regions, in line with other new circumstances. We feel that there are great expectations and high hopes that the Secretariat will become more efficient and that the Organization’s burden of projected expenditures may be eased. It is also essential that Member States pay their contributions on time. None of us can refuse to honour a freely accepted obligation, nor make payment conditional in a way that presents a threat to the equality of States and the dignity of the world forum of which we are a part. My country’s position, however, is not limited to this alone.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“We have considered the various plans for reforms and watched the efforts made by the outgoing President of the General Assembly over these past few months to achieve some, at least, of the essential changes to the system during his term in office. And, although we believe this issue to be both timely and urgent, we do not feel that there is imminent consensus on the suggested changes which, above all, relate to membership on the Security Council. In any case, it is only fair to recognize the serious efforts being made to end the stagnation within this Organization and launch the debate that is just beginning.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The day seems to have come when the Member States of this Organization will work together to do away with the tolerance encountered on all continents towards this canker afflicting politics and administration; a canker whose breeding ground is not underdevelopment, but the moral decay of the State and society; a canker that seriously and increasingly hinders the trade that is a necessary part of economic globalization. My Government has welcomed the idea of changes not only in the structure, but even in the philosophy of this 50- year-old Organization. Since the lives of the peoples of this world have undergone such profound changes, it would be inexcusable for the United Nations, which represents them all, to remain untouched.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“When the Inter-American Convention against Corruption was approved, we voiced our hope that, given that the disregard for of ethical standards that has fostered this crime has been a worldwide and not a strictly American phenomenon, the subject would one day be taken up by the United Nations in order to produce an international convention giving voice to the concern felt by all countries over this problem and harnessing the general willingness to put an end to impunity.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“11 As the threat of ever more pitiless and atrocious acts of terrorism has spread around the world and, to no small extent, here on our American continent, Venezuela has taken an interest in ensuring that the international community is made increasingly aware of its responsibilities in joint efforts to approve a convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings. That convention is currently being considered by the General Assembly, in a body that should be completing its work shortly.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The official in charge of all Government action against this powerful enemy of humankind has been given the rank of Minister. It goes without saying that we look forward hopefully to the next special session of the General Assembly, on illegal drug trafficking, to be held at the request of Mexico. We hope that it will produce clear solutions that will enable us to wage a more successful war on this scourge and, above all, put an end to money laundering, where Government efforts have so far been least successful.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“My country has resolutely backed the programme to eliminate landmines, hundreds of millions of which have been irresponsibly and thoughtlessly scattered in territories on every continent, daily taking their toll of many innocent victims, particularly children, whose mutilation by landmines is a constant reminder that we need to ensure justice for humankind. The fact that Venezuela has a neighbour where illegal drugs continue to be planted, processed and sold places us in the unfortunate position of being part of the supply route and within an area influenced by drug money. That is why the Government of Venezuela has taken every precaution to keep this danger to a minimum. It fights trafficking on land and sea and in the air, and has intercepted large shipments of drugs.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“It may not be possible to eradicate corruption, but timely punishment — by ending impunity — will make such action risky. We have been enthusiastic supporters of all initiatives aimed at limiting the arms trade, in addition to being aware that there are free markets often beyond Government control, we are concerned that the industrialized countries, by lifting embargoes in this field, may begin moving towards the opposite extreme and promote the sale of weapons everywhere, under pressure from the military industry, which has an extremely powerful lobby.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“I wish to highlight the work done by the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, Mr. José Ayala- Lasso, and welcome the new High Commissioner, the former President of Ireland, Mrs. Mary Robinson, to whom my country wishes every success in the stimulating but difficult task ahead of her. With regard to corruption, terrorism and disarmament, my country, which proposed and was able to gain approval for the Inter-American Convention — the first of its kind in the world — in March 1996, remains steadfast in its efforts to ensure that every country is aware of the need to punish wrongdoing in government, wrongdoing that has tended to be treated with great indulgence.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“I must place on record the fact that the Government of Venezuela has taken measures on all these issues to ensure increased respect for human rights, to wage war on drugs and to promote further disarmament and assist in the fight against corruption. Naturally, it is not easy for any country to show a clean record. A Government’s good intentions as regards human rights will always immediately come up against recurring internal violence and still untamed unruly elements, as in the example constantly presented by the audiovisual media in developed countries. But the will exists and an effort is being made to make Government agencies increasingly aware of our resolve to protect guarantee human rights.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“The pace of events today means that subjects that we considered just last year seem obsolete. Nevertheless, as we have still not found solutions to the most pressing problems facing the international community, it is logical to keep returning to those that are of concern to every member of that community and to the community as a whole, which now finds itself in the midst of the most rapid process of change in history. Inevitably, therefore, we will again go over, for example, human rights, the rule of law, free elections, the war on drugs, corruption, disarmament, terrorism and other compelling issues that crop up constantly among our concerns and in our work nowadays.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Speaking here on behalf of my country, I wish to congratulate the new Secretary-General of the Organization, Mr. Kofi Annan, who, after nine months in his post, now for the first time faces the responsibility of a session of the General Assembly, a session that is likely to be noteworthy and hard-working. Given his vast experience, he is well aware that the prestige and influence of his important post derive from the impartiality that places him above all pressure of interests and raises him to the permanent status of arbitrator for all and a symbol of the Organization. I also wish to offer my congratulations to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, on his appointment as President of this session of the General Assembly.”
1997-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 52 (1997)
“Diego Freitas do Amaral, in the hope that under his leadership the Organization will achieve all the success it deserves and needs. All races, all religions, all the most varied shades of humankind bring their aspirations and their claims here. This is an spacious home that has always endeavoured to live in the peace that is and must be the normal condition of life. It has been said that if health is the peace of the body, peace is the health of peoples. In that connection, the pre-Socratic philosopher wrote that in times of peace people awake to the crowing of roosters, while in times of war they waken to the clamour of arms; in peace the young bury the old, while in war the old bury the young.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“At that time he voiced an idea that has even greater validity today: “The peoples of the world must know each other morally and spiritually before they can manage to dispel the distrust and ignorance which keep them apart. We must build up a kind of intellectual network, above the network of the physical communications system which exists between nations, or parallel to it.” (Official Records of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, 7th plenary meeting, p. 23) This Organization’s greatest achievement has been to offer the world a span of half a century during which, despite remaining fears, it could think of a new course for harmonizing all aspects of the life of societies with the nature that shelters those societies. I congratulate the Organization and the President of the General Assembly, Mr.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“It is responsible for over 300 international treaties: for the consolidation of democracy; for the dedicated protection of refugees; for self- determination, freedom, independence, the dignity of life, the arts, traditions; for coexistence — even if the phantoms of intolerance reappear; for trade free of protectionism; for children, women and our indigenous populations. And this, beyond civilization, we can call the new culture of the human family. The Organization has grown and expanded since 1945, and the world with it. Its many offspring, scattered among the five continents and virtually all of them free, have led to a membership quadruple the number of the founding Members, among them Venezuela, which was represented then by its great Minister Caracciolo Parra Pérez.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“The greatest tragedy of Latin America is its social condition, because of the imbalances characteristic of any large society — irregularities in family patterns, deficiencies in education, the destruction of homes due to a lack of ethics — even housing, which was never one of our biggest problems, has become one, because it is linked to a sense of ethics at the family level. They are inseparably linked. 11 We could say, along with Arturo Uslar Pietri that, caught as we are between the millstones that grind the political universe, we have given more thought to building republics than to perfecting the nation that we are. In spite of all its faults, the United Nations — the Organization we aspired to and wish to maintain — has created a civilization.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“A regrettable dislocation occurred between Europe and Latin America, which is truly its most kindred continent, where we live as distant cousins, and still the most vibrant and promising offshoot of this lineage. If we underscore the need to encourage this idea of our community, it is because it exists, in fact, although it is now beset with social problems that require combined treatment. It also has a legalist existence, since States such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela have incorporated it into their political constitutions.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“But I wanted to put before the Assembly the somewhat romantic idea of a Latin American Utopia, that it might inspire confidence in our neighbours in this hemisphere and hope in all other regions, whether on an organized basis or not. This is the spirit in which the Rio Group has endorsed the oft-repeated proposal for a Latin American Parliament. Since the first Great War there has been a dislocation in Europe, which conveyed itself through Spain and Portugal; its aesthetic sense of life and existence through Italy; its modes of thought and philosophy through France; its political models through Great Britain and its lasting technologies through Germany.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“If democracy is to acquire a new respectability, it will be thanks to the common, concerted effort of America; an effort which this world Organization will also be called upon to make in the near future. That is because political corruption, a manifestation of the universal mafia, is not exclusive to our region and must be fought at the global level, just like illicit drug trafficking. Very shortly, a world congress against corruption will be held in China, doubtless inspired by our example. We hold out great expectations for that congress. Indeed, we are keenly interested in anything that is sponsored and advanced by this Organization.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“But, at the same time, we fight this scourge with the greatest tenacity and determination. Our community has had the virtue of becoming practically a breeding ground for democracy, thanks to the steadfastness of its leaders and thinkers, as well as of the oldest but least championed regional organization. We must now see to it that democracy is purged of its dishonesty, and is cleansed. To this end, at the Hemispheric Summit in Miami, my Government proposed, with unanimous support, to put a stop to the impunity of corruption. We consider that drug trafficking and political corruption are linked together by money laundering, under the cover of electoral contributions.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“We have also spoken of the justification of agencies and powers, to make the cost of peace less burdensome; of the urgent need to adapt the Economic and Social Council to the necessities of our time, as well as the Council for Culture, Science and Technology, that is still the monopoly of industrialized centres. If a common market for technology were to be established, we would be truly keeping pace with history. In America, although less than in Africa and Asia, we too are disturbed by the growing marginalization, the social injustice, the poverty bordering on famine, the insecurity exacerbated by the trade in illicit drugs and its consequences, which we witness. We produce terrible drugs in ever greater quantities to satisfy the voracity of the consumer markets.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Of course, we bring before the United Nations the many concerns that we have expressed about the fate of our Organization which, in its 50 years of arbitrating peace, has charted a new path for the peoples it represents. These concerns have prompted talk of reforming the Charter, in order for the Security Council, for instance, to take up and represent new geopolitical realities, and not only military might. This is the spirit in which my country, through the voice of its President, Rafael Caldera, has realistically and frankly proposed that Brazil be the permanent representative of Latin America in an enlarged Security Council.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Morally, the Latin American community would be equal to the commercial and economic commitments made through ALADI, the Latin American Integration Association, as well as the Andean Pact, the Central American Common Market and MERCOSUR, all designed to form a front of solidarity 10 and a crucial link in the economic integration of the universe. A conscious Latin American community of nations would guarantee the sustainable development of the world’s most varied and richest ecological systems, and would conceive not only of the larger spaces, but also of the importance of drinking water, of mining resources, and of the most varied and richest flora and fauna on the face of the earth.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Practically all Latin American countries experienced a sort of golden age of culture and politics, marked by originality. We created literature. We forged our own laws with our own institutions. We pioneered the Law of the Sea; we produced the first system against nuclear weapons, with the Treaty of Tlatelolco. A concerted Latin American community of nations would tend to recuperate and exchange training and educational systems capable of affirming our collective pride and personality, as Europe has already done, despite the diversity of its components, out of fear of the return of thousands of years of violence.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“It will not be another international agency, or form another bureaucracy, or take up more room than the enormous space of its present physical and human geography. In other words, we aspire to a beautiful Utopia, with no other pragmatism than the pride of being a Utopia with ever more solidarity; part of the universe with shared values, in search of the same destiny. If other continents fashion communities around religious, racial or geopolitical banners, it is natural that we, Latin Americans, put forth ours with our own immense, protean sense of unity. There was a time, as we followed a different cultural pattern, when we had a more orderly society and enjoyed political systems that brought us fame throughout the world.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“These wretches worked the continent with their bare hands, they were the poor, the landless, the illiterate of the popular Renaissance. Uneducated, unenlightened, their common destiny was to join together to become nations and so achieve justice.” And justice was the most absolute independence, influenced by American determinism. In his sociologist’s discourse, Bolívar said that we Americans represent a small human race. We have now become an important branch of the broader human race: the branch of possibilities and hope. Our region would not enter into conflict with any other; not even with the one with which it shares the hemisphere, and which speaks a different language and has different customs.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Though this sense of equality was repressed for three centuries by pragmatic measures that were respected but not implemented, and by the extreme zeal of monks who consulted no one in imposing a single faith on this immense geographical area, it was imbued with the spaciousness of the land, the rivers, the forests, the gentle climate, the mountains and prairies, whose influence produced a different type of human character. And I would repeat that this deep feeling and sense of fundamental freedom was something that had never happened to any other group of people. Germán Arciniegas rightly said that “America was colonized by a man who was destined to a life of servitude in Europe. He became emancipated when he crossed from one shore to the other ...”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“But we cover 20,000,000 square kilometres, and in these, the future of humanity is pulsing. In political and spiritual terms, we are history’s largest laboratory, at once a mystery and a promise — an absolute wonder that the future is revealing day by day. The seed of a new world, different from our expectations, is growing among us. We are not the only five hundred million human beings to be allergic to the discrimination that will confront us in the year 2000. But we are the only human group to have been born and moulded without privileges, hesitations or complexes, on an equal footing.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“This is an exceptional community, the largest in the world, since it extends from the southern border of the United States all the way south to Patagonia, uniting the greatest number of peoples and republics with similar characteristics. Here, the various languages spoken in Spain fortunately became one, revitalizing the Castilian tongue, and similarly, the Portuguese language, which in Brazil is a language as open and soft as America itself. In the northernmost point of America, the imprint of France in Canada, as well as the Hispanic minority in the United States, are living reminders of this community. In geographical terms, we are larger than other official communities, since the United States’ surface area covers 9,372,000 square kilometres and Europe’s covers 10,404,000 square kilometres.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“This, in turn, engendered irrevocably an equally free spirit of social democracy, which Latin America has never since lacked, not even during the long periods when political democracy was non-existent. In 1826, Bolívar, the Liberator, convened the Congress of Panama to speak there, for the first time in history, not of sacred or profane alliances of war, but of alliances for peace. The thoughts he presented gave rise to the idea of an organized international community, first of all for the Americas, through the Pan-American Union, which in turn gave rise to the present Organization of 9 American States (OAS), then to the League of Nations and finally to this Organization, which has given humanity, together with peace, all the possibilities that peace offers.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Bolívar visualized uniting the American half that was discovered, populated and moulded in all its aspects by Spain and Portugal, seeing it as one that must necessarily have its own way of life and of behaving. His vision was never based on rivalry, but rather, in keeping with his views on the destiny of this shared hemisphere, on the basis of emulation and friendship instead of strife as its driving force. The colonizing Powers contributed, and based this half of America on, all they had brought with them. They established a religion, a society reminiscent of the offspring of settlers, whose physical surroundings and indiscriminate crossbreeding gave rise to a feeling of unfettered freedom and equality.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“He wrote: “It is a grandiose idea to try to make of the entire new world a single nation, with only one link to bind and tie together all the parts to the whole.” Once independence was achieved, he foresaw that an imperfect and erratic unity, such as that of the South, could be thrown off balance by the organization of the former 13 American colonies, whose integration he already anticipated. He also foresaw the power of the hard-working, driven race that would consolidate on the American continent the formidable and admirable nation that the United States has become, with its transcendent and unique feeling of liberty, since its founders left behind all prejudices and fears.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Venezuela is a country that has simultaneously — as if by magic — produced great thinkers, the most credible Utopians, the luckiest generals, the most visionary educators. My country, situated at the northern gate of South America, freed itself and other countries by following the dreams of Francisco de Miranda, brought to fruition by Simón Bolivár and Antonio José de Sucre, by systematic thinking and by the actions of Andrés Bello and Simón Rodríguez, among other well-known figures. Simón Bolívar was clear-sighted. In that nebulous period of history that was the year 1815, he set out, from Jamaica — in the most famous political document of this part of the world — a dazzling prophecy of what the ideal destiny of Hispanic America was to be. To this day, no one can understand how he thought it up.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Not so much economic or political as ethical in nature, this crisis has weakened our institutions and undermined our financial system, the collapse of which cost us 16 per cent of our gross national product and has attracted the not-always-understanding attention of international opinion. This is the crisis that our Government inherited. Aware that its characteristics are atypical in our region, since its basic goal is to replace a paternalistic, oil- dependent model by an open culture based on work and self-reliance rather than on seeking the understanding of other countries, our Government is proceeding to solve our nation’s problems, which, fortunately, are no match for our diverse and solid economic resources.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“Mine is a country that has never been at war with anyone, a country whose desire to see its neighbours freed from colonialism gave impetus to, and is inspiring, the brand-new Caribbean community, for instance. It is a country that, as we have proved time and again, will support and promote any initiative aimed at pacification in the region, as we did today in the Group of Friends of Guatemala, for example, and when we welcomed the latest agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Venezuela, like other countries, has been shaken — in our case since 1989 — by a severe crisis.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)
“8 Let us suppose, then, that the world of the future will have to be shaped according to regions, or large integrated groups or communities, regional or otherwise, that have a common cultural origin and wish to be identified with the others, because of the particular characteristics of their culture, such as tradition, language, religion and even mixed blood. This is what strikes me, as I now appear for the first time before so distinguished a forum to speak on behalf of a country such as mine — a country with a modest economy, a small population, a territory that is medium-sized but which, owing to its excellent geographical situation, developed more than others; a culture of social freedom, of mixed races and of political independence, achieved by means of an epic struggle, not only for itself but for all of its American neighbours.”
1995-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 50 (1995)