YouSaid · the spoken record

Di Tella

lines on the record

28

first

1994-07-11

most recent

1999-09-24

sittings or episodes

4

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un-security-council

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1. “It is clear from a study by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research that so far there has been no integrated approach in response to the problem of small arms in post-conflict processes. What is lacking is an integrated approach that can assure lasting peace and lay the foundations for development. And it is for that reason that we support the holding of an international conference on the illicit traffic in arms in all its aspects by the year 2001. We are convinced that in order the promote the establishment and maintenance of peace with the minimum human and economic resources being diverted to arms, we must implement Article 26 of the Charter and establish a system for the regulation of armaments. That responsibility is conferred upon this Council, and we cannot evade it.”

   1999-09-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4048 (1999) · source

2. “We have also established a system of information exchange on the basis of the Inter-American Convention and of the Model Regulations to Control the Movements of Firearms, Parts and Components and Ammunition, adopted by the Inter-American Commission for Drug Abuse Control of the Organization of American States. I want to thank the Department for Disarmament Affairs for its support for the seminar on the proliferation of small arms, ammunition and explosives, which was held in Buenos Aires last May. Those are some of the actions that have been taken in our region. We know of other initiatives in Africa and Europe. But such actions are not enough. We must curb the negative impact of the proliferation of small arms on human security, without affecting the right to self-defence recognized in the Charter.”

   1999-09-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4048 (1999) · source

3. “But the issue has an impact on public safety because the effect of such weapons on common crime is to cause more of it and make it worse. Fortunately, the southern cone countries have made a firm commitment to the struggle against the manufacture of and illicit trafficking in small arms. The Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials has been supplemented by a declaration by the Presidents of the countries of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), Bolivia and Chile, setting up a joint mechanism for the registration of those who buy and sell such devices.”

   1999-09-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4048 (1999) · source

4. “First, there is a humanitarian element; we are concerned about the victims of small arms and the easy access to and use of such weapons by children and adolescents. Secondly, there is an economic dimension, because resources are used for arms acquisition instead of for development. Thirdly, there is a security dimension, because of the global and regional impact of the problem. Of course, the phenomenon of the proliferation of small arms takes on specific characteristics, depending on the region in question. That is why different measures need to be taken in response to the specific surrounding circumstances. Let us consider the case of the southern cone of America, which includes Argentina. It is not a high-risk zone in that it does not have an excessive accumulation of small arms.”

   1999-09-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4048 (1999) · source

5. “Mr. Di Tella (Argentina) (spoke in Spanish): For a long time, we have been concerned mainly about weapons of mass destruction. In the past decade, we have made considerable progress in that field. However, that does not mean that we must not also be concerned about small arms. There is an element of irony in this situation: weapons of mass destruction are terrible and have a terrible name; small arms seem inoffensive, yet they conceal a truly enormous problem. It is our responsibility to mobilize the necessary resources and to adopt appropriate policies to replace the culture of violence with the culture of peace and development. The issue of small arms has gained momentum and today, the question is being discussed in different forums. But we must move from words to action. In our opinion, the problem of small arms has three dimensions.”

   1999-09-24 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4048 (1999) · source

6. “We urge this body, which has ceaselessly sought a peaceful solution in the Middle East, to continue to strive to put an end to the bloodshed and to recreate the conditions needed for dialogue and negotiation. On behalf of the Argentine people and Government, I would also like to express our condolences to all the victims of these tragic events and to their families. May I conclude with an appeal to all parties to deal with this crisis that has tormented the peoples of the region, and to do so with prudence, moderation and a spirit of tolerance, so as to achieve a lasting peace with justice and security.”

   1996-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3698Resumption1 (1996) · source

7. “The security of peoples depends on moderate policies, and certainly not on extreme formulas of any kind. There can be no doubt that the growing instability is playing into the hands of extremist groups who do not wish to see the peace process succeed. Terrorism should never triumph. We call on all the parties to respect scrupulously the peace agreements that have been signed. It is necessary to restore the requisite conditions for the dialogue that had begun to bear fruit and solidify. It is also imperative to resume the negotiating process. Those who bear the greatest responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security should act with the greatest prudence and even-handedness.”

   1996-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3698Resumption1 (1996) · source

8. “Today we wish to join our voice to those of all the Governments that in this debate have made a solemn appeal for the preservation of peace and security on the West Bank, in Gaza and in Jerusalem. In various forums and on various occasions, my country has lent its support to the shaping of the peace programme that emerged from the Madrid and Oslo agreements and that were widely supported by the international community. The hopes for a lasting peace emerging from that process have now been dimmed by rigid and obstinate attitudes that depart from the letter and the spirit of those agreements. I wish to express my Government's concern about the extremely serious incidents that have occurred. They are capable of endangering the advance of this process.”

   1996-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3698Resumption1 (1996) · source

9. “Mr. Di Tella (Argentina) (interpretation from Spanish): Allow me to congratulate you, Sir, for having convened this emergency meeting without delay. Our participation in this meeting was not expected, but the significance of the events and the concern they aroused in Argentina prompted President Carlos Saul Menem to call upon me to convey our deep concern. Nothing that occurs in the Middle East is alien to us because we are linked to that region by close ethnic, religious and cultural ties. Argentina, a land of immigration, has seen its population nurtured and enriched by citizens of both Arab and Jewish origin. In our territory, communities from the Middle East live side by side harmoniously without distinction of race or creed.”

   1996-09-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3698Resumption1 (1996) · source

10. “Only at the United Nations does success depend on collaboration. Once success is achieved, then it belongs to everyone. Let us preserve and strengthen the efficiency and agility of this forum of peace.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

11. “This could be achieved through rotation mechanisms, enabling countries, from all the various regions, that are most active and interested in international peace and security issues to accede to membership of the Security Council more frequently. Such mechanisms would allow the countries that now cannot hope to gain access to the Council for many years to do so more frequently. Fifty years ago, the United Nations embarked on a journey, determined to build a more just and peaceful world. Today, we recall that almost visionary determination, and we are fortunate to do so in an organization that is vibrant with issues to address and problems to solve, and that is deeply involved in finding solutions to major international crises and increasingly committed to economic development, human rights and social and environmental problems.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

12. “We believe that the fundamental value that must be preserved in this context is the effectiveness of the Council's action, which must be timely and speedy in its response to serious international crises. The Council's action can be strengthened through restructuring only if that restructuring is realistic and based on objective criteria. This is how our predecessors proceeded 50 years ago, when they endowed the Council with a structure that was suited to the demands of the reality they then faced. In this context, we need broad consensus so that we can study imaginative formulas designed to increase representativeness.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

13. “In our view, only concerted and coherent action on the part of the international community can be an effective antidote to these illegal and potentially destabilizing practices. Much has been said about the functioning of the Council and how it could be revitalized in the present circumstances. During its work on the Council, our delegation has consistently promoted changes in the Council's procedures, by encouraging consultations, supporting its missions and establishing greater dialogue between the States that contribute to peace-keeping operations. The aim of all this is to increase both the efficiency and the transparency of the Council's work.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

14. “The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related technologies is another new and disturbing development that the Council has to address. In the statement issued by the Council at its meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government held in 1992, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was rightly considered a threat to international peace and security. However, apart from such an honest definition of the problem, the Council has done little to address an issue defined as a real and present threat. Argentina has tried to strengthen the role of the Council in these areas through specific initiatives. In the same vein, we have drawn the attention of the Council to more sensitive issues, such as the illicit traffic of weapons.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

15. “Issues and problems apparently foreign to a region of the world suddenly emerge in it with brutal force, taking innocent lives in distant corners of the planet which might mistakenly have been considered safe from these crises. My country drew the attention of the Security Council to this issue following the occurrence of horrible terrorist attacks. Since then, new and recurrent episodes have only confirmed our fears. International terrorism knows no boundaries, erodes the power of Sates and destabilizes whole regions. It is a challenge that the international community has not yet faced with the determination and cohesion necessary for its prevention and eradication. Much to our dismay, international terrorism is a new and insidious item on the agenda of international security, which the Security Council cannot ignore.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

16. “Our participation in peace-keeping operations, which we hereby reaffirm and to which we commit ourselves for the future, is a clear example of the way in which all countries can contribute to this endeavour, involving themselves in the solution of international crises and giving their armed forces a central role in the global process. Peace-keeping operations are pivotal in the efforts towards a genuine system of collective security. Times have changed, and so have the challenges at hand, challenges which the Council will undoubtedly have to address. International terrorism is one of the scourges in this new international scenario of increasing interdependence and globalization. Nobody is safe from its attacks.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

17. “In response to those objections and the easy scepticism they harbour, it is always worth stressing once again that the incomparable legitimacy of a multinational force acting on the instructions of this Council is far preferable to other alternatives which, sooner or later, lead to unilateral solutions. Argentina is supporting the international community in this effort. We have generously contributed more than 9,000 military personnel, equipment, field hospitals, vessels and aircraft which, far from our borders, have proved with concrete action the authenticity of our commitment to the strengthening of the United Nations.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

18. “The central role of peace-keeping operations in the work of the Security Council cannot be overlooked. This issue cannot be sufficiently stressed, since peace-keeping operations embody the highest hopes, as well as the legitimate frustrations of many. Sixteen ongoing operations, 80 States involved and more than 60,000 troops in the field are unmistakable signs of a new willingness and an unprecedented commitment to peace-keeping operations on the part of most Members of the international community. Nevertheless, there has been some criticism of peace- keeping operations in the light of limited perspectives.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

19. “Whenever there has been an opportunity for it to participate in the Council, Argentina has tried to make a specific contribution commensurate with the high responsibility conferred by membership of the Council. So it was in the early stages of the Organization, during the Berlin crisis in 1948. Argentina also participated actively in the solution of other important issues addressed by the Council, including decolonization issues such as the question of Namibia, and the process following the special session held by the General Assembly in 1967 which led to the adoption of Security Council resolution 242 (1967), a decisive landmark in the solution of the Middle East question. In all these instances, and also in the current session, we strive to act fairly and according to the spirit and the letter of the Charter.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

20. “In the face of uncertainty, one might wonder if this vision of the longed-for opportunity to build a new world order, a more equitable, compassionate and peaceful world order, was merely a mirage. However, in evident contrast with the past, this Council has not remained indifferent towards situations that directly affect or threaten international peace and security. The crises in Cambodia, Rwanda, Lebanon, Georgia, Somalia, Mozambique, the former Yugoslavia, Iraq- Kuwait, Haiti, Angola, the Middle East and many other areas are systematically addressed in order to find solutions to just as many human dramas. Nobody could now argue that this body has been excluded from the review and solution of serious international crises as, unfortunately, was once the case.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

21. “The succession of reciprocal vetoes, the sharpness of the exchanges, the modest scope of many of its resolutions and, above all, its silences in the face of serious crises which affected international peace and security reflected the narrow margin for action available to the Council and the United Nations when set against an overwhelming strategic struggle which shattered the hope for any multilateral solution. At the end of the cold war, we all perceived that the United Nations had before it a new and perhaps unique opportunity. Barely three years after such a formidable manifestation of hope, a feeling of doubt and a certain concern have crept into our hearts once again.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

22. “Mr. di Tella (Argentina) (interpretation from Spanish): It is a special pleasure for me to see Italy preside over this important meeting, especially given the deep friendship that unites our two countries based on indelible bonds. Almost 50 years ago, under the presidency of Australia, the Security Council met for the first time. The occasion of an anniversary allows us a brief respite in the currently endless activity of the Security Council to attempt to reflect upon what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The cold war, which indelibly marked these decades, found the Security Council to be one of its most prominent stages.”

    1995-09-26 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3583 (1995) · source

23. “Finally, I should like to reiterate my gratitude to the Prime Minister of France for the information he has provided and for the much-appreciated efforts of his country, which, because they bring us closer to the restoration of peace in Rwanda, we particularly value. Our two peoples in different parts of the world, joined by strong ties of friendship, together seek a common, lofty goal: the consolidation of peace in our world.”

    1994-07-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3402 (1994) · source

24. “This, however, is but a first a step along the road leading to the final determination of responsibilities. The Argentine Republic will continue to advocate that the process under way be promptly carried to completion. That is a commitment. The international community cannot fail to respond to the atrocities suffered by the people of Rwanda or allow those acts to go unpunished. At this difficult time for Rwanda, my delegation recalls that the road to pacification and reconstruction in that country should be bounded by the guidelines and principles earlier included in the Arusha Peace Agreement.”

    1994-07-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3402 (1994) · source

25. “The Argentine Republic, for its part, is totally committed to that system of collective security. In accordance with the resources at its disposal, it contributes approximately 2,000 men to eight peace-keeping operations and a vessel to the sanctions-monitoring machinery imposed by the Council on a country in our hemisphere. In this regard, we attach special importance to the generous assumption by all Member States' of the responsibilities deriving from the Charter. My delegation takes this opportunity once again to support unequivocally the decision taken by the Security Council in resolution 935 (1994), which provides for the establishment of a Commission of Experts to investigate the atrocities committed in Rwanda, which constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and perhaps even genocide.”

    1994-07-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3402 (1994) · source

26. “The tragic situation in Rwanda demands that we strive to deploy the expanded United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) with the utmost speed and without further delay. This should be done in order to allow UNAMIR to carry out fully the mandate properly conferred upon it, with the consent of both the international community and the parties to the conflict. My delegation takes this opportunity to express its appreciation to the States - both of the region and from outside the region - that are participating or have committed themselves to participating in that Mission. In my delegation's opinion, there is an evident need to strengthen the mechanisms of the United Nations system of collective security so that in the future we can avoid the considerable operational difficulties that have thus far delayed the deployment of UNAMIR.”

    1994-07-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3402 (1994) · source

27. “The operation is being carried out in accordance with the norms of neutrality and impartiality earlier established by the Security Council in resolution 929 (1994) for a strictly humanitarian operation. The Argentine Republic well understands France's motivations for making a determined attempt to ease the sufferings of the people of Rwanda. The humanitarian crisis that Rwanda has been undergoing for months now constitutes a truly unique situation that we have no hesitation in describing as one of the gravest situations this Council has had to deal with since the end of the cold war. This is a unique and extremely grave situation which requires that urgent and exceptional measures be taken, given the extent of the atrocities that have taken place.”

    1994-07-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3402 (1994) · source

28. “Mr. Di Tella (Argentina) (interpretation from Spanish): I should like to congratulate you, Sir - and, through you, Pakistan - on your exercise of the presidency of the Security Council this month. My country is united to yours by fruitful links of long standing. I also wish to welcome most especially the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of France, who are with us at this meeting. I also wish to extend my greetings to the Permanent Representatives of the countries that make up Security Council, countries with which Argentina has the honour of sharing the task of safeguarding international peace and security. My delegation is grateful to Prime Minister Edouard Balladur for his presentation on the situation in Rwanda and in particular on theirreproachable humanitarian operation led by France in that country.”

    1994-07-11 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3402 (1994) · source