Latin American Voices at the UN: Priorities Include Poverty and Illegal Drugs

 
At the 56th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, Latin American leaders expressed their solidarity and support in the effort to combat terrorism. But they also emphasized a number of other important issues that they worry may be left off the new list of priorities on the international agenda.

The first Latin American to speak was Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. While pledging support for the United States, he expressed concern that the focus on terrorism will overshadow other problems requiring international attention, among them poverty, drug trafficking and crime. Terrorism "should not distract attention from the debate on cooperation and other topics of global interest," he stated. Instead, Cardoso urged his colleagues "to concentrate on the urgent goal of promoting development," pointing out that the response to terrorism cannot be limited to military force.

Chile's president, Ricardo Lagos, hailed the alliance against terrorism as an opportunity to achieve other objectives, including a refinement of the process of globalization. "We are already glimpsing the new world that must emerge from this dramatic moment in history, a world that is better organized and unified," de la Rua noted. "The terrorists will have accomplished their purpose if, as a result of their attacks, globalization changes its direction to mean less freedom and international trade."

Along the same lines, President Fernando de la Rua of Argentina criticized the unequal distribution of the benefits of economic globalization, which he blamed for "causing frustration and even desperation among many sectors of the dispossessed and generating the conditions for conflicts and confrontations that encourage fundamentalists of all types."

Colombia's President, Andrés Pastrana, drew parallels between drug trafficking and terrorism, as well as his country's armed conflict and the September 11 attacks in the United States. He sent a clear and urgent message to the Colombian guerrillas: "They are the only ones who can determine how they should be treated," he said, "whether as terrorists and drug traffickers, or as a political insurgency. If the actions of these groups cause them to be treated simply as terrorists, they should know-and I say this emphatically before the entire world-that Colombia and the international community will draw on all of the commitments and measures adopted in the Security Council to combat them."

Pastrana also pointed out to his international audience that illegal drug trafficking is a problem that affects all countries. He defined drug trafficking as "a criminal activity that is global in nature," adding that "the drug problem and organized crime in general undermine institutions, threaten democracy, erode the power of governments, sow the seeds of death and violence, breed corruption, chip away at judicial systems and stand in the way of the rule of law." He urged the nations of the world to move beyond talk to action: "No more tolerance of money laundering, even if we have to involve the world's leading financial conglomerates. No more unrestricted sales and production of the chemical precursors needed to make drugs. No more illegal or uncontrolled manufacture and sale of the weapons used to spread death."

When his turn came, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo emphasized one of the cornerstones of his foreign policy, reducing military spending. He called on his Latin American colleagues to come to an agreement on this issue, pointing out that the money saved could be better used for "social investment and a head-on assault on poverty." He added, "there is no excuse for democratic governments today to sacrifice development in favor of an arms build-up."

The president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, reiterated his country's "unlimited" commitment to the campaign against terrorism and the threat to the international community, but reminded his audience "not to overlook the problems that have contributed to this situation, among them the lack of economic development in many countries." Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle agreed, pointing out that an effective outcome against terrorism must take into account other enemies of peace, such as poverty and underdevelopment.

Guatemala's president, Alfonso Portillo, added that as long as inequality in international relations, social injustice and poverty threaten peace and democratic consolidation, the community of nations will find that its influence is diminished. Peace is not possible without first overcoming ignorance, injustice, discrimination, intolerance, exclusion and poverty, he argued. In the specific case of Guatemala, he said, peace can only be maintained in a context of economic growth instead of fiscal restrictions and growing government demands.

In all their statements, Latin America's leaders seemed to be urging that the fight against terrorism not divert world attention from other problems: drug and weapons trafficking, economic inequality, and violence in all its forms. If these issues are not addressed, they will further polarize and aggravate existing conflicts. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan himself warned the General Assembly that "no objective, however legitimate, can occupy all of the energies of a forum whose tasks include combating the misery and disease that afflict half the world's population."