Remarks by President Comandante Daniel at the Summit between Heads of State
and Government of SICA and Mr. António Guterres UN Secretary General
November 30th 2020 Thank you, Dear Brother, Secretary General of the United Nations. You have spoken to us, as you have said, from the heart, and when you speak from the heart, you speak with truth, and when you speak truth from the Heart, then, we can identify what the challenges are.
The battle continues to be an unequal battle, David against Goliath, but to the extent that we manage to join forces, to unite in understanding, to unite positions, then the nations and countries most affected, historically, by climate change, historically by the inequalities in the world economic order, and that in the current exceptional circumstances, one that it is not simply a tragedy in a third world country, but a global tragedy, one that is clearly seen by the countries and in the nations that have the power to contribute to the fight against the tragedy of this pandemic, with justice and respect for the human rights of all peoples, in particular the most impoverished peoples; so they do not get excluded, as you rightly point out, in this battle against the pandemic.
Likewise, in the great battle that has to do with the destruction of life on the planet, no longer the one caused by this virus provoing thousands and thousands and millions of victims, of deaths, both in developed and developing countries, rather we are talking about climate change.
And we have to raise the banner of justice and human rights, because we have to shake the conscience of the main powers so that they understand, once and for all, that already in this battle not only do peoples in more fragile more exposed conditions, like the Central American Region, like the Caribbean Islands, disappear, but also, I would say, in the short term, not in the very long term, but in the short term, life in developed countries will also be extinguished.
And this is not our speculation, these are not mere words, we are simply referring to the discussion that took place in Paris, when the Paris Agreement was reached, and where Nicaragua insisted with determination that this Agreement was not enough, however it was clear that the powers unwilling to see their own destruction, and who believe that the ones who will continue to suffer are the most impoverished countries, well, in the end, they imposed the Paris Agreement.
Nicaragua at that time did not sign it, why? Because we refer, as we have been referring, to what the developed country scientists; beyond politics, beyond ideologies, beyond religious dogma, to what science says, what the NASA specialists say.
Planet Earth is already in a situation in which those who have the Power to address it and fight it are looing away, even though it is already a challenge, even if they address it with all their resources, containing Global Warming, stopping Global Warming and avoiding a greater catastrophe is already a challenge.
I believe that here it is very important, as the Secretary General of the United Nations pointed out, that we comine efforts, establish coordination and contacts, we belong to the Association of Caribbean States, and there is also, on the other hand, CARICOM, the Community of Caribbean States, well, we have to combine our efforts. In the Greater Caribbean we are all very close, most of our countries have a Caribbean population, of African descent, and also many links, links of all kinds, historical links, with the Caribbean.
So, why combine forces? In order the better to put forward our approaches to these mechanisms we are considering and committing ourselves to; to strengthen the commitment of the Secretary General and the instruments that he can put at our disposal to fight this battle... while being clear that he has neither the economic power nor the political power to advance this struggle for life, for justice, for human rights in favor of our peoples.
Even, I would say, consider, because the World is already living a situation, just as serious, much more serious than the World Wars. Because, well, America escaped from the First World War, it focused mainly on Europe; the Second World War, likewise, Europe and then the Soviet Union, of course, in that great war, where they were decisive for the Victory, and the Maghreb zone too, in North Africa, were strongly involved. But the bombs did not fall on America; it was Europe that was destroyed.
Now with this pandemic, the virus is like multiple bullets, being fired all over the world, and with casualties all around the world. Neither the most developed and powerful country in the world, nor the most impoverished countries in the world are escaping from the virus at this time... No one escapes the virus! Therefore, this is an issue of security and an issue that should be taken up in the United Nations Security Council, and brought to the United Nations General Assembly, to enforce respect for the human rights of our peoples who are not in a position to confront the pandemic, like the conditions rich coutnries enjoy able to disurse thousands of billions for the benefit of their nations.
And if they are able to do this in their own countries, as the United Nations Secretary General explained so well, then too they can also offer us resources to face the damage to our economies, the damage to production, the damage to economic growth, as the developed countries have done in their countries having large reserves, enormous reserves to face the pandemic, so that we too can receive resources, and not merely what is left over for that purpose after their military expenditures, because military spending has not stopped, the pandemic has not stopped military spending.
This is a question of global security and the first decision to take is to stop the growth of the arms race! Stop the growth of the arms race! That would provide enough funds to allocate to developing countries, in a timely way.
And in the midst of this situation, where the pandemic is combined with natural disasters, resources would thus be coming to make the fund a reality, to strengthen countries that lack the resources to invest, to save their own peoples, and also to save those countries where the idea persists that damage from Climate Change will not reach them, because of the wealth they have, because of the opulence they enjoy.
So, I think we have to aim in that direction, to strengthen our alliance here, Central Americans with the Caribbean, together we have to find a way to join forces in the United Nations, with other countries from other regions that are also victims of Climate Change, some because of hurricanes, others because they are turning into desert, entire territories becoming deserts where millions of human beings used to live. In other words, obtaining resources on that basis, starting from the fact that we must take this Debate to the UN Security Council, bring it to the UN General Assembly, declaring a global emergency so as to defend, with justice, the human rights of all humanity.
Thank you very much, dear Secretary General; thank you very much, dear sister and brother Presidents, representatives of the countries of the Central American Integration System; thank you to the sisters and brothers of the SICA team; equally to all those who have been taking part, as we have too.
The Secretary General knew how to understand, from the pain of our peoples, in the suffering of our Peoples, in the dispossession of our Peoples, all of which has been very well expressed here by the representatives of our peoples, but not simply to lament, but rather to unite us and move the conscience of the developed countries, so they take steps in defense of the life of humanity. Thank you very much, and until we meet again.
and Government of SICA and Mr. António Guterres UN Secretary General
November 30th 2020 Thank you, Dear Brother, Secretary General of the United Nations. You have spoken to us, as you have said, from the heart, and when you speak from the heart, you speak with truth, and when you speak truth from the Heart, then, we can identify what the challenges are.
The battle continues to be an unequal battle, David against Goliath, but to the extent that we manage to join forces, to unite in understanding, to unite positions, then the nations and countries most affected, historically, by climate change, historically by the inequalities in the world economic order, and that in the current exceptional circumstances, one that it is not simply a tragedy in a third world country, but a global tragedy, one that is clearly seen by the countries and in the nations that have the power to contribute to the fight against the tragedy of this pandemic, with justice and respect for the human rights of all peoples, in particular the most impoverished peoples; so they do not get excluded, as you rightly point out, in this battle against the pandemic.
Likewise, in the great battle that has to do with the destruction of life on the planet, no longer the one caused by this virus provoing thousands and thousands and millions of victims, of deaths, both in developed and developing countries, rather we are talking about climate change.
And we have to raise the banner of justice and human rights, because we have to shake the conscience of the main powers so that they understand, once and for all, that already in this battle not only do peoples in more fragile more exposed conditions, like the Central American Region, like the Caribbean Islands, disappear, but also, I would say, in the short term, not in the very long term, but in the short term, life in developed countries will also be extinguished.
And this is not our speculation, these are not mere words, we are simply referring to the discussion that took place in Paris, when the Paris Agreement was reached, and where Nicaragua insisted with determination that this Agreement was not enough, however it was clear that the powers unwilling to see their own destruction, and who believe that the ones who will continue to suffer are the most impoverished countries, well, in the end, they imposed the Paris Agreement.
Nicaragua at that time did not sign it, why? Because we refer, as we have been referring, to what the developed country scientists; beyond politics, beyond ideologies, beyond religious dogma, to what science says, what the NASA specialists say.
Planet Earth is already in a situation in which those who have the Power to address it and fight it are looing away, even though it is already a challenge, even if they address it with all their resources, containing Global Warming, stopping Global Warming and avoiding a greater catastrophe is already a challenge.
I believe that here it is very important, as the Secretary General of the United Nations pointed out, that we comine efforts, establish coordination and contacts, we belong to the Association of Caribbean States, and there is also, on the other hand, CARICOM, the Community of Caribbean States, well, we have to combine our efforts. In the Greater Caribbean we are all very close, most of our countries have a Caribbean population, of African descent, and also many links, links of all kinds, historical links, with the Caribbean.
So, why combine forces? In order the better to put forward our approaches to these mechanisms we are considering and committing ourselves to; to strengthen the commitment of the Secretary General and the instruments that he can put at our disposal to fight this battle... while being clear that he has neither the economic power nor the political power to advance this struggle for life, for justice, for human rights in favor of our peoples.
Even, I would say, consider, because the World is already living a situation, just as serious, much more serious than the World Wars. Because, well, America escaped from the First World War, it focused mainly on Europe; the Second World War, likewise, Europe and then the Soviet Union, of course, in that great war, where they were decisive for the Victory, and the Maghreb zone too, in North Africa, were strongly involved. But the bombs did not fall on America; it was Europe that was destroyed.
Now with this pandemic, the virus is like multiple bullets, being fired all over the world, and with casualties all around the world. Neither the most developed and powerful country in the world, nor the most impoverished countries in the world are escaping from the virus at this time... No one escapes the virus! Therefore, this is an issue of security and an issue that should be taken up in the United Nations Security Council, and brought to the United Nations General Assembly, to enforce respect for the human rights of our peoples who are not in a position to confront the pandemic, like the conditions rich coutnries enjoy able to disurse thousands of billions for the benefit of their nations.
And if they are able to do this in their own countries, as the United Nations Secretary General explained so well, then too they can also offer us resources to face the damage to our economies, the damage to production, the damage to economic growth, as the developed countries have done in their countries having large reserves, enormous reserves to face the pandemic, so that we too can receive resources, and not merely what is left over for that purpose after their military expenditures, because military spending has not stopped, the pandemic has not stopped military spending.
This is a question of global security and the first decision to take is to stop the growth of the arms race! Stop the growth of the arms race! That would provide enough funds to allocate to developing countries, in a timely way.
And in the midst of this situation, where the pandemic is combined with natural disasters, resources would thus be coming to make the fund a reality, to strengthen countries that lack the resources to invest, to save their own peoples, and also to save those countries where the idea persists that damage from Climate Change will not reach them, because of the wealth they have, because of the opulence they enjoy.
So, I think we have to aim in that direction, to strengthen our alliance here, Central Americans with the Caribbean, together we have to find a way to join forces in the United Nations, with other countries from other regions that are also victims of Climate Change, some because of hurricanes, others because they are turning into desert, entire territories becoming deserts where millions of human beings used to live. In other words, obtaining resources on that basis, starting from the fact that we must take this Debate to the UN Security Council, bring it to the UN General Assembly, declaring a global emergency so as to defend, with justice, the human rights of all humanity.
Thank you very much, dear Secretary General; thank you very much, dear sister and brother Presidents, representatives of the countries of the Central American Integration System; thank you to the sisters and brothers of the SICA team; equally to all those who have been taking part, as we have too.
The Secretary General knew how to understand, from the pain of our peoples, in the suffering of our Peoples, in the dispossession of our Peoples, all of which has been very well expressed here by the representatives of our peoples, but not simply to lament, but rather to unite us and move the conscience of the developed countries, so they take steps in defense of the life of humanity. Thank you very much, and until we meet again.