Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
SPEECH BY AMBASSADOR LUIS ALVARADO AT THE SECOND MEETING
OF HIGH LEVEL AUTHORITIES OF THE JOINT SUMMIT WORKING GROUP (SIRG)
ON THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE AMERICAS IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
APRIL 29, 2020
Thank you very much Mr. President:
The Government of Nicaragua appreciates the convening of the Second Meeting of High Level Authorities of the Joint Summit Working Group (SIRG), on the Impact of COVID-19 in the Americas, and greets His Excellency Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, the distinguished Doctor Carissa F Etienne, Director of PAHO and Participating High Level Authorities, and we take due note of their presentations.
On behalf of the People and Government of Nicaragua we extend our condolences to all the sisters and brothers who have died, along with our solidarity with the victims, relatives and friends of those who are suffering this scourge.
Faced with the emergence of this crisis generated by corona virus, to which the consequences of the unjust international economic order are to be added, we have no other way but to make a vehement and respectful call for Solidarity and Unity among the Peoples and Nations of the World, as the only way to get out together from this crisis, that overwhelms us and whose effects in the short, medium and long term are still to be seen, in the field of health, economy, education and the way of relating as human beings, which makes it necessary to generate the conditions to sustain and then stimulate the supply and demand for goods and services.
As nations of the world, our desire and objective must be the defense and promotion of international peace and security, a fervent desire expressed by the peoples of the world who joined the United Nations, at the end of World War II, in whose Charter they were determined to preserve succeeding generations from the scourge of war, reaffirm faith in the fundamental rights of men, in the dignity and value of the human person, the equal rights of men and women and of large and small nations.
That was a time in which National States emerged with strength to protect their populations from the consequences of that world war.
Hence lies the importance of retaking this bounteous legacy of 1945, which allows for an end to wars, interventions and destabilizations against sovereign peoples and nations, currently subject to sanctions and blockades, all of which are unfriendly and offensive actions, at odds with the purposes and principles of United Nations, which threaten international peace and security.
The foregoing reflects how far we have strayed from the path of peace, brotherhood, empathy, solidarity. How far we have strayed from the path of God.
This period should serve to promote the convergence of public policies aimed at taking the necessary preventive measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 and jointly face the consequences that derive from it.
This is not the time for contention, nor the imposition of doctrines, but it is the time for cooperation between States, respect for their sovereignty and their right to self-determination.
It is time to abide by the principles established by International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, in the context of a new multipolar international order, with the existence of various world political centers.
This pandemic is a good opportunity to break once and for all with the cycle of mistrust and sharing of guilt among states, in order to focus efforts on finding a vaccine that can curb the expansion of the corona virus. It is a time when sister countries, with greater resources can help alleviate poverty, despair and famine in poor nations of the planet.
As Pope Francis said on April 17 “if something we have been able to learn in all this time, is that no one saves himself. Borders fall, walls collapse and all fundamentalist speeches dissolve before an almost imperceptible presence that manifests the fragility of which we are made.”
Nicaragua will continue to face this Pandemic with its modest resources, with the cooperation of sister Organizations and Countries, having the self-sacrificing and heroic Healthcare Workers at the front line, along with the collaboration and participation of Citizens, the Army and the Police, all in favor of the health, safety and well-being of the Nicaraguan population.
Thank you very much Mr. President.