PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIA'S ADDRESS TO THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

[unitex]

PRESIDENT OF COLUMBIA'S ADDRESS TO THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Posting Date: 10/20/89 Copyright UNITEX Communications, 1989
UNITEX Network, USA ISSN: 1043-7932

REMARKS BY VIRGILIO BARCO,
PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA
TO THE 44TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE UNITED NATIONS

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1989

PRESIDENT BARCO (Remarks appear as translated): This will be
the last time I address the General Assembly of the United
Nations as President of Colombia. However, I am here today not
only as president of my country, but also as a citizen of the
world.

The terrible carnage of World War II gave birth to this body in
the hope that nations, standing together, united, could prevent
the global madness of 50 years ago from ever happening again.
Since then, in spite of the persistent efforts of the United
Nations the world over, mankind has continued to follow the
destructive path of war.

Only the unimaginable and devastating consequences of nuclear
war have restrained us from falling once again into a worldwide
conflagration. Yet in spite of this uneasy armed peace, thus
generated, the world has remained at war. Conflicts generated
by ideology, poverty, injustice, excessive ambitions and now,
increasingly, by narcotics have scarred the peace.

Respect for national sovereignty underlies all our strategic
thinking; indeed, it is the basis for these United Nations. Yet
now we find this newest threat -- narcotics, and accompanying
terrorism that pays no respect to borders. We, the community of
nations gathered here together, find ourselves under assault
from an international criminal enterprise that respects none of
our norms of sovereignty, borders, or laws.

To meet this new challenge, we must avail ourselves of those
core founding values of the United Nations. If we cannot act
together in the face of this menace, then we will be abetting
the unrestrained growth in the use of drugs and in the violence
they generate. I am certain that Colombia will defeat the drug
traffickers. But if this effort is not accompanied by a global
commitment, then no victory can be achieved.

The recent global outpouring of solidarity and support for
Colombia has been a great encourgement to us in these difficult
times. A new era is upon us, an era as critical as the one that
led to the establishment of the United Nations. A new world war
is being waged by an aggressor unrestrained by the traditional
rules of engagement, or by the responsibilities of national
sovereignty. This aggressor is an insidious global criminal
network with enormous power and resources -- a criminal
enterprise which feeds on the illegal profits from the
trafficking of drugs.

As the Secretary-General of the United Nations said in his
report to you this year, "Innocent use and traffic of drugs is
now recognized as a social plague afflicting both developed and
developing countries. Although efforts to combat this scourge
have intensified in recent years, estimates suggest that the
monetary value of drug-trafficking has recently surpassed that
of international trade in oil and is second only to the arms
trade. It is a chastening observation that humanity is so
deeply mired in the commerce of degradation and death." End
quote.

The members of these criminal cartels were born in many
nations. And many of their leaders are called Colombian, but
while some may have been in my country, let me be clear: They
are Colombian in name alone. They are international fugitives
on the run. They have no home. Colombia is not their
homeland. (Applause.)

* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)


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