New York, September 28, 2019
Distinguished heads of state, heads of government and delegates.
It is an honor for me to address you today. It is a high honor, because I am addressing a very esteemed forum, the most important forum, and because I represent a new and recently elected government in Mexico. The government headed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador hasn't even been in power for a year. The goal and purpose of this government has been to lead Mexico's fourth transformation.
There have been three very important transformations over the course of Mexico's history: the first was Mexico's independence; the second, the liberal reform led by Benito Juárez and the restoration of the Republic; and the third, the Mexican Revolution. Today, we are in the fourth transformation. "Fourth transformation" means that there hasn't just been a change of government, it means that there is going to be a regime change in Mexico.
And what does the fourth transformation propose? President López Obrador has been asked to summarize what he is proposing, and he has said: what we propose in the first place is to end corruption in Mexico, to separate economic power from political power, to create respect for republican norms and austerity, and to have a different sort of relationship with society than that of past years.
Secondly, we want to considerably reduce the inequality in our country because, as you know, there are still more than 52 million people living in poverty. Even though we are one of the largest economies in the world, with a large and successful export platform, reducing inequality is our second most important cause.
The third one, of course, is to accelerate our economic growth based on having confidence in ourselves, our productivity, innovation, and organizational capacity, and on having a presence throughout the world, and that is what Mexico is doing today.
And the fourth goal is a result of these three: for Mexico to be a safe society and for us to have peace and safety for Mexican families.
In short, Mexico has regained confidence in itself, and today I want you to know that one of the first things we want to do is to strengthen, expand and deepen our ties to the multilateral system and to effective multilateralism.
We know that we are going through a difficult time, that there are many challenges and risks for global coexistence, for peace and for the security of nations, and that it is time for this renewed, resolved, self-assured Mexico to participate fully, deeply and intensely in strengthening our multilateral order and its causes.
That is why Mexico recently presented its candidacy to the Security Council for 2021. That is also why, over the past months, Mexico has sought the support of the United Nations for many of its most important issues and priorities, and we will continue to do so, supporting and fully participating in the causes defended by all of us who are represented here.
First and foremost, our foreign policy and our participation in the United Nations will be guided by the principles of Mexico's foreign policy: non-intervention, the self-determination of peoples and the peaceful settlement of controversies. Therefore, in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico opposes measures such as the Cuban blockade and the imposition of sanctions on countries. We believe that peoples, nations and countries should resolve their differences through dialogue and communication.
Peace is based on politics as a method and not on the use of force. We are committed to defending and expanding the values of freedom and human rights.
Mexico will also fully participate in the call made by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to accelerate the pace of climate action and to redouble our efforts. Mexico has already presented additional actions. We believe that this is about the survival of humanity, and that we cannot put off or make excuses about this commitment.
Mexico will also participate very actively in the issue of migration and in promoting solutions in this area by addressing the inequalities we are facing in several regions of the world.
So far this year, in Central America and Mexico, migration has exceeded the levels of previous years. We are talking about more than a million people: 1,300,000 people migrating, which is why we are in one of the regions with the largest migration flows in the world.
Mexico asked the United Nations—and here I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his support in asking ECLAC, which is the commission for the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean—to prepare a Comprehensive Development
Plan for southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The plan was presented yesterday with the participation and support of 18 UN institutions and 35 countries, so far.
I mentioned “effective multilateralism” earlier because we fully support multilateralism and because we think it is the most effective way we have to solve the big problems facing the world today.
In the case of migration, coercive measures will not succeed. We believe that migration should be an option. It should not be driven by insecurity or mainly by poverty. Therefore we have great hopes for the Comprehensive Development Plan. So far, Mexico has increased its cooperation more than fivefold this year in order to carry out the plan. We want to show that with determination and commitment, and with the participation of various countries, we can create in the region I just mentioned over 60,000 jobs in one year, which would make it possible for people to have options where they live and would not be forced to migrate.
I would also like to say that we are very grateful and will continue to work with the United Nations to ensure transparency in all of the important decisions that the Mexican government is making and will make over the coming months and years to accelerate its development.
We have invited UNOPS and other United Nations agencies to join us in this hard fight to end corruption. We are moving forward together and we will continue to do so.
Just a few days ago, I said that the Government of Mexico considers itself to be a feminist government and we will demonstrate this through our commitments and our actions over the coming years. We believe that gender equality is the basis, the foundation of a society that is characterized by equality. Social reality cannot be changed without making an unwavering and broad commitment to promoting gender equality.
That is why I can tell you now that the Government of Mexico will support all the efforts of Beijing+25 and the the United Nations initiatives that are in progress.
We also believe that no one should be persecuted for their sexual preference. We are and will continue to be a government that is active in and determined to protect people's freedoms and rights, including their sexual preferences.
Persecution divides us, and exclusion destroys hope. Therefore we must be committed to defending people's freedoms and rights.
We believe that we must redouble our efforts to effectively protect the cultural heritage of each of our nations, and Mexico will make this known at the UNESCO Conference.
Mexico has stated in many forums that the international community should not permit the historical and cultural heritage of nations to be looted. Therefore, we will be playing an assertive role to achieve this goal and of course we will make common cause with other peoples and nations represented here that have voiced the same concern.
We are concerned about and are addressing the issue of the fight against terrorism. Recently, just last August, we shared in the suffering caused by the El Paso, Texas tragedy because there were Mexicans among the victims.
According to the perpetrator himself, this event, this tragedy, was inspired by what happened in Christchurch, New Zealand. Therefore, we have to be aware that white supremacy and the idea of replacing civilizations are clearly linked, as the secretary-general also pointed out, and we must join together to address it. This means not only prevention, not only that we take all possible actions to prevent these events from continuing to take place, but also that we undertake a cultural battle, a civilizational battle, to prevent these ideas that call into question the very foundation of coexistence in our countries and in the world from extending further.
Twenty minutes before this individual carried out the massacre, he posted a document online indicating that his target was the Hispanic community, similar to what happened in Christchurch, New Zealand against the Muslim community.
Therefore, Mexico will be participating in a very purposeful way with other countries here and the United Nations to address this threat to coexistence and to the very existence of the democracies to which all of the members of the United Nations are committed.
I began by saying that we are seeking a more just society in Mexico, a safe society and, Mr. President, we also seek to strengthen multilateralism throughout the world. We have a critical view of what we have today. We must strengthen multilateralism and contain the unilateral tendencies that have been emerging everywhere. That is why we want to participate on the Security Council and are here with you today. That is why we are proposing reforms and will propose reforms over the coming months. We know that the United Nations and multilateralism must be strengthened and are home to the best causes in the world.
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I will conclude by saying: Mexico has regained confidence in itself. Mexico has something to share with you, Mexico shares in causes such as those mentioned by the Secretary-General in his inaugural address to this assembly. We have everything we need to make great strides in this generation to advance the multilateralism created through the United Nations.
I will close with some lines from the poet King Nezahualcóyotl, who said:
What shall I take with me?
Will I leave nothing behind me on earth?
How shall my heart act?
Is it that we come in vain to live, to sprout here on the earth?
Let us at least leave flowers
Let us at least leave songs
Thank you.