Mexico

Mr. President, please accept, on behalf of Mexico, our fraternal congratulations on your election to this position. Latin America and the Caribbean feel fully represented under your presidency, a demonstration of our region's commitment to the purposes of this cherished Organization.

Mr. President, Heads of State and Government, fellow ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:

Today, the United Nations faces an enormous challenge in fulfilling the essence of its mandate: to save humanity from the scourge of war, to promote and protect all human rights, to ensure the force of international law, and to promote the well-being of people with environmental sustainability.

I am moved to return to this headquarters of the United Nations Organization, which I served with pride for decades, on this occasion representing the Government of my country, Mexico, which today is undergoing a process of profound and progressive transformations. It is an honor to carry its voice and representation to the world. Please receive the warm greetings of our President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Our peoples face serious threats to international peace and security: 50 active armed conflicts and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the worsening of a multiplicity of crises ranging from humanitarian to climate-related, the forced migration of millions of people, the highest increase in inequality, and poverty with 165 million new poor people in three years, the challenge of health and the risk of new pandemics, in a context of growing questioning about the relevance of multilateralism and its institutions.

There is no doubt that our international action loses legitimacy when our resolutions do not translate into concrete benefits for people, the planet, prosperity, and peace.

We cannot forget the heartbreaking impact and bewilderment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of fraternal solidarity among peoples.

The 2030 Agenda requires urgent action to "rescue" it, in the very words of the Secretary-General, António Guterres. The pandemic undoubtedly hindered progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the trajectory before the pandemic was not encouraging, and the current context of macroeconomic uncertainty demands ambitious and immediate measures.

The stagnation in meeting the SDGs is not an abstract metric. We are talking about hundreds of millions of people living in poverty, about food insecurity for girls and boys, and an environment in crisis.

The future of people and the planet does not depend on chance, but on the decisions and political actions we take, guided by the 2030 Agenda. Inequality is the great challenge. It is not enough to reduce poverty; a paradigm shift in development is required, one that redistributes power and wealth, and that closes the unacceptable gaps and asymmetries between rich and poor and between countries.

Equality is not only about the holding of rights; inequality is inefficient, and therefore, it is necessary to equalize in order to grow and to grow in order to equalize.

We are no longer in an era of changes, but in a true change of era. This requires rethinking development and placing equality at its center.

Both nationally and internationally, achieving the SDGs depends on a vision of social justice and solidarity, with the consequent mobilization of the necessary financial resources, including through international financial institutions that prioritize inclusive and sustainable development. In this regard, we welcome the declaration adopted unanimously.

Faced with this complex international context, Mexico continues to find strength and inspiration for its international action in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations; in the institutional framework that we have built here over the course of nearly 80 years to channel international cooperation. Mexico has led and will continue to propose and support every initiative that seeks to improve the lives of present and future generations, advocating for lasting peace and security; equitable, resilient, and inclusive sustainable development; and full and unrestricted respect for all human rights and the inherent dignity of all people.

The aspiration for transformation and the work of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador have been directed precisely toward a transformation of the development model in order to build more and better public goods; to guarantee rights with fiscal responsibility based on a basic premise: "for the good of all, the poor come first."

This government has demonstrated the urgency of restoring the role of the State, essential for regulating relations between the market, the State, and society, and for implementing transformative structural policies.

All of this, with the central objective of restoring to our people the hope of a more just, equal, and inclusive country, so that no one is left behind and no one is left out. The results are tangible: 5.1 million people have left poverty behind. We have experienced the largest increase in the minimum wage in our history, and a dense network of social programs has extended social rights to ever larger segments of our population. We aspire to a vision of equality that prevails among nations, closing gaps and asymmetries between countries. We are committed to eliminating the culture of privilege—privileges that deny rights.

Mexico reiterates the importance of environmental sustainability as a fundamental part of development strategies, not as an externality, and the relevance of transitioning toward a green and blue industrial policy that generates employment; that is based on innovation; that reduces the environmental footprint; and that underpins sustained growth, along with more inclusive metrics that incorporate the environment's contribution and the complexity of ecosystems and their services to the economy and well-being.

I had the honor of signing the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), and we hope for its prompt entry into force.

Climate change is the greatest market failure of all time, as Nicholas Stern clearly stated, and today it is one of the greatest global risks. Estimates of the costs derived from its effects show that it will not only affect economic growth, but also the most vulnerable sectors. We reaffirm our commitment to the Paris Agreement, and we emphasize the importance of financing to address climate change and of prioritizing adaptation, particularly in favor of the most vulnerable nations.

In addition to this General Assembly, Mexico participated with a sense of urgency and a constructive spirit in the SDG Summit; the Dialogue on Financing for Development; the Climate Ambition Summit; and the preparatory meeting for the Summit of the Future. We advocate for a profound reform of the international financial architecture that addresses the deep asymmetries between countries; that prioritizes highly indebted countries with new instruments, with a redistribution of special drawing rights to expand fiscal space for developing countries, or debt relief in exchange for environmental services. We join Barbados's proposed Bridgetown Initiative 2.0.

Latin America and the Caribbean learned a hard lesson during the pandemic from the lack of global solidarity and the pressing urgency to promote, through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), initiatives such as the Health Self-Sufficiency Plan, the Regional Medicines Agency, and the Climate Adaptation Fund. Mexican diplomacy prioritizes the search for agreements on all issues on the multilateral agenda. We are interested in bringing positions closer together, excluding no one, in order to build consensus.

But we are living in unprecedented times that require the addition of more will in order to give voice to all the peoples of the Global South, to which Mexico belongs by history and by conviction.

Therefore, Mexico is considering participating in the debates and endeavors of the Group of 77 plus China, on those issues and in those forums where we can contribute to strengthening the negotiating position of the Global South. We will soon submit a proposal to the Group of 77 plus China for its consideration.

A world of peace

Mexico has historically built channels of dialogue and understanding in favor of peace and, especially, in the peaceful settlement of disputes. This is a vocation nourished by our history as an independent nation, and by our deepest convictions in the resolute defense of humanity's best causes. We have assumed our responsibility for peace in our region by participating as a guarantor country in the Peace Dialogue Table between the Government of the Republic of Colombia and the National Liberation Army.

Likewise, Mexico has been participating in the search for solutions for political dialogue in Venezuela, always adhering to our constitutional principles of respect for the self-determination of peoples, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and non-intervention. Mexico is hosting the negotiations between the Venezuelan Government and the Unitary Platform of Venezuela, facilitated by Norway.

Likewise, we support the implementation of the agreements signed in November 2022 in Mexico City, and we keep the door open to resuming the process in order to reach a solution for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

Regarding the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, our position is unequivocal: we condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, and for the untold suffering of millions of people, especially children.

We recognize that every sovereign State has the right to have adequate means to recover its territorial integrity, but it is equally true that the arms race takes us even further away from a peaceful solution. We must stop talking about war and start talking about peace.

Mexico will continue its struggle in favor of disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, as demonstrated by the Treaty of Tlatelolco and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, essential to preventing and eradicating their catastrophic humanitarian consequences, which the General Assembly has declared intrinsically immoral and whose threat is in itself contrary to international law. We observe with great concern the excessive increase in the illicit trafficking of firearms. Simply put, 200,000 firearms are trafficked into our country every year, falling into the hands of organized crime and producing countless fatal victims. Mexico assumes its international commitments in good faith to combat drug trafficking. But every effort will be limited if the countries that manufacture and are the source of trafficked weapons do not assume their responsibility in the face of this scourge and take more forceful measures to reduce the wide availability of firearms in their territory. Manufacturing and distributing companies must also assume their responsibility and adopt diligent measures to prevent these weapons from being diverted to the illicit market.

In our region we are devastated by the situation in Haiti, a country drowning in gang violence that thrives largely due to the illicit trafficking of weapons, despite the sanctions regime established by the Security Council in the resolution facilitated by Mexico, and we hope that once the respective resolution is adopted, the international community will act decisively to help that country regain stability.

We once again take advantage of this platform to reaffirm Mexico's commitment to the two-State solution, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and with secure borders.

Let us likewise put an end to aberrant situations such as the ongoing economic embargo suffered by Cuba, which is completely unjustified, contrary to international law, and foreign to the values and peaceful coexistence that prevail among the countries of Latin America. We likewise demand that Cuba cease to be considered a country that sponsors or encourages terrorism.

Sixty-four years ago this General Assembly was presided over by one of the best Mexican diplomats, Luis Padilla Nervo, who said, and I quote: "Victory will not be decided on the battlefields, but in the consciences of men (and women). Because of the nature of this struggle, the best weapons of democracies are moral principles, scrupulous respect for treaties, and the principle that countries' difficulties and disputes should not be resolved by arms, but through negotiation."

Mexico aspires to be an actor that promotes peace through law. We will do everything within our power to support any genuine effort at dialogue between the parties, and any initiative that leads to a peaceful and definitive solution to the conflict. "Mexico's foreign policy is based on the renunciation of war as an instrument of international policy," as our celebrated diplomat Genaro Estrada once said.

And in the entrance hall of this General Assembly, there is an obsidian slab: the sacred stone that the Aztecs called Itztli, convinced that its origin was the imprint of lightning striking the rocks of volcanoes, the synthesis of the celestial and the terrestrial. This piece includes an engraved plaque that defines the cornerstone of our diplomacy.

It was pronounced 156 years ago by the first Indigenous president of Latin America, Benito Juárez: "Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace."

A world that guarantees the dignity of all people

With this humanist vision, Mexico faces the challenge of human mobility, where geography has inescapably placed us. Mexico has a clear compass: migration must be an option, not an obligation. When a person migrates, they should do so safely, in an orderly manner, and through regular channels. The migratory phenomenon, unprecedented in recent years, concerns the international community as a whole.

Mexico insists on the urgency of investing in addressing the structural causes of migration. We reaffirm the importance of strengthening the Comprehensive Development of countries of origin, bringing together the will and resources of the countries involved, as well as external partners and the United Nations system.

The support and contribution of all countries is required, especially those that benefit most from the work and contributions of migrants. (In the United States, migrants contribute nearly 500 billion dollars in taxes).

It is also essential that we evolve toward migration management models that offer opportunities for labor and financial inclusion, facilitating integration into host societies. Models that protect the human rights of migrants throughout the entire migration cycle and that allow them, should they so wish, to return to their countries of origin.

As the Secretary-General rightly pointed out, 75 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is time to put an end to the persecution and demonization of migrants.

We do not accept that the progressive nature of international standards on gender equality—so hard-won and which found their fullest expression in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action—be called into question. We advocate for advances in gender equality and for avoiding setbacks, with forceful and innovative actions.

Mexico was the first country in the Global South to proclaim a Feminist Foreign Policy, because we are committed to transforming the structures that hinder the advancement of women and the full enjoyment of their human rights. This implies promoting women's substantive participation in decision-making, as well as mainstreaming the gender perspective, placing it at the center of all spaces, forums, bodies, and international agreements, in order to effectively address the challenges faced by women in all their diversity, particularly the most vulnerable, because every time we break the glass ceiling, we achieve a step forward for civilization.

A more integrated world

The theme of this 78th General Assembly is pertinent and precise: rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity. This must be the central focus of our efforts.

The majestic space in which we are gathered should not make us forget the crisis of confidence facing international institutions, including this United Nations. Our deliberations must translate into concrete results for people, the planet, prosperity, and peace, and our decisions must include the citizens we represent as active agents.

We must remain vigilant. Multilateralism must not lose its way amid polarization and geopolitical rivalries. Diplomatic craft must prevail over short-term political imperatives and reactions on social media. If the United Nations does not fulfill its mandate for peace and development, we will fuel dissatisfaction and confusion, and the international institutions we have built will suffer.

We are committed to a multilateralism that is close to the people, timely and effective, committed to the provision of global public goods; we are committed to the collective, to what belongs to all.

Multilateralism is a tool for collective development, and the work of the United Nations must create just peace, expand freedoms, build equality, deepen democracy, strengthen solidarity among different social strata and groups, and safeguard citizen security. In short, it must create hope.

Political commitment is key to moving toward a new multilateralism that allows for the restructuring of international economic and social power relations, one in which development issues gain ground over the exclusive and excessive emphasis on market liberalization.

We hope that this same vision of equality will prevail among nations in order to achieve a more just world, one in which asymmetries are reduced. We are committed to multilateralism as the means to this end.

We propose a multilateralism closer to the needs of people; a multilateralism consistent with the principles and purposes of the United Nations; a forceful, timely, and effective multilateralism that delivers results for people's well-being; and a multilateralism committed to the best causes of humanity.

Friends, the challenges we face are enormous. What is at stake is nothing less than uncertainty about our very survival. There is no time for gradual modesty, which is sometimes merely an alibi for maintaining the status quo. The current model of global development is unsustainable. The promise of inevitable and unlimited progress has run up against the immovable wall of nature. 2030 is just around the corner, and the essential minimums we agreed upon in 2015 as a common task appear headed for failure.

We must be infected with rebellion and a sense of urgency. It is this generation and its leaders who bear the inescapable responsibility of averting the disaster that science has described. And it will not be through small steps that we achieve this. It will not be through the meager timidity that discreetly tries not to disturb the power structure that has brought us to this point. It will be through bold and courageous leaps. It will be with the courage to say and to build an equal and just world, where rights are not commodities nor is nature the inevitable victim of our patterns of production and consumption.

The obscene concentration of wealth and its corrosive influence on the distribution of power are not compatible with the human project.

Seventy-eight years ago we gave shape to this institution, terrified as we stood at the precipice, when we contemplated the possibility of all of us succumbing to the fire of war.

Today the precipice draws near again, just as intimidating and real, and perhaps even fiercer. Our efforts must rise to the occasion.

Friends:

In the mid-twentieth century, this organization was just taking its first steps, and the devastating traces of the last world war remained fresh. A then-young Mexican diplomat was drafting the paragraphs of the fundamental essay on the traits of identity of my homeland. Those pages would be titled "The Labyrinth of Solitude," and their author would later win the Nobel Prize in recognition of his universal work; his name was Octavio Paz.

I conclude this address by quoting his words from that time:

"Everything has happened as it should not have happened, we say to console ourselves. But it is we who are mistaken, not history. We must learn to look reality in the face. To invent, if necessary, new words and new ideas for these new and strange realities that have crossed our path (…) We live, like the rest of the planet, a decisive and mortal juncture, orphaned of the past and with a future yet to be invented. Universal History is now a common task. And our labyrinth is that of all men (and women)."

And for that task—to guarantee new generations a possible world and a possible life, to emerge together from the Labyrinth—count today and always on the fraternal and committed will of Mexico.

Thank you very much.