Panama

Madam President, Mr. Secretary General, Distinguished Heads of State and Government, Honorable Delegates,

On behalf of the Panamanian people, with deep respect and renewed hope, I appear before this honorable Assembly on the 80th anniversary of this Organization, which remains a beacon for peace, cooperation and progress.

Panama committed itself, since the San Francisco Charter in 1945, to pacification, security, sustainable development and human rights. Over these eight decades, our country has staked its bet on multilateral diplomacy and public international law as a cardinal axis of its foreign policy.

The UN80 Initiative, presented by Secretary-General António Guterres, offers the opportunity to reflect on the past, to sound an alarm about present threats, in order to glimpse a more just future.

We have the firm conviction that today, more than ever, we must strengthen the value of multilateralism to respond to global challenges and crises, as a tool to mitigate asymmetries between nations.

In that sense, I want to highlight that multilateral policy helped our country manage to get off the discriminatory lists where the European Union and the FATF had placed us. For it is an incoherence to be part of the Security Council while at the same time sharing lists with countries that foster terrorism.

We consider a comprehensive reform timely, to ensure that the Security Council is more effective; the General Assembly, more representative; the specialized agencies, more inclusive; and, above all, to reduce bureaucracy.

Panama, like other countries, calls for greater representation of Latin America and the Caribbean in decision-making bodies. The time has come for the architecture of multilateral governance to be updated.

Our region is the world's leading food exporter, has a strategic canal linking the Atlantic with the Pacific, and we hold more than 50% of the world's biodiversity. We are major suppliers of minerals, we have the largest aquifer reserves, we coexist in peace and we fight for it. All these elements make us a major actor at the global level and we must have representation in accordance with our role and global importance.

Fulfilling its task of containing and avoiding the tragic outcome of a global war, the fundamental mission of its raison d'être, the UN also faces the challenge of driving urgent action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The world today faces three devastating crises: the climate crisis, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity, in a scenario of fragmented cooperation. The response to these crises must be swift and in solidarity.

Given this, Panama presented the Nature Pledge, our Pact with Nature. It is a new way of understanding environmental and climate policy, in a framework that unites our climate, biodiversity and land obligations into a single national commitment.

In practice, Panama commits to reducing its emissions by the year 2035. Even being a carbon-negative country, we believe one can always take a further step in favor of sustainability for future generations.

For this reason, we will restore one hundred thousand hectares of priority ecosystems, including mangroves and watersheds, because nature is our first line of defense against climate change.

Panama trusts in a renewed UN, that strengthens digital security and international cooperation with ethical criteria and with participation; that accompanies just energy transitions and that defends freedom of expression.

In this regard, we reiterate our inalienable respect for freedom and democracy in our region, which continues to suffer instability from those who do not respect the popular will expressed at the ballot box or simply do not allow open and transparent elections.

We want to be part of a UN capable of preventing conflicts before they occur; that can act promptly in humanitarian emergencies; that better coordinates its agencies at the field level; and that more faithfully represents the diversity of people in the world.

Panama has offered to host offices of Organizations of the United Nations System, in support of the reform efforts within the framework of the UN80 Initiative.

I also want to express my solidarity with the Japanese people, on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of North Korea's admission of the abduction of at least 17 Japanese citizens. The world needs to know the truth so that these events are not repeated. Japan deserves justice.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I cannot let this opportunity pass without highlighting that we have completed a quarter of a century since our canal passed into Panamanian hands.

As of December 31, 1999, the Republic of Panama assumed the works and operation of the Canal, with efficiency, security, sustainability and neutrality, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Panama Canal Treaty and the Treaty of Permanent Neutrality, both from 1977.

Since then, we have managed the waterway in an exemplary manner, contributed to the country's economic development, and operated the Canal for the benefit of international navigation. During this period, Panama expanded the interoceanic route, with its own resources, to meet the demand of large vessels.

Now we are going to take a further step; we are accompanying the Panama Canal Authority in the development of the Rio Indio reservoir, an ambitious project to guarantee water for the population and for the Canal, so that ship traffic will not be threatened by the droughts that periodically strike.

Our waterway serves more than 180 maritime routes and more than 140 nations, and approximately 4 percent of world trade transits through it. We are committed to guaranteeing efficiency in favor of international logistics.

Before this Assembly, Panama once again reaffirms its serious and sustained commitment to the regime established in the Treaty concerning permanent neutrality, whose protocol numerous States have adhered to.

Neutrality is the most appropriate formula for protecting the security of our Canal, an asset of global utility.

The neutral Panama Canal, open to the world and a facilitator of more integrated international trade, is and will remain Panamanian.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Panama, as is known, holds a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2025-2026 period. This past August, we held the rotating presidency of the Security Council, understanding it as a responsibility to maintain a strong voice in favor of peace, the sovereign equality of States, justice, international law and respect for agreements between countries.

We have also emphasized the importance of maritime security as a priority for action during our participation in the Council. Panama's national identity is closely linked to maritime transport. Over the centuries, we have known how to consolidate our role as a key actor in international navigation and trade.

Piracy, arms and narcotics trafficking, and illegal fishing impact trade and the global maritime transport system.

As a transit nation and logistics hub of the continent, Panama suggests strengthening cooperation among specialized agencies, including a regional network to promote maritime security, operating under the umbrella of ocean governance, in accordance with international law.

I want to reiterate before this Assembly the work that this Organization must do to mitigate the effects of illegal migration, fostered by organizations linked, directly or indirectly, to drug trafficking.

Through our Darién, for years, millions of people passed, and in a single year of our administration we reduced the flow of migrants northward to zero. That crisis was resolved, thus fulfilling the promise to close the illegal crossings through the Darién.

The humanitarian and environmental consequences were extreme; the suffering of women and children who were victims of abuse, and the contamination of one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, still generate pain for those of us who have had direct contact with this situation.

Today, we have a north-south migration, of much smaller scale, but which renews our commitment to the orderly transit of people, so that they can return to their homes. I must say that the migration drama was resolved, but not the causes that gave rise to the massive emigration of people.

That our country has resolved this scourge does not mean that we should cease demanding concrete responses, as in the case of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which faces uncontrolled migration that also impacts the entire region.

It is essential to find clear solutions, both for the Haitian crisis and for the effective control of the migratory flow.

Currently, we are also suffering from the growth of an illicit activity: drug trafficking. Today, it constitutes a threat to people's lives and an extremely high risk of instability throughout the region, through the different cartels that operate.

To give you a quick idea, this year alone Panama has seized close to 150 tons of cocaine and other drugs, a historic and alarming fact. This obliges us to redouble our efforts, to have more cooperation, and to add resources in a fight that must be a common cause among all nations.

Honorable members,

Next year, the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama convened by the Liberator Simón Bolívar will celebrate its bicentennial.

His proposal is an international system based on the sovereign equality of States, justice, law and international cooperation to achieve goals common to peoples.

We hope that this commemoration will serve as a new starting point for international cooperation that respects and exalts the values of sovereignty, peace and peaceful coexistence that must guide our work in this and other forums of the world.

Honorable members:

Before this forum of world peace and international cooperation, I reiterate the faith of the Panamanian people in the United Nations System. In times of crisis, when the winds of unilateralism, polarization and fragmentation blow, Panama will make its voice heard in defense of multilateralism.

Panama will continue to be an enthusiastic member of the United Nations, a defender of international law and a tireless promoter of world peace.

Because, as the motto that convenes us this year says, "United we are stronger," and only when we are united will we be able to build a more just and humane future for all.

Thank you very much.