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Veto des Südens

Lateinamerikas Präsidenten machen UN-Vollversammlung zum Tribunal gegen US-Aggressionen

Von Volker Hermsdorf *

Staats- und Regierungschefs aus Lateinamerika haben in den letzten Tagen die UN-Vollversammlung in New York als Tribüne zur Vorstellung politischer Alternativen genutzt. So forderten die Präsidenten von Argentinien, Bolivien, Brasilien, Uruguay und anderen Staaten in der Generaldebatte eine Reform der Weltorganisation und prangerten die globalen Spionageaktivitäten der USA an.

»Früher haben die Botschaft der USA und internationale Konzerne unser Land regiert, jetzt lebt unser Volk in Würde und Souveränität, und es geht uns in jeder Beziehung besser«, sagte der bolivianische Präsident Evo Morales, der entgegen seiner in der vergangenen Woche geäußerten Boykottüberlegungen (jW berichtete) am Mittwoch abend (Ortszeit) an der Generaldebatte teilnahm. Er warf den USA vor, als »Herren der Welt« aufzutreten und nicht nur Bürger und Regierungen, sondern auch die Repräsentanten der Vereinten Nationen zu bespitzeln. »Wie kann die UNO weiterhin ihren Sitz in einem Land haben, das sie ausspioniert, die Souveränität ihrer Mitglieder nicht respektiert und seit Jahren – wie im Fall der Blockade gegen Kuba – ihre Beschlüsse mißachtet«, fragte Morales in den Saal.

Venezuelas Präsident Nicolás Maduro hat eine Reise nach New York kurzfristig aus »Sicherheitsgründen« abgesagt. In einer über alle Rundfunk- und Fernsehsender des südamerikanischen Landes ausgestrahlten Ansprache erklärte er, es seien zwei geplante »Provokationen« bekanntgeworden, »eine schlimmer als die andere«, die auch sein Leben hätten in Gefahr bringen können. Er habe sich deshalb entschieden, von seinem Staatsbesuch in China nach Caracas zurückzukehren. An seiner Stelle wird Außenminister Elías Jaua in New York auftreten.

Zum Auftakt der alljährlich stattfindenden Generalversammlung hatte Brasiliens Präsidentin Dilma Rousseff am Dienstag vor den Delegierten aus 193 Mitgliedsstaaten in scharfer Form die Spionagepraxis der US-Geheimdienste gegeißelt. Die Gemeinschaft der Völker dürfe eine derartige »Verletzung des Völkerrechts und die Mißachtung der Souveränität unabhängiger Staaten« nicht hinnehmen, sagte Rousseff und forderte von den USA eine Entschuldigung sowie eine Vereinbarung zum Verbot derartiger Spionageaktionen.

Cristina Fernández, die Präsidentin Argentiniens, kritisierte die Doppelzüngigkeit von Regierungen, die in der UN-Debatte vom Frieden redeten und in der Realität Kriege führten. Sie bezog sich damit sowohl auf die Rede des US-Präsidenten Barack Obama als auch auf die Haltung der britischen Regierung, der sie eine militärische Aufrüstung im Südatlantik durch die Entsendung von Atom-U-Booten zur Verteidigung ihrer Herrschaft über die von Argentinien beanspruchten Islas Malvinas vorwarf. Entsetzt über den Auftritt Obamas äußerte sich am Rande der Versammlung auch der ecuadorianische Außenminister Ricardo Patiño. »Von einem Träger des Friedensnobelpreises haben wir nichts außer einem halbstündigen Bericht über internationale Polizeieinsätze gehört«, sagte der Politiker.

Einmütig verurteilten die Vertreter Lateinamerikas und der Karibik neben der Spionagetätigkeit der US-Dienste auch die von den USA wiederholt veranlaßten Überflugverbote für die Präsidentenmaschinen Boliviens und Venezuelas sowie die Verweigerung von Visa für Teilnehmer der UN-Sitzung durch die nordamerikanischen Behörden. Sein Land sitze nicht in den Vereinten Nationen, »um dort Kaffee zu servieren«, sagte Uruguays Präsident José Mujica. Mehrere Staatschefs forderten »angesichts der wiederholten Mißachtung internationaler Rechtsnormen durch die USA«, den Sitz der Weltorganisation in ein Land zu verlegen, das die Souveränität aller Mitgliedsstaaten respektiere.

Breite Unterstützung auch bei Delegierten anderer Kontinente fand zudem die Forderung nach einer grundlegenden Reform der UNO und ihres Sicherheitsrates. Das Gremium, in dem fünf Staaten permanente Mitglieder mit Vetorecht und zehn Staaten zeitweise Mitglieder sind, entspreche »einer Logik aus der Zeit des Kalten Krieges« und sei heute weder zeitgemäß noch effizient, sagte Fernández. Rousseff bescheinigte dem Sicherheitsrat Legitimationsdefizite, und sogar der rechtskonservative chilenische Präsident Sebastian Piñera, sonst ein treuer Gefolgsmann der USA, sprach sich für eine Demokratisierung der Vereinten Nationen und ihrer Gremien aus. Statt der Rechtfertigung militärischer Aktionen müsse die Hauptaufgabe der UNO die Garantie von Frieden, sozialer Gerechtigkeit und Souveränität ihrer Mitgliedsländer sein, forderte Evo Morales.

* Aus: junge Welt, Freitag, 27. September 2013


Reden, auf die im Artikel Bezug genommen wird:

Statement Summary:

SEBASTIAN PIÑERA ECHEÑIQUE, President of Chile, stressing that the world of today was very different from the one in which the United Nations had emerged, called for a parallel evolution of international institutions. “A good starting point is progress towards real and far-reaching reform of the Security Council.” Emphasizing the need for enlarging the permanent and non-permanent membership of the Council to ensure proper regional representation, he urged countries with the right of veto to refrain from exercising that right in situations of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide or ethnic cleansing.

Ultimately, he said, the rationale of the veto needed to be abandoned, calling it a relic of a world that no longer existed. Special quorums would be a more suitable replacement, so that the most important decisions concerning international security could be adopted by large and forceful majorities, making them more representative of the community of nations. Reiterating Chile’s opposition to the proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, he also called for the dismantling of those already in existence.

Condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria, he welcomed the recent framework agreement concluded by the United States and the Russian Federation to destroy Syria’s stockpile and lauded the international community’s efforts to solve the armed conflict there. Chile also hoped to welcome the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations. Turning to his region, he noted that Chile, together with Mexico, Colombia and Peru, had embarked on a far-reaching integration initiative in the form of the Pacific Alliance and had abolished tariffs on imports from least developed countries.

Drawing upon his country’s experience, the President enumerated four lessons universally applicable to the emerging world. First, were the moral and legal rules — against torture, terrorism, politically motivated assassination, forced disappearances and violence against civilian populations — which must be respected by all. The second was never to take for granted the values of democracy, peace and civil amity. “They are somewhat like a tree that needs to be watered every day in order not to wither and dry up.”

The third lesson, he continued, was the close relationship between the quality of democracy, economic progress and social justice, and the need to build mutually reinforcing policies in those areas. The fourth was to avoid being prisoners to history while discussing, interpreting and remembering — “because, when the present is anchored in the past, the only thing we lose is the future”.

24. September 2013

Die ganze Rede (spanisch)


Statement Summary:

CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ, President of Argentina, expressed solidarity with the victims of terrorist attacks in Kenya, Pakistan and elsewhere around the world, saying her own country had also been a victim of such attacks, in reference to the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy and that of 1994 on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) building, both in Buenos Aires. Some family members and relatives of the victims in those two incidents had accompanied her to the general debate, she said, calling for solidarity and condemnation of all terrorist actions.

Turning to Syria, she said the way in which the Security Council operated had proven to be obsolete, as exemplified by its handling of the crisis in Syria. When it came to conflict management, veto power in the hands of interested stakeholders became an obstacle to solving the problem. The international community had responded strongly to the chemical attack on 21 August, but the crisis had been going on for two-and-a-half years, with most of the casualties having been caused by conventional weapons, she pointed out. Questioning the delay in handling the Syrian crisis, she called for the much-needed reform of the Security Council. Meanwhile, she welcomed the recent agreement on Syria, stressing that Argentina opposed direct intervention in or the bombing of Syria.

On its dispute with the United Kingdom over the Malvinas ( Falkland Islands), she said the Special Committee on Decolonization had approved numerous resolutions calling for the two countries to solve the issue through dialogue. Regrettably, the United Kingdom had been disregarding those calls.

Expressing hope that the new Government of Iran would bring about change, she said that due to the suspected involvement of Iranian citizens in the AMIA bombing case, Argentina had repeatedly called on Iran to cooperate with the investigation. A year ago, the Iranian Government had agreed to engage in talks to seek a solution. While the Argentineans were neither naïve nor foolish, they believed in the goodwill of others and in their wish for peace, she said, stressing that Iran deserved a chance to show the world that it would be different.

She went on to talk about her country’s disputes with certain hedge funds holding its defaulted bonds, referring to them as “vulture funds”. In 2001, Argentina had been forced to default on its debt. However, it had then managed to strike a deal with more 90 per cent of its creditors to restructure its debt at a discounted rate. The country had been consistent and timely in repaying its debt and lowering its debt-to-GDP ratio, but the “vulture funds”, which had bought most of the debt at a great discount after the default, wanted to collect much more than they had paid, she said, adding that Argentina would continue to pay its debt in the same way that it had been doing.

24. September 2013

[Das ganze Statement ist (noch) nicht verfügbar]


Statement Summary:

Evo Morales Ayma, President of Bolivia, highlighted his country’s progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, noting that in the eight years of his presidency, he had seen economic growth increase by 4.8 per cent. Bolivia had successfully reduced extreme poverty and, as a result, 1 million Bolivians had entered the middle class. It had also reduced the undernourishment of children under the age of five, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had declared the country illiteracy-free. There had also been a decrease in mother and child mortality, he said. A programme called “My Water” had been launched to provide access to potable water for provinces without it.

He said all that progress was due to the fact that Bolivia was no longer subjected to the “North American empire”, or to blackmail aimed at forcing it to give up its resources to international private companies. “When we feed ourselves politically and economically, we do better,” he added. Gas and oil were now the property of Bolivians, whereas in the past, it had been claimed that Bolivians owned only underground resources. The same resources above ground had belonged to so-called “bearers of the titles”, which amounted to robbery. Since nationalizing its natural resources, Bolivia’s economic situation had started to improve.

Turning to his country’s ongoing dispute with Chile, he said it had been submitted to the International Court of Justice. Bolivia had filed the proceedings in relation to Chile’s obligation to negotiate an agreement granting fully sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean. The country had provided many examples of Chile’s contradictory stance on that question as well as its failure to respect its international commitments.

On another topic, he said much had been heard about democracy, respect and social justice during the debate. “What justice are they talking about?” What democracy were they talking about when countries like the United States could spy even on their democratic allies? There was much arrogance towards the rest of humanity on the part of the United States, he said. What peace could be discussed when there were so many unemployed in that country and yet billions of dollars went to military expenditure every year?

The United States acted as if they were masters of the world, but they had not signed even basic multilateral instruments, he continued. Terrorism was not to be fought with more military spending but with more democracy, more social justice and more education. “Who benefits from the wars?” he asked. “Whose hands do natural resources of a country end up in, its citizens or international companies?” While Bolivia certainly disagreed with the use of chemical weapons, which country had the biggest nuclear arsenal? he asked.

25 September 2013 Die ganze Rede (englisch) [sobald sie schriftlich vorliegt]


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