“The multilateralism needed by humankind during and after the pandemic must show solidarity, efficiency, audacity, creativity and courage. We must overcome the UN formalities, speeches and language,” urged Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreza on Friday in his speech at the High-Level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The Venezuelan foreign minister invited to follow Commander Hugo Cháve’z’s call to go down to the catacombs of the people, “feel their needs, suffer their pains, experience their hardships, and build paths towards their happiness and liberation.”
Arreaza pointed out that the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness and critical thoughts about the fall of the capitalist system by exposing its vulnerabilities, and said that after 75 years, the multilateral system faces a huge challenge.
“Within the United Nations, a new international order can emerge based on its moral principles and purposes, cooperation and peace-keeping to be able to be at the forefront of an age of evolution for humankind,” said the Venezuelan minister.
However, he warned that if the UN allowed arrogant unilateralism and the conditions of some corporate states to be imposed through conflicts and wars, this international organization would have the same destiny of the League of Nations and would disappear.
Arreaza explained that the guarantee for a new fair, egalitarian international order necessarily involves putting an end to the corporate ambitions of powerful countries, “preserving the respect for international law and the self-determination of the peoples, and defending human rights, the rights of the Earth and the right to happiness.”
The Venezuelan diplomat insisted that the UN can play a central role under these circumstances, and explained that the new multilateralism must put an end to conventional and economic wars and guarantee all countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, with a differentiated, egalitarian distribution of resources.
Extremely difficult conditions
At the High-Level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Minister of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza explained Venezuela has faced the pandemic under extremely difficult conditions, under constant media, political and economic attacks and threats of military interventions.
“The unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States have tried to bring Venezuelans to their knees. However, ours is a people of peace and dignity, and no empire will break our will,” he stressed.
Arreaza also highlighted that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has made huge efforts with its own capacities and the solidarity and cooperation of the UN and brotherly countries.
In this regard, the Venezuela diplomat highlighted the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the pandemic and praised it as a model of the multilateralism nations need.