the assembly will hear an address by his Excell his Excellency Lis laaya po president of the Eastern Republic of uguay I request protocol to escort his Excellency and invite him to address the assembly a very good afternoon everyone I would like to greet everyone here all delegations today is my last speech here as president to this assembly and I would like to take this opportunity to greet everyone here and in particular the delegation of Uruguay who has worked so hard here at the United Nations as my as is my last statement I was looking over
the previous statements I had delivered and in these previous statements there was a Common Thread and this is in line with how I see my vision for our country and how States relate between each other other this is the concept of Freedom with responsibility responsible freedom I would venture to say that the first can't exist without the second the life in society is about the development of the individual and at the same time the common good that is what our constitution said since our country became independent and of course this has evolved over time with
the changes in Social Customs it is impossible to understand Humanity without understanding the concessions that the individuals make for the common good essentially we are social beings and this ultimately impacts everyone or at least least it should that should be the case and that is what inspired me as president of my country and in the spirit that I have come with to this assembly I am convinced that globalization will only continue further and this represents an excellent opportunity to understand ourselves better and to take advantage of the synergies that can be taken advantage of when
different cultures meet this can be the case provided that we are tolerant and respectful of those who may think differently from us at the same time we must also deepen the Criterion of freedom and Justice in particular here and the international stage for this to be possible we must all make this effort as far as we are able to the effort to make concessions of course that doesn't mean the loss of Freedom or Independence or the loss of any sovereignty at the same time we also need to have Fair mechanisms where international law is applied
to all equally regardless of the country's size and regardless of the country's economic power we must work together to build international law which is credible and robust agreements treaties conventions documents that are signed and are not implemented only leads to weakening international law of course no country was obliged to participate in these organizations that means that we can be and we are critical of how the organizations work in some ways but what's the other option it would be to isolate oneself in this interconnected world well that wouldn't make any sense so a large part of
the freedom within our countries and the international stage and to uphold Justice a large part of this falls on those who govern and leaders and in this modern world where speeches lead to actions an important leader just with what they say can lead to positive or negative repercussions in their country or indeed beyond that means that we must be much more careful when we try to stimulate unity and not division within and Beyond Nations po politics have has meant that some leaders have used division as a tool to reach power and to stay in power
because of course there's one thing to defend one's own beliefs or those shared by some individuals and it's quite another thing to attack others beliefs and others way of life in some countries formal democracy in terms of el c s constitutions and laws such as the material which is the material democracy that citizens experience on a daily basis sometimes when that is weakened that means that people people's freedom can be affected and I cannot ignore to mention what is happening in Venezuela among other things because this isn't a new position that we are taking fortunately
we have always been far from this authoritarian regime this intolerant regime which has attacked freedom and the common good we all know what has been going on for quite a while in that country and many governments and many global leaders have turned the Blind Eye and for a a lack of Interest some of them or unfortunately because of their interests for some I not going to go into the situation on the of the elections ultimately one has to call out the regime and the situation of the elections and not just the distorted electoral process this
also has to be done in terms of the political persecution that is going on and the violations of human rights and arbitary detentions I know that many heads of state and government have spoken about this it seems to me that now is the time to act we need to act for Venezuela and for the Venezuelan people and also if the International Community tolerates these attitudes then we just we'll just wait to see what the ne next country would be that would be subjected to a similar fate as the Venezuelans are another matter that I touched
upon in my previous statements here pertains to the environment and the economy what we have as a vocation in terms of caring for the environment there's always this separation that we see between the economy and the environment and the first time that I came to this assembly and I heard speeches from heads of State on this matter since then I am pleased to see that there has been something of an evolution quite a quick Evolution on this matter now we are seeing how the economy and the environment are Interlink and this is excellent news for
Humanity sustainable financing for instance my country has been a Pioneer in issuing instruments such as green bonds or access to loans where fulfilling environmental goals and caring for the environment is tied to these Financial products according to Performance and this has a very important and interesting domino effect because it helps States it helps states to access financing and also to care for the environment but also governments can then reward producers and those in industry for good behavior for caring for the environment and for creating a clean economy and ultimately that will lead to Greater benefits
in the future I mentioned a few minutes ago the concept of justice justice and international law now this law is applied differently in different cases there are countries who pollute and we see some countries who who are making major efforts to try to improve their environmental situation in order for this path to be sustainable in the medium and long term the goals domestically should be fulfilled for each country and at the same time countries need to shoulder economic commitments and in addition to just undertaking commitments they have to fulfill them because the in the absence
of this implementation ultimately that would lead to to a loss of stimulus in caring for the environment lastly I just wish to mention one other one other point that I have also touched upon previously and on this there hasn't been much positive change I'm convinced that it is not possible to fully enjoy freedom in the International Community if there isn't the freedom of trade if there isn't free trade protectionism has hindered the development of our peoples it has led to a vicious cycle where isolation is being stimulated and protectionism is being stimulated given these barriers
that are being erected we have to aim for a more open world for other countries goods and services and that does not in any way mean neglecting the domestic economy it is possible to have open facing policies in terms of trade and also stimulate domestic the domestic economy we have to build a more open world if we really believe in the equality of opportunities the reverse case would be clear that is to say we would not be able to generate wealth and generate jobs and ultimately not be able to generate Prosperity if we do not
do this I wish to repeat today a concept that I mentioned in one of my previous statements to this assembly we are all one I at that point was referring to what to the lessons of the pandemic if some of some people hadn't noticed that at the time ultimately this is an affirmation of common sense and I think it should also be a compass for us in our daily work as we exercise power both domestically and also in our bilateral relations and in the multilateral domain as well believe me I am convinced that we will
progress much more quickly and much more united if we do this thank [Applause] you on behalf of the assembly I wish to thank the president of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay
