Iran opens to the West. Latin America raises the voice
There was great attention during the works of the United Nations General Assembly towards Iran’s new President. However the debate of the last week was not characterized just by the Middle East question.
Iran and Middle East
In
contrast to Ahmadinejad, Iran’s President Hasan Rouhani doesn’t deny
the Holocaust or predicts that Israel has to disappear from the Map. He
has clearly made a break from his ultraconservative predecessor, and
from his politics of confrontation and provocation.
His
Iran will be an anchor of stability in a volatile region and he
highlighted his commitment to resolve regional conflicts with diplomacy.
On
the sides of the General Assembly in New York he called on Israel to
acknowledge its nuclear arsenal and join the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
He also criticized the country for being the only Middle East state to
not sign onto the pact.
“Almost
four decades of international efforts to establish a
nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East have regrettably failed.
He added that all nuclear activities in the region should be subject to
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections and nuclear
safeguards.
“No
nation should possess nuclear weapons, since there are no right hands
for these wrong weapons,” he said. “As long as nuclear weapons exist,
the risk of their use, threat of use and proliferation persist. The only
absolute guarantee is their total elimination.”
Latin America
The
latin american countries drew the attention to the global network of
electronic espionage, seeking more respect for their rights and their
sovereignty. It was also proposed a reform of the United Nations
Security Council.
Dilma
Youssef highlighted that citizens’ personal data, corporate information
and diplomatic information had been intercepted, as well as
communications of the Office of the President. “Tampering in such a
manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international
law and an affront to the principles that must guide relations among
them, especially among friendly nations.”
“The
right to safety of citizens of one country”, she said, “could never be
guaranteed by violating fundamental human rights of citizens of
another”. As many other Latin Americans, she had fought against
authoritarianism and censorship, and she could not be defend the right
to privacy — of individuals and the nation itself. In the absence of
privacy, there could be no true freedom of expression and opinion, and
therefore, no effective democracy. In the absence of respect for
sovereignty, there was no basis for the relationship among nations. She
demanded from the United States’ Government explanations, apologies and
guarantees that such procedures would never be repeated.
Bolivia’s
President Evo Morales said that much had been heard about democracy,
respect and social justice during the debate. But, he asked, “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? 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?”
He
said terrorism was not to be fought with more military spending but
with more democracy, more social justice and more education.
The West can maybe be happy for the the detente of its relations with a part of Middle East, but it has certainly to reconsider its behavior towards that part of the world who decided to get through several years of misery and oppression.
