YVAN GIL PINTO, Minister of the People’s Power for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, reminded the Assembly of a call, 18 years ago, by Commander Hugo Chávez to the United Nations “on this stage” advocating a restructuring of the Organization.  He said the United Nations has not fulfilled the purpose for which it was founded, adding that “we now face even more serious challenges.”  The same applies to the Organization’s agencies, funds and programmes.  It is therefore necessary to end the “zero-sum mentality” and promote “a win-win vision that allows us to effectively address collective interests through cooperation, tolerance, and understanding”, while advancing a reform of the Security Council, with a particular objective of correcting historical imbalance and providing greater representation for “our mother Africa”, he said.  He also called for a reform of the international financial architecture, spotlighting the debt owed his peoples on account of colonization and slavery.  He therefore reiterated his Government’s strong support for Argentina, Mauritius and Comoros in their sovereignty disputes over the Malvinas Islands*, the Chagos Archipelago, and Mayotte Island; as well as Palestine, Puerto Rico and Western Sahara in the quests for self-determination.

He berated the United States Government for unilaterally intervening in an over 200-year long dispute Venezuela has with Guyana over the Guayana Esequiba territory, saying that the United States Government seeks to appropriate his country’s oil resources through Exxon Mobil “which has incorporated the Government of Guyana into its ranks.”  He further denounced the United States for its intention to militarize the situation.  Turning to cybersecurity, he pointed out that fighting cybercrime and regulating the information technology space must become a strategic priority for the United Nations.  “We cannot accept the use of these new technologies to destabilize legitimate Governments and destroy social harmony and peace,” he said.  Expressing concern over political extremism and the culture of hatred as recently exemplified in the 2018 assassination attempt on his country’s Head of State and Government as well as on Argentinian Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, he also called on countries to reject persecution of diplomats. 

Concerned about the rapidly increased military spending in recent months, he said such resources “would have greater benefits for humanity if they were used not only in financing development agendas or fighting poverty but also in addressing the food crisis and the climate crisis that currently threatens the world”.  He expressed his country’s support for the convening of a World Conference for Peace in Ukraine and Palestine as proposed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and stated commitment to the Declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.  On climate, he said:  “We are facing an existential climate catastrophe for millions of people, especially for our brothers and sisters from small island developing States.”  On international migration, he said Member States must disallow migrants from being stigmatized and criminalized.  Further, he stated his country’s interest in joining the BRICS (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China, South Africa) group and applauded the efforts of countries that contribute to global peace, dialogue and understanding.