S/PV.2700 Security Council

I thank the President of the &public of Nicatagua for his statement. His Excellency Me. Oanie.l Otteqa Saavedra, Pteei&nt of the PeRrapilblic of llicafagua, was escorted from the Security Council Chamber. --.- se PRESIDENT% The next speaker is the representative of El Salvador. I invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 14r. MESA (El Salvador) (interpretation from Spanish): At the beginning Df this month the Pe;ecUrity COUnCil met specifiCally to discuss ZelAtiOIW between tke Wited Statxe and Nicaragua. My delegatiar participated in that debate not to defend the interest5 of other c0untries but rather to mate our own poaition clear or1 tJie Central American cr isie, and in par titular to defend my sun 00untry~s hteres ts. On this occasion we wish to reiterate the views wa expressed then. We cannot refr.lin fran ~lpedcing again since it is difficult if not irposeible to establish Iis its in the apparently bilateral aonttwersy being diecueeed nere and separate it fridn the regional. poblem involving interrelated, often inflexible fact-5 and f+tcea, vppjsed tb a change of attituds, all of which affect the ctieis we are nae sxper iencing. Thus far they have been difficult to reconcile, but they mUat be :x~t-c~me if Criktral America is ever to enjoy peace and stability. in this respect, without wanting to call into question the goOa faith of the :~~te~national Court of Justioe in considering the case of military and psremi: itary (Hr. Meza, El Salvador) part that is of intekt to Nicaragua. I shall therefore quote from chapter VIII - paragraph6 126 to 171 W on the conduct of Nicaragua, whiah states that after eonsideriug certain evidence the Court caneluded that there had been support for the 8alvat%wian arrped oppusition fro&n Nicaraguan terribxy until the early months of 1961, and that there was insufficient evidence to affirar that Nicaragua war, responsible for a flat of weapons in any other period of time. Therefore, of amwe, in connection with d&at President Ortega has just stated, it cannot be prwed that Nicaragua has been involved in aiding the Salvadorian guerrilla movement since that period, but the International Court of Justice has determint>d that at that time Nicaragua was in fact aiding the Salvadorian guerrilla movement. These are cauclusiane that affect my wuntry’s interests and they add an element of confusion to an objective analysis of the situation in El Salvador, the developPent of the crisis and the outside factcus that have promoted it. Hence, WC must etete oux position in this wnnectlon. (Mr. Mesa, El Salvackx) My Gcwernmnt camlot accept these ideas, because they are conclusions drawn from a partial analysie of a larger pr&lem not cons&red in depth from the standpoint of the different interrelated factcre of the situation which we have been experiencing and suffering directly. Since 1960, the Salvadcrien amnunity has been amfronted by the exietence of armed groups that have nov eet reason aside end droeen the course of violence to gain access trp pwer . ThCf3e groupe , in the context of salva&rian political reality - we have had not me, but four internationally eupervieed elections - have survived thanks only tc the support and SrAidarity of Niceragua, turning that country into a centre and ahannel for other, more distant, States to intervene in El Salve&.x in open violation. of the principles of international law and of the Charter of the United Natione. We have conetirntly denounced exaaplee of the toeye in which Nicaragua haa intervened in El Salvador, and vithout repeating them on this occesion I feel it impxtant to highlight certain statements by high NiCiMagWm offictab, preSent here this PIcILning, uho have expressed a& acknowledged a Nicaragua colpaitiBat and involvement in Bl &i.va&r, wntracy to what was stated by the Internaticnal Ccurt of Jllstiaa. In 1963, during the meeting of the Cart.a&ra Group, the then Balva&rian Foreign Minister, Mr. Fidel Chavez Hena, denounced the ninkter for Foreign Affafra of Niwcagua, Mr. Miguel D’Bscoto, who had openly adcncwled-d Niceragua’e m&aria1 support for armed groups in El Salvador. In 1984 the Governmnt of El Salva&x cancelled plana tm mnd ita klet.!rn to events coeuaentxating the Sandinista Revolution because prior to the celebration Daniel Ortega - who as Head of State just addressed LB - had boasted to the German television service that any meeting he might ‘nave with president Duarte would not (Mr. Mesa, El Sslva&x) prwmt his cartim& support for Salvsdorisn guerrilla forces. The Government Of Wicwagua neither rettact8d nor offered any explanation or apology for that P)LbUment, as would befit civilised parsone, which makes us deduce that Nicersg’Ja lube m+ntained its support e0r the salva*rian guerrillas. Indeed, support, direct and indirect, given by the sandinistas has enabled ammd group6 to maintein the military capaaity to adopt intransigent positicme, eaust0ir.g vast dasage ta, the eacmomio infraetructure md gopllation of El salvados. The eonisl ooat hen ateant thouaanda and thousands of dieplaoed perscrw, over 30,000 persons killed in armed claebes, many pereone left nandicapped and over $1 billion in estimated physical damages - all of that the result of a eenneleso mfliot tnat would have w to an end if not for the regrettable existence of golitia1 and ideological intereete, such ae those revealed this morning, that euppozt violent forma of Access to parer. All of this leade ue to affirm that El Selva&r kee obviously been the vi&is of cartiming aggreeeion on the part of the Government of Nicaragua, which prabably amriQre that the comolidatiar of ite Own system dapends on expxting its rwoluthm and on destcrbiliaing the Gummment md deaDcratic institutions not OrlY of El Salvador but alw, of thba other central klerican awntries. Therefore, like any other victim of aggressiar, El Scrlvador, a mall corntry Without the mans to oonfrart aggreeeian for very 10ng , and, obliged to defend it8 8Werebgrty and institutlaMlity, has in self-&fence sought assistance and inbrnatianal aD*peratiur through bilatiral channels. <)n pany occa8ione the Gwernsant of WIcaragua has called upon this body to CCwwider ite situation - and, in particular, its relatims with the United State6 - in order to win reepect for its righta as a State, including the tfght to KaW6?at (Mr. Maza, El Salvabot) The Government of El Salvador, in spite of considering itself a besie@ country, the effects of which are cleat , has refrained from appealing to this body because other forum for the consideration of regional problem have not yet been fully util ized. That includes the Cmtadora process, which has been given all our support and that of the rest of the world in its efforts to echieve a negotiated political solutim to the Central American erieis. None the lees, since the subject being debated here affect6 all Central American axmtries, I think it important to state my ~vetnmmt*s opiniar that Nicaragua ~ema ins a destabil i2 ing factor because of ite approach, ccmbCt and activities in the franrework of the international legal-political etructute and the exercise of ~WX and democracy - a vision that differs ftma that of the rest Of the Central American wuntries. This phenomenon has caused wnflicte between Nicaragua and each of j ts Central American neighbours , making it almae& imjmseib:e to generate trust, create a mechanism to fill the vacuum that exists in Central America and find concerted solutions to ecarapic , political end security problems in the regicm. The Government of El Salvador believes that if Iiaragua’s actions and attitude toward8 its neighbours constitute a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council should urge that wuntry to fulfil its gDmnitmenta and take the necessary measures to teduuce and eliminate sources of conflict and pcovocation. A country which invokes its rights in implamentatiar of the principles of the Charter is abc obliged to respect three principles. (Ht. Mesa, El Sslv8dor) At the same time, we believe that in the search for a polkiCe eolution to the Central American crisis, Nicaragua muot reopect the will of the majority in Central America and not attelapt to iapoae an individual view based on spific interests; in other words, ite position ahould be brought into line with the prinaiple of the majority and the right to the uan of rearo& instead of trying to impose agreement on the baaie of the dictum that might amkeo right. In conalueion, we believe it important to point out that the rituation in Niaaragua, ite ideologiaal and political eyyetem, ita relatiane with the United States and the conmitmente and/or military political indebtedneeo by the Sandinieta Front to armed groupe in El Salvador do not justify intervention by Iiaeragua in the internal affaire of Bl Salvador. That is why we demand full nerpact for that principle, if Nicaragua wiehee to eeintain it8 right to aall for aompemation fray any other Member State. The PIIBBIO8lW: There are no further names on the list of 8pMker8 for thie meeting. The nemt meeting of the security &ncil to contirsue the ooneideratiar of the item on the agenda will take place thir afternoon 8t 3 o’aloak. The meeting ro8e at 12.15 P.m.