Final Communiqué
28-31 May 1992
Querétaro, Mexico
I. THE SEARCH FOR GLOBAL ORDER
1. With the disappearance of the Cold War confrontation,
the world has reached the threshold of new opportunities.
A new global order is one exciting idea for the future,
but under existing conditions this quest is very
ambitious. Rather, what is required is the development of
additional rules for the changing international
constellation. In that connexion, the InterAction Council
fully endorses the report by Mr. Helmut Schmidt on the
results and recommendations of a High-level Group on "The
Search for Global Order: The Problems of Survival".
Arms Control and Proliferation
2. The end of the Cold War offers a unique opportunity to
press ahead with dramatic arms reductions. Yet it also
presents new dangers of nuclear proliferation and,
paradoxically, new excuses for inaction. The bipolar world
of Yalta which so dominated international affairs for the
last 45 years has given way to a period of volatility and
unpredictability exacerbated by the break-up of the Soviet
Union and uncertainty about security implications. Far
from justifying footdragging such developments make
disarmament all the more imperative. For without such
moves the rationale which lies behind proliferation will
be strengthened.
3. At a minimum the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), due
for review in 1995, must be broadened and extended for a
further 25 years. Furthermore, it must be implemented in
its entirety. Adherence to Article II under which the
non-nuclear weapons states undertake not to possess,
develop or transfer nuclear arms must be balanced by a
commitment by the nuclear weapons states to honour article
VI under which they have pledged themselves to move
towards the objective of general and complete disarmament
under strict and efficient international control. Indeed
in the world of the 21st century, Article VI may prove as
crucial to the future of non-proliferation as Article II
has proved in the past.
4. To this end the process of disarmament negotiations
should be revitalized in all its aspects. Changes in the
former Soviet Union must not serve as a pretext for
inaction. The successor states should not only honour
those treaties agreed by the Soviet Union, but must be
brought under the umbrella of the negotiating process, be
it Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) or the
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE). The
negotiating process must also be expanded to embrace the
development of new weapons.
5. Current agreements between the United States and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), when fully
implemented, will still leave 15 to 20 thousand nuclear
warheads in their arsenals with thousands more in the
hands of the other nuclear powers. It is time that the
nuclear powers publicly address the question of whether
non-nuclear security is meant only for the non-nuclear
states or whether it is not time to proceed towards the
total elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide.
6. In the short-term, the nuclear weapons states should
commit themselves to signing a treaty on the non-first use
of nuclear weapons; subscribing to the principle of
complete prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons and the
principle to a total nuclear test ban. As a long-term
objective, the nuclear weapons states should unambiguously
commit themselves to the elimination of all nuclear
weapons under strict and efficient international
control.
7. As witnessed by the situation currently facing the CIS,
the destruction and dismantling of nuclear weapons will
require international co-operation both in the technical
and the financial field. Scientific co-operation over
research into new processes of decommissioning should also
be fostered at the international level.
8. Efforts to eliminate biological and chemical weapons
should be intensified.
9. Despite the end of the Cold War, the arms trade today
is expanding. Developed and developing countries are each
culpable. But the moral and political responsibility for
curbing the arms trade lies in the main with the five
permanent members of the Security Council, who at the same
time happen to be the greatest weapons exporters. They
must take the lead in imposing strict limits on the export
of armaments and immediately stop the export of weapons to
areas of armed conflict.
10. Global military expenditure now total approximately 1
trillion US Dollars a year. Over the decade, efforts
should be made to reduce that total by half by means of
cuts in nuclear and conventional arms and reductions in
defence spending by the developed and developing
countries. Savings should clearly be earmarked to support
the alleviation of poverty. To this end, the international
financial institutions, in particular the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and donors of ODA,
should make it clear that the flow of financial assistance
will be influenced by the efforts of the individual
developing countries to reduce military expenditures.
Official development assistance (ODA) should be made
conditional on a reduction of military expenditure by
recipient countries to levels of 2% of GNP and below.
The World Economy
11. The world economy faces a daunting agenda for action:
protection of the environment, development assistance,
alleviation of poverty, the reconstruction of countries in
Central and Eastern Europe as well as of those on the
territory of the former Soviet Union, decommissioning of
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, conversion of
military production, dismantling of structurally dangerous
nuclear power plants. Yet this enumeration is far from
being exhaustive. All these challenges call for
substantive funds.
12. At the same time, there is sluggish economic growth
well below capacities and even recession. Growth
opportunities remain untapped. Idle capacities and the
de-industrialization in the former command economies have
resulted in growing levels of unemployment and the
immensely complicated conversion of military industries to
civilian purposes may result in further unemployment.
13. On top of this critical transition process, two of the
three wealthiest economies of the world, the United States
of America and Germany, after unification, have remained
or become capital importers, whereas the queue of those
seeking capital has dramatically grown. National interests
and agendas have shifted aid away from traditional
recipients, e.g. the Third World. The scarcity of
available funds as a result of savings shortages worldwide
will produce high real interest rates on the long end of
the financial markets for the foreseeable future.
14. Since World War II, international trade has been a
locomotive for growth. The InterAction Council urges all
political leaders to break the stalemate at the Uruguay
Round of the General Agreement of Trade and tariffs
(GATT). Agreement must be reached on drastic reductions of
subsidies and other protectionist measures, notably though
not exclusively in agriculture. This is a matter of utmost
urgency.
All OECD countries, particularly the United States, the
European Communities (EC) and Japan, must open their
markets to agricultural goods and textiles from the
developing world, which may encourage sustainable and
mutual growth.
The world can ill afford that those free trade regions now
emerging (e.g. the EC, the North American Free Trade Area,
similar endeavours in Latin America) develop into trade
fortresses undermining the multilateral trading system.
Striking a comprehensive deal in the Uruguay Round on the
basis of the draft under negotiation will yield global
growth, and open the opportunity for further negotiations
on trading goods like services.
15. To increase substantially the availability of funds
major undustrialized countries should pursue policies to
increase public savings dramatically. National political
agendas have to be changed towards sustained growth plus
higher rates of savings. In particular, Germany must
restore its status as a capital exporter. At long last the
United States must tackle its deficits and halt a reverse
to its growing indebtedness. For some years, the world has
lived with the timebomb of the US debt. The threat of an
explosion is continuously with us.
16. The CIS countries and other countries hitherto under a
command economy have forcefully turned to a Western type
of economy. Their expectations of huge financial support
from OECD countries for their reconstruction efforts are
unrealistic in the face of a worldwide credit crunch. They
would be well advised to put more confidence in their
abilities and resources as a more reliable and inevitable
basis for the transition process. A larger, mutually
advantageous cooperation between CIS countries and all
other parts of the world, including the former member
states of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
(CMEA), could be the best help to their development.
17. Today, nearly all markets and particularly the
financial markets, have become globalized. But globalized
controls or agreements on common standards for financial
operations are insufficient. As a consequence, there has
been an increase in corruption and financial scandals all
over the world to an unprecedented degree. National
supervisory agencies ought to be strengthened.
International financial markets need international
supervision. This task mainly lies with the OECD
countries.
18. This century has established the principle of economic
and monetary cooperation organized in the main through a
system of multilateralism. Even if this principle now
faces its most important challenge, it remains valid, must
be maintained and its applications must be courageously
broadened.
Population-Environment-Development
19. The world looks with anticipation to the Rio Earth
Summit. Political leaders have a rare historic opportunity
to launch mankind on a sustainable path of survival well
into the next century. For the sake of future generations,
all countries must henceforth observe the principle of
demographic and ecological self-discipline and, to that
end, forge a new global compact based on unequivocal,
monitorable and enforceable commitments by all
concerned.
20. Population growth, ecological degradation, global
warming, energy needs, production and consumption
patterns, poverty and the level of development are
inextricably linked. Yet, the overarching population issue
is not given the place it deserves on the summit
agenda.
21. If the world's present population of 5.5 billion
continues to grow at its present pace, it will double
every 40 years. If future generations are to enjoy at
least the same opportunities as the present generation, it
will take entirely new development strategies to achieve
all that if we are to avoid pushing the planet beyond
critical thresholds. In the developing world, more than
one billion people already live under conditions of
absolute poverty.
22. Unless population growth can be stabilised in the
developing world, poverty will become increasingly acute.
If ODA is not significantly increased above present
levels, it will then be rendered irrelevant. Each
developing country must
- ensure access to birth control, education and services and to voluntary methods of contraception;
- extend education of all young people to the age of 14-16;
- place greater emphasis on women's rights and their employment opportunities and improve basic health care services.
23. Where developing countries give priority to family
planning within their own budgetary resources, the
industrialised countries, for their part, should provide
substantial additional assistance.
24. To mitigate global warming, industrialized countries
must pursue measures of energy saving and ecologically
less harmful patterns of energy production and
consumption. They also should commit themselves to a
collaborative programme in research and development of
renewable energy resources, such as photovoltaics/solar
energy, biomass and wind. The arrangements for the
transfer of environmentally sound technologies to
developing countries should be facilitated. For their
part, the developing countries should commit themselves to
less harmful patterns of energy production and
consumption. The industrialised countries should provide
new and additional resources to assist developing
countries in pursuing policies of sustainable development,
as has been stated by the OECD Ministers in a Communique
in December 1991.
25. The conclusion at Rio of three effective international
conventions - on global warming, biodiversity and global
deforestation which are interlinked - would have been a
signpost for sustainable energy and economic policies.
While the Rio summit appears to fall short in these areas,
a global awareness process may well have been set in
motion. In all areas, however, accelerating action must
follow. The establishment of an independent World
Commission on Forests with a well-defined timetable may
contribute to practical steps in one of these areas.
26. Since the mid-1980s, the InterAction Council has
highlighted the implications of ineffective population and
environmental policies and has developed a number of
concrete policy recommendations. It intends to assess the
results of Rio with a view to further developing the body
of its recommendations.
Instruments and Institutions
27. The international community needs effective
institutions, mechanisms and legal instruments. All of the
above mentioned measures will remain abstract unless
supported by practical and institutional arrangements. It
is evident that in the post-Cold War era, the main task of
the United Nations will remain the traditional role of
peace keeping and enforcement of actions decided by the
Security Council.
28. In the field of environment, population and
development, there is no international forum specifically
entrusted with decision making at the multilateral level.
A number of proposals have been made, including the
restructuring of the Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc),
the entrusting of those problems to the Security Council,
or even to the International Court of Justice. The
InterAction Council urges governments to assign these
areas to a powerful organ within the United Nations or to
create a new organization outside the United Nations
system.
29. A year ago, in its final statement of Prague the
InterAction Council requested "... that every effort
should be made to avert unnecessary tragedy and avoid
bloodshed in Yugoslavia". Since that time, Yugoslavia has
disintegrated and new independent states have been
established, three of which are members of the United
Nations. Two of these are being subjected to military
aggression which violates the principles of the United
Nations Charter, the Helsinki Accords and the tenets of
the documents of the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). The InterAction Council
calls on all governments to implement the decisions of the
Security Council while continuing to insist on urgent and
unconditional negotiations among the parties in
conflict.
II. CRISIS AND CHANGE IN LATIN AMERICA
30. Latin America - some 450 million people representing
more than 8% of world population - has been in social,
economic and political crisis. Despite a democratic
rejuvenation, the democratic systems are undergoing
extreme strain as a result of problems arising from the
political and economic transition process. Traditional
policy instruments or approaches alone no longer suffice.
A new Latin American strategy of development is already
underway. This strategy aims to attain sustainable
development. It is based on the improvement of public
finances, on the opening of the economy, on the reform of
the State, on renewed approaches to environmental and
social problems, and on the reinforcement of respect for
human rights. For consideration of this subject, the
InterAction Council had before it a report by Mrs. Maria
de Lourdes Pintasilgo on the results and recommendations
of a High-level Expert Group which she chaired on "Crisis
and Change in Latin American" and which the Council fully
endorsed.
31. This new strategy of development must embrace the
battle against poverty, proper attention to environmental
issues and population policies, taking into account the
quality of life and the freedom and dignity of individuals
and of family life.
32. The battle against poverty in Latin America is a
paramount political, economic and social challenge facing
all Governments. There are no ready-made short-term
solutions. Leaders must focus on this issue with the same
intensity and commitment given to economic recovery and
inflation. Poverty threatens to rend the fabric of
societies. Its prime sources are:
- an uneven distribution of income which is connected to the distribution of land and means of production;
- the absence of agrarian reforms creating a large, impoverished rural population;
- the implementation of macroeconomic adjustment programmes during the 1980s which caused a dramatic reduction in social expenditures, essentially shouldered by the poorest segments of society.
33. Poverty and social problems cannot be addressed
without a stable macroeconomic environment. Economic
growth, built on the predictability of policies, remains a
precondition for enduring success in the fight against
poverty. A fiscally sound policy has to combat inflation
and to reduce budget deficits. But fiscal policies must
also seek to reallocate funds towards massive social
investment of a long-term nature in those sectors in dire
need - i.e. education, health and nutrition. This will be
impossible without a solution to the debt crisis which
remains the single most serious problem for many Latin
American countries.
34. To reduce spending and generate income, governments
should divest their ownership of endemically unprofitable
enterprises and adopt more effective tax systems and
collection mechanisms. Serious efforts should be made
substantially to increase the rate of internal savings by
modernising financial systems and increasing the level of
productivity and competitiveness.
35. Latin American military expenditures should be
drastically reduced and redirected towards education,
health care and other social services.
36. To redress the unjust distribution of income,
excessively protectionist policies must be abandoned.
Poverty alleviation in the rural areas is unlikely to be
successful without efficient agrarian reform and a proper
land tenure system, avoiding at the same time latifundia
and unproductive minifundia, allocating more resources in
credit and technical assistance, and modernising practices
and production patterns.
37. The fight against drug trafficking and drug addiction
must be a priority for the entire world community, as
these phenomena undermine social stability and political
security, distort economic processes and represent a
dangerous risk to the physical and mental health of
peoples. The burden cannot be placed on the shoulders of
the Latin American countries alone. The production of
drugs will not be stopped unless the demand is drastically
curbed, especially in developed countries. Clear and
monitorable objectives must jointly be formulated by
producing and consumer nations to establish an effective
international programme to combat drugtrafficking in all
its stages - production, refinement, trade and
consumption. We call upon all governments and the United
Nations to include the drug problem in their efforts to
maintain peace.
38. Poverty flows from ignorance and an inadequate
educational system is a main contributing factor. The
effective management of the educational system is crucial
for all developing countries. The internal efficiency of
education must be ensured and the overall
cost-effectiveness of the system enhanced. Countries will
have to do more with less.
39. Educational efforts should concentrate on two
areas:
a) a significant improvement in the quality of primary
education, preferably through raising the quality of
primary school teachers;
b) investment into higher education given the direct
relationship between the quality of higher education and
the level of development of a country.
Governments should also agree to set up regional centers
of excellence. They should also create a common market for
culture without tariffs or any other type of
restrictions.
40. Democracy and the respect for human rights have been
restored or improved in many countries of the continent.
Yet, this has coincided with economic decline. At
prevailing levels of illiteracy and poverty, populist
solutions may become attractive, endangering any hard won
stability. This is why progress in democracy has to go
hand in hand with economic recovery, eradication of
absolute poverty, and a more equitable social order.
41. In addition to improvements of representative
democracy and the protection of human rights, a more
participatory democracy must be encouraged. Modernisation
of political parties, efficient involvement of different
types of organisation of the civil society and adequate
and decentralized mediation between political power and
social movements are needed.
42. The ongoing redefinition of the role of the state
should enhance governability and reinforce legitimacy by
drawing on the private sector and society as a whole.
Increased reliance on market mechanisms should be joined
by efficient State regulation, in order to induce proper
social equilibrium, environmental priorities, and longterm
development goals.
43. While the recurrence of excessive state intervention
in the direct management of the economy should be avoided,
the privatisation of public enterprises cannot be a goal
per se. Public monopolies should not be replaced by
private monopolies or by dominance of foreign
interests.
44. The weakening position of Latin America in the world
economy makes the pursuit of integration fundamental to
increasing competitiveness and the ability of the
Continent to penetrate international markets. Any
integration entails redistribution of political, social
and economic power among different groups of society and
different levels of government as well as among the
different countries. Sovereignty is thus enlarged in the
interest of the development of the continent.
45. The integration process which is underway will develop
from progressive arrangement among those sub-regional
groups already established. Gradually, these arrangements
will converge into a process of integration of the entire
continent. Such integration will allow for a better
bargaining position vis-à-vis other regional groups thus
helping to shape a new global order.