President Carlos Alvarado affirmed today that the people of Costa Rica are determined to preserve and improve the United Nations (UN) and condemned the elevated worldwide military spending.
“From Costa Rica, I enthusiastically join in the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the UN,” Alvarado pointed out when intervening virtually at the event for that anniversary.
He stressed that “the time has come to honor Article 26 of the UN Charter,” and noted that Costa Rica calls on the Security Council to honor the commitment established in that article to promote the least possible diversion of human resources and economics of the world towards armaments. A commitment, he maintained, is unfulfilled year by year, as world military spending rose to 1.9 trillion dollars in 2019, the highest level since the end of the Cold War.
Alvarado said that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will cost the world between two and three million dollars more per year but, unlike military spending, what is invested in the SDGs will help guarantee human security and the consolidation of just, peaceful and inclusive societies.
“On this anniversary, we Costa Ricans hope that differences continue to be resolved through the force of law and not through military force,” said the Costa Rican president.
For the maintenance of peace
He recalled that from the rubble of World War II arose the ideal that war could give way to peace, that weighted words could replace force, that treaty could be stronger than walls, and that hope is more important than fear. He stressed that the prevention of conflicts, especially armed conflicts, is the raison d’être of the United Nations.
Fulfilling that responsibility means using all the tools of preventive diplomacy, addressing their root causes, and finding effective, sustainable, and inclusive solutions to solve them, Alvarado said.
