Miguel d'Escoto
Encyclopedia
Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, born in Los Angeles
on February 5, 1933, is a Nicaragua
n diplomat
, politician
and former Catholic
priest
of the Maryknoll congregation of priests. He was recently nominated as Libyan Representative to the UN, a request which is currently pending. As the President of the United Nations General Assembly
from September 2008 to September 2009, he presided over the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
.
congregation, before engaging in politics. He was a key figure in the founding of the Maryknoll imprint, Orbis Books
, in 1970, and was an official with the World Council of Churches
. As an adherent of liberation theology
, he secretly joined the Sandinistas.
He first publicly expressed support for the FSLN as one of Los Doce
, in October 1977, and was appointed foreign minister after the Sandinista triumph in 1979. He served as foreign minister
in Daniel Ortega
's FSLN
government from 1979 to 1990. Pope John Paul II
admonished him and other priests in the government for getting involved in politics. Early in the Contra war, the Reagan administration
perceived him as a relative moderate who might break with the regime. While foreign minister, he received the Lenin Peace Prize
for 1985-6, and the Thomas Merton Award
for 1987.
He was suspended by the Vatican in the 1980s together with two other priests involved in the Sandinista revolution, Ernesto and Fernando Cardenal. During a visit to Central America, Pope John Paul II
admonished him for political activity. He was publicly denounced for not resigning his office as minister of this socialist government. He was suspended for not resigning his political office, which he held against his own vows. On March 3, 1986 on Nicaraguan television d'Escoto gave a speech publicly insulting and condemning Bishop Obando y Bravo for not siding with the communist regime against the anti-communists: "There is no word uttered by human mouth, no adjective that we could use to truly describe the horror produced by this brother of ours."
After the Sandinistas lost the 1990 elections, he led the Communal Movement, but resigned that post in December 1991 after his support within the organization waned. He has staunchly supported Ortega against the Sandinista Renovation Movement
dissidents.
In 1999, then Archbishop of Managua, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, criticized those priests who became involved with the Sandinistas and abandoned their priestly ministry for politics. He said the priests never denounced the injustices that took place at that time.
Latin America
n and Caribbean
nations selected Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann as their candidate to become the next president of the U.N. General Assembly. On June 4, 2008, he was elected by acclamation
to preside over 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, from September 2008 to September 2009.
In June 2010, Brockmann was elected by acclamation to the Council Advisory Committee to the United Nations Human Rights Council
.
On 29 March 2011, during the 2011 Libyan civil war
, Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa
wrote to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, nominating d’Escoto Brockmann as Libya’s new ambassador to the UN. The letter stated that Brockmann was nominated, as Ali Abdussalam Treki, also a former General Assembly president who was their first choice, was denied a visa to enter the United States under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973
. Complications have risen with his representation, as U.S. ambassador Susan Rice has claimed he does not have the proper diplomatic visa
to represent Libya. Also, former prime minister Mussa Kussa
's recommendation may be void, because of his resignation on March 30.
D'Escoto also stated that addressing rising energy and food prices around the world would be priorities. His other priorities would include hunger
, poverty
, climate change
, terrorism
, human rights
, disarmament
, nuclear control, cultural diversity
, the rights of women and children
and the protection of biodiversity
.
D'Escoto designated 16 senior advisers : Brother David Andrews
CSC (USA), Maude Barlow
(Canada), Mohammed Bedjaoui
(Algeria), Leonardo Boff
(Brazil), Kevin Cahill
(USA), François Houtart
(Belgium), Noam Chomsky
(USA), Ramsey Clark
(USA), Richard Falk (USA), Michael Kennedy
(USA), Eleonora Kennedy (USA), Olivier De Schutter
(Belgium), Joseph Stiglitz (USA), Sir John E. Sulston
(UK), Francisco Lacayo Parajón (Nicaragua) and Howard Zinn
(USA).
In September 2009, Brockmann held a ceremony at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia honouring Bolivia
n president Evo Morales
, former Cuba
n President Fidel Castro
and the late former president of Tanzania
Julius Nyerere
. He named Morales (who was present at the event) "World Hero of Mother Earth," Castro "World Hero of Solidarity" and Nyerere "World Hero of Social Justice." Brockmann also stated that the three "embody virtues and values worth emulation by all of us."
power wielded by the five permanent members of the Security Council
: "I hope my presidency will address what has become a universal clamour all over the world for the democratisation of the United Nations. I promise to give full support to the working group on the revitalisation of the General Assembly."
as "a fierce critic of U.S. policy in Latin America (he referred to Ronald Reagan
in 2004 as "the butcher of my people"). As president he said: "Because of Reagan and his spiritual heir George W. Bush
, the world today is far less safe and secure than it has ever been."
Following his election to the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly, he offered a statement interpreted as renewed criticism aimed at the United States: "The behavior of some member states has caused the United Nations to lose credibility as an organisation capable of putting an end to war and eradicating extreme poverty from our planet." He denounced what he called "acts of aggression, such as those occurring in Iraq
and Afghanistan
." However, he expressed his "love" for "the United States as a country," and added: "I do not want to turn this General Assembly presidency into a place to take it out on the United States." Reacting to those comments, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad
responded: "We have been assured that a page has been turned and that he understands his new responsibilities...We will wait and see." Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. permanent mission to the United Nations, added that: "The president of the General Assembly is supposed to be a uniter. We have made it clear that these crazy comments are not acceptable, and we hope he refrains from this talk and gets to work on General Assembly business." However, Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the United States Mission to the United Nations, said: "It's hard to make sense of Mr. D'Escoto's increasingly bizarre statements."
Ahmadinejad embrace
On September 17, 2008, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N Gabriela Shalev
called D'Escoto an "Israel-hater" because D'Escoto "hugged" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Ahmedinedjad's strongly anti-Israel and anti-Zionist September 2008 speech to the UN General Assembly. She expressed anger over the UN reception of Ahmedinedjad, saying to an Israeli newspaper: "I heard that the Iranian president's address was followed by loud applause, and that d'Escoto warmly embraced him." D'Escoto's spokesman responded by saying: "He cannot respond to each and every speech made by the leaders of these states."
Ramadan dinner
The Israeli Ambassador also criticised D'Escoto for attending a dinner marking the end of the Islamic fasting
month of Ramadan
with a number of Middle Eastern leaders, including Ahmadinejad. D'Escoto's spokesman responded by saying: "[D'Escoto] will join the dinner because he believes in dialogue, an issue which he had highlighted, and thinks that he should deal with all member states."
Comparison with South African apartheid
D'Escoto, reported the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, "likened Israel's policies toward the Palestinians to South Africa
's treatment of blacks under apartheid." "We must not be afraid to call something what it is." Brockmann stressed that it was important for the United Nations to use the term since it was the institution itself that had passed the International Convention against the crime of apartheid
."
On 24 November, 2008 D'Escoto called for the world to support the international campaign of "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
" which aims to pressure Israel to change its current treatment of the Palestinians. He cited the non-existance of a Palestinian state 60 years after the creation of Israel as representing "the single greatest failure in the history of the United Nations."
Criticism of Israel 2009 ground assault into Gaza
In response to the 2008-2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza, according to CNN
, D'Escoto "criticised both Israel's ground assault into Gaza and the U.N. Security Council's response to it. 'I think it's a monstrosity; there's no other way to name it [...] Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctional of the Security Council.'"
CNN reported that Brockmann blamed the violence "unfulfilled resolutions of the Security Council," referring to the 1967 resolution that called for lasting peace in the Middle East after the Arab-Israeli War." Brockmann stated that "I'm not coming hard on any member state. I'm coming down strongly in defense of the rights of a people that are being subjected to extreme measures by another member." Brockman he maintained that to say the violence erupted because of some rockets fired by Hamas
is to ignore the violence that continued for decades and the occupation itself asa violent thing. After the Palestinian death toll rose above 1,000, he stated that "the number of victims in Gaza is increasing by the day...The situation is untenable. It's genocide
."
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on February 5, 1933, is a Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and former Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
of the Maryknoll congregation of priests. He was recently nominated as Libyan Representative to the UN, a request which is currently pending. As the President of the United Nations General Assembly
President of the United Nations General Assembly
The President of the United Nations General Assembly is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly on a yearly basis.- Election :...
from September 2008 to September 2009, he presided over the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
.
Political career
D'Escoto was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the MaryknollMaryknoll
Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations that are part of the Roman Catholic Church and whose joint focus is on the overseas mission activity of the Catholic Church in the United States...
congregation, before engaging in politics. He was a key figure in the founding of the Maryknoll imprint, Orbis Books
Orbis Books
Orbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order, that has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works, founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. It was the first to publish Gustavo Gutiérrez's seminal work A Theology...
, in 1970, and was an official with the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
. As an adherent of liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
, he secretly joined the Sandinistas.
He first publicly expressed support for the FSLN as one of Los Doce
Los Doce
El Grupo de los Doce, or Group of Twelve, were a dozen members of the Nicaraguan establishment whose support for the Sandinista National Liberation Front struggle against dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle played a pivotal role in the acceptance of the Sandinistas by foreign and domestic...
, in October 1977, and was appointed foreign minister after the Sandinista triumph in 1979. He served as foreign minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
in Daniel Ortega
Daniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and revolutionary, currently serving as the 83rd President of Nicaragua, a position that he has held since 2007. He previously served as the 79th President, between 1985 and 1990, and for much of his life, has been a leader in the Sandinista...
's FSLN
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
government from 1979 to 1990. Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
admonished him and other priests in the government for getting involved in politics. Early in the Contra war, the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
perceived him as a relative moderate who might break with the regime. While foreign minister, he received the Lenin Peace Prize
Lenin Peace Prize
The International Lenin Peace Prize was the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among peoples"...
for 1985-6, and the Thomas Merton Award
Thomas Merton Award
The Thomas Merton Award has been awarded since 1972 by the Thomas Merton Center for Peace and Social Justice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is named after Thomas Merton and is given annually to "national and international individuals struggling for justice."-Award recipients:The Thomas Merton...
for 1987.
He was suspended by the Vatican in the 1980s together with two other priests involved in the Sandinista revolution, Ernesto and Fernando Cardenal. During a visit to Central America, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
admonished him for political activity. He was publicly denounced for not resigning his office as minister of this socialist government. He was suspended for not resigning his political office, which he held against his own vows. On March 3, 1986 on Nicaraguan television d'Escoto gave a speech publicly insulting and condemning Bishop Obando y Bravo for not siding with the communist regime against the anti-communists: "There is no word uttered by human mouth, no adjective that we could use to truly describe the horror produced by this brother of ours."
After the Sandinistas lost the 1990 elections, he led the Communal Movement, but resigned that post in December 1991 after his support within the organization waned. He has staunchly supported Ortega against the Sandinista Renovation Movement
Sandinista Renovation Movement
The Sandinista Renovation Movement is a Nicaraguan political party founded by dissidents of the Sandinista National Liberation Front on May 18, 1995, on Augusto César Sandino's 100th anniversary...
dissidents.
In 1999, then Archbishop of Managua, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, criticized those priests who became involved with the Sandinistas and abandoned their priestly ministry for politics. He said the priests never denounced the injustices that took place at that time.
Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
nations selected Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann as their candidate to become the next president of the U.N. General Assembly. On June 4, 2008, he was elected by acclamation
Acclamation
An acclamation, in its most common sense, is a form of election that does not use a ballot. "Acclamation" or "acclamatio" can also signify a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval in certain social contexts in ancient Rome.-Voting:...
to preside over 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, from September 2008 to September 2009.
In June 2010, Brockmann was elected by acclamation to the Council Advisory Committee to the United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
.
On 29 March 2011, during the 2011 Libyan civil war
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
, Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa
Mussa Kussa
Moussa Muhammad Koussa is a Libyan political figure and diplomat, who served in the Libyan government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from March 2009, into the 2011 Libyan civil war, when he resigned his position from the Gaddafi regime on 30 March 2011....
wrote to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, nominating d’Escoto Brockmann as Libya’s new ambassador to the UN. The letter stated that Brockmann was nominated, as Ali Abdussalam Treki, also a former General Assembly president who was their first choice, was denied a visa to enter the United States under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, on the situation in Libya, is a measure that was adopted on 17 March 2011. The Security Council resolution was proposed by France, Lebanon, and the United Kingdom....
. Complications have risen with his representation, as U.S. ambassador Susan Rice has claimed he does not have the proper diplomatic visa
G-1 visa
The G-1 diplomatic visa is a nonimmigrant Visa which allows designated principal resident representatives of foreign governments recognized by the U.S. to enter into the U.S. to work for an international organization and not for personal business or pleasure. The staff and immediate family members...
to represent Libya. Also, former prime minister Mussa Kussa
Mussa Kussa
Moussa Muhammad Koussa is a Libyan political figure and diplomat, who served in the Libyan government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from March 2009, into the 2011 Libyan civil war, when he resigned his position from the Gaddafi regime on 30 March 2011....
's recommendation may be void, because of his resignation on March 30.
Views and priorities as President of the General Assembly
Shortly after his election, d’Escoto Brockmann stated during a press conference:- "They elected a priest. And I hope no one is offended if I say that love is what is most needed in this world. And that selfishness is what has gotten us into the terrible quagmire in which the world is sinking, almost irreversibly, unless something big happens. This may sound like a sermon. Well, OK."
D'Escoto also stated that addressing rising energy and food prices around the world would be priorities. His other priorities would include hunger
Hunger
Hunger is the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience the physical sensation of desiring food.-Malnutrition, famine, starvation:...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms...
, nuclear control, cultural diversity
Cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is having different cultures respect each other's differences. It could also mean the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole...
, the rights of women and children
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
and the protection of biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
.
D'Escoto designated 16 senior advisers : Brother David Andrews
David Andrews
David Andrews is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician and barrister.Andrews was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1965 as a Fianna Fáil deputy for the Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown constituency. From 1970 to 1973 he served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach with special responsibility as...
CSC (USA), Maude Barlow
Maude Barlow
Maude Victoria Barlow is a Canadian author and activist. She is the National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, a citizens’ advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada. She is also the co-founder of the , which works internationally for the human right to water...
(Canada), Mohammed Bedjaoui
Mohammed Bedjaoui
Mohammed Bedjaoui is an Algerian diplomat and jurist. He has served as Algeria's ambassador to France and the United Nations among other places. He has also served as a judge on the International Court of Justice and as President of Algeria's highest judicial authority, the Constitutional Council...
(Algeria), Leonardo Boff
Leonardo Boff
Leonardo Boff was born 14 December 1938 in Concórdia, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. He is a theologian, philosopher and writer, known for his active support for the rights of the poor and excluded....
(Brazil), Kevin Cahill
Kevin Cahill
Kevin Cahill is an American politician who has represented District 101 in the New York State Assembly since 1999. District 101 comprises large portions of Ulster County and both the town and village of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County. The towns of Woodstock, Ulster, and New Paltz are all part of his...
(USA), François Houtart
François Houtart
François Houtart is a Belgian marxist sociologist and Catholic priest.He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary of Mechelen and became a priest in 1949. He earned a masters degree in political and social sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven . He earned a degree at the...
(Belgium), Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(USA), Ramsey Clark
Ramsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
(USA), Richard Falk (USA), Michael Kennedy
Michael Kennedy
Michael LeMoyne Kennedy , was the sixth of eleven children of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy.-Education:...
(USA), Eleonora Kennedy (USA), Olivier De Schutter
Olivier De Schutter
Olivier De Schutter is a legal academic and human rights expert. A Harvard graduate now resident in Belgium, he was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council in March 2008 and assumed his functions on 1 May 2008...
(Belgium), Joseph Stiglitz (USA), Sir John E. Sulston
John E. Sulston
Sir John Edward Sulston FRS is a British biologist. He is a joint winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.He is currently Chair of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester....
(UK), Francisco Lacayo Parajón (Nicaragua) and Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
(USA).
In September 2009, Brockmann held a ceremony at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia honouring Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n president Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
, former Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n President Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
and the late former president of Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
. He named Morales (who was present at the event) "World Hero of Mother Earth," Castro "World Hero of Solidarity" and Nyerere "World Hero of Social Justice." Brockmann also stated that the three "embody virtues and values worth emulation by all of us."
Reform of the United Nations
D'Escoto has criticised the vetoVeto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
power wielded by the five permanent members of the Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
: "I hope my presidency will address what has become a universal clamour all over the world for the democratisation of the United Nations. I promise to give full support to the working group on the revitalisation of the General Assembly."
Relations with the United States
Described by ReutersReuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
as "a fierce critic of U.S. policy in Latin America (he referred to Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 2004 as "the butcher of my people"). As president he said: "Because of Reagan and his spiritual heir George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, the world today is far less safe and secure than it has ever been."
Following his election to the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly, he offered a statement interpreted as renewed criticism aimed at the United States: "The behavior of some member states has caused the United Nations to lose credibility as an organisation capable of putting an end to war and eradicating extreme poverty from our planet." He denounced what he called "acts of aggression, such as those occurring in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
." However, he expressed his "love" for "the United States as a country," and added: "I do not want to turn this General Assembly presidency into a place to take it out on the United States." Reacting to those comments, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad
Zalmay Khalilzad
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad is a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and president of Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm based in Washington, DC. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush...
responded: "We have been assured that a page has been turned and that he understands his new responsibilities...We will wait and see." Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. permanent mission to the United Nations, added that: "The president of the General Assembly is supposed to be a uniter. We have made it clear that these crazy comments are not acceptable, and we hope he refrains from this talk and gets to work on General Assembly business." However, Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the United States Mission to the United Nations, said: "It's hard to make sense of Mr. D'Escoto's increasingly bizarre statements."
Relations with Israel
D'Escoto has been critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians.Ahmadinejad embrace
On September 17, 2008, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N Gabriela Shalev
Gabriela Shalev
Gabriela Shalev is an Israeli jurist. She was Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:Shalev was born in Tel Aviv in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1941...
called D'Escoto an "Israel-hater" because D'Escoto "hugged" Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Ahmedinedjad's strongly anti-Israel and anti-Zionist September 2008 speech to the UN General Assembly. She expressed anger over the UN reception of Ahmedinedjad, saying to an Israeli newspaper: "I heard that the Iranian president's address was followed by loud applause, and that d'Escoto warmly embraced him." D'Escoto's spokesman responded by saying: "He cannot respond to each and every speech made by the leaders of these states."
Ramadan dinner
The Israeli Ambassador also criticised D'Escoto for attending a dinner marking the end of the Islamic fasting
Sawm
Sawm is an Arabic word for fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means to abstain from eating, drinking , having sex and anything against Islamic law...
month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
with a number of Middle Eastern leaders, including Ahmadinejad. D'Escoto's spokesman responded by saying: "[D'Escoto] will join the dinner because he believes in dialogue, an issue which he had highlighted, and thinks that he should deal with all member states."
Comparison with South African apartheid
D'Escoto, reported the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, "likened Israel's policies toward the Palestinians to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
's treatment of blacks under apartheid." "We must not be afraid to call something what it is." Brockmann stressed that it was important for the United Nations to use the term since it was the institution itself that had passed the International Convention against the crime of apartheid
Crime of apartheid
The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other...
."
On 24 November, 2008 D'Escoto called for the world to support the international campaign of "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions refers to a campaign first initiated on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations in support of the Palestinian cause ".....
" which aims to pressure Israel to change its current treatment of the Palestinians. He cited the non-existance of a Palestinian state 60 years after the creation of Israel as representing "the single greatest failure in the history of the United Nations."
Criticism of Israel 2009 ground assault into Gaza
In response to the 2008-2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza, according to CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, D'Escoto "criticised both Israel's ground assault into Gaza and the U.N. Security Council's response to it. 'I think it's a monstrosity; there's no other way to name it [...] Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctional of the Security Council.'"
CNN reported that Brockmann blamed the violence "unfulfilled resolutions of the Security Council," referring to the 1967 resolution that called for lasting peace in the Middle East after the Arab-Israeli War." Brockmann stated that "I'm not coming hard on any member state. I'm coming down strongly in defense of the rights of a people that are being subjected to extreme measures by another member." Brockman he maintained that to say the violence erupted because of some rockets fired by Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
is to ignore the violence that continued for decades and the occupation itself asa violent thing. After the Palestinian death toll rose above 1,000, he stated that "the number of victims in Gaza is increasing by the day...The situation is untenable. It's genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
."
External links
- Official Website
- Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations opening the General Debate of the 63rd Session, September 23, 2008
- Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations closing the General Debate of the 63rd Session, September 29, 2008. From The Real News. Published October 11, 2009.
- Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann discussing the need to reinvent the United Nations interview aired on Democracy Now!, April 26, 2010
- Fmr. UN President d’Escoto: "The U.N. Is Beyond Reform, It Has to Be Reinvented" - video by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...