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DE RUCNDT #0890 2742206
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 302206Z SEP 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5034

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 000890 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON AORC UNGA EI ET BH NI SF ER
CA, CB, VE, NZ, BO, SZ, MP, MR, MV, CG, SW, TH, VT 
SUBJECT: UN GENERAL DEBATE: VENEZUELA, ERITREA AND OTHERS 
 
REF: USUN 831 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: In the final plenary session of the 63rd UNGA 
General Debate on September 29, speakers included: Ireland, 
Ethiopia, Belize, Nigeria, South Africa, Eritrea, Thailand, 
Canada, Cambodia, Venezuela, New Zealand, Belarus, 
Switzerland, Mauritius, Maldives, Mauritania, Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, Sweden, Ethiopia and the Holy See. 
Ethiopia and Eritrea gave rights of reply.  The President of 
the General Assembly gave remarks at the end of the debate 
urging the end of "business as usual" in the UNGA.  Countries 
continued to address the themes of poverty; the global 
financial, food, oil and environmental crises; UN reform; and 
calls to reinvigorate commitments to achieve the Millennium 
Development Goals (MDGs).  The afternoon was interposed with 
speeches disparaging U.S. policies - notably Eritrea accusing 
the U.S. of "meddling" in the Horn of Africa and beyond and 
Venezuela blaming U.S. hegemony and its misguided "magic 
remedies" of unregulated capitalism for today's global 
economic woes.  Video and texts are available at 
www.un.org/ga/63/generaldebate.  END SUMMARY. 
 
VENEZUELA: "RELIGION OF NEOLIBERALISM" HAS FAILED 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2.  Blaming the global financial crisis on greed, "magic 
remedies" imposed by international financial institutions, 
and the imposition of neoliberal policies by a "global 
dictatorship" of ruling elites, Venezuela argued for a more 
regulated and "socially just" form of capitalism. 
Venezuela's representative sympathized with the "millions of 
brothers and sisters in the United States who have been 
swindled by the ruling class."  Despite freer, more 
transparent elections throughout Latin America today, U.S. 
"fundamentalists" on the right (whom Venezuela suggested do 
not love democracy as much as they claim) refuse to accept 
the results unless the winner also subscribes to their 
neoliberal ideology, the speaker said.  Those on the right 
use media outlets like Fox News to smear leftist democracies 
in countries like Venezuela and Bolivia, which the speaker 
welcomed into the "axis of evil" following its recent 
elections.  Venezuela charged that "bellicose taunting" of 
Moscow by war-like countries and alliances since the break-up 
of the Soviet Union instigated the Georgia conflict.  He 
proclaimed, "The Russian Bear has stopped hibernating." 
 
ERITREA: U.S. POLICIES TO BLAME FOR GLOBAL ILLS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. Eritrea catalogued ongoing conflicts throughout the world, 
including Georgia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, 
claiming, "Many of them have been exacerbated, if not 
instigated, by the misguided and domineering policies of the 
U.S. Government."  He accused the United States of 
deliberately fomenting conflicts and allowing them to fester 
as a means to exert its control.  Eritrea cited Somalia, the 
Sudan and support for Ethiopia's "aggression" as examples of 
U.S. "meddling" in the Horn of Africa.  Eritrea pointed to 
Ethiopia regarding problems with the Eritrea-Ethiopia 
Boundary Commission, and unrest in Somalia.  Ethiopia gave a 
right of reply, refuting Eritrea's territorial claim and 
saying that problems with the Boundary Commission can be 
traced to Eritrea's "ruthless regime."  Ethiopia also argued 
that its forces were in Somalia as the invited peacekeepers 
of the Transitional Federal Government.  Eritrea then 
followed with a right of reply to say that it had cooperated 
with the Boundary Commission and to reiterate its claim to 
the territories that Ethiopia occupied. 
 
D'ESCOTO'S CLOSING REMARKS 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. The President of the General Assembly gave closing remarks 
that were moderate compared to his first address to the 
General Assembly (Reftel).  He urged no more "business as 
usual" at the United Nations in order to introduce the 
changes that will reflect the UN Charter statement "We the 
peoples."  D'Escoto lauded the many statements made in 
support of actions to overcome the current global crises and 
particularly praised the interventions that called for 
specific actions to counter food security.  Finally, he asked 
that Member States set aside "petty" differences and join 
forces in the months ahead. 
Khalilzad