In a world marked by the rise of nationalism , new conflicts , and the decline of multilateralism amid the coronavirus pandemic , Mexico is preparing to take up its seat as one of the 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council ( UNSC ) for the 2021-2022 period.
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What is the agenda that our country will promote at the UNSC , considered one of the most important decision-making mechanisms in the international arena ?
According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ( AMLO ), the agenda consist of three key objectives:
1.
Fulfill the four fundamental rights proclaimed by former United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt : Freedom of speech and worship , the right to live free of fear , and the right to live free of misery .
2.
Promote cooperation for sustainable growth and environmental protection , which implies that rich nations and financial institutions should support poor peoples and governments in order to combat hunger , epidemics , racism , classism , sexism , xenophobia , and discrimination . Additionally, assist countries with investments and regional development programs to avoid migration fuelled by lack of employment or violence .
3.
Ensure that force is not used in conflicts
, and avoid the imposition of hegemonic power in any case. “We do not want an arms race , we want cooperation for development because peace is the fruit of justice . We don’t want to address violence with violence ,” AMLO said.
As it can be observed, AMLO is planning to progress in his domestic policy goals through the use of a privileged position in the UNSC . In his rhetoric, he gives priority to the protection of human rights —resorting to the unusual figure of Roosevelt in Mexico’s diplomatic tradition —as well as to the sustainable development of the country.
After all, as theorists have stated, a nation’s foreign policy should be the continuation of its internal policy . However, external challenges can disrupt domestic plans and the pursuit of common goals, as Mexico has learned from its past four periods at the UNSC (1946, 1980-1981, 2002-2003, and 2009-2010).
Furthermore, conjuntural problems often capture the attention of the UN body . A classic example is Mexico’s experience during the 1980-1981 period, when our country was elected by the UN General Assembly after the Cuban candidacy collapsed due to Havana’s support for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan .
The Afghan conflic t was mired in the Cold War framework that also involved the victory of revolutionary forces in Nicaragua and Iran . As the former Mexican Permanent Representative to the UN (1979-1985) Porfirio Muñoz Ledo has pointed out in EL UNIVERSAL , in those times of crisis and change the UNSC also dealt with the Falklands War , the South African intervention in Angola , and Belize’s independence from Great Britain .
Those events contributed to sideline the diplomatic efforts made by Mexico in order to boost its agenda of peaceful international relations , and balanced economic growth , notably the 1981 North-South Summit held in Cancun , which remains as the only conference of its kind in history.
The invasion of Iraq
Twenty years later, Mexico was among the protagonists of a landmark case in the Security Council , the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq . Under the conservative government of Vicente Fox , the first president elected from an opposition party in 71 years, Mexico’s priority was then the negotiation of a comprehensive immigration deal with Washington .
Unprepared to break with the influential Mexican diplomatic tradition in favor of non-intervention , peaceful resolution of disputes , and self-determination , the Estrada Doctrine enshrined in 1930, Fox went under pressure from U.S. President George W. Bush and his allies from Spain , Britain , and Japan .
While in Mexico right-wing forces represented by the Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda Gutman also exerted pressure on Fox to support the U.S., trading its vote in the UNSC for a possible immigration agreement , the skillful strategy followed by the late Adolfo Aguilar Zinser , Mexican Ambassador to the United Nations (2002-2003), protected the integrity of our prestigious non-intervention policy .
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Aguilar Zinser
, who served as president of the Council for two one-month terms, worked with several of his colleagues from the other nine non-permanent members of the UN body in order to avoid the attack on Iraq .
The UNSC was deeply split, with two of its five permanent members— the U.S. and the United Kingdom —backing the plans for the invasion , while the other three, France , Russia , and China, rejected the military option. Bush and his Secretary of State Colin Powell needed a favorable vote at the UNSC legitimizing the attack .
However, Aguilar Zinser and Chile’s Ambassador to the United Nations Juan Gabriel Valdés denied the allies the possibility to obtain the five votes from non-permanent members required to pass its draft resolution presented on February 24, 2003 for the invasion .
Instead, they insisted on maintaining the search of alleged nuclear , chemical , and biological weapons in the Arab country undertaken by Hans Blix , United Nations inspection commission head , and Mohamed ElBaradei , Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency .
After six weeks of intense debate, negotiations, and threats, the U.S. “ coalition of the willing ” invaded Iraq , breaching international legality and worse, provoking a war that still ravages the country and gave rise to the emergence of the Islamic State .
Powell’s “ weapons of mass destruction ” were never found. The allied draft resolution was never voted and it would probably have been vetoed by France , using its power as a UNSC permanent member.
Today, the veto power in possession of the five UNSC permanent members remains as one of the most controversial issues in the United Nations system .
Although the world is not facing a similar scenario, disputes between the United States , Israel , Iran , India , China , Egypt , Ethiopia , and North Korea , as well as the wars in Syria , Libya , and Yemen , have the potential to escalate into a major international crisis where the veto power can make a difference.
As Juan Ramón de la Fuente , Mexico’s current Permanent Representative to the United Nations affirmed before the Senate, the task is complex and there will be difficult moments, exemplified by the coronavirus pandemic .
De la Fuente considered that in spite of the possible mistakes committed by the World Health Organization in its response to the pandemic , the UN agency is our best option and it is better for the world to strengthen it.
He said that he will also seek the chair of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict . During his campaign, he stressed that the pillars of the Mexican agenda will be to uphold the international rule of law , promote international humanitarian law , improve the Council’s working methods, and add gender perspective to its actions.
Last week, 187 of 192 UN State members elected Mexico to the Council , replacing the Dominican Republic in representation of the Latin American and Caribbean region . It was the most voted candidate from all regions, and was also elected to the Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ).
It is likely that during his mission De la Fuente would address yet another contentious issue at the heart of the organization, the expansion of permanent members of the UNSC with the objective of better reflecting the current reality of the post-1945 world.
Brazil
, South Africa , India , Egypt , Germany , Japan , and Mexico are among the countries that have been promoting their inclusion in the UNSC , or have been proposed as possible members due to their political and economic weight.
On Tuesday, for instance, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declared that India is a strong nominee to become a permanent member “and we support India’s candidacy.” During a videoconference of the Russia-India-China Group , Indian External Affairs minister S. Jaishankar said that New Delhi is hoping that its performance at the UNSC for the 2021-2022 period would reaffirm its credentials to be a permanent member.
Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored in his message commemorating the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in the Second World War that the UN system “has become the quintessence of the intellectual and political quest of several centuries .”
The veto power
, he said last week, “is the only reasonable alternative to a direct confrontation between major countries. It is a statement by one of the five powers that a decision is unacceptable to it and is contrary to its interests and ideas.”
Other countries, Putin continued, even if they do not agree, “take this position as a given, abandoning any attempts to realise their unilateral efforts. It means that in one way or another it is necessary to seek compromise.”
The Russian leader acknowledged that the UN system currently “is not as effective as it could be,” yet he remarked that the principles of the UNSC are a unique mechanism for preventing a global conflict .
“The calls that have been made quite often in recent years to abolish the power of veto , to deny special opportunities to permanent members of the UNSC are actually irresponsible,” he added.
Editing by Sofía Danis
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