Mr. President, distinguished heads of state and government, distinguished delegates.

I am appearing once again before this assembly on behalf of the Republic of Panama, a nation whose own geography defined its destiny. It's the bridge of the world and connects continents, cultures, and markets. At a time in history in which geopolitical fractures threaten to polarize us in a dangerous manner, Panama reaffirms its historic vocation to bring people together and seek common understandings. I must say that polarization is coupled with a large mass of people who feel that international organizations have forgotten the values and priorities of the majority of citizens.

I'm referring to those who wish to progress in peace, to be able to work and return home safely. Also, those who defend the institution of the family that has its own credo and a culture forged throughout the centuries that today is being called into question. The majority feel under pressure due to the actions of progressive multiculturalism, that a large part of society is not prepared to accept, almost under coercion. I'm a president that comes from a great nation, a crystal of different cultural heritages that forged a society that's open to the world, with a strong belief in peace.

This was all achieved over many years without any imposition, so this means that it happened naturally. I'm convinced that the United Nations has immense potential in a world with so much volatility and such strong asymmetries. But it needs to take up, again, its leadership in order to engage in preventive actions and corrective actions. I am a person who believes in and defends multilateralism, and I am convinced that peace and prosperity of nations must be grounded in international law as a guiding principle of relationships between nations. And these theoretical arguments must also be expressed with palpable results. We must recognize now that citizens do not believe that these types of meetings are that beneficial for them. And herein lies one of the reasons why we must restore trust. I want to give you a concrete example just to illustrate what I'm saying.

Since 2021, this organization has been working on recommendations and calling out illegal migration across the Darien and established a basis of humanitarian aid, and it looked like more of a concentration camp in the midst of the 21st century. However, in practical terms, the transit of people increased in 2022, and even more in 2023 and in the first six months of 2024. So it went from being uncontrolled migration and turned into huge illegal migration. People trafficking organizations linked to drug trafficking used and abused this space to transport more families, and the result of it was women and children, children ending up orphaned in one of the worst social disasters that my country can remember. In addition to this, we must add the ecological damage caused in a biodiversity reserve, the Darien Gap Reserve, and this has still not recovered. And this is a situation where there's more than a million people transiting across it, and since the first day I knew that we needed to resolve this issue individually, like I did, because this organization wasn't able to do it. And it's for this reason that at the beginning of my term I signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of the United States. This, at the end of the day, is a border issue for the United States also, but it was taking place in Panama. And so in the second six months of 2024, with colossal effort being made by my country, we managed to oversee a 50% drop compared to the first six months of the year. In 2025, when restrictive measures were implemented in the United States and we worked in better coordination with one another, we saw a 99% drop. So this means halting one of the worst humanitarian disgraces that Panama has ever seen in its history, putting an end to family separation, and also we stopped criminals profiting. This description is something that should not be seen as an isolated criticism, but rather as an inflection point to understand the increasingly widening gap between what citizens expect and what they are able to obtain from this organization on issues such as illegal migration, for example.

Ladies and gentlemen, in order to recover trust, we must make headway together on the key issues that benefit our citizens. World trade, without a shadow of a doubt, is one of the best expressions of the freedom to produce, transport, and trade products from one nation to another. We're proud of being a country that connects the world through trade. Having the canal that unites two oceans, that transports goods from all countries of the world without any distinction, that is an icon of integration.

This strategic canal for the free world, once again, is suffering the consequences of climate change. This is something that is a real paradox because we are a carbon-negative country and one of the very few carbon-negative countries in the world, but this does not mean that we don't have to face strong droughts followed by heavy rain that causes flooding. This leads us to a reflection that is, there's a lot of support for nations that assume the objective of decarbonization, but the fact is that we don't benefit from any type of economic aid, despite the fact that we remove more carbon from the world than we produce. So it will be the Panama Canal itself that grew under Panamanian hands and that saw billions of dollars of investments to build the Rio Indio project. This is going to be a reservoir of water to ensure that the canal can continue to be used and provide more predictability to international trade and water supply to hundreds of thousands of citizens. This is an endeavor of the United Nations to support responsible projects, both socially and environmentally, that represent real progress for our countries. It's fundamental not to give in to pressure from organizations that seek extortion under the coverage of social struggles and seek cover in international organizations such as the ILO, for example. Distinguished delegates, Panama is a global leader in the conservation of biodiversity and cultural legacy as a basis for our sustainable development.

We are a country that protects 33% of our territory and 54% of our seas. Last year we announced here our pact for nature and the Natural Panama Fund, which are initiatives that we're already progressing on. Today I am announcing that Panama will lead internationally an effort to recognize the universal rights of nature. And I ask all of you to support us in this initiative. As head of state. Thank you very much. As heads of state, we know all too well that trust is not something that can be decreed through resolutions. Confidence and trust is won on the ground when institutions fulfill their promises, when international law is applied without selectivity, and when peoples see that the multilateral system delivers concrete actions and results.

Just an anecdote: in 1992, when I was a young man minister in our country at that time, I participated in Indonesia, in Bali, in the first post-transformation meeting of the non-aligned movement. And at that time, everything was very vague and difficult, and the world had no better organization for a group of countries like that, like ours. And we were fighting against apartheid, against colonialism, neocolonialism disputes in the Middle East. At the end of the day, we were fighting against problems across the world. And Panama was in the final stages of completing the sovereign canal of our country. And the ambassador, Dr. César Cuéllar, here at the United Nations, he was here. And then what happened? Well, there was a very frank and short response: support us in international public law.

And here we are today, many years later, here we are again talking about the same thing. We firmly believe in useful multilateralism that is not an end in itself, but rather an effective tool to grow the development of peoples and to preserve peace. If we take a look now at the Straits of Hormuz, this clearly shows shortcomings in the implementation of international law. We see clearly the impossibility of providing solutions when crises first arise.

And this is a crisis that is leading to global repercussions. It would be very easy for me not to speak about this issue because the Panama Canal has benefited as a result of this situation. But I have never been guided by selfishness or speculation in a matter that is so sensitive for the entire world. The reality is harmful, not just as a result of the attacks on innocent people, such as crews of vessels, but also for millions of people who are running out of food or having to pay more for food and fertilizers, and workers who are having to pay more for fuel as a result of the inflation, which is the most regressive phenomenon that exists.

I feel indignation as a Panamanian. We are staunch defenders of sovereignty, after all. And we also have a treaty of neutrality for the canal, which is in our constitution and which ultimately is the guarantee of free trade and the equality for this passage for all nations of the world. As you can therefore see, Panama believes in these principles and actively works to ensure that this happens in practice.

Next December, our country will finish its mandate as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. As we took on this high, lofty task, our premise was clear. We didn't come to the council to choose sides. We came to the council to defend principles: sovereignty, territorial integrity, the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the protection of civilians. They are the rules that protect the very existence of states, particularly the smallest states. I wish to reiterate to this General Assembly the need for Latin America and the Caribbean to have places with greater decision-making power in the Security Council, specifically a permanent seat, a permanent member of the Security Council of this organization. We are a region that plays a protagonist role in food, minerals, biodiversity, and a deep-seated belief in peace and integration. Our contribution is without doubt. The world doesn't need less UN. It needs a United Nations that works better, that acts with preventive diplomacy, and that can yield positive results in the short term. We are at a turning point in our history. The election of the next Secretary-General will be of paramount importance to determine the next agenda, to ensure robust, lasting trust, of course, in the understanding of the new global balance, if you can call it that.

That is why we believe that the war in Ukraine must end through dialogue and formal diplomacy. In the Middle East, we will also seek lasting peace that can pave the way for nations to live in harmony. At the regional level, we reiterate the request to strengthen participatory democracy throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, while also respecting free, open, transparent elections in all countries in our region. In terms of security, we will continue to work together with our allies to combat drug trafficking, which is a source of violence and social breakdown.

We also staunchly support the government of Colombia in their measures to reduce the production of cocaine, which also affects Panama as a transit country. Ladies and gentlemen, in a world marked by strategic competition between the great powers, Panama, as a result of our history and beliefs, chooses to remain the meeting point where humanity can build a future of peace and shared development. We are a nation that hosts people from different cultures, that hosts birds, whales, and vessels from the entire world. Panama hosts the world, and we would like to invite all three nations who wish to see prosperity for their peoples and who wish to be more global in trade, but also more autonomous in decisions on their own traditions to work together.

We also host investment with a new stage of national development to improve global logistics through the Panama Canal and also five high-quality global ports, including two of the largest in our region, in addition to the expansion of the services that we offer in terms of transporting hydrocarbons between the oceans. This is a center that has recently been entirely acquired by the Panamanian state. As I have made clear in this statement, in terms of global trade and also investment in combating drug trafficking and terrorism, respecting sovereignty and peace, in all of these matters, all members of the United Nations can continue to count on Panama in this endeavor. Thank you very much.