Mr. president of the General Assembly, Mr. Secretary general Heads of State. Ladies and gentlemen.

It is fitting that I begin by paying tribute to the people of the United States who, 250 years ago, a quarter of a millennium ago, decided and understood that people have rights, the right to life, to their liberty and to happiness, and that these rights should guide every government, and that it is the governed who should decide who should govern them. We in South America. Also Peoples of migrants inherited these same principles 50 years on. And to that we say cheers.

I appear before this assembly on behalf of a young country, but one with deeply rooted traditions, a country that, over the course of its history, has learned that governing doesn't merely mean administering resources or institutions. Above all, it means working for the well-being of people. And that has been one of Uruguay's great purposes building a society in which dignity, freedom. Peaceful coexistence and opportunities can be a part of people's everyday lives.

And if there is one word that sums up much of our vocation as a country, that word would be peace. We do not view peace simply as an absence of war. We understand it as something that has to be constantly built. The possibility for people to live, to work, to educate their children, pursue their aspirations, and to look to the future without fear. Uruguay. With its virtues, but also, like every country with its darker times, has been a country that has sought to resolve its differences through institutions, through dialogue and through the quest for agreement. In this assembly, we reaffirm our enduring willingness to contribute to peacekeeping missions with a deep sense of responsibility and solidarity. Uruguayan men and women can bear witness to the value of this instrument in easing suffering and guaranteeing respect for the human lives of the most defenseless populations. You can continue to count on Uruguay here. We are not a country given to grand gestures We are a country of deeply held beliefs. And one of these beliefs is that peace building is never finished. We can't take it for granted. Every generation has the responsibility to build it anew They can't be peaceful some and another peace for others. No suffering matters more because it happens closer to home, and no lives are worth less because they were born in another country. When people suffer, humanity as a whole bears a responsibility. When a people is displaced, when a family loses its home, when young people can see no way out and their mental health is under threat. When a child grows up under the sound of gunfire, when millions of people live in poverty or without any opportunities, we can't stand indifferent to that, nor can we stand indifferent to the pain caused by a state of endless war. The fear and pain generated by organized crime, or the constant threat of terrorism, the repression born out of tyranny, or the suffering triggered by a rigid economic blockade such as that endured by the Cuban people. We don't believe that taking one side or another in a war, confrontation or dispute necessarily contributes to resolving it. Indeed, very often it only serves to further the divisions. We have a different commitment, that is, to seek paths towards understanding, to open spaces for dialogue, and to help to ensure that conflicts find a peaceful resolution. This doesn't mean indifference. It doesn't mean downplaying suffering. It doesn't mean overlooking responsibilities. It means understanding that peace demands something more difficult than merely taking sides. It means that we need to work so that that confrontation can be brought to an end as soon as possible. And to do that, we also have to recover something that at times seems to have been lost in international debate. Humility.

Uruguayans have an expression that sums up an understanding of coexistence. No one is better than anyone else. No country holds the absolute truth. No nation has a monopoly on their solutions. No society can claim that its historical experience is universal, and no people should be doomed to choose between models imposed from outside. Our understanding of relations among countries stems from that notion of humanity humility. This is a humility that doesn't mean weakness. On the contrary, it means recognizing our own limitations, while at the same time trusting in the abilities of others.

We come from a country that is diverse in its opinions, but one that is deeply committed to the possibility of building a common future. And we believe that this combination diversity of ideas and cohesion around the future can also serve as our contribution to the international community. Today, we are living through a particularly difficult period. Extreme inequality remains one of the great threats to coexistence. Poverty continues to deprive millions of people of basic opportunities, and wars continue to destroy lives, communities, and hopes. While we discuss growth, technology, artificial intelligence, the energy transition, or new forms of production. There are millions of people who continue to ask themselves far more basic questions how will I feed my children? How can I find housing? How can I find a job? Or how can I face tomorrow without fear? We mustn't lose sight of that reality. Development makes sense when it improves people's lives. Economies make sense when they serve society. Technology makes sense when it expands our freedoms and opportunities. And politics makes sense when it is able to transform reality, to bring happiness to our people. We are speaking from the experience of a small country removed from the great centers of power.

However, we are convinced that our size shouldn't determine our ability to contribute, much less affect our own dignity. We need more effective, more representative multilateral institutions that are closer to the people and more able to respond to the challenges of our time. We need cooperation. We need solidarity and we also need to demonstrate austerity within these institutions. But above all, we need to restore trust in our collective ability to change things, because at its heart, the very idea of well-being and progress springs from something that is profoundly human, that is the ability to recognize suffering and refuse to accept inertia. Human beings are creative precisely because they refuse to resign themselves to things. They sense what causes pain, they sense what could be different, and then they are able to sense the desire for change. And this desire for change is perhaps one of the most profound expressions of our own freedom. When our people's advance along the path of progress, they generally do so by wielding the powerful magic of freedom, knowing that freedom doesn't involve solely choosing between different possibilities. It also means having being able to transform those things that we wish to for the good of the community as a whole. Our freedom becomes fuller when we are able to expand the freedom of others. When we change our societies through dialogue, when we build more, we build fairer institutions. When we undertake significant projects that endure beyond our own lifetimes When school and new school opens its doors, when a child has an opportunity that was previously out of their reach. When a community is able to overcome a division, when two countries that were at odds finally find a path towards understanding. Today, there are more than 8 billion people living on the same planet, 8 billion different stories, 8 billion hopes, 8 billion possibilities. We're not finished as such as humanity. We are a humanity still in the making. Every morning we have the chance to decide what kind of world we want to leave. To those who come after us, we can choose to accept inequality as inevitable. We could accept war as something permanent, accept poverty as our fate.

We could accept mistrust, replacing dialogue, or on the contrary, we could choose another path, the most difficult path, but also the most human one. Uruguay, therefore comes before this assembly today. With that belief, with the humility and respect of a small country, but also with the resolve of those who understand the value of their principles. We've come to say that peace is no utopia. It is an ongoing endeavor. No conflict is ever definitively resolved through more conflict. No society becomes safer when hopelessness becomes the norm. No country can build its well-being in isolation. The future of humanity will, to a large extent, depend on our ability to understand that we are profoundly interconnected. We are different. We think differently. We have different histories. We have different interests. We are well aware that this isn't a struggle between the good guys and the bad guys. All too often, the good guys quickly become the bad guys, or those that we harshly condemned yesterday magically become the standard bearers of our alliance for good. But we share the same planet and ultimately the same destiny.

Every day. The UN has an increasing reason to exist, and it must inevitably evolve in step with the geopolitical changes unfolding at dizzying speed. Every nation within this organization must play an active role within it, each to the fullest extent of their capacities. It's clear that our efforts should focus on ensuring that this is an up to date organization, properly supported, taking fair decisions that are respected countries borders cannot be subject to human whims. They must be protected and respected as they represent the boundaries established to preserve identity, distinctive character, and a sense of belonging of their respective populations. We cannot continue to be held hostage to the will of a handful of countries that can be counted on the fingers of one hand, nor can we yield to the economic expediencies of the time. The aim here is clear to achieve lasting stability, to ensure that the efforts of our citizens and their governments are channeled towards generating prosperity. Far removed, of course, from the destruction and suffering caused by war. And we have made a commitment. Let us honor it. Right now. The history that ultimately prevails will be the history that we write every day through our action. For all of these reasons, Uruguay will continue to support dialogue, multilateralism, cooperation, international law, and the peaceful settlement of disputes and above all, for the dignity of every human being. Humanity continues to refuse to regard itself as definitively complete And perhaps that's our greatest hope. The hope that we can still change, that we can still learn, that we can still build, and that we can still choose peace. And this mere fact ultimately reminds us of the clear purity of the idea that together we stand and together we change.

Little is contributed to the purposes of the UN by merely using this rostrum to accuse or attack fire, the fire doesn't need any more fuel. Let us better harness this opportunity and let us give peace another chance, because relations among states, just like relations between good people, bring happiness. If we refrain from trading blows or elbowing one another aside. Thank you very much.