Encounter of Two Worlds

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

The Delegation of the Dominican Republic wishes to express its pleasure at being able to take part in this special meeting of the Permanent Council. It was on October 12, 1492, that a group of men who had sailed for more than two months under the command of Christopher Columbus sighted land: what would later be called America. As the Mexican philosopher and historian Miguel León-Portilla pointed out, today we commemorate a date that takes into account not only those who arrived and discovered, with astonished eyes, lands unknown to them, but also recognizes the presence of those who had inhabited those lands for millennia and made their voices heard there.

Mr. Chair, this date is highly significant for the Dominican Republic. As the Spanish Head of State said on his arrival in Santo Domingo on May 31, 1976, on the island of Hispaniola things of transcendent importance in the history of the New World happened for the first time: the first dialogue between discoverers and natives, the first Mass, the first town council, the first high court and, though the claim is disputed, the first university; the land where the first Castilian words were taught and where the Spaniards learned their first indigenous words. To this we must add that our land saw the birth of the first capital of the New World, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, declared a World Heritage Site.

The island of Hispaniola was the gateway through which America received a great cultural legacy of advances and artistic expressions, not only Western but Eastern as well, and through which Europe, in turn, received the ingenuity and art of the New World. The language of the Spanish people, their religion and their customs were the beginning of a blending of traditions and cultures which, together with the richness of the native indigenous peoples and of the Africans, has given us the Hispanic America of today.

Mr. Chair, this encounter has different connotations and meanings in our countries. Not everything was rosy, for the inhabitants of our lands were attacked and decimated, and it was precisely on our territory that the first indigenous rebellions took place, led by Enriquillo and Hatuey, and where enslaved Africans, led by Sebastián Lemba, fought for their freedom.

The Conquest also brought vindication and the first voices raised in a cry for justice and respect for human dignity, for it was in Santo Domingo that Fray Antonio de Montesinos preached two sermons before the encomenderos of the island of Hispaniola, on November 30 and December 7, 1511, denouncing and condemning their abuses against the indigenous people. Another example was Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, who was also in our land and who wrote and fought always in defense, above all, of the indigenous peoples of Mexico and Guatemala.

The Dominican Republic has shared history with Spain since that December 5, 1492, when the first Spaniards set foot on our land. Today, relations are strengthened further still by strong ties of friendship, cooperation and exchange with each of the Member States of our Organization. On this very special date, we offer the Kingdom of Spain, its Government and its people our most sincere congratulations on their National Day, October 12, a date which, as we have said, is of transcendent importance for humanity; and we express our hope for the continuity and strengthening of our relations, which have always been guided by mutual respect and a strong spirit of collaboration, with our best wishes for peace and prosperity.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.