Welcoming the President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei

I invite those present to rise to receive His Excellency President Alejandro Giammattei.

Your Excellency Alejandro Giammattei Falla, President of the Republic of Guatemala; the distinguished Pedro Brolo Vila, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala; distinguished members of the official delegation; Ambassador Rita Claverie Díaz de Sciolli, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the Organization of American States (OAS); distinguished permanent, interim and alternate representatives of the Member States, and it is a pleasure to see you all here in person once again; Mr. Luis Almagro, Secretary General; Ambassador Nestor Mendez, Assistant Secretary General; distinguished permanent observers; ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, it is an honor for me to greet and extend the warmest welcome to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Guatemala, Mr. Alejandro Giammattei, to this House of the Americas, which is his house, and where only a week ago we held, under the auspices of his illustrious government, with the masterly guidance of his Foreign Minister, Mr. Pedro Brolo, and the exemplary support of the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the OAS, the fifty-first regular session of the supreme organ of our Organization, all under the motto “For a Renewed Americas.”

Mr. President, the success and results of this latest meeting of the General Assembly confirmed, once again, Guatemala's commitment to the Central American Integration System (SICA), to strengthening the ties of cooperation and collaboration among the countries of the Americas as a whole, and to defending the institutional integrity of the OAS.

Guatemala, as a founding State of the Organization, has been an active protagonist in its activities; it has hosted sessions of the General Assembly on five occasions; it has on many occasions chaired the debates of the principal political bodies; and it is, moreover, a country convinced of the importance of inter-American law for strengthening legal cooperation among States, with more than sixty inter-American treaties signed and forty-five ratified.

Mr. President, you come to the heart of the Organization at a key moment, one in which we Member States must reflect deeply on the past; on the immediate challenges of the present, such as COVID-19 and its variants; but also on the future and the role of multilateral diplomacy in a world ever more interconnected and with ever more information. In this regard, recognition is due to the response that you, as a physician, have led at the head of your government, watching over the health of your people while at the same time maintaining a stable economy despite the relentless and punishing onslaught of COVID-19.

Dear colleagues, as we meet today beside the Hall of the Americas, where tribute is also paid to the illustrious General Justo Rufino Barrios, it is fitting to highlight the contributions of this renowned Guatemalan hero and founding father to the unity of Central America and of our region.

As Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic, I cannot fail to mention the excellent relations that unite us with the people of Guatemala. My personal experiences on so many visits to your country have allowed me to appreciate at first hand the nobility of its people, their determined will to overcome adversity, their characteristic creativity, the joy of the people and, of course, the beauty and natural wealth of the land.

Mr. President, when I was at university I chose to study in depth your country's transition to democracy. For a long time I concentrated on trying to understand the passage from war and authoritarianism to peace and democracy in Guatemala. On countless visits to the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, to Rafael Landívar and to Francisco Marroquín, I held long conversations with academics, politicians, former guerrillas, military officers, businesspeople and representatives of civil society organizations in order to learn about and understand the design and the process that led to the signing of the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace. After decades of armed conflict, this was, for me as a Dominican, a great challenge; there were many things I struggled to comprehend. But do not worry: I am not going to tire you now by setting out my academic conclusions of those days. I will, however, tell you something that is evident to me today: Guatemala is a country that faces the future with determination, a young democracy which, within its own social, economic and political dynamics, strives to reconcile demands, balance expectations and confront challenges. Some of those challenges are not exclusive to Guatemala; they are shared, because they are collective.

The dynamics of power, sometimes arbitrarily, load the scales against some or apply different standards to similar situations. Depending on the issue and the era, it has fallen to all of us at some point to navigate this situation. A word to the wise is enough.

In short, no one who has visited Guatemala can ever forget, as I never shall, landing in Flores, Petén; walking through Tikal and reaching the Temple of the Great Jaguar; gazing at the San Pedro volcano from Panajachel as the sun goes down; exploring the ruins of Zaculeu, in Huehuetenango; living the experience of seeing the Basilica of Esquipulas and contemplating the Black Christ, and then wandering through a farm of sunflowers; or being carried back to the era of the Captaincy General while walking the cobbled streets of Antigua, or being exposed to the flashes of the Maya world and its brilliant colors in the market of Chichicastenango. The natural beauty and cultural wealth of Guatemala leave anyone astonished and open-mouthed. I am one of those who have been captivated by Guatemala.

To conclude: although our countries do not share a border, we share a deep commitment to peace and progress, to the conservation of the environment, the eradication of hunger, the strengthening of democracy and the protection of human rights, as well as to economic recovery and revival, and to strong and sustainable economies able to adapt to the new realities created by COVID-19.

Mr. President, thank you for being here in person. We appreciate your visit to the OAS. You are most welcome.

Thank you very much.