Nicaraguan U.S. Critic
Elected UN Assembly
President
(Reuters) - A former
Nicaraguan leftist
foreign minister who has
been a sharp critic of
U.S. governments was
elected on Wednesday as
the next president of
the U.N. General
Assembly.
But within hours of his
election, Miguel
D'Escoto Brockmann said
he wanted to turn a page
on his past comments and
work with the United
States and other
countries. Washington's
U.N. envoy said he had
similar assurances and
would wait and see.
D'Escoto was elected by
acclamation by the
192-member assembly
after standing unopposed
as candidate of Latin
American and Caribbean
countries, whose turn it
is to hold the post. He
will assume the
year-long job in
mid-September.
The assembly president
has little power but
chairs an annual
gathering of world
leaders in late
September. He or she
also presides over
regular assembly
debates, many on
development issues, and
oversees a long-running
drive to expand
membership of the
powerful U.N. Security
Council.
D'Escoto, 75, was
foreign minister in the
left-wing Sandinista
administration that
ruled Nicaragua from
1979-90, during which
time it fought against
an insurgency by
U.S.-backed Contra
rebels.
He succeeds Srgjan Kerim
of Macedonia in the U.N.
post.
In an acceptance speech,
D'Escoto made no direct
criticisms of the United
States but made a barbed
reference to "acts of
aggression" in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where U.S.
forces are fighting
insurgents.
"The behavior of some
member states has caused
the United Nations to
lose credibility as an
organization capable of
putting an end to war
and eradicating extreme
poverty from our
planet," he said without
elaborating.
But he also said he was
not trying to retaliate
against any country for
past actions, warned
against "sterile
recriminations" and
urged reconciliation "to
prevent memories of the
past from becoming
obstacles to our unity
from now on."
CATHOLIC PRIEST
The son of a diplomat,
D'Escoto was born in Los
Angeles and ordained as
a Roman Catholic priest.
He espoused the
left-wing liberation
theology movement within
the Catholic Church and
backed the Sandinistas
in the late 1970s,
earning a reprimand from
Pope John Paul II for
involvement in politics.
He has been a long-time
supporter of Sandinista
leader Daniel Ortega,
who returned to
Nicaragua's presidency
in 2006. Ortega harshly
attacked the United
States and expressed
support for Iran at last
year's General Assembly
gathering.
In a 2004 interview,
D'Escoto called Ronald
Reagan, who was U.S.
president in the 1980s,
an "international
outlaw" and "the butcher
of my people."
"Because of Reagan and
his spiritual heir
George W. Bush, the
world today is far less
safe and secure than it
has ever been," he was
quoted as saying.
At a news conference on
Wednesday, D'Escoto
stood by those comments
but said he now wished
to move on.
"I do not want to turn
this (General Assembly)
presidency into a place
to take it out on the
United States," he said,
adding that he loved the
United States as a
country.
U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations Zalmay
Khalilzad told reporters
D'Escoto's past comments
were unacceptable, but
added: "We have been
assured that a page has
been turned and that he
understands his new
responsibilities ... We
will wait and see."
Among D'Escoto's
expected tasks will be
to invite Bush to the
podium during this
year's General Assembly
summit.
Latin American diplomats
said that under a
routine practice in
which some U.N. posts
rotate among members of
the regional groups,
this year's assembly
president could have
come from Nicaragua,
Bolivia or Paraguay. But
Bolivia and Paraguay had
offered no candidate,
they said. |
