Venezuelan FM says supports China's global initiatives on development, security, civilization

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 23, 2023. Yvan Gil said Saturday that his country supports China-proposed global initiatives on development, security, and civilization. Venezuela applauds the efforts of countries that contribute to dialogue, understanding, global peace, and common progress, such as China, he told the General Debate of the UN General Assembly. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said Saturday that his country supports China-proposed global initiatives on development, security, and civilization.

Venezuela applauds the efforts of countries that contribute to dialogue, understanding, global peace, and common progress, such as China, he told the General Debate of the UN General Assembly.

"Venezuela supports the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative. It is through common efforts, under the spirit of complementarity, solidarity, and cooperation, that we can change the course toward a shared future of prosperity and stability for all of humanity," he said.

A new multipolar and multilateral world of peace and economic prosperity -- free from hegemony and anchored in the United Nations Charter -- must be based on the values of true multilateralism, international cooperation, and solidarity. In this regard, Venezuela recognizes the contribution of the BRICS group, which Venezuela aspires to join, to the current global geopolitics and the democratization of international relations, he said.

In the face of the economic and financial crisis that particularly affects developing countries, there is a need for a new model for the mechanisms of global governance, where the Global South has fair access to international financing, said the minister.

Until there is a true and effective reform of the multilateral system in the financial sphere, the Sustainable Development Goals are destined to be unfulfilled, he said.

Debt is an essential problem for developing countries, and there is little hope that things will improve soon if the current system is not radically changed. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and Western credit institutions, while charging low interest rates to their friends, burden developing countries with unpayable interest rates, which some experts have termed a criminal financial apartheid.

This neo-colonialist scheme of plunder and dependence must be rooted out, he said.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 23, 2023. Yvan Gil said Saturday that his country supports China-proposed global initiatives on development, security, and civilization. Venezuela applauds the efforts of countries that contribute to dialogue, understanding, global peace, and common progress, such as China, he told the General Debate of the UN General Assembly. (Xinhua/Li Rui)