MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Latin American foreign ministers stand up for international law

Uruguay's Rodolfo Nin Novoa was among the signatories

A total of 38 former Latin American foreign ministers published Thursday a Manifesto warning about “the collapse of the international order” established after World War ii and insisted on the region's need to recover a leading role in global affairs.

 They also recalled Latin America's stance at the San Francisco Conference in 1945 and at the Chapultepec Conference, where key principles of the United Nations Charter were outlined.

“Any observer can easily recognize that we are witnessing the collapse of the international order,” read the document which also called for the peaceful resolution of disputes to the practice of territorial conquest because “respect for the personality, sovereignty, and independence of each American State constitutes the essence of the international order.”

The Manifesto also proposes recovering spaces for regional consultation to build a renewed vision of multilateralism. “We call on the countries of the region to identify shared interests beyond differences.”

“Principles that have regulated relations between nations since the horrors of World War II, including the sacred principle of non-aggression, are being dismantled and replaced by power blocs built around the law of the strongest,” the declaration mentioned.

Latin America once “marked the path of the Charter of the United Nations, especially Article 2.4 and its prohibition of the use of force and of the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity of a country, with its insistence on principles such as 'the proscription of territorial conquest' or 'the adoption of conciliation, comprehensive arbitration or international justice to settle any difference or dispute' or 'the recognition that respect for the personality, sovereignty and independence of each American State constitutes the essence of the international order',” it went on.

“First of all, we denounce the attack on the principle of inviolability of territory, such as that launched by Vladimir Putin with his devastating invasion of Ukraine. It is not acceptable for a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to launch itself into the conquest of a neighboring country in a colonial war. Ukraine is fighting for its independence and must have the strong support of Latin America. We hope that the United States will maintain its assistance to Ukraine, regardless of its efforts to end that war. We also express our solidarity with the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, and reject President-elect Donald Trump's recent statements about the Panama Canal,” the former ministers insisted.

“Second, we denounce the attack on human rights and International Humanitarian Law, the indispensable legal framework for the protection of civilians in armed conflict,” they added while mentioning ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. “We reject double standards, from both sides.”

“Third, we denounce the attacks on free trade and the attempt to impose greater barriers to our exports and to use tariffs as a tool for political pressure, in violation of the rules agreed upon in the WTO. The flow of goods is crucial for the growth of our economies and the fight against poverty and inequality in our continent. It is also crucial for the development of intelligent and fair policies in the face of migratory phenomena, in accordance with the accepted principles of international law.”

“And fourthly, we denounce the attacks on the commitments acquired in the existential fight against climate change. 2024 was the warmest year in history and the first to break the 1.5-degree [Celsius] limit agreed at COP21,” they also pointed out while warning that “no one has more to lose than Latin America, the continent of biodiversity.”

The statement was also endorsed by former Human Rights Watch (HRW) Americas Division Director José Miguel Vivanco, and Argentine lawyer Juan E. Méndez, the United Nations' special rapporteur against torture until 2016.

Among the signatories were former Foreign Ministers Susana Malcorra and Santiago Cafiero of Argentina; Alejandro Foxley, Heraldo Muñoz, and Antonia Urrejola of Chile), Celso Lafer and Aloysio Nunes Ferreira of Brazil, Rodolfo Nin Novoa and Didier Opertti of Uruguay; and José Félix Fernández Estigarribia and Eladio Loizaga of Paraguay. Also participating was former Brazilian Finance Minister and Secretary-General of UNCTAD, (the UN Conference on Trade and Development) Rubens Ricupero.