Bolivia's president lashes out against capitalist system in UN address

BOGOTA, Colombia

Bolivian President Luis Arce blamed the capitalist system for building a world full of inequality and “endangering the life of humanity and the planet" in his address Tuesday to the UN General Assembly in New York City.

Arce presented 14 proposals to the UN assembly to move towards a "world with more social justice,” including the need to fight against drug trafficking and avoiding a food crisis.

He said the war on drugs "has failed" and blamed this on the US.

“The war on drugs, mainly that unleashed by the United States, has failed, and therefore there is an urgent need for this country to carry out a profound analysis on the change of its policy in view of the fact that it has become one of the main consumer countries (of narcotics) in the world,” he said.

Arce also expressed his opposition to unilateral sanctions such as those imposed by the US on Venezuela and Cuba.

“It is inconceivable in a world hit by crises and the (coronavirus) pandemic that unilateral coercive measures are still being applied in order to bend the will of governments at the expense of the hunger and suffering of their peoples,” he told the General Assembly.

Arce also criticized capitalist countries for the money invested on war.

"We regret that while the countries of central capitalism are betting large sums of money on war, insignificant contributions are being made for integral and sustainable development, for decolonization and depatriarchalization, the eradication of poverty, and economic and social inequalities," he said.

The Bolivian leader said that 20 times more financial resources have been devoted to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine than have been committed to the Green Climate Fund in a decade, adding that “peace is not achieved by buying and selling weapons but by working together to build and if necessary rebuild the economic and productive capacities of all countries.”