burden has, in real terms, meant a setback to development. Interest rates continue to remain at high levels, and the escalation of unfair trade practices has displaced us in the traditional markets. The growth rates of international trade have been insufficient and have had a critical impact throughout the region, setting up an unabating trend towards a net transfer of resources from Latin America and the Caribbean to the industrialized nations. RM/4 A/S-18/PV. 3 13 (Mr. Larco Cox, Peru) Nevertheless, in recent years the region has commit ted itself to a reaffirmation of democracy as the most advanced form of social organization and to respect for civil liberties, notwithstanding the threat posed by the deterioration of the living standards of the majority of the population. At the same time, the industrialized nations, seemingly obliviot.S to that critical situation, are putting forward proposals freighted with strong ideological pressures in favour of particular economic and societal models, thereby undermining the autonomy of our States and denying the diversity of the institutional development of our societies. When the developing countries made the problem of development one of the main concerns of the United Nations, they focussed their actions on the elaboration of comprehensive programmes aimed at restructuring and democratizing the international economy. The Declaration and Programme of Action for the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and the adoption of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, supported by the elaboration of successive international strategies for development, are the clearest and most evident expressions of the effort to transform international economic relations. Today, those proposals, which remain conceptually and politically valid, have a renewed importance, in spite of the fact that increasing numbers of developed countries are resorting to bilateralism in their external economic relations and are thereby weakening 
**Analysis**
The text appears to focus on the economic and political challenges faced by developing countries, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, in their pursuit of development and autonomy. It highlights the impact of high interest rates, unfair trade practices, and the dominance of industrialized nations on their economies. The text also emphasizes the importance of democracy, civil liberties, and the diversity of institutional development in these countries. The language used is formal and diplomatic, suggesting that the text may be a statement or proposal from a government or international organization.

**Category**
International trade, Economic development