intermediary between usandourcreditors. Inthedialogue withourcreditors we shallnotacceptasapre-condition themortgaging ofoursovereign economic independence northeimposition ofinternal political conditions through the signingoflettersofintentwithnegative termsforourpeople. Irepeatbefore thewholeworldthatmyresponsibiltiy asHeadofStateistothePeruvian people,BCl'/td A/40/PV.5 13 (President Garcia p4r~.> thatthePeruvian peopleisthepi:imarycreditor asfarasI8JIconcerned andthat thePeruvian Government hasbeenelected bythepeople, notbysomefinancial cartelthatwishestosatisfyitsownappetite. Inconclusion, weaffirmthatincurrent conditions theforeign debt-asa resultofitsW'ljustorigins andbecauseofthemethods bywhichithasbeen increased -cannotbepaidbyanyofourcountries, because theefforttoservice itattimewUlkeepourdelOOcracies trapped inmiseryand-violence. Thus,weare facedwithadramatic choice~ eitherdebtordemocracy. Thatisthecrossroads fa.cedbyLatinAmericaatpresent~ thatisthecrossroads atwhichthepoorworld nowfindsitself. wemustdecidewhatroadtotake. Webelieve thattheobjective mwstbetheunityofthedebtorcountriesanda radical changeinthepresent situation. Tothatend,weneed,toharmonize our positions withthoseoftheCOW'ltriesofAfrica andAsia,andtoco-ordinate Latin American action. Onehundred andsixtyyearsofindependent lifeinLatinAmerica haveshownusthattheisolated development ofeachCOW'ltry isamodeldoomedto failure. Nonetheless,wepersist inoursolitude. Asinthetitleofthegreat novel,ourCOW'ltrieshavelivedthrough 160yearsofsolitude. Exporters of commodities, purchasers offactories, debtors~ wehavecontinued onthesamepath, because thesirensongsoftheInternational Monetary Fundandofthebanksbeckon oneandalltowards isolated solutions whichareonlyfadinghopesorletters of. intentthatareimmediately unheeded. wecall f.:;)[unityonthepartoftheNon-Aligned Movement andonthepartof theLatinAmerican COW'ltries.unityonthissubject isaspecific testfor non-alignment, becausepolitical dialogue willservenotonlytodealwithdebt servicing butalsotoplacetheinternational economic orderinanewcontext. Thusthedebtwhichistheresultofourweakness willbetheinstrument ofour strength andanimpetus toourunity. Thatisthegreatroutetofollow: unity.BCl'/td A/40/PV.5 14-15 (President Garcta P~rez) .ButPerucannotwaitforaseriesofmeetings without concrete results. Weshall notfallintothevicious circleofwaiting forunityinthefutureandnotdoing anything lDltilthen. Wedonotbelieve inwaiting passively~ rather, weshallwait actively, notonlybyproposing themaximumofaudacious actions butalsobe committing ourselves toaconcrete struggle. Therefore, wehavetakenadecision thatweshallmaintain: Peruwillassign toitsdebtonlyoneOtltofeverytendollars, onetenthofwhatispaidtoitfor itsworkanditsexports. Thisisaresponsible andrevolutionary decision, becauseitisthedecision ofapoorcountry thatimports foodstuffs andindustri.al inputs, whosedebtiswithwestern banks,andwhichhassuffered andissuffering franthepressure bytheInternational Monetary Fund.Ourresponsibility inthis decisionistofaceuptoitsconsequences. Wedonothave ~privileged relationship withanyPower,because wedonot struggle against dependency bybeingtheinstrument ofanother hegemony. Wedonot adoptanyspectacular positions, advocating non-payment whilerepaying onepartof theworldpunctually, andrepaying wit.hstrategic sovereignty asubstantial debt that,forthatreason, isnotdemanded lDlderpressure bytheotherpartofthe world. Wedonotwant,inaMessianic way,toeXE:Ort a10percentmodelofpayment. Allwewanttodoisprovethatamajorstepcanbetake.nandthatifnvanyothers decidetotakeit,wecanopenuptheavenues tothe fut\~re. Inthefuture,ifwe unite,othersolutions willalsoexist,but,between therhetoric ofgreatspeeches andtherealism ofdecisions, wehavechosenthelatter. For,ifourrelationship withtheindustrialized worldisexpressed through debt,ithasitshistorical ori9inintheunjustdifference between thepricesofimports andthoseofexports.JSM/ed A/40/PV.5 16 (President Garc{ap4rez) Todaypriceeofcopper, silver, fishmeal andoilexports arelowerwhilereal interest ratesrise.weareconvinced thatbylinking thesetwoaspects wecan changetheseassymetrical relatims. Andthisisthewayinwhichwearestaking onthefutureandsetting ourowntermsofpayment. Ifinterest isthecostof moneywithin agiventerm, th~nbyse~ting amaximum payment thetermisextended andbybeingextended interes~ ratesareinfact va~ied. SOmeone hashastened tosaythat.what,wearedoingisaccumulating moredebt. Butthatpassive pessimism doesnotdistinguish between twodifferent elements: thatofthecreditol', forwhominterest accumulates, andthatofthedebtor, whoby setting amaximum paymentislayingdownhisownrules,independent ofthe accumulation ofdebtthatthecreditor presumes hehas.Thismeansthatthe uncertainty ofthefuturebecomes aproblem forthecreditor, ratherthanforus.