The UN General Assembly elected Wednesday a
Catholic priest and controversial former Sandinista foreign minister of Nicaragua as its president for the 63rd session scheduled to open in September.
Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann was elected without a vote by the 192-nation
assembly to the rotating leadership post, which falls this year to Latin
America and the Caribbean. He was the choice of that region and had no
challengers.
D'Escoto said in acceptance speech, which sounded much like a sermon of love,
that the assembly's nations must be united to democratize the world
organization and accept the non-violence philosophy of India's Mahatma Gandhi.
"The unity which the world requires of us is one born out of love and a desire
to make each of ourselves instruments of peace, justice and solidarity,"
he said.
D'Escoto will take over the assembly's one-year presidency on September 16 when
it opens its annual session.
"Therefore we cannot allow hatred, rancor, or a desire for revenge into
our struggle," he said. "On the contrary, this is what we must firmly
fight against, with unbending love and respect. Gandhi must be our paradigm in
this struggle for a better world."
D'Escoto, 75, is himself a controversial personality in Latin American
politics. He was born in Los Angeles in 1933 into a family of diplomats and
studied at Columbia University in New York before his ordination as a Roman
Catholic priest in 1961 as a member of the Maryknoll Missionary Congregation.
He returned to Nicaragua to join the Sandinista National Liberation Front in
its struggle against the US-backed government in Managua, and was appointed
foreign minister in 1979 when it overthrew the US-backed Samoza government.
He stepped down as foreign minister in 1990 with the end of the Sandinista
regime, voted out of office in multi-party elections.
D'Escoto and other priests were publicly scolded by Pope John Paul II during a
visit in Central America for their participation in politics. But d'Escoto went
on to win praises for his humanitarian works. He received the Lenin Peace Prize
in 1985 and the Thomas Merton Award in 1987.
D'Escoto told a press conference at UN headquarters in New York following his
election that he will not change the position he had adopted when fighting for
the Sandinistas.
"I love the United States and the US is much larger than its political
figures," he said. "I will continue to be the same person and won't
change."
He urged people to call him "father" or simply Miguel.
He acknowledged his acceptance speech to the assembly sounded like a sermon.
"They elected a priest and I hope no one was offended," he said.
"Love is what the world needs the most."
D'Escoto said he will spend his time as assembly president to
"democratize" the United Nations, dpa
reported.