Jose A. Benzaquen Perea, Ambassador of Peru to Qatar.
On March 4th, we remember the day the Secretary General of United Nations, Ambassador Javier Pérez De Cuellár, passed away, who left a generous legacy of his work dedicated to promote the peace of the world, different situation that we are facing in our international community nowadays.
An outstanding Peruvian statesman, diplomat and lawyer, with his own personality continued to remain someone to whom fate gave him the great opportunity to lead an international organisation such as the United Nations with the modesty and good manners, and with good results in his work as a representative of the dialogue and negotiation to reach the harmony between the nations with some diverse visions.
During his two periods as the UN Secretary-General, he played an important role in a number of success stories, and after two years of his death, his legacy continues as a bright life.
Former UN Secretary-General, Javier Pérez De Cuellár
Javier Perez de Cuellar maintains a paradigm to follow, as he was always an example of a good person, respectful and strong faith to resolve the encounters that happened occasionally in the history of the peoples without justice and democracy.
As a diplomat, a career that seeks to solve everyone’s problems, he served in relevant international destinations, and in periods when the world faced peculiar situations as we mention.
The former Secretary-General of united nation who began his professional career in Paris as Third Secretary in 1949. After years he became the representative of Peru to United Nations and participated in the first Assembly in 1946 in London, and head of mission in several countries in France, Switzerland, Poland, Venezuela, and the Soviet Union.
In the high position of diplomacy he was present in many countries — as we said —, carrying out his work to continue promoting dialogue and support populations that required his presence, qualifying himself as a “pilgrim of peace”.
The Peruvian Ambassador visited the Middle East region and Qatar in 1984, in his eagerness for peace and good understanding, the essence of diplomacy.
When I was working in one department as a Third Secretary of Chancellery in my Ministry of foreign affairs in Lima, one day I received a phone call from Ambassador Javier Pérez de Cuellar who told me that he had an information of the possibility to be a candidate of Secretary-General of United Nation, and according to the message from New York effectively he had his great honour to conduct United Nation. He was very kind with me, and after days he became the Secretary-General of UN.
The United Nation through his capable leadership, continued to play an important role during the dark period in the world, and even now we still recognise the diplomacy of Javier Pérez de Cuellar
In his capacity as Secretary General, he helped resolve complex world situations as the Iran-Iraq conflict resolution in 1988; release of western hostages in Lebanon; promoted the best scenario for the negotiation of the pacification of Angola; subscription of the peace treaty of Cambodia; participation in the process of eradicating apartheid in South Africa; solution and pacification of El Salvador; Namibian independence; the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
In present days, we see how the United Nations plays a role to maintenance of international peace and security; promote the well-being of the peoples of the world, and international cooperation..
