Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Friday 6 March 2020
Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian two-term UN chief, dies at 100

more for diligent, quiet di- "There is no visible alterna- ia's independence, "are
plomacy than charisma. tive." thought to have led the
"Le ton fait la chanson," he Unlike his predecessor, Kurt `rebirth' of the United Na-
was fond of saying, mean- Waldheim who was re- tions, in which cooperation
ing that melody is what garded as a "workaholic" started to be valued over
makes the song and not and who spent long hours division."
the loudness of the singer. in his office, Pérez de Cuél- "As the protector of peace,
"He has an amiable look lar liked to get away from it believer of human rights,
about him that people all. "He is very jealous of his and advocate of develop-
mistake for through and own privacy," a close aide ment, he made long-last-
through softness," said an said. ing changes that shifted
aide, who described him "When I can, I read every- the trajectory of the inter-
as tough and courageous. thing but United Nations national community to a
Faced early in his first term documents," Pérez de better future," Ban said in
with a threatened U.S. cut- Cuéllar confided to a re- a letter to Peru's President
In this Mar. 28, 2001 file photo, Foreign Minister Javier Perez de off of funds in the event of porter. Martin Vizcarra.
Cuellar of Peru, speaks to reporters during a pause in the ses-
sion of the annual meeting of ministers from the Latin American Israel's ouster, he worked Once on a flight to Mos- Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Group of Rio and the European Union in Santiago, Chile. behind the scenes to stop cow, an aide observed was born in Lima on Jan.
Associated Press Arab efforts to deprive the that "in the midst of it all, 19, 1920. His father a "mod-
Jewish state of its General the secretary-general had est businessman," was an
By FRANKLIN BRICENO When he began his tenure Assembly seat. There was time for splendid literature." accomplished amateur pi-
Associated Press as U.N. secretary-general muted criticism from the Trilingual, Pérez de Cuéllar anist, according to the for-
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Javier on Jan. 1, 1982, he was a Arab camp that he had read French, English and mer secretary-general. The
Pérez de Cuéllar, the two- little-known Peruvian who given the Americans the Spanish literature. family traced its roots to the
term United Nations secre- was a compromise candi- right of way in the Middle Pérez de Cuéllar spent Spanish town of Cuéllar,
tary-general who brokered date at a time when the East. much of his second term north of Segovia.
a historic cease-fire be- United Nations was held in In dealing with human rights working behind the scenes In Peru, the family be-
tween Iran and Iraq in 1988 low esteem. issues, he chose the path of on the hostage issue, result- longed to the educated
and who in later life came Serving as U.N. undersecre- "discreet diplomacy." He re- ing in the release of West- rather than the landowning
out of retirement to help tary-general for special po- frained from publicly rebuk- erners held in Lebanon, class. "He went to the right
re-establish democracy in litical affairs, he emerged ing Poland for refusing to including the last and lon- schools," a countryman at
his Peruvian homeland, has as the dark horse candi- allow his special represen- gest held American hos- the United Nations once
died. He was 100. date in December 1981 tative into the country to in- tage, journalist Terry Ander- said of Pérez de Cuéllar.
His son, Francisco Pérez after a six-week election vestigate allegations of hu- son, who was freed Dec. 4, He received a law degree
de Cuéllar, said his father deadlock between U.N. man rights violations during 1991. from Lima's Catholic Univer-
died Wednesday at home chief Kurt Waldheim and the Warsaw regime's 1982 All told, Pérez de Cuél- sity in 1943 and joined the
of natural causes. Current Tanzanian Foreign Minister crackdown on the Solidar- lar's diplomacy helped Peruvian diplomatic ser-
U.N. Secretary-General An- Salim Ahmed Salim. ity trade union movement. bring an end to fighting in vice a year later. He would
tonio Guterres called the Once elected, he quickly In July 1986, Pérez de Cuél- Cambodia and the 1980- go on to postings in France,
Peruvian diplomat a "per- made his mark. lar underwent a quadruple 88 Iran-Iraq war, and the Britain, Bolivia and Brazil
sonal inspiration." Disturbed by the United Na- coronary bypass operation, withdrawal of Soviet troops before returning to Lima in
"Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar's life tions' dwindling effective- putting in question his avail- from Afghanistan. 1961, where he served in a
spanned not only a century ness, he sought to revital- ability for a second term. Shortly after midnight on number of high-level minis-
but also the entire history of ize the world body's faulty From the outset, Pérez de Jan. 1, 1992, he walked try posts.
the United Nations, dating peacekeeping machinery. Cuéllar had insisted that he out of U.N. headquarters He was ambassador to
back to his participation His first step was to "shake would be a one-term sec- to his waiting limousine, no Switzerland and then be-
in the first meeting of the the house" with a highly retary-general. longer the secretary-gen- came Peru's first ambas-
General Assembly in 1946," critical report in which he Upset with what he viewed eral, but having attained sador to the Soviet Union
said Guterres in a state- warned: "We are perilously as member states' reluc- his final goal after hours while concurrently ac-
ment late Wednesday. near to a new international tance to pitch in to help of tough negotiations: a credited to Poland. Other
Ban Ki-moon, Guterres's anarchy." the world body out of a peace pact between the assignments included the
predecessor as U.N. sec- With the 1982 Israeli inva- financial crisis, he told the Salvadoran government post of secretary-general
retary-general, called Per- sion of Lebanon, and with New York Times in Septem- and leftist rebels. of the Peruvian Foreign
ez de Cuellar "one of the conflicts raging in Afghani- ber 1986, "I don't see any "Mr. Pérez de Cuéllar Ministry and chief delegate
great diplomats of the 20th stan and Cambodia and reason why I should preside played a crucial role in a to the United Nations.
century." between Iran and Iraq, he over the collapse of the or- number of diplomatic suc- After leaving the U.N. Pérez
The U.N. flag will fly at half- complained to the General ganization." cesses — including the in- de Cuéllar made an unsuc-
mast at U.N. headquarters Assembly that U.N. resolu- But he did come back dependence of Namibia, cessful bid for Peru's presi-
in New York and at every tions "are increasingly de- for a second term after a an end to the Iran-Iraq dency in 1995 against the
U.N. duty station around fied or ignored by those groundswell of support for War, the release of Ameri- authoritarian leader Alber-
the world on Friday in hon- that feel themselves strong his candidacy, including a can hostages held in Leba- to Fujimori, whose 10-year
or of Perez de Cuellar, U.N. enough to do so." conversation with President non, the peace accord in autocratic regime crum-
spokesman Stephane Du- "The problem with the Unit- Ronald Reagan, who — in Cambodia and, in his very bled in November 2000
jarric announced Thursday. ed Nations is that either the words of the U.N. chief's last days in office, a historic amid corruption scandals.
Pérez de Cuéllar's death it's not used or misused by spokesman — expressed peace agreement in El Sal- At the age of 80, Pérez
ends a long diplomatic ca- member countries," he said "his personal support for the vador," said Guterres. de Cuéllar emerged from
reer that brought him full- in an interview at the end secretary-general." Former secretary-general retirement in Paris and re-
circle from his first posting of his first year as U.N. sec- "Just about all the Western Ban said Perez de Cuellar's turned to Peru to take on
as secretary at the Peruvi- retary general. countries have told him accomplishments, includ- the mantle of foreign min-
an embassy in Paris in 1944 During his decade as U.N. they'd like to see him stay ing forging the peace deal ister and cabinet chief for
to his later job as Peru's am- chief, Pérez de Cuéllar on," a Western diplomatic that ended the Iran-Iraq provisional President Valen-
bassador to France. would earn a reputation source said at the time. war and facilitating Namib- tin Paniagua.q