P
rince
of
A
sturias
A
wards
1981-2014. S
peeches
5
Democracy stirs time-honoured memories of our identity: voices that rang out in the Cortes of
Cádiz; ideas and sentiments that live on in the poems of José Martí, Rubén Darío and Miguel
Hernández; deep-seated aspirations echoed in popular music. We aspire to democracy in line with
our particular Latin American concept of mankind and progress. We aspire to democracy and
progress that maintains the essential facets of the way we are; close family ties, the life of the soul,
love of beauty, a balance between man and his environment. The blind forces of the past continue
to resist these ideals tooth and nail. In some of our nations, those who believe themselves to hold
the absolute truth, or those who hold absolute power, still prevail. But we are winning the fight.
Throughout Latin America, we are winning the fight for freedom and democracy, using our own
arms, our own concepts, supported by the will and determination of our peoples.
In some countries, this fight goes hand in hand with the struggle for peace. Sadly, we must
accept that regimes that oppress the people and deny them their rightful aspirations for peace and
freedom still persist on our continent. Democracy, long-term peace, progress and human rights
are inseparable in reality. Central America is surrounded by threats and by aggression; it lives with
a machete in its hand, with hunger in its belly and with hatred in its heart. We cannot react to this
situation by placing yet more arms in the hands of innocent youngsters and children. We must
react to this Central America with the spirit of peace, justice and democracy.
Oscar Arias
—
Prince of Asturias Award
for Ibero-American
Cooperation
1988
Oscar Arias was President of the
Republic of Costa Rica from 1986 to
1990 and from 2006 to 2010.
—
Excerpt from the speech given on the
occasion of receiving the Prince of
Asturias Award for Ibero-American
Cooperation on 15/10/1988.
