By Amanda Roberson , Tico Times Staff

Urging other countries to join Costa Rica in denouncing weapons proliferation and promoting education and human rights, President Oscar Arias addressed the U.N. General Assembly in New York yesterday.

Arias’ speech, which was broadcast and translated into English on the United Nations’ Web site, touched on his often-mentioned principles of literacy, development, nonviolence and free-trade, drawing on quotes from the author William Faulkner and former U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy.

“I am convinced that humanity has reasons to be optimistic and that, as Faulkner said, ‘I believe that man will not merely endure — he will prevail,’” Arias said.

Arias also urged fellow U.N. member countries to ratify a proposed Arms-Trade Treaty, which would prohibit the sale of weapons to countries that violate human rights and those that could use them to attack other countries. It also would limit totalitarian nations’ ability to acquire arms, according to a statement from Casa Presidencial.

Lauding Costa Rica as a country where “children have always marched to school with books under their arms and never with rifles on their shoulders,” Arias said all countries should follow Costa Rica’s example of condemning weapons.

He proposed the creation of a Costa Rica Consensus, which would “create mechanisms to forgive debt and give international financial support to developing nations that invest more and more in education, health and housing, and less and less in soldiers and weapons.”

Alliances of countries such as the G8 use developing countries’ incomes to determine debt forgiveness, the statement said. The Costa Rica Consensus seeks to reward these countries for investing in health, education and infrastructure.

Arias yesterday met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and the King of Jordan, Abdullah Al Hussein. Today, he plans to join the United Kingdom in presenting a draft of the Arms-Trade Treaty resolution.