Firebrand priest leaves mark at UN

Few critics of the United Nations' often skewed balance of power have matched the outspoken fury of the revolutionary priest who led the world body's principal organ until Monday. "Certain member states think that they can act according to the law of the jungle, and defend the right of the strongest to do whatever they feel like with total and absolute impunity,–Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann told delegates on the last day of his presidency in the General Assembly's 63rd session. To Brockmann, a respected figure from Nicaragua who pioneered the movement for social justice movement there, and a firebrand critic of the United States and its allies, the U.N. needs to change itself or risk becoming irrelevant. "[There is] the urgency to reform the U.N.," he said. "But during this year as president of the General Assembly, I have come to the conclusion that the time has already passed for reforming or mending our organization."