Joss Heywood Sep 3, 2020:

Chema glosses the sentence as "El Secretario General reclamó que no han disminuido las disputas internacionales", but I think this pays too much attention to grammatical nicety and not enough to how people really speak.
I think what is being said is "No han disminuido las disputas internacionales, una disminución que reclamó el secretario general de la ONU hace unos días", or here they would say "No han disminuido las disputas internacionales, tal como reclamó el secretario general de la ONU hace unos días".

Carol Gullidge Sep 3, 2020:

Oh dear... Yes, you are right, Chema! True as Joss's suggestion must be, I see that it isn't what is actually being stated in the above text :((

Chema Nieto Castañón Sep 3, 2020:

"El Secretario General reclamó que no han disminuido las disputas internacionales".

Here, we can infer that the SG called for an ending of international frictions but "reclamó", in the original phrasing, cannot be read as "callin for (a not decreasing trend of international frictions)". The SG is actually asserting a painful fact; international frictions are not decreasing.

Carol Gullidge Sep 3, 2020:

re corroboration I take that back! Joss did in fact provide the corroborating UN link for us all to see! This now makes total sense, although I still don't know what the significance - if any - is of the "left-wing viewpoint"

Carol Gullidge Sep 3, 2020:

Actually - lightbulb moment! I originally dismissed Joss's suggestion out of hand, but now I see that it makes perfect sense! The Secretary General is very likely to have been calling for us all to stop squabbling in these already dangerous times. All we need is corroboration on whether this is actually what happened, although it does ring some bells...

Carol Gullidge Sep 3, 2020:

Hi Robert! I do agree with your point regarding why a left-wing writer might assume or believe that the Secretary General's statement is not necessarily the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Incidentally, in case I didn't make this clear, I don't believe that the word "claim" implies that the writer necessarily believes the statement is definitely a lie, but simply that it is open to be challenged - it is yet to be substantiated. People - politicians or not - make claims all the time, some of which turn out to be true... or otherwise!
Personally, I have no reason to suspect that the Secretary General would speak out of turn (although I might very occasionally query some of his statements), and I'm afraid I can't answer your perfectly-valid question regarding why a left winger might wish to portray him as perhaps having done just that - although I guess it might depend on how far Left this person's views are.
I do feel though that it must be significant that we were informed specifically that the article is taken from a left-wing viewpoint. But I see the word "claim" here as merely throwing some doubt on the accuracy of the SG's statement rather than denouncing it as an outright lie.

Robert Carter Sep 3, 2020:

@Carol Perhaps I'm being dense here, but your comment is anything but straightforward to me.
Why is "the left-wing writer...implying that he believes the Secretary General's statement is not necessarily entirely true"? What is it about the statement "pero no han disminuido las disputas internacionales" that a "left-wing" writer (whatever that's supposed to mean nowadays) would be sceptical of?
Would left-wingers, in your opinion, think the Secretary is exaggerating the number or intensity of international disputes?
I'm asking because I don't take much notice of UK politics (or at least UK party politics) anymore (which I'm perhaps presumptuously assuming are the optics you're viewing "left-wing" through), though I suppose nothing would really surprise me given how degraded and reactionary politics has become.