Mr. President, on behalf of the Ecuadorian delegation, I should like first of all to congratulate you on your appointment.
187. It is a very great privilege for me, as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, to attend the opening of the sixteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly, and 'o begin my statement in these august precincts by expressing my country's most cordial greetings to the delegations here present from all the countries of the world.
188. All problems become actual at this rostrum, before the expectant eyes of the world, and all men anxious for peace and yearning for a better life, fix their hopes here.
189. However, the agony of peoples appearing to have found its most significant expression in the grandeur of sacrifice, we agree with the philosopher's view that only "where there is a Calvary is there a Redeemer", and nothing can be more true, in the profound philosophy which derives from life itself the optimistic conviction that life has a meaning, than the saying that "it is the dead who lead us". Here, in this solemn moment of recollection when one man's life has been transformed into a light shoeing the way for humanity, let us consecrate our thoughts and pay homage to the glorious memory of Dag Hammarskjold.
190. At this moment, mankind is living in a world of contradictions; we exalt the ideals of peace,1 theories are advanced which kindle hopes for a better life and, in the field of ideas, remedies are proposed for all problems. At the same times however, we are faced with a bloody and ironic reality in which poverty is rampant, the rule of law is broken, the freedom of the peoples is denied, human dignity is disregarded, national feelings are distorted through lack of understanding and are judged, not in a proper sociological light, but from a limited political standpoint and in which unsuspected desires for destruction and war are manifesting themselves.
191. Ecuador, like all the countries of America, young in history and still hopeful for the peace which the immense natural wealth of the world can offer, has faith in the decisions of this high body, this signal contributor to the future of mankind, the General Assembly of the United Nations.
192. Here we confront the enormous responsibility and ineluctible duty of this world Organization: first and foremost to work for peace and, in addition to this noble task, to strive at the same time to ensure that
the fruits of peace are not lost, and that the world once again becomes a place of opportunity and security for all mankind. We cannot, even for a moment, ignore the agonies of the present, and we must recognize as an unequivocal fact that the hour of the emancipation of the peoples has come.
193. If we disregarded this historical phenomenon, which nothing and nobody can alter and which I have called the emancipation of the peoples, not only would we be fleeing reality, but we would be leaving the way open for lawless and conflicting forces to undermine the very basis of our civilization.
194. When the United Nations was founded, shortly after the end of the last World War, it was said that it was not being created to find a speedy solution to all the world's problems, but to prevent those problems from leading the way to the abyss of war and slavery.
195. The world Organization does not and cannot constitute a universal panacea for all the ills of our day; but it tan and should play an extremely important part in eliminating the worst of those dangers which involve a threat to the peace of the world, by which I mean, to the very existence of civilized man.
196. Mankind is in fact passing through a very grave moral, material, political and sociological crisis such as it has not known at any other period in its history, and, it should be stressed that, as at no other period of history, action cannot be postponed or delayed, because the time for talk has passed. Today, peoples no longer believe in empty phrases or in dialectical theories; they have lost their faith in speeches.
197. Of the four freedoms proclaimed in the Atlantic Charter during the Second World War, the peoples are justly claiming the right to live in "freedom from fear", and the right to freedom from fear does not mean only that they should feel free from the imminent threat of a new war, but also and above all that they should be able to lead their lives in freedom from the threat of hunger, of poverty, of slum living conditions, of ignorance and of malnutrition. The borderline of hunger, as someone once called it with cruel but realistic frankness, today divides mankind in two. The erasing of that frontier is the vital task confronting Governments, statesmen and politicians today. The United Nations also has a duty to bring about a transformation of this frontier which is the symbol of the modern age, a transformation which we must bring about in order to establish a world which will not only be more secure for ourselves, but also more secure, brighter and more joyful for the generations who will come after us.
198. The Latin American peoples, young and powerful, rich in strength and spiritual resources, have also been going through an acute political and constitutional upheaval, with the obvious divergences deriving from their varying sizes and the political, economic and social factors that have arisen in the course of their social progress. We have not escaped the influence of this time of emancipation of peoples. The countries of our American continent, many of which have potential riches that await only immediately effective plans for their development, have found themselves held back in their material and social progress by various factors which have seriously inhibited their development. Victims or prisoners of geography, on the one hand, and forced by their infant economies, shortages of capital and technical knowledge and lack of communications on the other, to face a series of problems, some common to all and others particular to each nation, we have encountered difficulties, but we have retained and nurtured the spirit which is necessary for overcoming all obstacles, because, happily, the Latin spirit includes among its most noble attributes the admirable virtue of idealism.
199. The common problems of the American continent derive from the lack of political and commercial unity among the people and the absence of certain vital factors which are Essential for industrial development and therefore for modern economic life.
200. Unfortunately, these economically and politically divided countries reveal many crooks in their social and political structure and a number of shortcomings which seriously affect their future. The still-feudal system of land tenure, the population explosion, the alarming shortage of means of transport, the problem of arid lands and of vast uncultivated and uninhabited expanses, the unexplored jungles, the one-crop economies, the river systems which are unsuitable for navigation, the desert areas, and, above all, the antiquated methods used to exploit their vast natural wealth, combine to form a discouraging picture for which a definitive solution must be found if we do not wish to see major social discontent break out sooner or later.
201. Bearing in mind all these factors, which help us to understand these problems better at the world level, we are not misled by the rational desire of all peoples to overcome such problems and to aspire in human fashion to a better life, nor do we attempt to tag all social movements with a particular ideological label.
202. My ideal would be to make it possible for all mankind to satisfy its most elemental needs — in a real sense of the meaning of life and an objective application of the true principle of liberalism — for if we fail to understand this new era, and if we ignore the yearning of the masses, if we insist upon specious and passing classifications of the impulses by which men are moved at this time, the result will be, quite clearly and simply, that we shall be forced to witness a "radical solution" of the historical situation through which we are living.
203. The harsh conditions of material existence in which our peoples live have rendered the politico-social situation on the American continent more acute. We cannot shut our eyes to this important reality. Any Government which ignores' it, any statesmen who disregard it will fall victims to their own blindness and obstinacy. Peoples cannot live, as it were, on the fringe of history; history is written in the blood of all the uprisings of the past, and the period of insurgency of the Latin American peoples is simply part of the history of the contemporary world, and of our civilization, which we must preserve, unless we wish to ignore the needs of our time and let slip by the final opportunity to achieve more settled conditions in the present day world.
204. With its specialized agencies, its programmes of technical assistance and its plans for social development, the United Nations can do much for our peoples, for we do not consider that the world Organization is a forum, an exalted forum where we should merely discuss problems relating to peace — though those problems are certainly the most acute and important for the Organization. It should also be a force which we
list use to meet the essential needs of the peoples, or we must realize that, in the long run, so to act is to work for peace and mutual understanding, for the sympathy and comprehension which are created by efforts to avoid the abysses which lie in the path of our generation.
205. A great deal is said about democracy, about the fight for democracy, and about the urgent need for action to consolidate the victories so far won and to make them secure against all dangers, against all passions and against all the minor wars which are still being fought in this turbulent world in which we live. However, this requires unfaltering endeavour and a real readiness for sacrifice. Democracy is not and cannot be merely liberty, or government of the people, by the people and for the people, or even the noblest and purest republican principles. Democracy also means working steadily and tirelessly to make the whole world a happier place v more fit for men to live in. And a happy world can only be brought into being if, through the self-determination of peoples — who are the sole masters of their own destinies — all those dictatorial regimes disappear which offend human dignity. A world fit for men to live in can be attained only if all the forces of democracy exert themselves to ensure for the peoples, not only a maximum of liberty, but also a minimum of comfort, welfare and social progress. Once the peoples feel secure, once they are aware and conscious that they have a native soil on which to live, aware that they have sure safeguards, fully guaranteed and genuinely effective, for their material advancement — then the exercise of their civic rights is the simple exercise of a conviction: conviction in the advantages of a democracy which permits not only free political activity but also the crystallization of man's most human and natural aspirations for a better life. It is then that alien theories, totalitarian terror and extremist doctrines of all kinds cease to present even a potential danger. Political democracy without economic and social democracy, without respect for the freedom and self-determination of peoples and without respect for the dignity of man in the light of his most noble spiritual attributes, is not real democracy.
206. We must recognize that the great currents of history cannot be stopped. If a people tries to ignore these currents which impel us onward, whether we like it or not, it is likely to be destroyed in a tragic maelstrom of civil war and class struggle. Let us accept these currents of history, and realize that this crucial moment in the life of mankind is not so much the hour of the perils as simply the hour of man himself, of man worried in this complex world, of man yearning for what is his by right on the grounds of his human condition, his dignity as a man and above all as a free man: a clean home in the sun, secure and dependable employment and the logical enjoyment of all the comforts of the modern age.
207. Throughout the world, the last decade has, without doubt, been distinguished by two unique phenomena: the social pressure of the masses, expressed in the desire for a better life; and the demand of colonial
I peoples for independence, "and of others for self-determination and control of their own political destiny.
208. The age of the subjection of men has passed. It : is therefore all the more evident that the age of the subjection of peoples is passing and must go for ever.
209. It should not be forgotten, however, that the old theories upheld by the countries which possessed or
possess, even on a very small scale, colonial territories, still survive today for the conviction with which they defended or defend these theories is based, in reality, on politico-economic imperatives which unquestionably need to be overcome in this modern age, in view of the just and legitimate desire for independence, a desire deriving from the irrevocable and indomitable aspiration of men for freedom.
210. Ecuador considers this approach to be of particular importance, and, within the world Organization, has continually and consistently given its support to any proposal that recognizes the right of peoples to achieve full sovereignty, thus giving them the moral assistance which they needed in order to consolidate and guarantee their independence; for we have amoral obligation to assist the new States which, having passed through the colonial stage, can and must now take their place, in their own right, in the world community of free and sovereign peoples. This is the position we take, and it should be not that our support for this position must be and always had to be consistent with the clear and decisive position of the Government of Ecuador, headed at the present time by a statesman of firm and deeply held liberal convictions, in harmony with the clearly defined position of my Government" within its general principles of international policy.
211. The United Nations has an imperative duty and inescapable obligation to preserve world peace. All the countries making up this great world Organization must act in conformity with this natural and logical faith and trust which give the United Nations its strength and its very rare.
212. Because of its very nature and the role it has to perform, the United Nations must be an instrument for the maintenance of international peace and security. However, that obviously does not preclude the conclusion of direct arrangements and agreements between Member States, which aim to promote international harmony, in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter.
213. Hans Kelsen says that no State is "sovereign", legally speaking, since all are subject to the authority of international law. The United Nations, born after the tragic interlude of the last war, is the one, qualified, authoritative and competent organ for the preservation of justice, law and peace among the countries of the world.
214. As a faithful reflection of modern life and an irrefutable manifestation of the history of the present day world, the two trends into which the latter is divided or appears to be divided are also to be found in the world Organization. ibis undeniable that the cold war has penetrated into the chambers of the United Nations, particularly into the General Assembly and the Security Council. An ideological battle is taking place within the Organization. We cannot deny the facts of the situation because to deny that the conflict exists will not take anything from the tremendous seriousness with which the problem, so painful and even tragic in its possibilities, is being fought out on the world stage. However, while the world Organization cannot be a shelter for any form of political proselytism, it nevertheless has the inescapable duty of seeking the best path towards the most just and honourable solutions.
215. This being the situation, we must accept it in its brutal reality, and prudent courses adopted within the strict limits of legal order will provide the best means
for settling differences that still appear beyond solution, and for dealing with extremist attitudes which, with an understanding approach, can undoubtedly be overcome.
216. Ecuador has always founded its international policy on a profound respect for law, justice and peace. Its present Government,, which is a completely democratic one with a very liberal outlook — being guided by the ideals and actions of Dr. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra,' a statesman who i3 unswerving in his convictions, his love of freedom and his devotion to spiritual forces and to the most noble popular virtues! — is aware of the needs of the hour, which I repeat without hesitation, is the hour of the emancipation of peoples, and has made sound, honest and constructive efforts at home to seek the best means of solving the serious problems created by illiteracy, ignorance, the housing shortage and the general problem of the land. It has prepared thorough and well-conceived plans for such projects as the construction of roads and schools, irrigation, land settlement, agrarian reform, housing banks and others, and has thus helped to further the noble and altruistic aims which today inspire the Government of the United States and which have been given substance in the plan so ably outlined by President John Kennedy in his "Alliance for Progress" programme,
217. Abroad, this same Government which is now presiding over Ecuador's destiny has remained absolutely faithful to its legal and moral principles — and legal and moral principles are, or at least should be, the only permanent and mandatory principles governing the policies and actions of States. Inspired by this conviction, my country has always devoted its utmost attention to the consideration of continental problems and of the grave issues which are threatening general peace among nations.
218. Accordingly, Ecuador — which, for special reasons not unknown in America, maintains and will continue to maintain with dignity a firm defensive attitude — is entitled to make known its dissatisfaction with dogmatic ideas of theoretical views and wordy resolutions in a situation where there are abuses, where law is flouted and where even justice is denied, and will, with passionate conviction, give its full support to any proposal, the implementation of which, in this age of discord, may effectively promote peace.
219. Surveying the grave problems affecting the world, we would say that the most imminent threat to peace lies in the grievous situation of the 16 million people in East Germany who have been subjected to a special status that is inconsistent with the respect owed to the elementary humanitarian principle that peoples shall be allowed to choose their own political destiny freely and of their own accord.
220. Fortunately, the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, in what we consider — bearing also in mind the significant fact that he has put forward proposals for disarmament — to be a sincere desire to strengthen world peace, has also endorsed the peaceful coexistence of nations. Inasmuch as this peaceful coexistence necessarily implies the recognition of self-determination as a prerequisite for the spontaneous and free constitution of sovereign States, we may confidently trust that the Soviet Union, through its Government, will contribute to world peace by offering its decisive co-operation in order to ensure that thanks to a free and spontaneous expression of
opinion, the German people may be able to choose its own political destiny — not merely on humanitarian grounds, or grounds of law and justice, but also in fitting deference to the noble traditions of German history and culture,
221. If peoples are masters of their own destinies, and if peace cannot be achieved unless the full freedom of States and the full dignity of the individual are recognized, it seems inconsequential and paradoxical to speak of "peaceful coexistence" of peoples. In view of the latest crisis in Berlin and Germany, Ecuador therefore hastens to raise its voice amidst its fellow-Latin American nations in order to seek a solution which, while respecting the rights of the parties, would yet spare the world a more serious crisis arising out of that problem. As Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, I was gratified and honoured to contact all the distinguished chancelleries of Latin America and to inform them that, inasmuch as the President of the Republic of Ecuador had received from the Government of West Germany a detailed statement on the situation of 16 million German people who were being subjected to a special status in the Eastern sector, my Government — in the light of that problem, which was a source of international tension and constituted a threat to world peace and security — thought that it would be useful if the Latin American countries, having been the initiators of a new and more humane concept of international law, and being rightly concerned to ease international conflicts, were to address a friendly appeal on the highest level to the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, who on numerous occasions has expressed his respect for the norms governing the peaceful coexistence of nations, and ask him to permit the German people freely and spontaneously to express its views regarding its political future.
222. This initiative taken by Ecuador has been received favourably by the majority of Latin American countries, and my delegation wishes to say through me and on behalf of my Government that we appreciate this and warmly thank the countries concerned, and that we trust that this initiative will also be viewed favourably by the majority of peoples in the other continents.
223. Almost all the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Latin America, as well as public opinion and the press of the continent, have expressly welcomed this initiative through which my country has simply reiterated the well-defined principles which govern its international policy — principles which may be expressed as respect for the self-determination of peoples (considered of course as an integral function of nationality per se), as well as for the sovereignty of States and for their equality under law.
224. Ecuador views with deep interest the problems which affect its sister nations and will always be prepared to lend its assistance to ensure that any differences that may arise between them may be solved peacefully.
225. Ecuador is a friend of all the nations of the world, although by reason of its geography and traditions, race and history, its culture is Western and Christian. Accordingly,, its policy is pursued within the framework of representative democracy and full respect for human rights.
226. It cannot be denied that relations between the nations which together constitute the American community should be based strictly on respect for their sovereignty and their dignity as nations — that is to say, on all those principles which underlie the legal and political life of the American continent.
227. These basic principles are simple, yet they are fundamental and must be regarded as definitive. They are: non-intervention, self-determination of peoples and legal equality of States. These are the positive rules which govern the relations between these nations and they constitute the substance of American international law.
228. The principle of "non-intervention" is the embodiment of the respect due by States to one another, whereby each State is allowed to take the political course it desires and to adopt whatever socio-political structure it may wish, without feeling itself threatened by the intervention of others in matters which are its own concern. This is a cardinal principle which involves the inalienable right of every nation to control its own destiny, a principle which admits of no compromise if we are to defend the most precious attribute of our public law. The annunciation, consecration, and defence of this right of "non-intervention" have cost America enough bloodshed, suffering* and delays in the continent's political development. Fortunately, however, this right now appears to be solidly embodied in the inter-American system,, following its formulation in a contractually binding form at the Seventh Inter-American Conference held at Montevideo in 1933, at which a Convention on. Rights and Duties of States was signed.
229. I may assure the General Assembly on behalf of my delegation that Ecuador has been one of the most ardent defenders of the principle of non-intervention, from the time when that principle first saw the light as a mere proposition or postulate, to the present, its justification is self-evident and, as a solid and unalterable foundation of the American continental structure, it cannot be ignored, unless we wish to undermine the very existence of our American juridical and social system. My country has supported and still supports this principle unequivocally; it has upheld and defended it passionately and with conviction. Its zeal has been such that in signing the Additional Protocol relative to non-intervention, adopted at the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance Of Peace held at Buenos Aires in 1936, it explained that it adopted the Additional Protocol "in all cases and without reservation, but with the understanding that the procedure of consultation provided for by the Convention for the Maintenance, Preservation and Re-establishment of Peace shall not be considered as direct nor as indirect intervention".
230. I was glad to refer just now to this principle of self-determination of peoples in connexion with the two great social trends which, in my delegation's opinion, are today of burning concern to mankind.
231. I was saying that we cannot arrest or, even less, interrupt the course of history. Peoples arise and simply demand their place in the sun. In the same way as individuals need to live in freedom, without physical or moral compulsions, masters of their own fate, guaranteed their natural right to an equitable share of all the material well-being and progress of the age, peoples too desire to live their own lives without any feeling of subjection and in control of their own destiny. Each people has the right to choose the political system best suited to it and to preserve its freedom, sovereignty and independence. Many of the larger
countries, until recently the owners of vast colonial possessions, because they understood this historical phenomenon have hastened to allow the peoples which were until yesterday under their political domination to express their views spontaneously and freely today. Thus we have seen how a legal and political personality has been acquired by many new countries which have duly become Members of the United Nations, strengthening the Organization by their adherence.
232. My country views with deep sympathy this birth, or rather this rebirth of the new peoples. They themselves can and will bring their energy to bear in order to build a better world in the future. And, because we have given them the chance to express their views, they will in turn feel obliged to assist in upholding the principles of universal peace and security, contributing all they can as young and vigorous nations.
233. The juridical equality of States plays an imponderable role in the destinies of our nations, as an essential element of their sovereignty.
234. Indeed, the existing structure of the American continent is to a great extent, dependent on the respect shown for this principle in international relations. How disjointed and ineffective the legal basis would become, if we failed to observe strictly all these positive precepts to which I have referred and which must be emphasized, not merely to show the important role which the American peoples have assumed in the field of international law, but in order to continue to advocate such observance, insisting that Such precepts be faithfully respected. This is the only way of ensuring not only that we may live in peace, but that we must also continue fully to perform America's important, historical mission in this dark hour which is fraught with international problems but in which we long and hope for the new dawn that is to come. We must pray for and firmly believe in this dawn, not only because? we are young peoples full of optimism and good will, and conscious of our constructive ability, but because this is the only way in which we can leave our mark on history or justify our part in it.
235. The Ecuadorian delegation has sought to illustrate through these examples the international policy pursued in accordance with its profoundly liberal convictions by the Ecuadorian people, guided with great insight by the President of my country, who is the true representative of the hopes, desire and beliefs arising from the fundamental principles of this policy.
236. Ecuador, an upholder of law and a staunch ! defender of justice and peace, has, since the dawn of its independence, shown a marked inclination or vocation for justice. Ecuador has always been prepared to offer its aid in order to make peace a certainty, within the canons of right and freedom. It has never denied its support to peoples suffering any form of oppression and, for the same reason, has always hoped and continues to hope that the just views it has expressed regarding the defence of its sovereignty and integrity as a State, which ultimately is a problem affecting the entire American continent, will win understanding and due acceptance in the conscience of America and of the whole world, as they have already begun to do.
237. Ecuador, as a Member of the United Nations, has repeatedly voiced its support for the theory that agreements freely and voluntarily entered into, which do not violate explicit legal precepts or the principles of law, constitute the basis of international coexistence.
238. It is clear, however, that a new tendency in international law has led to the proclamation of the noble human principle that force, war, conquest and aggression cannot and must not be the source of binding obligations or legal commitments.
239. In this day and age, conquest and force can never constitute a legal basis. Therefore, the American legal system, adapting the old concept of international law. contains the patiently but firmly formulated doctrine which reaffirms the principle of the "non-recognition of territorial conquests by force". The precept embodied in this doctrine was, as early as 1933, at the Inter-American Conference of Montevideo, elevated to the category of a positive precept of American international law, was subsequently consecrated in the 1938 Declaration of Lima and is now contained in concrete form in Article 17 of the Charter of the Organization of American States.
240. With the respect which I feel and which believe should inspire the world forum of the United Nations, where I have the honour to speak on behalf of the delegation of Ecuador, I pay tribute to all the peoples of the world represented here and express the sincere hope that this sixteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly will be fruitful for the peace and well-being of mankind.
241. I am sure that the distinguished persons who represent here the nations of the world will, with their vast experience and talents, perform harmonious, intelligent and decisive work. Ecuador is ready to contribute as far as it is able in the great struggle for world peace and security; for the security and dignity of the men of today and of succeeding generations.
242. Great concepts and great ideals are sometimes summed up in simple thoughts or sober but vital statements. For example, to solve the complicated problems of security in an undeniably complex world, we must observe the simple but vitally important principle that "respect for the right of others is peace". Because peace is a duty, the first duty of peoples and Governments, as was recently stated in the revered words of Pope John XXIII.
243. As regards the contribution we must make in order that the generations immediately following us may find a world in which it is safer to live, a world without fear and without hunger, the understanding we
show of the obvious historical reality which we are experiencing, and which we must face, will be the first step along the road to the most effective solution — a solution which will allow peaceful coexistence of peoples, and perfect understanding between all men, if all men are guaranteed work and the human right to live in freedom and justice.