99. Mr. President, my delegation is gratified and proud that you have been elected to preside over this session of the General Assembly. With the distinction you have achieved in the diplomatic history of the Latin American peoples and the reputation you have earned as a true disciple of Bolivar in thought and feeling, your Presidency will bring this session, as it were, under the allspices of the great liberator Simon Bolivar, in other words under the sign of that freedom and unity of the world’s peoples which were the ideals of that universal genius.
100. Whenever I come to this rostrum, from which we speak to the world, I cannot but recall that hour in human history when the United Nations came into being, as the embodiment of the loftiest aspirations of mankind and the fruit of a resounding victory of right over might. Armies were then returning from the field, their ranks depleted by thousands of casualties, and all the cities of the world were thronged with seething multitudes home from the trenches, the barbed-wire entanglements and the air-raid shelters and hoping for a new and happier life with peace, freedom and justice.
101. All those hopes found their purest expression fourteen years ago in the creation of the United Nations.
102. No great effort is required to observe that the noblest of those hopes was never fulfilled, and that in the years which have elapsed between the victory of yesterday and the frustration of today the world has continued to suffer from the very evils which had caused the aggression and war: clashes between the great Powers; a colonial system stifling the national aspirations of peoples yearning for freedom; poverty, illness and ignorance afflicting vast numbers of people in the under-developed countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The peoples' of the world are today so universally aware of these evils and the shadows, they cast over their lives that there is no need to emphasize the gloom and anxiety that today take in our hearts the place once held by hope and faith.
103. Two facts, however, have remained unaltered: in the first place, the will of the peoples to resist the threat of war and, in the second place, the existence of this international Organization, which, despite its limitations, is a forum, and an invaluable one, for the defence of peace.
104. The specific purposes of the United Nations are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples; and to promote social progress and higher standards of living in larger freedom.
105. There has been considerable diplomatic activity recently outside the framework of the United Nations, which may also serve to strengthen the hope that conciliatory methods and ways of reducing tension will be found. We must not, however, regard such a state of affairs as permanent. Political realism is not necessarily opposed to the basic formulae that were thought appropriate to the solution of world problems when the Charter was signed in 1945, One of these formulae presupposed the participation of all States, large and small, in the search for the implementation of solutions of those problems which in the last analysis affect us all vitally,
106. It is true that the experience of the last fourteen years has revealed structural defects in this world Organization, and if it is to endure and to thrive as an effective means of preserving peace its essential machinery must be honestly examined and overhauled. I cannot conceal the fact that my Government is particularly concerned at the paralysing effect which the abuse of the veto so frequently produces on the United Nations organ bearing the greatest weight of political responsibility, namely, the Security Council. This state of affairs must be remedied.
107. A facetious journalist quoted, and the international Press services picked up, a shrewd remark attributed to our President that the United Nations does not function with the veto, and without the veto it would cease to exist.
108. I do not know whether our President actually said those words or not, but if he did he was no doubt attempting thus pithily to convey the seriousness of this problem of the veto in the United Nations. We must face this grave problem and try to solve it by democratic means in keeping with the standards of the United Nations.
109. In speaking for Venezuela from this rostrum X bring to you the voice of its people and its new democracy. For many years a domestic regime based on force mid terror came between us and the United Nations, but our national life has now changed. Twenty months ago the revolution in Venezuela swept away the last of our tyrannies, and it has not sought to replace the violence of despots with the violence of demagogues. Where formerly the tyrant unlawfully held sway there now exists a constitutional power created by the vote of a national majority, a power which respects the laws and is exercised through genuinely democratic and representative institutions.
110. Because I speak on behalf of a people which has recovered its freedom of speech, the points I wish to make are not tied up with diplomatic commitments and are not a selfish and cynical statement of my country’s self-interest. My intention is not merely to please those who do me the honour of listening to me. I have come to express, humbly but frankly, the views and wishes of my people and Government in respect to certain problems of our time.
111. Venezuela will endeavour to express its views on international questions before this Assembly in terms that will faithfully reflect our deep devotion to the cause of peace. We do not come to this rostrum to make aggressive or discriminatory speeches against any nation or group of nations. In international as in domestic politics we are, and aim to be, objective, and this attitude has brought us to the realization that we are part of the Western world and of its economic, social and political structure. But this realization does not cause us to believe that the desire for peace and the will to achieve it are the monopoly of the group of nations to which we belong, or that schemes for conquest and oppression rear their ugly heads only in the opposite camp. Far from it. We know that peace has good friends in all latitudes and that all human communities, from the mere fact that they are communities of human beings, regardless of the economic or political system under which they live, must share an unswerving determination to prevent war, to live in harmony, as good neighbours, with the rest of the human species, and to obtain for themselves and for others the guarantee of an international security which will permit them to live, work and enjoy the fruits of their labours.
112. As a peace-loving people, we in Venezuela share the fervent hopes of all mankind at this historic hour when signs of understanding and good will seem to be replacing the previous attitudes of antagonism and mistrust adopted by the great Powers. We welcome the visit of Mr. Khrushchev, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, to tills great North American nation and the proposed return visit of President Eisenhower to the USSR, as so many steps along the road to peace, co-operation among nations and the sincere and effective application of the spirit of the United Nations in international affairs.
113. We are not unaware that the road to peace and coexistence is beset with the most serious difficulties. As a people of very limited military strength we do not wish to take the easy line of throwing all responsibility upon those who must be the pioneers and prime movers in the defence and maintenance of peace. We do wish, however, to express our conviction that in the face of this difficult task, any policy which closes the door to understanding, discussion and a gradual easing of tension would be disastrous. We maintain that some kind of political agreement is a necessary prelude to disarmament, to the suspension of nuclear tests and to the prohibition and control of atomic and nuclear weapons.
114. A few hopeful developments have begun to dispel the darkness that has enveloped the world in recent years. The deadlock on disarmament seems to have been broken at long last. Although the great Powers have. reached an agreement in principle without the direct participation of the United Nations, we welcome the initiative they have taken and consider it to be in keeping with the spirit of the Charter.
115. We are glad to see that in their communique of 7 September 1959 [DC/144] the four Powers formally recognized that ultimate responsibility for disarmament rests with the United Nations and that the setting up of a ten-Power Disarmament Committee, on a basis of parity, in no way diminishes or encroaches upon the functions of the United Nations in the matter. Equally significant is their recognition of the cardinal principle that only effective international control can provide the necessary safeguards for the limitation and reduction of all armaments and armed forces.
116. We also welcome as a good omen the apparently successful outcome of the negotiations between the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union on the cessation of nuclear tests. Each test has brought home to us the painful fact that we are living in dangerous times and has made us recall before the inferno it seemed to foreshadow. As the world’s most eminent scientists have warned us, each test has involved a grave danger of atmospheric contamination, a danger which has given rise to universal and justifiable alarm.
117. Problems relating to disarmament are obviously part of the wider and more deep-seated problem of peaceful coexistence between two worlds living under different political, economic and social systems. The Eastern world seeks to maintain the status quo in Europe and to institute changes in Asia and Africa, whereas the Western countries favour changes in Europe but apparently wish to leave things are they are overseas. Given such a situation, such complex and diametrically opposed positions, it must be clear to everyone that a policy of intransigence is ultimately bound to lead to war. The indefinite preservation of the status quo may arrest the process of historical development and strike at the roots of the democratic principle of self-determination, yet any violent change in Europe or Asia will bring war, and war will mean the death of civilization and the end of the human race. That is why we believe that the policy of maintaining contact, of keeping the lines of communication open, cannot be abandoned. Peace can be achieved only through the exercise of great patience and an infinite capacity for tolerance and sacrifice.
118. Peace is essential not simply as the alternative to war, as the means of delivering us from death or extermination. It also constitutes the indispensable foundation for every international policy aimed at the independence of peoples, at economic and social development and at the consolidation of the international legal order.
119. Since the birth of the United Nations some fifteen years ago, peace has been absent from the international scene and, as a result, too little headway has been made in the struggle against colonialism, social evils and economic backwardness. Solely because peace has been replaced by the cold war, the United Nations has been impeded in its function of uniting all the peoples of the world and its character as a democratic organization based on the principle of equality for all has been impaired.
120. Peace will enable us to launch an effective programme of economic assistance to the underdeveloped countries on a truly international scale. The end of the cold war would mean that the vast sums which have hitherto been invested in the production of armaments could be released for economic aid.
121. We have not the slightest doubt that if the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the other great Powers had been able to devote to economic development and to the eradication of disease and ignorance the huge sums they have so far been compelled to invest in the armaments race, the poverty-stricken masses of the world would be on the verge of deliverance from exploitation and want.
122. At this session, Venezuela will support any practicable, workable proposals designed to facilitate the economic development of the under-developed countries. With the exception of political problems, which tend to be of a serious character, none of the problems confronting the United Nations is more important or far-reaching than that of economic development. If carried on intensively, it will bring the fruits of civilization and culture to the masses, and will eliminate the social evils which find fertile soil in misery and insecurity. It will give real meaning to many of the human rights enshrined in the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed in Paris eleven years ago, because these rights will be effectively enjoyed and observed.
123. We hope too that, in the triumph of peace, economic aid will no longer be affected by the political considerations which have unfortunately so often vitiated it in the past. Economic aid has often been yet another weapon in the arsenal of the cold war instead of an instrument of world peace and justice. It has frequently been granted not out of a desire to help the weak or to promote economic development but purely for strategic purpose. For that reason alone, Latin America, a region no less impoverished than others, has always been the Cinderella of economic aid. Our continent has long suffered from poverty, but as it is remote from the cold war, it has not received the help it needs. Latin America is convinced that the end of the cold war will mean the end of the discrimination practised against it.
124. We are equally convinced that the gradual reconciliation of conflicting views will affect another important aspect of international affairs and the work of the United Nations, namely, the colonial question. May I say that during the debate on this question Venezuela will take an unequivocal, firm and just stand in support of the colonial peoples aspiring to independence.
125. We realize that such a stand may not always be in our best interests from a diplomatic standpoint. However, Venezuela, as a democratic country and a nation of which Simon Bolivar was both son and father, can take no other. Whenever matters of this kind are discussed, our position will be one of outspoken support for the national independence of peoples. We are convinced that the progress of peace will further the cause of the non-self-governing peoples. The liberation of the colonial peoples has clearly been, hampered by the prejudices that have clouded world public opinion as a result of the cold war. Both sides have tended to confuse nationalistic causes with political movements of the most varied complexion. The time has come to put an end to this confusion. The desire for nationhood is one of the deepest aspirations of the human spirit. The existence of an international legal order is not compatible with the survival of the colonial system. The world of the United Nations must be one in which no people is denied the full exercise of its sovereignty.
126. I wish to make it quite clear in this connexion that Venezuela's anti-colonialist policy in no way weakens our firm and sincere friendship for those nations with which we may temporarily differ because of that policy.
127. Problems relating to racial discrimination and human rights are of particular interest to the democratic Government of Venezuela. Ours is a country in which there is full social and racial democracy and which is free of discrimination and prejudice based on inequality. While Venezuela's political progress has been hampered by periods of tyranny and retrogression, the Venezuelan people have always been in the vanguard of the movement for the integration and unification of mankind. All of us, blacks and whites, indians and mestizos, are equal, and our legal and moral rights as human beings are fully recognized.
128. This being the situation within our borders, our policy with respect to racial discrimination and human rights is crystal clear. We are opposed to discrimination and wholeheartedly support every provision of the Charter designed to safeguard human rights. Respect for human rights throughout the world can never be urged too strongly. Humanitarian considerations apart, there is an inescapable collective responsibility in the matter. The first exchanges of the Second World War did not take place on the battlefield but were internal clashes between right and might, the persecutors and the persecuted, the police agents of the totalitarian State and their victims.
129. Today, violations of human rights are still being committed in the name of sovereignty, often witnessed with cold indifference by distant spectators. No area in the world seems to have been spared this internal struggle. The soiled of violent measures of repression still echoes in the United Nations, and in our own continent of America, not very far from the country in which this Assembly is meeting, force has been used for decades to deprive men of their fundamental rights.
130. A little over a month ago I had the great honour of representing my country at the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American States, held at Santiago, Chile. At that meeting, which was a landmark in the development of the international public law of the Americas, it was recognized that harmonious relations could exist among the American Republics only if human rights and fundamental freedoms and the exercise of representative democracy were a reality within each individual State. It was further admitted that the idea of sovereignty was in no way incompatible with collective action based on agreements freely concluded for the defence of the individual, political and social rights of Americans.
131. The Charter of the United Nations, in fine and stirring words, reaffirms the faith of the peoples in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women. Every Member State had pledged itself to take measures, jointly and severally and in cooperation with the United Nations, to promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.
132. It would be going too far to say that the United Nations has achieved nothing in this direction during the past fourteen years. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the very modest efforts of the Commission on Human Rights and its subsidiary organs provide concrete evidence of its concern. I feel bound to point out, however, that very little has been done in relation to the actual needs of the peoples and the urgent promptings of the conscience of mankind. Steps must be taken to streamline procedures, to revitalize organs whose activities are unduly restricted by out- of-date provisions, and to apply a creative stimulus to the whole work of the United Nations so that it can fulfil the hopes placed by mankind in its mission of emancipation.
133. The Venezuelan delegation endorses the policy which found specific expression in the reorganization last year of the Commission on International Commodity Trade and in regional agreements regulating the prices of primary products, such as the Latin American Coffee Agreement signed at Washington in July 1959.
134. While we are in a fortunate economic and monetary position because oil, our chief national product, is still in demand and prices are high, we realize that the continuous decline and frequent fluctuations in the prices of primary products, together with the continuous rise in the prices of the manufactured goods exported to us by the highly industrialized countries, are mainly responsible for the stagnation, poverty and social and political in security of the underdeveloped countries. Venezuela will firmly support any measures designed to maintain markets and prices for primary products at levels which will ensure the progress and stability of our continent and all the under-developed areas of the world.
135. I should like to say that, within the framework of the present economic System of our continent, Venezuela will fully support the plan known as "Operation Pan-American" proposed by President Juscelino Kubitschek of Brazil because we consider that it has great possibilities and will certainly promote the political consolidation and economic development of Latin America.
136. Before concluding this brief summary of Venezuela's position at the fourteenth session of the General Assembly, I should like to express a hope.
137. Perhaps the most promising prospect held out by the relaxation of international tension is the possibility that our Organization may finally become what the Charter intended it to be: a union of all States and a forum for all peoples. While we recognize that it has come some way along this road, it obviously still has far to go. It cannot be denied that large and important sections of the human race are excluded from our midst and that this limitation, which has been forced upon the United Nations by the tensions of the cold war, hampers it in its task of promoting peace, freedom and justice.
138. Venezuela hopes that, with the removal of international tensions, the United Nations will regain its original universal and democratic character. There must be room in our Organization for all peoples and that is why we feel that in due course a solution must be found, without prejudice of any kind and solely in the light of the essentially universal character of our Organization, to the Chinese quests n, which has been raised by the delegation of India. In response to the increasingly strong demands of the peoples for the application of democratic principles, the United Nations must undertake a balanced reorganization of its structure and present a completely democratic face to the world, having put to an end to the privileged position which is now enjoyed by some sections of its membership and which at present imposes a status of inferiority upon an important group of States participating in its work.
139. I fully agree with the statement made on 16 September 1959 at a Latin American meeting by the chief of the Brazilian delegation, Mr. Augusto Federico Schmidt. I shall quote him verbatim: "Standing together, united, the Latin American States are a force; divided and scattered, with an intermediary between us, what will we be tomorrow? We are living at a time when the world is making impressive strides. We are witnessing the awakening to intensive activity of the People's Republic of China with its 600 million inhabitants. We see the birth and development of new nations. We behold a Europe which has not, only recovered but is now more prosperous than ever before, a Russia that has shown startling and unparalleled technological advances and a United States which, through its world-wide activities, controls trade in a very large part of the world."
140. We the peoples of Latin America are entitled and resolved to make our voice heard — a voice which reflects our own interests and aspirations — in the settlement of international affairs. The important project known as "Operation Pan-American", initiated by the President of Brazil a year ago, reflected a strong current of opinion, which again found expression at the Santiago conference. Against the background of minor issues which seem to dominate our regional politics, one fact is emerging: Latin America is finding its voice, wishes to be heard and is entitled to be heard.
141. On behalf of Venezuela, I wish to express the hope that this Assembly will constitute a new victory for peace. I have been the spokesman of a people whose determination to co-operate in the highest human endeavours has left a lasting imprint on American history. Today, having resolutely overcome temporary setbacks, it again stands before the world in its true image.
142. Never before has mankind been faced with such sharp alternatives. The contemporary development of science and technology has opened up unlimited prospects of material progress. Astonishing scientific discoveries follow each other in seemingly endless succession. We are now no longer surprised by the periodic news of human ventures so daring that they alone could serve as the hallmark of any era.
143. The challenge which history presents to modern man is that of a colossal conflict between the blind forces of matter and the creative, illuminating action of the spirit. It is the age-old drama of man, but now the world is the stage: only the triumph of intelligence, reason and common sense can prevent a hideous catastrophe, in which matter will destroy us all.