112. Once again, the General Assembly of the United Nations is gathered here. Once again, it is facing critical problems in various parts of the world. It is to be hoped that once again — and on this occasion under your wise guidance — reason and law will prevail in the search for peaceful solutions.
113. In spite of the legal equality of States — a premise which is the foundation of this Assembly — we cannot ignore the fact that there are countries large and small. At this time, my country is a small voice in the concert of nations. By itself, it can be no more than an echo of one or other of the ideological currents in which the world of today is floundering. However, mankind being as it is, it is also an undeniable fact that the weak are more numerous than the strong.
114. For the first time in history, thanks to the existence of the United Nations, we, the weak, have the opportunity not only to express our ideas with complete freedom but also to exert a decisive influence on the course of world events. While it is true that we lack economic and military resources, it is no less true that we have at our disposal the inexhaustible resources of law. Our strength, therefore, must not be reckoned in numbers alone. A few weak voices, raised in harmony, would make these walls resound and would carry to the ends of the earth a message filled with tolerance and serenity.
115. On this occasion, Honduras confirms its traditional respect for international law as the only means of coexistence between States, and formally offers its sincere co-operation in all endeavours to achieve effective understanding between the peoples of the world on the basis of respect for the legal order and for the dignity of the individual.
116. Accordingly, the Government of Honduras once again declares its respect for the principle of nonintervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, but at the same time reiterates its firm determination to oppose, by all necessary means, any foreign intervention in its territory.
117. Likewise, my Government reaffirms its support for the Organization of American States, and proudly declares its unshakeable intention of respecting and implementing all resolutions emanating from that Organization, in accordance with the various inter- American treaties now in force.
118. The fact that we have many problems to grapple with today must not lead us to adopt an attitude of pessimism and defeat. Mankind has always lived in a state of crisis, and yet has progressed, and is progressing, towards the refinement of certain absolute values which increasingly serve as an inspiration and a goal in human relationships.
119. We cannot conceal our concern at those events which still constitute painful deviations from our slow progress towards a higher morality. We cannot but repudiate the existence of systems and ideologies which deny the equality of all before the law and deprive the individual of his most precious rights. So long as a man's legal capacity depends on the colour of his skin, as the baneful policy of apartheid proclaims; so long as there is religious persecution; so long as peoples are denied the right to determine their own destiny as is the case in Germany today, we cannot rest in our efforts to bring a ray of hope to all the oppressed communities of the earth.
120. Fortunately, the manifestations of freedom in all its forms cannot be suppressed indefinitely behind a "wall of shame" or before the blood-stained wall of the firing squad. Armed intervention in order to impose a totalitarian and dehumanized doctrine on a people can only be the last desperate resort when the power of conviction has failed. The forces of reason and justice are destroying the foundations of a system which has fed on' the poverty and the sufferings of peoples and which itself will be so transformed that the supreme principles of law and genuine international coexistence will triumph within that system also. In this connexion, I wish to state that Honduras eagerly welcomes the United Nations plans for the International Co-operation Year, which it hopes will see a strengthening of the United Nations in place of a tragic decline in its potential.
121. My Government considers it urgently necessary that the industrialized nations, and especially those which share the principles of Western philosophy, should co-operate resolutely with the developing countries in order to raise the living standards of the less privileged peoples.
122. Honduras takes a sanguine view of the results of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and is confident that the General Assembly will endorse the Conference's recommendations. Our optimism is based on the fact that the less developed countries succeeded for the first time in subordinating their own individual interests to the broader interests of the group. This is a clear sign that we have at last understood that we ourselves must make the greatest efforts and sacrifices in order to bring about the economic and social progress of our peoples.
123. It is not by indiscriminately importing foreign ideas and techniques that we shall succeed in solving our greatest problems. The vast number of methods and systems which the developed countries have tried out, with greater or lesser success, indicates to us that we must first of all evaluate our own methods
and systems, only later introducing whatever changes are considered necessary in each country.
124. The delegation of Honduras, noting the general desire for progress, will submit a draft resolution designed to increase co-operation for economic development, which we hope will be honoured with the co-sponsorship of many delegations.
125. There is another item on our Assembly's crowded agenda on which I should like to comment briefly. I refer to the world campaign for universal literacy. My Government has followed with profound interest the debates on this subject at the thirteenth session of the General Conference of UNESCO, at the eighteenth session of the General Assembly, we voted in favour of resolution 1937 (XVIII) of 11 December 1963, setting up a working group composed of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Director-General of UNESCO and the heads of the financial organs of the United Nations family; and today we are extremely pleased to see that the recommendations made by that group and the General Conference debate constitute a great step forward, in that the world campaign for universal literacy has been transformed from a project that was over- ambitious — although none the less desirable for that — into a programme of action which will demonstrate to States — including both those participating actively in it and those following it closely — how to eradicate once and for all this enormous cancer afflicting mankind. We support the action taken by the General Conference of UNESCO, and we hope that this Assembly will contribute effectively to the process of eradicating illiteracy throughout the world.
126. My delegation feels honoured to inform the Assembly that the Government of Honduras has approved the biggest educational programme in its history, with the aim of tackling the serious problem of illiteracy. Honduras appeals to international solidarity for help in solving this basic problem of its development.
127. In conclusion, I should like, on behalf of the delegation of Honduras, to express the most sincere congratulations to the delegations of Malawi, Malta and Zambia on their recent admission to the United Nations. I am sure that their voices will constitute serenity and wisdom to our future deliberations. Permit me also, Mr. President, to congratulate you on your unanimous election to the high office which you now occupy and to wish you every success in your delicate and difficult duties. I close my statement with a message of hope and optimism, as expressed in the words of a distinguished educator: "Let us put man right, and the world will be right."