122. Mr. President, on behalf of the people and Government of Costa Rica I am happy to extend to you our warmest congratulations on the well-deserved honour with which the General Assembly has invested you in recognition of your distinguished record in the United Nations. Through you we likewise pay tribute to Ghana, that young and vigorous African nation which in so short a time has won so distinguished a place in the United Nations family.
123. Before making my contribution to the general debate, I should like to express the deep gratitude of the people and Government of CostaRica to U Thant and his assistants for having established the Fund for emergency assistance for Costa Rica and for having set in motion technical assistance programmes of the Organization and its specialized agencies in connexion with the serious consequences suffered by our economy and the life of our country as a result of continued volcanic eruptions and floods. The creation of the Fund would not have been possible without the generous voluntary contributions made by the States Members of the Organization. I should like to stress in particular the beneficial effect of resolution 1049 (XXXVII) adopted unanimously by the Economic and Social Council at Geneva during its 1964 summer session, and the constructive initiative which the staff of the United Nations Secretariat took in the form of personal participation in this collective effort. All these manifestations of international solidarity have lessened the sufferings of our people, and have earned its gratitude.
124. The atomic explosion which took place in continental China in October 1964 once more brings all countries represented here face to face with the threat stemming from nuclear weapons. After a short period of relative calm, following the signature of the nuclear test ban Treaty, we are again exposed to the risk of contamination of the atmosphere and to the possibility of a war that would annihilate mankind. For small countries like Costa Rica, which has pursued its disarmament policy to the unusual extreme of eliminating the army as a permanent institution, the Chinese atomic explosion constitutes a serious warning which we less-developed States Members of the Organization should not underestimate. Costa Rica desires and hopes for the adoption of measures designed to prohibit nuclear tests and to secure a treaty of general disarmament under United Nations control. It urges that the fantastic sums spent on the production of arms and the maintenance of armies be devoted to projects and investments for development and social progress. We therefore attach exceptional importance, as a first step, to the signature of the partial test ban Treaty and to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
125. Costa Rica shares the anxiety which international discord and tension create in men of goodwill in regard to the future of the United Nations. To the best of our ability, we shall in the future co-operate, as we have co-operated so far, to the end that the problems giving rise to these tensions may be set on peaceful lines towards effective solutions. For the raison d'etre of the United Nations is that, despite the complexity of certain questions which cause disagreement among the Powers, the Organization, as an instrument for peace and progress, continues to represent the only hope for the world. Peace and progress are not achieved on the basis of compromises which neutralize the action of all of us who meet here on the instructions of our respective Governments. Compromises based on inaction can, for short periods, serve the cause of international co-operation, provided that remedies for delicate situations are sought. But if, during those periods of paralysis, it is not possible to reach decisions based on understanding and mutual concessions; if we fail to take advantage of the calm they provide in order to consider problems serenely, with an open mind, and if the desire for prestige prevails over respect for obligations under the Charter and over the will to build a better and fairer world, then those periods of inaction will be prolonged, and millions of men and women who look to the United Nations as the greatest promoter of co-operation and peace will lose their confidence in the Organization.
126. With a view to preventing this, the great Powers must realize that we, the less powerful nations, are here not in order to be mute, passive witnesses of their quarrels but in order to share their responsibilities in seeking effective agreements. My delegation and my country believe that it is our duty, at the present time, respectfully but firmly to state this consideration in this Assembly. We are sure that in so doing we are interpreting the feelings of many other nations which, like our own, view with growing concern agreements or conventions which condemn us to immobility when the world expects this Organization to make constant progress toward the relative perfection that can be expected from human labour and effort.
127. In support of the affirmation that Costa Rica has contributed enthusiastically to international harmony, I would briefly recall our participation in the missions which have been and are dealing with the questions of Viet-Nam and Oman, bur activity in the Special Committee on the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, and Costa Rica's attitude and contributions to the Organization's efforts to effect the complete decolonization of all territories and countries. In this connexion I wish to welcome, on behalf of my people and my Government, the new sovereign nations that joined us, on the first day of this month, as States Members of our Organization. Malawi, Malta and Zambia represent the most recent proof of the positive and beneficient action of the United Nations in the peaceful struggle against the domination of one people by another. We are convinced that the voices and attitudes of their lawful representatives will be united with those of the spokesmen of other States in favour of world-wide justice and understanding.
128. I would not, wish to conclude this part of my contribution to the general debate without express mg my country's satisfaction at the resolution adopted by the Committee of Twenty-four on the question of the Malvinas Islands. Costa Rica will welcome with all its heart the return of that territory to the nation of Argentina and consequently to the continent, of the Americas, to which it belongs because of the dictates of history and geography. Furthermore, on the basis of justice and of affection for our mother country, we feel sure that the decision on Gibraltar adopted by the Committee of Twenty-four has opened the way to a solution, bringing justice to Spain and honour to the United Kingdom, of a long-standing and painful dispute between these two great countries which are our friends.
129. In the field of human rights, my country, which has always endeavoured to promote and comply with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has further intensified its efforts since it had the honour to be elected a member of the Commission on Human Rights. In that Commission, our efforts have centred on the draft convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and on the draft declaration on the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance. We hope that both instruments will be discussed and adopted without delay.
130. For many years the United Nations has been working on two Convenants on Human Rights, which have not yet taken final form or been put into effect. We must move forward rapidly and resolutely, by means of these Convenants, towards the fullest implementation of the Universal Declaration adopted in Paris in 1948 — and not solely for humanitarian reasons. The implementation of the provisions of the Declaration of Human Rights represents a basic factor of human progress; conversely, failure to implement them impedes development. The United Nations recognized and proclaimed that fact in 1962, in adopting the programme for the Development Decade. Thus, to oppose the complete implementation of human rights is tantamount to delaying the progress of the world's peoples. Costa Rica believes that the arguments which are invoked to the detriment of human rights, in the name of State sovereignty, are anachronistic. The defence of the rights of peoples and individuals, which the United Nations has accepted as one of its fundamental objectives, cannot be exercised unless Member States recognize and apply that concept. My country believes that at this session of the General Assembly a decisive step must be taken to complete the Covenants and finalize measures for implementing them. Although we realize that the Covenants deserve careful consideration, this does not mean that we can contemplate, with equanimity, undue prolongation of their study.
131. The less developed nations of the world made great efforts for the translation into fact of the idea of holding a United Nations Conference on Trade and, Development. They hoped from it, and continue to hope from its outcome, results that will help to rescue them from the economic and social backwardness into which they had been plunged by a combination of adverse circumstances, ranging from colonial exploitation to geo-atmospheric factors beyond their control. The less privileged nations wish to progress as they should — that is, through their agreements and principles in the field of international trade, with a harnessing of their full productive capacity, and not on the basis of exclusive protectionism or of aid from the developed countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held for this purpose at Geneva from March to June of this year which is now closing, drafted a Final Act and drew up a series of recommendations which should be adopted during the current session of the General Assembly. Costa Rica trusts that what was agreed to by all States Members of the United Nations at Geneva will now be ratified as a matter of priority.
132. I would recall that the preparation of the Conference on Trade and Development required more than one year of work and discussion. The planned procedure called for a second United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to be held early in 1966. For this we have barely a year in which to make preparations, which may be as arduous and difficult as they were in the case of the first Conference. Furthermore, we have to establish the other organs contemplated at Geneva: the Trade and Development Board, its appropriate committees and working groups, and the secretariat. In addition, we have to solve questions which at Geneva were left pending, such as the organization of markets for primary commodities, preferential tariffs for the industrial products of the developing countries, maritime transport questions, a system guaranteeing private investment against political risks, and several other matters of paramount importance in connexion with the establishment of a new code of international trade in furtherance of the development of peoples. It will be the task of the Trade and Development Board, once it is constituted, to implement the recommendations of the Conference, when these have been ratified by the General Assembly. All this means that we must act quickly.
133. During the past weeks, the Latin American countries have observed with growing concern events and attitudes that might lead to undesirable splits among the less developed countries which, at the Geneva Conference, had presented to the world the moving spectacle of unflinching solidarity. Only if they remain united will the nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America be able to look forward to the application of more equitable procedures in international trade. We cannot expect fair prices for our primary products, or an expansion of our new industries, so long as there is an enormous gap between the living standards of workers in the developing regions and those of workers in the economically advanced countries. All innovations — and many are needed — for the adoption of new principles in international trade must aim at the most rapid and substantial improvement in the living conditions of the peoples of continents which, because they were the scene of colonial activities, are now a prey to the fell effects of poverty and need. Anything else would be dangerous, deceptive and, far from solving the problems which today divide the world into the minority group of the privileged and the vast mass of the underprivileged, would aggravate them.
134. Costa Rica is convinced that, once peace among the great Powers has been achieved and controlled disarmament initiated in all countries, the United Nations will be basically transformed into a forum for the discussion of questions of international justice, one of which — the question of trade — requires urgent solution.
135. We must substantially strengthen the regional agencies. The Organization of American States and the Organization of African Unity are better equipped to deal with their own problems than countries which are not members of them. Other regional bodies should likewise be established and strengthened. In that way the United Nations would be able to devote priority attention to problems of greater importance and world-wide scope, such as human rights, disarmament, economic and trade relations between countries or groups of countries, systems of assistance, multilateral agreements of all types, etc., while the regional organizations would be left to deal primarily with matters of relatively less importance — a process whereby, incidentally, world peace would be strengthened. In this connexion Costa Rica, together with the other nations of the Western Hemisphere, is exerting itself to improve the inter-American system, and places great hope in the special conference which is to be held for that purpose at Rio de Janeiro in March 1965.
136. My delegation believes that all the developing countries which are Members of the United Nations should strive to persuade the more powerful States to abandon their nuclear armaments programmes under fully established and guaranteed agreements, to sign the nuclear test ban Treaty and to advance gradually towards complete demilitarization. In that way the United Nations will attain to its full effect as an instrument for the progress and advancement of the developing peoples.
137. I would conclude by appealing most sincerely to all the countries which took part in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to combine, even more closely, in our noble struggle for peace and for the simultaneous progress of all peoples of the world.