1. Mr. President, may I first of all express to you, on behalf of the people and the Government of Mali, our warm congratulations on your election to the presidency of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
2. Through you, we also congratulate the fraternal people of Ghana and its valiant leader, Mr. Kwame Nkrumah.
3. The road travelled by the independent States of Africa in freeing themselves from foreign rule and restoring authentically African moral and cultural values has been a hard road strewn with obstacles of all kinds. In an attempt to justify and maintain their political and economic domination, the colonial Powers have restored to the most subtle methods of obscurantism, so that the outside world and even the young generations of Africans should know nothing of the contribution which successive African societies have made throughout history to world civilization in the arts, in science and in philosophy.
4. While your election to the presidency of this Assembly is evidence of the interest now being taken, at the international level, in the African States, it is nevertheless a fact that, owing to a combination of regrettable circumstances, the nineteenth session of the General Assembly, over which you have the honour to preside in the name of a martyred and often derided Africa, is beset by difficulties and uncertainties which are without precedent in the history of the Organization.
5. By a series of actions or decisions obtained from the General Assembly by pressure, the Powers which have always sought to make the United Nations a tool for their hegemony and their imperialist policy have gradually led the Organization into the most serious crisis that it has known since it was first established. However, we are hopeful that, thanks to the constructive efforts of the Secretary-General and all those who are deeply attached to the United Nations as an effective instrument of co-operation between peoples and a guarantor of international morality and security, the present crisis, which is not only paralysing the work of the Assembly but also threatens the very life of the Organization, will be overcome. The people and Government of Mali consider that the crisis is now political rather than financial, and that to seek any solution other than a political one would be contrary to common sense and to the clear interests of the Organization.
6. I stress the necessity of finding a compromise political solution to the present United Nations crisis, because a confrontation on the applicability of Article 19 in the present case is undesirable and would not lead to anything constructive or reasonable. In the circumstances, improperly and threateningly to insist that Article 19 should apply to Member States in respect of United Nations expenses in the Congo, with the result that the Assembly is kept in an atmosphere of depression, reflects, in my view, an uncooperative attitude.
7. In view of all the passion and controversy aroused during the various stages of the United Nations intervention in the Congo, there is justification for believing that the delegations which, for several months, have been holding the threat of Article 19 over the Assembly like a sword of Damocles, have other ends in view than the solvency of the Organization. Everyone is aware of the gloomy financial situation of the United Nations and, in this context, delegations listened with great interest to the statement made by the Secretary- General on 18 January 1965 [1315th meeting]. We believe that the appeal contained in that statement is a wise indication of the path which must be followed if we really wish to save the Organization.
8. In response to that appeal, and without prejudice to the positions which my Government has consistently taken regarding the United Nations operations in the Congo, operations which are at the root of the present crisis, and also without prejudice to the position my Government may take concerning future peace-keeping operations, my delegation is ready to co-operate with the Secretary-General, and with you, Mr. president, in seeking a compromise solution that will allow the General Assembly to function normally and contribute to the achievement of the noble objectives which are set out in the Charter.
9. As you are all aware, the primary concern of the authors of the Charter, in the 1945 post-war period, was to maintain international peace and security, to develop co-operation between all peoples and all nations, to ensure equality and the right of self-determination for all peoples — in short, to enable mankind as a whole to benefit from the advances of science and technology. Having regard to these noble aims of the Charter, my delegation, in participating in the general debate, would like first of all to take up the question of international peace and security and to attempt an evaluation of the results obtained in this area since the last session. In doing so, my delegation believes that as long as imperialism and the exploitation of the resources of other countries continues to be the rule of conduct of certain great Powers, international co-operation, in peace and equality, will be no more than a hope.
10. With regard to this problem of peace, you will recall that at the eighteenth session of the General Assembly all delegations hailed the relaxation of tension, or more exactly the improvement of relations between the two. great Powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. More than a hundred States Members of the United Nations which are not nuclear powers acceded to the Moscow Treaty on a partial nuclear test ban.
11. In welcoming the "détente" between the Soviet Union and the United States, the non-aligned countries like the Republic of Mali firmly hoped that this would permit settlement of the problems whose solution had been made difficult by the cold war. We thought that certain peoples, now involved in fratricidal conflict as a result of the situations created by the cold war, would find peace and reconciliation and dedicate themselves to the task of national development. Today, however, we fear that we were mistaken.
12. This period of "détente" between the United States and the Soviet Union has seen many significant events, calling for greater vigilance and a more objective analysis of the international situation on the part of the small States. In this context. Comrade Modibo Keita, President of the Republic of Mali, in the statement which he made at the Second Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held at Cairo in October 1964, said: "In spite of the apparent relaxation of tension between the two great Powers — I am referring to the Soviet Union and the United States of America — never have peace-loving peoples been the object of so many acts of aggression and extreme duress in disregard of their sovereignty and their sacred right of self-determination, in total defiance of their indefeasible right to choose for themselves the path which seems to them consistent with their true interests. Never have peoples been subjected to so many threats, including the unprincipled use of the atomic bomb. Never has imperialism been so virulently aggressive. Never ... have unhealthy forces benefited by such complicit silence and such impunity. The present international situation, with its acts of aggression, its grave attacks on the sovereignty and freedom of peoples, its attempts at external subversion and its shameful attempts on the life of [political] leaders, constitutes a real challenge to the world's conscience."
13. While the small Powers and the developing countries, under the illusion that a "détente" exists between the East and the West, are working on the codification of the principles of peaceful coexistence, the imperialists are active and are openly interfering in the internal affairs of new States, preventing the implementation of international agreements which do not serve their base interests.
14. No "détente" or peaceful coexistence can be said to exist as long as the imperialists are enforcing and intensifying the hot war in Viet-Nam and are opposing the will of the Cambodian people to establish a neutralist State. One cannot consider that there is a real "détente" while imperialism seeks to prevent the Republic of Cuba from being a socialist State and still maintains, against the will of the Cuban people, a military base at Guantanamo, an integral part of Cuban territory. In defiance of all international rules and laws, United States imperialism is maintaining an economic blockade of Cuba in order to starve this courageous people, hoping thus to make it renounce its deepest beliefs. Is this also — to use a fashionable expression — a humanitarian operation? The same imperialism is keeping military forces in South Korea in order to prevent the renufication of that country.
15. With regard to the intensification of the war in Viet-Nam, an Agence France-Presse dispatch of 15 January 1965 states: "Senator Gruening, a Democrat from Alaska, on Friday criticized the Government of the United States for having strongly urged several Latin American countries to send at least token forces to Viet-Nam," The democratic senator even gave the names of these Latin American countries, which I shall refrain from mentioning out of respect for their representatives here present.
16. The Agence France-Presse reports that a State Department spokesman said, in reply to a question, that the United States had asked Western countries, including Latin American countries, to make a contribution to the free world cause in Viet-Nam, in the form of combat forces or otherwise. A week earlier, the same press agency had announced that 2,000 South Korean troops had been sent to fight what the imperialists call communism in South Viet-Nam, in violation of the Geneva Agreements. However, since communism is a doctrine, a philosophy or a political and economic system, I do not see how it can be fought with bombers or machine guns.
17. In this connexion, may I, in turn, refer to a book which was much talked about in the United States, and which the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mali already mentioned during the Security Council debate on the United States and Belgian aggression at Stanleyville. In this book, entitled The Ugly American, a nationalist, replying to an American agent of international subversion, who is attempting to frighten him with the power of his country, said "You've done nothing but lose since the end of the war. And for a simple little reason: you don't know the power of an idea".
18. In Africa, while the Organization of African Unity, at the request of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was seeking a political and fraternal solution to the tragic problems which have beset that country since its accession to independence, the same imperialists paralysed the effort of the ad hoc Commision on the Congo headed by President Jomo Xenyatta, one of the most respected African leaders. Under the pretext of rescuing hostages, parachutists and mercenaries were unleashed on Stanleyville, with the sinister aim of cutting short all attempts at political negotiations with the leaders in Stanleyville, who were accused of being communists and pro-Chinese, as if the African peoples — who invented very advanced forms of government and administration long before colonial domination and who founded prosperous empires and maintained diplomatic relations even before certain present-day imperialist States existed — could not, on their own initiative, revolt against attacks on their dignity and their sovereignty.
19. Are all these deplorable actions manifestations of a relaxation of tension and acceptable forms of peaceful coexistence? Are they in conformity with the United Nations Charter, which has brought us together here and which we have all undertaken to respect? Surely they are not.
20. Why then is the Government of the United States, a permanent member of the Security Council, always to be found at the focal points of tension which disturb international peace and security?
21. Why do the imperialists wish to take the place of the United Nations, to become international policemen and try to settle, in their own way and in accordance with their selfish interests, the international disputes which in most cases they themselves instigated?
22. What provisions of the Charter give the imperialist, colonialist and neo-colonialist Powers the right to establish throughout the world military bases that constitute threats to neighbouring States, as was demonstrated by the latest United States-Belgian aggression at Stanleyville, to which the United Kingdom was an accessory? As was demanded by the Second Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non- Aligned Countries, all foreign military bases must be liquidated. In this connexion, the Government of Mali endorses the recent unilateral decision of the French Government to remove the military bases which it still maintains in the newly independent States of Africa.
23. The people and Government of the Republic of Mali support a relaxation of international tensions, but it must be a genuine relaxation of tension which will take into account the interests and sovereignty of all peoples. The people and Government of Mali are also in favour of the peaceful coexistence between States having different political, economic and social systems. The party of the Malian people, the Sudanese Union (Rassemblement dfemocratique africain), has as its doctrine the policy of non-alignment. However, our non-alignment is a dynamic one and will never make us accomplices of imperialism. We shall never tolerate any foreign interference in our internal affairs. It is our firm belief that we are thereby defending the Charter of the United Nations and accepting our obligations thereunder.
24. In addition to imperialism, one characteristic of which is interference in the internal affairs of other countries, these are other regrettable practices which endanger peace and constitute serious obstacles to co-operation among peoples. I am referring to colonialism and apartheid.
25. Our Organization has condemned colonialism and apartheid. It has established special committees in order to accelerate the liquidation of these two evils which are real anachronisms in this day and age. However, in spite of the courageous efforts of these committees, in spite of the unremitting efforts of other organizations such as the Organization of African Unity, the Conference of African and-Asian Peoples, the Conference of Non-Aligned Countries, and in spite of the moral condemnation expressed by mankind as a whole, there are peoples still living under the colonial rule of the United Kingdom and Portugal and under the fascist tyranny of the Government of South Africa. My delegation feels that the appeals to common sense contained in the resolutions of the General Assembly are a source of encouragement to national liberation movements, but experience has shown that they have a very limited influence upon the Lisbon and Pretoria Governments.
26. As stated in the introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General [A/5801/Add.1], in spite of the many efforts made to persuade it to accept the principle of self-determination for the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, and so-called Portuguese Guinea, Portugal continues to claim that the territories in question are parts of its "Overseas Provinces". As the Mandatory Power for South West Africa, South Africa not only has constantly rejected the resolutions of the United Nations, but also refuses to cooperate with those agencies of the Organization that have sought to assist the peoples of the Territory. Yet Portugal and South Africa are Members of the United Nations and have undertaken to respect the provisions of the Charter. The Government of Mali believes that the United Nations would be failing in its duty if it allowed the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, so-called Portuguese Guinea and South West Africa, as well as the African peoples of the Republic of South Africa, to remain under the colonial domination of Portugal and the racist regime of Verwoerd and other Fascists.
27. We therefore consider that the General Assembly and the Security Council should decide without further delay to apply to those Governments the sanctions for which the Charter makes provisions. In this connexion, it is significant that the Governments which caused innocent inhabitants of the Stanleyville area to be massacred by paratroops and mercenaries under the pretext of carrying out a humanitarian operation, and those which approved of those massacres, are the same Governments which object to the application of sanctions against Portugal and South Africa. Without indulging in racism as do those whose conscience is burdened by the death of thousands of Africans massacred at Stanleyville by the paratroops and mercenaries, we consider that the most humanitarian operation and one most in keeping with the spirit and provisions of the Charter would be an operation that would help to put an end to Portuguese colonialism and to the racial discrimination which has been made a veritable system of government in South Africa. Quite recently, in spite of the appeals made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Countries met at Cairo, the Government of South Africa caused certain African patriots, condemned to death because of their opposition to the policy of apartheid, to be executed. At that time we observed no reaction on the part of the self-styled "humanitarian" Governments which are continuing, on the contrary, to sell aircraft, arms and munitions to the Government of South Africa.
28. My delegation will, of course, have a further opportunity, during the examination of the reports of the Special Committees, to stigmatize apartheid and colonialism. It will have an opportunity to dwell upon the situation of certain territories such as Southern Rhodesia, where a racist, white-minority Government is, with the complicity of the United Kingdom Government, oppressing 4 million Africans. My delegation will have an opportunity to dwell also upon the case of Aden and the Aden Protectorates as well as the situation of certain small territories. For the present, however, I should like, to draw the attention of the Members of the Assembly to the urgent need to take appropriate measures in order to put an end to colonialism and apartheid, which cast dark shadows over the relations between African States, on the one hand, and the colonial Powers and their allies on the other.
29. The question of disarmament and nuclear testing is on the Assembly’s agenda, and my delegation will discuss it without excessive pessimism or optimism, because, unfortunately, this is one of the fields in which the great Powers pay very little attention to the views of the developing countries. This is a very regrettable fact, for, although the manufacture and improvements in the design of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons are the private preserve of a few great Powers, the danger which the manufacture and stockpiling of such weapons represents is nevertheless a matter of concern to all mankind. In spite of the hope engendered last year by the signing of the Moscow partial nuclear test ban treaty, the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee made no progress in 1964 during its six months of work in Geneva. In these circumstances, the peoples of the world are entitled to ask who is benefiting from the armaments race. Rather pessimistic notes are even heard on occasion, depending on the ill-humour or financial appetite of the monied interests that control war industries. Articles in the local Press often report rumours of a possible denunciation of the Moscow Treaty.
30. This absence of progress in the field of disarmament, and even certain attempts to go back upon previously accepted principles, emphasizes the relevance of the remarks made by the President of the Republic of Mali in his statement to the Second Conference of Heads of State and Government of Non-Aligned Countries. On that occasion, the Heads of State of Mali said: "For our part, we believe that our high mission as responsible leaders places on us the moral obligation not to arouse vain hopes in the peoples of the world with respect to the present possibility of disarmament and the present desire of the great Powers to disarm and to allocate for the development of the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America the immense sums spent on excessive armaments. We must undertake a cool and lucid analysis of the economies of the great Powers, the policies of interest groups, and their age-old propensity to reap vast profits to the detriment of our countries. Any other attitude would lessen the vigilance of the peoples, whereas the maintenance of peace requires that they should be vigilant at all times."
31. In spite of the set-backs encountered thus far in the area of nuclear disarmament, there are grounds for hoping that the pressure of world opinion and the recent admission of the People's Republic of China to the atomic club, thus putting an end to the monopoly of the older nuclear Powers, will help to hasten the attainment of the objectives which the General Assembly has pursued in this field for several years.
32. The nuclear Powers, which have nothing to teach the Government of Peking with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security and the right of peoples to self-determination, were astonished that certain Heads of State expressed satisfaction at the explosion of the Chinese atomic bomb, an event which constitutes an undeniable achievement on the part of the scientists of the People's Republic of China.
33. The Government of the Republic of Mali has always urged the cessation of all nuclear tests and the achievement of general and complete disarmament, but the nuclear Powers have never taken account of the views of the developing countries. After having stockpiled frightening quantities of weapons of mass destruction, they have sought to monopolize the atomic bomb and to use it as an instrument for blackmail and pressure. The Chinese bomb puts an end to the atomic monopoly and blackmail of certain Powers and is therefore regarded by the people of Mali as the bomb of peace, in other words, the bomb which will bring about the destruction of the other bombs. This attitude is in keeping with the unchanging policy of the Government of the People's Republic of China, which, before and after the explosion of its own bomb, always advocated the holding of a world conference at which all States, without exception, would sign an agreement banning the production and use of nuclear weapons and providing for the complete and total destruction of all existing stockpiles. The Government of Mali believes that the objective of that proposal is consistent with the aspirations of all peoples, and the people of Mali unreservedly support it.
34. Since I am speaking of the Chinese bomb, I should like also to refer to the question of the restoration of the rights of the People's Republic of China as a founding Member of the United Nations. My delegation, as well as others, has requested the inclusion of this item in the agenda of the nineteenth session of the General Assembly [see A/5761 and Add.l to 8]. In so doing, the Government of the Republic of Mali wished to express its firm belief that the restoration of the rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations cannot be postponed any longer.
35. In arguing for the restoration of the right of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations, my delegation will not dwell on the question of the universality of the United Nations, the injustice done to 700 million Chinese, or the stability and unquestionably representative character of the Peking Government. Those points have been adequately developed by my delegation and by many others at previous sessions, and they are no longer disputed by anyone. I should like to speak rather of the effectiveness of the Organization and, on this point, it is now generally recognized that none of the important questions on the General Assembly's agenda can be solved definitely and completely without the participation of the People's Republic of China. Consequently, to oppose the restoration of the rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations is to work against the interests of the international community. In our view, the presence of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations has now become a vital necessity for the Organization.
36. The decision of the Indonesian Government to withdraw from the United Nations has caused considerable consternation everywhere. My delegation considers that those Governments which are hostile to the presence of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations should give this matter serious thought. Those Governments which seek to prove, by opposing the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, that they control the Organization must stop playing this dangerous game for it undermines the prestige of the United Nations. The delegation of Mali feels that the wise course for the Assembly to follow, at the present session, is for it to invite the Peking Government to send its representatives to occupy the seat which rightfully belongs to it in the United Nations as the one and only Government representing the People of China.
37. The Tibetan problem is often mentioned in connexion with the question of the admission of China to the United Nations. My delegation considers that this is a spurious problem that may be disregarded. There are ethnic or religious minorities in all countries, and we do not believe that the black minority in the United States of America enjoys as many rights in American society as do the inhabitants of Tibet in the People's Republic of China.
38. The imperialists also seek to undermine the unity of the people and Republic of Cyprus, under the pretext of protecting a minority. The Government of Mali considers that the Republic of Cyprus is an independent State, a Member of the United Nations, and that no Government should interfere in its internal affairs. The people of Cyprus must be sovereign in order to have the constitution and the political, economic and social system of its choice.
39. As a developing country, the Republic of Mali attaches considerable importance to the question of international co-operation in the commercial and economic fields. As a landlocked country, it places great hope in understanding and co-operation among States. In this connexion, the delegation of Mali wishes to express its satisfaction at the positive results achieved during the World Conference on Trade and Development.
40. I should now like to extend my Government's congratulations to the new African States of Malawi and Zambia on their accession to independence and on their admission to the United Nations. The people of Mali have followed with fraternal sympathy the heroic struggle waged by the peoples of those two countries to regain their independence. We have gladly welcomed them both to the Organization of African Unity and to the United Nations, and we are sure that they will make a positive contribution to these two Organizations. I should also like to convey my Government's congratulations to the State of Malta on its attainment of independence and on its admission to the United Nations.
41. In conclusion, I should like to reaffirm the faith of the people and Government of Mali in the noble ideals and objectives of the United Nations. I would express the wish that, through the efforts of the United Nations, the peoples of Africa and elsewhere who are still under colonial domination may become free and may join us in the course of the twentieth session, for I firmly believe that the Organization will overcome its present difficulties and will face the future with greater experience. I should also like to express once again my country's confidence in the Secretary-General and to thank his associates, particularly those participating in the Special Fund and Technical Assistance Board programmes for the very useful work that they are doing with modesty and intelligence in the developing countries.