81. Madam President, in. speaking at this session of
the General Assembly of the United Nations, I wish, first of
all, to convey to you, on behalf of the Republic of Panama,
our warmest and most cordial congratulations on your
having been. chosen, so wisely and with such justice, to
preside over this twenty-fourth session.
82. The delegation of Panama, which is well aware of your
devotion to the purposes and principles of the United
Nations, welcomes the presence in the President’s chair of
one who is both a symbol of the women of the present-day
world and a most distinguished representative of Liberia
and the African continent which is emerging dynamically
and promisingly on the international scene, and because it
is convinced that that presence constitutes the best guarantee
of impartiality and tact in the guidance of the debate
and of success in our deliberations.
83. May I also be permitted to pay a sincere tribute to the
memory of the great Guatemalan, Emilio Arenales, who
died during the twenty-third session of the United Nations
General Assembly, of which he was President, when he was
at the height of a fruitful life in the service of his country,
of America and of the world. Here his name is added to the
list of those who have joined the immortals, leaving behind
a trail of prodigious and noteworthy efforts to promote
international peace and security, fundamental human rights
and social progress and who, quite properly, deserve the
grateful thanks of peace-loving nations.
84. The Republic of Panama is attending this Assembly
with a very clear and definite intention to contribute, as far
as lies within its power, to ensuring that the general debate
and the work of the committees furnish the United Nations
with new considerations which will still further justify its
existence, enhance its prestige, strengthen its activities and
stimulate hope, on the eve of its twenty-fifth anniversary.
85. We understand and, at the same time, regret that at
this historic moment, which is the background to this
Assembly, the realities of international life confront us with
a motley panorama full of questions. We are not unaware
that conflicts in an acute form are still continuing and cast
a shadow over the peace of the world, although there had
been understandable hopes that they might be settled or at
least that their effects might be reduced, and we know that
in various regions in the world situations exist which offend
the most elemental feelings of humanity. But we also know
that, despite these facts, efforts continue to be made to put
an end to these conflicts and situations, and that programmes
whose purpose it is to promote peace and general
welfare through international co-operation are being implemented
and expanded.
86. Without indulging in undue optimism, we reiterate our
unshakable faith in the usefulness and benefits of this
association of peace-loving nations. The existence of problems
as yet unresolved, the undeniable preponderance of
strong nations which talk of law and sovereign equality but
which, without shame, scoff at and disregard the rights of
small and defenceless nations, and the lack of adequate
resources to cope with the urgent needs of the world,
should not lead us to either anaemic acceptance or to
cynical scepticism, but, on the contrary, should stimulate
efforts to overcome this state of affairs.
87. Peace — as has rightly been said in this very forum — is,
in the present-day world, a continuing process of creative
evolution, because there can be no stability without change.
It is not sufficient to abolish war. Peace inevitably
presupposes effective progress both in the task of satisfying
the material needs of the human being and in that of
fulfilling his spiritual desires.
88. We share that way of thinking. We are convinced that
every nation, in the exercise of its supreme right freely to
determine its own future, can and should — when its existing
conditions make it necessary — undertake the political, social
and economic reorganization which is necessary in the
interests of the dignity of each and every one of its citizens
in order to ensure its internal peace, the absence of which
in our times easily endangers peace abroad and the
international order.
89. For that reason, machinery for co-operation among
nations, in order to be really effective, must make itself felt
in the national sphere as a factor aiding the process of
recovery, Only in this way can it truly serve world peace, It
is for that reason also that every country, every State is
duty bound to make its influence felt beyond its frontiers,
either in order to find, through negotiation, ways of
removing the causes of domestic ills which have their roots
or origin in other countries, or to co-operate, as a good
neighbour, in fulfilling a duty to aid, as far as it is able, the
efforts made by other nations to overcome their shortcomings.
90. Recently, the Central American isthmus was shaken
by a clash between the armed forces of two sister nations,
Honduras and El Salvador. Despite the obvious ideological
affinity of these highly esteemed and respected small
Central American territories, in spite of the fraternal ties
uniting Salvadoreans and Hondurans, a bloody conflict
erupted, which we all observed with amazement and heavy
hearts.
91. It is true that the efforts made by the Organization of
American States succeeded in bringing about a cease-fire,
and the restoration of the status quo ante bellum, which
facilitated the adoption of measures designed to bring
about a peaceful solution of the conflict; but the graves
which put thousands of families into mourning, the tears
that flooded, with their stream of sad questions, the
formerly loving and calm eyes of mothers and wives, the
ashes which today constitute an epilogue of ruin and
desolation, are there as a melancholy and sinister spectre
which recalls the horrors of war. And, what is more serious,
we have not taken any decisive step towards the removal of
the causes which gave rise to, stirred up and aggravated the
tragedy. It is necessary that the problems which gave rise to
and fomented the war should be tackled at the American
level and settled by new, bold formulas.
92. The Republic of Panama is not satisfied with spectacular
and dazzling lyrical outpourings regarding American
unity. Panama wants to have machinery established which
will put an end to the virus of under-development, and open
up employment opportunities for intelligent minds and
strong arms which find their frontiers hemmed in and
constrictive. And because, as a member of the American
family, it is interested in these problems, it hopes that after
the ruins and tears, after the graves and sobs, an embrace of
reconciliation and forgetfulness will come about. Both
nations have sufficient grandeur to drown transitory resentments
in the enduring waters of love. If yesterday we
witnessed a rupture of brotherliness, today we can proclaim
the rebirth of peace fostered by affection and brotherhood.
We hope that on the frontier between El Salvador and
Honduras there may shortly be erected a monument to
perpetuate the flowering of the most absolute harmony and
that the passions which yesterday darkened people’s minds
will turn into tears of love, which also can be shed when we
pardon and forget.
93. For almost a year the Republic of Panama has been
engaged in the process of changing its fundamental structures
in order to meet the vital needs of the Panamanian
nation. A lengthy period of social decomposition led to
fearful chaos involving the political and institutional
disintegration of the country. Democracy was wiped out, the
procedure for determining the results of the people’s voting
being converted into a crude farce; and the constitutionally
established electoral jurisdiction was in fact replaced by
machinery with arbitrary powers in the hands of a small
group which seized control of the electoral institutions. The
Constitution was turned into a dead letter, the institutions
providing safeguards, the principle of the separation of the
organs of the public power, and the limited nature of its
exercise, being ignored. Access to the courts of justice was
impeded, the decisions of the courts were disregarded, and
the rule of law was replaced by an infamous absolutist
régime. The public treasury was the pitiful prey of political
corruption, and the national economy failed to keep pace
with the requirements for national development. In view of
this state of affairs, the Panamanian people, imbued with an
unchanging desire for peace and freedom, decided once
again to become masters of their own destiny, and acting
through the remaining elements of law and order, set up the
present provisional government, which is now carrying out
the task of bringing about a radical change.
94. In this connexion, intensive efforts are being made to
establish the bases for the restoration and effective operation
of representative democracy in our isthmus so that
there may be real and conscious participation by every
citizen in the formation and activities of a government
which guarantees to every Panamanian full enjoyment of
his fundamental rights and affords equal opportunities to
all to attain a life in accordance with the principles of
human dignity which the reactionary forces, now definitely
driven out, persistently disregarded.
95. In the field of public administration the State is being
provided with an efficient, competent, honest and dynamic
organization which is fitting for a government worthy of
the name, rooted in the most genuine Panamanian traditions,
in order to guide the nation along the upward road of
progress in all spheres of life.
96. With respect to the economic aspect, a policy designed
to restore the rate of development and promote higher
levels of living, with well-defined objectives, is already being
carried out. The necessary foundations are being laid to
promote the development of new sources of income
through private enterprise. Through our own efforts we are
trying to organize, institutionalize and also stabilize economic
activities in the country, which, with timely and
wisely channelled aid, will enable us to progress from a level
of low income and poverty — causes of social and political
instability — to a level of greater well-being within the next
decade. An attempt is being made to achieve economic
integration by continuous and planned channeling of
resources generated around the transit zone to the other
parts of the country and by improving the physical and
human infrastructures of the whole interior of the isthmus.
97. The social integration of our community is being
carried out through a series of programmes designed to
extend the benefits of the wealth generated to the whole
population and particularly to those sectors which are most
poverty-stricken, all this within a system which does not
reduce the productive capacity but rather supplements and
Strengthens it, so that the total production helps the
population to the maximum extent and develops the
potential, and which requires that those who have more
should contribute more to that effort, without detracting
from the incentives to produce or impairing the right to fair
compensation for individual efforts.
98. Today we have a de facto régime. We do not deny this,
but we are supported by the tacit consent of the large
national majorities which see, almost with astonishment,
long cherished hopes of salvation looming up on the
horizon.
99. Many people think that we are an experiment in
America: military support for the action of professional
civilians, the merging of the efforts of youth who are
equally worried by the great problems facing the country;
we do riot wish to create a new caste, but to introduce a
genuine democracy, one of substance not form, with the
exercise of power in the true interests of the people, with
equal opportunities for work and education and not merely
the appearance of freedom destined to perish through
hunger and inertia under the pretext of complying with the
already discredited patterns of international political
conventionalities.
100. In the sphere of international relations, the Government
of Panama, which from its inception announced its
firm determination to fulfill the commitments entered into
by the Republic, has also resolved to fight tirelessly to
secure for the nation and for future generations the
abrogation of the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty, an unjust
international agreement on the basis of which the inter-oceanic
waterway was constructed through Panamanian
territory, and with its abrogation to achieve a new
agreement which would establish a completely different
canal statute, of limited duration, satisfying, in justice and
equity, the rights and interests of the two nations which
made possible the construction of the Panama Canal.
101. The history of that struggle is already long. It was
reflected first in periodic revisions of the Convention on the
isthmian canal which resulted in the treaties of 1936 and
1955, revisions that failed in their objective of rectifying
that unfair treaty, which violated the most elementary
principles of international morality, because of the biased
and unilateral interpretation given to the text by the more
powerful State, which later led to the insistent demand by
the Republic for the abrogation of the Convention governing
the canal régime on the basis of previous experiences,
which showed the ineffectiveness of any isolated revision of
its clauses.
102. In January 1964, as a result of the existing state of
affairs, unfortunately events occurred which led to the
breaking off of relations between Panama and the United
States of America. In April of that year, when those
relations were re-established, the authorized representatives
of both countries agreed that the Governments of Panama
and of the United States of America should appoint special
plenipotentiary ambassadors to engage in negotiations to
eliminate the existing causes of the dispute between the
two nations. Almost five years have passed since the special
ambassadors of the two countries were accredited. Starting
with the negotiations, they have moved on to consideration
of a possible single-level canal which would replace the
existing multi-level canal.
103.The Panamanian Government, aware of these facts
and of the importance to the country both of the effective
exercise of its sovereign rights and of the optimum
exploitation of its geographical position, which is its
principal natural resource, is confident that through proper
negotiations the necessary agreement will be reached to
eliminate the causes of conflict between Panama and the
United States of America and finally to establish its
relations with the great nation to the north on equitable
bases which will ensure to both .countries the benefits
which they are entitled to expect from life now and in the
future, if something else is built, so that, while serving the
cause of international trade on the basis of a realistic
approach, the needs and aspirations which have been felt
for so long by the Panamanian people can be fully satisfied.
104. There is also a corollary of tears, mourning and
graves in our struggles to secure fair treatment in these
relations; and the memory of these sorrows will make
manifest at all times a complete unity of spirit among all
Panamanians without differences of colour, race or creed,
whenever we have to line up in defence of our legitimate
rights.
105. Only a few days ago, on 18 September, the President
of the United States of America stated in this Assembly of
nations:
“Our aim is to encourage the creative forms of
nationalism; to join as partners where our partnership is
appropriate and where it is wanted, but not to let a
United States presence substitute for independent national
effort or infringe on national dignity and national
pride.
“It is not my belief that the way to peace is by giving
up our friends or letting down our allies. On the contrary,
our aim is to place America’s international commitments
on a sustainable long-term basis, to encourage local and
regional initiatives, to foster national independence and
self-sufficiency, and by so doing to strengthen the total
fabric of peace.” [1755th meeting, paras. 52 and 53.]
We welcome those words with sympathy because we will
never allow the action of any foreign country to replace our
own efforts, and because, just as we reaffirm our determination
to carry out international agreements, we shall
vehemently reject any attempt to ignore our right to
self-determination and any denial of the elemental principles
of morality and equity which are as valid for men as
they are for nations.
106. The Republic of Panama will endeavour to maintain
the most active participation in those international organizations
of which it is a member, since it is convinced that
the cause of international peace and security will be served
better by increasing the existing machinery and its capacity
to promote the economic and social progress of all peoples,
which is the only thing that will really eliminate the causes
of friction which, as they grow in magnitude, turn into
threats to the peace and actual aggression.
107. We firmly restate our faith in regional unity, in the
joint development of efforts by the Latin American
countries which will enable us to overcome the state of
under-development that, to a greater or lesser degree, is
stifling the upward movement of our peoples. The immortal
thoughts of Simon Bolivar have never been so clear and
pertinent as they are today, and when we all have
interpreted his message correctly we shall have an America
united in peace and progress. Regional unity in each
continent will one day ensure peace in the world.
108. I represent one of the smallest nations in the world,
but it is great and vast for us in the feeling that cements our
nationality. We are weak in physical terms, but it is the
intensity of our spirit that will delimit the bounds of our
efforts.
109. Today we, or tomorrow other Panamanians, will have
to govern our country. In this lofty forum of all the
nations, on behalf of every Panamanian who was born near
the murmuring waters of the seas which bathe our shores or
those who in the silence of the mountains are steeped in
their eternal solitude, I renew once again the promise
which, although it has been repeated, will not fail to be
dogma and guide, namely that neither today nor at any
other time will there be any government in my country
which dares to compromise the national dignity, unless it
intends to unleash the fury of a people which, on the sacred
altar of the love of country, renders perennial and undying
respect to its own dignity.
110. May all in this sanctum sanctorum of all nations give
heed to this, and may all my countrymen when they hear
these words in their own homes feel strengthened by this
reaffirmation of our nationality.