170. May I, first of all, on behalf of the delegation of the
Republic of Guinea, pay a tribute to the memory of our
late President, Mr. Emilio Arenales, of Guatemala, whose
great personality made its mark on the twenty-third session
of the United Nations General Assembly. We wish to
express our sincere condolences to his country, his family
and his friends.
171. And to you, Madam President, over and above the
traditional congratulations offered by all delegations in
such circumstances to a newly elected President, I should
like to say how happy my delegation and my country, the
Republic of Guinea, are at her distinguished election to
preside over the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly.
172. The election for the second time of a worthy child of
Africa to the presidency of this Assembly is a great new
source of hope for all who have struggled and continue to
struggle for the ideals of freedom, peace and social progress.
It is also a definite encouragement to those who have
unceasingly sacrificed themselves for the total emancipation
and full development of peoples so that they may assume
full responsibility for their own destinies and thus be able
to participate satisfactorily and effectively in bringing
about a better world.
173. Above all, the election of our President for this
twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly is something
more than a tribute justly paid to the Republic of Liberia
and its worthy President and great African leader, Mr. William
V.S. Tubman, who is loved and respected in the
Republic of Guinea; it is a personal tribute to our President
and a recognition of her country’s praiseworthy efforts, in
this Organization and elsewhere, to further human rights,
the emancipation of women and all measures to promote a
better social world and a world of universal peace. Her
election is a firm proof of Africa’s involvement and of its
contribution to the task of safeguarding international peace
and security.
174. The delegation of the Republic of Guinea is firmly
convinced that the personal qualities of our President,
which have been evidenced on numerous occasions in the
United Nations and elsewhere, will set the tone for our
discussions and impart a character to this Assembly which
will be in accord with the noble principles of the Charter to
which we have all subscribed, resulting in satisfactory
solutions to the serious problems which we are called upon
to consider during this session.
175. We should also like to take advantage of this
opportunity to offer our encouragement and acknowledgement
to the Secretary-General, U Thant, for the praise-worthy
work he does in the service of peace.
176. The delegations which have spoken before me have
all raised the important problems of peace, disarmament,
security, development and international co-operation.
177. In my delegation’s opinion, the events which trouble
our continent and the persistence of foreign domination
will cause the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly,
even more than the sixteenth (known as “Africa Year“), to be
marked again by the “African problem”, i.e.
the problem of the effective exercise of national sovereignty
by Africans for the benefit of their peoples and to
the exclusion of all foreign interference.
178. The General Assembly has devoted its most important
discussions at its last ten sessions to the problems
arising in different contexts and in varied forms in
connexion with the political, economic, social and cultural
decolonization of Africa. The problem of decolonization
has been discussed eloquently in United Nations bodies for
ten years, unhappily without a practical solution having yet
been found. On the contrary, the hopes born of declarations
we have all made together and of resolutions we have
all adopted together have gradually given way to frustration
and tension which are a permanent threat to international
peace and security.
179. We loudly proclaim that the perpetuation of colonialism
in Africa at the close of this decade is but another
aspect of the political supremacy pursued by the imperialist
Powers at the expense of the valiant peoples of Africa and
in contempt of the fundamental principles on which our
Organization is based. Decolonization is therefore the key
problem above all others for the maintenance of international
peace and security and thus for the achievement of
the main objectives of the Charter of the United Nations.
180. Progressive forces throughout the world know that
imperialism seeks at any price to keep the whole of
southern Africa under its domination, in order to exploit its
riches for its own purposes and to use it as a centre from
which to crush national liberation movements and interfere
in the internal affairs of the independent States of Africa
through provocation and threats, corruption and blackmail.
181. Could the infamous Ian Smith, alone and unaided,
after unilaterally and with impunity proclaiming independence
in November 1965, have gone on to submit the
so-called draft constitution to a bogus referendum with a
view to making a new proclamation, the proclamation of a
Republic? It is a universally recognized fact that the
Rhodesia of Ian Smith, like the Portugal of the infamous
Salazar or the Republic of South Africa of the criminal
Balthazar Vorster, is unconditionally supported by the
United Kingdom and its NATO allies. The shilly-shallying
of the United Kingdom, as the administering Power with
full responsibility, its systematic refusal to use force and its
pious recommendation of sanctions are all part of the
Western policy of making southern Africa a bastion of
fascist minorities and white supremacy in Africa. That
alone explains the rapprochement encouraged between the
régimes of Vorster and Ian Smith. Has not the United
Kingdom recently proved its sacred colonial principles and
its colonial mission are still in full force by its dramatic
intervention to repress a so-called rebellion in the tiny
island of Anguilla and to safeguard what it calls the rule of
law?
182. It is most regrettable that the United Kingdom,
confronted by the new situation in Rhodesia, is content to
reiterate its verbal condemnation of the Salisbury régime
and to profess its unshakable faith in the effectiveness of
harmless economic sanctions. Experience has shown that
only the use of force can bring the Ian Smith clique to
reason. Therefore, if the United Kingdom wishes to
shoulder its responsibilities, it can repeat its Anguilla
exploit and bring about a return to legality and the rule of
law in Rhodesia.
183. Southern Africa remains today the key area in the
struggle for the freedom of our still subjugated peoples. In
Namibia, the Portuguese colonies, South Africa and rebel
Rhodesia, guerrilla movements are engaged against the
Vorster-Smith-Caetano axis, whose offensives, despite the
support of NATO and their de facto allies, can never
overcome the immeasurable and invincible force of the
masses of the people. We know from experience — the case
of Viet-Nam is now irrefutable proof — that the principle of
self-determination of peoples has been an irresistible force
throughout history.
184. Therefore, if the Pretoria régime continues to turn a
deaf ear to the decisions of this Organization, which in
resolution 2145 (XXI) revoked that regime’s Mandate over
Namibia, we should no longer continue this dialogue with
the deaf in which it seeks to hold us so as to distract us
from our main objective, the independence of Namibia. We
should no longer bother with the arguments of Mr. Vorster,
who must be made to see that an imperative injunction is
addressed to him in paragraph 5 of Security Council
resolution 269 (1969). On 4 October 1969, South Africa
should actually be in an illegal position with respect to
international law and the United Nations. This situation,
which my delegation would call the point of no return,
must logically lead us to transfer the sovereignty of
Namibia to its people and to them alone. The responsibility
for Namibian affairs should then be entrusted to a
government in exile recognized by the Organization of
African Unity and by the United Nations, a government
that should receive all the moral and material assistance of
the States members of those two organizations and of all
progressive peoples of the world.
185. We would thus be striking South Africa at its most
vulnerable point, the “Achilles heel” of Namibia. My
country, which has complete faith in the action of peoples
as the driving force of history, is in no doubt that it is only
in this way that the de facto authorities of Pretoria would
be made to realize their weakness and that of their unholy
allies in the face of an entire people in arms.
186. With these suggestions, my delegation invites the
General Assembly to redefine its entire strategy vis-a-vis the
apartheid system, that scourge which must be resolutely
eradicated from the African continent — a continent which
aspires to become free and responsible and fully master of
its own destiny.
187. In the Guinean delegation’s view, Portuguese colonialism
and the existence of the fascist axis of Salisbury and
Pretoria form a single problem, namely, that of the
anti-imperialist struggle for the true and effective independence
of the peoples of southern Africa.
188. It is unanimously recognized that Portugal, economically
under-developed and politically decadent, could
not wage a fight on several fronts or commit a long series of
markedly criminal acts incompatible with the obligations of
a State Member of the United Nations without the full
support of the Western Powers. The seriousness of the
problem lies precisely in the fact that colonialism has
survived in Africa because of the imposition of armed force
by Western Powers grouped together in the militarist North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on peoples whose
only crime has been the desire to regain their usurped
independence and their dignity.
189. That is why, strengthened by the military, political
and economic aid of those Powers and protected by their
abuse of the veto in the Security Council, Portugal refuses
to hold any dialogue with the nationalist forces with a view
to reaching a negotiated solution for the liberation of those
territories. Moreover, Portugal regularly engages in acts of
provocation against independent African States which it
claims to be its neighbours.
190. Thus, on 27 August 1969, the Republic of Guinea
was again the victim of foul, ignominious and criminal
aggression by Portuguese colonialism. A Guinean transport
vessel carrying 33 passengers was surrounded in national
territorial waters by six Portuguese military launches armed
with heavy machine guns and other automatic weapons.
The aggressors opened fire on the boat, killing one man
outright and seriously injuring three other persons. Only
eight passengers managed to escape and swim to the coast
under a hail of bullets and grenades. After committing this
crime, the Portuguese aggressors seized the Guinean launch
and the twenty-one surviving passengers, whom they took
with them to an unknown destination. The lives of the
prisoners are in danger because the Portuguese have a
mindless hatred for the people of the progressive countries
of Africa.
191. The Government of the Republic of Guinea wishes to
protest most emphatically at this foul crime of international
imperialism and appeals to the United Nations and to
the conscience of the world for all possible measures to be
taken to end the criminal activities of the detested Lisbon
regime.
192. You will also recall that two years ago one of our
AN14 aircraft, having strayed slightly from its course on
the way to Boké, a town in the administrative district of
the same name in the Republic of Guinea and close to the
frontier with so-called Portuguese Guinea, landed in that
territory. Far from receiving the assistance due to aircraft in
such circumstances, it was simply held with all its crew,
who have remained prisoners to this day.
193. All our protests have been in vain and Portugal
continues to pursue its criminal activities with impunity
throughout black Africa, clearly with NATO’s blessing.
194. Portugal, more than any other State, is aware of the
doom to which it is heading, because it knows better than
any other State that it is bogged down in a war that will
inevitably consign it to the scrap-heap of history. That is
why, with the madness of a cornered beast, it has adopted
the ultimate tactics used as a last resort by those who are
doomed to failure and desperate scorched earth tactics in
the combat areas and the physical elimination of those who
are fighting for independence and the freedom of the
oppressed peoples.
195. The assassination of Mr. Eduardo Mondlane in January
1969 and all the other attempted assassinations of
African leaders are among the ignominious acts that will
loom large in the list of colonialist crimes. In condemning
this shameful act, the Republic of Guinea wishes to pay a
well-deserved tribute to this valiant African hero fallen on
the field of battle for the honour of the African homeland.
196. People die, peoples and their sacred causes live for
ever. We have an unshakable faith in the irreversible and
indestructible nature of the liberation movement and in the
inevitable victory of progressive forces over colonialism.
197. The peoples who love peace and liberty have understood
only too well the odious manoeuvres carried out by
the imperialist and neo-colonialist forces against the effective
independence of the peoples of Africa, flouting the
sacred principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
They have learnt that under the cover of sanctimonious
declarations of intent and appeals to so-called reason, these
forces of evil are engaging in acts which the conscience of
mankind cannot tolerate.
198. That is why the armed struggle, legitimately sanctioned
by the United Nations, is being intensified in the
territories still under foreign domination and why the
African nationalists are daily winning greater and greater
victories in Zimbabwe, Guinea (Bissau), Namibia, Angola
and Mozambique. From this rostrum, we call on all the
liberation movements to unite in a common front and to
set themselves the single objective of the prompt liberation
of their territories that are still under foreign domination.
199. To the independent African States we also say that it
is high time to make an effective contribution to the
struggle of the national liberation movements, and in so
doing, to strengthen the national independence of all
African States. Comrade Ahmed Sekou Touré, President of
the Republic of Guinea, a great fighter for the cause of
African independence, has said on this matter:
“So long as colonialism and its unspeakable crimes have
not disappeared from African life once and for all and so
long as one geographical part of our continent or a
fraction of its population languishes beneath the boots of
imperialism, can any African State or any African people
believe itself to be entirely worthy and rehabilitated on
the international scene?”
200. What is required of the independent African States is
to respect the solemn commitments undertaken at the time
of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity
in May 1963 to form a united front against the imperialist
and colonialist coalition and drive the foreign usurper from
our continent. On the way that commitment is respected
and on the kind of assistance offered to the liberation
movements by all peoples who cherish peace and freedom
will depend the elimination of colonialism and neocolonialism
in the territories that are still under Portuguese
domination, in Rhodesia, in Namibia, in Azania as well as in
the other African States that are still dependent.
201. Wherever colonialism and imperialism cannot act
openly, they adopt the policy of division, of tribalism, and
employ stateless and ambitious men to create instability in
certain spheres and encourage secession so that they may be
better able to divide the African peoples who only want
their freedom and thus hold them in subjection for a longer
time.
202. A problem has been raised here which is essentially
an African one, namely, the secession of eastern Nigeria, to
which the most fantastic interpretations have been given.
Some have even said that the Nigerian problem, in its
present stage, represents a shirking by the United Nations
of its fundamental responsibilities. This ill-orchestrated
imperialist propaganda cannot prevent international public
opinion from realizing the real cause of the Nigerian
problem. For it must be said that the secession in Nigeria
can be explained essentially by the existence of strategic
raw materials such as petroleum in that part of the
federation which the imperialist Powers are seeking to
remove from the control of the Federal Government. In the
opinion of the Republic of Guinea, the Nigerian problem is
and remains an essentially African political problem. We
appeal to all peace-loving people who cherish justice and
who wish to safeguard the territorial integrity of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria to abide by the resolution
adopted at the fifth session of the Conference of Heads of
State and Government of the Organization of African Unity
at Algiers from 13 to 16 September 1968, and confirmed at
Addis Ababa in September 1969. Only in this way could
the situation in Nigeria be regularized and other civil wars
in Africa avoided.
203. To the continued international tension brought
about by colonialism has been added the political instability
created and maintained in Africa by the Powers
seeking spheres of political, economic, military and cultural
influence. Thus the hopes aroused by the achievement of
independence by the majority of African States at the
beginning of this decade, and in particular the hope that the
countries still dependent would achieve national sovereignty
within a short time, have been severely disappointed
by the grave events which have characterized the African
political scene during this period.
204. Everywhere else in the world, the effect of the great
Powers’ supremacy policy is to create a climate of growing
insecurity in the small countries. The third world has more
than ever become the scene of coups d’état and direct or
indirect aggression. In other words, another and more
brutal and cynical form of domination of peoples is added
to the existing colonialism — the violation of the sovereignty
of the independent States of Africa, Asia and Latin
America in contempt of all international rules and practice.
Unscrupulous self-interest has won out over the sovereign
rights of peoples, those principles which it is the sacred
function of the Charter of the United Nations to safeguard.
205. The United States peace offensive to end the war of
aggression in Viet-Nam is likely to remain illusory until
Washington resolves to accept the perfectly reasonable
conditions of the National Liberation Front. In this
connexion, my delegation cannot repeat too often what it
has always said in this Assembly: nothing could do the
United States Government more honour than to find a
speedy and favourable solution through the Paris talks. The
world which loves peace and social justice believes in these
negotiations and cherishes the hope that the Nixon Government
will take advantage of this opportunity. We sincerely
encourage the United States Government to pursue its
efforts, not by adopting half measures but by tackling
dynamically the basic problem, which is to enable the
Viet-Namese people to solve the problems of their own
future in complete freedom, without any foreign presence
or interference.
206. The constitution of the provisional government of
the National Liberation Front, which was greeted by a most
encouraging message from the Government and people of
the Republic of Guinea, should be an additional valid
reason why Washington should restore a lasting peace in
this part of the world, which has been in turmoil for nearly
a quarter of a century.
207. It should be remembered that, in addition to
Viet-Nam, the Middle East is also suffering at the hands of
an imperialism which, in order to perpetuate its domination
over the Arab world, has been guilty of the greatest and
most shameless injustice ever done to a people — the brutal
expropriation of its native land. This expropriation, which
was aggravated by the aggression of 5 June 1967 against the
Arab peoples, illustrates the expansionist doctrine. But we
should not forget the lessons of history. It was the
inordinate greed of Hitler’s Nazis that was their doom,
raising the conscience of mankind in revolt against them.
208. Even if the four great Powers were suddenly to
realize their prime responsibility in the Israel-Arab conflict,
it goes without saying that any solution to this burning
problem which did not first require the unconditional
withdrawal of Israel’s troops from the occupied Arab
territories would be an “imposed solution”, imposed both
on the Palestinian people and on the Arab States. There is
no need to stress that any new compromise can only create
new conflicts which must inevitably be a threat to world peace.
209. It is hard to see how these hotbeds of war can be
extinguished if the States which have taken upon themselves
the role of laying down the rules of international
conduct do not give up the arms race and the use of the
military bases which they maintain throughout the world.
Neither the signature of the Moscow Treaty banning
nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and
under water nor that of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)] is any
guarantee that the Western nuclear Powers are about to
renounce the manufacture and use of atomic weapons. The
devastating development of antiballistic missiles and other
ultimate weapons is at any rate far from proving otherwise.
210. It is for this reason essential that the international
community should realize the need to rid itself of the
permanent danger created by military bases established in
the middle of the small Powers. Those bases, need it be
said, serve as a means of political and economic pressure
from which the small Powers cannot free themselves in that
the subsidies paid in compensation contribute neither
directly nor indirectly to their development but only serve
the interests of a feudal and neo-colonialist oligarchy. Only
revolutionary regimes, jealous of the freedom and dignity
of their peoples, are able to defend them against the greed
of the colonialist Powers. If, therefore, as we affirm, the
world sincerely aspires to peace, it is vital to extinguish the
hotbeds of war and aggression in Viet-Nam, the Middle
East, Africa and Latin America.
211. It has, moreover, been established — the experience of
military coups d’état has proved it — that the political
instability created and maintained in Africa, Asia and Latin
America to block the revolutionary forces damages even the
interests of the imperialists themselves because of the
divided and competing allegiances in those countries.
212. But imperialism sometimes goes much further.
Having been unable to establish a puppet regime or to
interfere in the State’s internal affairs, this enemy of the
freedom of peoples has attempted to deny any international
status to the most highly populated State in the
world, the People’s Republic of China, a victim of blind
ostracism on the part of international imperialism. But all
these delaying tactics cannot isolate the People’s Republic
of China, whose influence continues to grow throughout
the world. The Republic of Guinea for its part, true to its
staunchly anti-colonialist policy and always in favour of
greater justice, will continue to strive for the restoration in
the United Nations of the lawful and natural rights of the
People’s Republic of China, that great and peace-loving
State whose honest and effective fraternal co-operation
with all States which cherish peace and social justice is
beyond question. The delegation of the Republic of Guinea
will once more urge the General Assembly to restore the
lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China which have
for so long been treated with contempt.
213. It is in the same spirit that the Republic of Guinea
will associate itself with those countries which traditionally
call for the reunification of Korea. There can be no doubt
that the champions of division among peoples — a basic
principle of colonialism and imperialism - are trying to
preserve their interests in South Korea for ever. In this
connexion, the United Nations forces in Korea, far from
fulfilling the mission entrusted to them, have served for
more than twenty years to encourage, or at least to
perpetuate, this division of a people who have everything in
common and who, but for the pernicious activities of the
forces of division, would have regained their national unity.
The People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, in its noble
task of restoring the values of the Korean people as a
whole, will bring its heroic struggle for national reconstruction
to a successful conclusion. In Viet-Nam and Korea, as
elsewhere, we know that imperialism will never be strong or
powerful enough to resist the invincible will of peoples on
the march.
214. In the Guinean delegation’s view, those are the
essential political factors which are responsible for the
international climate of insecurity, oppression and constant
threat to world peace. As long as those forces continue to
act against the freedom, the independence and the interests
of the peoples of the third world, it will be impossible to
remove another source of conflict which is closely linked to
the first, namely, the ever widening gap between rich and
poor nations.
215. Is it therefore possible to talk of peace and international
security without speaking of development, a harmonious
development, a just and equitable distribution of
wealth or, in a word, a balance between wealth and the
poverty which remains the lot of some — and always the
same — people, while others continue daily to become
richer? There has been manifest disappointment on this
score in connexion with the recent United Nations Development
Decade.
216. In accordance with the Final Act of the Geneva
Conference the necessary co-operation between the
industrialized and developing countries has a prominent
place, under the heading of international economic co-operation,
on the agenda of the twenty-fourth session. You
will remember that the fundamental problem of reform of
the outworn and shameful structures of the entire world
economy in favour of an honest and beneficial co-operation
between “have” and “have-not” countries was raised at
Geneva in 1964.
217. Five years after signature of the Final Act of the
Geneva Conference and four years after the start of
activities of UNCTAD’s executive machinery — the Trade
and Development Board — the gap between industrialized
and developing countries continues to widen; the stabilization
and improvement of prices, the removal of barriers to
world trade expansion, the adoption of a generalized
system of non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory preferences
for all developing countries, the promotion of
industrialization and the determination of freight rates, the
establishment of a multilateral payments system and
effective assistance to the developing countries remain as
always the basic and legitimate concern of the countries of
the third world.
218. But from a factual and absolute standpoint, it can be
said that nothing positive has yet been accomplished by the
developed countries. Remember that history is not made by
intentions. What we want is to see these intentions
translated into concrete acts which will lead to the
disappearance of hunger and poverty.
219. The Republic of Guinea, true to its principles of
international co-operation founded on the sovereign interests
of States, believes that an under-developed economy
cannot develop if integrated with a developed economy,
since such integration robs it of its strength and is the very
cause of its under-development.
220. My delegation hereby reaffirms its agreement with
the Charter of Algiers concerning the economic rights of
the third world, and maintains that traditional formulae,
limited concessions and isolated measures are no longer
sufficient to enable countries to enjoy economic and social
well-being or to obtain the means to develop their resources
and lead their peoples to a life free from want and fear.
221. The seriousness of the problem requires the urgent
adoption of a global development strategy involving simultaneous
action by both the developed and the developing countries.
222. The representatives of the developing countries,
united by their common aspirations and by the identity of
their economic interests and determined to pursue together
their efforts towards economic and social development,
peace and prosperity, have reaffirmed in the Charter of
Algiers that their economic development depends essentially
upon themselves. It is therefore regrettable that they
should show so little inclination to progress beyond the
idea of national micro-economies and be so utterly lacking
in any clear understanding of the kind of national economy
without which there can be no change and no real economic development.
223. There are still a great many countries which, consciously
or unconsciously, continue as mere extensions of
the metropolitan country which suggests to them economic
development plans based on the needs of its own markets
and not on the interests of the peoples of the countries.
224. Economic development is imperative. Its final objective
is the well-being of the working masses and not the
protection of the interests of a group of individuals.
225. We in Guinea have created this understanding, this
economic development mentality. We have carried out
radical changes in the social and economic structures
inherited from the colonial system. We have worked out a
philosophy of economic development based essentially on
the realities of our situation and applicable broadly to the
natural region to which we belong. We have struck a
national coinage which is in circulation in an independent
monetary area. In only eight years of independence we have
brought all sectors of the national economy under State
control. That, of course, was not achieved without difficulty.
The interests of the working masses required that
bourgeois, bureaucratic and national capitalist reactionary
elements should be removed from all positions of direction,
decision and control.
226. On the basis of its own experience, the Republic of
Guinea feels that inter-African co-operation and the
reorganization of African trade are the essential conditions for
the rapid progress and economic independence of the
African continent. Extension of economic areas, exchange
of goods, services and technology and harmonization of
African development plans are alone capable of creating at
the continental level dynamic flows of reciprocal trade
spreading beyond the strictly economic framework.
227. Be that as it may, the countries of the southern
hemisphere, which have always known the division of their
peoples and the exploitation of their wealth, will not shrink
from the fight against under-development. This characteristic
inequalities of living standards are also the work of
those who regard them merely as storehouses of raw
materials and not as countries capable one day of equipping
themselves with the necessary structures for achieving their
economic independence.
228. The great Powers still have a heavy responsibility in
this respect. They should realize that international solidarity
and co-operation are not vain words but determining
factors for universal peace.
229. These are the general considerations which determine
the world political, economic and social climate.
230. For our part, the choice between the opposing
camps — that of progress, respect for sovereignty and the
right to independence of all peoples, and that of the forces
of reaction — is simple and inescapable. The delegation of
the Republic of Guinea accepts its full responsibilities and
stands resolutely at the side of those who work for peace
and the survival of mankind. Those are the inspiring
prospects which will decide the position and the votes of
our delegation at the twenty-fourth session of the General
Assembly.