204. Madam President, it is both an
honour and a privilege for me to be able to convey to you,
on behalf of my Government, my delegation and on my
own personal behalf, our sincere congratulations on your
election to preside over this Assembly, in particular because
you are a woman and an African.
205. I should not like to continue my statement without
pausing, to pay a tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Emilio
Arenales, who with his tact and ability was able to guide
the last session of the General Assembly to a successful
conclusion. We should like to express our deepest condolences
to the delegation of Guatemala, a Latin country to
which we consider ourselves linked by common cultural ties
inherited from Spain.
206. On behalf of my Government, I must also congratulate
and thank the Secretary: General of the Organization in
particular, and the United Nations in general, for the
prompt and immediate attention and assistance which he
gave my country during our brief period of national crisis
early this year by sending his personal representative and a
deputy. I also wish to pay a tribute to various experts of
the Organization who are working so conscientiously in
their various fields in my country.
207. I repeat that I wish, on behalf of my Government, to
thank the organization for all the assistance that has been
and is still being given to us through the dispatch of experts
to advise us on the process of our national development.
208. Only 12 days from now we shall be celebrating the
first anniversary of our independence, which we were able
to obtain peacefully from Spain, as was reported in the
world press. Four months after obtaining our national
independence, for obvious reasons, my country went
through a short period of public disturbances, a situation
which, owing to the political talent of my President and his.
Government and the complete co-operation of the Guinean
people, was immediately brought under control. I prefer to
make no reference to the exaggerated sensationalism
expressed in certain sectors of the world press concerning
the events which, as I have said, occurred in my country
earlier this year.
209. I am pleased to report that in May this year, the
Government of Spain and the Government of Equatorial
Guinea met in the city of Bata to discuss bilaterally and on
an equal footing the common interests which result from
our long coexistence, a process which culminated in the
signing of a number of political, economic, trade and other
agreements. A legal expert of this Organization and some
members of the Organization of African Unity were present
in June when a Guinean-Spanish meeting was held in Santa
Isabel, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to proceed with
the first phase of the cultural agreements. I had the
privilege of participating in that meeting, which I venture to
describe as a complete success. It remains to be mentioned
that at the present time our relations with Spain are
excellent, as can be confirmed by the Spanish delegation at
this Assembly.
210. In respect of finance, my country has decided to
remain in the “peseta zone” and it is our wish that, with
the establishment of a National Bank, a dream that has
already been realized, it will be possible for the Guinean
peseta to circulate as from midnight on 12 October 1969.
To that end, I was accredited by my Government to the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the International Monetary Fund in Washington to deal
with all matters that concern Guinea in those international
bodies and that might lead to the realization of our
aspirations. I have to report that yesterday I went to
Washington for the conclusion of the matters concerning
our membership, the circulation of our currency, etc.
211. I should like to report that in this respect Spain has
duly fulfilled its promise to facilitate my country’s admission
to such international financial institutions as the
International Monetary Fund and the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development. Membership in those
institutions constitutes a very useful element in strengthening
the new national currency and monetary system of the
Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
212. My country is totally dedicated to the urgent and
necessary task of economic, industrial, cultural, and
agricultural development, as well as to development in the field of
public health, and we invite private capital, from whatever
source it may come, to make investments in Guinea; we
will, of course, guarantee its investments. We extend the
same invitation to all Governments, provided that, in
compliance with any bilateral agreements that may be
concluded, the sovereignty of the Republic of Equatorial
Guinea is respected.
213. Needless to say, we maintain very good relations with
our neighbouring countries; in order to strengthen such
relations, in July of this year we appointed Ambassadors to
Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria and, of course, to Spain. For
financial reasons, we have not gone beyond appointing an
ambassador to Madrid in view of our close relations of
coexistence with Spain, leaving to a subsequent stage the
consideration of the establishment of further embassies in
the other countries with which we maintain diplomatic relations.
214. I have great pleasure in stating that my country is a
peace-loving one. This has been demonstrated by our entry,
almost simultaneous with our attainment of national
independence, into this great world Organization, thus
joining those who profess the same ideals.
215. My country is working with all the means at its
disposal for the liberation and unity of the African
continent, as our membership in the Organization of
African Unity attests. My country has proclaimed. itself to
be non-aligned with either East or West, and abhors all
forms of violence. It is deeply sorrowed by the sad civil war
in Nigeria, a neighbouring and friendly country, because, as
is well known, the relief flights to that area take off from
Fernando Po, thus creating for Equatorial Guinea a delicate
problem involving political and humanitarian considerations.
216. The long sad war in Viet-Nam and the daily
intensification of the Middle East conflict are sources of
great concern to my Government and we sincerely hope
that those who are directly affected by those regrettable
circumstances will, with the unstinted assistance of all of us
and through their own efforts and understanding, be able to
come together in the near future in order to solve the
situation, not on the battlefield but at the conference table
so as to bring about a peaceful settlement of those disputes.
217. My country is opposed to all colonialist countries
that ignore the world-wide appeal of this Organization, as
well as that of the Organization of African Unity, for the
total and immediate decolonization and the independence
of all colonial peoples. The same applies to human rights
for all peoples. I refer in this regard to the situation now
prevailing in South Africa, Rhodesia, Angola and Mozambique,
as well as in Namibia and Guinea (Bissau).