1. Madam President, on behalf of the Government
of Ecuador and on my own behalf, allow me to
convey to you a very cordial welcome and warm congratulations
on your election to preside over the General
Assembly of the United Nations. This choice reflects a
recognition of the merit of the people of Liberia and is also
a tribute to you personally.
2. We are proud that it should be a woman who is guiding
our deliberations. Your courtesy, intelligence and feminine
intuition are factors that will help us to find new directions
in the continuous search for truth and the attainment of
satisfactory solutions in which we are engaged in the world
Organization.
3. I should also like to take this opportunity to state that
the Government of Ecuador recalls the death of Mr. Emilio
Arenales, the distinguished President of the twenty-third
session of the General Assembly, and mourns it as the loss
of one of the most outstanding personalities of Latin
American diplomacy.
4. With respect to the subjects that will be of primary
concern to the Assembly at the current session, the
Government of Ecuador has well-defined views and clear
policies, all of which derive from its behaviour as a
peace-loving State, always desirous of strengthening its ties
with the other countries of the continent and with all the
other countries of the world.
5. The Government of Ecuador believes that if this year’s
discussions are to achieve any result, all representatives
must seek to strengthen the world Organization, to recognize
the broad powers of the Assembly laid down in the
Charter, to attribute to the Security Council as a matter of
right and priority the use of coercive means, to give
unreserved support to general and complete disarmament, a
process that will start in men’s hearts and minds and take
practical form in the field of international relations. In this
connexion, my Government and I myself believe that all
types of testing of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons
should cease and that the use of chemical and biological
weapons should be banned immediately. We believe that
the world is speaking out ever more insistently in condemnation
of colonialism and neo-colonialism, rejecting racial
segregation, repudiating religious struggles and seeking
measures of universal scope to promote human understanding.
6. But all the ideas which I have just expressed and which
will serve as a basis for my own statement would remain
incomplete if I did not affirm publicly and emphatically
that in the economic field the less developed countries have
not received a satisfactory or equitable answer to the
representations which they have made to the industrialized
nations. While it must be recognized that some of these
nations have made an effort to comply with some very
elementary minimum requirements laid down by conferences
on economic matters, such efforts are only isolated
exceptions which confirm the tone of gloom and scepticism
with which the representatives of the poor countries rightly
approach world affairs.
7. In May of this year, the Latin American countries
decided to define their position on vital international
economic problems which have a strong influence on their
development process. The document known as the Consensus
of Viña del Mar clearly sets out the thinking of this
region on international financial and technical co-operation,
foreign trade, the role of foreign investment, and social and
technological development.
8. The Latin American position defined in that document
should not raise the question of whether or not it contains
a complaint or an accusation concerning the unsatisfactory
results we have derived from the First United Nations
Development Decade. It goes much further and expresses
the vigorous and praiseworthy desire to overcome the
obstacles to our development. Among such obstacles are
those arising from the acute shortcomings that have been
observed in international co-operation and in the structure
of trade, which tend to aggravate the unjust situations that
now exist and prevent the satisfaction of our peoples’
legitimate aspirations to enjoy economic freedom, which is
undoubtedly one of the principal human rights.
9. We shall begin the Second United Nations Development
Decade in a rather gloomy setting, with a clearly negative
response regarding the effectiveness of the instruments put
to the test in the First Development Decade, but with great
faith in the capabilities and efforts of our peoples — an
essential element of our development. We hope that those
efforts will be supplemented in the next Decade by an
effective reform of world trade which will offer fair
treatment to the developing countries, with international
co-operation on a larger scale and on better terms than
those which have heretofore prevailed. We believe that this
will be achieved through full compliance with the basic
principles laid down in the historic document of Viña del Mar.
10. If we want the Second Development Decade to
achieve satisfactory results and bring us closer to the
objectives of the international community, we must begin
this decade of change in attitudes and procedures with a
firm policy aimed at reforming structures. We must endorse
and apply the principle that the profit motive of enterprises
and individuals cannot take precedence over national
interests or the right of developing countries to accelerate
their progress. The widening of economic and human
relations with the developed countries, whatever their
economic or political systems, does not and cannot signify
acceptance of their political systems or a desire to adopt
them. This implies, as a consequence, strict respect for, and
non-interference in matters which it is for each State alone
to settle, free from foreign intervention or pressure.
11. There are signs on the horizon of healthy intentions to
revise policies and attitudes and to find practical and
effective solutions. That is why we believe that the world
Organization, at this session of the General Assembly and in
all its other activities, should adopt effective measures that
would lead to improvements in the situation in developing
countries, at least in order to mitigate the contrast between
the poverty, malnutrition and violence which exist side by
side with fantastic space achievements and undreamed of
technological advances.
12. With regard to the main problems that have disturbed
world peace, Ecuador maintains that nuclear wars should be
considered an abomination and that the use of weapons of
tremendous destructive potential constitutes a crime not
only against the peoples who are the victims of that
violence, but against all mankind. I venture to affirm clearly
and categorically that the persistence of wars and problems
of human misunderstanding, such as those in Viet-Nam and
in the western region of Nigeria, have a direct impact on all
developing countries; because peace is indivisible and
because such bloodshed involves a wasting and squandering
of resources which could certainly much better serve the
purposes of peace.
13. Along those same lines and in that same spirit,
Ecuador will again express, in the discussions of this
Assembly, its utter condemnation of those who prevent the
self-determination of peoples and attempt to interfere in
the domestic affairs of other States. I shall not dwell on this
question now because the arguments are well known to the
whole world, since the position of Ecuador in this regard
has never been subject to a shadow of doubt.
14. This subject brings us directly to the question of
human rights. I wish to pay a tribute to previous sessions of
the General Assembly, at which this world Organization
co-ordinated and stimulated the formulation and application
of progressive legislation in this field.
15. In my country and in the other nations of Latin
America, there is fortunately no atmosphere of religious
intolerance reflected in public demonstrations. I mention
this social fact in order to invite other regions of the world,
through understanding and a calm analysis of problems to
outlaw fratricidal wars, which would only result in a
reversion to the darkest eras of human history.
16. At this session, I shall place particular stress on the
draft declaration referred to in General Assembly resolution
2181 (XXI) on principles on international law concerning
friendly relations and co-operation among States. The
delegation of Ecuador attaches the greatest importance to
this item. As we all know, the draft does not constitute an
end in itself, but should rather be viewed as the first step
towards the codification of the principles of the Charter.
This task must necessarily also embrace the progressive
development of the principles of international law, so that
co-operation may be provided with a legal basis and a-
standard governing mutual relations that will eliminate
weaknesses of principle and age-old inequities.
17. Present socio-economic processes in any region of the
world cannot be viewed except on the basis of common
standards of justice in a genuine spirit of understanding.
The process of Latin American integration, the latest
notable advance in which is represented by the Andean
subregional group, serves as a magnificent example, and in
this connexion I bring evidence of the spirit of co-operation
and an offer on the part of my Government and the people
of Ecuador. All integration programmes will in fact
collapse, if on passing from one country to another, they
encounter, on the frontier lines, the sensitivity and resentment
which are the inevitable sequel of past injustices.
18. As unquestionable evidence of a spirit of goodwill and
a genuine belief in integration, the President of the
Republic of Ecuador, an idealist who has devoted some of
his most noteworthy studies to international subjects,
invited our neighbour, Peru, to take steps towards an
honourable compromise that would end once and for all
our age-old dispute, a dispute that has impeded the joint
development of important frontier regions. Ecuador, which
prides itself on not being a country engaged in the arms
race, but rather one that has traditionally upheld peace and
law, in offering this new possibility, has done so, of course,
on two basic conditions: first, that any compromise should
take account of claims rooted in history and should give the
discoverer and colonizer credit for the fruits of his
discovery and colonization; secondly, that any formula
agreed upon should meet the requirement of mutual
dignity, so that the results may not be regarded as an
imposition by force, but rather as a recognition of pages of
history written with human blood and sacrifice and based
upon national objectives and recognition of the characteristics
of a people that cannot renounce what its
forefathers so unselfishly achieved.
19. In doing this, Ecuador is trying to set an example, and
I say this in clear and unmistakable terms. It wants to see
the economic resources of the developing countries devoted
to dealing basically with the nutritional, health, educational
and infrastructural needs of those countries’ societies.
Ecuador condemns a policy of arming in all countries, but
we believe that in the case of the less-developed countries
this condemnation should be twice as severe.
20. This invitation to hold a dialogue is and always has
been an unchanging line of conduct for my country
throughout its history and under all of its Governments.
Our most recent demonstration of this can be found in our
negotiations, honoured by the very valuable company of
Peru and Chile, with the United States on practical
procedures and conservation standards for the protection of
the marine resources adjacent to our coasts. I take the
liberty of inviting the other countries of America and of the
world as a whole to follow carefully the deliberations of the
four-Power talks which are being held in stages in Buenos
Aires, deliberations in which we hope to prove, for our
part, that the search for practical solutions and harmony
among nations is possible even though they may hold
different and inalterable juridical and political views.
21. My statement would not be complete without a
reference to a great step forward taken by mankind in the
legal domain, a truly significant achievement in this new
year in the life of the world Organization, and one that I
certainly should mention: the Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties, signed at Vienna on 23 May 1969.
22. The Government of Ecuador attached the greatest
importance to that Conference. The Convention, which
required great efforts over a long period of time, entailed a
difficult and complicated process of drafting designed to
harmonize the different juridical and political positions of
the various countries represented at the two phases of the
Conference. The balanced result reflected in the Convention
was achieved after much laborious work.
23. The Vienna Convention contains principles that are
fundamental, particularly for the weaker and smaller
nations. The bulk of part V of the Convention, as was
recognized by the International Law Commission, consists
of rules for the progressive development of that law, de lege
ferenda, but its principal importance lies in its having
incorporated into the body of the Convention rules of law
that constitute lex lata. It is important that the countries
that went to Vienna recognized, accepted and incorporated
into the Convention the principle that “a treaty is void if its
conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force
in violation of the principles of international law embodied
in the Charter of the United Nations”. My Government also
considers essential the acceptance of the principle that “a
treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts
with a pre-emptory norm of general international law”.
24. The important instrument adopted at Vienna contains
progressive rules of international law and brings together
and codifies pre-existing rules such as the rule that disputes
concerning treaties should, like any other international
dispute, be settled by peaceful means and in accordance
with the principles of justice and international law. There
are Other rules which emphasize the principles of international
law embodied in the Charter of the United
Nations, such as the prohibition of the threat or use of
force it: international relations, the principles of equal
rights and self-determination of peoples, the sovereign
equality and independence of all States, non-interference in
the domestic affairs of other States, universal respect for
the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all and the
effective exercise of these freedoms. It is with true
satisfaction that I mention these principles and rules which
have been consistently proclaimed by Ecuador throughout
its history and have formed the basis of its international
policy.
25. I cannot fail to mention a fact which has aroused
concern among many States, including Ecuador, and which
constitutes a serious threat to the safety of human life,
personal tranquillity and the normal development of airline
operations throughout the world. I am referring to the
hijacking or unlawful seizure of aircraft, which has been
happening day after day. In the incident involving two
Ecuadorian aircraft, which took place on the sixth of this
month, a mechanic was seriously injured by the hijackers
and the co-pilot of one of the planes died when the aircraft
were forced, while in Ecuadorian airspace, to change course
towards Cuba.
26. My Government considers that the situation resulting
from this wave of criminal activity should be studied so
that appropriate measures can be adopted in a binding
instrument of universal scope, under the auspices of the
United Nations. News reports from Montreal, which
appeared in my country on last 25 September, bring out
the fact that the Legal Committee of the International Civil
Aviation Organization is at present engaged in drafting a
treaty on the extradition of persons committing the
aforementioned crimes. My Government duly appreciates
that work but considers that, in any event, part of the
efforts of this twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly
of the United Nations should be devoted to solving this
serious international problem, and to this end I invite all
Member States to give their valuable co-operation in the
study of this question, which should be included in the
agenda of this session of the General Assembly.
27. It is also necessary to give serious consideration to the
desirability of going beyond the procedural provisions of
the Tokyo Convention, which was also signed under the
auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization,
because it is now essential to reach a substantive agreement
on the definition of the crime of hijacking - or the illegal
seizure of an aircraft in order to standardize legislation on
this subject and thus succeed in putting an end to this series
of criminal acts, under a system of severe penalties for
those responsible for such acts. Positive action by the
United Nations in that direction would be welcomed by all
countries in the world because the continuing impunity of
the perpetrators of such crimes cannot be allowed to
become a guarantee of the unrestricted repetition of their
punishable acts.
28. Finally, I must refer to the recent conflict between
two sister countries of Latin America, Honduras and El
Salvador. Fortunately, a satisfactory solution to this problem
was found within the Organization of American States.
I mention this question in order to stress the importance of
the system of peaceful settlement of disputes, both at the
regional level and within the United Nations. My country,
Ecuador, has been constantly urging the need to strengthen
and improve the machinery for the settlement of disputes
and to avoid them by eliminating the sources of injustice
that gave rise to them. “And since the law is not a
purely normative science“ — I am quoting the words of
Dr. Velasco Ibarra, my country’s President — “We must
begin with concrete and objective social factors, and the
law must seek a balance between these concrete and
objective factors.”
29. Madam President, I do not wish to conclude this
statement without once again reaffirming my country’s
faith in the United Nations, its confidence in our distinguished
Secretary-General and the certainty that your
personal ability, together with the resolute collaboration of
representatives, will ensure the utmost success in our
endeavours for the good of mankind at the present session
of the General Assembly.