Uruguay would like to associate itself with the general expression of pleasure at your appointment to preside over what we hope will be the historic deliberations of the General Assembly’s fifteenth session.
2. At the beginning of our work I should like to say that those who bear the greatest responsibility for the world’s course at the present time are keeping us in a state of distress and anxiety.
3. While the peoples lament their miseries, clamour for justice and long for a happy life, the one institution which stands firm amid the general confusion and the threats of war is this great United Nations, representing perhaps the only symbol of brotherhood at this time of menacing gestures, acrimonious monologues and well-stocked arsenals. So, therefore, coming from a free, democratic and peaceable country like Uruguay, of whose Government I am a member — a Government won, after almost a century of constant struggle, through the democratic victory of my party, but a victory which does honour to all, for there is no general or admiral moving in the shadows behind either victor or vanquished — accordingly, I say, we proclaim the inviolability of this international organization outside of which we see nothing but confusion, potential aggression and the threats of the strong towards the weak.
4. We see gathered here the arrogant, who do not dazzle us, and the humble, who stir our sympathy, the wealthy and ambitious, whom we, the peoples of America, are happy not to envy; the strong, who we hope will remain strong, without forgetting that glory in this world passes and is extinguished, that it may be utterly consumed in the very flames that they themselves may kindle. We recognize their dominating position, but only so long as they show themselves worthy of the trust we place in them. There are here also those who have succeeded in throwing off the colonial yoke, the new nations whom we welcome and to whom we say that there is nothing in their destinies which does not find an echo in our own. It is for this reason that we wish to state from this international rostrum — the highest of our time — that Uruguay and the other American nations will offer as their best contribution to the development of the newly independent States, all that our experience, our toil, our hopes, our mistakes and our dreams have taught us over a century and a half of sovereignty, since the heroic era of our struggle for liberation.
5. Many of the problems of the new nations call, not for artificially contrived solutions but for an assessment of the action appropriate to the facts of their social and economic life.
6. Uruguay, which has succeeded in eliminating illiteracy entirely, which has dramatically reduced infant mortality, which has proclaimed those human rights that, according to the Charter constitute the very essence of human dignity, which has created a new and progressive social system, is ready to cooperate with the nations which have emerged from the colonial system and offers them the help of its technicians, educators and scientists as the best way of demonstrating its solidarity with them through international action.
7. Sure of ourselves, we know no fear. In vain would weapons of war hail down upon the world with their message of death, for there would always remain in each of our countries a handful of free men who would survive the fearful catastrophe and raise again the banners of liberty, independence, and justice, under which all material progress and the amazing advances of science have been achieved, for they are the watchwords of God.
8. It is as costly and difficult to preserve as to win independence. We of Uruguay recognize this. Independence must be defended against the impatient within and the ambitious without, as Cervantes said, "by day and by night, fleeing or at rest, in peace or in war”. That is why, in this period of urgent problems, there is no hope for salvation and international security save in the rule of law, freely agreed on between equals and faithfully observed. Those who believe that, disregarding and disavowing it, they can affirm their supremacy will soon discover that they have laboured in vain and they will discover, too, that those who create violence, destroy order and shatter peace are doomed to perish, no matter how lofty or plausible their motives may appear. After two world wars and with a third in prospect, it is not governments, whether despotic or democratic, in whose hands the final decision will rest, but the people, who neither want, nor deserve nor will allow themselves to be led to destruction and death.
9. In this crisis, which is not the first and will not be the last in the history of mankind, the worst thing we could do would be to adopt a pessimistic approach. There is no finer hour of human existence than that in which each one of us is living, for man’s destiny even at the humblest level, is to be an actor and not a spectator, and a man is an actor to the extent that he lives, feels, fights and loves. This hour of anxiety, confusion and struggle, this hour of conflict between great ideologies is a splendid and not a desperate hour. We are at the time just before the dawn and we should lose our deepest reason for living if, instead of awaiting with joy the new era which is to come, we met it with spirits torn by pessimism and doubt.
10. That great Uruguayan, Jose Enrique Rodo, rightly known and acclaimed as the Teacher of America, enjoined us to meet uncertainty, injustice and even misfortune with a lofty "It is of no importance". And another Uruguayan, Luis Alberto de Herrera, the leader of our party, who died last year, gave our generation the watchword: "The keel of our boat cuts better through turbulent waters". Bolivar has already given the same message to the whole continent when he said at Caracas, in speaking of the crumbled ruins of the Church of San Jacinto, "If Nature obstructs the building of our freedom, against Nature we shall fight, and we shall subdue her".
11. Despite the difficulties of the time, we are happy in the world in which we live and, though we might wish that it were better, there can be no greater satisfaction than living in it in order to preserve our ideals. In the clash and conflict between what are thought to be great truths, what unites us and binds us together is the knowledge that in the universe there is no going back.
12. In all spheres of human endeavour the desire for progress and perfection is always on high, fluttering like a banner at the head of every standard. Vigorous and deeply felt nationalism is not intrinsically incompatible with the universal outlook that is virtually forced upon us by technical progress, which has made the world ever smaller while extending man’s kingdom; the relentless drama of our time is thus unfolding on a single stage.
13. The interdependence of men has become evident in societies, and the interdependence of societies within the international community. This fact? is confirmed by the Charter and the purposes of the United Nations. What is even more certain is that, given the existence of the United Nations, there is nothing and no one, neither men, parties, states nor dogmas, with the strength to destroy the peace of the world. But while giving us rights, this interdependence at the same time imposes duties on us. What we must do is to ensure that these rights are properly recognized and protected and not leave them to the mercy of blind chance or the free play of material forces which might, one day, as a result of a capricious or arrogant act, lead us to chaos and death.
14. We who are faithful to our western civilization do not consider that our duties change, either outwardly or inwardly, by reason or race or religious difference or territorial inequalities. Our duties are the same today as they were yesterday, and they will be the same always, because they are fundamental. They bid us oppose an international campaign of hatred with one of friendship and love, and the oligarchy of the powerful with the simple democracy in which we believe, of whose eternal values man is the bearer in every part of the earth — those values which tell us that there is no higher court than a man’s conscience nor anything of greater worth than his freedom, that man is highest in the order of creation and that, although political theories may try to drive him toward anarchy or conformity, he will always triumph because he is God’s creation, because he gives meaning to life and death, and because even when, like gentle Cleanto, he is condemned to servitude, he will always find time to inscribe, albeit only in sand, the maxims of Zenon. "
15. Uruguay comes here, quite simply, to assume its share of responsibility and action in the task of building peace, in which its own destiny, too, is at stake. The small nations have an important part to play: they cannot be suspected of exclusivism and they are perhaps in the best position to see clearly and to discuss calmly, for they have everything to lose and nothing to gain from any resort to violence. All of us here talk about peace but, paradoxically although we all wish for peace and proclaim our desire for it, its establishment in the world is becoming more and more difficult. We want peace as the man in the street understands it, and not a mere respite between battles. We want peace, less in words and more in deeds. We want peace, less exploited in slogans and more sincerely translated into action.
16. While the principles of aggression, of armed intervention, of blind hatred, remain current on any one of the five continents, little can be gained by our photographing the other side of the moon and penetrating or unveiling the mysteries of outer space.
17. The General Assembly should remain in conclave, should remain in session permanently, without any time-limit, until peace is finally assured. Otherwise, we run the risk of increasing the uncertainty of the time and of bringing disappointment to our peoples, for they will be led to believe that these meetings are becoming a mere occasion for barren complaints. Desiring as we do that these meetings of the Assembly should continue, we believe that the greatest risk lies in the possibility that the enemies of the Assembly may conspire behind its resolutions and that we may find ourselves guilty of shameful hypocrisy, proclaiming a principle but acting in a way that is completely contrary to it. We should have descended, then, from drama to vulgar comedy.
18. Of course, we realize that it is not easy to preserve peace, which means preserving the life of the human species in all its physical and moral complexity. The finding of final solutions — and when I say "final" I give this word the relative meaning it has in relation to human affairs, which are by their nature fleeting and changeable — this is not the work of a day nor of months, nor of years. But, cost what it may, we must gain time, and remain calm and resolute as the problem requires. Never has it been more necessary than today to practise in our daily lives the quiet but sublime virtues of patience, tolerance and understanding, both in the relations between men and in the relations between States.
19. Devoted as it is to the lofty values of the spirit, Uruguay will support any solution likely to ensure, in this anxious world of ours today, the rule of justice mid liberty, and where the international organizations cannot find an acceptable solution, we are in favour of direct negotiations towards this end.
20. We should therefore like to express our hope that discussions should take place immediately, or at any rate as soon as possible, in this the home of the United Nations, among those whose position qualifies them to offer the peace and security humanity demands. We do not believe that there are insoluble problems or permanent enmities. On those occasions however rare, when reflection brings a pause in impassioned conflict, reason must admit the need for negotiated agreements reached on a basis of mutual respect.
21. In an age such as this, when the possibility of visiting other planets is no longer a matter of mere fiction but has entered the realm of definite scientific possibility, it does not make sense to leave regional or any other problems to be settled by the violent methods of war, either cold or hot. It does not make sense for us to embark on the discovery of other worlds if for this world we inhabit we have not found just and peaceful solutions which take account of opposing interests and ideologies.
22. However complex and serious the circumstances may be or may appear, we cannot allow such important developments, reflecting such heroic and constructive endeavours and fraught with such happy implications for mankind, as the creation of the State of Israel, the resurgence of the Arab world and the rebirth of African and Asian peoples, to result in irreconcilable conflicts which may ultimately bring to naught the strenuous efforts made by those peoples, so liberally endowed with human potentialities.
23. With regard to the problems which are still so critically affecting the relations between Israel and the Arab States, we should like to reiterate from this rostrum our profound hope that they may be settled. This is essential for the peace not only of the Middle East but also of the entire world, and there is no need for us here to ask the representatives of the two sides whether they are ready and prepared to renew negotiations for we are sure that the reply in both cases would be positive. If they were to come together now and could, through direct talks, agree on an armistice which would bring a respite from their struggle, we could give them another opportunity to negotiate, in the hope of attaining the benefits of a lasting peace for the sake of the generations to come in those great regions of the world.
24. As concerns our own continent of America, we are perturbed by the thought that, after almost a century of struggle to evolve the elements of an American legal system, at a stroke, all links can be severed and all bonds loosed in this continent in which, despite the natural difficulties arising from its vast geographical area and from the injustice and misfortunes its peoples may be suffering, an awareness has grown that all its problems can and must be solved within the American orbit, all without exception firmly upholding the doctrine first promulgated by Manuel Oribe more than a century ago, revised by Baltasar Brum and finally enshrined in the Treaty of Rio De Janeiro at Quitandinha. This doctrine decrees that any act of aggression whether from inside or outside the continent, against any American State, shall be considered an act of aggression against the entire continent.
25. We consider that understanding must always be reached among our nations and we could not rest unless every means of attaining it had been exhausted.
26. Faithful to the principle of non-intervention, we are resolutely opposed to all external interference in the affairs of the American continent. We believe that the best method of preventing such interference is for the parties to a dispute to reach direct agreement between themselves and the peoples of America must never say that it is too late for this.
27. We believe in the great destiny of this America of ours. For us Americans, of every region, the possibility of reaching an understanding for the sake of the common good always exists and always will, exist. A course of action which in other parts of the world might seem unattainable or which might be opposed and rejected is enjoined on us by history. We Americans must always solve our difficulties by the method of discussion between equals. This approach is inherent in our way of life. It was advocated by such illustrious heroes of our past as Artigas, Bolívar, San Martin and O’Higgins. In the political, economic and social spheres, our appointed path is the one which accords with human dignity. Much assistance and cooperative effort is needed if the great democratic principles, by which the people of America wish their future to be governed, are to have real meaning.
28. The anxiety which the peoples of the American continent are displaying is due to deeper causes than inadequate development or institutional difficulties. A whole hemisphere endowed by history with the capacity to achieve the full development of its human potentialities, has seen its vital forces sapped and its future frustrated. The tremendous upheaval of the last world war found us ready to occupy a place of responsibility in the new universe which was coming into being after the greatest human tragedy of all times.
29. When the United States, in a colossal effort to meet the situation resolved to assist its conquered enemies of yesterday and its own exhausted allies in order that civilization should not break down, the American peoples and their Governments applauded this step as the beginning of a new era. The aid received by the European and other peoples has no parallel in the whole history of mankind. Without the assistance of the United States hot one of these nations would have been able, in so short a period, to reestablish its productive capacity, restore its agriculture and rebuild its industries.
30. When the Marshall Plan was drawn up, nations which had had no part in the assistance still cherished the illusion that a new era had dawned and that the foundations of an integrated world were being laid. But now, with the establishment of the Common Market, the nations of the Old World seem, in one essential respect, to be frustrating this hope. Forgetting their quarrels one with another, they are fencing themselves in behind self-sufficient systems, systems which favour the internal consumption of goods; they are increasing their own production to the detriment of other areas of the world, inventing new forms of economic feudalism, encouraging the formation of industrial cartels to concentrate demand, and imposing qualitative and quantitative restrictions which hamper the industrial development of the under-developed countries. This is a cause of anxiety and concern to America. Latin America, for which Europe has been the natural market for more than a century, 1ms had to accept unfair prices for its raw materials, while the prices of the industrial products which it received in return have increased fifteen fold. Between 1945 and 1960 the decline in value of our basic commodities produced by the blood and sweat of our workers represented a loss of 11,000 million.
31. America has 200 million inhabitants and these 200 million inhabitants are looking to us, their governments, for equitable treatment consistent with the democratic principles and doctrines which we uphold and under which, we live. It is no longer in our power to restrain the demand of the masses for economic and social justice in the face of the privileged position of other social classes, who seem quite insensitive to misery, shut up as they are behind their financial barriers protected by their contracts and indifferent to the problems of our development.
32. But the exertions of the great American nation, to which we have referred should be accompanied by a similar effort on the part of those with whom we are linked by the circumstances of, our foundation and by blood, those European nations whose traditions we have inherited, for we need their aid as much as they earlier needed aid to regain their strength.
33. Our world of today is a world of inter-dependent peoples, not of rivals. We all depend on each other. Above ideological differences, above ideas which will perish or evolve, as all human ideas have evolved over the centuries, there is the eternal destiny of mankind, indivisible and imperishable, there is the evolution of human life towards perfection and the right of all peoples to find happiness.
34. When the progress of one section of humanity is checked, the course of life is impeded. The finger of God above us points to the need to abandon selfishness. There will never be peace on the earth while there are peoples in misery.
35. With the spread of culture and the progress of the world towards a single system of law, it is becoming increasingly plain that all war is civil war. Every conflict is a conflict between fellow citizens of a wider heritage. All hatred between men is hatred between brothers. In spite of the philosophical pessimism which has done so much to vitiate the sources of modern culture, man must cease to be his own enemy. Poverty, backwardness, ignorance, under-production, lack of markets, the absence of fair prices and the underpayment of the mass of the workers for the fruit of their toil — "these are the enemies against which war must be ceaselessly waged. The evils and sufferings which afflict mankind, unexploited wealth in the soil and subsoil of nations, harmful partisan rivalries, dictatorships proclaiming themselves to be of the right or of the left — hemiplegia — seems to be the disease of our century! These all provide ample room for missionary endeavour and achievement in which the indomitable spirit of man has limitless scope for creative activity.
36. In this matter, Uruguay does not falter. It knows the part it has to play. There is a saying in my country and in most of the countries of America that "straight dealing makes long friends". In background, as well as in thought, instinct and spirit, Uruguay feels itself a part of western civilization, to which fell the honour of creating the first culture of world-wide significance. The philosophical spirit of Greece, the legal genius of Borne, the spiritual insights of Christianity, the mystical and heroic sense of Spain — the discoverer of a new world and the mother of nations — and the extraordinary technical progress of the European peoples as a whole have combined to produce the most brilliant and impressive synthesis that the world has ever known. And we should, in justice, also mention the contribution to this great universal achievement made by the United States of America, the splendid exponent of a progressive and creative individualism and the defender in recent decades of the principles of justice and liberty which are the cornerstones of democracy.
37. Here for the first time in the annals of history is a culture with its roots in humanity itself, awakening the peoples of every race, , even those who seemed asleep forever, surrounded by the remains of earlier civilizations, a culture bringing out what these peoples still preserved of value, revealing and fulfilling their hidden potentialities and releasing unsuspected energies. We do not fear the awakening of these peoples. Nations live in a state of continual evolution. The troubles and sufferings experienced by these peoples, like those which our peoples underwent and are still undergoing, will always be most easily remedied by safeguarding their liberty and independence and by combating colonialism and the dictatorships with equal vigour.
38. The age of imperialist enterprise and of selfish, blind domination has gone forever. It would be well for this fact to be understood once and for all. We need not guns and ammunition, but action by governments established as a result of free elections and by universal suffrage; honest, progressive governments, whose aim is not merely to achieve and retain power but to exercise it honourably and in good faith, heedful of the demands of freely expressed public opinion. What we need are assured markets and fair prices providing an adequate reward for human labour. What we need is more economic and technical aid and more development schemes, unconnected with political objectives which may change or be abandoned.
39. The programmes of technical assistance and economic co-operation in the industrially under-developed countries are undoubtedly among the most worthwhile of the activities of the United Nations. But we believe that we should learn and profit from past experience and we should, therefore, like to make it clear that we favour a simplification of procedures lest an elaborate international bureaucracy should be added to the elaborate bureaucracies which we all have within our own countries.
40. It is essential to ensure that applications or requests for technical assistance are not lost, delayed or distorted in the course of the complicated bureaucratic processes through which they may pass. While paying a special tribute to the outstanding work now being done under the technical assistance programmes and by the Special Fund, I should like to suggest the possibility of establishing a single institution which would be in a position to receive, study and deal with applications from countries, which should be handled more directly and expeditiously. We must remember that behind every request there is a people, a host of men and women, a mass of working folk. When we find that more than half the world's population does not earn enough for the minimum needs of life, that two-thirds of the world's children are inadequately housed and fed, that wide areas of the world bear the marks of grinding poverty, we realize that assistance must be given promptly, without complicated formalities, so that the necessary resources may be speedily made available to those in need.
41. To sum up most of what I have said in a few words, Uruguay upholds, among others, principles and aspirations that find expression in governments which are freely elected by universal suffrage and which are honest and progressive, heedful of freely-expressed public opinion; assured markets and fair prices for products; economic and technical aid to facilitate the development and exploitation of the natural resources of countries and the realization of their potentialities. The attainment of all these objectives will enable our peoples to emerge from the poverty and injustice, which generate violence, feed often justified rebellion and provide fertile soil for nationalistic revolutions.
42. But while we are glad to form part of this Western world, we realize that it bears a heavy responsibility, both indirect and direct. If it does not wish, like the sorcerer’s apprentice, to be at the mercy of forces released at any and every moment, it must act with energy and decision, but not to the exclusion of liberality and generosity. Both nationally and internationally, solidarity and co-operation are becoming rational imperatives, one might say, obligations.
43. Selfishness no longer pays. The basic problem is to bring this truth home, to those who direct the world's destinies, those who guide public opinion and those who now enjoy the benefits of systems which are doomed to disappear. We are aware that attitudes which we do not share have their origin in concrete facts which must be studied fully and all their implications understood. We realize and concede that many of these attitudes are the direct outcome of despotic political regimes or of the poverty and ignorance reigning in a particular part of the world, and, that the sins of others often reflect our own.
44. We know that in a suffering world, in which, in the words of Abbe Pierre, one third of the population " is dying from over-eating, another third from lack of food, while the other third is undernourished, we must ail sincerely and frankly admit our share of guilt. The resources to end this situation are becoming increasingly available to mankind, provided it does not dissipate its talents in destruction.
45. The utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes is opening up unforeseen possibilities of human well-being. The great need is to break down the barriers of misunderstanding and hatred, to put an end to the survival of the old, barbaric myths of violence and of racial superiority, and to messianic ideologies. This is not by any means to favour an empty and hypocritical pacifism, to close one’s eyes to reality and to lower one’s guard before the perils lying in wait for the world. As long as we are unable to establish the reign of international peace and security; as long as steps are being taken — or can be taken — and preparations made with a view to aggression, world dominion, and the subjection of peoples to a system which denies liberty and destroys freedom of conscience by negating individual personality and disregarding essential human rights, as long as there is still an area of the world in which man, the bearer of eternal values, is reduced to the status of a cog in the State machine or a herd animal in the service of the State, and also — for why should we disguise the fact? — as long as an attempt is being made to subject peoples to outdated systems of ruthless exploitation and under-consumption, and the right of all to decent living conditions is ignored, as long as this state of affairs persists the international community cannot be organized oh a sufficiently firm basis of confidence and co-operation to enable all the vast resources of destructive power to be put to the service of peace and progress, without reference to frontiers, race, religion, or political systems.
46. My observations have covered the particular problems which may be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifteenth session. If we are to make any progress here or in our respective countries towards peace and social justice for all the peoples of the earth, we shall need determination and courage. Cowards will be left behind. There will be no peace without a policy of peace to support it, that is to say, without a policy of justice. Nowhere can a satisfactory policy be based on fear. The art of government, which is the oldest and most illustrious of human callings, requiring courage, resolution and vision. Its end is not a fleeting and perishable glory; nor is undisturbed tranquillity its reward. Its end is the common good and its reward is measured in terms of the good which is accomplished, good in the human sense, in the complete, final and absolute sense, which moreover, is within our power to achieve, if we set our minds to do so before it is too late.
47. Our watchword — and this is Uruguay's philosophy — is to face the immediate future with optimism and faith. The question has been asked from this rostrum of what scientific progress will bring to mankind and what is its gift to this great twentieth century. We reply without hesitation that all achievements of the human mind will necessarily benefit all the members of the vast family of mankind. Let us then set to work with determination and hope.
48. The failing of our time and of cur world is our preoccupation with the past. It is our nostalgia for things that have passed away and have ceased to exist. But we are not dismayed either by the threats of warmongers or by the easy popularity of fanatics or by the development of amazing new machines — these would only disturb us if they were capable of composing a sonnet or constructing a symphony.
49. Keeping our faith in man unshaken, let us hold the torch high. With the torch in our hand, we will light our way, remembering that those who cannot hold it high run the risk of burning their hands. Upon the wide horizon illuminated by this torch and by this faith the words “United Nations” are emblazoned.