My first words must be words of congratulation to the President on his election to the high office with which the Assembly has honoured him at its eighteenth session. Our American continent is deeply gratified that one of its foremost intellectual and moral Leaders is the President of the world assembly.
48. In commenting on the Introduction to the Secretary-General's annual report on the work of the Organization from this rostrum, only a year ago [1144th meeting], I expressed the view that the United Nations, which at that time was passing through a "crisis of confidence" would survive that and other crises and would emerge from them strengthened and invigorated.
49. The accuracy of that prediction is now apparent. There is an appreciable difference in the atmosphere of the General Assembly, in the prevailing international climate and in the optimistic spirit in which we have come to this session.
50. But we are not deceiving ourselves in our appraisal of the difficult and complex task which lies ahead of us; nor do we in any way under-estimate the volume of work with which we shall be confronted in the plenary meetings and in the Main Committees, when we consider in detail the numerous items on our agenda. Since that lies ahead, I have no intention of attempting to make a preliminary analysis of these questions. My delegation, like all the rest, will have ample opportunity to express its views on the various items in the course of the coming debates; and as in the past, Paraguay's vote will in all cases be determined by considerations of justice, equity and unwavering respect for the lofty moral and legal principles which give our Organization its purpose.
51. Some items are of such importance, either because they affect us all equally or because they have a direct bearing on our own national Interests, that positions will have to be taken at the highest level. I consequently propose to confine my comments to some of these problems, with the purpose of informing the General Assembly of Paraguay's position on them. I am not afraid of repeating the obvious, because I am convinced that our voices, which are weak if heard in isolation, become powerful when they are joined together and will end by being heard.
52. The ashes of the Second World War were still warm when the United Nations was born, blessed by the hopes of nations torn and shaken by that great upheaval. The instrument created at San Francisco to preserve the peace and to promote the happiness of the human race was not perfect, but it was perfectible, and then, as now, it alone was capable of enforcing moral and legal principles in relations among States to ensure the benefits of peace, collective well-being and happiness for all nations.
53. But at the same time the great Powers began an arms race involving weapons in such quantities and of such destructive force as had never been known in the history of mankind; and this race has been consuming material resources of incalculable value and entailing a boundless waste of talent and energy. What is worse, this race has inspired a fear never felt before —fear of the possible extinction of human life on the planet.
54. Our only hope lies in disarmament; and therefore, this subject must have priority. The fact that we developing nations have no part in the arms race matters little. We too are feeling its effects. And if the item remains on our agenda year after year, the responsibility lies with the great Powers and not with us, reduced as we all too often are to the role of spectators in apparently endless negotiations. Despite this almost passive role, we firmly refuse to believe that the difficulties are insurmountable. With the optimism of those who look towards the future with confidence, we think that it is possible to achieve world agreement on disarmament subject to adequate international inspection and supervision. Freely agreed international inspection and supervision do not, in our opinion, constitute any limitation upon the sovereignty of States greater than the offer of disarmament itself when made in good faith.
55. If there is any task in which there should be no remission, or discouragement in face of repeated setbacks, that is the task of finding a formula for general disarmament. Not only our national interests are at stake, but the survival of all mankind.
56. This year, the Assembly is meeting in a climate where the major tensions of the cold war have been relaxed. Two recent events give grounds for reasonable optimism. First, there is the establishment of direct lines of communication between the capitals of the two great nuclear Powers, with the clearly stated purpose of avoiding the accidental outbreak of a war of annihilation. The other is the signature of the Moscow treaty, prohibiting nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water.
57. We having been advocating the prohibition of such tests for years, as they were progressively contaminating the earth's atmosphere, seriously endangering the terror-struck nations. In accordance with its tradition, my country not only greets this treaty with relief and satisfaction, but has resolutely formally acceded to it, signing it in the capitals of all three contracting Powers. We think that the treaty is not only a positive reply from the great Powers to the world's appeals; it is the precursor of a series of other agreements which will finally lead to disarmament. It is a great step forward which must be followed by other steps.
58. It should be remembered that despite the extremes of horror which were reached during the Second World War, both sides were able at least to respect certain agreed standards, such as the ban on the use of poison gas and on bacteriological warfare. It was, I repeat, a total war. Hence the logical consequence of the Moscow Treaty should be the banning of the use of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons and the destruction of the stocks of such weapons.
59.In view of the magnitude of the problems of disarmament and the obvious common danger of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons an attempt has been made to devise formulas to safeguard vast areas of the world through denuclearization. Such progressive denuclearization may lead gradually to complete denuclearization.
60. The heads of State of five Latin-American countries have been making a joint effort to reach a regional agreement for the purpose of denuclearizing Latin America. I solemnly declare that Paraguay is most favourably disposed to the denuclearization of our region. These negotiations should be initiated in the proper framework for this issue, i.e. in the Organization of American States and not in the United Nations.
61. We sincerely believe that for such denuclearization to provide real security the following basic requirements must be satisfied. The denuclearization of a particular zone, in this case Latin America, must be complete, and consequently should include all the States and territories within the zone. Full guarantees of respect and protection on the part of the nuclear Powers must be obtained and effective systems or means of international control and inspection must be instituted.
62. I said before that certain items or groups of related items dominate the scene in the General Assembly. Prominent among them are those relating to the liquidation of colonialism which, regrettably, still stains the map of the world —a stain which will remain as long as even a single people is prevented from exercising the right of self-determination and rising to be master of its national destiny. I wish to pay a simple and sincere tribute to the efforts of those peoples that are struggling for emancipation, and of course to their leaders as well. The one and the other have our respect.
63. I also wish to pay a tribute to the committees set up by the General Assembly to watch over the fate of those peoples which are still unable to speak for themselves in our Organization; and in a very special way the same tribute goes to the representatives of the young States of .Africa and Asia which are the standard-bearers of the liberation movement. To our way of thinking there is something inexorable in this march towards emancipation. Final victory, which cannot now be far distant, belongs to those peoples which have not yet won self-government and in which we welcome the free, sovereign and independent States of tomorrow.
64. If there is any matter before the Assembly on which there is unanimity of views, it is the policy of apartheid practiced by the Republic of South Africa, which is rejected by all. The concept of racial discrimination is perhaps more foreign to the Paraguayan people than to any other people of Latin America. Consequently, with regard to the problems of discrimination we can have only one position. I declare emphatically and in all sincerity that Paraguay considers that the policy of apartheid practiced by the Government of South Africa is fundamentally wrong; that it engenders serious conflicts deriving from racial segregation, and that it is characterized by a vexing and continual denial of universally proclaimed rights. Such a policy must be outlawed.
65. I now pass on to other questions which concern the great mass of members of the Assembly. We are in the midst of the United Nations Development Decade; we trust that the beneficial effects of the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for the Benefit of Less Developed Areas will soon make themselves felt; and we are on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. We attach tremendous importance to this last Conference, and justifiably so, because we under-developed peoples have been asking for it with a rarely encountered unanimity.
66. It is always the agricultural commodity-producing countries which are designated as under-developed. Developed countries, on the other hand, are, with very few exceptions, countries having mainly industrial economies. In exporting their primary products the agricultural countries barely manage to pay for their low level of living and the inevitable export taxes. On the other hand, when the industrialized countries export their products they make the purchaser pay for the high cost of labour caused by their high levels of living, and include industrial profits, social security and all manner of taxes in the prices.
67. I shall quote some figures which reflect this tragic situation. In 1962 Paraguay's volume of commodity exports was 300 percent greater than in 1950, but the foreign exchange proceeds were barely higher than the total for 1950. To this must be added the aggravating factor that most of the products purchased from abroad with that currency had increased in price by up to 200 per cent, I imagine that this serious situation is not confined to Paraguay, but is common to the majority of the commodity-producing nations of Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Latin America, whether or not they would describe themselves as underdeveloped countries.
68. The constant decline in the prices of commodities produced by the countries with agricultural economies, aggravated by the constant increase in the prices of products from countries with industrial economies, has accentuated and will continue to accentuate the difference between the developed and the underdeveloped countries. When the last territory in the world is emancipated, political colonialism will have come to an end, but the economic colonialism to which countries with an agricultural economy are subjected will persist unless substantial changes are made in the present conditions of production and export of agricultural products. Under the system of economic freedom we favour, it is difficult to adjust prices of commodities and manufactured goods on the world market.
69. In our view the way to solve the problem of under-development is by attacking simultaneously its two main causes; first, through financial and technical assistance to increase the output of agricultural countries with a view to offsetting the low prices of commodities and thus achieving a rise in levels of living, and secondly, by promoting the industrialization of the agricultural countries, giving them an opportunity of processing their main commodities. This task also requires technical co-operation and the contribution of the necessary capital.
70. These two measures are indispensable to put an end to the present economic colonialism which the developed nations in fact exercise over the underdeveloped nations.
71. The specialized agencies of the United Nations and of course the Conference on Trade and Development should give due attention to the problem of underdevelopment, which is the main cause of the world's economic, social and political ills.
72. In connexion with the recent inauguration of a new presidential term of office, Paraguay received visits from some sixty special missions, many of which were led by permanent representatives accredited to the United Nations and now present in the General Assembly. I would repeat the gratitude of Paraguay to all of them for having thus honoured us. Those sixty missions were reliable witnesses of the consolidation of an order marked by economic, social and political progress. They have seen that our economic progress is based on free enterprise, free trade, free imports and exports and the absence of quotas and other restrictions, and that it rests on monetary and economic stability and respect for capital and for private property. They have also seen that in our order social progress is based mainly on the steady and uninterrupted increase in the number of rural landowners through agrarian reform, which, without noisy propaganda or internal violence, has created 30,000 new landowners in the last five years, and that it Is also based on incentives to workers in the cities, who fully enjoy all their rights, including social security. They have seen, too, that political progress is firmly consolidated through the participation of the political parties in the government of the country, through the exercise of control on the part of the opposition, and through freedom of the Press and freedom of expression.
73. As the old saying has it, no chain is stronger than its weakest link. Each Member of our Organization has the duty to strengthen the chain by strengthening himself. In keeping with that idea, we believe that our present situation and our promising prospects for the future are the best contribution that Paraguay as a Member can make to the United Nations.
74. Before concluding my remarks, I should like to mention briefly the forthcoming twentieth anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations, which will be celebrated in 1965. The General Assembly, which at the seventeenth session set up a Preparatory Committee of the International Co-operation Year [resolution 1844 (XVII)], will shortly receive the Committee's report. As a member of that Committee my country supported suggestions intended to give prominence to everything which unites the Members of the Organization, and to avoid anything controversial. Acting, as we still do, in fulfilment of a trust, this is the way in which we had to discharge our obligations.
75. However, individually and as a representative of a land-locked State, I should now like to appeal to the goodwill of the Assembly, so that in due course it may consider giving unanimous approval to a resolution which, as a magnificent contribution in that anniversary year, provides for the solution of the foreign trade problems of those States which are not fortunate enough to have access to the sea.
76. I would express the sincerest wishes for the success of this Assembly. May this session, as a result of its labours, go down as one of the most constructive in the annals of the United Nations.