This session of the General Assembly is being presided over by Mr. Carlos Sosa Rodriguez of Venezuela. I should like, as representative of Spain, to address my opening words to him.
2. I address my good wishes not only to an illustrious friend, not only to a distinguished statesman and diplomatist whose achievements, as the head of his country's Mission to the United Nations, were doubtless the reason for his election as President of the Assembly; in his person I honour also Venezuela.
3. It is a Spaniard who speaks, and the name of any Spanish-American country arouses a profound echo in a Spaniard's soul; it brings to life a whole world of memories and hopes; it denotes something which is ours deeply, our own, an intimate possession that consists of two noble elements: understanding and affection.
4. The name Venezuela evokes for me today the beautiful picture of its countryside, the picture of the Llanos, that immense inland area which stretches out majestically like a Venezuelan Castile. It brings to mind Lake Maracaibo, at the edge of the Caribbean Sea, where Alonso de Ojeda baptized Venezuela; the profile of the gigantic Andes, the spinal column of America, a road familiar to Spaniards in former times; and finally the mighty Orinoco, with its immense volume of water, opening up at its delta, as Columbus saw it, into a thousand streams and channels where herons dwell amid groves of green mangroves, providing metaphors for the dazzling prose of Rómulo Gallegos.
5. But Venezuela is for us not simply a vast and beautiful land, or the reminder of a long common history, but also the great country of Simón Bolívar, which saw the birth of the dream of unification, the noble project of continental solidarity conceived by Bolívar nearly a century and a half ago, prophetically foreshadowing political organizations and enterprises which we now see to be vitally necessary. I say this with the pride of a Spaniard of my times who sees in Simón Bolívar one of the great historical figures of the community to which I belong, as much our hero as the "conquistador" of old. I see in him, as in San Martín and in so many other leaders of the Spanish- American independence movement, a creole; that is to say, a Spaniard of America who, through the coming to age of his country, has become a true American and yet preserved, irrespective of the circumstances in which he is called upon to live, certain typically Spanish virtues, such as the passion for unity and the defence of the fundamental oneness of men and their equality before the law.
6. It therefore seems to me symbolic to be speaking today when the presidency is occupied by a Venezuelan; for as I speak he not only understands my words, since we share the same language, but he also appreciates the full significance of these words with which I am attempting to bring into relief the firm ties of solidarity which unite the Hispanic community of nations to which he and I belong, and which he himself described in unforgettable words in this very forum on 6 December 1960 [883rd meeting].
7. After these words of greeting, and before I continue, I should like to be allowed to dwell on a memory. I wish to speak for just a moment of a personality who has departed from us and who was very well known to many of my listeners. I speak of a man who was a passionate defender of the United Nations, and had a sincere faith in the future of the Organization and its capacity to settle international issues; a man who placed in the service of these beliefs his whole vigorous personality, his penetrating and refined intelligence, his natural inclination for dialogue and his qualities as a Spaniard, the heir of a tradition of law and statecraft, a valuable precedent for the United Nations. I refer, of course, to Mr. José Félix de Lequerica, Permanent Representative of Spain to this Organization, who died recently. I could not continue without paying to his memory, from this rostrum from which his voice was so often heard, a tribute reflecting both the emotion of an old friendship and gratitude to him as the upright, intelligent and brave defender of the cause of understanding among peoples, which might be called the cause of the United Nations.
8. I shall never forget the fervour with which Lequerica, shortly before his death, discussed with me certain passages of the Encyclical Pacem in Terris which had just been published, passages which represent, without any doubt, the highest moral support that the United Nations has ever received.
9. I am referring to the noble words of that unforgettable master of optimism and goodness John XXIII, in which he called for the establishment of a "worldwide public authority"; these are moving words for any Spanish scholar because they echo certain other words —regarded as the epiphany of modern international law— which a humble Dominican, a professor at the University of Salamanca, uttered in December 1528 when dictating his Relectio de Potestate Civili. "The whole world, which in a sense is a republic," Francisco de Vitoria taught us, "has the authority to establish laws which are just and suitable for all, these being the provisions which make up the Law of Nations…". This prophetic formula was given clearer definition in 1612 by another of our great masters, Francisco Suárez, in his Tractatus de Legibus; thus the principles which were to govern the future international organization were affirmed by the Spanish school of law.
10. It is not surprising, therefore, that Spain shares the earnest wish expressed in the Encyclical to which I have referred that this Organization " —in its structure and in its means— may become ever more equal to the spacious and lofty demands of its tasks ".
11. There are, however, considerable risks that this ambitious aim may not be realized. My delegation therefore agrees fully with the words of the Secretary- General in the introduction to his thoughtful annual report to this session, when he says that:
"One element in the strength of the United Nations is the progress towards universality that the Organization has made so steadily during recent years. I believe that this progress should be maintained and encouraged, and should not be reversed even when situations arise involving deep emotions and strong convictions. I also believe that there should be room in the United Nations for Member Governments with widely differing political, economic and social systems. It is only by providing and maintaining a common meeting-ground for all peace- loving States which accept, and are willing and able to carry out, the Charter obligations, that the Organization can fulfil one of the basic purposes of the Charter: 'to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations'." [A/5501/Add.l, section XII.]
12. This means, in our view —and this was also pointed out some days ago from this rostrum by the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Pearson [1208th meeting]— that we cannot regard as a positive and hopeful policy for the Organization any position leading to the expulsion or voluntary withdrawal of one of its Members. The spectacle which recently presented itself in this connexion in an agency affiliated to the United Nations was alarming.
13. We consider, therefore, in harmony with the comments of the Secretary-General we have just quoted, that geographical universality is the basis and the vocation of the United Nations, and is not bound to find expression in the ideological uniformity of all Members. What is more, a requirement of that nature would destroy the universality of the Organization and, indeed, the Organization itself. The only possible policy for an institution such as ours, in the world of today and in the world of the future, is that of "heterogeneous universality", to use the expression of Professor Georg Sehwarzenberger. Any would-be ideological homogeneity in this international organization can only be the product of political hegemony —that is, of imperialism, under whatever guise.
14. We would stress, however, that we do not say nor do we make any others say that everything must be sacrificed for the sake of the universality of the Organization. There are limits laid down by the Charter itself which cannot be evaded.
15. Having said this, let me pass on to certain international questions which directly affect Spain. First, there is the question of Africa. I wish to take up this subject as the representative of a country which is African as well as European.
16. Spain is in Africa not in virtue of colonialism, which is a modern phenomenon and a typical product of the nineteenth century, but for profound geographical and historical reasons. Spain has been in Africa since the first centuries of our era, and already in the third century the territory of North Africa was a province of Roman Spain —for its original name was "Nova Hispania Ulterior Tingitana". The Hispano-Romans of those days came and went between the peninsula and Tingitana along Roman roads crossing what today is called Morocco —past temples and cities whose ruins still testify today to the Roman history of Africa— and along these roads Paulus Orosius, the Spanish priest and historian, made a pilgrimage to see his master Saint Augustine, the great thinker of Christian Africa. Tangiers, the former Roman Tingis, was later the capital of the Hispano-Visigothic ducal province of Africa. All this happened long before the Arabs, in a remarkable expansionist movement testifying to their vitality and energy, reached the coast of North Africa in the eighth century and conquered the whole Southern area of the Mediterranean, having started out on this amazing imperial advance from their faraway homes in Yemen, Arabia and Syria. The people of the peninsula returned to Africa in 1415, when Ceuta, the former Septa of Hispano-Roman times, was recovered, seventy-seven years before the discovery of America. Five years later, or 279 years before the birth of the United States of America, Melilla once again became Spanish.
17. To ignore these irrefutable historical facts is to ignore that Spain is a country situated at the meeting- point of two continents, participating in the destiny of both, as is the case, for example, of Turkey, situated between Europe and Asia, of the Soviet Union, whose territory stretches half way round the world from the Baltic to the Pacific, or the United Arab Republic, likewise established on two continents. This would be to fall prey to an erroneous geo-political notion defining national sovereignty, in a kind of new Monroe Doctrine, simply on the basis of territorial continuity and at the expense of historical justification and the most obvious human considerations.
18. In reality, what has taken place in this common geographical area where Africa and Spain meet, constituting the immutable basis for Spain's claim to be African as well as European, is something quite distinct from a colonial or expansionist process. It is a meeting of two peoples and of two civilizations, which have produced, after centuries of common life, a marvellous mingling of cultures. In this mingling, the Arab people gave Spain their men and their culture. They gave it their art, still to be seen in so many Spanish towns with their "alcazares" and "alcazabas". They gave thousands of words to its vocabulary, in a splendid linguistic heritage which accompanied their technical legacy and which reveals itself in Spanish geography in the names of towns and cities, rivers and mountains; in the terminology of the arts and of industry; and in everyday language, full of words which apart from a slight inflection or accent, are pronounced as they were and still are in the Arabic language. In return for this human and cultural contribution, Spain gave the glory of the illustrious names of Spanish Arabs such as Averroes, Ibn-Hazam and El-Idrisi; the originality of Andalusian Arab poetry, admired in all the capitals of the Islamic East; the truly Spanish beauty of the art of Cordoba or Granada, seen not only in Medina az-Zahra or the Mezquita or the Alhambra, but also reflected in the Koutoubia of Marrakesh or the mosques of Attar. And, finally, Spain has offered its solidarity and its historical recognition of the common heritage which, as the great Arab scholar Levi-Provençal pointed out, has been vigorously proclaimed by the Spaniards.
19. This ancient, deep-rooted solidarity gives a very special significance to our relations with Morocco. These relations may be affected by certain issues as always happens between countries that are neighbours, but there are few questions which cannot be solved through calm discussion. Our cordial historical links with the Arab peoples and our scrupulous fulfilment of international obligations resulted in Spain's recently being one of the chief co-operators in Morocco's independence and guarantee that in the future we shall always study the issues between us in a spirit of friendship and a desire for full understanding.
20. This was the spirit in which the recent hopeful and cordial talks took place at the meeting at Barajas between His Majesty King Hassan of Morocco and His Excellency the Head of the Spanish State, a meeting which will be the starting-point for further discussions which we believe will be fruitful.
21. Next to the Spanish Sahara, which throughout the centuries has formed a common area with our Canary Islands, lies the vast desert, where Spain is also to be found showing a spirit of friendly co-operation. This desert, which was once the "inviolable kingdom of silence", is now making itself heard in the world's council chambers and demanding that all interested countries consider, with imagination and ingenuity, appropriate techniques for utilizing the resources shut up in its immense empty spaces and the way to find an effective formula for technical co-operation unbound by the old linear divisions of jurisdiction along parallels and meridians, the legacy of times which are being overtaken by present-day events and by the new prospects opening up before the almost unexplored areas of Africa.
22. All these considerations show clearly that Africa is very close to Spain both geographically and historically. I wish now to demonstrate that Spanish influence in Africa does not correspond at all to the model of modern colonialism. We have an example of this in Spanish Equatorial Africa, where the process of self-determination, a principle solemnly proclaimed by my Government, has already begun.
23. The United Nations and the General Assembly have received detailed information on all aspects, political as well as economic, social and cultural, of Fernando Poo and Río Muni. I should like, however, to give a few figures and to mention a few facts which speak for themselves and of which we are proud because they provide the best definition of Spanish policy in this region of Africa.
24. The Spanish territories in Equatorial Africa are situated in the Gulf of Guinea, in other words, in one of the unhealthiest areas in the world where malaria, yellow fever, leprosy, sleeping sickness and tuberculosis have traditionally decimated and enfeebled the population. Yet the Spanish Government's public health policy —which was the most urgent and in human terms the most important policy to be developed— has resulted in a death rate for the Spanish territories of only 7.8 per 1,000, in comparison with a figure of 27 per 1,000 for the areas of tropical Africa. Practically it has succeeded in wiping out sleeping sickness, is on the way to eliminating leprosy, has launched a mass campaign against malaria, reduced hospital mortality to 20 per 1,000 (the lowest figure in Africa), organized an exemplary and very strict sanitary inspection and brought almost all the maternity clinic services up to standard. It is not surprising that this public health work has resulted in an annual population increase of 2.6 per cent, somewhat higher that that shown by the statistics of the other areas.
25. Parallel with these efforts ranking immediately next in urgency was education, on which Spain again concentrated all its energies. Today in Fernando Poo and Río Muni one out of every seven Inhabitants is literate. Although comparisons may be invidious, I must say, in order to indicate the significance of this figure, that it is similar to the figure given for the most advanced countries of Africa. The new generations are almost entirely literate, and a dense network of educational institutions covering various grades and special disciplines has already begun to produce a group of advanced students who are pursuing their studies in universities, special schools and other centres of technical and higher education in Spain and in the military academies where the officers of our army are trained.
26. The economic progress of our territories is equally important. A general increase in the production of the characteristic products of the area and other new products and a substantial development of communications has led to an increase in the wealth of the inhabitants, which today amounts to a per capita income of $246 for Fernando Poo and $91 for Río Muni; the former figure, according to the information supplied by the Organization for European Co-operation and Development (OECD), is comparable to that of some European and American States, and both figures are higher than those of not a few countries.
27. All that wealth goes back entirely to the territories which originally produce it, and Spain adds subsidies for the maintenance of African prices and the carrying out of local economic plans. As the culmination of this effort, there is in progress an Economic Development Plan providing for an investment of 1,652 million pesetas in the public sector over four years, with a cumulative growth rate of 7.6 per cent.
28. This burden on our national economy is accepted enthusiastically and generously in the interest of the inhabitants of our territories and with the sole desire of ensuring them an open and hopeful future, and not an inheritance of disorder and suffering, in short, with a spirit characteristic of the tradition of Spain —the founder of a family of nations to which it has bequeathed the legacy of its civilization.
29. But I do not wish to talk only about past history or refer only to the work that has been done. I wish also, and this is the most important, to announce future action. Although Napoleon defined a politician as "a merchant of hope", I am not going to make some vague illusions; rather I shall explain to you the positive measures which, beginning on 1 January 1964, Spain will put into effect in our Equatorial Guinea. In accordance with the principle, which we support, of the self-determination of peoples, the Spanish Government has already sent to the Cortes —to Parliament— the text of a Fundamental Act which establishes the autonomy of Fernando Poo and Río Muni. This means that Spain, acting in a peaceful atmosphere and not under the pressure of coercion, is going farther than the aspirations of the inhabitants of its African territories and considers that the fitting moment has come for them to govern themselves.
30. Consequently, the Act which the Government has prepared grants to persons born in the African territories very broad autonomy in the management of their own affairs and transfers the executive power to a body which will be known as the Government Council and will be composed entirely of indigenous inhabitants of the territory, headed by a President. A General Assembly, representative of the population, will exercise legislative power in matters of specific interest to the territories, and an independent judicial power will administer justice. Lastly, in economic matters Equatorial Guinea will have an autonomous budget, under which its entire income will be invested in the area, in addition to the development aid furnished by Spain through indirect subsidies and direct investments. This scheme of independent government remains subject, naturally, to the developments which may seem advisable in time and to the decisions which those concerned may take under that principle of self-determination of peoples on which the scheme is based.
31. We are grateful for the good faith of all those who have credited us with their confidence and contributed to that climate of internal peace in which our proposals have taken shape, making Spain perhaps the only country to have carried out this process in Africa without tension, relying solely upon its conscience and sense of responsibility,
32. In this Spanish action in Equatorial Africa, we can see what Spain is able to accomplish when it is confronted not with violence and passion but with peace, calm and discussion.
33. Outside the limits of our direct action, we also offer our sincere friendship to the new African countries which have become members of the international community, with the wish that their independence and prosperity may be strengthened through political systems freely chosen in accordance with sociological realities.
34. In the African regional organisations we also offer our co-operation in support of any effective means for the development of nations, but we shall firmly oppose any decision which serves as a cloak for illegitimate interests and which hazards the loss of peace and international coexistence. We must defend international order and not permit demagoguery or aggression to disturb or endanger it. We consider that the best guarantee of the independence and progress of the new States will be found in international order.
35. At this point I must remind you that Portugal is now the chief defendant when Africa is mentioned. It is significant and worth considering that Portugal is the last European nation still governing vast provinces under its sovereignty in African territory. I say that it is significant, because Portugal was also the first European Power to establish its presence in Africa more than five centuries ago when, as we recalled earlier, the modern idea of colonialism did not exist and the Portuguese presence meant the opening of some roads and territories to civilization and the beginning of the African peoples' awareness that they lived in a world in which intercourse was becoming imperative; it was, in short, the first chapter of a history which today enables us to be here, speaking about Africa with Africans. It is not surprising, then, that Portugal has remained staunchly in its African position, not wishing to abandon those lands with the unconcern and haste with which it might abandon a business venture which was going badly or a share in a bankrupt joint stock company. For Portugal its African provinces are not a business venture undertaken with that nineteenth-century colonialist attitude which is being eradicated today with much justice. Portugal was already governing those provinces in another spirit and with another standard, with an idea of mission, when many European nations still did not exist as political units and when, of course, the vast majority of African nationalities had not been imagined. If those historical facts were calmly analysed instead of our being presented with emotional and rudimentary attitudes, the judgement delivered with respect to Portugal would undoubtedly be very different.
36. May I ask, without any intention of engaging in polemics, what the precise charge against Portugal is. Let us examine the facts dispassionately. There can be no accusation of racial discrimination, since this attitude is something which Portugal, like Spain, has never known. Rather, we should remember the sincere centuries-old attempt of the Portuguese to build within their overseas and metropolitan borders a multiracial and egalitarian society which acknowledges the human diversity of its people in a Christian manner. It would be worthwhile comparing this attitude with the tendency to discrimination, scorn and even racial hatred which exists among many men of our day and within many countries of the world. Is the charge against Portugal that it lets economic considerations govern its work? In a magnanimous and firm statement, Mr. Oliveira Salazar recently told the world that "overseas Portugal may be the victim of attacks but it is not for sale". Is the charge against Portugal that its presence in Africa is unlawful? History denies this charge. Is the charge perhaps simply that it does not practise self-determination? I ask, in turn, whether aggression artificially prepared outside its borders, whether violence provoked in territories which Portugal heretofore governed peacefully, facilitates the process of self- determination, We see that it is not so; we see that the only thing achieved by such inhuman methods is a hardening of positions. We feel that self-determination, to have meaning and to become an established fact, can never be imposed from outside. At any event, let us imagine what progress Portugal might have been able to make in this direction if it had not been attacked and if it had not had to attend urgently to fulfilling that primary duty of any civilized State —the restoration of order and peace.
37. Apparently the subject of Africa engenders passions and arouses guilt feelings, but it does not call forth serene and objective judgements or calmly courageous attitudes.
38. In defending Portugal here, I am not only defending a country with which Spain has an unalterable fraternal tie but also asking for calm and for confidence in what a country with its historical and cultural tradition may and will accomplish in the face, not of violence, but of peace and meeting its responsibility, which it has never renounced.
39. I sincerely believe that we have the authority to speak here, not only because of the compelling reasons of historical brotherhood which unite us with Portugal and because of our position on colonialism but also because of a much more pertinent fact —the fact that we in Spain have a colony on our own territory.
40. We have a colonial issue which is small but grave, because it is a real cancer which upsets the economy of our Southern region and is supported exclusively at our expense. It is still more serious because it has weighed for many generations on our national spirit. And its name has a harsh sound for all of my countrymen: Gibraltar.
41. All Spaniards from the eighteenth century to the present, Government and opposition, right and left, reigning monarchs and labour leaders, great thinkers and humble men of the city or village, forming an impressive roster of distinguished figures in our history which there is no need to recite now, have defended and tirelessly demanded the return to Spain of the Rock of Gibraltar.
42. But we have barred one path —that of violence. Therefore, we have repeatedly shown our desire to initiate conversations on this subject with the United Kingdom, a country whose friendship we have known and know how to value. That does not mean, however, that we are going to show weakness either in reclaiming Gibraltar or in any other question that, like Gibraltar, affects our national interests.
43. Nevertheless, the Spaniards have shown concerning Gibraltar and many other issues the serenity, caution and calm of those who are sure of the justice of their cause. Despite repeated military attempts in other epochs to recover Gibraltar, our generation has given an exceptional demonstration of respect for peaceful procedures and confidence that all disputes between States can be settled in that manner —respect and confidence which now are directed towards the United Nations, because it is the appropriate body for settling international disputes.
44. We therefore hope and believe that in our friendly conversations with the United Kingdom —which, if it were deemed necessary, could come under the competence of this Organization— the just claim for Gibraltar which we present can be settled satisfactorily, bearing in mind the legitimate interest of all parties involved in the case of Gibraltar.
45. I feel that I must make a very brief reference at this moment to the claims of other nations of Spanish origin, nations which, too, it is but just to say have shown that they can confront these issues with calm and resolute confidence, refusing also to give way to the easy solution of resorting to violence.
46. We have spoken of Africa, we have just alluded to our brother Spanish nations in America and we have done so because Spain, which both geographically and historically is a European nation, has traditionally felt the mission of creating bonds of understanding and comprehension among different races, cultures and continents. In this respect, we could put to ourselves the question that was asked by the great Spanish philosopher, Ortega y Gasset, namely: "What is Spain? What is this Spain, this spiritual promontory of Europe, as if it were the prow of the soul of this continent?" There can be no doubt regarding the answer. Spain is a deeply European country, and because it is so and because it feels that it is the spiritual forerunner of the Continent, it is inspired at the same time with a universal mission.
47. I shall not now define the idea of Europe. It is an idea that has captivated the imagination and the intelligence of the most brilliant Western thinkers for thousands of years. But I should only like to point out that the attitude adopted towards Europe by the Spain of today: its friendly relations with the peoples of Europe, its membership of numerous European inter-governmental organizations, its opening of its doors to the enormous flow of European tourists who annually visit us, its economic, technical, professional and human interchanges with its continental neighbours, and, last of all, its application for entry into the European Common Market —all these are not opportunist decisions made by a specific political regime, but are, on the contrary, the natural reflection of the unanimous feelings of the Spanish people of today and of all times.
48. I do not consider it necessary to recapitulate the European history of Spain, nor to give you an inventory of the cultural legacy that Spain has left to Europe. Nor do I need to refer to Spain's great historical passion for European unity, so fittingly represented by that outstanding Spaniard, Emperor Charles V, of whom Schlegel said that he was "the man who in his heart and in his spirit took over, led and understood Europe".
49. It is this Europe, loyal to itself, that we Spaniards want to serve without political prejudices, without dogmatic or restrictive definitions and without transforming our idea of what Europe is into something like a club reserving arbitrarily the right of admission for we know that the political formulae of our times are in constant evolution, that no one has the monopoly of Europe and that what really and truly remains standing is the solidarity in various fundamental beliefs and in a spiritual inheritance of which Spain feels it is as legitimate an heir as any other European nation.
50. It is precisely this higher interest which, within any given country, compels its rulers to act as if they were above party interests, or possible ideological or sentimental attachments. This idea should also prevail in Europe so that its leaders too may lay aside highly questionable political prejudices or narrow-minded nationalisms, and think only of the common task of solidarity on which the real destiny of Europe depends.
51. You may rest assured that this is the spirit in which Spain approaches Europe. The mere prospect of European integration, the sole announcement of Spain's intention to become as close a part of Europe as possible, has already been sufficient to create in the Spanish community a desire to improve the structures which had been weighing down upon us as a heavy heritage of the past. It has given us an impulse towards evolution and progress for which we have great hopes and which forms part of the permanent European mission of Spain.
52. It is this mission which leads us to meditate with anxiety on the great questions which Europe has to face today. We believe that Europe cannot in the long run bear serious mutilations such as that of the division of Germany or that of the isolation of a series of countries situated in the eastern part of the continent.
53. Spain defends, as it has always done, the reunification that Germany claims —and by peaceful means— and Spain believes that the division of that great nation, far from being a guarantee of peace —as some with unforgivable political shortsightedness contend— is a danger for the stability of the continent and an obstacle to its progress.
54. Regarding the nations of Eastern Europe which have been artificially separated from the rest of Europe, nations which suffer in silence, and which bravely and tenaciously preserve their essence as Europeans as if it were a hidden treasure, Spain does not forget them; we know they form a great part of Europe's glorious past and they undoubtedly will be a part of its happier future. I repeat, for these countries we only desire that in a not too distant future they may find the occasion to decide their destiny for themselves. God grant that our generation may once again behold a Europe in open interchange from North to South and from East to West; a Europe in which every man is free, with no walls or frontiers to intercept the great currents of the spirit.
55. This idea of an open and free Europe forms part of our general concern for the West, at whose service the project of an Atlantic Community has appeared, which is for us nothing more than a platform for co-operation between Europe and the two Americas. In speaking thus of two Americas, Spain wishes to stress its belief that in this inter-continental dialogue, Spanish America cannot be omitted; it is a vast portion of the Western Hemisphere where 200 million people of our race live, and who, because of their multiracial characteristics, form a positive factor for understanding among all peoples.
56. Having thus reiterated our will to be present in Europe and the overwhelming meaning we attach to this, we wish once again to point out that, in the atmosphere of relaxed tension which fortunately we are enjoying during these last weeks, Spain does not seek to form part of any military alliance of which she has no need for herself. If one day in the future she should take part in any agreement of this kind, it would be because she had been asked to do so, because she had obtained the unanimous assent of those countries which had signed it, and because she was convinced that she was contributing effectively to the general interest, which is tantamount to saying the true cause of peace.
57. It is also from a defensive point of view and, therefore, with an essentially pacific intention that we conceive our special ties of co-operation with the United States. The Agreements of 1953, which are at present under discussion between both parties never responded and do not respond, to interests which are solely American much less solely Spanish, They were due to a general need, and we unhesitatingly declare that as regards military collaboration they only have any meaning so long as the menace of external aggression against our two countries and against the whole West remains.
58. Nevertheless, the friendship between Spain and the United States exceeds the limits of any contractual tie, since it is based on the mutual recognition of the services which both countries have rendered to world peace and order, though in areas of varying scope.
59. It is within these co-ordinates of our foreign policy that we must place the accession of Spain, thus sharing the hopes of nearly the entire world, to the treaty which the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow on 5 August 1963. Spain does not feel towards anyone what Churchill described as "the fear of friendship". Still less does Spain have any misgivings because the great nuclear Powers have finally begun to listen to the voice of reason or, better still, to the wishes expressed by all the countries of the world and to the dictates of our collective moral conscience.
60. We can, therefore, end our statement with our spirits enlightened by well-founded hopes of peace, with our minds ready to enter into conversations. But at the same time, we must be alert because, as a Spanish classical writer, Francisco de Quevedo, said, "to slumber is to leave a door open to war and discord; to keep watch leads to peace and security".