152. On behalf of my delegation I have great pleasure in tendering our most sincere congratulations to Mr. Emilio Arenales on his election as President of this Assembly. The countries which make up our Organization have entrusted
to him tasks which confer both-high honour and a heavy responsibility. His election is an honour both to him and to his country, but at the same time it is one shared by all the peoples of Latin America, who know that in Mr. Arenales they have a representative of the highest calibre. As regards
the responsibilities entrusted to his wisdom, ability, political sagacity and diplomatic tact, we know that he will guide the work of the Assembly in such a way as to secure the best results. Now that he is ill and temporarily absent, we express our best wishes for his early and complete recovery.
153. The people and Government of Paraguay rejoice at the admission of Swaziland to the community of free, independent and sovereign States. We hope and pray that that country will enjoy peace and prosperity. We welcome its admission to the United Nations and my delegation offers its representatives in this Assembly its sincere and fraternal co-operation.
154. We are moved by the same sentiments with regard to Equatorial Guinea, the newest of the independent African States and one which only a few days ago entered a new era by assuming control of its own national destiny. We extend to the leaders of that country our whole-hearted congratulations and most cordial greetings.
155. The international climate in which we are beginning our work is scarcely a propitious one. The general picture of our world is not encouraging. There are armed conflicts which have already lasted too long and whose cost in blood, tears and destruction saddens us. There has been no halt in the arms race. Vast sums are still being invested in the development and manufacture of ever more deadly weapons, while the majority of the world’s population is
increasingly anxious and disturbed about the unjust and immoral distribution of wealth whereby a few countries have too much and many countries have too little; in one case labour is rewarded by well-being and a high standard of
living, while in the other there is a tendency to perpetuate the wages of hunger and poverty.
156. And this is not all. Very recently we witnessed with stupefaction and indignation the violation of the most fundamental rights of a State Member of our Organization and the breaking of the most elementary rules of co-existence among States.
157. And lastly, colonialism, although it is declining, has not yet disappeared: there are many peoples still awaiting the hour when they can become masters of their own destiny. This world picture has been described by the Secretary-General in the Introduction to his Annual Report on the work of the Organization [A/7201/Add.1] and it is summarized in paragraph 205 of the Introduction, in which U Thant says: “I am well aware that this document must
make gloomy reading.” It certainly does.
158. The war in Viet-Nam—cruel, sad and destructive as few others—is still going on; but at least official conversations have begun in Paris and all peace-loving men and lovers of justice are pinning their hopes on a positive
outcome. When I say “positive outcome", I am thinking of political solutions within the framework of the Geneva Agreements. We realize that very little progress has been made so far, but the very fact that the conversations are
continuing justifies our hope that the adversaries will manage in the near future to overcome their differences and to restore peace and justice in that tormented region of South-East Asia.
159. The Middle East is another region where the flames of a conflagration might again involve the States of the area in the fires of destruction and even expand with unforeseeable intensity. Our views on the possibility of settling this conflict, which has lasted for two decades, are well known.
Together with other Latin American republics, we submitted during the fifth emergency special session of the General Assembly a formula which, we felt, offered a chance of arriving at the just, and therefore stable and lasting, peace desired by all, but our formula failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required by the Charter. We consider that resolution 242 of 22 November 1967, unanimously adopted by the Security Council, enshrines
the ideas and principles of the Latin American proposal and may in the present circumstances offer the only positive way of settling this distressing, long and complex conflict.
160. In this firm conviction we have devoted and are still devoting our best endeavours to securing the acceptance and implementation of all the provisions and principles embodied in resolution 242 (1967). For the same reason we unreservedly support the mission entrusted to Mr. Jarring, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and are fully confident that his outstanding qualities will ensure the success Of his difficult task. We are happy to reiterate our support and confidence from this rostrum.
161. Since it is our wish that Mr. Jarring should find the atmosphere most conducive to the success of his difficult task, and because the Security Council has so decided, it is with growing concern that we have watched the frequent and cruel violations of the cease-fire laid down by the resolutions of 1967. Within the Security Council, in whose work we have been participating since 1968, we have often stated that our delegation is not prepared to condone acts of violence, terrorism or reprisal in violation of the cease-fire. Accordingly, my delegation has voted in favour of all the resolutions adopted by the Security Council this year. We are well aware that the situation arising from scrupulous observance of the cease-fire is, by its very nature, bound to be a temporary one pending the restoration of peace based on justice, equity and law, but at least that situation will make it easier for Mr. Jarring to fulfil his mission.
162. Two decades of continuous hostilities, in which war has broken out three times with destructive violence, have brought all too much bloodshed to all the States of the region. We feel it is our collective duty — and one which
cannot be postponed — to do all we can to help to achieve the long-awaited, just and lasting peace which will enable the peoples of the Middle East, with all of whom we are united by bonds of sincere friendship, to devote all their
energies to the constructive work of peace and to the consolidation of their well-being and prosperity.
163. Although we have not set out to make an exhaustive catalogue of the problems, we felt bound to allude to some of them and, above all, to define the position adopted by our country in each individual case.
164. From this standpoint, we note that authority in Southern Rhodesia is still illegally in the hands of the racist regime of Ian Smith and that South Africa, in flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions, is still depriving Namibia and the Namibian people of their legitimate right to be masters of their own national destiny; moreover, South Africa persists in imposing, as a matter of official policy, the immoral and inhuman system of apartheid.
165. We should pause and reflect, in a spirit of solidarity, on what the problems I have briefly outlined, as also those which afflict the peoples who have not yet achieved emancipation, mean in terms of human suffering, for only thus shall we understand their extreme gravity.
166. As I said earlier, my country has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council since 1 January 1968. Consequently, our actions in that body are public, and open to the scrutiny of world opinion. We feel we have
nothing to reproach ourselves for in what we have done, all of which is reflected in the records and, more importantly, in all the resolutions adopted by the Security Council in 1968, for all of which we voted, whether they concerned Namibia, Southern Rhodesia or the Middle East.
167. After lengthy negotiations, a draft treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons was finally submitted at about the middle of this year. We knew that the proposed text did not satisfy all our aspirations and that it
was intended to prevent the horizontal and not the vertical proliferation of nuclear weapons, to use United Nations parlance, But after carefully studying all the provisions of the draft treaty, we decided to co-sponsor the text which later became General Assembly resolution 2373 (XXII) of 12 June 1968, to vote in favour of it and, finally, to sign the Treaty. In provisionally assuming, by our vote and our signature, the obligations imposed by that Treaty, and until its ratification in accordance with our own constitutional
procedure, we were acting in all sincerity and faith in the cause Of international peace and security. As we stated at the time, in the region where my country is situated our relations with our neighbours near and far are such as to shelter us from any fear of possible aggression, but with the present development of nuclear weapons and the means of launching them no State can consider itself entirely free from the possibility of nuclear attack, whatever its geographical situation, its desire for peace or its level of economic and social development.
168. With this thought in mind and with the same sincerity of purpose, we also voted in favour of Security Council resolution 255 (1968) on safeguards in the event of aggression or threat of aggression by nuclear weapons
against States not possessing such weapons. We said at the time that the resolution on safeguards should be of a temporary nature since it would become obsolete once advances in the field of real and complete disarmament,
under effective international control, had brought us to the ultimate goal, which is to halt the manufacture of nuclear weapons and to bring about the complete destruction of those held in the arsenals of the nuclear Powers.
169. Moreover, in our interpretation of the Treaty, we find the way open for accelerating the progress of our developing peoples through technical and financial co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which would otherwise be denied us owing to the paucity of our resources. The doors of the major research centres must be opened to us and to others, as must opportunities for training our own experts at those centres. Assistance must
be ample and generous. By virtue of the obligations we have assumed, we have a right to request it.
170. The approval and signing of the Treaty and the adoption of Security Council resolution 255 (1968) gave rise to fresh hopes of new and more far-reaching agreements between the great Powers in respect to disarmament.
Although a number of States supported neither the Treaty nor the resolution that I mentioned, it is true to say that an international climate of greater confidence in disarmament progress was engendered.
171. There was an abrupt deterioration in that climate in August, when Czechoslovakia, a State Member of the United Nations, was suddenly and brutally attacked and, without its consent and without forewarning, found itself invaded by troops of countries members of the Warsaw Pact led by Soviet troops. As a result of the violation of the basic principles and provisions of the Charter, of the crude interference in its internal affairs and of the military occupation to which it was subjected, Czechoslovakia
found itself unable to exercise the first and most fundamental of the rights of a State, namely, that of handling its own sovereign affairs. That unjustified and indefensible invasion has shaken to its foundations the structure of the international legal order on which relations among States
are based. In conformity with our traditions, we did not hesitate to speak out in angry protest in the Security Council and to call for the condemnation of the aggressors. As I said, that was the least we could do.
172. I think there are few States Members of the United Nations which have adhered so firmly to the principle of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity as mine, which has carried its support to the limits of individual and collective sacrifice. Much time has passed since the era we regard as the epic period of our history; but a basic duty to ourselves, to our past and to the traditions of which we are so proud determined the position which we adopted in the Security Council and which we reaffirm here.
173. My country’s participation in the work and responsibilities of the Security Council accounts for the relatively large part of this statement which I have devoted to the problems of peace and security.
174. But for us and for our destiny as a developing nation, the problems caused by the fact that the world is divided into North and South are also of the utmost importance. From this same rostrum the Foreign Minister of my
country said last year:
"In our everyday parlance we have become accustomed to classifying countries in two major groups, which we call the developed countries and the developing countries. The fact is that the former are industrialized countries, while the latter are not. It is sad to note that the passage of time has not brought about any improvement in the distribution of wealth, that the industrialized countries receive and own most of the wealth and that the
non-industrialized countries, which account for two thirds of the world’s population, receive in return for their efforts a minimal remuneration which is absolutely inadequate for their development needs.” [1570th meeting, para. 151].
175. A few months later the Second United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was held at New Delhi, and although we hoped that the Conference would lay the foundations for hastening the hour of justice in the distribution of wealth and the fruits of labour, we were not over-optimistic because we know that there are too many barriers of prejudice to be overcome.
176. Viewing the Conference now from the perspective afforded by the months that have passed since its closure, we are imbued with a painful feeling of frustration. Once again the chance to correct the unjust rules governing trade between the two groups of countries has been lost; once again we have seen our hopes of constructive dialogue dashed and once again our legitimate aspirations have had to be shelved. It is certainly not the developing countries which are to blame for that failure, but it is they that will suffer the direct and indirect consequences of it.
177. The United Nations is now preparing to set up a system for ensuring the peaceful uses of the resources of the sea-bed, beyond the limits of national territorial jurisdiction and of its subsoil. We trust that the Organization will find just ways of ensuring that those resources will be used for the benefit of all mankind, that is to say for the benefit of all States whether or not they have seaboards. If we really wanted to set a fair standard, it should be the countries without a seaboard that should be the first to
receive the benefits derived from the exploitation of such resources, in order to compensate them for the permanent disadvantage that their land-locked situation represents for their development.
178. In the conviction — already expressed on other occasions and from this same rostrum by spokesmen more qualified than myself — that regional economic integration in no way impinges on sovereignty or implies acceptance of
supranational bodies but, on the contrary, permits the expansion of markets that are often restricted by the limits of national jurisdiction, we are continuing our efforts to give practical effect to the regional common market. In so doing, we are imbued with the belief that its operation will
bring just and positive benefits to all its members. We know the difficulties to be overcome, but we also know that sooner or later — and we hope sooner — political wisdom will prevail and we shall build up a solid organization in which each and every participant will obtain equitable and reciprocal recognition of its legitimate aspirations.
179. It is with the same confidence and perseverance that we are continuing to work for the establishment of the continental common market, within the time-limit to which we have voluntarily agreed. Latin America has tremendous
natural resources and its raw material potential is practically unlimited. Its population has a high working and production capacity. It is without doubt one part of the world which should have a bright future, but in order to bring that future nearer there must be continuous and increasing industrialization. My own country is particularly anxious to see industries of regional interest established on its territory and we hope to succeed in this undertaking by our own efforts and with the fraternal co-operation of the other countries in the hemisphere.
180. In the increasingly interdependent world of today, the problems of one country or reg:on must directly or indirectly, but inevitably, affect other countries and other regions. In the course of this statement I have referred, in a spirit of willingness to co-operate in the search for possible solutions, to some of the more serious problems which the present General Assembly will have to consider.
181. No co-operation in the purposes and principles of the United Nations can outshine that which Member States can offer by respecting and complying with rules of universal validity, each within the framework of its own national
jurisdiction.
182. My country receives little foreign aid. The vast domestic task of consolidating its economic infrastructure, of constantly improving social conditions, raising the standard of living, streamlining its political institutions within a democratic framework, stabilizing its monetary basis, achieving comprehensive progress and establishing an atmosphere of peace and justice, order and mutual respect — all this is the result of the dynamic and harmonious dedication of the collective efforts in which the various
political and economic sectors of the country are participating under the leadership of a truly representative Government actuated by the noblest of national aspirations. These are the credentials we offer when we take this
rostrum and express our views.
183. I began my statement by quoting from the Introduction to the Secretary-General’s Annual Report to the General Assembly on the work of the Organization [A/7201/Add.1, para. 205] and 1 should like to conclude
with another quotation from the same paragraph:
“... I feel", says U Thant, “that it is not enough to bemoan the past; we must also renew our efforts to promote the cause of international understanding and rededicate ourselves to the principles of international
order and morality set out in the Charter.”
These words also express our own aims, hopes and desires.