50. All the Americas welcome with pride and enthusiasm the honour which this distinguished Assembly has just conferred on one of the American continent’s most illustrious sons, Mr. Emilio Arenales, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, by electing him its President for the twenty-third session. On this great occasion I am happy to convey the homage and goodwill of the Government and people of the Dominican Republic, and their sincere affection, to one who in bringing honour to his own country also enhances the prestige of his fellows of the Americas.
51. Mr. Emilio Arenales is a statesman of firmly democratic persuasion and deep moral convictions; an ardent believer in the ideal of justice proclaimed by the United Nations. There can be no doubt that under his able guidance the twenty-third session of the General Assembly will achieve substantial successes adding to the stature of the international community, which finds its highest expression in this Assembly. We pray fervently and with reverent humility that by the grace of God, our President may be enabled fully to meet the enormous responsibilities we have placed upon his learning, his wisdom, his poise and his prudence.
52. I am quite sure that not only our President, but all of us who are assembled here and in some degree symbolize the aspirations of millions of human beings need the guiding light of God’s Providence; for this twenty-third session of the General Assembly is beginning its work in a disquieting atmosphere of political unrest mainly deriving from dangerous backgrounds of economic and social frustration.
53. There is nothing easy in the task which faces us, but the difficulties must nevertheless be overcome. We must direct our efforts towards that all-important end even though we are bound to give warning that no-one must expect us to produce a miraculous potion capable of curing forthwith all the material and spiritual ills afflicting the less fortunate peoples and individuals.
54. However, we are fully aware that, while there are no magic formulae for more effectively helping the needy, there is no justification, either, for indolence or any failure to meet responsibility on the part of those of us whose solemn duty it is to raise aloft and to defend the banner of justice. The Government and people of the Dominican Republic, responsive to the dictates of conscience, have therefore sent their representatives to attend the twenty-third session of the General Assembly in the most vehement desire to help to find solutions leading towards worldwide concord founded upon the legitimate right to subsistence and on the mutual respect that must prevail between men and between nations.
55. This lofty aim of concord is surely of the essence of both multinational and of strictly and exclusively national endeavour. At all events, it is reasonable to assert that world peace, founded on the right to subsistence begins and finds its most dramatic expression specifically at the national level. This means that in the long run the concord we so painstakingly seek through centres of international discussion must necessarily proceed from what we are individually able to do in this respect within our own local borders.
56. This is one of the bases in which the policy of the constitutional Government of the Dominican Republic is anchored. We very firmly believe that we contribute to the attainment of mankind’s highest aims to the extent to which we are able to promote justice in all its manifold forms within our own frontiers. Starting from this premise, I can state emphatically that in the Dominican Republic, a country which in recent years has repeatedly suffered the blows of fate, a process of change at depth has begun that is inspired precisely by the ideal which imbues the thinking of this august Assembly.
57. All the machinery of my country’s Government is deeply involved in this endeavour under the guidance of the Head of State, His Excellency Mr. Joaquín Balaguer, a man whose outstanding moral qualities are recognized even by his political opponents. His personal capacities, together with his acknowledged intellectual ability and his keen sense of social values, are the human qualities underlying the implementation of a policy of rehabilitation and betterment in a community in whose least conspicuous strata there are restless stirrings and the germs of political strife proliferate.
58. This national effort is our contribution to peace. We come to this austere meeting-place with a message of brotherhood and positive willingness to understand, for the purpose of calmly and impartially weighing the vital problems which the agenda places before us for consideration. But we must acknowledge that we are deeply concerned at the continued existence in various parts of the world of focal points of conflict and areas of tension which may burst into flame at any moment and none of which it has been found possible to eliminate or reduce since the previous—last year’s—session of this Assembly.
59. Nevertheless, we are even more concerned and disturbed to note that in addition to our having made only very slow progress towards the political problems which confronted us last year, the power of violence has in recent times reverted to its most primitive form of expression in violation of law. We deeply deplore the offences committed against the international rule of law.
60. World society now possesses legal instruments which very firmly proscribe unilateral action. The United Nations system, with its Charter that is law for all Member States, is precisely the machinery through which disputes liable to disturb international peace should be adjusted, and is also the altar to which all States must bow before undertaking any unilateral action endangering or menacing the peace of nations.
61. I do not need to enumerate for purposes of casuistry the discouraging examples that distress those of us who are convinced and active advocates of a system in which peace prevails in a relationship of justice. We should merely like to recall that the fact that we have subscribed to the fundamental principles of United Nations as a means of settling relationships among States places us under an ineluctable duty to be faithful servants of law as well.
62. It is for this reason that the Government and people of the Dominican Republic do not wish to point an accusing finger at anyone, but wish to exhort all Governments and peoples here represented to join with us in an act of firm and sincere dedication to strengthening the pillars which sustain Our Organization. Let us not, like Hercules, unleash the forces of unreason to weaken those pillars, for if we do so we shall all, without exception, run the risk of being crushed under the weight of moral and material collapse.
63. International peace is the supreme purpose of the United Nations, but the United Nations itself is the sum of the political wills of all the individual States. My Government strongly supports the conciliatory efforts now proceeding in certain parts of the world; in particular it supports the mission of Ambassador Jarring, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in pursuance of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967, which calls upon the parties in dispute to negotiate. We cannot conceal the concern with which we view the worsening of the situation in the Middle East.
64. In the same way we think it a great pity that so well-meaning an initiative as that recently taken by President Johnson in the matter of the conflict in Viet-Nam should not yet have achieved the result for which the free world was hoping. I am convinced by the teachings of history that behind the great dissensions between men and between nations there is always within reach, if the parties seek justice, a way to find an honourable solution to the most difficult problems and I therefore trust that the official talks in Paris between the United States and North Viet-Nam will not disappoint the hopes that have been placed in this important step towards the achievement of
world peace.
65. It is disheartening to note that the past year has produced no favourable changes in connexion with the situation in Southern Rhodesia. My Government therefore maintains the views on this subject which it expressed during the twenty-second session of the General Assembly 1566th meeting, in 1967.
66. I said earlier that I bring to this Assembly a message of brotherhood from the Government and people of the Dominican Republic. Before concluding, I wish to convey to the delegations here present cordial greetings from the delegation of the Dominican Republic, the Chairman of which delegation I have the honour to be. In particular, I should like to express to the delegation of the Republic of China my sincere thanks for the kindnesses shown to me by the high authorities of that country when I paid an official visit to Formosa in May of this year.
67. Small countries like mine, which cannot use the language of force to ensure respect for their national integrity and their right to work out their destiny in accordance with democratic principles and the ideals upheld by the free countries of the world, have no means of asserting their international legal personality other than the vast field of high moral strategy of “consensual right", the ultimate basis of relations among States.
68. In saying this I am not thinking only of the inflamed condition of today’s international political scene, but much more of the fact borne out by history, that rights trampled on with impunity lead to further, more profound and more dangerous violations liable to affect us all. Accordingly, although the repudiation of the civilized nations of the world is implicit, I feel bound, because my sense of justice has been offended, to include in these general considerations the feelings so summarized, of the Dominican people when faced with the anomalous situation recently created in Czechoslovakia.