On behalf of the Bolivian delegation I wish to congratulate Prince Wan Waithayakon upon his election to this high office, which he so richly deserves.
108. We are meeting in this eleventh session of the United Nations General Assembly at so critical a juncture in world affairs that we are moved to reaffirm our faith in the United Nations, whose purpose it is to maintain the peace and security without which the Governments represented here would find it impossible to ensure the well-being of their peoples.
109. For that reason, collective security will have to be our main and continuing concern. The world yearns for the day when people will be able to live free from the fear of war and aggression and from any threat of foreign intervention in their domestic affairs. Unfortunately, our concern is today rendered more acute by the position taken by those who invaded Egyptian territory, and those who violated the fundamental principle of non-intervention by interfering in the internal affairs of the people of Hungary. Those events, on which the attention of the Member States of this international Organization is concentrated, impel the under-developed countries, more particularly, to take joint action for the protection and safeguarding of the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 2, paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Charter.
110. When I say that the preservation of those rights is of particular concern to the countries that are in the early stages of industrialization, I have in mind the fact that only if we have a clear understanding of the effectiveness and objectives of collective defence applied through the United Nations, can those rights be safeguarded. The great Powers are capable of defending themselves and it is only the small nations that run the risk of aggression or illegal intervention. The General Conference to review the Charter which is to be convened in due course, will have to make a careful study of Chapter VII with a view to strengthening the measures provided for dealing with threats to the peace or acts of aggression. Such acts could be halted immediately, if provision was made for machinery that could go into operation without delay; that would not imply any disregard of the special rights accorded by the Charter to the permanent members of the Security Council.
111. We understand that the main object of the General Conference to review the Charter, is to appraise the merits and the shortcomings of the Charter in accordance with Article 109 in the light of the experience accumulated in the ten years it has been functioning. We should remember that on balance the achievements of those ten years are rather more encouraging than discouraging. The fact that the United Nations has managed to survive such events as those of Korea and Indo-China and all the phases of the cold war, which were serious enough to have destroyed any international institution of weak structure, leads us to conclude that the Charter is a legal instrument of more than ordinary effectiveness. It is not perfect, of course, but the practical results achieved by the United Nations under its rule are substantial, specifically with regard to the maintenance of world peace and the benefits provided by the specialized agencies and by United Nations technical assistance.
112. The United Nations is at present faced with the worst international crisis in the last ten years. The disputes between Israel and the Arab States, which have never been settled despite the repeated efforts of the United Nations, have helped to sharpen the conflict between Egypt on the one hand and France and the United Kingdom on the other over the Suez Canal. These circumstances produced a combination of interests which caused two great Powers to disregard their obligations, as permanent members of the Security Council, to work for the maintenance of international peace and security. The resort to violence, which is prohibited by the Charter, converted Egyptian territory into the scene of a war of aggression which is from every point of view reprehensible, for whatever the reasons invoked to justify the three-fold invasion of Egypt and the claims put forward in support of them, it is inadmissible in our time that violence should be made the arbiter of international disputes. The Suez problem should and can be settled, after the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Egyptian soil, by peaceful negotiations and the application of juridical principles which respect both the sovereignty of Egypt and the universally accepted right of free passage through the Canal.
113. Once the question of free passage through the Canal has been settled — and that is not impossible because the only question to be settled in that connexion is the dispute between Israel and Egypt — the only outstanding problem would be the economic relations between Egypt on the one hand and French and United Kingdom capital on the other. On that point, the Bolivian delegation holds that Egypt has an irrefutable sovereign right to nationalize the Canal, a right endorsed by the international community in General Assembly resolution 626 (VII). In our view, the Suez Canal represents a substantial source of income to the Egyptian economy and Egypt is entitled to exploit it as profitably as possible. The Bolivian delegation also considers that, under the same resolution, the Universal Suez Canal Company is entitled to compensation. That is how Bolivia acted when it nationalized the tin mines owned by the great Bolivian mining companies. Ever since the day that the historic nationalization decree went into force, the Bolivian Government has been allocating a proportion of the proceeds from sales of tin to the payment of compensation, the sum allocated amounting by now to more than $US 13 million.
114. If the question of nationalization of the Universal Suez Canal Company were dealt with in that manner, the only problem would be the amount of money the Egyptian Government owed the Company; that matter could be settled with proper respect to the sovereignty of Egypt and it is no justification for a military offensive which has all the characteristics of colonialist intervention.
115. Turning to another question, I should like to say that at the present time Bolivia is not directly concerned with the question of the territorial sea. It is, however, interested in the question of free passage, which should be applied without restriction to normal passage through the territorial sea, through straits and canals open to commerce and through territories bordering on countries which have no outlet to the sea. It is in those fines that the Bolivian delegation will approach the relevant General Assembly agenda item [53] in the Sixth Committee.
116. In connexion with the principle of equal rights without distinction as to race, set forth in Article 55 of the Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I am glad to say that Bolivia is proud that its national revolution has enabled it to put those principles into practice. This is the deep significance of agrarian reform in Bolivia: it has enabled the rural workers, for the most part indigenous Bolivians, fully to enjoy and exercise their rights, not only fundamental human rights, but all the civil and political rights Bolivia allows all its citizens, beginning with the chief economic right, namely the right of human beings to derive full benefit from the product of their labour and not to be exploited by others.
117. Thus the Bolivian revolution has made the Indian a free human being, master of his own fate, by restoring to him the ownership of the land which he lost more than 400 years ago; it has made him an architect of the new Bolivia because he can now take an active part in political life through universal suffrage; it has made him capable of helping to forge the historic destiny of Bolivia, for it has given him access to Western culture through the vast primary and fundamental educational programmes established under the Bolivian Education Code, while at the same time he can contribute to the national spirit the tradition of the magnificent foundations of one of the oldest cultures in America. In this gigantic undertaking, my country has had the benefit of international understanding in the form of an educational development scheme under the United States Point Four Programme, the Andean Mission of the International Labour Organisation and United Nations technical assistance.
118. This entire process of integration has now been recognized in article 4 of our new Constitution, which states: “In the Republic of Bolivia, there are no slaves, nor may there be any kind of servile obligation or privilege based on economic situation, race, sex, degree of education or any other grounds.” It is this deep conviction of revolutionary Bolivia that will guide our delegation in continuing to denounce segregationist policy wherever it may prevail.
119. In line with the anti-colonialist policy of the Bolivian people, our delegation in the United Nations has been supporting the cause of independence for Tunisia and Morocco ever since the seventh session of the General Assembly. In the world of today, peoples are moving steadily forward toward self-government and independence. The emergence of new States is the most important event of our time and it is futile to attempt by the use of violence to impede the historical evolution toward freedom and independence which is now changing the face of the international community. Bolivia, born of a long and heroic struggle for freedom, stands shoulder to shoulder with all the peoples in the world who are fighting for their political and economic emancipation. The revolutionary Government of my country firmly adheres to Bolivia’s traditional anticolonialism and offers its brotherly greetings to the new Members of the international family which, like Tunisia, Morocco and the Sudan, have recovered their sovereignty through sacrifice and the blood of their sons. It views with the greatest satisfaction the admission to the United Nations of sovereign States which had been excluded for over ten years, through no fault of their own, and it hopes that the United Nations will also receive those countries which fulfil the requirements of the Charter and are still awaiting admission.
120. We must not forget that the United Nations played an important role in helping those States which I have mentioned, as well as the noble State of Indonesia, to gain their independence. Actions of this kind constitute a practical application of the right of self-determination and thereby fully justify the existence of the United Nations and make of it an effective instrument for peace and international stability.
121. The principle of self-determination is in essence the right of peoples to choose their own destiny once they have attained the necessary stage of maturity. It is a right closely akin to freedom because the existence of free men is inconceivable in societies which have not achieved the state of freedom. Only those human beings who are at liberty to determine their social, economic and political destinies and manage their own affairs can really enjoy the freedom which is man’s birthright. Even in those societies where a system of force has established itself, there is, if that system has been imposed from within, a possibility that it can be overthrown and be replaced by a juridical system that guarantees the free exercise of all rights. The same cannot be said of societies whose fate is at the mercy of a foreign Power, for they must first win their independence before they choose their own destiny.
122. Men long for independence in the same way as they long for freedom, and they are prepared to fight for it as once they fought to abolish slavery and servitude. However, in choosing the path of violence, they must pay a heavy price in lives and suffering. This may in a way be compared with a painful birth the agony of which the United Nations is called upon to alleviate or to avoid altogether. Thus, consideration must be given without delay to Algeria and Cyprus, which are seeking self-determination. The Bolivian, delegation feels that the political and economic independence of peoples and their right to decide on their own future are the initial steps toward ensuring the complete enjoyment of human rights.
123. Another principle which is closely linked to that of self-determination is the right of sovereign peoples to be completely free from any foreign interference in their internal affairs. Not only is non-intervention in the affairs of other States an obligation, but it must be respected as an indispensable principle that enables peoples to live together. The Bolivian delegation therefore deplores the fact that this principle, embodied in Article 1, paragraph 2, and Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter, has been violated at the expense of a small State.
124. That State is Hungary, and in the case of Hungary, the Bolivian representative felt compelled at the second emergency special session of the General Assembly to suggest that a way should be found to enable the Hungarian people to express their wishes freely. We fully realize, however, that the nature of the problem is such that the General Assembly must be very careful not to give the impression that in defending the principle of non-intervention it is advocating interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign Member State,
125. At the same time, the presence of Soviet armed forces inside Hungary makes this a clear case of intervention by a foreign Power in the domestic life of that State. The situation can in no way be justified by the request of the present Budapest Government for foreign troops, since no Government may call upon a foreign Power to settle its own internal affairs. The unwarranted presence of the Soviet army shows that the Hungarian conflict has become an armed attack against the Hungarian people which is all the more serious in that it brought about the overthrow of the Imre Nagy Government. The United Nations must therefore do everything in its power to bring this intervention to an end. Only when the Soviet troops have ceased to occupy Hungarian territory will the problems we are now facing revert to Hungary’s own jurisdiction.
126. The discovery by science of nuclear energy, and especially its adaptation to peaceful uses, offers the world almost unlimited opportunities for progress. The prospects of harnessing nuclear energy are today so great that mankind is on the one hand torn by the fear of annihilation and on the other buoyed up by the hope of improving its lot by control of the forces of nature. On the one side is the danger of the thermo-nuclear bomb and on the other the wonderful vista of future progress made possible by the use of nuclear energy for the industrial advancement of all the peoples of the earth. Such a prospect holds out the hope of an era characterized by new and deeper human relationships and by fresh manifestations of human knowledge.
127. One man of goodwill has realized the decisive possibilities as well as the dire implications of this portentous discovery. I refer to President Eisenhower who, in a memorable speech before this General Assembly [470th meeting], pointed out the need for linking the atom with a mission of peace and progress. With this aim in view, the Conference on the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency was held from 20 September to 26 October 1956 at United Nations Headquarters and was attended by representatives of eighty-two States and of the specialized agencies. As the result of the work of this, the greatest international Conference of all time, the international Atomic Energy Agency was established.
128. At the 13th plenary meeting of the Conference a proposal for the establishment of a world university of the atom, which had been introduced at the ninth and tenth sessions of the General Assembly by the Bolivian delegation, was moved by that delegation and seconded by the distinguished delegation of Ecuador. By unanimous agreement this proposal was referred for study and action to the Board of Governors and the General Conference, which are the main directing bodies of the new nuclear agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency and the future world university of the atom represent the first embodiment of a desire for equality which, if fully satisfied, will provide a firm basis for a new international society that will enjoy all the benefits of nuclear science.
129. The establishment of both bodies — the Agency and the university — is aimed primarily at eliminating the danger of a monopoly of the theory and use of nuclear energy, for if one or a few Powers gained such a monopoly, a hegemony would be established which would result in the total domination of the world by the strongest of the nuclear Powers or at best the division of the globe into zones of influence. The Bolivian delegation feels that only by making scientific knowledge relating to the atom generally available and by extending its benefits to all peoples can the rights of the medium-sized and small countries in the so-called atomic age be safeguarded.
130. My delegation would like to stress the economic problems faced by the under-developed countries, of which Bolivia is one. Owing to the concentration of technique and capital in certain areas, the modern world is divided into countries that are highly developed and those whose development has been retarded. The latter countries show incipient signs of economic progress but cannot themselves solve their present economic problems because of the continuing tendency, which is apparent in both the East and the West, of capital and economic development to be centred in the larger countries. This magnetic attraction of the great economic masses accentuates more and more the differences between the highly developed and the underdeveloped countries.
131. According to the report on Measures for the Economic Development of Under-developed Countries, prepared by a group of experts appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1951, Latin America, which has one of the highest rates of population growth, needs $2,540 million to increase its national per capita income by 2 per cent and thus appears to be the area of the world that shows the smallest deficit. In other words, of the five areas into which the underdeveloped countries are grouped in the study, Latin America has the least headway to make up in order to enter upon a period of normal economic activity which would enable it to cope with its own agricultural and industrial development. With the progress thus made, it would soon become one of the areas sufficiently advanced to co-operate in raising the standards of needier areas.
132. For this reason the development needs of Latin America should receive priority treatment from both the Assembly and the Second Committee. It should be added that the economic problems of Latin America, though not serious at the moment, are tending to worsen. Up to 1952 the high prices obtained for primary commodities resulted in a favourable rate of economic growth and allowed up to 18 per cent of the goods and services making up the gross income of Latin America to be reinvested. However, this figure has fallen sharply to 13.5 per cent, thus reducing the increase in per capita income to about 1 per cent. Owing to the present inadequacies of the Latin American economy, a country requires a minimum reinvestment rate of 20 per cent of its gross income in order to carry on its development programmes by itself. We therefore reach the conclusion that the problem of Latin America is among the most urgent.
133. Within this general economic framework, Bolivia is the country with the lowest per capita income and the lowest rate of economic growth and development. It is still passing through a pre-capitalist stage and cannot cope unaided with its development problem. The Bolivian revolutionary movement sought to diversify the national economy by introducing new forms of economic activity and launching public works programmes designed to provide additional sources of income. As a result, however, of the rudimentary nature of the Bolivian economy, this effort brought on an acute outbreak of inflation which compelled the country to take energetic measures in order to avoid disastrous consequences. The stabilizing process will nevertheless mean the inevitable postponement of plans to diversify our economy. This experience of ours illustrates the tragic dilemma of under-developed countries as regards their economic prospects.
134. In these circumstances, the relief that might be afforded to under-developed countries through an increase in international trade is somewhat less than a panacea because of the present inability of these countries to increase their production of saleable or changeable commodities. Only a larger influx of capital can therefore help to promote the development of these countries. In Bolivia, however, which is still facing the difficulties inherent in its pre-capitalist economy, and has immense areas of undeveloped land and a low volume of power output, the favourable conditions created for the investment of capital by such measures as the new Petroleum Code, the new policy governing the export of minerals and the expansion of the domestic market — as the result of land reforms which, by providing employment for 2.5 million peasants, have opened up new prospects for agriculture and industry must be supplemented by interest-free loans so that the conditions necessary for attracting foreign capital on a larger scale may be established and preserved, for if investors are able to repatriate their profits and capital, they will be encouraged to make a real contribution to our country’s economic progress.
135. Many countries must accordingly first of all prepare a favourable climate for investments, and in this connexion the enormous importance of the creation of SUNFED to countries with weak economies is quite obvious. The proposal for SUNFED was first made in the United Nations and the studies relating to it are now almost complete, but the establishment of SUNFED is being postponed on the ground that disarmament should come first. We must nevertheless bear in mind that disarmament has become a chronic problem in the United Nations whereas the desperate situation of the under-developed countries, involving as it does the welfare of nations and thus of human beings, is a matter for urgent attention.
136. The Bolivian delegation believes that this Assembly should find a way of making SUNFED, which we all so much desire, a reality. While it is true that the industrialized countries will be able to contribute larger sums to SUNFED when the arms race is over, it is no less true that the need which many countries have for SUNFED is now so urgent that some way should be found for setting it up immediately. Later, when considerable savings have been achieved in the highly developed countries through disarmament, the resources of SUNFED will be further expended.
137. Finally, we must not forget that the efforts and resources of the smaller countries, which now find themselves in a state of backwardness, have contributed much to the advancement of the industrialized countries. A realization of this fact underlies the United States plans for assisting countries in different parts of the world. I would like to take this opportunity of expressing Bolivia’s gratitude for the generous aid which has been given to us and is helping us to overcome the difficulties inherent in our weak economy. The Bolivian delegation accordingly believes that SUNFED will help the under-developed countries to strengthen their economies and enable them to reap the full benefits of their independence.