32. First of all, I should like to convey Paraguay’s congratulations on the spontaneous, enthusiastic and unanimous vote whereby the Assembly elected Mr. Maza as its President, and to say how pleased I am personally about this election. Mr. Maza’s ability and his deep faith in the principles of the Charter qualify him for this office. Moreover, and particularly for the Latin American peoples, Mr. Maza is the representative not only of the sister nation of Chile, a traditionally peace-loving country and the standard- bearer of international justice, but also — for the good of the whole free world — of American culture, which is founded on the political, legal and moral principles of American emancipation. Those principles, in their turn, are identical with the fundamental ideals which gave birth to the United Nations — political independence and self-determination of peoples; equality of all States, great and small, before the law; respect for national sovereignty and non-intervention, human dignity for its own sake, and as a corollary, respect for fundamental human rights. Let me express the hope that, under Mr. Maza’s presidency, the tenth session of the General Assembly will take a decisive step forward towards the fulfilment in international affairs of the legal and moral ideals enshrined in our Charter.
33. I do not think it can be repeated too often that the United Nations is first and foremost a moral entity striving to establish, on the basis of moral values, a political and legal structure which will enable countries to live side by side safely and securely, in mutual respect and co-operation, in a free world — free from fear and free from want, a free world freely ruled by States and Governments for the benefit of man, as an end in itself.
34. The fundamental aim of the United Nations is international peace and security; but not any kind of peace, not peace at the price of slavery, servitude or subjection by terror, for this is not peace. The United Nations is striving for a peace under law based on justice, a spiritual and political peace founded on the mutual respect and co-operation of all free peoples.
35. The fact that the United Nations is essentially a moral entity does not mean that it is only an ideal of perfection. In order to achieve its purposes, the United Nations is organized on a legal and political basis; and its founders had to bear in mind the awful realities and the burning passions of the nations, men, States and Governments which in 1945 were still fighting the greatest and most terrible of wars.
36. The United Nations and its Charter arose out of the spiritual impulse produced by the terrible sacrifices of 1939 to 1945, when the free nations raised the banner of lofty moral principles to encourage their peoples in the fearful struggle against imperialistic and aggressive totalitarianism and dictatorship, based on contempt for and debasement of the moral values of civilization and on the glorification of force and the instinct for power, which turns men into blind instruments of the State’s urge for domination.
37. The grim and frightful logic of facts would have it that our Charter, a gospel of peace, freedom and dignity for men and nations, should become at the same time the victors’ code, an instrument of power politics, an instrument for consolidating the conqueror’s victory. But ever since its foundation, the United Nations has striven with patience and tenacity to co-ordinate and reconcile the practical necessities of power politics and the moral exigencies of peoples and civilization. We have faith in the perfectibility of man, and we consider that past frustrations and temporary disillusionments regarding the effectiveness of the United Nations as an instrument for the maintenance and consolidation of a world peace in justice and prosperity are not inherent in the Charter and the Organization, but are the bitter fruit of the conjunction of might with right, which was unavoidable at the time but can be dispensed with.
38. In keeping with the legal principles and moral values enshrined in its preamble, and with its aims, purposes and principles, the Charter granted the great Powers the right of veto; but it was not foreseen at the time that this right would be used in a manner contrary to those aims, purposes and principles. In a world which had sacrificed millions of lives and incalculable material and cultural wishes to save humanity enslaved by greed for power, the other nations had confidence in the victorious Powers which had borne the greater part of the burden of the war, and assumed that the great privilege of the veto would be exercised in the defence of justice and in the interests of peace under law among nations. The civilized world, with its respect for law and its moral sense, was still struggling at that time against the barbarous remnants of aggressive and imperialistic totalitarianism, and it did not of course envisage or condone the illegal use of the veto to thwart and frustrate the high and noble purposes of the Charter.
39. Unfortunately, the right of veto has in the past been exercised quite unlawfully to give a semblance of legality to injustice and iniquity, and to support and justify aggression and conquest. The arbitrary use of the veto as a weapon against the fundamental purposes and principles of the Charter — a remnant of the barbarity against which the conscience of the free world revolted — makes it necessary to revise the Charter, not its purposes and principles relating to the maintenance of peace and respect for law and moral obligations, but those articles which appear to countenance the unlawful use of arbitrary powers. It is on this basis that the delegation of Paraguay urges that the Charter be revised. Under the laws, systems of morality and philosophies of the great civilizations and religions of the world, it is out of the question that a right such as the. right of veto should be exercised in an arbitrary, illegal, irrational and anti-moral way to attack the principles for the defence of which it was established. The use of the veto without justification is not only unlawful; it is also a remnant of totalitarian vandalism, an example of might against right. We believe that the time has come to think seriously of revising the Charter in such a way as to make the use of the veto, if it is retained, compatible with the principles and purposes of the Charter.
40. At the same time, the arbitrary use of the veto, at will, by perhaps a very small minority against an immense and overwhelming majority, and in the face of the opinions and the spiritual strength of this majority, is contrary to the democratic principle that the will of the majority shall prevail. If the veto is retained when the Charter is revised, its exercise must be based on law and must be justified. Otherwise, even though it may actually be effective, the arbitrary use of the veto will always be immoral and wrong in the eyes of the civilized world, and it will only help to weaken the moral and legal authority of the United Nations. Moreover, in the long run, the Powers which use it arbitrarily and in defiance of the principles of the Charter will be less and less respected. It is gratifying and inspires optimism as to the perfectibility of our Organization to hear criticisms from some of the great Powers which have the right of veto condemning its arbitrary use, and favouring a reasonable revision of the Charter.
41. As I have said, the Charter was the work of the victors in the last world tragedy. But the war must finally be ended by a settlement based on law. Article 107 of the Charter, which was approved as a transitional arrangement, still authorizes action, any action, i.e., action regardless of any rule or standard, in relation to any State which, during the Second World War, was an enemy of any signatory to the Charter. This division into victors and vanquished cannot continue forever: justice and co-operation for the victors; arbitrary action for the enemies. And after all, which are the enemy States? Only those States whose Governments were responsible for the aggression in 1939 or which continued that aggression? Or does the list include States which were victims of aggression, whose territories are still occupied and annexed, and whose populations are still subject to the arbitrary rule of foreign Powers? That is why the Paraguayan delegation is in favour of revising the Charter, in due time and without haste, in order to ratify the fundamental principles, aims and purposes which it enshrines.
42. Year after year, free and independent nations, worthy of respect for their contribution to civilization, law, philosophy and science, and universally recognized as qualified for membership of the United Nations, have failed to gain admission. Why? For no reason, save that the veto has been used arbitrarily and without justification. The Paraguayan delegation believes that the time has come for the Security Council, as an organ at the service of the United Nations, to take up this question again in conformity with the basic legal, political and moral principles of the Charter, and to admit the peace-loving nations which qualify for membership.
43. Reference has been made to the spirit of Geneva. If that spirit means anything, as we nope it does, it means making amends and redressing the injustices which still survive as a legacy of the war; it means co-operation and faith in a better world.
44. In addition to Portugal, Italy and other free and peace-loving nations already explicitly recognized as qualifying for membership in the United Nations, the Paraguayan delegation urges the admission of Spain, the mother country and cradle of the people, the culture, the religion and the language of 18 free and independent American republics and of other peoples in different parts of the world.
45. In accordance with the provisions of the Charter, and as a regional body, the Organization of American States is effectively implementing the fundamental principles of the Charter. Within the organization, 21 free and independent American States have achieved peace founded on justice and mutual respect. Certain principles are already deeply rooted in the conscience of America and regularly applied — for instance, non-intervention in internal affairs and respect for the right of self-determination of peoples. These are the foundations of peace in America and of mutual confidence and co-operation. Thanks to this peace based on. justice and respect for the liberty and dignity of sovereign peoples, the nations of America, most of them economically under-developed, have been able to concentrate all their efforts on improving their cultural, moral and material standards.
46. The Paraguayan delegation hopes that the so-called spirit of Geneva will spur on the great Powers at this session to end the cold war, which flares up sporadically in an orgy of bloodshed, and slowly but surely, without regard to cordial smiles or sullen, menacing gestures, to remove the injustices to nations which perpetuate the war atmosphere, as well as the threats and fears which cause mistrust among nations.
47. The Paraguayan delegation places its faith and hope, not so much in the fear of a suicidal atomic war, as a factor for peace, as in the determination of the free peoples and the will of their truly representative leaders to respect the right of nations to self-determination. This implies, in theory and practice, the elimination and condemnation of the foreign intervention which now oppresses peoples who formerly prided themselves on their freedom and independence.
48. As far as the relations between the democratic world and the Soviet world are concerned, it also implies the elimination of aggression through infiltration and subversive activities carried on in free and democratic countries by foreign Powers or international organizations obeying the dictates of the power politics of foreign Powers. God grant that the spirit of Geneva may enlighten the leaders of the totalitarian States, so that they may understand with their minds and feel in their hearts that domination and brute force are not the only values worthy of men and of nations, and renounce their plans for world domination and their subversive tactics for undermining the liberty of free nations, The transition will then be easy from the physical and material coexistence of aggressor and victim to a world in which peoples can live a dignified, honourable and co-operative fife side by side in mutual respect
49. Finally, in the name of God and of the souls of the millions of men and women who sacrificed their lives, their homes, their wealth and their health during the Second World War and in Korea in defence of the right of peoples and men of goodwill to live in peace, free from fear, to determine their own destiny, and to seek their own material and spiritual welfare, I reiterate my fervent hope that the deliberations of this session of the General Assembly, in its quest for peace and security based on justice and moral values, may be crowned with success. Paraguay will contribute its grain of sand, its modest capacities, its stubborn determination and its incorruptible loyalty to the principles of the Charter.