Mr. HEVIA, after conveying the greetings of Dr. Carlos Prio, President of the Republic of Cuba, and the good wishes of the Cuban Government and people for the success of the General Assembly, said that Cuba also was experiencing the economic recession which was beginning to make itself felt in many countries. Cuban imports and exports had already been curtailed. The Cuban delegation believed that the peace and well-being of the peoples of the world should be the chief preoccupation of the day, and that a wider practice of democracy, greater purchasing power among the nations, and an increase of wealth and opportunities for employment in the under-developed countries would facilitate the achievement of those aims.
65. As early as 1945, at the Inter-American Conference held at Chapultepec, in Mexico, the Cuban delegation had declared that the Charter of the new international Organization would not succeed unless the international rights and duties of the individual were also defined. Democracy had ceased to be a political definition and had become the expression of a complete way of life. The Cuban Government was convinced that that way of life was the only one which would permit the different ideological, economic and moral tendencies in the international community to exist peacefully side by side. To achieve a harmonious development of international relations it was essential that democratic ideas should be spread throughout the world.
66. In its national foreign policy, Cuba had upheld the principle of non-intervention and respect for the sovereignty of States; the memorable occasion of the Seventh International Conference of American States at Montevideo was an eloquent example of its line of conduct,
67. If the Assembly was to be enabled to carry out its task and the United Nations was to fulfil its purpose, economic problems should be gone into deeply. There were maladjustments in the economic field which gave rise to many disturbances and to the domestic and internal difficulties that afflicted so many countries.
68. High purchasing power in all countries was an essential requirement for the development of international trade and world production. It was useless to attempt to reduce trade barriers unless effective demand was encouraged in order to stimulate productive activity and the flow of international trade. In the absence of high purchasing power, foreign trade would dry up, production would be seriously reduced, and unemployment and poverty would injure world economy,
69. An effort for the maintenance of high wages and the guaranteeing of a humane labour system compatible with the assurance of adequate returns for industry was indispensable. The principal purchasers in international markets were precisely the countries which had reached a high level of industrial development.
70. The economic progress of under-developed countries was equally essential. Foreign trade statistics showed that industrialization was the principal source of employment which enabled workers to enjoy an adequate standard of living.
71. Cuba was working for peace along such basic lines. Within the limitations to which a small country was inevitably subject, it had made vast efforts to secure for its people the conditions appropriate for democracy and a high standard of living, and to encourage the development of new industries. Complete freedom of thought was enjoyed in Cuba. Governments succeeded each other by the free choice of the people. The Constitution provided guarantees for a high standard of living for the working class and for the diversification of industry within the national economy. Cuba’s foreign trade statistics showed that the Cuban market had, for its size, one of the largest potential purchasing powers in the world.
72. Cuba was disappointed by the interpretation given to some international trade agreements whereby, without its acquiescence, traditional rights which had contributed to the development of its trade since it became an independent Republic had been prejudiced and its efforts to maintain the industries already established had been obstructed. Thus the possibility of establishing new industries and maintaining the principal existing industries at minimum levels of production were limited in the case of Cuba and other countries of similar economic structure.
73. International agreements should not increase the wealth of some countries to the detriment of the economically under-developed nations. It was impossible that some peoples should maintain great prosperity in a community of impoverished nations. It was natural that States should endeavour to raise their-populations to maximum levels of production and employment — without however interfering with the possibilities of other nations — in order to ward off the economic recession which threatened all countries, large and small alike, and to rid the world of the spirit of war: The less-developed nations should be encouraged to increase their industries, to create, fuller employment and to develop World trade.
74. In speaking thus frankly, the Cuban delegation believed that it was contributing towards making more real the spirit of mutual comprehension and good understanding among nations. It believed that the maintenance of peace and the welfare of nations could best be secured first, by extending the practice of democracy; secondly, by striving to maintain high wages and raising working conditions to a level compatible with industrial prices; thirdly, by promoting the development of new industries in the economically under-developed countries.
75. The delegation of Cuba was desirous of cooperating in the purposes of the General Assembly and contributing with its work and good will to the end that the decisions adopted should have a favourable repercussion in the international sphere and should contribute to the building of that better world to which all aspired, thus ensuring the maintenance of peace.