108. May I first convey to you, Mr. President; my delegation's congratulations on your election by the General Assembly. It is a well-deserved tribute to your personal qualities, as well as an expression of good will towards your country and an affirmation of faith in the United Nations.
109. Although a small country, Guatemala views the present arms race with deep concern. I shall not dwell on the alternatives that would face mankind if a war were precipitated in which atomic weapons were used. The Assembly's attention has already been drawn by authoritative speakers to the magnitude of the catastrophe which would ensue. In the interests of the very survival of the small nations, we are deeply anxious that the nuclear Powers should reach an agreement on the reduction of armaments at the earliest possible date since even in the unlikely event that we survived to see the tragic end of a war fought with nuclear weapons, in which we would be the heirs to a world in ruins, the annihilation of the human and physical resources of the most advanced nations would place us in the desperate position of being unable to make use of technical advances and material resources to overcome our backwardness and enable our peoples to enjoy a high material, cultural and social standard of living.
110. In the interests of the advancement and happiness of small nations, it is essential that the great countries in which technology and science have attained their highest expression should continue along the path of progress, for without their help and effective cooperation States having only limited resources would never be able to take the tremendous strides necessary to enable their peoples to enjoy the just fruits of their labour in liberty in the not too distant future.
111. For this reason, the best way to solve world problems is to practise tolerance and adhere to the principles of the United Nations, which was created by the genius of man for the purpose of achieving lawful purposes without having to resort to force.
112. We think, therefore, that while there is undoubtedly some weight in the argument that fear of reprisals will act as a deterrent to aggression, that will not solve the problem. For that reason, we should like to draw the attention of all our sister nations throughout the world to a method of settling disputes which does not call for the use of force — a method which would call for instruments of a different kind and would use good sense, good faith and respect for the rights and liberty of other nations to achieve a lasting peace.
113. Let us join in a race for positive, creative and life-giving goals, making use of all the peaceful, lawful and honourable means which are at our disposal within the framework of the world Organization. When these resources are mobilized fully in the service of mankind and when we multiply them by our ever-increasing scientific, cultural and social advances we shall have no need to safeguard peace because instruments of this kind not only possess the dynamic virtue of creating peace by their very nature but also completely eliminate any possibility of war. These instruments are economic prosperity, freedom and justice in their broadest and most genuine sense.
114. Guatemala, like all less developed countries, is fully convinced of the imperative need for encouraging economic development in order to bring about better international relations and what might be termed an economic balance between nations, which will run parallel to, and substantially supplement, their legal equality. We believe that as long as there are countries in the world whose inhabitants suffer from both material and spiritual hunger and poverty, it will be impossible to bring about the peaceful, constructive and neighbourly relations which are aimed at in the fundamental principles of the United Nations.
115. Guatemala is also aware of the fact that among those countries in the world today which are considered highly developed, not one has reached that stage by its own unaided efforts. It has been true throughout the course of history that the more advanced countries have always given their share of scientific and technical knowledge, as well as financial assistance, to order States, and this practice is all the more necessary at the present time when our transport and communication facilities have brought all the nations of the globe in close proximity to each other.
116. We do not propose to draw up a balance-sheet of the progress achieved in Guatemala, but we should like to say that we have not only succeeded in overcoming considerable difficulties in the immediate past, but intend to continue with growing determination along the path of progress; to this end we are prepared to co-operate whole-heartedly with our sister nations, especially those whose future is linked to ours by strong historical and geographical ties.
117. During the past few years my country has received useful technical assistance from the United Nations and valuable technical and economic aid from the United States, which has helped us to mobilize the human, material and financial resources at our disposal-resources which, to be sure, are relatively limited, but which we are using to the maximum in order to attain a greater degree of economic development which will find its concrete expression in a higher level of living for our people.
118. It is, however, important that all under-developed countries should remember that material progress does not necessarily lead to the happiness of their people unless it is accompanied by spiritual progress and a deeper comprehension of spiritual values, including, above all, liberty and human dignity.
119. It is natural that the efforts made by less developed countries to achieve economic development should be directed along paths best suited to their special characteristics and environment; this can be done by adopting, on the basis of sound, selective criteria, methods and procedures which are recognized as the most suitable for the purpose and which produce the most favourable results. Guatemala is a country in which it is possible to compare the results obtained by two systems of economic and political philosophy which might be described as mutually opposed.
120. In the years before 1954, the Government of Guatemala was infiltrated and dominated by elements inspired by the Communist ideology and it put into operation a system of State intervention in the economy serving partisan political ends. On the other hand, ever since the triumph, towards the second half of that year, of the libertarian movement which opened up a new era in our national life, Guatemala has followed an economic policy which is more in keeping with the way of life and. ideology of its people. The efforts which we are making for progress in the economic field are based on such fundamental principles as private initiative, free enterprise and the adoption of measures which will enable private enterprise to develop in the most beneficial way for the country as a whole, while in the political field, they are based on the genuine principles of Western democracy.
121. The comparative results achieved by the two systems are obvious. Up to 1954, the economic and social position of Guatemala was on the verge of total collapse: our international monetary reserves were shrinking dangerously, our national income was persistently increasing at a slower rate than our natural population growth, and the disruption of our social and moral order was leading to open class war. In 1958, on the other hand, we can count ourselves among those countries which possess a satisfactory monetary balance, where the trend of economic activity is upward, and where there is a steady increase in mutual respect and understanding between the forces of labour and management. We sincerely believe that Guatemala might very well serve as an example to countries which are in need of greater economic development and which are under pressure to adopt a specific economic philosophy and policy.
122. It is obviously a source of danger to the underdeveloped countries that their economies are fundamentally dependent on international trade and, above all, on the export of a few products which fall within the category of raw materials. It is necessary therefore to strengthen our economies by sound industrialization accompanied by an expansion of agricultural production; this cannot be done except by increasing the rate of capital investment. Since, however, inmost of our countries the volume of savings is insufficient to permit an adequate rate of capital formation, we have to depend to a large extent on foreign investments in order to achieve greater development. We believe that all under-developed countries are, like Guatemala, strongly in favour of encouraging foreign investments, provided they are made on a just and sound basis and provided they work to the benefit of the recipient country.
123. We wish to emphasize in particular the important role played in this field by the- agencies which the United Nations has set up to finance economic development projects, such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation, from which we expect very beneficial results.
124. The small size of the domestic markets of many of the less advanced countries is one of the major obstacles to the proper development of their economies, and for that reason my Government attaches the greatest importance to the steps now being taken towards the regional integration of economies. My Government is working enthusiastically for, and giving its full support and co-operation to, the effective integration of the economies of the Central American countries, which we earnestly hope will become a reality in the not too distant future and which will undoubtedly lead to greater understanding between the countries of the Isthmus and convince them that their unification is both feasible and desirable. It is a pleasure to inform this Assembly of a gratifying event that took place a few weeks ago, the conclusion of the Central American Multilateral Free Trade and Economic Integration Treaty and the Agreement on Central American Integration Industries.
125. The Government of Guatemala wishes to reaffirm its determination to maintain liberty in all walks of life and to respect the victories which our people has won at the cost of such heavy sacrifices. It is impossible to make any positive contribution to peace if we do not possess the one essential means to that end, liberty. We have made a solemn and irrevocable pledge to preserve and respect our present political system.
126. We are deeply interested in seeing the policy of reconciliation which the Guatemalan Government is carrying out at the national level extended to the international level. We are, therefore, prepared to afford the United Nations bur full co-operation in accordance with the principles of the Charter in the solution of political and social problems, especially those affecting our sister nations, with a view to eliminating situations which endanger peace. We will look with sympathy upon any action taken within this Organization that will tend to re-establish harmony between nations.
127. We believe that justice is one of the pillars of peace. Perfect justice cannot exist as long as there continue to be situations which are inconsistent with democratic principles and the integrity and sovereignty of the nations of America. Like other places in the Western hemisphere, Belize, an integral and vital part of Guatemalan territory, is still in foreign hands, a circumstance which is a serious affront to the dignity and feelings of our peoples. The present Government of Guatemala, which has viewed with deep sympathy the efforts of the Western democracies to find just solutions for problems which have recently given rise to international tension, would also be greatly gratified if similar good will, mutual understanding and international co-operation were applied to bring to a just and early settlement the existing differences caused by this violation of our national integrity. For our part, we are prepared to discuss, as soon as possible and in a spirit of impartiality and good faith, any just and reasonable solutions which may be offered to eliminate once and for all what today constitutes an obstacle to complete harmony with nations that in other respects constitute bulwarks of freedom and democracy.
128. We insist that justice is one of the fundamental means for obtaining peace, because the moral authority which compels respect within a legal system is the great leveller that places both great and small countries on a footing of equality and constitutes the most effective means of guaranteeing liberty in internal matters. Our Republic, founded on those principles of respect for law which are also the firm foundation of legal system that gave birth to the Western democracies, is categorically opposed to the subversive methods advocated by international Communism for the purpose of establishing the Communist dictatorship and destroying human dignity.
129. We are fully confident that representative democracy is capable of giving the nations of the world all the material progress to which they may possibly- aspire and that that may be done without sacrificing the freedom to which they are entitled by the very fact that they are human beings; we have faith in the free peoples of the world and in their democratic institutions.