1. I should first like to congratulate you, Mr. President, on the honour conferred upon you by the peoples represented here in electing you to the high office of President of the thirteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly. At this grave juncture in human affairs, your experience, your broad vision of the problems of the day and the trust with which you are regarded in the United Nations permit us to look forward with assurance to the success of our deliberations.
2. In taking the floor in this general debate with which we are beginning the thirteenth session of the General Assembly, I feel it would be appropriate for me to give the representatives of nearly all the countries of the world assembled here more information on the new international policy in which Brazil is engaged together with the other American States.
3. Although the movement to infuse new life into our continental unity, the Pan-American Unity Movement, was of regional; origin, my Government considers that it goes far beyond those bounds and takes on universal significance and scope, for its purposes correspond to the aspirations and needs of all peoples.
4. Surely the best way to achieve the aims for which States attend the meetings of the United Nations is to deal more intelligently and effectively with the difficulties which urgently require solution in the various parts of the world.
5. It is also obvious that it is easier to deal with matters with which we are closely and directly familiar than to attempt, as effectively, to settle affairs arising outside the areas to which we belong.
6. My Government felt that, in view of the desires and needs of the American peoples made manifest on so many occasions, the time had come to take decisive and energetic action to put an end to the under-development of the American continent. We felt that we could no longer close our eyes to the distressing conditions in which the populations of wide areas of our continent were living and so cruelly suffering from the evils of under-development. We would have no moral authority for carrying out the international obligations imposed upon us by the United Nations Charter if we could not, at the same time, demonstrate our determination to correct those evils.
7. That is why the Brazilian delegation strongly and enthusiastically joined with those States which at the twelfth session of the Assembly proposed the establishment of an economic commission for Africa. We consider that we should offer the peoples of Africa the opportunity and the means of making a thorough study of their difficulties and the solutions required. A better knowledge of the needs of that continent will undoubtedly help to mitigate the political repercussions of primarily economic and social factors.
8. There can be no doubt that there is a clear connexion between the under-development of certain areas and the local frictions which are jeopardizing peace. Poverty and unrest are a breeding-ground for a policy of despair which once and for all may doom all attempts to establish international harmony. Thirteen years of United Nations experience have shown that underdevelopment is the greatest real threat to collective security, for it always serves as a weapon of mass agitation and of national resentment against more fortunate nations. This state of dissatisfaction leads some nations into the dangerous path of accepting ideologies contrary to their own political and cultural tradition in the illusory hope of finding a satisfactory solution of their problems. H those with the material means to remedy this situation do not hasten to do so, we shall soon see the collapse of those important values of civilization which are essential to the complete fulfillment of the principle of universality of the United Nations; for this will be the consequence of the disintegrating effect of the growing feeling of despair in the hearts of the forgotten peoples.
9. Brazil wholeheartedly supported the idea of a joint and carefully planned programme for the harmonious development of continental economies in the conviction that new prospects would thus be opened for the achievement of peace. Our eagerness to take the first steps in that crusade impels us to put the question here in universal terms. We do so because we are convinced that no one may raise the banner of hope who is not concerned with the anxieties and needs of his own people or who, on the pretext of serving the remote ideals of all mankind, neglects to bring relief to the urgent and immediate evils.
10. It is well to remember what has been said here time and again, namely, that technological development intensifies and aggravates the economic disparities between certain nations. It was with that in mind that the President of Brazil, Mr. Kubitschek, addressed to the President of the United States, Mr. Eisenhower, a letter which was immediately well received and provoked such a favourable response on the American continent. I should like to emphasize that, by taking that initiative, the Brazilian Government was not seeking political, economic or other advantages for Brazil alone. On the contrary, its desire was to serve the interests of all the nations of the continent, while at the same time remaining loyal to the principles of the United Nations Charter, the basic purpose of which is to promote the well-being of all the peoples of the world.
11. I think I have made it clear that in the mind of President Juscelino Kubitschek the earnest desire for Pan-American unity, although a regional movement, is also one which is a part of the general struggle against under-development. The economic problems which the Pain-American movement hopes to settle are neither new nor different from those being dealt with by the various organs of the United Nations. On the contrary, for some time now, the United Nations has been examining those matters in great detail and in hundreds of studies, solutions and recommendations, which unfortunately have not yet been put into practice. And the reason they have not been put into effect is that there has been lacking until now the creative spirit born of a determined public opinion convinced of the inescapable necessity of victory in the battle against under-development.
12. In view of the favourable response to that idea as shown, in statements emanating from government circles and, in the Press of the countries which make up the great American community, we believe we can assure this Assembly that there is a readiness in our continent to go beyond the passive acceptance of an injustice and to launch a joint irreversible offensive for the economic betterment of the areas which have been abandoned and for the welfare of their peoples.
13. We also believe that the improvement of the general living conditions of peoples everywhere resulting from the realization of plans such as we are now supporting will undoubtedly bring about a relaxation of prevailing political tensions, thus releasing funds now being used for the sterile purpose of an armaments race in order that they may be applied to speeding the process of the economic and social emancipation of mankind. We shall thus have progressed to an era in which the tremendous power now being diverted to increasing the potential for destruction will be directed towards peaceful competition between the highly industrialized countries for the leadership and rapid improvement of the economically under-developed areas.
14. These days, when scientific conquests exceed the dreams of our ancestors, when the Sowers are attempting to conquer the polar wilderness and outer space, man must not forget himself; he must rediscover in himself the centre and purpose of his achievements. The economic salvation of man gives it meaning to his life and allows for the complete fulfilment, of his personality: that is the supreme benefit it has to offer mankind.
15. Since I have the floor, I should not like to neglect this very special opportunity, in the name of my country, to proclaim our firm conviction that the human spirit will achieve a balance, harmony and understanding among peoples. For this, there must be solidarity among all men of goodwill who accept the principles of the United Nations, for the United Nations has successfully staved off so many dangers, and has behaved with calm and serenity at the gravest moments when our hopes appeared on the verge of being crushed,