I should like first to congratulate the President of the General Assembly on his election; the Assembly has made an excellent choice in selecting him to preside over its debates. I should also like to commend the Secretariat for the work it has done during the past year.
40. Mankind is undergoing a process of integration which is gradually leading to broader and more complex forms of society. From the small family groups or clans there developed confederations of tribes and the small States of ancient times. This progressive development has continued until our day, and we are now witnessing the culmination of the process in the gradual formation of a great supra-national society.
41. Because we see history in this way and because we are the representatives of a small but genuine democracy, we who have come here this year to speak for Costa Rica wish to cooperate wholeheartedly in shaping this nascent universal society in the image of the national communities, large and small, that have succeeded in leading their peoples towards the goal of full democracy.
42. As always, the most varied problems of mankind will be debated in this world form. Among them will be matters of high international policy in which the small States must once again remind the great Powers that they have a heavy responsibility for the future of Mankind, since it is in their power to plunge the world into lasting chaos or to build a universal society with , sufficient authority to ensure that no comer of the World harbours forces capable of destroying our civilization. In any case, in most of these problems of high policy, the weaker countries can but choose, when the time comes, the side that will best further their people’s aspirations for peace and freedom.
43. Side by side with these major problems of international policy, the General Assembly has in past years discussed and will in future discuss many other questions that are less sensational but equally important and about which, although they are of universal concern, the small and poorer nations, being most immediately affected, have much to say. Among them are legal problems the solution of which will make the rule of law a possibility for the common men of various languages, races, customs and religions who are toiling forgotten and silent in various parts of the world of for a happier and more peaceful life. In this century of the highest civilization the world has known, the acute crisis of society makes it possible for people to set at naught God’s commandment in their dealings with their fellows. We see grave economic injustice to individuals and nations, produced sometimes by the unrestrained individualism of a few, but more often by society’s lack of foresight.
44. Peoples will not believe in democracy merely through hearsay; they must experience it, politically, economically and socially. Only those who can freely elect their government can keep their hope alive; only those who can think, pray and speak without restraint can have faith. Only those who are sure of their daily bread can believe in a peaceful life. Only those who see remedy for injustice are capable of understanding the significance of the social order.
45. It is a commonplace to say that the best allies of oppression, of totalitarianism, whether of the left or the right, are the opponents of social or political progress. What good is material plenty if fathered by tyranny? What good is freedom if bought at the price of poverty?
46. Costa Rica has embarked on a great experiment. The 1948 revolution freed our country of communists and the enemies of our ancient democracy. Ours was the first country of America to learn at first hand what it means to lose temporarily but completely the great moral and political values on which Western Christian democracy is based. Consequently, the Costa Rican citizen today understands better than many others the meaning of the struggle in which the world is engaged, and we, who represent the Costa Rican people, feel bound to give our firm and wholehearted support to the great countries that have become the champions of a way of life in which we believe and which today we are better than ever able to appreciate.
47. As a result of this national revolution a new generation has been elected to remodel on modem lines a democracy which is one of the oldest in Spanish America. We want to achieve greater economic and social justice for Costa Ricans. For the first time in our country’s history, power has been placed for four years in the hands of a group with a specific programme of social progress. At the same time, we have given a solemn undertaking not to destroy the old forms of political democracy bequeathed to us by the republics of ancient times. Realizing that many of the objectives of economic and social democracy cannot be achieved at the national level without supporting international action, the new Government of Costa Rica has instructed the delegation of which I am chairman to express its concern to the Assembly in the hope that an international remedy may be found for what is not a local problem of this or that country but a problem of the international community at large.
48. We, Costa Ricans of today, have our own ideas about what human society ought to be, but we know that other peoples have different beliefs and forms of government. We would never attempt unilaterally to change the course chosen by other nations; we consider ourselves good Latin Americans, and as such regard the principle of non-intervention as one of the basic principles of international life. It is only through joint action in accordance with the legal processes of the international community that influence may perhaps legitimately be exerted on the way of life practised by a State within its borders. In the meantime, it is Costa Rica’s wish that every people should govern itself as it sees fit and in accordance with its own circumstances, that every State should be a good neighbour to others and that all States should respect each other.
49. Although there are various types of government in the world and on our American continent, there are major economic and social problems common to all and there is nothing to prevent us from attempting to solve them together. My Government has asked that one of these problems, which it considers vital because of its many serious implications for all States, large and small, and men of all races everywhere, should be placed on the Assembly’s agenda. I refer to the question of the establishment of a world food reserve.
50. This is not the first time the subject has been raised at international conferences. However, in submitting it as a separate item at this session, Costa Rica hopes that it will be possible to arrange for a thorough study of the subject by nationals of Member States with the widest knowledge and experience of the problems involved.
51. In a world that considers itself civilized, it is incredible that millions of human beings should lack the bare necessities of life while some countries are every year threatened with economic collapse because they cannot sell their products at reasonable and stable prices. The resulting dislocation of world trade ruins producers, injures consumers, helps to foment social discontent everywhere, and is a danger to the peace of all countries rich and poor, whether they produce raw materials or manufactured goods.
52. After the 1948 revolution, the new regime in Costa Rica found itself faced with the same situation on a small scale within its borders; other nations will certainly have experienced it. Our country, one of the most fertile lands in the world, did not produce enough to provide its people with a minimum diet, while agricultural workers and farmers never knew what they would be paid for their crops or even whether they would make a living. Our Republic then launched an experiment which may, so far as the main principles are concerned, serve as a useful example for the solution of the world’s permanent basic commodity problem. Without controls, which are always irksome, a non-political technical body, the Production Board, has gradually been guaranteeing the farmer a minimum market for his various crops. The producer has thus been assured of a reasonable return for his labour and the consumer has had to pay lower prices for his daily food.
53. My delegation does not claim to have found the solution to this or any other problem. It wishes merely to express its concern and to persuade world public opinion to study this economic and social phenomenon which will so long as it exists be a barrier to the advancement of most of the countries here represented. I have singled out this item on the agenda of the ninth session because I wished to outline the contribution Costa Rica hopes to make to the Assembly’s work and to indicate the objectives on which we feel that this supreme world Organization and the other international organizations that may emerge during this century should concentrate their efforts.
54. My Government wishes to take this opportunity to express its sincere support of the attempts to organize permanent international co-operation represented by the United Nations; we have an abiding faith in the regional American system which is the best example of organized international relations in the world; but we also desire closer relations with nations outside our continent and have no doubt that the two organizations can exist side by side without conflict in their respective fields of activity. The United Nations, particularly through its Technical Assistance Programme, has made a vital contribution to the development of the small nations; the Central-American States view with deep gratitude and satisfaction the invaluable co-operation which has enabled them to make progress towards economic integration for the first time since the break-up of the Federation. We hope that this assistance will continue and be increased.
55. I mention this, not solely because of its importance to Costa Rica, but because it is also an example of the form we feel the United Nations work should take; joint and friendly action of nations to solve their many serious problems; a courageous and persevering effort to ensure that the world lives in harmony and freedom, Only then can we build a world order in which all men in every corner of the world are assured by the community the minimum security necessary for their individual initiative, and an opportunity to achieve the happiness to which they are entitled, and to work for their material, spiritual and moral progress.