The delegation of which I am chairman has the honour to convey the respects of the Government and people of Guatemala to the General Assembly.
35. The ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly is being held in circumstances of vital importance to the world. In recent years it has become clear that a constant danger threatens the peace and security of the free peoples of the world. Great undertakings for the development and prosperity of nations are being held back because States must first look to their own defence.
36. Strictly speaking, the Second World War has not yet ended because, although ten years have elapsed since the cessation of hostilities, several countries which participated in the war have not yet recovered their freedom and, moreover, the world has been unable to find the road to a firm and lasting peace. Acts of aggression, both direct and indirect, have continued and the outlook for the world is far from comforting.
37. Several representatives in this Assembly have already pointed to the dangers which confront the freedom and security of the peoples as a result not only of direct aggression, but also of internal subversion provoked by external influences striving for destruction of the established order. Acts of internal subversion have been committed in the American countries and have aroused the legitimate concern of their citizens and Governments, who considered the introduction of elements of discord and of ideologies alien to the democratic system to be prejudicial to their peaceful and prosperous existence.
38. As is well known, my country in recent years suffered the misfortune of domination by agents of international communism who, by a process of infiltration and propaganda, succeeded in dominating the various branches of the Government and the trade unions and in disseminating their disruptive views in the schools in order, at an early stage, to enlist the support of future generations for their doctrines.
39. In view of the importance of recent political developments in Guatemala, and their repercussions in the United Nations and throughout the world, I should like to explain the true situation as it existed before the liberation movement of June this year.
40. Under the 1945 Constitution, activities by international or foreign political organizations were prohibited. Flouting this constitutional precept, a group of citizens under foreign leadership established a political party, the avowed purpose of which was to infuse into the country the doctrine and practices of international communism, to stimulate the class struggle, and to divide the land, ostensibly under a land reform scheme; all this was conceived with sectarian politics in mind, and applied unlawfully through regimentation of the productive activities of the people by the State.
41. The Guatemalan people’s efforts to prevent the growth of the Communist party failed when the Government of President Arbenz, unmindful of its duties under the Constitution, bowed unhesitatingly to that party’s will; it not only prevented public demonstrations against the party, but persecuted citizens who demanded that the law should be upheld, subjecting them to cruel tortures in prison and thus creating an atmosphere of anxiety and fear and a sense of personal insecurity. This persecution, carried out by Arbenz’s agents, culminated in the mass assassination of peaceful citizens, an act from which that Government, in violation of every human right, did not shrink in its desperate attempt to instill terror and avert its own downfall.
42. The other American nations, sensing a threat to their freedom and security in the infiltration of extremist ideas, repeatedly adopted resolutions for their common defence. At the Caracas Conference in March this year they subscribed to an historic declaration which met with opposition only from the Guatemalan Government, dedicated to the protection, of the Communist party, which it considered its only support in the country.
43. The States represented at the Tenth Inter-American Conference which met at Caracas took the position that “the domination or control of the political institutions of any American State by the international Communist movement . . . would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and political independence of the American States, endangering the peace of America ...” I am quoting the actual words of the Declaration.
44. The action which the American States took at the Caracas Conference did not deter Arbenz’s Government from its purpose of imposing the Communist system on Guatemala and extending it to adjacent countries by stirring up political agitation and unrest among the workers. Finally, in May this year, the world was surprised to learn that a secret shipment of arms from a country behind the so-called iron curtain has arrived at a Guatemalan port. The size of the shipment and the secrecy with which it was taken to its destination aroused a fear of aggression in the neighbouring countries.
45. As the danger to peace had become more acute, the threatened Governments, in accordance with the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance of Rio de Janeiro, called for an advisory meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in order to consider what measures should be taken to meet the threat.
46. That was the situation in Guatemala when a group of citizens, after several years of careful preparation, resorted to an armed movement, every peaceful effort to restore the constitutional order having failed. The Guatemalan people rallied to the support of this purely national movement, in which people from all walks of life, who had fought for their country’s freedom and the restoration of the constitutional and democratic order, took part.
47. Aware that it lacked the support of public opinion, Arbenz’s Government falsely accused the leaders of the liberation movement of having recruited foreign troops to invade the country and appealed to the United Nations Security Council, accusing the Governments of several friendly republics of having committed acts of aggression against the Guatemalan Government.
48. Fortunately, the people’s movement led by Colonel Castillo Armas achieved a rapid and decisive success and brought to an end a regime and a situation which were detrimental to Guatemala’s interests and a source of anxiety and danger to all the American nations.
49. As the United States Secretary of State said in his statement to the Assembly [475th meeting], collective action by the American countries was not required in this particular case because the Guatemalan people themselves eliminated the threat hanging over them.
50. Peace having been restored, the present Government is engaged in the reorganization of the country, with the full support of the people. It has arranged for a plebiscite to be held on 10 October this year to elect a Constituent Assembly which will set the country on a democratic course, free from any external influence, whatever the source, which might seek to impose itself upon national opinion. The new Government is also attempting to repair the damage which the country’s economy has suffered during the past ten years by safeguarding the freedom and security of the individual and improving labour conditions and the relationship between the various social groups striving to develop the country’s resources.
51. The new Guatemalan Government intends to maintain the social advancement so far achieved and to reconcile the just aspirations of the working class with the interests of capital. The labour legislation will be retained and, pending the enactment of the final laud reform through which the problem will be settled on the basis of true social and economic justice, a land reform statute is being enforced temporarily.
52. In reviewing the labour laws and the land reform act my Government will take into account the studies made by the International Labour Organisation, and the co-operation which it hopes to receive from the United Nations and the specialized agencies.
53. In international affairs, the people of Guatemala are glad to have returned to the community of free and democratic nations. One of our Government’s first acts was to resume relations with all friendly countries and to restore Guatemala to the American regional system. It acceded to the Caracas Declaration and returned to the Organization of Central American States as an expression of our faith in the effectiveness of agreements among sister countries. It is also proceeding with the ratification of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance of Rio de Janeiro and the Charter of the Organization of American States.
54. In our view, and in accordance with the spirit of the United Nations Charter, the interests of a country are best served by a harmonious relationship and cooperation among regional groups and the organs of the United Nations. That is also the Guatemalan Government’s aim.
55. The exceptional action of the two previous Governments in our country in severing its relations with the governments of other nations reflected an attitude based on sectarian politics and was in no way representative of the will of our people. A false sense of democracy and of alleged moral superiority caused those Governments to isolate Guatemala from sister peoples on the pretext that their Governments did not practice democracy; they forgot that it is not within the province of one State to judge or attempt to alter the domestic policy of another State.
56. One of the first measures taken by the present Government was to restore relations with those nations from which we were unfairly isolated. The Guatemalan Government is prepared, at the same time, to co-operate with every nation in this world-wide Organization in order to solve the grave problems which confront the General Assembly during its ninth session and to safeguard the peace. We consider it to be the duty of all men of goodwill to prevent the ills of war and to save our civilization from being engulfed in a conflict of selfish interests. Every nation, whatever its military strength or the extent of its territory, must participate in this effort in favour of world peace.
57. The hopes of mankind are embodied in the resolutions of the United Nations. The delegation of Guatemala is here to participate in the work of the Assembly and to contribute its utmost to the achievement of the Assembly’s high humanitarian mission.