A year ago, at the opening of the sixteenth session, the delegation of the Republic of Guinea saluted with joy and pride the great turning-point in the life of our Organization, symbolized by the election, for the first time, of an African to the Presidency of the General Assembly of the United Nations. This important event was the glorious culmination of the efforts and sacrifices made by millions of patriots for the liberation of Africa, the rehabilitation of our peoples and the affirmation of their identity, and the restitution to the sovereign Stated of Africa of their legitimate right to participate fully in the settlement of all world problems. It marked for us within the United Nations a sure and important first step towards still more splendid and decisive successes on the part of the great family of African and Asian peoples which the forces of colonial domination had managed for centuries to exclude from international life.
23. In this context, it is only natural that the delegation of the Republic of Guinea should welcome with equal joy and pride the election of one of the most illustrious personalities of Asia to the Presidency of the General Assembly at its seventeenth session. Mr. President, your merits have been extolled with such competence and distinction by most of the preceding speakers that I shall confine myself to a reference to your anti-colonialist position and to your frequent efforts in the various international, bodies on behalf of the freedom of the African and Asian peoples; some of those efforts were made a considerable time ago, when there was real merit in attacking the general mystification with which the colonial
24, These remarkable qualities, are to us, Mr. President, the, sure pledge that under your guidance the seventeenth session of the General Assembly will honourably acquit itself of the most crucial of its obligations, namely, that of ensuring complete decolonization throughout the world, which is the prerequisite for fruitful co-operation between peoples and States and the maintenance of international peace and security, the essential aims of the United Nations,
25, We should also like to address through you, Mr. President, our sincere congratulations to the other members of the General Committee who will have the honour and the heavy burden of assisting you in the conduct of our deliberations. In this respect my delegation wishes to reiterate its thanks and gratitude not only to friendly delegations but to the representatives of all Member States both for the election of our country to the Vice-Presidency of the General Assembly and for all the expressions of interest, good will and solidarity that have been lavished on it or, this happy occasion.
26, I should also like, Mr. President, to offer my delegation's sincere congratulations to the Acting Secretary-General, U Thant, for his unceasing efforts to fulfil his high and delicate responsibilities in very difficult circumstances. It gives us pleasure to reassure him publicly of our brotherly understanding and support.
27. Even a superficial perusal of the agenda submitted for our approval clearly shows that the seventeenth session, like the four previous sessions, which have rightly been described as African sessions, will be dominated by the various aspects of the political, economic and cultural decolonization not only of Asia and America but also, and principally, of the African continent, where the hard-pressed colonial forces are clinging desperately to the last remnants of their ill-gotten privileges, despite the unanimous condemnation by international public opinion and the recommendations and resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council.
28. Nevertheless, despite the lack of any notable progress towards a satisfactory solution of the problems of the cold war, such as disarmament, the Berlin situation, the extension of nuclear testing, the questions of Korea and Hungary, the representation of China in our Organization, and the dangerous aggravation of tension in the Cuban situation, the seventeenth session is undeniably opening in a, more relaxed and less explosive atmosphere than that prevailing last year at the same time.
29. Moreover, in important spheres there have been decisive successes which must be registered as encouraging steps towards the common goal of men of good will who are striving to liberate the peoples, and to safeguard peace throughout the world and security for all. In this connexion, we welcome the peaceful settlement of the serious crisis in Laos. The internationally guaranteed neutrality of Laos now enables its people and its Government to join forces with all non-aligned States in order to decrease international tension and seek a just and negotiated settlement of all the disputes dividing States and peoples and thus constituting a serious threat to peace.
30. Similarly, we have cause to rejoice at the Netherlands-Indonesian Agreement [see A/5170, annex] Which, while removing one of the most serious threats to peace in South-East Asia, brings to an end the Netherlands colonial empire and at the same time thus liberates once and for all the people and the Government of the Netherlands.
31, Our hope is that the realism and the wise and friendly advice which have led the Netherlands to carry out this peaceful decolonization will also, while there is still time, inspire the other colonial Powers which up to now have refused to look reality in the face and are vainly trying to oppose by force the inevitable liberation of the peoples they hold in subjugation.
32. Since the process of decolonization is irreversible, the colonial Powers have no choice but to yield and depart, if they reject peaceful settlement, negotiated or otherwise, they will force their victims to resort to the only remaining solution: the kind of. agreement reached in Goa between the Indian people and Government and Portuguese colonialism.
33. We hail with joy the heartening reconquest of independence and sovereignty by the peoples of Burundi, Rwanda, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, whose liberation means a corresponding reduction of colonial empire in Africa and the Caribbean. To all these brother nations and their friendly Governments the Republic of Guinea addresses sincere congratulations and the assurance of its support and active solidarity. We are convinced that within this Organization the representatives of these countries will spare no effort in support of all those here who labour for the final liquidation of the shameful and degrading system of foreign domination.
34. One of the happiest events which come to mind at the opening of this seventeenth session is, without a doubt, the liberation of the heroic people of Algeria, after more than seven years of savage warfare and sacrifice without precedent in the history of the African continent. This liberation foreshadows a better tomorrow for all the millions of Africans who still continue to suffer and fight, in the four corners of our continent, for the elimination of all forms of oppression, domination, arbitrary government and injustice on the political, economic and social levels. The independence of Algeria, which we welcome as a cardinal, element of our own freedom, is more than an example or a symbol: it is yet another striking confirmation that a people that is conscious of its identity and united, however weak it may be and however powerful its adversary, is invincible in its sacred crusade for national liberation from the foreign yoke.
35. It is for all these reasons that from this rostrum we respectfully salute the people of Algeria, their martyrs, and the political and military organizations, which have written into the annals of African history one of the finest and most glorious epics of all time.
36. It will thus be easily understood that we joyfully and impatiently await the representatives of the Algerian Republic, who will very soon come to take their place in our ranks and make a worthy contribution to the unceasing efforts of the United Nations to build a better world based on brotherly co-operation and universal peace.
37. The welcome events to which I have referred call for various comments on our part.
38. First of all, we in the Republic of Guinea greatly rejoice that the final settlement of the Algerian question which was a painful nightmare for us in many ways, has at last removed one of the major obstacles, which, unfortunately appeared on the road to African unity.
39.Next, the admission of four new Member States and the prospect of the admission of other African States before the end of this seventeenth session, further accentuating the universal character of our Organization, Imposes upon us all the obligation to make every effort to restore to the People's Republic of China its legitimate place in the United Nations. The political error of excluding from the Organization the largest State in the world, failing whose contribution the majority of great international problems cannot be satisfactorily solved constitutes more than an injustice it is one of the greatest handicaps from which the United Nations suffers. The role of the non-aligned States is to do everything their power to restore to their rightful place all the States which are arbitrarily kept out of the United Nations by reason of the division among the great Powers.
40. Lastly, the exceptional decrease in the number of Asian and, particularly, African Member States further emphasizes the necessity and urgency of carrying out structural reforms in our Organization, in order to adapt it to meet the existing international situation, so different from that prevailing, in 1945 when the Charter of the United Nations was drafted.
41. It is no secret that the representatives of Africa and Asia are practically excluded from the various bodies in which the important decisions of the United Nations are really made and carried out. We shall no longer be content merely to take part in the debates of the Committees and the General Assembly. We wish to participate fully in all the main organs and specialized agencies of our Organization, in the positive and productive life of the United Nations.
42. To this end, the representatives from Africa and Asia and all those who concern themselves with the equity and efficiency of our Organization must unite their efforts in demanding, at all costs and for , our own benefit, adequate and specific representation in the Security Council, the Economic; and Social Council, the Secretariat and the various specialized agencies. The legal tricks and manoeuvres of the strategists of the status quo — whatever their nature, extent or source — must in no way discourage us, since for us this is a vital matter of justice, of dignity and of honour. This is an essential aspect of the present crisis of the United Nations which is all too easily neglected while the emphasis is laid on the Organization's financial difficulties. The two questions, while not completely interlocking, arise from the same political background, and it must be carefully analysed in the quest for appropriate solutions, which obviously Cannot be other than political in nature.
43. The pursuit of peace, the prime objective of our Organization, will at this seventeenth session bring us once more up against the crucial problems of decolonization, general and, complete disarmament, and technical and economic co-operation to raise the level of living in the developing countries.
44. We should like to outline briefly our delegation's position on these important issue before turning to the question of African unity, now the fundamental concern of the people and government of the Republic of Guinea, united in an upsurge of patriotic enthusiasm.
45. There can be no doubt that this year again, as in previous years, the colonial problem will be the main subject dealt with by the General Assembly. The fact must now be reoognizdd that the peoples of Africa and the other enslaved peoples are resolved to put an end to foreign domination as soon as possible and by all the means at their disposal. As President Sékou Touré said recently, this resolve to achieve entire freedom is the expression of an awakening of conscience and a feeling of responsibility with regard not only to the history of the colonized peoples but to the history of the whole of humanity, the harmonious development of which depends upon a true recognition and complete respect of the right of each country to independence.
46. It was in the light of this historic evolution of the peoples that, two years ago, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples [resolution 1514 (XVI)], In spite of the great hopes which this Declaration aroused throughout the world, we must today express our profound disappointment at the way in which the majority of colonial Powers have carried out the task which was set them. Only two clauses of the Declaration need be recalled to illustrate how its application has failed to fulfil the hopes which the Declaration aroused among the enslaved peoples. Although the General Assembly declared that it “solemnly proclaims the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end to colonialism in all its forms and manifestations” and that “immediate steps shall be taken in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those territories, without any conditions or reservations" we cannot but admit that the ultra-colonialist Powers have utterly disregarded the clearly expressed will of the General Assembly.
47. Thus Spain, South Africa and Portugal, far from listening to the voice of reason and adapting their attitude to the realities of the present day, are continuing daily and ever more acutely to, jeopardize international peace and security in their obstinate determination to maintain millions of Africans under their intolerable yoke. Portugal, in particular, calls for special mention in this respect. It is well known that Portuguese colonialism is the most exaggerated form of denial of the human, political and social rights of a people. Its system of oppression and domination is at once a disgrace and an insult to the United Nations, which guarantees every people the right to self-determination. The blind repression of the peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea, and other territories by the Portuguese Government can no longer be tolerated by the conscience of the world.
48. The African States, which do not wish to jeopardize the establishment of the peace to the cause of which they are completely devoted, are under pressure from their peoples to cease to tolerate the continued treatment of their brothers in the Portuguese colonies like wild beasts. The ever-increasing number of refugees from these countries who are fleeing from Portuguese atrocities has increased the sense of frustration and justified revulsion of all the peoples of Africa. For its part, the Republic of Guinea, which, is linked by blood, by race and by culture with the countries enslaved by Portugal, considers it its duty to act as the spokesman of the peoples of these countries at the United Nations.
49. As Mr. Sékou Touré, the President of our Republic, declared very recently, it is the task of the Republic of Guinea to put into words the will for independence of all peoples who are victims of foreign domination. It is this attitude which inspires the policy of Guinea with regard to all the Portuguese colonies, and particularly to so-called Portuguese Guinea. Hence it is our duty to demonstrate before this Assembly our indignation at Portuguese colonialism and demand with all our power the immediate and unconditional liberation of the territories still administered by Portugal.
50. What can one say of the South African Government, which for sixteen years has consistently treated the resolutions of the General Assembly, with complete contempt? In connexion both with the question of South West Africa and with that of apartheid, the South African Government is in a permanent state of rebellion against the United Nations. In spite of the numerous attempts which have been made to settle the status of the mandated territory of South West Africa in spite, of the unceasing efforts of all States Members, and in spite of universal reprobation, South Africa continues its policy of repression and enslavement, which is contrary to the most elementary principles of the United Nations Charter. The South African Government, while brutally repressing every aspiration for freedom on the part of the African population of South Africa and arbitrarily imprisoning African nationalist leaders such as Mr. Nelson Mandela, is at the same time doing all it can to integrate the international territory of South West Africa into the South African Republic.
51. This is a fitting moment at which to draw attention also to the equivocal attitude which characterizes the colonial policy of the United Kingdom — a policy which is unmasked every day by the unspeakable acts of the Governments of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The appeal made recently at the second resumption of the sixteenth session of the General Assembly [see resolution 1747 (XVI)], on behalf of the African population of Southern Rhodesia, has not met with any favourable response. On the contrary, Messrs. Welensky and Whitehead have intensified their repressive measures, which culminated a few days ago in the banning of Mr. Joshua Nkomo's African Nationalist Party. If the United Kingdom, which so proudly vaunts its record of decolonization, wishes to deserve the respect and friendship of the peoples of Africa, it should hasten to find an appropriate formula for giving unfettered independence to Kenya, the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland and all its other colonial possessions.
52. The sombre picture of colonialism throughout the world appears clearly in the report (A/5238) submitted by the Committee of Seventeen. All these facts prove the urgent necessity for the United Nations to take positive steps for the rapid liberation of the colonial territories before, it is too late. If, in spite of the clear and precise wording of the Declaration, no effective action is taken by the ultra-colonialist Powers, it is the duty of the United Nations to give the Declaration a more specific meaning, the Declaration called for the immediate liberation of all colonial countries and peoples, but since the expression "immediate liberation" has been deprived of all significance and its interpretation has been left to the whim of each country, a precise time limit should be fixed for this liberation.
53. Thus, in spite of its conviction that all peoples at all times, are capable of managing their own affairs gad that, that being so, all enslaved peoples, should be liberated immediately, the Republic of Guinea consider that the United Nations should during the present session proclaim the final abolition of colonialism throughout the world in 1963. We solemnly propose 24 October 1963, United Nations Day, as the day to be devoted to the celebration, at the same time as the anniversary of the coming into force of the United Nations Charter, of the final end of colonialism. Such a proclamation would, of course, have tremendous consequences, which should be accepted by every Member State resolutely engaged in the fight against colonialism and against every system of direct and indirect domination. The date of 24 October 1963 would thus mean for the United Nations the de facto and de jure recognition of all the governments set up by the populations of colonial countries through the intermediary of their best-authorized spokesmen, and the obligations resulting from this recognition should be observed in every field by all Member States.
54, All that is left before closing this important chapter is to make a brief mention of the tragic situation in the Congo, which continues to be a test of the effectiveness, impartiality; and even the very raison d’être of the United Nations. This is why, in spite of the actions of certain countries whose direct or indirect interference is known to all, and in spite of the obstinacy of the murderers of the great African patriot Patrice Lumumba and the late Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjold, the United Nations should spare no effort to restore to the Congo its place in the community of nations as a great African country, in all its territorial integrity and real independence. Let there be no more support for the Katangan secessionists, let there be no more crocodile tears shed over the woes of the Congo, let there be no more references to the economic difficulties of the Congo, let there be no more spreading of misleading judgements of the nationalists of the Congo, and let there, finally, be no more open and aggressive interference in the internal affairs of the Congo. Then and only then will the people, the nation, and the State of the Congo regain their greatness, their freedom, their dignity, and their prosperity in complete solidarity with the States of Africa in the fight to free our continent. Such, it seems to us, are the conditions for the success of any United Nations plan for the just and equitable settlement of the problem of the Congo.
55. Quite apart from the financial crisis through which the United Nations is passing, the success or failure of such a plan will determine the Survival or extinction of our Organization; The Republic of Guinea Has always Weld an unequivocal position on this vital question. Thus in response to an appeal from the United Nations, the Guinean Government placed all its available resources of men and equipment at the disposal of the Organization from the very outset of the Congo operation, in July 1960, in order to come to the assistance of the Central Government of the Congo, in accordance with the clear and precise terms of reference laid down by the Security Council and the General Assembly. The situation in the Congo being what it is, we hereby declare that no technical or legal solution, however ingenious it may be, can put an end to the Congolese crisis, that is to say the financial crisis of the United Nations. This financial crisis is political and moral and calls for political and moral solutions: political out of respect for the independence and territorial Integrity of the Congo, and moral through the principal and obligatory contribution of the Powers responsible for the crisis.
56. One of the great problems which have confronted mankind since the end of the Second World War and which still confronts it is that of disarmament. The views of the Republic of Guinea on this problem have been explained before this Assembly on a number of occasions. We should like, however, to restate something that we have never ceased to affirm, namely, that the problem of disarmament as such is only one aspect and one condition of universal peace. The armaments race is but the manifestation of a situation resulting from the deterioration of relations between the great Powers, solidly entrenched in their ideological conflict.
57. Between the end of the Second World War and the recent Geneva conferences on disarmament and on the discontinuance of nuclear tests, meetings at various levels have followed one after another, in the form of commissions and round-table conferences producing plans, programmes and counter-programmes, all designed to provide a solution for this serious problem. Despite all the efforts made, these meetings have ended, if not in failure, at least in the breaking off of negotiations, leaving the problem not even partially solved. This means that until the great Powers succeed in reaching a level of mutual trust based on good faith and on a sincere desire to achieve a just solution, all attempts will be doomed to certain failure,
58; The dangers which the armaments race holds for all mankind and the immense advantages which all countries would derive from a stable and lasting peace are so obvious that it is unnecessary to dwell on them further. We the developing countries, whose main concern is to promote the-rapid; advancement of our peoples, should simply like to express our surprise at the negative attitude adopted by the highly developed countries. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to say that if the material means and the extraordinarily advanced scientific knowledge which twentieth-century man has at his disposal today were used exclusively for the benefit of mankind, it would be possible to rebuild a new world, a world of happiness and prosperity, for ever freed from the nightmare of the hunger, poverty and ignorance of which three-quarters of mankind are still victims.
59. And yet, instead of embarking upon this exhilarating task, which no people in the world could-fail to welcome, we are obliged to stand by powerless, watching the great of our times frantically manufacturing, improving and stockpiling the most horrifying means of destruction, of which the least that can be said is that they are contrary to the interests of mankind. After all, there can be no doubt in anybody's mind that the use of these weapons of mass destruction, by one Power or another, can only lead to wholesale slaughter and to the inevitable end of all human life on our planet. If the problem is, put in this way, there is obviously only one choice, and that is the sincere renunciation of war as a means of settling disputes or, in other words, general and complete disarmament,
60. We are profoundly convinced, however, that any purportedly serious discussion of general and complete disarmament would be illusory without the participation of the People's Republic of China. Indeed, we must point out that — as is generally realized — it is Impossible to settle any international problems relating to the peace and security of peoples without the participation of that great country. When our Organization considers such important and vital questions, as those of disarmament, the production of nuclear weapons and the discontinuance of nuclear tests, it is inevitably obliged to recognize that an agreement on these subjects must be reached among all the great Powers, including the People's Republic of China. Without going so far as to say that the failure of successive disarmament conferences has been due to the absence of the People's Republic of China, it can at any rate be stated that the shadow and weight of that absence have always made themselves felt.
61. As we said last year, it would be ingenuous to think that general and complete disarmament can be achieved while we are still confronted with the spirit of domination which usually takes the form of violation of elementary human rights and of the sacrosanct rules of relations among peoples. That is why we consider it essential not to lose sight of the fact that the problems which the African continent has to face today are directly connected with the question of disarmament.
62. Indeed, the question of the independence of colonial peoples, the question of seeking the most effective ways and means of promoting the harmonious development of Africa, which is passing through a critical phase of its history, and, finally, the question of assistance to all underdeveloped countries, particularly those of Asia, Africa and Latin America, have a direct bearing on the problem of disarmament.
63. We continue to believe that the problems of divided countries — and especially the problem of Berlin— which is a permanent source of tension and a constant threat to international peace and security will never, be finally solved until mutual trust, based on good faith, prevails in the relations between the great Powers.
64. In the question of Cuba, another source of tension; it is essential for Member States, and especially the non-aligned countries , which have a special duty in this connexion, to urge a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the dispute, with full respect for the sovereign rights of the peoples concerned and in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter.
65. With regard to the search for satisfactory solutions in all those centres of international tension, who can fail to recognize with increasing clarity the decisive role played on the international scene during the past few years by the non-aligned countries, whose numbers are constantly increasing?
66. Indeed, the Conferences of the non-aligned countries held at Cairo and Belgrade have irrevocably demonstrated the moral and political force of non-alignment, which henceforth constitutes the only rational course open to under-developed countries and the only way of avoiding the increasing division of the world into antagonistic blocs.
67. It is, becoming ever clearer that in our day non-alignment is an important element in the balance between the various parties responsible for the chronic tension in international relations. The part played at the international level by the non-aligned countries as a group has just been tellingly confirmed during the Geneva disarmament negotiations. Indeed, the neutral countries favourably influenced the development of these negotiations and will continue, we are sure, to create conditions propitious for a rapprochement of the different blocs, and ultimately for international equilibrium.
68. Another constant concern of our States is to consolidate our independence by seating up a prosperous and stable economy, which is an effective and sure way of solving our social problems. In the present international situation and in view of the currents which are emerging, we recognize the interdependence of peoples as a fundamental law. The non-aligned countries cannot live on the fringe of the modern world; apart from the results of their own efforts, they consider themselves entitled to benefit by the experience of other peoples.
69. At the economic level, the colonial Powers integrated every one of their colonies in their own national economy, scorning the traditional bonds of custom, history, geography, economy and so forth. Each of these colonized countries, having lost all normal economic relations with its neighbours, became a mere tributary of the colonial Power,
70. We know that we shall have to reconstruct Africa. The political liberation of our continent appears to us as a means towards the end of creating and developing the new African economy. Our continent possesses fabulous reserves of raw materials and its immense power potential provides excellent conditions for its industrialization.
71. Accordingly, while it seems unrealistic and irrational to contemplate the piecemeal association of the African countries with the European Common Market, or in any other regional economic grouping, it is on the contrary essential for our States to organize themselves into an African common market, which would subsequently co-operate, on a basis of equality and solidarity, with the other economic regions of the world.
72. Although it is essential for countries to complement each other economically, this presupposes that the development of the associated countries should progress in, accordance with the needs and common interests of the peoples grouped together in the economic community. No plan which implicitly and a priori imposes a preconceived scheme and programme for the development of the associated countries can be viable, because it will provide no radical solution for problems relating to the nature of economic relations, and especially for the problems which confront integrated human communities.
73. The leaders of the European Economic Community do not seem to be aware of this concern, at any rate with regard to Africa, and make no secret of their desire to create a political community of the countries of Europe, with objectives, that are difficult to reconcile with the will for political independence and unity of Africa, which remains fiercely hostile to the Berlin Congress of 1885, which gave its blessing to the de facto and de jure partition of Africa.
74. The unity of Africa within the framework of an African common market, far from being an end in itself, will simply be an instrument of development, a vital element of inter-African co-operation, which is essential owing to the injustice of the relations between the under-developed African nations and the economically developed nations. It is the nature of these relations which we on both sides must change, with a view to the elimination of social inequality between peoples and differences in the levels of economic development of the nations of the world. The relations between the highly developed countries and the under-developed countries are relations of exploitation and economic domination. There is a tendency for exploitation by international monopolies to take the place of the direct colonial exploitation of the past. Paradoxically, a considerable part of the income and the social improvements enjoyed by the highly developed countries are derived from the under-developed countries, which export primary commodities and raw materials.
75. It is in order to stress this aspect of our economic policy that we reaffirm the whole-hearted adherence of the Republic of Guinea to the programme worked out at the last Economic Conference at Cairo. At this Conference principles were laid down and a number of measures and methods were recommended for promoting the rapid and harmonious development of the under-developed countries. Compliance with these principles by the United Nations in general and the highly developed countries in particular would establish a real balance in the world, a balance which cannot be brought about as long as the world is divided into rich peoples and poor peoples and into nations which are exploited and those which exploit. The principles contained in the Cairo Declaration of Developing Countries could be the inspiration for sustained action by the United Nations and the rich countries, thus making the Cairo Declaration a veritable economic charter for the Under-developed countries.
76. It has become a tradition to link the rapid development of these countries with the disarmament problem. There is no point in dwelling on all the desirable effects which disarmament would have on the economic and social conditions of the whole of humanity, which is one of the reasons why the non-aligned countries are seriously concerned with the problem of disarmament and are doing all they can to find a final solution to it. It, is easy to observe that in spite of the increased efforts of certain rich nations to come to the aid of the developing countries, and in spite of the praiseworthy efforts of the United Nations y through its various programmes of technical and financial assistance, the problem of under-development is still unsolved. The reason for this is obvious. The efforts required to bring about real economic growth in the under-developed countries require very-great financial resources, much of which could be made available only by disarmament.
77. If such financial resources were made available by an improvement in exchange conditions, based on stabilization of commodity prices, the increasing disparity between the, levels of living in different parts of the world would be considerably reduced, and the possibilities of ensuring lasting peace and progress for mankind would be increased. Assuredly there can be no real economic progress by the developing countries unless the regional economic groups of the highly industrialized countries avoid prejudicing the interests of the developing countries by restrictive and discriminatory measures.
78. In that connexion we would recall the efforts made by the Economic Commission for Africa, which recently adopted resolutions of great importance for the future development of the countries of Africa — particularly those resolutions setting up the African Development Bank and the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning.
79. We likewise congratulate the Secretary-General on his happy initiative in launching the United Nations Development Decade, and we sincerely hope that the clear-cut ideas inspired by his Report will be taken up and thoroughly analysed with a view to their correct application for the benefit of needy peoples.
80. All the preceding considerations lead us to reaffirm the unchanging attitude of tile Republic of Guinea to problems of economic development. Here, as in other respects, we follow a policy of non-alignment. The economic characteristics of Guinea, which, on the one hand, has exceptionally favourable potentialities, but on the other hand, lacks financial and technical resources and suffers from all kinds of after-effects of its colonial past, impose special requirements on it. Consequently, the Republic of Guinea has undertaken to maintain economic relations with all the countries of the world within the framework of bilateral and multilateral co-operation and on the basis of reciprocity of interests and respect for national sovereignty. In this respect, there are grounds for satisfaction with regard to the efforts now being made within the framework of the United Nations technical assistance programme to carry put a number of projects which will help to bring about a considerable improvement in the living conditions of Africans. At the same time our bilateral economic relations are being increasingly developed, thus accentuating friendly and loyal co-operation between nations in, accordance, with the principles of the United Nations.
81. Steps have been taken in the Republic of Guinea to encourage and safeguard foreign investment by the adoption of an Investment Code. The sustained efforts of the Government of Guinea in the fields of economic development, accelerated training of skilled workers, and international co-operation, enable us to view the future with confidence. We see the future as above all intimately integrated with that of Africa as a whole. It could not be otherwise, in view of the complementary nature of the economies of the various, countries of Africa, the similarity of our aspirations, and the common nature of our historic destiny.
82. Since the beginning of the organized struggle for total liberation the peoples of Guinea, mobilized in a great movement of national salvation, have dearly discerned the chief milestones along the uphill road to African emancipation, and have, consequently defined the objectives of their battle for liberation. These objectives were and are national independence for all the peoples of Africa, African unity, and the rational economic development of Africa with a view to the full social development of its people.
83. It was only logical and natural that the Republic of Guinea, having consolidated its national Independence, and gained full mastery of its destiny on the political plane, should press on towards the realization of the second objective of its historic struggle, that of African unity. The liberation of a large part of our continent and the artificial dissensions raised here and there between African States and leaders make unity more necessary and more urgent every day.
84. Now that suitable political and psychological conditions have come into being through multiple individual and collective contacts between all the active forces of Africa, its political, trade union, youth, and women's organizations, and between members of Governments and heads of States, we have the intensely heart-warming experience of observing that African unity, which will be the work of all Africans for the benefit of all, is henceforth possible and can be achieved immediately. This is the most tangible result of the community of interests and aspirations of the peoples of Africa in the united struggle to recover their liberty, ensure respect for their unique personality, and endow their action on the international plane with the necessary effectiveness and scope.
85. President Sékou Touré, who has at all times, but particularly during the past year, devoted all his energy and faith, and made use of all his connexions, in his search for the best ways and means of bringing about African unity, recently had the great satisfaction of being able to pay a solemn tribute to all the African Heads of State who came, in response to his fraternal initiative, to confirm their unreserved agreement to the convening in the near future of an African conference at the highest level. There is no doubt that this will be the most epoch-making event for the destiny of Africa since the Berlin Conference of 1885, which set the seal on the disastrous carving up. of our continent and legalized the pillage of our riches, the overthrow of our States and the unspeakable oppression of our peoples. The sacred duty of the first leaders of the liberated parts of Africa will be to restore what was destroyed at Berlin. Our hope, and that of all the peoples of Africa, is that around an African conference table our leaders will work out the details of the charter of African unity, and the conditions for honest co-operation between our States, and will set to work, in accordance with the wishes of the peoples of Africa, to create an atmosphere of peace, understanding and fraternal confidence between all the States of Africa. By way of contribution to the search for a solution acceptable to all concerned, President Sékou Touré recently declared: "The unity to which we aspire does not and cannot mean uniformity of our institutions or of the structure of our States, and still less the creation of a single party or a single great African State. "One of the main handicaps which has so far hindered the complete achievement of African unity has been the idea. . .that this unity must be built around a single State or a single man. Today it has become obvious that the political evolution and the economic, social and cultural development of the African States require rather their united action based on a joint programme freely chosen by all the States and conforming to their interests and to the rules of equality and fraternity within the framework of continental solidarity."
86; The warm welcome given by the continent of Africa to this important declaration and to all those made by other Heads of State inspired with the same realistic desire for effective action, is a sure guarantee that the States of Africa are on the eve of bringing about their unity. We hope that during this seventeenth session of the General Assembly all the representatives of African States will contribute to this end by their general attitude, their statements and their votes. In this noble enterprise, the consequences of which will far transcend the frontiers of Africa, we are counting on the co-operation and support of all peoples and all States. In particular, the leaders of the States responsible in various ways for the present division of Africa have here a unique chance to help us rebuild our continent so that we can forget past bitterness, misery and humiliation. In this vital field, the interests of present-day Africa are identical with those of all other countries, and in particular those of Western Europe. We proclaim loudly to these latter that the moment has come to substitute the slogan "unite and co-operate" for the slogan "divide and rule".
87. For our part, our aims are clear, our intentions pure, and our willingness for honest co-operation unlimited. This is one of the vital contributions which we are offering to the international community. Modest though it may be, it seems to us to be essential for the success of our common enterprise: the maintenance of international peace and security.
2. In the statement he made recently from this rostrum during the general debate [1131st meeting], the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guinea had an opportunity of expressing to you, Sir, the feelings of joy and pride of the people and Government of Guinea on the occasion of your election to the high office of President of the General Assembly seventeenth session.
3. Your distinguished personal qualities, Sir, your great experience and your long record of endeavour on behalf of the liberation and rehabilitation of the peoples of Africa and Asia provide us with the assurance that you will guide the work of our current session in an enlightened manner.
4. The Republic of Guinea ardently hopes that, in the annals of the United Nations, the important session over which you have the heavy task of presiding will mark a decisive step towards the fulfilment of the great hopes of mankind as a whole.
5. We should also like, through you, to express again to another of our Asian brethren, Acting Secretary-General U Thant, the assurance of our esteem and solidarity. On this occasion, we feel it especially appropriate to greet him as one of the architects of the Bandung Conference, and to pay public tribute to the attitude and action of a man who was for five years the distinguished and active Chairman of the Standing Committee on Algeria of the African-Asian Group in the United Nations.
6. One cannot help noticing that, by a symbolic coincidence, the outstanding juncture in international life which is marked today by the admission of Algeria to our, Organization and the proclamation - most welcome to us — of the independence of Uganda, another African country, comes at a moment when the two highest positions in the Organization are thus occupied by worthy representatives of the Afro-Asia world, the history of whose struggle for freedom and dignity has just been extended by one of the most glorious pages, written in masterly style by the Algerian people.
7. The admission of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria is an event of great importance for the international situation and particularly for the situation of the African peoples. Marking as it does the fulfilment of one of the deepest aspirations of those peoples, it will, we are all convinced, be hailed with joy by all nations which have justice and progress at heart.
8. For more than a century, including over seven years of frightful war, the heavy sacrifices bravely borne by the heroic Algerian people have paved the way for this historic moment in which the international community joyfully welcomes, in its midst, the qualified representatives of this martyred nation.
9. The people and Government of the Republic of Guinea, aware that their aspirations are identical with those of the Algerian people, have never confused illegitimate colonial interests with the interests of Algeria, which in their eyes are inseparable from the true interests of a world in a perpetual state of transformation, constantly moving towards greater freedom, greater justice and greater progress.
10. The heroic struggle of the National Liberation Front has been a dynamic — I would even say, the most dynamic — factor in the great struggle of the African peoples for liberation from foreign domination and its attendant exploitation, oppression and indignity suffered by our peoples for a period which has been truly one of eclipse, halting our historical development.
11. We have already emphasized the repercussions of the Algerian people’s struggle on the attitude of all parties and mass organizations in Africa, for which it has been a real leaven, producing in them greater awareness and stimulating them to greater efforts in the consolidation and expansion of the decolonizing process.
12. May I therefore, on this day of the Algerian people’s political and moral rehabilitation, pay a respectful tribute to the thousands of victims fallen on the field of battle, whose sacrifice has made it possible for the peoples of the world to hail this great event constituted by the presence, at this General Assembly session, of the Algerian delegation vested, in this high forum of the world's conscience, with the sovereign powers pertaining to free peoples.
13. I should also like to address our most fraternal greetings to the Prime Minister of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, our fellow-fighter and friend, Ahmed Ben Bella, whose political qualities, physical and moral courage and unwavering devotion to his country's cause provide an assurance that the Algerian revolution will speedily triumph over all the forces of evil.
14. For Algeria is indeed undergoing a revolution and this revolution results from the awakening of its entire people, which is resolutely engaged in a process of qualitative transformation aimed at the establishment of a popular and progressive State.
15. The Algerian people has given proof of its high degree of political maturity and patriotism. It remains an ardent champion of freedom, democracy and progress in Africa and throughout the world.
16. We are convinced that, just as it has succeeded in winning its independence despite all the obstacles presented, so it will fully succeed in achieving its legitimate aspirations.
17. Life itself is a constant struggle; but the struggle for progress requires an exact knowledge of the national and international situation, and a rational use of the creative energies of a people "set in motion". In this respect we have no doubt that independent Algeria will work to consolidate the foundations of its new-born sovereignty and to liquidate all the after effects of colonization, through radical transformation and effective adaptation of the structure of its State and of its people's mentality, outlook and methods.
18. To this end the new Algerian scene must be speedily rid of all the conflicts of interest engendered by the colonial regime and of all irrational factors stemming from former feudal practices, so that unitary action, beneficial to the whole nation, may go forward.
19. Most fortunately, the programme of the Algerian Government is inspired by all these ideas, which will be the easier to translate into reality if the Algerian people remains fully "mobilized" and resolute in its will to emancipation.
20. We shall not fail, however, to urge all nations of the world to grant this newly fledged State their assistance, co-operation and friendship, all of which are indispensable for a young State if it is effectively to shoulder its national and international responsibilities. In particular we appeal to the French Government to provide full political, material and moral support for the action of the Algerian Government.
21. We are convinced that, following the Evian Agreements which constitute an act of political realism, the French Government will responsibly and effectively contribute to the rapid and happy development of the independent nation of Algeria.
22. The Algerian people has a very bright future before it. This future is founded on the unity and creative action of the working masses of Algeria, on the active fraternity and solidarity which will exist between Algeria and the African peoples, and lastly on the friendship and co-operation which will spring-up between the Algerian State and all other States of the world.
23. On the African plane, Algeria, having helped to hasten the de-colonization movement in the African countries, will continue to play a major part. Indeed, all the African States are anxious to consolidate their relations with the State of Algeria, within the framework of an African unity aiming to be free and dynamic.
24. Aspirations to African unity have been one example of the African peoples' awakening to full consciousness in their struggle to recover their freedom and ensure respect for their personality while safeguarding their own individual traits. This legitimate and deep-rooted vocation of our peoples contrasted with the reasoning on which the colonial regime was based; and its effect was to spread ever wider, both at home and abroad, the influence of Africa, its civilization and its culture, to rehabilitate which the African peoples will have to be mobilized in the fight for economic and social progress.
25. Thus, in our countries' struggle for liberation, African unity has been one of the key slogans. It remains so in the eyes of our States, which are endeavouring to consolidate the national foundations of their newly won sovereignty as quickly as possible and, by inter-African co-operation, to improve their prospects of harmonious and peaceful economic, social and cultural development.
26. It would be superfluous to speak overmuch of the positive significance we attach to African unity, for there is not one of our Governments, parties or women's, youth, workers' or intellectual groups that has not called for it and regarded it as the main guide-line in the process of decolonizing the frameworks and mentalities inherited from the colonial regime, and as a source of energy for the full attainment of the objectives of our peoples economic, social and cultural development.
27. We would stress that African unity cannot mean uniform institutions and frameworks for our States; still less can it mean the creation of a single African party or a single African super-State.
28. On the contrary — all the Governments of our countries interpret it more, realistically, as signifying the establishment of an atmosphere of peace, confidence and fraternal and loyal co-operation between the African States.
29. Through the unity to which they aspire, all these Governments wish to achieve the pooling of certain resources of their States, with a view to protecting their reconquered freedom and their interests from any encroachment. They realize, moreover, that if they stand united it will be easier for them to shoulder more effectively, at the international level, their responsibilities as regards the safeguarding of Africa's legitimate interests and the enhancing of its personality and its material and human values.
30. One of the major obstacles to the complete establishment of, this unity has, in the past, been the widespread conception that it had to be formed around a single State or a single man. Today, it has become evident that the political advancement and the social and cultural development of the African States require, - rather, united action on their part within the framework of a common programme, freely chosen by all Staff's corresponding to their interests and the dictates of equality and fraternity in practical solidarity.
31. On these lines, African unity will enable all the nations wishing to make an honest contribution to the peaceful development of Africa to help more effectively in promoting that advancement. It will also enable the African peoples which are still colonized to recover their freedom speedily and to manage their own affairs independently, thanks to the more decisive support that their brothers who have already regained their sovereignty will be able to lend them.
32. While we all have reason to rejoice at the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly ox a resolution concerning immediate independence: for the African countries [resolution 1514 (XV)], we remain seriously concerned at the slowness with which some colonial Powers are implementing that resolution.
33. South West Africa, Angola, Mozambique, so- called, Portuguese Guinea, the Rhodesias, etc., remain under the yoke of foreign domination and no definite date has been fixed for the end of this humiliating situation. That is why at the present session of the General Assembly a new resolution should be adopted fixing 24 October 1963 — the eighteenth anniversary of the United Nations — as the final date for colonies' achievement of national independence.
34. We have already stated that the peace of the world calls for the complete decolonization of all peoples and that the liberation of a colony necessarily involves that of the colonizer.
35. Relationships between peoples must be on a voluntary and therefore a free basis, so as to strengthen international co-operation and lead to greater mutual understanding, both of which are absolutely essential for the safeguarding of world peace and security.
36. The Assembly, which is assailed by the contradictory criticisms of those who accuse the United Nations of being an institution without authority and a forum for every sort of demagogue and of those who regard it as a despotic Organization which, in the name of solidarity of nations, restricts the authority and even the privileges of States, is nevertheless the only point where the ideas and interests of nation and the most varied State systems meet and sometimes clash.
37. According to whether the Assembly, is judged by the criterion of practical effectiveness or by that of moral influence, it is called upon to operate either in the field of tactics or in that of the international principles of the rights of peoples and individuals.
38. In speaking today from this rostrum, we wish to appeal principally to the international personality of the Organization and, through it, to the conscience of the world.
39. The objective reality now governing the evolution of international history, and the quality or even the validity of the development of a universal society, are related not so much to antagonistic ideologies and conflicting political interests as to the vast inequalities which divide the world into poor and highly industrialized nations.
40. Our century is not merely that of over-production, of the perfecting of techniques, and of great scientific discoveries; it is also that of recurring famines, leprosy, record infant mortality rates, and ignorance. It is not only a world of space vehicles; it is also a world in urgent need of ploughs, wheelbarrows-and lorries. It is not only a world of space travel; it is also a world of villages buried in jungles and deserts. It is not only a world of the atom and of great human hopes; it is also a world of homes without fire or bread, of peoples without freedom and without sovereignty over the soil of their own countries, which are dominated by foreign Powers.
41. Century of wealth on the one hand and poverty on the other. Century in which human science and world resources are used far more for destructive than for constructive ends. The manufacture of war equipment and the upkeep of armies consume a total of material, technical, financial and human resources which is an affront to the starving peoples of the earth, an affront to humanity, which is yearning for peace, security and progress in fraternity and solidarity.
42. The objective reality of our world is its division into free peoples and subjugated peoples. It is also, as a result of domination by imperialism and feudalism, the division of the earth into areas of abundance and areas of penury. In that connexion, I wish to offer the warm congratulations of the people and Government of Guinea to the new States which have just been admitted to the United Nations. I should also like to assure their representatives of the unreserved support from the representatives of Guinea on which they can count in making their just claims and defending their legitimate aspirations which are common to all peoples that have undergone foreign domination.
43. It is because we ourselves have suffered under the imperialist and colonialist regime of oppression and exploitation that we regard ourselves as particularly qualified to denounce all its horrors and all its tragic consequences. Our judgement and opinion of Governments are based on their attitudes rather than on their intentions, because we wish to remain in close contact with objective reality and the progressive trend in human history.
44. In conformity with this reality we place in the same group of negative and dangerous forces everything which obstructs, hinders, prevents or opposes the free development of nations and the social advancement of peoples; we place in the same retrograde category de facto imperialism and de lure imperialism, institutional and organic trusteeships, attempts at domination and domination itself, the determination to exploit and oppress, and all the feudalisms throughout the world which still impede human advancement and the democratic progress of peoples and men.
45. Domination — whatever form it may take, whatever its historical origin and whatever its apparent motives may be — inevitably entails the ruin of economies, the de-personalization of peoples, the degradation of nations and, finally, a world-wide imbalance which endangers world peace and threatens all the achievements and potentialities of world society.
46. In fact, although we express the same concern for the preservation international security as that which inspires all well-intentioned Governments of the earth, the means that we advocate may be very different, since they, are based on ideas peculiar to the underdeveloped peoples — ideas which correspond to our specific realities but which to the highly developed nations frequently appear to be empty phrases, outdated platitudes or demagogic arguments or even, possibly, demonstrations of subversive or evil intentions.
47. Quite apart from what remains in the way of survivals or after-effects of colonialism, and from the activities of neocolonialism and the misdeeds of imperialism which is not yet disarmed, the stage of legal decolonization has not so far been followed by psychological decolonization. While it has been recognized, more or less willingly, that the colonized countries may achieve political independence, apparently, in the eyes of most States of long-standing sovereignty, this important change need not alter the political structure of the world. Yet is it not obvious that the liquidation of colonialism is but the beginning of a new phase in international evolution, and that the liberation of the peoples of Africa and Asia is more pregnant with historic consequences than the changes which have followed the last two tragic world wars? Who can fail to see all the riches and all the promises of human progress and happiness offered to the world community as a result of the admission of the liberated peoples to the international family? Who can fail to understand that a new chapter of world history is being begun?
48. Let us not dismiss as mere rhetoric the hopes which inspire and guide the daily conduct and human conscience of nearly 2,000 million men, women and children.
49. I admit that the old-established peoples must make a great effort of imagination in order to grasp realities which are outside their experience. This difficulty of approach is the more tragic in that reality has in itself a strength and a will to live which are irresistible. Here the ordinary words in daily use have not the same meaning, for we cannot compare the hunger felt by some people at tea-time with the hunger from which other people suffer all their lives and it is often the case that whereas, to the former, comfort means an excess of refinement, to the latter it means the possession of the most elementary necessities.
50. Hence, if we want to ensure that the wealth of certain nations is not submerged by, the poverty of the world, let us have the courage to look at the world as it really is, not allowing self-satisfaction to blind us to the dissatisfaction of others; let us draw up the balance sheet of universal inadequacies, defects and needs, possibilities and means. Is it not time to think of rebuilding the world and abandon the pretentious old building which has heretofore sheltered the privileged few?
51. Willingly or unwillingly, the world, in apparent discontinuity of historical evolution, is already progressing towards a higher stage, thus testifying to man's power of development and capacity for progress, notwithstanding the resistance and egoism of reactionary forces. It is this total world evolution that we desire to accelerate, in order to ward off the threat presented by a divided and dehumanized universe.
52. In this respect, however, there are certain preliminary conditions. First, the liberation of Africa must be completed. The process of decolonization must be speeded up by the liberation of Angola, Mozambique, so-called Portuguese Guinea, the Rhodesias, etc.
53. How can we endure that representatives of the most retrograde, barbarous and stubborn colonialism should join here in discussing and deciding the affairs of the world, that we should have among us those who practise the most shameful and degrading racialism, which defiles with equal impunity a civilization and a whole group of cultures?
54. We must repeat that we shall never sanction the domination of one race by another, that we shall never agree to a foreign minority imposing its rule on a national majority. What matters, in our lives, is the interest of our peoples; it is not the interest of the East or the West, or the future of Portugal or Spain, still less of. the Afrikanders, which is at stake here; it is the future of the world, of all mankind. Can the needs, the demands and the hopes of humanity be weighed in the balance against the criminal obstinacy of Lisbon, the hesitations of London and the barbarity of Pretoria?
55. Let morbid hopes cease; there will not be another Congo in Africa. The tragedy of' the Congo has opened the eyes and illumined the understanding of Africa, which in future intends to settle its own problems for itself. From the long series of disappointments, miseries and abuses of every kind inflicted on the young nations of Asia by foreign interference, the African people has learnt more than from ten centuries of diplomatic practice and exercise of sovereignty. Those who hope to take Africa by surprise in that respect will themselves bathe only ones to be surprised. Nor should African neutralism be taken to mean the neutralization of the African peoples. The peoples of Africa, it must be reaffirmed, are not passive; on the contrary, they are ever more forcefully committed by and for Africa, for world justice and for world progress.
56. Africa does not need philosophic formulae or doctrinal theories; it needs honest co-operation, disinterested assistance and sincere friendship. Those needs are infinitive; yet Africa will not barter for any assistance, for any friendship, however pure, or for any co-operation, however beneficent it may appear, one iota of its sovereignty or one token of its independence.
57. The positive neutralism adopted by the majority of the Asian and African peoples is now seen to be a major factor in the strengthening of world peace, and any attempt to minify its effect and import would be a most criminal one. We for our part believe that the peaceful coexistence of the different political systems, which remains the only way of preserving international peace, can be conceived and achieved only in terms of the principles enunciated at the Bandung Conference and of the positive neutralism which was to be the most logical outcome of those principles.
58. That is why I venture, from this rostrum, to make a pressing appeal to. the peoples of Asia and Africa that Afro-Asian solidarity should go forward, gaining strength day by day, towards an ever more effective unity of action, mainly concerned to impose the latent conflicts of antagonistic ideologies — which are draining the strength of the highly developed nations — a new element, perfectly attuned to the higher and interdependent interests of world society.
59. We affirm, for our part, that the destiny of the world cannot depend on power that was usurped or on the arbitrary continuance of de facto situations brought into being in defiance of the will of the peoples, subjected to them.
60. Far from living in fear and despair, the young nations of Africa and Asia are living with firm hope and unshakable faith in the interdependent destiny of mankind; but our confidence in the future is accompanied by a fierce resolve to be active and informed participants in the building of a new world. Such an attitude and such conduct may appear precocious to some people, but they reflect our unanimous will to progress and our determination to hasten the changes which must take place.
61. Thus in Africa a new phase, which we regard as decisive for the progress and emancipation of the African peoples, has just opened; I refer to the phase of African unity, which is first and foremost a unity of interest that must lead to unity of action and to the pooling of our common efforts. It matters little to us whether this unity is institutionalized, given organic structure and established in legal form. What is important is that the concentration of the activities of the African peoples should become a new and powerful instrument from which those peoples will all derive substantial benefit.
62. In accordance with the Bandung principals, this unity should find expression, at the international level, in unity of action by the peoples of Asia and Africa, which have the duty of imposing, upon the narrow interests and selfish concerns of the nations with the greatest influence on the world's destiny, a new outlook that meets the standard demanded by the higher interests of world society, by the conversion of international relationships of subservience into relationships of equality, by respect for national character and for the peoples freedom to choose their political system and their trade procedures; and by a mutual guarantee involving the renunciation of all spheres of influence, whatever the pretexts employed to mask their purpose.
63. Liberty, sovereignty and neutrality for Africa — these three are incompatible with membership of any military, political, economic, financial or cultural group. We consider "defence" groupings to be as dangerous as military pacts, and no one will ever convince us that the interests of the people of the United States and of the people of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics end at Formosa, and Berlin respectively. We regard such theories as nothing more than an excuse for plans which cannot be avowed but whose main result is to poise over a number of peoples a potential threat of domination and over all nations the danger of a third, and perhaps the last, world conflict.
64. The international power of positive neutralism is that it promotes, independently of all external pressure, the free choice of peoples; in days to come, this power will be able to impose, on all nations, respect for the political choice of every people in the world.
65. But if this political power is to be brought into play, it is not enough for us to believe that justice will in the end triumph over injustice, that the use of force will give way to the use of reason, and that anti-popular regimes and usurped powers will eventually crumble away of themselves, corroded by their own incompetence. To believe this would be to cherish very Utopian illusions, for Which history provides no justification. On the contrary — justice, equality and respect for nations must be built upon the framework of a new world, forever freed of subject nations, subjugated peoples and slave states.
66. While at the international level positive neutralism, which has been adopted by the majority of the African countries, is increasingly recognized to be the only outlook compatible with the preservation of nations' independence and with strict respect for the character of their peoples as the positive basis for their speedy development and complete emancipation, we cannot but note that the antagonisms and conflicts, both of interest and of prestige, which dominate the relations of the fully developed countries allow the aspirations of the undeveloped and under-developed peoples neither the hearing nor the place to which they are entitled in the concert of nations. The flagrant tendency to enlist the newly independent countries in one of the camps which dominate the international scene must spur us into redoubling our efforts to gain respect for our determination to remain the conscious servants of our peoples, with a rejection of any subordination or ideological or doctrinal domination contrary to the interdependent interests of all nations.
67. The aim of our activities must be to replace the negative struggle between different systems by a positive struggle for the speedy harmonization of development conditions, in all countries, with a view to abolishing the inhuman discrimination to which the peoples of the undeveloped countries are subject.
68. Our countries are kept, through the operation of the great economic markets, in a constant state of impoverishment which reduces the poorer nations to the status of suppliers of the highly developed ones. A multinational economic imperialism, as the successor to political imperialism, seeks to extend its domination over the economically undeveloped countries. Thus the continual deterioration of the terms of trade makes the technical assistance and co-operation which our countries receive quite inadequate, if not completely useless.
69. We must establish, against the neo-mercantile trends that are a feature of the international markets, a common front for the defence of our economic interests, with which the safeguarding of our independence and the social advancement of our peoples are intimately linked.
70. We prefer to take action which is essentially positive and, by transcending the past conflicts of world society, broadens the channel of co-operation between peoples and accelerates the harmonious development of all nations.
71. At this period in history, the under-developed peoples, in particular must take vigorous action to bring about universal recognition of the interdependent destiny of mankind. We take pleasure in affirming, here and now, that we shall never subordinate the interest of the African peoples to that of Guinea; on the contrary, we wish solemnly to reaffirm that the people of Guinea, fully conscious of the dictates of history, will ensure that its actions are always strictly in line with the higher interests of all the peoples which have had to suffer colonial domination and are fighting against everything that breeds injustice and indignity.
72. But at the same time we express the hope that the sister nations will look resolutely towards the future and, standing together in their legitimate aspirations for happiness and peace, will join forces in order to build, together, a new life based on justice, progress and the brotherhood of man.
73. So far as practical action is concerned, we again call for a radical reform of the structures of the United Stations, which tend increasingly to make the world body into a meditation room for the majority of nations and an instrument of intrigue for a minority of States.
74. With this trend it is not surprising that the international Organization can make little headway with specific problems as simple, from the Juridical standpoint, as the settlement of the Congolese question. I must state that, in our view, the latest United Nations actions in respect of the Congo are possibly a solution, but not a solution which will go to the root of the problem — since it is for the Congolese people itself, once it has been completely liberated and unified, to solve in its own best interests the problem of choosing the nature and, structure of its national institutions. Nor is it surprising that Cambodia has to resort to an exceptional procedure in order to obtain guarantees of the most inalienable and most sacred rights of a sovereign State. It is equally no matter for surprise that, from conferences to committees, from committees adjourned to conferences suspended, the problems of disarmament have ended up in a spectacular and menacing assumption of nuclear testing.
75. The world Organization, which for some States lacks sufficient authority while for others it is a sanctuary or instrument of value, is in danger of becoming the negation of the principles it represents.
76. The inability of the United Nations to adapt to the facts of international life the principles of equality, liberty and co-operation on which the Organization is based is due to its structural defects. Seventeen years after the last world conflict, it remains the supranational club of a few Powers holding the right of veto in the Security Council, which itself, despite the importance attaching to it, is constituted in defiance of the rules for the effective representation of all continents — Africa, indeed, is arbitrarily excluded from it.
77. In questions of international justice, the present structure of the United Nations makes it a restraining institution which, far from promoting and stimulating world progress, tends to perpetuate the factors impeding balanced development, by making co-operation a matter of politics or ideology.
78. It is not enough to say that the peoples of Asia and Africa have set their faces against everything which helps to keep relationships based on domination alive; we must make it clear that our action on the international plane is designed to modify the conditions of development of all countries, for unless this is done, there can be no hope of achieving true equality among peoples. Such a choice involves a profound democratization of the whole structure of the international organization and complete respect for the principles of equality, liberty and solidarity which must determine the new nature of international relations.
79. The Security Council, in order to correspond with the obligations set forth in Article 26 of the Charter, must be reshaped not only in terms of the conditions of the present historical evolution, but also in terms of the prospects opened up by such evolution.
80. It would be necessary to be blind to present conditions in order not to realize that the ending of colonialism and imperialism will restore equal responsibility In the conduct of international affairs to all peoples, and that only the actual exercise of this responsibility, Without any substitution or transfer of authority, can really start the evolution of the world towards a new humanism that will be commensurate with the aspirations and vast creative possibilities of world society.
81. If the majority of nations are disconcerted, nay, revolted, by the inability of the international organization to bring about the restoration of "Portuguese* Guinea and Mozambique to their peoples, to put an end to the heart-rending genocide which is raging in Angola or to eliminate the White dictatorship which reigns in South Africa, then what are we to say about those who are dying a hero’s death on the soil of their native land in their quest for justice?
82. What is to be said, too, about the Trusteeship Council, except that it is the incarnation of every legal possibility for multi-national colonization and is a refurbished version of the Treaty of Berlin? To us, who assert that every people, no matter where or when, is fully and entirely capable of governing itself, the Trusteeship Council appears to be nothing else but the antechamber of colonization.
83. But what good is it listing one after the other all the instances in which the international organization falls short of the principles of justice, equality and democracy unless we are determined to improve it so that, it may become the vigilant guardian of international justice and security?
84. By dissociating the legal status of nations from the objective realities of their rights and international status, we arrive at the state of affairs in which 650 million Chinese are considered a mere abstraction while, in contrast, seats, and hence international power, are given to the Portuguese Government and the South African usurpers. Yet, despite all this, attempts are made to convince us that the United Nations is independent of the opposing blocs and that it guarantees the same liberties and benefits to all peoples!
85. It is far too easy to admit that the political struggle transcends the principles of law. We wish, however, to proclaim in this speech that the political struggle influences the evolution of law and that a reactionary policy has the inevitable effect of dehumanizing the law. If each political regime can endow the law with nothing more than its own characteristics, then how can we hope to prevent the selfish interests of nations from bringing injustice and inequality into international relations?
86. The perfecting of legal rules and principles, the improvement of personal relationships and the development of relations between nations are all influenced by the struggle carried on by the peoples to free themselves individually or collectively from the practices of oppression and exploitation. This is why the struggles for freedom carried on by the peoples of Asia and Africa have made, and are continuing to make, a substantial contribution to the broadening of international justice, which implies equality between men and the strengthening of friendship between peoples.
87. Thus, whether it is a question of domestic law or international law, only a fundamental, and not merely formal, democracy can promote the evolution of the law by restoring to all men and to all peoples their liberty, their sovereignty and the exercise of their responsibility. We have fought long enough and hard enough for equity and liberty to be able to refuse to acknowledge that human Justice cannot be made more perfect. On the contrary, we are convinced of the need to promote the constant growth of the law by the continual extension of human liberties and responsibilities, which are indispensable conditions for the full flowering of the intellectual faculties and moral resources of mankind.
88. Far from regarding the law as a transcendent entity, we assert its infinite capacity for improvement, and consider the relationship between the nature of the law and the nature of political regimes to be of the most vital importance. We know, moreover — and this is confirmed by experience — that in the great majority of cases, the independence of justice is nothing but a snare and a delusion which, when it is, not helping to keep in power the most unpopular regimes, is engaged in defending and maintaining the most unjust of privileges. When the people constitute the centre of interest of a regime inspired, actuated and controlled by them, justice cannot be dissociated from the body politic of the nation without vitiating the popular character of the law which it is the function of justice to administer.
89. Reshaping the law in accordance with the interests of the people involves humanizing the legislation which governs the law in order that justice may be identified With the law, the law with the statutes, the statutes with the interests of the people, and the interests of the people with the interests of the nation. When these different conceptions become intimately mingled with each other in practice in the hearts of every people, then the human conscience will become the universal code of law so long, however, as antagonistic social relationships persist among men, so long, as relationships based on domination persist between peoples, justice will be what the political struggles of peoples make it.
90. Thus, the first objective towards which nations favouring positive neutralism must strive is the reorganization of the international organization by the democratization of its structure; the perfecting of its principles; the replacement of the Security Council with a permanent judicial council to which representatives of the various geographical areas of the world would be elected; the admission of all legally constituted States which are not yet members of the United Nations; the disappearance of the Trusteeship Council and the abolition of the principle of trusteeship under one or more nations; a new definition of the law of peoples and nations; a statement of determination to modify the nature of international relations in the direction of true equality of rights and respect for all nations, without distinction or discrimination; the establishment of a conciliation procedure to be followed before any appeal is made to the General Assembly or to the judicial council; the establishment of a procedure for appeals against the resolutions and decisions of the General Assembly; an extension of and increase in the autonomy of the United Nations bodies for social affairs, economic co-operation and technical assistance; a restrictive enumeration of the ways and means to be left at the disposal of the United Nations in order to give effect to its decisions; and so forth.
91. It is obvious that structural reforms, no matter how highly perfected they may be, can, never be sufficient, by themselves, to endow the international organization with the universal authority which is indispensable to it and which can be conferred upon it only through the moral soundness and practical effectiveness of its actions.
92. It would not be fitting for us to terminate these remarks concerning our international organization without expressing the confidence which we have in it: a confidence which is all the greater because we believe in the boundless possibilities for the improvement of the international organization and in the continued uplifting of the world conscience which it will faithfully interpret and consciously inspire.
93. We believe that, despite the contradictions, tensions and explosions of the world, the international organization is, able to find ways out of impasses, to plug breaches and to calm antagonisms, while retailing for the well-being of the people all the progressive elements and positive forces that will be liberated and made fruitful through international cooperation in peace and friendship.
94. We have all the more confidence in the United Nations because it is gradually imposing the real face of the universe, with all its indispensable shades of difference, on the world, and is instilling in the people an awareness of their international responsibilities and their human solidarity.
95. We have all the more confidence in the United Nations because its disappearance would be a disaster for the whole world, and we would like to believe, with all our hearts, in its triumph.
96. This shining confidence is the same as that which we have in the victory of justice over injustice, or of right over might, of love over hate, and of freedom over slavery. In this game in which the stakes are the world, we do not wish to be passive spectators, but intend on the contrary — joined with all the forces of progress, human solidarity and social peace — to be an active instrument and a people wholly engaged in the struggle for the future well-being of the world.
97. But although the improvement of relations between peoples is linked with the democratization of the United Nations and the refinement of international law, it is also dependent on a better understanding of the realities of each people and a juster appreciation of the legitimacy of their aspirations.
98. There is therefore little point in expecting that the African peasant, with, his primitive tools, his absurdly small productive capacity and his altogether distressing conditions of existence — which may seem very fine from the point of view of the exotic effect which they create, but which are not so amusing from the human point of view — should think, act and behave like an employee of General Motors or a steelworker in a socialist country.
99. Because they are associated with social phenomena which gives them different meanings, the same words are often applied to completely separate realities, and such differences of meaning are sometimes very great indeed. To deduce from this, however, that the peoples of the world cannot attain mutual understanding does not bring a solution of this problem the slightest bit nearer. In order to understand the language of Africa and what lies behind it; the words, the expressions and the turns of phrase must be regarded as reflecting, not the abstract character of a dialectic, but the substance and reality of life: that life made up of human compulsions, of social requirements, of vital needs and of real necessities which are its fundamental attributes, and which are becoming ever clearer and more pressing as the conscience of the peoples of Africa develops and awakes to all the social injustice which fundamentally characterizes and undermines the status of Africans as human beings.
100. The position is that the poorer countries and the under-developed, nations are forced to face vital needs, requirements and demands and to come to grips with hopes and difficulties which have no limits in terms of the problems of the highly-developed countries and prosperous nations.
101. There is nothing unusual in the fact that all peoples aspire to security and to an improvement in their living conditions, since the true universal aspirations of mankind are those which are inherent in progress, social justice, liberty, prosperity and peace. It should be observed, however, that although these aspirations are of a universal nature, each of them has a particular well-defined degree of urgency for each people because of the infinitely varied nature of each people’s potentialities and its capacity for training and the mobilization of its resources. This is precisely the situation in the countries which were until recently colonies.
102. For these reasons, and because of their historical past and their present state, which is characterized by under-development, it is obvious that there are greater similarities and a more marked community of ideas between the peoples of Africa and Asia than between the peoples of Africa and Europe. It is not, however, from this point of view nor on the basis of such facts that the problems of relations between peoples, should be studied, if we wish to avoid accentuating the existing division of the world and thus aggravating the unbalanced state of affairs which already exists in world society. There can hardly be any need to point out that this division and this lack of balance concern all peoples, whether they be rich or poor, all nations, weak or powerful, and all men, whether they be millionaires or paupers.
103. The magnitude of the movement of national liberation which has led to the sudden rebirth of a whole continent and to its emergence into international life is sufficient proof of the strength of this upsurge of feeling and the collective awakening of the conscience of our countries and peoples. The truth is that an important historical evolution is taking place, at this moment, and its effects and consequences, whether direct or indirect, will exert an increasingly greater influence on the progress of world society.
104. The colonial and semi-colonial countries, whose inhabitants made up the majority of the population of the world, were nothing more than names on the map, and although those countries were prominently displayed in the atlas, their peoples, who had been pushed completely into the background by the Imperialists, were unjustly considered to be of little importance because they were dominated and enslaved by foreign Powers.
105. They remained silent and static in appearance, whereas in reality there had taken root and was growing within them the conviction that they must fight for their national liberation. Today, the majority of these peoples have reconquered their rights to a worthy and independent existence. The ignoble racial segregation that is rampant in South Africa will make no difference. On the contrary, it stimulates the historic role of Africa. It makes its peoples more sharply and sensitively alert, and it further strengthens and hardens their personality, since the ultimate tests of strength which the racialist notions and profoundly reactionary attitude of the "Afrikaners" must inevitably bring about will compel the peoples of Africa to take a stand with respect to this crucial problem. The more that people are subjugated and the more they are oppressed, the more capable do they become of rising to their historic destiny. Similarly, the more that people are threatened in their lives, their freedom, their personality, their dignity and their hopes, the more heavily will they arm and the more resolutely will they fight in order to conquer and safeguard their freedom and effectively exercise their sovereignty and in that way to satisfy their needs and ensure their survival and continuing development.
106. Thus the struggle for independence, whatever shape it may assume and whatever channels it may seek out, has never meant, in the eyes of our peoples, anything else than the acquisition of the first and necessary instrument which will enable them to solve their human problems in full awareness of their responsibilities. j
107. To believe that everything has been won and that all endeavour ceases with the achievement of independence — which, moreover, has yet to be consolidated in the case of most African countries — is to close one’s eyes to human realities, to deny the progress of history and to disregard the true existence of the poorer countries, which, having come to realize the injustices they have suffered, are eager to exploit judiciously whatever resources they possess. It is thus that they will be able to proclaim the historical rights that are theirs and that are due to them in the struggle to achieve progress and to maintain a proper balance in the world — a balance regarded not as the mutual offsetting of antagonistic forces but as the outcome of the necessary harmonization of the levels of development of all peoples throughout the world.
108. In our eyes, the urgency of the needs that must be met takes precedence over gratuitous philosophical reasoning or mere ideologies, for it is these human needs which, together with man’s awareness of them and consequently their reality, constitute the main driving force of history, a force which varies in intensity and effect in proportion to the forces that hamper and oppose it.
109. It is therefore vain to hope that Africa will evolve according to a particular pattern imposed on it from outside in disregard of its own conception of things. Africa will evolve in accordance with its own nature, characteristics and personality, in terms of the deepest aspirations of its people, until its economic conditions have reached the level of development of the industrialized countries, that is to say, until they become normal. This transformation is inherent in the historical evolution of society. It is a determining factor in the achievement of the equitable international balance that is indispensable for the establishment and formation of the new universal society on which, in the last analysis, the fate of all mankind depends.
110. It is vain to attempt to place Africa under trusteeship and to dole out alms to it which salve the conscience of some, while temporarily delaying or attenuating the awakening of that of others, and which perpetuate unequal relationships between peoples by operating to preserve the barriers raised by the differences in their material living conditions,
111. It is likewise vain to seek to impose such-and-such a course on Africa. What is required is that, starting from the imperatives of our own destiny and the demands of an emerging "universal society" based on fraternity and solidarity and consistent with the aspirations of mankind, Africa should be granted the right to blaze its own trail, with full regard for its wishes, the means at its disposal, its intrinsic genius, its capacities and its original values.
112. We are resolved to affirm our "Africanism", that is to say our personality, and to promote the harmonious construction, the rapid development and the total fulfilment of a genuinely "African" Africa.
113. Africa has its own requirements, ideas and habits. It certainly does not wish, and still less does it seek, to adorn itself with borrowed raiment which has not been tailored to its measurements.
114. While this implies the total disappearance of colonialism and the establishment of a society where privileges are unknown, at the same time it opens up new and exhilarating prospects based on justice, progress and universal peace. Need I recall that in their desire to safeguard their privileges and their temporary technological superiority, highly developed nations have by the same token deprived themselves of the contribution to be made by the creative genius and productive capacity of the hundreds of millions of persons living in the under-developed nations?
115. The scientific potentialities of the modern world have already surpassed the scale of mere national capacities and resources. The utilization and exploitation of the means made available through the latest scientific discoveries already call for, and will in future increasingly require, the co-operation of many countries, and indeed of all countries.
116. That being so, it is not without bitter irony that we note that progress on which man's future welfare depends, is hampered much less by lack of knowledge than by the kind of hermetic enclosure in which certain selfish peoples secrete their discoveries, the experiments and their scientific achievements. By allowing the desire for power to be substituted for the power of progress, the welfare of mankind and the interests of all peoples have been deliberately and irrevocably sacrificed. By a paradox it is in the name of safeguarding human welfare and the interests of the people that some have elected to tread the dangerous and perilous path of military power, which might in the end succeed in wiping out humanity, and with it the universe.
117. In the course of a decade, Africa has become clearly aware of its material backwardness and has pledged itself to the task of catching up with the level of development of the highly industrialized countries with the utmost speed.
118. When one analyses the ills from which the Africans have suffered, one must perforce acknowledge that the slave trade, the deportation of our people, racial discrimination and colonization — these last two more, recent evils now supplemented by neo-colonialism — have been, able to flourish chiefly for economic reasons. Africa has been exploited and oppressed on economic grounds; its legitimate will for resurrection consequently postulates a threefold rehabilitation on the moral, cultural and social plane, which must naturally be achieved through the process of economic evolution.
119. We know, of course, that in the modern world, interdependence has become a rule, and Africa, which cannot exist in a vacuum, does not intend to remain divorced from that world. It also considers that it is entitled to benefit by the experience of other peoples, as well as by the fruits of its own endeavours. In exchange for this, it must actively assist in setting up a universal society wherein each and every people, while preserving its own personality, will have exactly the same rights and duties as all the other peoples and, like them, will assume the responsibilities that are properly incumbent upon it.
120. Africa has been divided and carved up. The evils of colonization have not been confined to exploitation, racial discrimination and cultural oppression; they have also, and above all, resided in the loss of our freedom and the confiscation of our sovereignty. Only when a people proclaims its independence and exercises its sovereignty without let or hindrance can it abolish exploitation in every form; for only then can it erect democratic structures which release the creative initiative of all and promote the liberation of man through social progress, which depends in its turn on scientific and economic progress.
121. The worst of the misdeeds of colonialism may be said to have been the attempt to deprive us of responsibility for the conduct of our own affairs and at the same time to convince us that our civilization was nothing but savagery — the attempt to instill in us an inferiority complex which branded us as irresponsible and stripped us of our self-confidence. It follows that the greatest of our victories will not be that which we shall have won over colonialism through the mere fact of having recovered our national independence: it Will be above all the victory that we shall have won over ourselves by finally casting off all the complexes peculiar to Colonized peoples and by proudly and loyally proclaiming the authentic values of Africa and identifying ourselves fully with them. The African people, having confidence in themselves, must become increasingly aware of their responsibility, for by so doing they will become aware of their true equality with all other peoples.
122. We are aware that we must rebuild Africa. To conquer and then proclaim the independence of a Country while retaining its former colonial structures would be tantamount to ploughing a field and then failing to sow it, while yet expecting a harvest. The political liberation of Africa must be viewed as a means for establishing and developing the new African economy. Our continent has enormous reserves of raw materials which, coupled with its vast energy-producing potential, provide it with highly favourable conditions for industrialization.
123. The prospects for utilizing our economic potential are, however, set at nought by the inability of the under-developed countries to achieve normality, in their economic conditions, which continue to deteriorate as a result of the general deterioration of the terms of trade.
124. The non-industrialized countries producing raw materials and primary commodities must struggle valiantly in order to cope with the declining prices for their agricultural and mining products and the rising cost of industrial goods, for this situation limits the expansion of their national economy.
125. It is easy to document this analysis by several examples that will better illustrate our present position on the world market. Let us take some figures covering the period 1957-1961. The exchange value of raw materials and primary commodities in relation to industrial products shows a drop of 34 per cent; yet, between 1955 and 1957, there same terms of trade had already decreased by 50 per cent in comparison with the 1948 level. The extent to which the price relationship in international trade has deteriorated is abundantly clear from various statistics that have been published in international periodicals.
126. The consequences of such a situation make it easier to understand that the object of the economic community of African and of its monetary independence is not; as some have suggested with false naiveté, to enable Guinea to sell its coffee to the Ivory Coast, its palms to Dahomey and its bauxite to Ghana; it consists rather in taking whatever measures are required to project, Africa on to the international market as a producing area and thus help to establish on an equitable footing the relationships of strength which govern international trade but which, in the case of the under-developed countries, are at present relationships of economic dependency.
127. Vociferous alarm has been expressed about the increasingly abundant output of coffee, cocoa or peanuts, while nothing has been said about products which are in increasing demand but the prices of which remain stable, such as diamonds, gold, oil, radio-active minerals, zinc, copper and so on. This in itself sufficiently illustrates the mercantile nature of the economic relationships that have been set up between the highly-developed countries and the countries producing raw materials and primary commodities, to which category Africa belongs.
128; The African nations are becoming daily more aware that if the important and urgent social problems that confront their peoples are to be adequately solved, they must bring about the indispensable transformation of their barter-type economies as soon as possible. It is obvious that although the solution of the economic, and social problems of our peoples necessarily depends on the industrialization of our countries, this can hardly be achieved within the limits of the micro-economies of our States.
129. The potential threat that the economic communities, which are daily becoming more powerfully organized, may represent for the development prospects of the non-industrialized or under-industrialized countries is becoming increasingly apparent. However far we may be from condemning out of hand the concept of economic communities — the positive consequences of which include the intensification of trade within a given group, the concentration of productive capacity, and the speedier establishment of conditions conducive to dynamic supranational economic planning — we wish to call attention to certain potential dangers inherent in them which could produce a state of stagnation in the non-industrialized nations. That is why we do not hesitate in the least to state that these communities will be fully acceptable to us and will receive our full support when, forswearing all selfish aims, they become closely integrated with the requirements of an interdependent, harmonious and equitable economic development of both the highly and the poorly equipped countries.
130. It is not enough in this matter to call for the stabilization of the prices of raw materials and primary commodities. We must concentrate on ensuring that the international prices of raw materials and primary commodities are preserved from speculation of any kind by the establishment of a guaranteed base price which will effectively reflect production costs and will be automatically re-evaluated in conformity with increases in prices of industrial products on the world market.
131. The establishment of a sliding scale to determine minimum international prices for raw materials and primary commodities must be supplemented by the establishment of an international equalization fund which, in the initial stage, would help to take care of the bottle-necks that crop in unpredictable fashion on the various market and are inherent in the anarchy that characterizes the development of the world economy.
132. We would point out that our evaluation of the various forces that dominate the world economy is predicated solely on the real support which they provide and the effective contribution which they make in encouraging the economic growth of the non- industrialized countries. It is because we eschew charity and subjection, and because we claim on behalf of our peoples their due share of responsibility in the conduct of international affairs, that our political preference will go to those Governments which, in their international activities, concentrate on harmonizing the living conditions of all peoples.
133. Charity, the creator of vested interests, is viewed by us, not as an aid, but as a usurious practice which gives more than it has and less than it takes back.
134. Aid which is not conceived and given in a spirit of loyal co-operation and perfect disinterestedness is poisoned aid which we shall consistently reject, and we shall also be careful not to confuse technical assistance with the technique of assistance.
135. Who imagines today that the tremendous backwardness which was the farewell legacy of colonialism to Africa can be made good by a few more or less selfish donations?
136. We are, of course, the first to demand the heaviest burden and the heaviest sacrifices in the task of bringing our living conditions into harmony with those of the highly developed countries; that is a matter of our pride and honour. What we also ask, however, and we do this without the slightest feeling of embarrassment, is that international co-operation and solidarity should lighten a burden which is unjustly grinding us down.
137. On this occasion we should like once more to tender our sincerest and warmest thanks to those Governments which, spontaneously and without imposing any obligations, have given us effective aid and disinterested support. It is not superfluous to add that they have in this way gained the deep friendship of our people and Government, who sincerely desire that the bonds of co-operation with those States should be strengthened and broadened.
138. In this connexion we wish to make it clear that although, in accordance with our principles of free determination and national independence, we do not intend to repudiate bilateral assistance and cooperation, we believe that international aid should be entirely recast so as to be effectively and efficiently integrated into the economic development programmes of the under-developed countries. Although the aid and assistance needed by our countries outstrip the international possibilities of meeting that need, if is none the less true that such aid, which is found to be extremely costly, very often falls short of its objectives and becomes watered down as a result of the great number and variety of requests. We consequently think it essential for priorities to be established in accordance with a balanced view of development and a plan covering all the economically under-developed countries on a continent by continent basis. It would seem to -be more rational, for instance, to set up ten to twenty universities throughout Africa and to endow them for five to ten years with an international status and an inter-African administration, than to assign 6,000 to 8,000 scholarships for secondary education to that continent each year. International aid tends to lose much of its value by the fact that it is concerned with the problem of wells rather than with the building of medium-capacity dams or with electrification, and by the fact that it gives more attention to satisfying everybody than to meeting the pressing common needs.
139. In this connexion, however, we are happy, standing at this rostrum, to pay a well-earned tribute to the Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara, which since its inception has never failed to co-operate with Africa effectively and in a manner increasingly suited to the realities and needs of the continent. We should also like to thank UNICEF and WHO in a special way for the very substantial efforts they have made towards meeting the tremendous needs which confront us in the field of health. Rather than receive lengthy encomiums and expressions of gratitude, I think that these two assistance bodies will be more justifiably proud in knowing that in four, years of independence we have increased the number of hospital beds tenfold, thus demonstrating that any assistance which is perfectly attuned to our real needs is fully used and has most beneficial results.
140. But once again, the vastness of our needs should spur us to find new means and original methods capable of giving our economies a real start. Is there any need to cite here figures that are known to all? In ten years, from 1950 to 1959 inclusive the United Nations sent, 4,689 experts to countries in the Far East having a total of 800 million inhabitants, and those countries trained 3,966 people. In 1957-1958, forty-five under-developed countries (among those that do not produce Oil) received $5,000 million in grants, while for the same year their trade deficit amounted to $6,500 million. Finally, here is one last fact which is connected with that just mentioned: during a five-year plan the steady rise in import prices reduces the value of investments by nearly 25 per cent.
141. Has it been sufficiently realized that initially human energy is essential to secure and increase in production and that in our countries the percentage of wage earners is very low. How can the continual increase in prices do other than discourage effort on the part of our farmers, who are the real productive class and the basis of our agricultural economies, if their efforts do not make any impression on their standard of living?
142. Finally, we all know that foreign investment, which fights shy of low-yield ventures, concentrates mainly on parasitic sectors the growth of which tends to drain economies that are already on the verge of collapse.
143. To the countries for which it is intended and which judge it on its actual efficiency, international assistance seems dramatically inadequate, frequently ill-suited and endlessly troublesome; to the donor it represents a burden the usefulness or even the necessity of which, often seems doubtful. In the eyes of many, the impatience of the young nations is unbearable, but who can claim the right to question the needs and vital requirements of a people?
144. It is too often forgotten that these young nations, the victims of colonial rapacity, are still pacing installation costs long after the industrial revolution: for although colonialism has already taken root at the time of the spice trade, it was the industrial revolution which made it possible for the commercial relationship between Europe and Africa to be converted into a relationship of robbery. Although we do not wish to base our argument on this fact alone, we are entitled to mention it here if only stir the conscience of mankind to international solidarity, the determining factor in universal and harmonious development.
145. To recast international assistance and co-operation in the mould of universal solidarity is to participate effectively in the evolution of the world and in the improvement of human society.
146. To recast international aid and co-operation is to mobilize to the same end resources and means frequently used for contradictory ends.
147. If, for instance, the scope of the World Bank for granting credit is compared with the amount of capital hoarded throughout the world, one quickly realizes the tremendous disparity between the means available and the means used.
148. To recast international assistance and co-operation is to have an all-encompassing view of history which makes it possible to analyse its phenomena is their causes and to ascertain the means and methods whereby man will be able to control his destiny and better direct the course of his history; it means aiming at restoring to every nation and every human being their place and social function, and giving to human society the virtues and capabilities with which man has enriched it.
149. The will to develop, that unconditional choice for progress which will rid development of all its negative aspects is produced by human needs and human conscience. The triumph of human reason will be no more than an expression of the uplifting of the conscience of the peoples.
150. If we condemn, without making any distinction, all the retrograde forces, all the retarding systems and all the backward philosophies, it is because they carry within them the viruses of impotence and irresponsibility.
151. One may denounce famine, ignorance and disease just as one may denounce war, and regression, but that is only a pious attitude based on negation and a certain fatalism.
152, As far as we are concerned, our choice has been made. It is for progress in all Its forms, for justice, for peace and for the happiness and solidarity of all people. This choice is a positive one, and we are proud to be numbered among the committed peoples, among the forces of progress.
153. It is in this spirit that we regard the struggle to bring together the conditions for the development of the peoples as essential to the harmonious and interdependent evolution of mankind. We accordingly rejoice that a proposal has been made to hold a world trade conference, and we hope that it will bring about fair solutions for the economic problems which beset our peoples.
154. The people of Guinea, who, for the past four years, have been engaged in a democratic and popular revolution, have always shown their readiness for friendship with all the peoples of the world, their sincere desire for co-operation with all States, and their fierce determination to work for peace, justice and progress. The ideal embodied in our national revolution extends infinitely beyond the destiny of Guinea; that is to say, ever since gaining their independence, our people have made themselves part of world society and they can conceive of no other form of human happiness than that dispensed freely to all men and to all peoples without any limitation.
155. The path to which we are committed brooks no compromise; it leads to a world forever freed of selfishness and of the shameful practices of oppression, exploitation and social injustice.
156. Our confidence in the future is equal to our determination, and we are profoundly convinced that the conscience of man will be able to transcend the contradictions of an age which is coming to a close; that it will be able with determination, realism and clear-sightedness, to enter upon a new age in world history.