153. My delegation heartily welcomes the election of. Mr. Muhammad Zafrulla Khan to preside over this august Assembly. We are confident that his outstanding personal qualities, his devotion to the cause of peace and justice and his great experience in international affairs will make our deliberations fruitful.
154. When the sixteenth session of the General Assembly opened a year ago, the United Nations, and with it the cause of peace, had just suffered a tragic loss in the person of Dag Hammarskjold, one of its most capable and brilliant crusaders.
155. That was the time, fraught with uncertainty, when we elected U Thant and entrusted to him not only the tremendous office of Secretary-General but our most fervent hopes for his devotion to the task of preserving international peace and security. The year which has passed since then has shown the wisdom of that election, which was a just and unanimous choice. With these words my delegation pays its tribute of gratitude to our Secretary-General.
156. In his Introduction to the annual report on the work of the Organization [A/5201/Add.l], the Secretary-General referred to the problem of the so-called crisis of confidence" which, according to those who put forward the idea, the United Nations is said to be undergoing; at the same time, however, U Thant did not hesitate to bring all the weight of his robust personality and the prestige of his high office to bear in making a categorical assertion of optimism and faith, an optimism and faith which my delegation loyally and sincerely shares.
157. My country believes — and once again I quote the Secretary-General — that “the 'crisis of confidence', if indeed there is such a crisis, is a passing phase" and that "the United Nations will survive this 'crisis' and emerge stronger than before as a force for peace".
158. The Charter imposes common tasks on all the Members of our Organization because our aspirations for peace, well-being, progress and mutual and sincere understanding are, and should be, common. The United Nations will be able to withstand fresh "crisis of confidence" and be strengthened in the fulfilment of its noble aims to the extent that its Members decrease or intensify their co-operation.
159. There is a popular saying that a chain is no stronger than its weakest link. In the same way we may say that peace and tranquility among the Members of the United Nations depend on the peace and tranquility of each and every one of its Members.
160. Paraguay is pleased to come to this Assembly presenting a sound economic and social structure, stabilized and strengthened by hard sacrifice. Having gone through a great deal of misunderstanding both at home and abroad, we have finally arrived at an era of great and positive achievements which consolidate the unity of our people in our joint efforts to raise the level of living as high as possible and to achieve our own political, cultural and social aspirations.
161. Looking back upon the years which have passed since the creation of the United Nations, we find irrefutable evidence of the growing vigour of our Organization and we proclaim our faith in its future. It would be a long and superfluous task to cite numerous examples, but I cannot refrain from mentioning one which is among the glories of this era. I refer to the appearance on the international scene and in the United Nations itself of new independent and sovereign States composed of ancient peoples which have recently been liberated from the colonial yoke that oppressed them. Their emergence is a continuous and encouraging process.
162. My delegation welcomes the admission of four new Members at this session: two African States — Rwanda and Burundi — and two States in the Western Hemisphere — Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. To these States, and to their representatives here present, I address a most cordial and brotherly welcome.
163. Anticipating the formal decision which will be adopted within a few days, for it has already been adopted in sentiment, I also welcome with the same fraternal joy the admission of Algeria to the free and sovereign nations of the world assembled in our Organization.
164. The continuous process of decolonization of the regions of the world in which dominated and dominating countries still exist is drawing to its inexorable end. Encouraged by the United Nations in their struggle for liberation, these peoples which are seeking their sovereignty have found in this Assembly a friendly forum in which to proclaim their hopes and aspirations.
165. My delegation wishes to pay a tribute to those Committees established by our Organization to which specific tasks in this field have been assigned; in particular to the Committee usually known as the Committee of Seventeen, whose extensive, complex and fundamental work we appreciated in its true dimensions.
166. The common effort to eradicate colonialism has in recent years seen definite evidence of a new conception and a new spirit for the solution of some of the grayer problems which might at any time jeopardize international peace and security. Our fervent desire is that this new spirit may be extended to all cases and to other peoples.
167. We have witnessed the end of the struggle in Algeria and the signing of the Evian agreement, negotiated with sincerity and mutual understanding between the leaders of a people called to a great destiny, as are the Algerian people, and the representatives of the wise, determined leader of France, General de Gaulle. This agreement, made in good faith and put into effect, has healed the wounds of a long and cruel war and has opened the way for sincere co-operation between the former adversaries, co-operation between equally sovereign and independent States.
168. We have seen this same spirit prevail in the settlement of another of those conflicts which have for years been causing us grave concern: I refer to the question of West New Guinea or West Irian. The peaceful settlement which has been reached and which this Assembly has witnessed has closed a lamentable chapter in the history of relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands and has created a basis for better mutual understanding.
169. Nevertheless, although some very serious problems have begun to disappear, others even more serious have arisen. The problem of nuclear and thermo-nuclear tests is certainly on the priority list of our concerns. This is a problem which by its very nature is of concern to all the peoples of the world, for they are living in an agony of uncertainty and peril under the daily threat of the most terrible of catastrophes.
170. For a brief period, the suspension of nuclear tests brought relief to all mankind. But then came that dark hour when, despite the cries of despair of people everywhere, the Soviet Union violated the moratorium agreed Upon by the great Powers and resumed nuclear testing about a year ago. The echoes of those explosions reverberated throughout the world, striking terror into the hearts of people in all parts of the globe. There could be no mistaking the meaning and the implications of those tests. Behind the arrogance there lay an intention to intimidate others in order to reap the harvest of terror, namely, the triumph of a doctrine unacceptable to the vast majority of nations.
171. In view of the threat to the human race from nuclear and thermo-nuclear tests and the anguish which holds all peoples in thrall, my delegation, does not hesitate to declare emphatically and categorically that it is opposed to the continuance of that destructive and perilous undertaking.
172. We believe that the time has come to put an end to such tests once and for all. We have heard the words of one of the great Powers which possess the secret of nuclear fission and they were words of hope. That is how I understood the statement of the United States representative at. the meeting held on 20 September (1125th meeting) and I am pleased to quote it. Mr. Stevenson said: “... we in this country want to cease testing nuclear weapons. If other nuclear Powers are also willing to make an agreement to cease, the testing will cease.”
173. We resolutely join with those who have spoken before us in expressing the hope that that objective which is not the aim of the United States alone but of the whole world, will soon be realized.
174. We, the representatives of countries at different stages of economic development, we who are working to raise the level of living of our peoples and devoting all our available resources, limited as they are, and all our best and unremitting efforts to accelerating our growth and consolidating our economic infrastructure — we are witnessing another deplorable phenomenon.
175. I refer to the vast arms race in which the great Powers are engaged, a race which devours fantastic sums that should be spent in the interest of human welfare rather than in the production of weapons of destruction. A mere fraction of the money invested in armaments could speed the progress of vast masses of people and promote their general development.
176. There has been very little progress in the year since this Assembly adopted the resolution laying down the broad lines for achieving disarmament and ensuring for the world a future free from the fear of imminent disaster. We are familiar with the various positions and we can see no grounds for the Soviet Union's stubborn refusal to agree to procedures of international inspection which would guarantee the security of both sides, if its avowed intentions are in good faith.
177. If we look at the situation from that point of view, we are forced to conclude that the Soviet Union is not really trying to bring the arms race to an end. It is the fact that the Soviet Union is a great military Power which gives support and encouragement to the expansion of communism, a doctrine which we vigorously reject. In this second half of the twentieth century, we are seeing how the Soviet Union is ruthlessly establishing a vast empire and helping to create and perpetuate the very problems with which we are at present concerned, There is much evidence to substantiate that charge. Although it would take a long time to enumerate all the instances, and we are all familiar with them, a few examples should be mentioned because they are so obvious.
178. Germany is one such instance. It is an artificially divided country and one of the two States resulting from that division is the Federal Republic of Germany, a democratic, consolidated and powerful State whose progress is a magnificent example of how a people can recover and develop when it is free to act for itself. Side by side with it there is the other Germany, so-called East Germany, which in our opinion is not really a State but a piece of German territory in which the inhabitants are totally subjugated by the Soviet Union. This East Germany, which possesses neither its own identity nor its own voice, which has been torn off and sacrificed, should be allowed to exercise the right of self-determination so that it may return to the great German fatherland and, unified and sovereign, independent and free, become what it should always have been, an integral part of the great Federal Republic of Germany.
179. What we have said about Germany applies to Berlin. Side by side with a free and democratic West Berlin, there is East Berlin, which is so different beneath the Soviet yoke that it has been necessary to erect a wall to seal it off. That wall is a monument to the shamelessness of, those who built it and when I think that it was erected to prevent the Berliners of East Berlin from exercising their free will, my admiration and sympathy go out to the countless thousands of Germans who decided individually to exercise their right of self-determination, even at the risk of their lives, and to seek refuge in West Berlin and in the Federal Republic of Germany.
180. I have cited Germany as a typical example. I have also said that it is not the only one. What is more, here on our American continent, in the context of a political, social, juridical and economic system based on an identity, of principles and objectives, the Soviet Union has introduced its Trojan horse; it has taken possession of the sovereignty of a Latin American nation and is holding it by virtue of its military power and tyranny, usurping the powers of self-determination which belong to the people alone and seeking to implant principles alien to the culture and civilization of our America.
181. That event, which is tantamount to aggression against all the nations of the American continent; is no more than a normal and logical episode in the imperialist totalitarianism of international communism.
182. The countries of America, whose Ministers for Foreign Affairs met informally in Washington on 2 and 3 October, expressed the hope that this situation will soon be resolved so that this problem will not be one of the items on the agenda of the next session of the General Assembly.
183. I should now like to refer to the vast changes which have taken place in the United Nations since its inception, changes brought about by the admission of new States, in particular Asian and African States, which only yesterday were dependent territories and are now sovereign like the other Members.
184. The change in the membership of the United Nations has been a very marked one, and I might add, for the greater good of the Organization, for it has made it necessary to adopt new approaches in many areas of activity specified in the Charter.
185. There has been talk in some quarters of the possibility that a system of what might be called "weighted voting" might eventually be adopted in the Assembly. On that point I should like to say flatly that our Views concerning the right of each Member State are identical with what has been clearly established in the Charter, namely, that each Member State shall have and shall continue to have one vote, I might add that we were glad to read the clear opinion expressed by the Secretary-General on this point in his Introduction to the Annual Report on the work of the Organization, of which I spoke earlier.
186. As I said just now. the drastic changes in the membership of the United Nations compel us to adopt new approaches, generally speaking in connexion with the composition of the Councils, especially the Security Council.
187. The number and influence of the countries of Africa and Asia has grown considerably and our Organization has been enriched by the contribution of those new States to such an extent-that the Councils, and, I repeat, especially the Security Council, cannot remain as at present constituted because the political and social interests of the Afro-Asian States should be duly represented.
188. In expressing these ideas, I should like to add that we cannot and must not close our eyes to the consequences of a historical process which is of the greatest significance and that we should therefore consider the problems resulting from current developments.
189. My comments concerning the Councils and principal organs of the United Nations apply also, for the same basic reasons, to the composition of what the Charter calls "the principal judicial organ of the United Nations", namely, the International Court of Justice.
190. My delegation does not propose to offer possible solutions for this problem, but it felt it a duty, and of course a right, to express its concern and its ideas on this question in the hope that they might help in some way towards the formulation and solution of the problems in question.
191. There are many very important items on our agenda. My delegation will state its views on them in due course, when they are discussed in the organs to which they have been allocated?
192. I should not fail to state, however that at the appropriate time the delegation of Paraguay intends to uphold the right of the Republic of China to participate in our Work as a Member of the United Nations and to serve on its organs. The People's Republic of China, which seeks to replace it in our Organization, is not qualified to do so, has not complied with the resolutions of the General Assembly on the Korean question and has not shown that it accepts the basic principles on which the, United Nations is founded.
193. In conclusion, I should like to express my best wishes for the success of this Assembly's deliberations.