The delegation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
cannot remain silent in the Assembly regarding its profound concern
at the grave problems beclouding the &ea of international relations,
which by their very gravity are imperilling the security of the world
and threatening peace and solidarity among nations.
197. Today more than ever before the peoples of the world want to
live in dignity and freedom, but they are threatened. They are the
victims of barbarous aggression, intolerable interference and covert
blackmail by those whose vocation and nature it is to sow grief,
pain, suffering, terror, poverty and destruction wherever people are
proclaiming their right to self-determination, wherever people are
fighting and dying for freedom.
198. We cannot fail at such a time to be conscious of the heroism
of the Palestinian people, the courage and determination of the
Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] and its brave fighters, who,
in the face of a deluge of fire and steel, have taught Zionism and
its allies a masterly lesson in popular resistance.
199. It is almost unbelievable that so much horror and barbarism
should have b en committed at the threshold of the twenty-first
century by an imposter State protected by guilty accomplices, a State
which has now reached the last stages of paranoia. These atrocities
demonstrate clearly to responsible mankind the dangers which lie in
wait for it and which can only be dispelled by a greater
determination in our
common defence of the ideals and cardinal principles cherished by the
peoples of the world and by forging a network of unbroken solidarity.
200. The plot aimed at exterminating the Palestinian people must be
denounced, condemned and resisted, vigorously and with determination,
by the international community. The appalling pictures of the
holocaust in west Beirut and the most recent massacres in the
Palestinian refugee camps have stirred the conscience of the millions
of men and women who have identified with the Palestinian cause and
firmly refuse to take refuge in blindness and amnesia in the face of
the most monstrous crimes in the history of the struggle of peoples
for self-determination and independence.
201. What crime is it that Zionism and the imperialist forces hold
against the Palestinian people and the PLO? The Palestinian people
has quite rightly proclaimed its right to a homeland, to the
establishment of the State of its .choice and to the recovery of its
territories occupied by force. What is that people to do, that people
robbed of its land for 35 years, condemned to exile and murder, other
than fight for' the recognition of its inalienable rights, which
others affect to ignore.
202. Israeli barbarism in Lebanon, the occupation by the Zionist
forces of part of the territory of that sovereign State, a Member of
the Organization, and the' systematic use of the right of veto by the
United States to prevent any unanimous condemnation of these criminal
acts and the application of sanctions under the Charter lead us to
the conclusion that law and international practice governing
relations between States are being scornfully disregarded by some in
order the better to preserve their unnatural alliances.
203. Sao Tome and Principe supports the Palestinian people and the
PLO, its sole representative, because we also cherish honour, dignity
and national independence as high values which no one will ever
succeed in destroying.
204. The invasion of Lebanon and the occupation by force of the
Arab territories by Zionist troops lead us to mention the invasion of
the People's Republic of Angola and the occupation of parts of its
territory by the racist and terrorist troops of the apartheid regime,
which is another shameful phenomenon of contemporary life. Those
actions illustrate the identity and the complementary nature of the
views and actions of Tel Aviv and Pretoria.
205. To link the independence of Namibia, under the aegis of SWAPO,
with the withdrawal of the inter-nationalist Cuban forces from
Angolan territory is intolerable interference inthe affairs of a
sovereign State, a Member of the United Nations. Furthermore, no one
can claim to be unaware of the reasons which led the Angolan
Government to appeal for the solidarity of friendly countries the
better to defend the sovereignty and integrity of its territory, so
seriously threatened by the massive presence of terrorist racist
South African troops. Those troops are illegally occupying part of
the territory of the People's Republic of Angola and once again the
international community seems to be acquiescing in a situation where
inter-national rules are being flagrantly violated. This passivity is
of the greatest possible benefit to South Africa, which is able with
total impunity to massacre the innocent civilians, destroy
socio-economic infrastructures and maintain its illegal occupation.
206. In spite of the existence of a recognized political and
juridical framework for conducting the negotiations on the
independence of Namibia in accordance with Security Council
resolution 435 (1978), those negotiations are at a standstill and all
possible pre-texts, even the most threadbare, are being presented as
pre-conditions for any settlement of the Namibian problem. Certain
Western countries which have economic and strategic interests in
Namibia want to prevent that Territory from becoming truly
independent and the Namibian people, represented by SWAPO, its sole
and legitimate representative, from being able to live in peace,
freedom and dignity .
207. In South Africa, in Western Sahara, in East Timor and in
Puerto Rico, heroic struggles are being waged by their peoples to put
an end to apartheid illegal occupation, colonialism and foreign
oppression.
208. The presence of foreign troops is preventing the peoples of
Cyprus and Korea from realizing their legitimate aspirations.
209. The delegation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and
Principe wishes to reaffirm from this rostrum its unswerving support
for and Its active solidarity with the people of East Timor and
express the hope that the statements of the administering Power on
the subject of the decolonization of East Timor will lead to recourse
being had to the machinery provided under the Charter to permit the
Maubere people to express its views freely on its own future.
210. Our delegation also wishes to express its militant support for
the peoples of Western Sahara, Puerto Rico, Cyprus and Korea in their
struggle to preserve their national sovereignty, self-determination,
independence, national unity and peaceful reunification.
211. A vast plot by the imperialist and reactionary forces is
threatening the peoples and Governments of Africa, Latin America,
Asia and elsewhere. An infernal
machine is being unleashed against us in order to destabilize regimes
freely chosen by our peoples and all possible means are being
used-the creation of puppet movements and armed gangs, the
dispatching of mercenaries, the establishment of military bases, the
persistent refusal to make the necessary changes in the structure and
machinery of international economic relations, the stopping of
investment credits, aid blackmail, and so on. These actions have one
purpose in common: to safeguard the economic and strategic
neo-colonialist and imperialist interests in the region.
212. Furthermore, armed border conflicts are being fanned into flame
and fuelled among the developing countries to weaken our human and
material resources and prevent our using our strength and solidarity
in true programme of national reconstruction.
213. In this vast plot, international and regional organizations
are not spared. Those bodies are threatened with paralysis and may
very we)), in this context, cease functioning. It is as if the forces
of
evil want to prevent the peoples of the third world from gaining
access to credible forums where they can denounce and condemn the
plots, the manoeuvres and the massacres and diminish the historic
role of those bodies, that is, to defend the struggle for
emancipation of the peoples of the world against every kind of
exploitation and discrimination.
214. It is because the United Nations, the OAU and the non-aligned
movement have remained faithful to their original vocation that
serious threats are posed to their future and their capacity to take
just and courageous decisions enabling responsible mankind to
undertake commitments of solidarity and jointly to meet the challenge.
215. In this context the task of the new Secretary-Charter, they are
offered only resolutions which remain General are not an easy one. A
son of the third world, renowned for his qualities and his
experience, General is not an easy one. A son of the third world,
renowned for his qualities and his experience, he will through his
enlightened leadership enable the United Nations to succeed in
defending international order, justice, peace and the progress of the
peoples of the world so that the Organization can continue to deserve
the confidence of all peoples and in particular of the peoples whose
human dignity has been diminished. The United Nations, in particular
at the sessions of the General Assembly, must not become a kind of
confessional, where we all find ourselves under the spell of words
and exorcise the evil spirits, thus relieving our conscience, because
in sanctioning the practice of the use of words without accompanying
action the Organization is likely to become the graveyard of the
hopes of the peoples.
216. Our delegation is among those that whole-the many complex
political problems on the agenda of heartedly endorse the idea that
the United Nations the General Assembly for the establishment of a
new international order in which dignity, freedom, wellbeing, peace
and progress can become a reality and not a mirage for mankind.
217. The delegation of Sao Tome and Principe wishes to assure the
Secretary-General that the people and Government of the Democratic
Republic of Sao Tome and Principe will make a constructive
contribution to the performance of this honourable task.