1. I should like at the outset, Sir, to
convey to you the greetings and congratulations
of the delegation of Peru on your well-deserved
election to the presidency of the thirty-seventh
session of the General Assembly. This is
recognition of your personal qualities as well as
a tribute to Hungary, a country which has
participated so actively and so significantly in
the work of the United Nations.
2. My delegation also wishes to express its
appreciation and to convey its congratulations
to Mr. Tsmat Kittani, who at a critical time for
the international community demonstrated his
exceptional abilities as an experienced and
skilful diplomat.
3. You will understand, Sir, with what
satisfaction we greet Mr. Javier Perez de
Cuellar, the Secretary- General. Peru takes pride
in his election and in the contribution that he
is making t^ the cause of the international
community.
4. Since it took office on 28 July 1980 the
constitutional Government of Peru has shouldered
the difficult task of putting into practice a
spirit of democracy in which the effectiveness
of a modem Consti-tution, the interplay of the
branches of government, respect for human rights
and the full enjoyment of freedoms should
constitute the best assurance that we shall
achieve our ideal of making man the supreme end
of our social efforts.
5. Two years have elapsed under the present
Government and Peru takes satisfaction in the
fact that it is fulfilling its aims. Freedom of
expression for all the communications media is
now absolute in our country. The elections that
took place in 1980 were followed in November 1981
by complementary elections at the municipal
level. These indicated increased support for the
party led by President Fernando Belaunde Terry,
which gained 70 per cent of the votes cast at the
national level.
41
6. The problems of the present-day world are
clearly causing serious frustrations in society
to which it is reacting in different ways. The
great majorities opt for political avenues which,
in various ways, seek to find within the legal
order appropriate replies to the requirements of
collective well-being. Unfortunately, there are
also those who react to adversity in irrational,
blind and irresponsible ways.
7. Despite the resolve and efforts of our
Government to promote justice, well-being and
progress within the framework of democratic
principles, some minority groups, seeking to use
violence to introduce an ill- defined political,
economic and social programme, have resorted to
acts which cause irreparable loss of human life
and very serious material damage for a developing
country. The Peruvian people rejects this
criminal activity as shocking to its conscience
and damaging to its interests, for what is
destroyed is lost to all. Our whole country has,
therefore, through its representative
institutions and the broad range of political
parties present in our national Parliament,
condemned terrorism and continues to do so. Our
Government has taken steps to prevent it, in
strict observance of human rights. To that end,
our Government will guarantee public peace with
the necessary firmness, but without overstepping
legal bounds in any respect. Persons involved in
criminal offences have been brought before the
judiciary the independence of which cannot be
questioned for it is the only authority empowered
to decide on the guilt of those involved and to
apply the necessary penalties.
8. His Holiness Pope John Paul II, in his
pontifical message of 1980, reminded us that
building peace is the task of all men and all
nations and that violence is an evil unworthy of
man, unacceptable as a solution to our problems,
contrary to the truth of our humanity and,
indeed, destructive of what it seeks to defend:
the dignity, life and freedom of the human being.
But he told us also: "We cannot sincerely condemn
recourse to violence unless we engage in a
corresponding effort to replace it by courageous
political initiatives which aim at eliminating
threats to peace by attacking the roots of
injustice." That is precisely what the Government
of Peru is seeking to do at the domestic level.
9. Hence, together with the legitimate
exercise of its constitutional responsibilities,
the Government is pursuing a set of activities
designed to bring about improvement in the
depressed economic and social conditions of the
poorest areas of our country, those areas in
which the largest number of acts of violence have
taken place. This poverty is the result of
complex geographical conditions, isolation and
the failure for over a century to address basic
needs. It is being faced through courageous
development programmes that will alleviate the
difficult situation of the people living in those
areas.
10. Peru has signed all the international
agreements on human rights to which it could
accede and the principles of those agreements are
embodied in the new Constitution. Our Government
bases its efforts upon those principles in
bringing about the full realization of each
person and a regime of democracy and social
solidarity. The occasional stories reaching the
international community which attempt to
contradict the spirit of authentic respect for
human dignity in my country today must surely
come as a surprise to those who have had an
opportunity to visit Peru and to witness the
climate of freedom prevailing in my country.
11. In the international arena, Peru has
sought further to achieve ever closer ties with
its neighbour countries, links to which it
attaches particular importance within its
traditional policy of respect for the rights of
others as well as zealous defence of its own
rights.
12. Peru has continued to participate
actively in the processes of regional economic
co-operation and integration. My Government has
supported and resolutely contributed to the
reactivation of the Andean Croup and to promoting
the Latin American Integration Association, as
well as in regional consultations and
co-operation, within the framework of the Latin
American Economic System, which are institutions
to which Peru attaches the greatest importance in
the strengthening and unity of Latin America as
an effective response to the frustrations and
unusual economic measures that the region as a
whole and some countries in particular have
experienced during the recent crisis in the South
Atlantic.
13. Moreover, in order to foster Latin
American integration and co-operation, the Latin
American region must be organized physically. In
this respect, the Bolivarian Highway along the
edge of the jungle, an initiative of President
Belaunde Terry, which has received broad support
from Latin American and Andean countries, is
today in an advanced stage of completion. In the
same spirit, President Belaunde has rescued the
ambitious project of interconnecting the three
major watersheds of the South American continent,
a project which would make it possible to move
large volumes of goods, services and passengers
in the heart of our region. My Government is
confident that, after the technical meeting on
watershed inter-connection which took place last
year in Lima, we will soon be able to undertake
that work.
14. On the other hand, the project for the
creation of a trust fund for the promotion of
horizontal technical co-operation with the
countries of Central America and the Caribbean,
which I presented at the 6th meeting of the
thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly, has
met with broad support from the countries of
that area and from the Administration of UNDP. We
hope that that fund, too, will be established in
the near future.
Similarly, my country is participating in the
necessary deliberations relating to the
inter-American system. It is our view that it has
become imperative to re-emphasize the capacity
for concerted action among the countries of the
region vis-a-vis the only country of the region
which has world-wide interest. This task should
not lead to exclusions of any kind, but rather to
a clearer identification of our interests and a
better representation and defence of those
interests in continental and world forums.
16. The number of critical situations in the
world has increased and, paradoxically, none of
those that have now become traditional has yet
been overcome. The worsening of the situation is
seriously infecting the United Nations, and the
constantly repeated appeals to States to act in
conformity with the principles of the Charter are
no longer sufficient. It has become absolutely
necessary to prevent the spread of a cynical
attitude.
17. The basic elements of this situation are
an alarming tendency to disregard the obligations
of international law, in particular the
obligation to abstain from the resort to
aggression or the use or threat of force;
policies of strength and the maintenance of
spheres of influence or domination; interference
in the internal affairs of States; the
impossibility of getting the process of
disarmament under way, and the frustrations
encountered at the second special session of the
General Assembly devoted to disarmament; the
obstacles that are preventing the establishment
of a new international economic order; the
difficulties experienced in concluding the
process of decolonization; policies of apartheid
and racial dis-crimination; and the crisis in the
United Nations.
18. The Secretary-General has submitted his
report on the work of the Organization, the
importance and scope of which will be recognized
by the world public. This report sums up the
genuine anxiety of our peoples and shows the need
to listen to the voice of reason and morality in
the present dramatic circumstances. The Assembly
will examine various aspects of the report,
debate the proposals it contains and draw from it
the new inspiration the Organization needs for
the preservation of peace and the betterment of
mankind and to ensure that it does not fail as
the depositary of ideals which are beyond its
ability and the will of our Governments to
achieve.
l9. The meagre results of the action of the
Security Council compel us to ask whether the
assumptions upon which the Organization was
founded have been overtaken by events. What is
required is concerted diplomatic action at the
highest level, as proposed by the
Secretary-General, or any other approach which
can ensure that the position of political
privilege conferred upon the permanent members of
the Security Council will be used for the
effective fulfilment of their responsibilities
with regard to international peace and
co-operation. Otherwise we shall have to consider
amendments to the Charter.
20. We hope that the Secretary-General's
firmness in presenting matters to the Assembly as
he sees them and not as we would wish to see them
will serve to promote a debate that will review
the Orga-nization, because our peoples are beset
by a two-fold anxiety: daily survival in terrible
economic and social conditions, and survival as a
species in the face of the increasing probability
of a nuclear conflict.
21. Our region has brought to the Assembly
the question of the Malvinas Islands. Everybody
is aware of our support for the principle of
decolonization of the Malvinas Islands and for
the claim of the sister Republic of Argentina to
sovereignty over that archipelago. This is also
called for in resolutions of the United Nations
and the Organization of American States and in
declarations by the movement of non- aligned
countries. Faithful to its dedication to peace,
Peru has made intense and repeated efforts to
ensure a negotiated solution of the conflict and
will continue to support negotiations between
Argentina and the United Kingdom through the
intermediary of the Secretary-Genera).
22. In Central America there is a growing
tendency towards confrontation, and the
considerable difficulties faced by the peoples
of the area are compounded by forms of foreign
intervention, political polarization and internal
and external armed struggle. It is necessary for
States both within and outside this region,
instead of trying for ideological reasons to
decide how others should organize themselves to
try urgently to provide broad support for their
development.
23. Peru deeply regrets the recent
deterioration of the situation in the Middle
East. We have made clear our rejection of
intervention in and military use of the territory
of Lebanon^ in violation of its indepen-dence and
sovereignty, the persistence of policies of force
and the commission of genocidal crimes against
the Palestinian people.
24. In this world forum, in the name of the
Government and people of Peru, I reiterate our
most vigorous condemnation, as already expressed
by the Chief Executive of my country, of these
acts, which violate the most elementary
principles of human coexistence.
25. Recent developments have clearly and
painfully shown that the question of Palestine
constitutes the central factor of the Middle East
crisis. It is our view that for reasons of
principle, of history and of justice, the
Palestinian people must exercise the inalienable
rights of all people, as recognized by the
Organization.
26. We renew our appeal to all the parties to
the conflict to co-operate in the search for a
comprehensive and definitive political
settlement, taking into account the rights of all
the peoples of the region, within the framework
of the relevant resolutions adopted by the
Security Council and the General Assembly.
27. The stability and well-being of
South-East Asia are linked to the problem of
Kampuchea. Peru is a member of the /It/ Committee
of the International Conference on Kampuchea,
and we hope that the bases established by the
General Assembly, under the auspices of the
Secretary-General, will lead to a negotiated
settlement.
28. We support the steps taken by the
Secretary- General with respect to Afghanistan
and Cyprus. Only with the political will of the
parties will it be possible to achieve just and
balanced agreements which, as in the case of
Kampuchea, presupposes the withdrawal of foreign
troops and self-determination for the peoples
involved.
29. Peru hopes that the question of Korea can
be resolved by peaceful and negotiated means by
the parties.
30. The struggle for independence in
Territories that have not yet overcome
colonialism continues. Namibia must be rescued
from the illegal occupation from which it is
suffering. Peru, an active member of the Special
Committee against apartheid; condemns and rejects
this practice, which is an infringement of human
dignity.
31. The United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea' is the fruit of a long and arduous
effort to reconcile the rights and interests of
States in different circumstances by means of
universal rules ensuring the rational utilization
of the ocean areas not as an instrument of
hegemony but as an instrument of justice, peace,
security, co-operation, development and
well-being for all peoples. Each State must now
evaluate the advantages of a legal order, respect
for and implementation of which would protect
their most essential rights and interests both
within and outside zones of national
jurisdiction. My Government is making such an
assessment in the light of certain provisions of
our Constitution and the laws of our Republic. It
will be for the Congress of my country to express
its approval or disapproval of the Convention.
Meanwhile we shall follow with close attention
the statements made by other Governments, in the
hope that the will for justice and international
concord will prevail.
32. Peru will continue to defend its rights
of sovereignty and jurisdiction over its
adjacent waters and the sea-bed and subsoil
thereof to the limit of 200 miles, for the
purposes that have been foreseen since 1947, as
part of its maritime territory and without
prejudice to freedom of international
communication. Furthermore, it will not renounce
the defence of the rules established by the
Declaration of Principles Governing the Sea-Bed
and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof,
beyond the Limits of National Juris-diction,
adopted in 1970 Those principles have been
incorporated in the Convention, according to
which the sea bed and its resources outside the
limits of national jurisdiction constitute the
common heritage of mankind and can be exploited
only for the benefit of all countries, under an
international regime and international machinery.
We shall regard as illegal any use of the
international sea-bed zone by States that have
adopted unilateral legislation or which have
subscribed to agreements of reciprocity contrary
to the principles of the Convention. We trust
that those States will refrain from following a
course whose implications would be very grave in
the area of international law and in the
development of friendly co-operation among
countries, as well as in relation to policies
applicable to other areas of ocean space.
33. The results of the second special session
of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament
are discouraging. Not only was there no progress
with respect to what had been agreed at the first
special session on disarmament, but the consensus
of 1978 itself has apparently been challenged.
34. It is indispensable that all countries of
the international community, particularly the
nuclear Powers, participate in a new effort to
move forward in the complex problem of
disarmament. For its part, Peru will continue to
exert efforts, both internationally and
regionally, to effect limitation of arms
expenditures and to protect Latin America and
other regions of the developing world from the
nuclear threat, in the conviction that the goal
of disarmament will be reached only by approaches
that take due account of the interests of all
parties.
35. We are witnessing a day-by-day
deterioration of the opportunities for diplomatic
negotiation and political agreement. In view of
this, the movement of non-aligned countries
clearly has a role to play. Its objectives and
its reason for existence as an independent
factor in international relations have become all
the more significant and relevant in view of the
grim picture we are facing in all parts of the
world.
36. The international economic situation
could not be more critical. Inflation and
recession continue to be the main features of a
crisis that has ceased to be a mere slump in the
business cycle. While it is true that the crisis
affects everyone, it is also true that we are not
all equally affected. Unemployment is the most
serious social consequence of the international
economic crisis, but the developing countries,
unlike the industrialized countries, find it
difficult to provide help for the unemployed.
Capital goods have continued to rise in price,
in inverse proportion to the prices of raw
materials. Financing for development projects is
becoming increasingly costly and difficult to
find. The industrialized countriesósome more than
othersóare beginning to introduce tariff and non-
tariff barriers which are contrary to the spirit
of free trade that they themselves champion. The
mounting external debt now constitutes for all
countries, industrialized and developing alike,
both a burden and a thread not only to their
economic progress but to the very stability of
the international financial system.
37. Things cannot be allowed to remain as
they are much longer. The international economic
crisis is the result of grave difficulties of a
political and social order fisting the
international community. The sense of urgency
among peoples of the world today is accompanied
by a deep frustration at the lack of
understanding and inability Governments have
demonstrated in finding common approaches to
alleviating the tragic situation facing them.
38. We must prevent despair from setting in,
and we must remove tension in order to facilitate
the solution of grave problems that directly
affect international peace; and security. A
supreme effort on the part of all members of the
international community is required to find a
minimum consensus that will enable them to
reactivate the world economy, at the same time
taking care to prevent the return of inflation.
39. We therefore consider it to be
appropriate to agree on an emergency world
economic plan, in which all States and
international organizations would participate
without discrimination or self-exclusion. To that
effect, my Government will put forward at Session
of the General Assembly, a proposal for the
immediate adoption of such plan, in order to give
impetus to the recovery of the world economy.
40. At the same time, we must continue our
efforts for the construction of a new
international economic order. We must emphasize
that the launching of global negotiations is an
imperative need for the international community
as a whole, in order to rebuild, from the ground
up, the imbalanced system of international
economic relations.
41. My Government recognizes the position
assumed by the developed countries at the
Versailles Economic Summit in June, and is
prepared to co-operate closely W3th the rest of
the countries of the Group of 77, in the
definition of a consensus that would permit the
earliest possible beginning of global
negotiations. In view of the urgency of the
present circumstances, my Government expresses
the hope that at this session the General
Assembly will adopt a resolution stipulating the
beginning of global negotiations.
42. Peru is also aware of the importance of
the sixth session of UNCTAD, to be held next year
in Belgrade. The serious problems faced by the
developing countries make it imperative that that
Conference achieves specific results, especially
in the important areas of primary commodities,
trade, currency and finance.
43. Peru also reiterates its support for the
Integrated Programme for Commodities and the
Common Fund for Commodities, as a central
instrument for the organization of international
trade in such com-modities.
44. My country, as a member of the
Consultative Group of 18, is participating in
preparations for the ministerial meeting of GATT
to be held later this year. We find it
indispensable that that meeting attach priority
to the interests of the developing countries in
view of the reduced benefits that they have
derived from multilateral trade negotiations,
bearing in mind that the process of global
negotiations must not be disturbed.
45. Peru wishes to reaffirm the great
importance of South-South co-operation for the
developing countries and unreservedly supports
the implementation of the Programme of Action
adopted at the High-Level Conference on Economic
Co-operation among Developing Countries in May
1981 at Caracas.^ In this context, we support the
immediate convening of a meeting to establish a
generalized system of preferences among the
developing countries as a practical and effective
means of promoting our economic links.
46. Next year the Republics of America will
celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the
birth of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar, the
founder of nations, a man of his time and of our
time. We hope that his spirit of freedom and
justice will preside over the endeavours of
Governments today and we pay a well-deserved
tribute to his memory and to his work.
47. This thirty-seventh session of the
General Assembly is taking place in particularly
difficult circumstances. It has been many years
since we have seen an economic crisis such as
that of today, in which communication among
States is so charged with anxiety and
discouragement is so prevalent among our peoples.
48. Our country has demonstrated its
dedication to peace, defence of the principles of
law and international conciliation, which we do
not wish to abandon. We believe that the only way
in which the urgent problems of mankind can be
faced and overcome is through negotiation, and we
reaffirm our faith in the United Nations as the
highest forum of the peoples. For all these
reasons, we declare that Peru will spare no
effort to ensure that this session will be
qualitatively different from others more
effective and more committed to the goals of
reconciliation and harmony, peace, freedom, law
and justice.