In unanimously electing Mr. Slim to preside over its sixteenth session the General Assembly has made an excellent choice, for in him are united all the qualities needed to guide the thinking and the action for which the peoples look to the United Nations at this turning-point in history.
2. The President's intelligence and tolerance, his moderation and impartiality, will, we are sure, do much to bring about at this session the understanding needed to restore to mankind the faith, optimism and joy that are today at a low ebb owing to the ominous threat of war.
3. May I congratulate the President on this well- deserved mark of confidence which the General Assembly has conferred upon him.
4. This sixteenth regular session of the United Nations General Assembly is opening under the violent shock caused by the tragic loss of Dag Hammarskjold.
5. The Secretary-General's incredible death by accident has sown dismay in the hearts of the international community. Representatives, Secretariat members, Government leaders, newspapermen, the general public and even his opponents appreciate this irreparable loss to the ranks of the best of humankind, those who hold tolerance, reflection and serenity above violence, the rule of law and reason above force;) those who fight for peace and want all men to be happy. For although his opponents might perhaps have been able to tax him with mistakes, no one could deny Dag Hammarskjold's worth in dedicating himself body and soul to the achievement of those ideals as he saw them, to the point where his own death constitutes in some sort the crowning martyrdom to that devotion.
6. As a result of the Secretary-General's demise, we are now faced with the need of appointing a successor to him. Article 97 of the United Nations Charter states: "The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council", My Government takes the view that this appointment should be made, if not immediately, with the least possible delay, as legally should be the
case, but not for that reason alone; politically speaking, it is not in the interest of the vast majority of the peoples represented here to delay too long in filling the vacant post. Needless to say, Venezuela is thinking in terms of a single Secretary-General.
7. Apart from the fact that the Charter so provides, there are practical reasons for maintaining the unitary character of the Secretariat. We believe that a change in its structure would not benefit the Organization in any way; that, on the contrary, its action might thereby be paralysed and the performance of its normal functions impeded. The argument that the international character of the Secretariat would be best safeguarded by a change to allow of representation of the main political divisions of the world is not, in our opinion, valid. Bather than to ensure the predominance of truly international interests and purposes, the result would be to subject that organ to daily disputes. In this respect, we agree with Mr. Hammarskjold's ideas, as expressed in the last document put out by him (Introduction to the Annual Report of the Secretary- General on the Work of the Organization):
"The exclusively international character of the Secretariat is not tied to its composition, but to the spirit in which it works and to its insulation from outside influences..[A/4800/Add.lt page 6].
8. All over the world men are watching, stunned, the latest worsening of the international situation, a situation which never before in history has been fraught with such peril for mankind. We have acclimatized ourselves to the cold war and learnt to breathe in its oppressive air, in the confident hope that Governments and their international organizations would find a road to understanding that would ensure the peaceful coexistence of nations.
9. But all the professions of sincerity, all the expressions of good will and all the pledges of greater effort to seek the way to peace are being frustrated, one after the other, by what can only be regarded as frenzied preparations for war.
10. Mankind is looking on in stunned dismay while, instead of progress, being made in the talks for banning nuclear weapons and for ending atom bomb tests for all time, the disarmament negotiations reach a deadlock and one of the great Powers responsible for the maintenance of peace without warning suddenly decides — and whatever the reasons adduced this is obviously iniquitous — to renew the testing of nuclear weapons of the most destructive kind.
11. Not only has this action served to increase the danger of a world holocaust whereby civilization would be wiped out but, in the immediate present, it is of itself helping to weaken the chances of survival of the human race by daily increasing the contamination of the earth's atmosphere with harmful radiation which, according to scientists, is injurious to man and to all living creatures on earth.
12. Hence, in speaking before this Assembly on behalf of the people and Government of Venezuela, my first duty is to record our profound consternation at the renewal of the nuclear tests. I am making this protest on behalf of a country that cannot use the language of threats but whose truly democratic domestic policy and peaceful tradition in international relations is the guarantee of its word.
13. Freedom, respect for human dignity and social justice are no longer mere provisions in the Constitution and the laws of the Venezuelan Republic: today, they have become a fecund reality, part of day-to-day existence, lacking which the nation's life would be unthinkable.
14. The principles of representative democracy and the rights of the individual, both as person and as citizen, have been enshrined for us in our Constitution and incorporated into cur daily life,
15. Venezuela, in putting forward at the international level its ideas for advancing the common weal of mankind, in demanding observance of principles and respect for rules, in asking other States to comply with international law and the obligations they have freely assumed, is asking nothing more than it is itself doing or is ready to do.
16. It is not therefore with the arrogance stemming from the possession of massive armaments — which, indeed, it does not possess — but with the moral strength conferred on a people by steadfast fulfilment, out of respect for its own sovereignty and its proven peaceful intentions, of its international obligations that Venezuela is come to this Assembly to ask for better faith and stricter and more honest adherence to the rules of international law on the part of the Governments represented here, for that is the most direct way of safeguarding peace and of working in concert for the well-being and advancement of mankind.
17. Governments that deny the most elementary rights to their citizens, countries that violate by force the rules governing coexistence in the international community, come here with inflammatory slogans with the intent of covering up the intolerance in their internal regimes and of confusing world public opinion. The intent is likewise, by resorting to subterfuge based on distorted interpretations of the Charter of the United Nations and of the constitutions of the regional bodies, to place obstacles in the way of the peoples' advancement and their right to make the economic and social changes essential for the achievement of maximum levels of well-being.
18. Too often the fact is expressly ignored that the existence of effective rules of international law alone is capable of bringing about the general and genuine undertaking on which a lasting peace may be based. The peoples of the world will gradually lose faith in the efficacy of international law and of the constitutions of world universal and regional organizations if the very Governments committed to ensure their observance hold them in contempt.
19. There are signs that the United Nations, having been established under the best auspices and with the lofty purpose of safeguarding the security of all peoples within a framework of harmonious coexistence, is in danger of being swept away, carrying with it the last hopes of mankind.
20. As early as April 1948, the present President of Venezuela, Mr. Romulo Betancourt, in his then capacity of head of Venezuela's delegation to the Ninth Inter-American Conference, sketched the ideas that have guided Venezuela's foreign policy, in delivering the closing speech of the Conference. At that time, he said that the effectiveness of multilateral agreements depends on the degree of true democracy in the signatory States and that "the fact that a distinction continued to be made between binding and non-binding obligations would detract from the moral authority of the system of relations that we have put together as well as from the ability to inspire confidence in the peoples of the world".
21. Thus, I wish above all else earnestly to appeal to this Assembly, to the great and the small Powers alike, to see to it that our efforts to find the answer to grave international problems are made in the spirit of harmony that inspired those systems of law — appeal for return to rule of law, to respect for principle and regulation, to fulfilment of obligations and of the pledged word, with the interest of mankind and its higher destinies in mind.
22. The principle of non-intervention in the affairs of other Governments has been zealously and consistently applied by Venezuela. In faithful and unflinching adherence to that principle, no armed expedition to overthrow the regime of another country has been or is being organized in my country. This stand is well known to the many groups of political exiles who have taken refuge under our flag and sought the hospitality of our land. This is not incompatible, but rather in keeping with our constant efforts, by word and deed, within our regional framework, to assure through concerted and collective action, compliance with the basic principle of the Charter of the Organization of American States, the general interpretation of which is that only Governments freely elected by their people and guaranteeing individual liberties and respect for human rights may be members of the OAS.
23. In conformity with this principle of non-intervention, Venezuela condemns the attempts of certain Governments, acting in collusion with disaffected political groups which serve as their fifth column for propaganda and for stirring up violence, to upset law and order and seek to change by force the political structure of other countries. It is our firm belief that, if international agreements are observed in good faith, changes in the political structure of any society should, in conformity with the provisions of the United Nations Charter, be decided upon by the people, in exercise of their right to self-determination.
24. Venezuela has firmly upheld this principle, which should serve to ensure the free expression by vote of the sovereign will of the peoples and not become a pretext for the seizure of power, through violence or usurpation, by dictatorships or regimes of force which withhold civil liberties. In this connexion, it is always in doubt that a regime that denies individual liberties and civil rights to its citizens, clamps down on freedom of the Press and information and on the right of minorities freely to form and operate as political parties, and obstructs the effective exercise of representative democracy, can be regarded as the legitimate outcome of the principle of self-determination of peoples.
25. The Government of Venezuela has been constantly active and on the alert to ensure that human rights, as formulated in the Charter of the world and regional systems of nations to which Venezuela belongs, are safeguarded and it is a cause of profound
concern to us that there are still countries today where those inherent rights of the individual are cruelly and shamefully vitiated and violated.
26. I would therefore ask that the Assembly should, by resolution, instruct the Commission on Human Rights to submit an open report annually on any violations of the guarantees inherent to human life and dignity on the part of States Members of the United Nations. The conscience of the civilized world cannot rest in peace so long as this Assembly has not taken proper steps to lay down sanctions against Governments which until now have been offending against human rights with impunity — those human rights respect for which is generally regarded, within the international system under which we are living, as essential for the maintenance of peace.
27. I now want to focus my. remarks on the subject among those before the Assembly that is of most vital and general interest. My purpose is to reiterate the fervent appeal of my Government and people to the great Powers asking them to make once again a sincere, a supreme effort to reach agreement on the banning of nuclear weapons and on world disarmament.
28. The President of Venezuela, as "Head of State of a small Latin-American country", >desired at his first meeting with the diplomatic corps at Caracas, to put on record that Venezuela stands for disarmament. On that occasion, President Betancourt said: "No people on any continent can be free from the fear that unresolved problems may lead to the holocaust of a third world war, which in this atomic era will be a war between continents rather than peoples and whose consequences for mankind no one can foresee."
29. At every session of this Assembly, the Venezuelan delegation has pressed this petition in defence of the survival of mankind, and will go on pressing it, with the utmost strength and persistence. My country is ready to unite its efforts with those of other peace- loving countries for the purpose of seeking a positive settlement of the problem of general disarmament, under effective international control.
30. Needless to say, our appeal implies that the atomic Powers should at the earliest date come to terms for the conclusion of an agreement on the immediate cessation of nuclear testing for war purposes. Mankind has the right to demand that it should at least be guaranteed against contamination of the air it breathes.
31. Nowadays, no one in his right mind can look on war as a means of settling a serious current problem. Negotiation is the only answer and it is the United Nations itself, where the voice of the peoples can be heard and the weight of world public opinion can make itself felt, that is the body best suited to establish the requisite climate and bases for negotiation,
32. There is another matter of grave concern to all States Members of the United Nations, because of the possible danger it presents to world peace, and that is the Berlin question, which is one part only of the more general problem of the reunification of Germany. My delegation is of the opinion that this matter should be settled by negotiation, bearing in mind, however, that in the final analysis the right to determine its fate lies with the German people itself, in accordance with the principle of self-determination of peoples expressly written into the Charter of the United Nations.
33. Before concluding, I should like once again to reaffirm my country's steadfast and unequivocal position on the colonial problem and the question of racial segregation, Venezuela, whose policy is rooted in its own attainment of independence, will continue in this world Organization to defend the right of the peoples still living under colonial or semi-colonial rule to full political and economic self-government. Likewise, we once more go on record as opposing all forms of racial discrimination.
34. In conclusion, I wish this Assembly the fullest measure of success, for the sake of the peoples represented here and for the sake of all mankind.