1. It is not simply as a formal gesture that I open my statement by expressing to you, Mr. President, on behalf of the Government and people of Cuba, my sincerest congratulations on your election as President of the Assembly for this regular session. I do so with the legitimate pride and obvious pleasure of one who feels he shares this great and well-deserved honour. We are Americans, too, and ours are the triumphs of her ’sons .as well as the griefs, anxieties and hopes of her peoples. In the person of yourself, a Peruvian of distinction who has unremittingly and unswervingly striven to the highest principles of international coexistence, the new Cuba feels itself to be adequately represented in this universal parliament of nations.
2. I shall be more explicit. The new Cuba which I have the honour to represent has maintained, is maintaining and will continue to maintain in its international relations a position consistent with the nature and national objectives of the revolution which gave it full political freedom and which is now transforming its economic structure and social character. Today, for the first time in its history, Cuba is truly free, independent and sovereign, and its foreign policy has thus freed itself of all bondage, oppression and servitude. During the tragic seven years in which this seat was occupied by a lackey of the overthrown dictatorship, Cuba’s vote was invariably controlled by outsiders. Today, Cuba votes on its own behalf and in accordance with its own foreign policy. It showed this clearly when the question of the Cameroons was being discussed and it has recently given further evidence of it in abstaining in the vote on the draft resolution concerning the vexed question of the representation of China. Let me make this quite clear: the last sparks of colonialism in the Republic were totally extinguished with the shameful flight of Fulgencio Batista, the ex-dictator, and the establishment of the revolutionary Government. The dawn of the era of deliverance which this present year ushered in lit up a new stage in the history of America. It is not in vain that the revolution in Cuba had brought its own up-to-date policies to bear upon its chronic problems and to restore to human dignity the universal values that have been laughed to scorn in this hemisphere and at other latitudes.
3. The scope and extent of the Cuban revolution may be accurately gauged from the campaign of falsehoods, calumnies and vituperation directed against it by North American telegraphic agencies and by the Press of various countries whose reactionary attitude and interfering tendencies are well known. The same interests, which remained silent, solely for reasons of expediency, in the face of the horrible crimes committed by Batista, are those which now, in collusion with a few senators and the Cuban war criminals, are instigating, organizing and financing this campaign, the primary purpose of which is to create an international climate favourable both to counter-revolutionary invasions having their headquarters in Miami and in the Dominican Republic, such as the one which was recently discovered and crushed, and to foreign intervention on the false pretext of "Communist infiltration in official circles".
4. But neither this malicious campaign, nor these preposterous schemes, nor this threat of foreign intervention will make us yield an inch in our defence of the right of self-determination of the Cuban people and of the progressive development of our revolution. What we have been able to achieve as men, we shall hold on to as men, and we are confident that we have the moral support of the under-developed peoples of America, Africa and Asia, for the overthrow of the Cuban revolution would entail their own defeat and hence an obvious delay in the inexorable progress of their liberation. We are equally confident that we can rely in like measure on the sympathy of the more advanced peoples and, above all, on that of the people of North America, who forged the liberty, progress and prosperity which they now enjoy in the course of a determined struggle against all the obstacles that arose in their path. The America of Jefferson, Hamilton and Lincoln, although different in its origin, language and history, has the same human aspirations as has the America of Bolivar, Juarez and Marti.
5. Mankind is today confronted with a situation in which birth and death, ebb and flow, light and shade, illusion and anguish, are intermingled and confused. It could not be otherwise in a period of change in which the sceptre of history is in dispute, and which is compounded of progress and stagnation and of new and old ideas, methods, values and processes. One of the most striking paradoxes of this decisive period is that, whereas the great Powers are investing fabulous sums in the means of destruction and are boldly preparing for the conquest of the universe, there are millions of helpless men and women who rise at dawn and go hungry to bed. There is indeed an alarming lack of balance between the rate of technical progress and the rate of social progress. Poverty increases as man probes the secrets of nature. Freedom abounds in outer space but is lacking in our own planet. Human dignity is on the decline while scientific knowledge is in the ascendant. The material world, in the control of privileged minorities, is already triumphing over the wo rid of the spirit and is seeking to fetter and degrade it. Governments appear to be ranged in hostile blocs, yet never before have they been so interdependent and has there been so pressing a need for understanding and association among peoples living at the mercy of the spark that could kindle a terrible nuclear conflagration for their destruction. And while the earth's peaceful satellite draws daily nearer to a state of vassalage to the earth, peace moves farther and farther away from this terrestrial globe.
6. It is these violent contradictions, which spring from the way in which power, wealth and culture have been used and are still commonly used, that must be overcome without delay by exchanging the means of destruction for the means of production and making man himself the be-all and end-all of political, economic, social and cultural organization in national and international coexistence. The primary task and the main duty of the United Nations, in accordance with its principles and purposes, is to work unceasingly to replace our present world, built for death, by a world designed for living.
7. The international policy of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba fully reflects the humanitarian feelings which shape and govern its national policy, fashioned by the needs and aspirations of the people who sustain it. It is, alas, an undeniable fact that the world of today is split up into two large groups, one led by the United States of America and the other by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, both armed to the teeth, and a third group, possessing far more moral than physical strength, which tries to serve as a bridge between them. Cuba belongs by history and tradition, geographical position and international obligations to what is known as the Western group. The Revolutionary Government of Cuba, however, will neither accept nor admit false dilemmas or prefabricated divisions. In specific terms this means that we do not accept the view that the only choice is between the capitalist and the communist solution. There are other roads and other solutions that are wholly democratic, and Cuba has now found its own road and solution to its problems — the solution chosen by the Latin American peoples which, with natural differences of emphasis, provides us with common ground with the under-developed peoples of Africa and Asia in their courageous search for self-expression. Cuba's role in the world is to be itself and, as José Marti said, not to be an instrument used by one part of the world against another. We will never be a docile pawn on the chessboard of power politics. It is high time that the great Powers ceased arbitrarily to decide the fate of small nations. The coercive action in Guatemala, Guiana, Hungary, Algeria and Tibet must not be repeated.
8. In the face of this complex situation, the Revolutionary Government of Cuba has maintained, is maintaining and will continue to maintain its own policy, designed to serve the best interests of the people it represents and of kindred peoples. Although we cherish the ideal of a free world democratically united in its diversity, and recognize that our times call for a world outlook and that this is an organization dedicated to the improvement of human relations in international affairs, it is natural that we should feel ourselves to be closely tied by our common background, history, culture and destiny to the Latin American peoples. Shoulder to shoulder with them, we will fight America's great battle against economic under-development which cripples, enslaves and impoverishes and is at the root of the political upheavals, dictatorships and tyrannies of which we have been and indeed still are the victims.
9. We choose neither capitalism in its historical sense nor communism in its present form. As Dr. Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban revolution and Prime Minister of our Government has said: "We maintain our own position between the world's two rival ideologies or political and economic systems. We have called our position a humanistic position, because of its humane methods, because we seek to free men from fear, domination and dogmas. We are revolutionizing society without oppression or intimidation. The world's great problem is that it has been put in a position where it has to choose between capitalism, which kills with hunger, and communism, which solves economic problems but suppresses the freedoms that are man's dearest possession. What Cubans and Latin Americans want beyond all else is a revolution that will satisfy their material needs without sacrificing their freedoms. If we achieve this by democratic means the Cuban revolution will occupy a proud place in world history. We do not mean the same thing by freedom as do the reactionaries, who speak of elections but not of social justice. Without social justice democracy is impossible, for men would be the slaves of poverty. That is why we have said that we are a step ahead of the left and the right, and that this is a humanistic revolution because it does not dehumanize man, because man is its primary concern. Capitalism sacrifices man, and the communist state, with its totalitarian ideas, sacrifices the rights of man. That is why we do not agree with either system. Each nation must develop its own political system, bom of its own needs, and not imposed or imitated. Ours is a revolution sprung from the land of Cuba itself, ask Cuban as our music. Who would expect all nations to listen to the same music? Our revolution is not red but olive green, because olive green is our colour, the colour of the revolution which had its origin in the Rebel Army, in the depths of the Sierra Maestra".
10. This is not a third, fourth or fifth position: it is our position, the unique position of the Revolutionary Government and the 26 July Movement, which is equidistant from totalitarian and pseudo-democratic systems of government and finds its expression in government by public opinion at home and in open-door diplomacy abroad.
11. Humanism, as an idea, can be traced back to ancient Greece. In the brilliant maturity of the century of Pericles It was expressed in a saying still remembered by posterity: "Man is the measure of all things". In that society, based on slavery, the only man who could be the measure of all things was the owner of slaves. Centuries later, the idea was given new meaning when, in a society based on servitude, Christianity asserted the inviolability of the human conscience as the safeguard of the dignity of the individual. The humanism of the Renaissance, the exquisite flower of the most miraculous spring-time of the mind known to history, endeavoured in vain, in that emergent society, with its divided interests, forces, relations and opposing values, to make the quality of being human the common denominator of all groups, occupations and classes, ingenuously entrusting the elimination of social inequalities to an act of individual will. With the Enlightenment humanism again flowered as an idea and during the French Revolution was given concrete expression in the famous slogan: "liberty, equality, fraternity". But although the overthrow of absolutism, mechanical inventions and the emancipating American revolutions tended to close the gap between idea and reality, the gap is now being widened and deepened as a result of the predominance of the profit motive, the pathological misdirection of technology and the growing worship of the State, with the consequent decline in the status of the individual, the mechanization of poverty and the employment of human genius in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction.
12. Never before has any social system dehumanized man to such a degree. But never before has humanism demonstrated what it means as an ideal and in its practical implications as in the Cuban revolution. The idea that man is the most valuable capital and that power, wealth and culture must be subordinated to the effective satisfaction of his physical and spiritual wants is the driving force of the new Cuba which is being built, in the face of prejudice, privilege, resistance and conspiracies. And in order "to raise justice to the sides and ensure that Cubans enjoy their full rights" the revolution has altered the system of land tenure, the taxation system, the tariff system, educational methods and even the way of life, thus laying the foundations for subsequent industrial development without sacrificing a single individual or public liberty. Today for the first time there is government in the name of the people, by the people, for the people. In other words: it is the people that governs, since the revolutionary power is their power and as such is the rightful government. But because the revolution is deep-rooted and broadly based on democratic ideals, it does not persecute or fear any opinion and protects the free expression of all ideologies, however reactionary or extremist they may be. Respect for the views of others and for the dignity of the human person is the ultimate key to the humanism of the Cuban revolution.
13. If even the ordinary citizens of the great Powers dream today of lasting peace at the cost of coexistence, the Cuban people, because of the small size of their country and their defencelessness, need peace even more in order to survive and build a freer, more just and better life. We accordingly warmly support the efforts made to reduce the existing tensions, guarantee the right of the under-developed countries to develop freely and lay the foundation of a secure and lasting peace. The recent conferences in Europe and the conversations which are now going on between the President of the United States of America and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are encouraging signs. It is, however, disappointing that the conversations were planned and arranged without taking into account the views of the small nations and in particular of the members of the Latin American community, which represents the moral, political, economic and cultural strength of 200 million people. That regional community is entitled, if only because of its considerable importance in the international community, to be informed and consulted about matters affecting it directly. To settle such matters behind the backs of its members is, to say the least, improper. If we are morally and legally equal as States in this Assembly, problems affecting war and peace should be discussed in this forum or our legal and moral equality is a mere form of words.
14. My country also wishes to place on record its dissatisfaction with the fact that a subject of such vital importance as disarmament has been virtually withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the Assembly. There is no alternative but to accept the report prepared by the Committee of Tan, to which the four Powers have given decisive powers.
15. Cuba is vitally interested in the ending of the cold war and the strengthening of peace, and considers it essential that an effective and lasting agreement on disarmament should be reached as rapidly as possible. The unrestricted arms race in which the great Powers have engaged; bodes no good. The time has come to devise acceptable ways and means of ending or at least checking or Controlling it.
16. Cuba advocates the permanent cessation of thermo-nuclear weapons tests and opposes. France's plan to conduct such tests in the Sahara. The millions of human beings who would run the risk of death as a result of radioactive fall-out are of more account than the scientific or military prestige of France or of any other country.
17. Our hard-working, peace-loving people wishes to coexist and trade with all the countries of the earth, particularly with those of this hemisphere. It is so deeply attached to peace that it is turning its barracks into schools and its tanks into tractors. And because it is peace-loving and wishes to live in peace, the Government which represents it reaffirms its resolute intention to support any agreements which may be adopted on disarmament and the total cessation of thermo-nuclear tests.
18. The only country with which Cuba has severed diplomatic relations is the Dominican Republic; we were forced to do so, not only because of the repeated unprovoked attacks on our diplomatic representatives and the harbouring of the Cuban war criminals who have taken asylum in that country, but also because of the commission of international offences incompatible with the relevant inter-American agreements. But we are hopeful that this enforced breaking-off of diplomatic relations, which does not and cannot apply to the Dominican people, will be of brief duration, since the consequences will disappear when the causes have been eliminated.
19. The decline of the colonial system in Asia and Africa, long a reservoir of raw materials for imperialist Powers, is one of the most encouraging features of an otherwise depressing international picture. Millions of men who for centuries have been under a foreign yoke may now be politically classified as able to govern themselves and to decide their own fate in the concert of States. Cuba, a nation which for long centuries suffered materially and spiritually from the insults, exactions and injuries inflicted under a colonial yoke, joyfully welcomes this awakening of Africa and Asia and the formation of free sovereign nations in many of the formerly subject and exploited regions. Their participation in the United Nations is a very valuable contribution to the cause of international understanding and co-operation, and hence to the peace and stability of the world.
20. The emancipation of the dependent territories and of those nations in Africa which are still subjugated would undoubtedly contribute to accelerating and strengthening the régime of security and coexistence which we all desire. Some of these nations and territories, such as the Cameroons under French administration, Somaliland under Italian administration, Togoland under French administration and Nigeria, are already in the peaceful process of becoming independent States. Others, like Algeria, have been compelled to assert their desire for freedom and sovereignty through violence, which is always justified in resisting evil, injustice and oppression. This valiant people has already, in an epic struggle, won the right to enter the international community, and therefore Cuba will vote in favour of Algerian independence.
21. Political independence, however, without a strong and varied national economic structure, usually tends to be illusory, and is sometimes merely a formal cloak for an actual protectorate. Thus the stability and progress of the emancipated peoples of Africa and Asia are closely related to their economic development. This is the problem which on various levels and under varied circumstances also confronts the Latin American nations.
22. Cuba has already taken domestic measures to lay the foundation for an independent, diversified economic structure, with freedom of movement in the world market. To that effect, it has abolished the "latifundios" and has undertaken a comprehensive programme of agrarian reform which, together with an adequate fiscal; tariff and credit system, constitutes the indispensable basis for its industrial development. It is difficult, however, to attain such an ambitious goal in a short time without large-scale assistance from foreign States. Foreign private investments, useful and desirable as they may be to national development, and international credit institutions are not able to provide even the minimum economic resources which are required. Operation Pan America, initiated by the President of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek, is unquestionably one of the most far-reaching projects in this field. At the meeting of the Committee of Twenty-one held at Buenos Aires at the beginning of 1959, the Prime Minister of Cuba, Dr. Fidel Castro, requested the United States of America, as an effective solution of the problem of under-development in Latin America, to provide public financing of $30,000 million over a period of ten years. This would be the best way to root out political instability in Latin America and to ensure the continued prosperity of representative democracy. Cuba will renew this request at the Inter-American Conference at Quito. There is no other way of consolidating the future of the emancipated countries of Africa and Asia. The United Nations, which is under an obligation to watch over that future, must give these countries the economic help and technical assistance which they require to speed up the development of their backward economies and to raise their levels of income and of employment.
23. It is hardly necessary to say that Cuba is opposed to any discrimination based on race, sex, ideology or religion, and therefore protests most strongly against the policy of "apartheid" and against any type of persecution, because of ideological or religious nonconformity, on either side of the barriers which separate the East and the West.
24. We cannot help recalling here with deep bitterness the failure of the United Nations to respond to the anguished appeals by civic, professional, cultural and religious institutions in Cuba, that it should call a halt, in the name of outraged humanity, to the excesses, tortures and crimes committed with impunity under Batista's cruel dictatorship.
25. On the regional level, the American republics have faced various conflicting problems and situations in the Caribbean area. The fifth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American States at Santiago, Chile, was officially convened to study "tensions" in that area. There can be no doubt that the international enemies of the Cuban revolution hoped to place Cuba, whose attitude towards the remaining dictatorships in the hemisphere is well known, in the position of the accused, that is to represent it as a victim instead of an aggressor. Cuba accepted the invitation and submitted to the Organization of American States as the main item on the agenda, the relation between economic under-development and political instability. We took the view that the Meeting of Foreign Ministers would be meaningful and effective only if it sought to determine the fundamental cause of tensions existing not only in the Caribbean area but in all Latin America, since to confine them to one area would be both arbitrary and false. The essential cause of the tensions and political and social upheavals in Latin America, which are especially acute in the Caribbean area because of the authoritarian régimes in control, is economic under-development, with its inevitable corollaries: concentration of rural property, mass poverty, illiteracy, unsanitary living conditions, commercial dependency, absentee capital and political despotism. The item, which was finally included in the agenda despite stubborn and unreasonable resistance, was fully discussed at the Meeting of Foreign Ministers, and our point of view, generalized to cover all Latin America, was incorporated in the resolution adopted. Cuba also succeeded in having the meetings open to the public, and publicly championed the principle of non-intervention, respect for human rights, the inviolability of the right of asylum of exiles, the incompatibility of dictatorships with the inter-American legal system and the right of every State to reject any investigation into its internal affairs. Cuba also succeeded in completely defeating the draft resolution setting up an international police force, which would have been in violation of the American constitutional order and would have served exclusively the interests of the dictatorships and the economic combines supporting them. Cuba came out of the fifth Meeting of Foreign Ministers with greatly enhanced international prestige.
26. The work done by the United Nations in the economic, social and educational fields is worthy of all praise. In recognition of the excellent results achieved Cuba has this year considerably increased its contribution to the technical assistance activities and has also contributed to the World Refugee Year, although it considers that international philanthropy is insufficient to solve such an acute and tragic problem.
27. The new Cuba still has faith in the mission which the peoples have entrusted to the United Nations. This mission may be summed up in one word: peace. But peace to be deserved must be fought for, and it can be won only through an intense effort towards international understanding, co-operation and solidarity, based on respect for the dignity of the individual, on the right of the common man to the fruits of his labour and on the ascendancy of the spirit over technique. Bread with freedom, bread without terror is the strongest pillar of that solid and enduring peace which we all desire.