89. My opening words are intended for our President, Mr. Belaúnde, and although he is not present, I would ask the Chair for permission to read them.
90. Mr. President, to you has fallen the great and well-deserved honour of presiding over the work and discussions of this General Assembly of the United Nations in circumstances which may well prove decisive for the destiny of mankind- — at a dramatic moment when, thanks to the capacity for hope and faith which fortunately dwells in human hearts, a truce seems to have been called to the anxiety and anguish felt for so many years in the face of the prodigious advance of technology and the unprecedented growth in the power and the resources for destruction held by those States which are more highly developed in the economic, scientific, technological and industrial fields.
91. As an admirer of the virtues and excellences of your country, the Republic of Peru, and as an admirer also of your own distinguished qualities as statesman, diplomat, jurist, orator and writer, I am particularly glad to be able to express, before this world Assembly, the great pleasure felt by my country and my Government at your unanimous election to this high office, and my own personal pleasure at being able to wish you the best success — a success of which no one has the slightest doubt, for we are all familiar with your intellectual capacity, your thoughtfulness, tact and your long experience in the work of the United Nations, and that overflowing sympathy and nobility which are so characteristic of you.
92. Although I shall have to mention, in the course of my speech, the political problems and the important questions now before the United Nations, I should like to begin with the subject which is most directly related to the general welfare of the countries represented here and of those which are not yet represented but must be in the future if our Organization is really to give proof of that universality which should be inseparable from its existence. I refer, of course, to the problem of the under-development of vast regions of the world, which not only is manifested in the ignorance, disease and poverty that afflict many of their populations, but also has external repercussions, being an obvious cause of uneasiness, friction and dispute between peoples, and even of international war.
93. Within limits which it has so far been impossible to overcome, the United Nations is fulfilling a praiseworthy task in the field of international co-operation, through such important bodies and institutions as the Bureau of Technical Assistance Operations and the recently established Special Fund; and the delegation of El Salvador is pleased to recognize and welcome, on behalf of its Government, the co-operation received from both of these, as well as from the Economic Commission for Latin America [ECLA], particularly in connexion with the various projects in the programme of Central-American economic integration and with the first project for the Central American Institute for Research and Technology.
94. The programme of free trade and economic integration in Central America, which was started some years ago on the initiative of the Ministers of Economic Affairs of the five Central American republics — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua — within the framework of ECLA, is continuing to develop satisfactorily.
95. The eighth meeting of ECLA, which took place in the Middle of this year at Panama City, showed that the establishment of a Latin-American common market was regarded as a clear necessity for the development of the various countries in the region.
96. In connexion with the problem of under-development we Latin Americans attach the greatest importance to the initiative of the President of Brazil, Mr. Juscelino Kubitschek designed as it is to re-stimulate the unity and solidarity of our countries and their contribution to the cause of peace, through a policy — the so-called "Operation Pan-America" — intended to expedite the concerted development of our economies, as the most appropriate and effective weapon against poverty, Ignorance and distress among our peoples and in order to prevent dissatisfaction and desperation from leading them towards foreign ideologies alien to their historical, religious and cultural background but undoubtedly attractive in their fallacious presentation of an imaginary world of happiness to the masses' astonished eyes.
97. My Government, like the governments of all the American Republics, welcomed the Brazilian President's proposal and at once gave it enthusiastic support — for it is certain that, as the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs said in his speech in the General Assembly last year [749th meeting), no one is entitled to wave the flag of a new hope who pays no heed to the afflictions and needs of his own people, and who, on the pretext of serving the remote ideals of all mankind, takes no interest in remedying the immediate domestic ills weighing upon his own nation.
98. One of the most serious economic problems, causing most distress to a large number of countries is the instability and low level of prices on the world markets for such basic commodities as coffee, a product that is crucial for the economic systems of many Latin-American States and various African territories linked with European countries. The disequilibrium between the production and the consumption of coffee, and the consequent fall in prices, forced the Latin-American- producer-countries, three years ago, to start negotiations with a view to stabilization. The agreements reached covered only Latin American States until the happy conclusion in Washington, on 24 September 1959, of the International Coffee Agreement, signed not only by the Latin American producer-countries but also by the French Community on behalf of a number of territories and by Portugal on behalf of Angola. The United Kingdom and Belgium. On behalf of certain other territories, signed annexes giving grounds for hope that they, too, would co-operate in the development and execution of the agreement — the object is to adapt the supply of coffee to the demand, to ensure the proper placing of the product on international markets and to promote its consumption throughout the world, thus contributing to the expansion of trade between producer and consumer countries.
99. Although this international agreement is a transitional measure of relatively short duration, it does incorporate the possibility of arriving at a long-term agreement capable of normalizing the coffee trade in years to come, and there are good grounds for believing that its application will enable many States, including El Salvador, to enjoy an economic tranquillity which will help them to continue with their development programmes.
100. It is a source of satisfaction and pride to me to be able to speak, at this time, of the efforts now being made by the American States to strengthen democracy and the practical observance of human rights.
101. The charter of our regional organization, in complete accord with the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations, reaffirms that "the solidarity of the American States and the high aims which are sought through it require the political organization of those States on the basis of the effective exercise of representative democracy", and proclaims "the fundamental rights of the individual without distinction as to race, nationality, creed or sex".
102. Similar or identical declarations have been made on many occasions at inter-American meetings; and recently, at the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American States, held in mid-August in the Chilean capital, the Foreign Ministers crowned their labours of several days with the splendid Declaration of Santiago de Chile, which is an expression of the profound democratic convictions of our peoples. The operative part Of the Declaration reads as follows; "1. The principle of the rule of law should be assured by the separation of powers, and by the control of the legality of governmental acts by competent organs of the State. "2. The Governments of the American Republics should be derived from free elections. "3. Perpetuation in power, or the exercise of power without a fixed term and with the manifest intent of perpetuation, is incompatible with the effective exercise of democracy. "4. The Governments of the American States should ensure a system of freedom for the individual and social justice based on respect for fundamental human rights. "5. The human rights incorporated into the legislation of the various American States should be protected by effective Judicial procedures, "6. The systematic use of political proscription is contrary to American democratic order. "7. Freedom of press, of radio and television and, in general, freedom of information and expression, are essential conditions for the existence of a democratic régime. "8. The American States, in order to strengthen democratic institutions, should co-operate among themselves within the limits of their resources and the framework of their laws so as to strengthen and develop their economic structure, and achieve just and humane living conditions for their peoples".
103. In another equally important document, on "Economic under-development and the preservation of democracy", the Fifth Meeting of Foreign Ministers declared that "the stability of democracy, the safeguarding of human rights, the security of the hemisphere and its preservation from the dangers which threaten the freedom and independence of the American Republics demand increased economic co-operation among these republics with a view to raising the standard of living of their rapidly growing populations ".
104. The meeting of the American Ministers of Foreign Affairs decided to set up an inter-American commission on human rights, with the task of promoting respect for human rights. This commission is to be organized by the Council of the Organization of American States, and its specific duties will be prescribed for it by the Council.
105. The Foreign Ministers decided to entrust the Inter-American Council of Jurists with the task of preparing draft conventions on human rights and on the establishment of an inter-American court of human rights and other suitable bodies for the safeguarding and observance of those rights.
106. The Inter-American Council of Jurists, whose fourth meeting was held at Santiago de Chile shortly after the meeting of Foreign Ministers, used great diligence in drawing up a draft convention on human rights; in accordance with the Foreign Ministers' decision, this draft will be sent to Governments for study and will in due course be submitted for the consideration of the Eleventh International Conference of American States, to commence at Quito, the capital of Ecuador, on 1 February 1960.
107. This draft convention sets forth, on the one hand, civil and political rights and, on the other, social, economic and cultural rights. It also proposes the establishment of two organs: an Inter-American Court of human rights with juridical functions, and an inter-American commission for the protection of human rights, with protective functions.
108. All of us who had the privilege of taking part in the very important meetings at Santiago, Chile and of contributing actively to the preparation of the declarations and resolutions which I have mentioned and of the draft convention on human rights, cherish the hope that one day we shall see the principles and standards, laid down in these instruments by the Foreign Ministers and later by the American jurists, become a reality in each and every one of the Republics in this hemisphere.
109. As regards the proposed inter-American commission for the protection of human rights, although we have not forgotten the existence of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the significant fact that this is the only subsidiary organ whose establishment is envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations, we still feel some concern at the discouraging circumstance that the United Nations Commission, of its own free will, renounced from the outset the task of truly promoting human rights, as required by the Charter — which prompted the distinguished jurist and writer Lauterpacht to say of it: "A Commission on Human Rights which by a self- denying ordinance is precluded from taking other than purely nominal action with regard to complaints of violations of human rights would not be fulfilling the object which according to the letter and the spirit of the Charter it is in a position to fulfil.”
110. In practice, the Commission on Human Rights devotes itself solely to the preparation of drafts relating to human rights: among other productions of undeniable merit, it is responsible for the draft on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was based, and for two draft covenants on human rights which the Third Committee of the General Assembly has been studying, in a leisurely fashion, for several years. We are confident that the inter-American commission will follow a different course. Its very name — the inter-American commission for the protection of human rights — reflects the protective functions with which we wish to invest it.
111. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador Mr. Alfredo Ortiz Mancia, and his advisers at the Santiago Meeting (our Ambassadors in Washington and Lima, Mr. Hector David Castro and Mr. Francisco Lino Osegueda), together with the present speaker and many other delegates, placed all their energies and faith in America's destiny in the service of cooperation in this important work, the results of which were fully reported by the International agencies.
112. We were fortunate in enjoying the enthusiastic support of the President of the Republic, Lieutenant- Colonel Jose Maria Lemus, who in his message of 14 September 1959 to the Legislative Amenably, reporting on the work done in the third year of his administration, used the following words, which it seems opportune to recall here, in connexion with democracy and respect for human rights: "At the start of my period in office I proclaimed that my electoral victory implied no distinction between the winning and the losing side, and I was determined from the outset not to follow any traditional procedure whereby some come to power while others go to prison or into exile. So far, despite a certain lack of understanding for the Government's policy, no one can name any political prisoner or point to anyone who has been exiled, persecuted or tortured for his political ideas or personal opinions".
113. Of all the political problems on the agenda for this session of the General Assembly, the most important, without any doubt, is that of disarmament.
114. In addition to the item concerning the report of the Disarmament Commission [item 66], we find on the agenda so close a linking of certain items to the fundamental question that one of them — general and complete disarmament [item 70] — is evidently the question itself, albeit pressed to Its logical conclusion. The prevention of the wider dissemination of nuclear weapons [item 67] and the suspension of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons tests [item 69] are also closely related to disarmament, since they are intended to limit or reduce the military power of States. The case is otherwise with the question of French nuclear tests in the Sahara [item 68], where the object is to prevent the conducting of such tests in that part of the world, without contesting France's right to carry them cut elsewhere, or trying to curtail that country's opportunities of increasing its military power through the possession and perfecting of nuclear weapons.
115. Four of the permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, France, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union — recently made a curious approach to the problem of disarmament by setting up a disarmament committee consisting of themselves and of Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Poland and Romania.
116. According to the communique issued by them [DC/144], the four permanent members of the Security Council hope that the results achieved in these deliberations will provide a useful basis for the consideration of disarmament in the United Nations. They state that they will keep the Disarmament Commission and through it the General Assembly and the Security Council informed of the progress of the deliberations of the committee. The fact is, however, that this committee has been set up in an unusual manner, without the participation or the knowledge of the United Nations. At its last session, the General Assembly decided that the Disarmament Commission should be composed of all the Member States [resolution 1252 D (XIII)], and now we find that neither the armament Commission nor the General Assembly nor the Security Council was consulted when a committee was set up with a view to exploring avenues of possible progress toward the limitation and reduction of all types of armaments and armed forces under effective international control. The only step taken was to ask that the Disarmament Commission should be convened in order that it might be informed of the decisions reached by the great Powers.
117. No other course is open to us but to express the hope that the deliberations of this disarmament committee may be crowned with success and that by this means we may succeed in finding a solution for the most difficult and thorny political problem of our times.
118. The recent visit of Mr. Nikita S. Khrushchev, Chairman. of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, to the United States would seem to provide good reason for hoping that the cold war will be brought to an end and that problems such as disarmament, the anomalous situation of Germany and so on will be solved. Without wishing to be too pessimistic, we cannot, however, escape the fear that behind this fervent enthusiasm for peace, coexistence and friendly cooperation between the peoples of the world which the head of the Soviet Government put into his speeches there lies an intention to continue with expansionist plans and to keep large parts of Eastern Europe and other areas of the world in a state of subjection. We can only await the results of the talks between Mr. Khrushchev and the President of the United States, Mr. Eisenhower, and see what attitude will be adopted henceforward by the Soviet representatives in the General Assembly, the ten-Power disarmament committee and the Geneva meetings.
119. The Government of my country is anxious that a solution be found to world political problems and, more especially, that a satisfactory agreement be reached on the status of Berlin and that the artificial and prolonged partition of Germany, Korea, and Viet- Nam be brought to an end. None of these questions can be finally and lastingly solved unless the right of peoples to self-determination and the right of nations to unity and independence are taken into account.
120. No political change should be carried out by force or against the will of the peoples directly concerned. Only when this principle is genuinely respected and complied with shall we have ensured that mankind will live in peace and abundance, for only then will justice prevail in international affairs.
121. This brings us to the deplorable case of Tibet, where the situation, already condemned by El Salvador at the fifth regular session of the General Assembly in November 1950, has now become extremely serious. On that occasion, when Communist forces under the control of Peiping wrongfully invaded the territory of that small and peaceful country, the delegation of El Salvador, acting under special instructions from its Government, made an urgent request for the inclusion in the agenda of the General Assembly of an item entitled "Invasion of Tibet by foreign forces".
122. In his supporting memorandum, the then Chairman of the delegation of El Salvador, Mr. Hector David Castro said among other things: "The fact that such forces were going to be sent into the territory of Tibet was publicly announced at Peiping. The news was also given out that some plenipotentiaries from Tibet were being sent to Peiping in order to negotiate with the Government there for the purpose of settling the differences and avoiding an open conflict. In spite of this peaceful gesture, the forces were sent and have penetrated into the territory of the State of Tibet, The Government of Tibet has appealed to the United Nations to use its good offices in order to obtain a peaceful solution of the already existing conflict, This appeal cannot be ignored, unless the General Assembly of the United Nations is ready to ignore its primary responsibility 'to maintain international peace and security' to which paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the Charter refers." A little further on, Mr. Castro stated: "The Government of El Salvador, in giving instructions to its delegation to request the General Assembly to include in its agenda for its present session the case of Tibet, has stated that it would be fatal to the credit of the United Nations before the eyes of the world if a case of international aggression such as has taken place in the small country of Tibet, which has an autonomous Government, were to be ignored by our Organisation."
123. The supporting memorandum was accompanied by a draft resolution worded as follows: "The General Assembly, "Taking note that the peaceful nation of Tibet has been Invaded, without any provocation on its part, by foreign forces proceeding from the territory controlled by the government established at Peiping, "Decides "1. To condemn this act of unprovoked aggression against Tibet; "2. To establish a committee composed of ... (names of nations) … which will be entrusted with the study of the appropriate measures that could be taken by the General Assembly on this matter; "3. To Instruct the committee to undertake that study with special reference to the appeal made to the United Nations by the Government of Tibet, and to render its report to the General Assembly, as early as possible, during the present session."
124. The General Committee decided to adjourn sine die consideration of the inclusion of the item proposed by El Salvador in the agenda of the General Assembly. In so doing, it was chiefly influenced by the opinion expressed in the General Committee by the representative of India.
125. I take the following paragraphs from the relevant summary record of the General Committee; "24. The Jam Saheb of NAWANAGAR (India) said his Government had given careful study to the problems raised by the proposal of El Salvador to place the question of the Invasion of Tibet by foreign forces on the General Assembly agenda. That was a matter of vital interest to both China and India. The Committee was aware that India, as a neighbour of both China and Tibet, with both of which it had friendly relations, was the country most interested in a settlement of the problem. That was why the Indian Government was particularly anxious that it should be settled peacefully. "25. He had no desire to egress an opinion on the difficulties which had arisen between China and Tibet, but would point out that, in the latest note received by his Government, the Peking Government had declared that it had not abandoned its intention to settle those difficulties by peaceful means. It would seem that the Chinese forces had ceased to advanced after the fall of Chamdo, a town some 480 kilometres from Lhasa, The Indian Government was certain that the Tibetan question could still be settled by peaceful means, and that such a settlement could safeguard the autonomy which Tibet had enjoyed for several decades while maintaining its historical association with China. "26. His delegation considered that the best way of attaining that objective was to abandon, for the time being, the idea of including that question in the agenda of the General Assembly. That was why he supported the United Kingdom representative's proposal that consideration of the request for inclusion should be adjourned." Such then were the results of the action which we took in 1950 on behalf of Tibet.
126. Nine years later, when constant references are being made in the Press and in diplomatic circles to the indignity suffered by the Dalai Lama when he was obliged to flee his own country, and to the further aggression committed by the totalitarian Peiping régime, we Salvadorians can only deplore the fact that it 'was not thought wise to hearken to us on that occasion and that the United Nations decided to fold its arms when faced with an undoubted act of aggression against a defenceless country.
127. El Salvador, which is always ready to champion good causes, will welcome and support any action or any resolution on the part of the United Nations that is designed to restore the traditional Independence of Tibet and to condemn this flagrant violation of the political, social and religious system of that country, the temporal and spiritual authority of the Dalai Lama, and the fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people. These violations have reached a stage at which they can be regarded as constituting the international crime of genocide.
128. In order to show to what extent the United Nations can contribute to the solution of acute political problems, I should like to recall what happened in the Cyprus question.
129. As we are all aware, this question was discussed at a number of sessions of the General Assembly, and it seemed difficult, if not impossible, for the points of view of the three countries concerned and of the peoples living in the island to be reconciled. It is gratifying to note, however, that after the debate which took place at the thirteenth session, and after the General Assembly had adopted a resolution in which it expressed its confidence that continued efforts would be made by the parties to reach a peaceful, democratic and just solution in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations [resolution 1287 (XIII)], the Governments of Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom, in a commendable spirit of prudence and conciliation and without omitting to include in their discussions the peoples directly involved — that is the Greek and the Turkish communities in Cyprus — succeeded in finding a formula for the .solution of the political problem of that famous Mediterranean island; a solution which, fortunately, brings closer together three allied and traditionally friendly countries and reestablishes the bond between them.
130. I had the great honour of being chairman of the First Committee of the General Assembly at the thirteenth session, and it is with pleasure that I now recall the debate between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Greece and Turkey, Mr. Averoff-Tossizza and Mr. Zorlu, and the then chairman of the United Kingdom delegation, Mr. Noble. The lofty, erudite and sagacious exchanges which regularly took place in the First Committee between the Greek and the Turkish Foreign Ministers are still fresh in the memory of many of us.
131. The delegation of El Salvador would like to convey its congratulations to the delegations of the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey, and to the Greek and the Turkish communities in Cyprus, on the successful conclusion of the negotiations about the future of the island and on the fact that those negotiations, which took place in conformity with the principles and purposes of the United Nations, succeeded in solving a thorny international problem and in bringing to an end the differences which had arisen between three Member States. In common with other territories which are now on the verge of independence, the republics of Cyprus will soon enter the community of free nations, and will be warmly welcomed as a new Member of this Organization.
132. The example of Cyprus leads us to believe that other questions frequently debated in the United Nations could also be solved if the parties concerned undertook to find a satisfactory solution and to that end would each, without abandoning principle, agree to waive part of its demands.
133. We hope, for instance, that this will be true of the Algerian question and we are encouraged in our hopes by the statement recently made by the President of the French Republic, General de Gaulle, which would seem to suggest that the day is not far distant when this perilous conflict between a great European country and the long-suffering and determined Algerian people will come to an end.
134. Is it really so impossible that, in like manner, a solution can be found for the very grave problems which for so long have divided Israel and the Arab States?
135. If we say that it is impossible, then we are forgetting with what effectiveness and vigour this Organization has proved itself to be the most powerful of all factors making for peaceful competition and for international negotiation and understanding, and we are losing sight of the maturity, the sense of responsibility and the devotion to progress and to the general happiness which, I am pleased to say, are characteristic both of the great array of Arab States and of the young and vigorous State of Israel.
136. In a statement such as the one I have the honour to be making on behalf of my country, it would indeed be futile to attempt to cover the vast number and variety of items of a universal or regional character which are within the purview of the United Nations and are dealt with either by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council or the specialized agencies.
137. I have, dwelt at some length on a few of these items, and, in conclusion, I should merely like to say that the United Nations must not and, I am sure, will not cease to do everything in its power to reduce and even remove the prevailing tension in international relations and to allay the feeling of uncertainty, fear and anxiety which has gripped everyone in this age of prodigious scientific and technological advances. Man could indeed enjoy the fruits of these achievements with a sense of calm and delight were it not that, paradoxically, these very achievements have brought to the brink of catastrophe a civilization and culture that have developed over the centuries in a constant effort to have the mind prevail over matter.
138. Every State Member of the United Nations, and also the States that are not yet Members, should make a solid and lasting contribution to the cause of peace and the cause of concerted and fruitful development, of free trade and of transit on land, in the air, on the seas and on natural and artificial waterways; in other words, to the cause of general economic development and the welfare of all, of respect for the commitments entered into under the Charter and those imposed by international law, and of harmonious and complete coexistence among all peoples. They will not, however, be able to contribute their best as long as they remain divided by hate, mistrust and a spirit of domination.
139. The delegation of El Salvador, expressing the true feelings of its people and Government, sincerely hopes that the work of this General Assembly will be fruitful, and it will gladly offer its modest contribution to that end. It trusts that God will enlighten the minds and soften the hearts of those statesmen in whose hands lies the awesome alternative of our times: intelligent survival or total destruction.