1. The pride which I feel in speaking at this moment in the name of Brazil is enhanced, Mr. President, by my gratification at being the first to express to you our deep feeling of pleasure at your assumption of the highest office of the General Assembly. I do not wish this tribute to be a mere act of courtesy. I want rather to express to you in the warmest terms the admiration and the esteem which my delegation feels for so eminent a person as Victor Andres Belaúnde, an outstanding figure in American humanist and legal scholarship, a constant champion of the most noble causes, a speaker of unequalled gifts whose eloquent voice has, since the memorable days of San Francisco, never ceased to captivate and sway the United Nations. The high office to which you have just been appointed, Mr. President, is a token of the confidence all of us have placed in your experience, your wisdom, your talents as a diplomat and your vigour. We can be sure that under your enlightened guidance the General Assembly at its present session will perform its duties in a worthy manner.
2. At a moment when technological progress and man's determination have made possible a new advance in the conquest of outer space, I feel that the best course I can follow in this speech is to draw attention once again to the dangers inherent in the ever-increasing neglect of the human being. Let me say first that I am well aware that the cause for which I speak, the improvement of mankind's condition, is not one which at the moment commands much interest. This is no doubt a time of wonderful technical achievements but, in spite of all that has been said here and elsewhere, the human problem has not been given the priority it deserves. The millennium of man, it seems, still lies in the distant future. What is needed to elevate man to his proper status is a spiritual policy which we have not yet begun to formulate, let alone put into practice.
3. In the present age, the nations represented here are living at different stages of development. We have discovered a means of reaching mutual understanding in our exchanges here of words and ideas, but this intermingling of different stages of development has no precedent in the history of mankind. The moon has been reached; artificial satellites and planets are being created; but at the same time many communities, many millions of human beings are still starving in conditions as backward as those of the most distant past. While the prospects offered by science are growing as if by magic before our eyes and while populations are expanding, human poverty, too, continues to grow.
4. After the relaxation of international tension which followed the visit of the Vice-President of the United States, Mr. Nixon, to the USSR, we had the impression that a new phase was about to begin, and that it might be possible at last to give fresh impetus to the struggle against the poverty which prevails over so large a portion of the world; we already had a feeling, not exactly that a period of calm had set in, but that there was less apprehension than there had been when suddenly we heard of the grave incidents in Asia. Before those incidents there had been grounds for believing that the two greatest Powers were ready to come to an understanding, and the Brazilian delegation had been about to propose to the United Nations a new attitude and even a new course to follow; but then those sudden incidents made us all fear that we should have to wait a little longer for that stability which the most highly developed nations regard as indispensable before at last, using but a modest portion of the sums allocated for military purposes, the peoples can declare war for, and not against, mankind, war against under-development, against the slavery to which two-thirds of mankind is subjected.
5. Once more it seems that peoples urgently needing international co-operation to solve their problems are faced by the grim reality of perpetual procrastination. Some countries, like my own, merely need help to intensify their arduous efforts to develop themselves; but others need an initial impetus to wrench them out of the unnatural stagnation in which they live.
6. These countries know perfectly well how much time and patience will be needed if, before genuine solutions rather than mere palliatives can be offered, they must wait until the two concepts of life which now divide the world are finally reconciled.
7. These words from my delegation are intended to express our impatience and weariness in the face of perpetual threats which so seriously delay far-reaching decisions that could free the majority of our fellow men from a bondage that has lasted far too long. But this impatience and weariness are not mingled with despair. We genuinely believe that a day will come when maturity, born of political education and not of technical progress, will remove the causes of this cold war which gives rise to so much depression and discouragement and which, however "cold” it may appear to be, is still marked by some cleverly spaced episodes of blood and violence.
8. But this hope is for the distant future, and the present situation cannot be accepted with resignation; the least one can do is to appeal to reason and self- interest, since the present time is not opportune for invoking more noble or exalted ideals.
9. The purport of this appeal to reason is that our system — the system that my country, which is the proud defender of democracy and freedom, haj adopted — shall no longer continue to harbour within itself such serious contradictions. And it is serious indeed that we should be putting forward solutions for mankind’s problems while tolerating the continued existence of inhuman living conditions over such vast areas of the free world.
10. If we have to wait until the two extremes are reconciled and until the echoes of conflict cease to ring out in this building, then succeeding generations will go on dying of hunger in many parts of the world, and people will go on constructing instruments of death which soon become obsolete, owing to the insane rate of development in science applied to the service of death and destruction.
11. I wish to state here as clearly as I can my delegation's point of view. We firmly believe that, in so doing, we are best serving the cause of democracy and that of the United Nations, which should truly reflect the various aspects of contemporary anxiety and must, if it is to survive and go on playing its role, avoid rigidity, immobility and formalism. The United Nations is not a talking machine or a prayer wheel.
12. The Brazilian delegation is not adopting an unrealistic attitude of recrimination or resentment. Our country is doing all it can to shake off the yoke of poverty. Its prospects, its natural resources and its determination will enable it one day to become a fully developed nation.
13. My delegation's position is based mainly on the justifiable fear that the very efforts which countries with the heaviest responsibilities are making to maintain peace and security may prevent them from obtaining a sufficiently broad and clear view of the serious dangers inherent in the present sufferings of mankind. The fact that certain countries have powerful resources, are familiar with certain problems and possess valuable knowledge does not necessarily mean that they can view the world situation in all its aspects or obtain a wider vision of the future. We could give countless examples of the shortsightedness of splendid civilizations and empires which, with all their wealth and all their knowledge and in spite of their proud claims to eternity, finally tumbled into the abyss of history. Peoples do not learn lessons from history; the experience of nations, like that of men, however many object lessons it may offer, apparently cannot be handed down.
14. The best way for the more highly developed countries to serve democracy is not ceaselessly to prepare for a war which will never take place, at least not in the way they expect or envisage it, while the evils of under-development continue to undermine and enfeeble the world. Everyone now knows that mankind is divided into two groups: the first, ever diminishing in numbers, which envoys a prosperous and comfortable life, and the second, growing ever larger, which is deprived of food and education and condemned to premature death. It is no longer a secret that the real war is the war which is ravaging ever wider areas of the underdeveloped regions. This is now a dangerous and disconcerting fact, a truth which is proclaimed from the rooftops, but never inspires any efforts to produce a remedy.
15. The Brazilian delegation wishes to recall the underlying principle of the new international policy adopted by Mr. Juscelino Kubitschek, the President of the Brazilian Republic. More than a year ago a regional movement was launched among the twenty-one American Republics. Its main objective is to secure recognition of the overriding need and extreme urgency for joint action by the countries of our continent to foster a more rapid and harmonious development of their economies.
16. The principal features of this policy — known as Operation Pan-America — were made known to the United Nations by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil at the opening of the thirteenth session of the General Assembly 1749th meeting]. Operation Pan-America aims at strengthening the economic basis of Pan-Americanism by the adoption of a body of vigorous and co-ordinated measures designed to eliminate obstacles impeding the development of those Latin-American countries whose economies require a powerful stimulus if they are to overcome their backwardness and advance to an era of industrialization, full utilization of natural resources and expansion of trade. Only in this way will it be possible to raise the level of living of the Latin-American nations and thus place two-thirds of our continent in the best position to defend our civilization's highest values. The political thesis underlying Operation Pan-America has been defined by the President of Brazil in the following terms: "We have always been prepared, as have been the other countries of the continent, to assist in the great task of maintaining international peace and security. We adopt a similar fundamental attitude towards the perils confronting mankind today. For this very reason, and because the common heritage of civilization is at stake, we wish to be more than mere bystanders. Our contribution will be valuable only to the extent that it expresses our desire to analyse frankly the great problems of common interest, to state our views freely and to seek out the solutions best adapted to the needs of the hour. We wish to work successfully as a team and not to remain indefinitely bound by an attitude of passive assent. I should like, however, to reaffirm that our efforts will have no significance, will acquire no momentum and will fail to produce the desired results unless they are construed as the end product of the unanimous opinion of the continent." The continent's opinion on the usefulness and appropriateness of Operation Pan-America is not open to question. Several concrete steps, have already been taken and references to the matter by the continent's statesmen are becoming increasingly specific. Just last month, as he was leaving for Europe, the President of the United States, Mr. Eisenhower, stated that the nations of the free world should "co-operate in helping solve one of the most pressing problems of our time, that of assisting to advance the Cultural, health and living standards of the almost 2,000 million people in the world who are citizens of the newly developing or under-developed countries".
17. This same thought, which is not simply humanitarian but which is based on a clear insight into events and a prudent sense of political reality, has been expressed by another eminent Head of State, General de Gaulle, who at a recent Press conference expressed the view that the highly industrialized countries should, irrespective of their political beliefs, join their efforts and their material and human resources in order to provide effective aid to the people of underdeveloped areas. Emphasizing that such a policy would be more likely to resolve world problems than any purely political formula or compromise reached by the great Powers, General de Gaulle declared: "The only cause worth fighting for is the cause of mankind," These are words which merit much meditation,
18. Thus there is no difference of opinion on the necessity and urgency of combating under-development. Why do we not act more forcefully in this field, thereby rightfully defending our civilization and our political heritage, and proving the sincerity of purpose of the democratic cause? Why do, we not raise this campaign from the limited tactical plane to the plane of broad strategy based on a correct and comprehensive understanding of the situation? Why should we not adopt a creative policy under which potentially wealthy areas of the world might be developed? What is preventing the leading nations of the world from acquiring a loftier and broader view, instead of obstinately fixing their gaze on the wall of what is immediately before them? What prevents us from putting an end to the seething confusion that has spread throughout the world? Those who think that the fight against under-development is nothing more than a work of charity have been and are tragically mistaken. This fight is a chapter in the defence of freedom throughout the world and it is to our detriment that it has not been considered as such, for it is a problem which has moral ramifications, rendering its solution more difficult both for the realist and the strategist. How can we explain why the cause of man has been the most scorned of all causes? Perhaps the reason lies in the immaturity, in the extreme youth of the human race. René Grousset wrote: "Scratch a civilized man and you will find a cave-man",
19. The lack of solidarity, the absence of feeling before the spectacle of under-development, the lack of an instinctive desire for self-defence against and of comprehension of that phenomenon's destructive force, are so much evidence that the cave-man is not so different from those who boast they are members of a refined civilization.
20. My country does not intend to alter its position or the prudent and firm line it has always taken in the deliberations of our Organization. A founding Member of the United Nations, Brazil has always been an ardent defender of the purposes and principles of the Charter. Prompted by feelings of prudent optimism with respect to the more relaxed atmosphere which seems currently to prevail in the direct relations between the great Powers, it will never fail to give its support to any initiative taken in good faith, whatever its origin, so long as that initiative shows promise of restoring a minimum of confidence in international negotiations and of leading to a full discussion of the problems and solutions upon which the maintenance of peace and security by this Organization depends. We founded this Organization to abolish war for ever and we hope that it will not remain at the side-lines but will direct the course of events for the welfare of the peoples of the world.
21. To this attitude, which is the logical consequence of Brazil's history and its international activity, Brazil adds today as a matter of highest priority the policy of international co-operation in the field of development, which is the policy of the future and the policy of hope.
22. We are profoundly convinced that, as the Brazilian Head of State has stated, apathy in the face of the problems of poverty, disease and ignorance in a world which has at its disposal every imaginable scientific and technical resource, is a crime against man's mind, an attack upon our alleged civilization, an unpardonable moral offence and an act of political imprudence which will have incalculable consequences for the peace of the world,
23. May these words of warning be heeded while there is still time.