116. Now that the General Assembly has just entrusted you by acclamation with the arduous task of guiding its work, allow me, Mr. President, to associate myself with the speakers who preceded me in offering you the Gabon delegation's most sincere and heartfelt congratulations.
117. The great honour bestowed upon you bears witness to your abilities and great competence as a human being, and is a reward for your untiring and continual efforts, as a distinguished diplomat, to contribute effectively and constructively to the Organization's work and to ensure the triumph of the noble ideals proclaimed in our Charter. Your being chosen is also a source of considerable gratification to Africa which sees, in the tribute paid to one of its most brilliant sons, the first signs of its complete and final rehabilitation. With full awareness of your heavy responsibilities, you will, I am sure, prudently, ably, effectively and realistically assume the critical duties of the office to which you have been elected. I remain confident that it is the unanimous desire of the Members of this Assembly to help you to accomplish your mission, thus bringing the work of our present session to a successful conclusion.
118. The strict application of Article 19 of the Charter might compromise that work and everything should therefore be done to avoid that danger and to remove, once and for all, the threat of a split in our Organization, whose primary goal is to bring nations together for the maintenance of world peace. Thus no effort should be spared to reconcile points of view and find reasonable solutions acceptable to all, so that our deliberations may be as harmonious as those of the last session.
119. In this connexion, I wish to take this opportunity to pay a well-deserved tribute to His Excellency Mr. Carlos Sosa Rodriguez, Ambassador of the Republic of Venezuela and your predecessor in the office of President of the General Assembly, who guided its deliberations with skill.
120. Another source of much gratification to the delegation of Gabon is the admission of three new members to the Organization: two of them come from Africa, and the third from an island which has often served as a link between Europe and our continent. In the name of my Government, I am thrilled and pleased to greet the States of Malawi, Malta and Zambia which are joining our great family. The Gabon delegation considers that this event will strengthen our Organization, not merely because of the increase in its membership, but especially because of the new life which these young States can breathe into it. In addition, the restoration of the national sovereignty and independence of our brother States of Malawi and Zambia is a great comfort and example for the territories still under foreign domination, which are fighting so bitterly for their liberation.
121. In this context, I should like to draw attention to the headway made towards self-determination by our neighbouring and brother State, Equatorial Guinea, which, I trust, will soon take its place among us.
122. The decolonization process initiated by the Madrid Government to emancipate the peoples of Río Muni and Fernando Poo, is being closely watched by the people and Government of Gabon. In carrying out a liberal policy towards these African territories, a policy defined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Castiella, in a statement he made during the eighteenth session of the General Assembly [1213th meeting], the Spanish Government has already granted these territories internal autonomy, the final step before their complete emancipation. The territorial assembly and the local Government, which have already been set up, are to prepare these territories for self-government. My Government would like to reiterate its congratulations to the Spanish Government on its realistic and humane policy towards our brothers and neighbours.
123. This wise policy should also serve as an example to all other Governments which have established their rule over overseas territories. In Africa, the peoples now living under the hard and implacable law of colonialism are, unfortunately, all too numerous. In spite of all the resolutions adopted by the United Nations and of numerous appeals, especially those made from this rostrum, Portugal obstinately refuses to hear the voice of reason and continues to deny freedom to millions of human beings who demand only the right to a free and independent existence.
124. Mr. Salazar's reactionary Government, ignoring these repeated appeals, is building up its military forces and potential. Strong Portuguese armed forces have been stationed in the territories in revolt in order to carry out bloody repression against the peaceful populations of the Portuguese-occupied territories.
125. In South Africa, Mr. Verwoerd's apartheid policy is also becoming more and more inhuman. The means employed by the South African leaders to deprive the indigenous inhabitants of their right to a free existence include arbitrary laws on segregation, sentences and executions. Not only does the South African Government defy the United Nations resolutions calling for the abolition of the despicable policy of apartheid, but, thanks to the support from outside, it also feels entitled to intensify its unjust policy. It has been said over and over again that the application of economic sanctions is the only way to prevail upon the Pretoria Government to change its policy. Since South Africa is not in a position to be economically self-sufficient, the only effective weapon at our disposal to bring pressure to bear on it is, in our opinion, economic isolation.
126. So long as millions of men continue to be persecuted, scorned, and treated as outcasts, Africa will not know tranquillity, and world peace will continue to be threatened. My Government therefore solemnly appeals to the great Powers from this rostrum to realize at last the serious danger that apartheid represents for the world and to take the necessary steps to exert effective pressure on the Pretoria Government, in order to force it to abandon its senseless, criminal policy.
127. In view of this state of affairs, and in accordance with the recommendations of the’ Organization of African Unity, the Government of Gabon has decreed practical measures to break off all trade with Portugal and South Africa and to forbid their aircraft or ships from calling in the territory of Gabon. We hope that our example will be followed by all those who still maintain trade relations with those countries.
128. Again on the African continent, it is regrettable to note that a foreign and racist minority in Southern Rhodesia is using delaying tactics in order to keep the power in its own hands, thus depriving most of the native population of their legitimate right to self- government. The United Kingdom, the administering Power, has thus far succeeded in thwarting all these attempts; we firmly hope that it will not allow itself to be deceived by the Rhodesian colonists' trickery but will continue to oppose them and to favour the holding of free and general elections.
129. Among the other causes of tension threatening the stability of the world, there is the problem of the divided Nations. After the last world-shaking convulsions following the conflict of 1939-1945, a number of States found themselves divided and the very existence of other States has been under constant threat. The right of peoples freely to choose their own destiny is one of the basic principles laid down in the Charter. Therefore, it is unjust and unacceptable, in our day and age, for nations of ancient civilization and culture, which have proved their political maturity, to be condemned to live divided and outside our Organization. Germany, Korea and Viet-Nam are among the countries suffering from this iniquity. It is incumbent on us to redouble our efforts to put an end to this state of affairs.
130. Moreover, it is our Organization's duty to put an end to the territorial disputes which are at the root of the conflict between Israel and its neighbours. In my Government's view, that conflict can be settled only by negotiation. As far as the problem of China's representation in the United Nations is concerned, the Government of Gabon will continue to support the Republic of China, a founding Member of the Organization.
131. If the use of force in the settlement of disputes is to be categorically condemned, so must the use of subversion. The Government of Gabon, faithful to the spirit of the United Nations Charter and to the provisions of the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, strongly condemns all interference in the internal affairs of other States and also subversive activities, whether practised by neighbouring States or not. The principle of non-interference must also be applied to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is beset with serious internal difficulties. Gabon therefore approves of the Malagasy Government's initiative in requesting the inclusion in this session's agenda of an item on the "observance by Member States of the principles relating to the sovereignty of States, their territorial integrity, non-interference in their domestic affairs, the peaceful settlement of disputes and the condemnation of subversive activities " [A/5757 and Corr.l and Add.l].
132. Further, the Gabon Republic, in signing the Moscow nuclear test-ban treaty thereby sought to indicate that it unequivocally condemns the use and testing of these frightful weapons, which can only lead to the destruction of the human race. We are also opposed to the production of all other weapons of mass destruction, the accumulation and dissemination of which are tantamount to a sword of Damocles.
133. In a world where more than two thirds of humanity is suffering from hunger, it is sad and discouraging to note that prosperous nations are devoting a large part of their resources to the manufacture of these weapons. Could not theae resources and that labour be devoted to feeding the hungry, caring for the suffering, and providing work for the rising generations in our developing countries? We note not only that this is not so but that, on the contrary, the gap dividing the developed countries and the underdeveloped countries is widening for want of effective economic and financial co-operation.
134. The recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has, however, inspired some hopes which my Government would like to see fulfilled. While the developed countries, with their sound and better established economy based on the diversification of their production and industrial potential, see a regular growth in their national income, the developing countries, unfortunately, stand helplessly by while their economies stagnate owing to inadequate industrialization and too small a return on the raw materials which they produce. In our view, not even the inclusion, in the objectives of GATT, of the elimination of obstacles to trade in tropical products would be enough to bring about any marked increase in the developing countries' export receipts; and it seems doubtful whether the present distortions can ever be eliminated entirely. That is why, at that Conference, the spokesman of the Government of Gabon favoured the application of three series of measures to remedy this situation: stimulation of trade in agricultural and mineral commodities; simultaneous development of international financial assistance; promotion and decreasing protection of industrialization and the opening of markets for the developing countries' manufactures.
135. Those are the few points which the Gabon delegation wished to cover in the Assembly. The Government of Gabon continues to be convinced that the serious problems that weigh upon us can be solved within the United Nations, provided, however, that the spirit of sincere co-operation, to which I alluded at the beginning of my statement, continues to inspire our work.