1. It is my duty, on behalf of Colombia, to greet the President and all the representatives of the countries present here and to express our satisfaction that, for the first time, a citizen of Africa is presiding over this world Assembly. In presenting the world with a fertile crop of new States, Africa is suffering the convulsions and pain attendant upon any political transformation, but the intellectual maturity of its men, such as the one now presiding over these meetings, is sufficient proof of its ability to determine its own future and to serve its apprenticeship in the cause of freedom.
2. I should also like to take this opportunity to express our great satisfaction at the admission of three new Members to the United Nations: the States of Malawi, Malta and Zambia. On behalf of Colombia, I extend to them the warmest of welcomes. Furthermore, I wish to offer them the fullest and most friendly and fraternal co-operation of the Colombian delegation to this Assembly and to express our conviction that their contribution to the great task before us will undoubtedly be of incalculable benefit. The excellent speeches that we have heard from the lips of their distinguished representatives and the sound opinions that they have given on the most intricate problems have already justified this confidence.
3. Day by day we are drawing nearer to the ideal outlined by the United Nations from its very inception, even before San Francisco, namely, that only when every inhabitant and every corner of the planet is adequately represented here will it be an effective force in the community of nations.
4. My speech has but one theme, for there is no need to give voice once again to the principles and purposes of the United Nations, especially as I represent a people which, when it first came into being, adopted those principles and purposes and followed them in the drafting of its constitution and in its international relations. Colombia has never disturbed the peace of other countries or committed aggression or been lacking in justice; it has always striven to settle its differences amicably, has encouraged friendly relations with other countries, has honoured its treaties and has championed human rights and fundamental freedoms on the basis of strict equality. Moreover, on previous occasions my country's representatives have stated those principles and have given a clear picture of Colombia's position regarding the political problems before the United Nations.
5. My theme, my one theme, derives its inspiration from Article 1 (3) of the Charter, in which the United Nations has undertaken "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character ...".
6. There is a great disequilibrium, an enormous inequality among the nations belonging to the United Nations. There are great differences in the degrees of power: in contrast with the countries whose monstrous weapons have enormous destructive power, the small countries are unable to defend themselves. In contrast with countries in which an advanced technology facilitates and increases production, we find countries that are not strong enough to progress beyond the initial stages of development; in contrast with the high level of education that encourages research, we find countries where the level is so low that outside ideas can be assimilated only with difficulty; in contrast with enormous progress — if indeed progress can be measured — we find backwardness. But this is not the disequilibrium that affects the harmony of nations, since the achievements of Some are occasionally communicated to and shared with the others and since any progress is admirable.
7. Following the devastation caused by the last war among the peoples of the world, we have witnessed an astounding miracle. From the ruins and ashes industrial power has risen anew and privation has given way to well-being and plenty. The disequilibrium that threatens the peace of the world is economic and social; it lies in the difference in levels of living and in the unequal distribution of wealth. A parallel could be drawn between the socio-economic problems in the domestic affairs of nations and the same kind of problem in international relations.
8. Many American countries are criticized for the inequitable distribution of the national income, for when some people — the minority — receive a great deal, the others — the majority — receive hardly anything at all. This is a fact. But the same thing happens at the international level: of the great volume of what might be called total income, the greater part goes to the developed countries, which are in the minority, and the smaller part to the developing and under-developed countries, which are in the majority. This means that the level of living in the developed countries is high and their people have a high purchasing power, whereas the level of living in the other countries is low and the purchasing power of their people is minimal.
9. The labour of the under-developed and less- developed countries, however, provides food for the developed countries and supplies them with raw materials which, when processed industrially, are of greater value than they were on the international market and the increase in value is to the almost exclusive benefit of the developed countries. Thus some countries labour to earn a little and at the same time to enable others to earn much more.
10. As is well known, the fundamental cause of this disequilibrium is the tendency of the demand for industrial products to increase more rapidly than the demand for agricultural products as national income increases.
11. The theory of surplus-value, ennobled by the concept of the human value of labour, inseparable from man himself and from human dignity, served to correct an evident injustice in the domestic socio-economic field, by attaching greater value to labour than that recognized by liberal economic theory and that accorded to it under the capitalist system in its first stages.
12. In the international field, however, injustice remains. The industrialized countries, which possess the most producer goods, are the ones that profit by the surplus-value, while the labour of the underdeveloped or developing countries is not fairly paid and has no share in the increased value which the commodities it has produced acquire when they have been processed.
13. To put the problem in another way, it might be said that the countries which produce primary commodities such as foodstuffs and minerals do not receive a just return for their work, while the industrialized countries, which buy those commodities, receive more than they ought to receive in the context of a wide and generous concept of universal human solidarity. It is these countries, too, that grow wealthy by transforming, to an excessive degree, personal labour into accumulated labour.
14. When people speak of the unfavourable position of those who devote themselves to agriculture in our countries and compare what they receive with the earnings of those engaged in city and urban pursuits— industry, the stock exchange, banking, transport, speculation and so forth — they say that rural life means poverty and backwardness. This dictum discourages people from engaging in agricultural activity and there is a great deal of truth in it, as is shown by the flight from the countryside and the resulting huge growth of the cities.
15. Applying the dictum to the international field, it might be said that an economy based on the production of primary commodities means poverty and backwardness, with the additional disadvantage that the disequilibrium that has always existed, instead of diminishing, becomes more acute. Countries are now relatively richer or poorer than they were before. Contact with one another and more active trade have raised or lowered their level of living and widened the economic gap. Thus international trade has an unfavourable effect upon the economy of the weak countries. That is why, as a student of these problems has pointed out, it has been possible to organize mass production from a technical point of view but not to organize mass consumption from an economic point of view and therefore, he adds, the law of supply and demand is reflected in international prices. In other words, what was successfully countered in the private sector through the progress of social ideas promulgated by the labour movement and by the Church and thanks to trade-unionism, has reappeared at the international level.
16. All this was the substance of the proceedings at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development which was held at Geneva early in 1964 upon the initiative of our Organization and in which countries of very different status met together for the first time to deal with these problems. This thesis of world disequilibrium, this disturbing evidence of the conflict that exists between some countries and others, was presented there in all its stark reality.
17. As a first solution was suggested the idea of improving the support prices for primary products with a view to reducing and eventually eliminating, if possible, the disparity between the terms of trade of the developed and of the primary-producing countries.
18. The problem is still before us. At the present time, for example, the International Coffee Agreement has given rise to a struggle between producers and consumers, that is between under-developed and developing countries on the one hand and industrialized countries on the other. The law of supply and demand is once more in operation to an extent that is neither rational nor just and the producing countries are once more asking that their labour, which is their livelihood, should not be subject to the fluctuation of prices imposed by the consumer countries.
19. I think that in an under-nourished world, physically capable of absorbing all the foodstuffs that can be produced, over-production should not debase prices because of some misunderstood law of supply and demand but should give rise to a broader and more efficient distribution. Remunerative prices for all primary products could easily be maintained in order to encourage expansion and policy could be directed towards better distribution. The FAO should push their programmes more in that direction.
20. The Geneva Conference produced specific recommendations for the establishment of a new subsidiary organ of the General Assembly for the permanent study of the problems of international trade in the light of economic development. Since the hopes of the peoples of the world for economic well-being are linked to the establishment of this body and since the relevant recommendations were unanimously adopted, the General Assembly should be able to overcome any obstacle caused by the special circumstances in which the United Nations now finds itself and should proceed to establish this body without any delay, for which there would be no justification. Colombia is confident that all Members of the United Nations will help in this vital measure, by setting aside differences on procedural matters, so that this measure can be approved before the Christmas recess in accordance with the agreements that have enabled the Assembly to function since 1 December.
21. The Geneva Conference also saw the emergence of a defensive group: the Group of Seventy-Seven. This Group constitutes a union of the weaker countries, a unified movement to counter disequilibrium. It does not present a hostile face but takes, a stand against injustice.
22. I know that the United Nations is concerned with these matters which are serious. The purpose which inspired me to develop this theme is clearly defined in the Charter. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, or humanitarian character is to go straight to these objectives. The very convening of the Geneva Conference was directed to the same end. Technical assistance provided through the specialized agencies, and financial assistance, which has been considerable, are adequate means for a beginning. I say for a beginning because a definitive solution has yet to be found. To find that solution and put it into effect will be the means of achieving, to a great extent, the objectives that have brought us together, among them the rule of justice and peaceful coexistence.