185. The delegation of Burundi joins with the delegations which preceded it at this rostrum in congratulating you on your election as President of the nineteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Your election is a cause of great satisfaction to my country, which shares with you the honour done to Africa, and particularly to your country, Ghana. My country also has another reason for welcoming your election; namely, the cordial relations between our two countries. Your personal qualities have made you a man of exceptional worth, not only to your own country, where you have long held one of the highest and most responsible posts, but also to Africa as a whole, for you have won the confidence of the entire continent. I have no doubt that you will show yourself worthy of the confidence we have shown in you and that you will conduct our debates with wisdom and competence and will make all the necessary efforts to solve the many problems facing the world today.
186. I am sure that your election will generate greater confidence in the United Nations, since it further emphasizes the Organization’s universal character; this is necessary in order to, overcome certain prejudices which are at the basis of apartheid and racial discrimination in general, prejudices, which are encouraged by some demagogues who seek to justify colonialism, neocolonialism or imperialism.
187. Your election is a sign of the new era in which the under-developed countries are called upon to play an important role in international relations. The time is now past when, any race could claim the right to dominate another, or any nation arbitrarily to control another, or any continent to be superior to another.
188. My delegation is also glad to welcome three new Members of the great United Nations family. We extend to the Governments and peoples of Zambia, Malawi and Malta our best wishes for peace, prosperity and progress. Those countries can rest assured of our deepest understanding and sincere cooperation, particularly in the strengthening of their newly acquired independence or in protecting it against any attempts at subjugation, some of which can almost be predicted.
189. The United Nations will be for them the surest guarantee of respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Like the other Member States which entered the United Nations family before them, they will no doubt have to face both internal and external difficulties. All the Member States of the United Nations are bound by an imperative duty, particularly the great Powers which are responsible for providing these States with the international assistance which they need to overcome their problems, without infringing their sovereign rights.
190. In that connexion, we were deeply impressed by the moving statement made by Mr. Kamuzu Banda, Prime Minister of Malawi [1288th meeting], whose country is. faced with many dilemmas because of its geographical position. In his masterly expose, Mr. Kenneth Kaunda [1291st meeting], President of the Republic of Zambia, voiced similar anxiety about the geographical encirclement of his country by the neo-colonialist forces.
191. How can these eminent leaders parry out their responsibilities as African nationalists? Although we are faced with apparently insoluble problems, we are convinced that with wisdom and patience, victory will be ours. In the cases I have mentioned, all that the two leaders need do is to show the same dynamism as they revealed when struggling for the independence of their countries.
192. The entry of three former colonial territories into the United Nations family is a victory for the United Nations, which in i960 adopted the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples [resolution 1514 (XV)]. °
193. We address our warmest congratulations to the Committee of Twenty-Four whose efforts to free the Non-Self-Governing Territories have continued to produce worth-while results, increasing the number of free States each year and thus contributing to the cause of decolonization, which is essential if our Organization- is to attain one of its major objectives: understanding between all the world's peoples. I should like here to express to Mr. Coulibaly our great appreciation of the competence and devotion to duty he has shown as Chairman of the Committee of Twenty-Four.
194. The phenomenon of decolonization is an encouragement to all the nations still struggling for independence, such as Mozambique, Angola, so-called Portuguese Guinea, Southern Rhodesia, South West Africa, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, and so-called French Somaliland. It is also a grave warning to the colonial Powers which are Still clinging to an outdated system and are reluctant to withdraw from their colonial possessions, despite the pressing demands of the subjugated peoples and the constant appeals from a shocked world public opinion. Do we not have reason to fear an explosion of the wrath of the outraged peoples, an explosion which might start a world conflagration of apocalyptic proportions?
195. I myself remain optimistic and continue to believe that mankind can forge its own destiny since it was able to lay the foundations of prosperity and peace by establishing the United Nations nearly twenty years ago. May the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations mark the end of the colonial era and the opening of an era of greater co-operation between peoples, without discrimination or exploitation, without domination or hatred, without rancour or "arrière-pensée" — an era in which the only victors will be those who fight for a peace founded on the economic advancement of peoples, the eradication of illiteracy and poverty, and the disappearance of economic, political and ideological antagonisms.
196. Obviously, if this wish is to become a reality, the colonial Powers will have to move with the tide of history; the Powers which have made a practice of interfering in the internal affairs of other States will have to refrain from so doing and learn to respect the sovereignty of other peoples; the discriminatory regime in South Africa, which is a direct insult to the United Nations, will have to end; the gap between the rich and poor countries must be closed immediately; and, lastly, there must no longer be any question of blocs, whether of the East or of the West, but only of the survival of the world community and its Organization.
197. It is scarcely necessary to explain that this aim cannot be achieved until all the nations of the world, including those comprising the hundreds of millions of people who are now outside the United Nations family, are taking part in the dialogue. The United Nations must aim at universality, as has so often been said, and its membership must reflect that fundamental requirement. That is the only way to make Organization more effective and enable it to carry out its mission of safeguarding the future of mankind.
198. Earlier, we stigmatized the interference of Powers in the internal affairs of other States as a threat to world peace. Let me repeat that it is absurd to claim to work for the maintenance of world peace and at the same time to indulge in acts which are so contrary to the spirit and the letter of the United Nations Charter.
199. For the last five years — since July 1960 — we have had constantly before us the question of the Congo, which is always front-page international news. As I speak to you, thousands of Congolese are being shot down by unprincipled persons, and thousands of others are crushed by fear and anxiety regarding the fate awaiting them. I do not myself believe that the Congolese are the victims of a few Congolese cannibal anarchists. My view is that the responsibility for the crimes committed in that unfortunate country lies with the Powers which are constantly intervening in the Congo and cynically complicating the political solution of a problem which, although complex, is by no means insoluble.
200. Since 1960, appeals have been made to the highest bodies of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, which at that time was seized of the problem of the Belgian military intervention in the Congo. Now the Council has again been seized of a similar complaint against certain obdurate States which can count on the complicity of other States in their criminal activities.
201. After 22 May 1963, the African peoples believed that they had seen the end of interference by foreign Powers in African affairs. Since that memorable date, Africa has set up suitable machinery to guarantee the peace of the continent and ensure absolute respect for the sovereignty of all African States — I am speaking of the Organization of African Unity. Henceforward, any intervention in the affairs of Africa by a non-African Power may be harmful to Africa, for such an intervention can only complicate the international situation and involve a threat to world peace.
202. When will certain Powers finally realize that the awakening of the peoples of Africa and their ability and determination to build their future in independence is an historical and immutable fact? As long as these imperialist Powers persist in their interventionist policy the peace of the world will be in constant jeopardy.
203. The Government of Burundi, taking an objective view of the Congolese question, has repeatedly asserted that the solution to the Congolese crisis can be found only by the Congolese themselves without any foreign interference, other than the rightful mediation of the Organization of African Unity, which certain circles dare to term "interference”.
204. At the explicit and legitimate request of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Joseph Kasa-Vubu, the Organization of African Unity considered the Congolese question at the third extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers, which appointed an ad hoc Commission, under the chairmanship of Mr. Jomo Kenyatta, then Prime Minister of Kenya and now President of the Republic of Kenya, to supervise the implementation of the resolution adopted by the Council. The sudden intervention at Stanleyville of paratroops transported in aircraft provided by the United States State Department from Ascension Island, which is under British control, undid the work which had been begun by the ad hoc Commission and ruined the prospects for Congolese national reconciliation, which was at that time in sight.
205. When non-African intervention in the affairs of the Congo has ceased and the mercenaries have left the country, the settlement of the Congolese problem will present no further difficulty. It will be easy to ask the combatants to lay down their arms on terms which can readily be decided with the help of the Organization of African Unity. A round-table conference for the purpose of reconciling the rival factions in the Republic could usefully precede elections following which members of Parliament and a Government having popular support would be appointed.
206. All that the African countries ask of the United Nations and the Security Council is to take steps to prevent intervention by non-African Powers in the affairs of Africa and to ensure that foreign troops and mercenaries leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo. More specifically, they ask the United Nations to give firm support to the Organization of African Unity.
207. It is now five years since the Assembly adopted the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples. What is the situation at present? We see the people of Southern Rhodesia in revolt against a sham independence designed to perpetuate the rule of the white minority on the basis of the apartheid principle which is so esteemed in the neighbouring Republic of South Africa. We are grateful for the honourable stand taken by the United Kingdom Government in not yielding to pressure from Mr. Smith's group and we hope it will maintain and strengthen that stand, which is an indication of an historic change of attitude.
208. The attitude of Portugal to its colonies, on the other hand, gives us no cause for rejoicing. That country seems to have chosen to defy Africa and international opinion. We are obliged, however, to warn that Member of the Organization that such action is unworthy and is likely to cause us much suffering.
209. The problem of decolonization has been dealt with by respected and well informed speakers and I believe that we shall have to revert to it at a later stage. I shall confine myself to stating that my Government is determined to give unconditional support to any resolution calling for the immediate emancipation of all non-self-governing peoples, for I am convinced that it is to the advantage of all peoples to administer their own affairs in full sovereignty and that this will promote world peace.
210. Let us turn for a moment to the problem of racial discrimination. Whether it occurs in the form of nazism, apartheid, xenophobia or tribalism, racial discrimination is one of the phenomena which have done the greatest damage to humanity and have most impaired human dignity. It is necessary only to recall the evils of nazism, which caused the Second World War, and the atrocities of apartheid which, unless we take care, will seriously endanger the world's future.
211. In Africa, perhaps more than elsewhere, we fear racial discrimination because it represents a disintegrating force in society and conflicts with the attainment of the goal of international co-operation, which is stated in the United Nations Charter and in the Charter of the Organization of African Unity. Unless racial discrimination is abolished, many international organizations are liable to disintegrate, thus seriously imperilling the human species. The Law of natural selection may, of course, be invoked in support of an optimistic view of the situation, but there can be no doubt that if there is an atomic war all races will be destroyed without discrimination. It is high time for pride to give place to reason and 4or all peoples and all races to learn to respect one another and to co-operate in building a better world for all.
212. With regard to disarmament, my Government is working for general and complete disarmament under strict international control. At the last session of the General Assembly, my country welcomed the signing of the Moscow Treaty as a step forward for humanity, because we hoped that that event was the precursor of similar measures which would bring about a speedy solution to a problem with which we have been concerned ever since the United Nations was founded.
213. Although the People's Republic of China is not a Member of the United Nations, Burundi supported that country's proposal for the convening of a summit conference of all States to consider appropriate measures to avert the nuclear threat and bring about disarmament. We should like all States which possess nuclear weapons to undertake, as China has, never to be the first to use them.
214. We have heard several speakers stress the importance of the disarmament problem. We agree that it is a vital question for humanity, in view of the accumulation of destructive weapons by certain Powers. Nevertheless, it would be foolish to believe that any progress can be made towards disarmament while certain contentious issues that are a source of discord in various parts of the world, remain, unsettled.
215. The crisis in the Caribbean is a striking example of such a situation. One State, the Republic of Cuba, has adopted a constitution which does not find favour with another Power, the United States of America. In spite of Havana's repeated appeals, the United States will not agree to evacuate the Guantanamo base and is continuing the economic blockade against the Cuban people.
216. Let us now turn from Latin America, where nations are struggling to secure recognition of their right to exist, to Cyprus. Here, too, a racial conflict conceals foreign influence which is seeking to preserve the control of certain Powers over that island.
217. The cold war between the great Powers keeps alive the most explosive problem of all — that of the divided nations such as Germany, Korea and Viet-Nam.
218. All these problems will have to be solved quickly before we can reasonably hope to achieve general and complete disarmament.
219. I hope you will bear with me if I refer to another problem that can prevent harmonious international relations which are the foundation of a firm and lasting peace: namely the problem — considered by the recent United Nations Conference on Trade and Development — of reducing the gap between the rich and the poor nations. We hope that the Organization will take advantage of the work done at Geneva and that it will expand and implement it, for example, by setting up an international trade conference as an organ of the United Nations.
220. My statement would be incomplete if I were to make no mention of positive neutrality, which is the line followed by my Government in its foreign policy. At the Second Conference of Non-Aligned Countries held at Cairo from 5 to 10 October 1964, Mr. Albin Nyamoya, Prime Minister of my country, declared: "... the idea which Burundi has of non-alignment is a positive and constructive one. It is aimed at the promotion of peace, security and prosperity in the world. It is bound up with the familiar notions of co-operation, peaceful coexistence—which implies fair play—tolerance and courtesy; it is exclusive of all exclusives and of all ideologies, recognizing that in the case of legitimate defence this principle is a difficult one to apply to the letter."
221. Because we have chosen to policy of non-alignment, certain States are endeavouring to pin on us labels which are as fantastic as they are unkind, with the intention of misleading international public opinion in order to mask their own criminal plots. We can be sure that the day is approaching when the group of non-aligned countries will have grown so large that certain prejudices which now handicap this new political attitude will disappear, to the great benefit of humanity. In this connexion we hope that the voice of Cambodia will be heeded when that country's representative calls on the United States of America to respect Cambodian neutrality. In conclusion, I would ask you to turn your minds to the fundamental problem of the Organization's survival and consolidation, which necessitates a revision of the Charter. The Organization of African Unity has already stressed the need to enlarge the membership of the principal organs of the United Nations, such as the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. My delegation will unconditionally support any proposals to that effect. I must point out, however, that all these reforms will be fruitless and will definitely not produce a better international climate until the representatives of the People's Republic of China again occupy the seats now unjustly held by the Chinese representatives from Formosa. My delegation will never support the new strategy of accepting the existence of two Chinas. Burundi regards Taipei as a province of China, occupied illegally as a result of imperialist tactics. Let us hope that this nineteenth session of the General Assembly will produce a satisfactory settlement of all the problems I have mentioned and let us express our confidence that the United Nations will survive.