1. Mr. President, the Congolese Ambassador to the United Nations who spoke before I arrived [1583rd meeting] on the inclusion of an item in the agenda, expressed to you the sincere congratulations of our delegation on your overwhelming election to the Presidency of this session.
2. In so doing our representative was anxious not so much to comply with a mere diplomatic formality but to carry out a mission — that of conveying to you the profound satisfaction felt by the people of the Congo at seeing the representative of a socialist country accede to the highest office of the Assembly. For us this event is an important step on the road back to universality as the goal of the United Nations, which had become an instrument in the service of imperialists and a jungle where the weaker countries, designated within these walls by the commonly accepted term of "small nations" were first brutally and savagely manhandled in the open, to be gobbled up diplomatically here in due course.
3. We trust that the representatives of the "small nations" have taken due note of the historic implications of this event, and we hope that they will also realize more fully that the Organization is faced with certain problems an equitable solution to which would effectively contribute towards restoring equilibrium in the United Nations.
4. Allow me then, Mr. President, to say to you that your election is for us a source of great reassurance, for the above reasons, naturally, but also because your outstanding human qualities, combined with your qualities as a consummate diplomat, inspire confidence as to the way in which the debates at this session will be conducted.
5. Our work is beginning this year at a time when world peace is threatened more than ever. To the crises of the past which have still not been disposed of has been added one more of particular significance — the Middle East crisis. The peoples directly or indirectly engaged in the last World War, even those that did not take part in the fighting, still remember the atrocities that the vile human race was capable of committing against itself. We know that none suffered more from the madness of nazism than the Jewish people.
6. We of the Congo understand therefore that the Jewish people, today brought together within a nation, should take all appropriate steps to ensure the defence of their country if it should be the object of aggression. It is what we all do. But the Congo cannot agree that the right of self defence, to which each and every one is entitled, may be exercised even before the suspected attack has been carried out; this reveals the existence of an ambition which has no currency in the twentieth century, the ambition to conquer territories by force of arms.
7. At the present time, more and more countries recognize that there must be a political solution to this conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Such a solution, in which the presence of the Palestine refugees would be a predominant factor, cannot be conceived as having any chance of success unless a climate favourable to negotiations is created beforehand. Hence the United Nations must call on the State of Israel to comply with the resolutions adopted at the fifth emergency special session [2253 (ES-V) and 2254 (ES-V)] concerning the City of Jerusalem and must at the current session require that Member State, in the interests of world peace, to withdraw its forces to the positions it held prior to 5 June 1967.
8. Unfortunately, peace is threatened not only in the Middle East, where to all outward appearances war has brought into conflict protagonists of one and the same region; it is even more seriously threatened in Viet-Nam where one of the strongest Powers in the world — the strongest of all, according to some — is intervening directly in the internal affairs of the heroic people of Viet-Nam and committing acts of barbarism unequalled in history except by the madness of Nazism referred to already.
9. Time and time again in the past, here and elsewhere, we have condemned the brutal and barbarous intrusion of the American imperialists in Viet-Nam. In doing so, our purpose was not merely to denounce an act as base as it was unjustifiable; we also hoped to bring this tragedy home more and more to the peoples of the world, especially the peoples of the famous "small nations" which have to come out of their shell, to shed their reprehensible apathy and see the problem as of direct concern to them and react accordingly.
10. Today we are happy to see that more and more countries, Members of the United Nations, are calling for an unconditional halt to the bombing of North Viet-Nam by the American aggressors. The new attitude of those countries, some of which have close relations with Washington, has for us a twofold and definite significance.
11. In the first place, the policy of blackmail and camouflage by the United States Government with its bogus peace initiatives in Viet-Nam is laid bare. It will be recalled that the United States promised to stop the bombing of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam as soon as that country demonstrated its willingness to negotiate; and as we know, the Government of President Ho Chi Minh indicated such readiness as long ago as January of this year. In these circumstances, let the worthy representative of the United States not come up here again on to this rostrum, please, with the cynicism characteristic of dollar diplomacy, and ask us by what procedure a political solution can be brought about.
12. Secondly, this new attitude proves that the peoples of the Third World have realized that every one of their countries, without exception, could in its turn become a Viet-Nam, if the international situation pointed that way and the Americans considered that the security of the United States, or of its satellites, might be threatened from that quarter. In other words, once American vested interests begin to be affected, even if there is no question of acquiring others, the moment the policy of Washington comes up against the firm determination of the people of the country concerned to live in freedom and be the sole master of its destiny, each and every country of the Third World could in its turn become another Viet-Nam, and they have realized this.
13. As far as the Congo is concerned, the explanation of this new attitude on the part of the young nations is that the peoples of the Third World are now more familiar with the problem of Viet-Nam and are beginning to understand that, in the final analysis, every country in the Third World is a Viet-Nam without knowing it.
14. This important stage in the struggle which we are facing, the heroic people of Viet-Nam are now passing through it with courage and determination, confident that the final victory will be theirs.
15. The final victory will likewise be won by other countries, fighting in other parts of the world, particularly in Africa. The process of national liberation of peoples, although it has been the major event of this second half of the twentieth century, has not been completed as yet. Vast territories of our continent are still under the colonial yoke. Indeed, in certain regions the forces of evil are forming alliances and consolidating their positions to achieve their Machiavellian plans for reconquest.
16. Thus the situation in the Territories under Portuguese domination remains disturbing. In Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissau) patriots are being killed daily by the bullets of reactionary colonialists supported by their NATO allies. We are firmly convinced that without the material and financial assistance provided by the monopolies, and without the collusion of certain great Powers, a pathetic little country like Portugal, which allows its population to languish in a perpetual state of under-development, would never be able to carry on a war of such proportions on three fronts by itself.
17. The Rhodesian affair, as the President has said, has revealed what our Western partners — or the majority of them at any rate — think about the Africans. The dismal subterfuges and delaying tactics of London have shown us the full extent of the knavery which besmirches the friendship between Europe and Africa, when we consider in another context the negative attitude of one of the partners towards the great controversies of subversion, apartheid in South Africa, and genocide practised against the populations of the Portuguese colonies. If this continues, future generations may well grow up inured to race hatred fanned by the stubbornness of a handful of hare-brained people in high places or a few wizards of high finance.
18. In any case, now as always, we categorically reject the unilateral declaration of independence by the illegal regime of Ian Smith. It is most regrettable that the administering Power, the United Kingdom, has for two years refused to put down the rebellion and restore lawful rule by installing a representative government.
19. Clearly the so-called selective sanctions have been an utter failure; their only effect has been to strengthen the hand of Ian Smith and his racist clique. Moreover, the resumption of talks between the British Government and the rebels shows plainly the existence of a standing plan designed to preserve British interests in the region by keeping the white minority in power.
20. On the question of South West Africa, the Congolese Government notes with mortification that no progress has been recorded to date. The racist Government of Pretoria persists in its refusal to co-operate with the United Nations Council for South West Africa set up by the General Assembly [resolution 2248 (S-V)]. Here, as in Rhodesia, sanctions should be applied against the inveterate backsliders of Pretoria. But what purpose could all these sanctions' serve when we know that the great Powers, while condemning the odious policy of apartheid in the United Nations, in actual fact connive at the evil practices of those who support white supremacy to safeguard their economic interests?
21. Africa, of which I have sketched a brief and not very cheering outline, has witnessed a new phenomenon just recently: the presence of mercenaries in our continent. The mission of these hired killers, these soldiers of fortune, whose only allegiance is to the dollar, the pound sterling, the Belgian franc or other strong currency, is to invade and ravage certain regions of Africa. These contemptible adventurers, who massacre harmless citizens or if need be carry them off as hostages, go so far as to try to impose on lawful Governments conditions that are, to say the least, unacceptable. This intolerable situation is anathema to my Government, for at any time it could undermine the dearly won sovereignty of the new States.
22. In this connexion a particular tribute must be paid to the French Government, which last year made arrangements to dismantle the recruiting centres set up on its territory, especially in the Ardèche. We invite those Powers which maintain mercenary activities to follow this admirable example.
23. The situation in Africa in no way distracts our attention from other current problems, in particular the question of disarmament, which is the corner-stone of our international system. We concede that a few timid steps have been taken towards disarmament, the most recent being the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America, signed at Mexico City on 14 February 1967, But we should also frankly recognize that initiatives designed to lead to general and complete disarmament are so halfhearted that they seem calculated to preserve a monopoly and perpetuate the blackmail of nuclear weapons that has gone on too long already.
24. Thus as far as we are concerned, until frank and sincere negotiations are held at Geneva, countries such as France and the People’s Republic of China, which by their own efforts are making bold efforts to accede to full nuclear power, are not only justified in doing so but will no doubt one day contribute effectively to the search for ways and means of achieving genuine general disarmament.
25. At all events, talks on disarmament will have no meaning unless and until all nuclear Powers are associated in them. Yet as we know, at each succeeding session all possible means are brought to bear by the United States imperialists to keep the People’s Republic of China out of the United Nations. In this connexion the delegation of Congo (Brazzaville) reiterates what it said last year, namely, that no current problem, be it disarmament, peace in Viet-Nam or peace pure and simple, can be settled without the effective participation of Peking.
26. Those who are opposed to the restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China lead their Vassal Governments to believe that the People's Republic is so aggressive that to admit it into the United Nations would be a threat to world peace. My delegation's answer to that specious argument is that the People's Republic of China maintains no military bases outside its own frontiers. These same detractors even maintain that the proletarian revolution now taking place in that great country is an unstable factor which does not make the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China sound policy. Our answer to them is that this is a domestic problem, just like the race disturbances which every year cause bloodshed in the United States of America. Has the place of the United States imperialists been challenged here on that account? Who has even dared to raise a finger to denounce the genocide practised on the black population of the country of Lincoln and Kennedy?
27. The truth is that the entry of the People's Republic of China into the United Nations would upset the status quo and would challenge a situation brought about dishonestly; and it is in the interests of the representatives of the Third World to try to thwart these designs if they wish to take up their proper role in the management of world affairs.
28. My delegation therefore demands the expulsion, pure and simple, from this Organization and all its organs, of the emissaries of Formosa, who represent no one but themselves, and the restitution to the People's Republic of China of the seat which rightfully belongs to it.
29. With regard to the so-called Korean question, my Government has stated time and time again that it is no concern of the United Nations, which has no title to discuss it. We consider that the Korean question, which amounts to restoring unity to the temporarily divided territory, is a domestic matter for the Korean people, to be settled by them alone, and that no interference is permissible, not even by the United Nations.
30. That is, in fact, why we have called for the dissolution of the Commission set up by the United Nations. In its twenty years of existence it has achieved nothing, and it perpetuates the unjust division of Korea into two distinct States. In the view of my delegation, the main obstacle to unification is the existence of the famous United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea. We are all aware that the Government of Washington has always used and still uses the flag of the United Nations as a cover for its occupation of South Korea and its aggression against the Democratic Republic of Korea. The existence of the Unification Commission — which has unified nothing at all but on the contrary has legalized the occupation of South Korea by the American imperialists — is in flagrant contradiction to the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter. We have to admit the helplessness of the Organization in coping with this problem.
31. If I were inclined to say a word about the concern of all countries, and of the Organization itself, on the subject of economics, I would merely say that my country, like many others, shares the disquiet of the Secretary-General when he states in the Introduction to his Annual Report:
"Again this year, I am constrained to express my great concern regarding the loss of momentum in international aid and its adverse effects on the results of the current Development Decade." [A/6701/Add.1, para. 61.]
32. For the problem of co-operation between the industrialized countries and the developing countries is as acute as ever. With the United Nations Development Decade coming to a close, the economic potential of the highly industrialized countries continues to rise, but the development of the countries of the Third World is not proceeding at the rate expected.
33. My delegation is therefore gratified to see that the Board of Governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund at Rio de Janeiro adopted a resolution calling on all international institutions to promote the economic development of the developing countries, to improve the standard of living of the people, and to stabilize commodity prices at a remunerative level. This means devising appropriate machinery, with balanced commitments on the part of both the producing and the consuming countries, which will have to set aside the necessary resources for that purpose. My Government hopes that the resolution will not remain a dead letter. Let us hope that the initiative will be taken up and developed at the second session of the United Nations Trade and Development Conference at New Delhi, so that the efforts undertaken may be translated into concrete negotiations.
34. I cannot conclude my statement without once again expressing the thanks of President Alphonse Massamba-Debat to U Thant, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who has agreed to the request from all quarters to accept a further term of office, although the unwillingness of certain great Powers to give him the sincere co-operation indispensable to his high office might rather have decided him to withdraw. This courageous attitude on the part of the Secretary-General is justly appreciated by President Massamba-Debat’s people who, be it noted, are not losing faith in the future of the Organization, let alone in the future of the world.
35. The Congo believes implicitly in the triumph of the forces of progress over the forces of evil. How in fact could we do otherwise, particularly at this time when we are about to celebrate with our friends the Soviet people, within the circle of international proletarianism, the fiftieth anniversary of the great October Revolution? That great victory of oppressed over oppressors is the beacon lighting up the path of all those who are fighting for their freedom; and the Congo, yesterday enslaved and today free, will bear the torch aloft in the struggle, in the hope that tomorrow will see the rebirth of a United Nations which respects the principles of its own Charter and is resolutely determined to establish a lasting peace throughout the world.