1. At the close of the seventh session of the General Assembly, all the peoples devoted to international order, freedom and prosperity felt a deep satisfaction based on the heartfelt hope that, with the signing of the armistice at Panmunjom and the tangible results achieved there, there had been ensured not only, the final cessation of hostilities in the martyred land of Korea but also the initiation and success of negotiations that would lead to the speedy restoration of peace in that country, which had suffered premeditated aggression at the hands of governments whose goal was world domination by violence and hatred, in full accordance with the baneful purposes of international communism.
2. For the vast majority of the member States of the international community, and especially for the small countries like the Dominican Republic, the success of the action undertaken and sustained by the initiative and under the auspices of the United Nations in defence of right and justice has shown, at the cost of' indescribable suffering and sacrifice, the urgent need for organizing and putting into effect a powerful system of defence of the international community, based on the requirements of collective security.
3. If it is possible to single out, among the essential purposes of the United Nations Charter, one that can be considered as most important, it is that which requires that the moral force of justice should be constantly strengthened by the categorical and effective warning that the days when might was right have gone forever. Thus the United Nations is based on the outright condemnation of aggression and violence, and on due submission to the principles and rules under which the life of the international community is organized and developed. The Charter is, in short, the triumphant proclamation of the values of the spirit as against the schemings of force and materialism which bring in their train destruction, poverty, suffering and death.
4. It is, then, in no way surprising that the whole of that memorable international instrument, the Charter signed at San Francisco, which was destined to mark the birth of an era of security, well-being and dignity for individuals and for nations, is plainly based on the paramount principle of good faith which must govern human relations in all their aspects and which, as was taught by a jurist of ancient Rome, imperiously reminds us of our essential obligation, based on law, to keep our word and our promises.
5. Unfortunately, certain governments, dominated by the communist ideology, do not respect the purposes and principles of the Charter as they should, and this has frequently led them to resort to subversion, violence and aggression as means of realizing their expansionist designs and their desire for the domination of peoples and States.
6. The case of Korea is but one more cruel example added to the painful series with which we are all familiar. Those guilty of that unjustifiable aggression have been unmistakably identified by the appropriate organs of the United Nations and by international public opinion. The case has been irrevocably judged.
7. Ever unwavering in its pursuit of justice and peace, the General Assembly, in its resolution [711 (VII)] of 28 August 1953, fully in accordance with the Armistice Agreement, made specific recommendations concerning the convening of the political conference on Korea. Never have the determination to restore violated rights and the noblest feelings of humanity and practical wisdom been so intimately and constantly associated as in the work of the United Nations.
8. Now that aggression has been repelled as a result of the United Nations memorable initiative and of the military action undertaken and victoriously carried out under its auspices, the United Nations sole object in this sad affair is the unification and rehabilitation of Korea; that country must be assured a free, democratic and prosperous existence through the restoration of a true and lasting peace.
9. The delegation of the Dominican Republic has expressed its most fervent hope, and expresses it again today, that these aims, which are as noble as they are urgent, may be speedily and fully attained for the good of the Korean people and the strengthening of justice and law in the world.
10. Notwithstanding the eminent wisdom and extreme urgency of the decisions taken at the seventh session of the General Assembly, we are already witnessing delaying manoeuvres and unexpected complications plotted behind the scenes, in accordance with familiar communist tactics. That was, beyond doubt, the purpose of the cablegram sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 13 September 1953 by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China [A/2469] calling upon the General Assembly to undo the results of its long and arduous work at the end of its seventh session and to change the composition of the political conference in accordance with the desires expressed by that Government.
11. When the delegation of the Dominican Republic, whilst explicitly and rightly paying tribute to the distinguished position in international life of India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Burma, voted categorically against that attempt, it acted in complete accordance with the view it had previously expressed, namely, that General Assembly resolution 711 (VII) of 28 August was completely consistent with the letter and the spirit of the Armistice Agreement, and that the participation of the Soviet Union in the political conference, in accordance with the wish of the communist side, was amply justified by the position taken by that country’s government in connexion with the initiation and development of hostilities in Korea.
12. That was not the sole object, however, of the astonishing cablegram from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of communist China, since it also proposal, contrary to decisions taken by the Assembly at its seventh session [430th meeting], that an invitation should be extended to the governments of his country and North Korea to send representatives to the present session to institute joint negotiations. That demand was tantamount to claiming rewards and honours for aggression and the establishment of identical treatment for the victim and the perpetrators of aggression. Happily, the General Assembly has already answered those demands with dignity and in appropriate language.
13. Again in Asia, far from Korea but in countries bordering on communist China, the governments which planned and put into effect the invasion of the Republic of Korea have for many years carried on war, with all its attendant horrors. In Indo-China, France year after year sees thousands of its noblest sons falling side by side with the gallant soldiers of the Associated States, on which it has bestowed the precious gifts of its civilization and to which it now promises the establishment of independent national governments. There, too, communism is carrying out its terrible mission of disruption and disorder; thus the vision of the Apocalypse advances on the world, bringing nearer the moment when, as the great statesman to whom my people owes its welfare and progress stated some months ago, the United Nations will have to take fully into account the heroic effort which the great French nation is still making in defence of the principles on which our civilization rests.
14. Another of the noble ends to which the free peoples of the world ardently aspire is disarmament, the achievement of which is essential to the very life of mankind. In this vital matter, in view of the practical impossibility of immediately achieving complete disarmament, the General Assembly, after full consideration and discussion at previous sessions, decided that, after appropriate control organs had been established and effectively put into operation, steps should be taken towards the limitation and balanced and progressive reduction of all armed forces and all armaments, without exception.
15. However, here again, unfortunately, the draft resolution [A/2485/Rev.1] which the USSR delegation recently submitted to the General Assembly demands that we should undo the progress so laboriously achieved, which ensured a prudent and effective, if not ideal, solution to this grave question. In this draft resolution, the USSR delegation merely repeats, at any rate in general outline, proposals it has previously submitted and which could not be accepted because their sole object, like the present proposal, was to maintain the advantage of the Soviet Union in conventional forces and armaments, while eliminating the lead which other Powers had gained over the Soviet Union in weapons of mass destruction.
16. The array of grave problems menacing the very existence of mankind increases daily in complexity, bringing the nations steadily closer to a dreadful abyss from whose depths there is no return. It is essential that no time should be lost in the search for acceptable solutions based on wisdom and good faith. In the face of this supreme obligation, mere words and delaying tactics would be a sinister and unimaginable farce that could but lead to suffering and suicide.
17. For that reason we fervently hope that the courageous, frank and clear statement made before this Assembly, on 17 September [434th meeting] by the Secretary of State of the United States produce in the minds of the advocates of violence and aggression the good results that ought to proceed from the wisdom, firmness and conciliatory tone of that great statesman’s speech.
18. The work for the attainment of the purposes and principles of the Charter already accomplished by the United Nations justifies this expression of our fervent hope for co-operation and mutual understanding. The results achieved by the United Nations are in fact worthy of the highest praise; they have been attained, as any fair review of its work must acknowledge, despite extremely serious compromises which had to be agreed to at San Francisco, when the Charter was being drawn up, in order to meet urgent political necessities.
19. Mankind has an immense, permanent debt of gratitude towards the United Nations, and it is the duty of the nations devoted to peace and justice to do their utmost to eliminate from the Charter provisions which have the effect of paralysing action by the United Nations and thus gravely imperil the Organization’s strength, vigour and survival.
20. The greatest of these dangers to the survival and proper development of the United Nations is presented by Article 27, paragraph 3, of the Charter, a completely undemocratic provision which is contrary to the principle of the equality of States before the law, and which the great majority of delegations accepted at San Francisco only on the understanding that reasonable use would be made of the veto and that the veto would not be a permanent institution.
21. In view of the intolerable abuse of the veto by the Soviet Union, and in view of the fact that we are approaching the date agreed upon in 1945 for a review of the Charter, the Dominican Republic is in fullest sympathy with the proposals submitted by Argentina [A/2415 and Add.1] and the Netherlands [A/2442] and will welcome any other proposal that may be put forward with a view to the revision of the Charter under Article 109. For my country, it has always been, and will always be, a point of honour faithfully to fulfil the obligations it assumed under the Charter; we cannot do otherwise than wholeheartedly associate ourselves with any effort to eliminate from the Charter the germs of paralysis and death.
22. My Government is deeply concerned about the grave problem of prisoners of war captured during the late world war, and especially the position of Spanish prisoners detained in Soviet territory notwithstanding the cessation of hostilities. Because of the Dominican people’s particularly close ties with Spain, our high humanitarian ideals and our respect for the essential concepts of justice, the Dominican Republic will raise this important matter at this session in due course.
23. It is also a matter of the greatest concern to the Government of the Dominican Republic that Spain and Italy should be admitted to membership in 'the United Nations. Spain, the glorious mother of so many American nations, whose fruitful heroism has filled the pages of history, and Italy, the cradle of Christian civilization and Western culture, are both peace-loving countries and play an important part in international life; they therefore have every right to be included, if they so desire, among the States Members of the United Nations.
24. It would be unfitting to conclude this statement without saying once again that the Government of the Dominican Republic has co-operated, and will continue to co-operate enthusiastically and fully, in the various aspects of the all-embracing work of the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
25. The Dominican Republic, which was the first to raise its voice, at the Evian Conference in 1938, on behalf of the Jewish people, who at that time were being subjected to the vilest persecutions in Hitlerite Germany, and which granted brotherly asylum to many persecuted refugees, was a member of the International Refugee Organization until that body was disbanded, and continues to interest itself deeply, and to the fullest possible extent, in the grave problems with which that body was concerned.
26. The Dominican Republic’s work as a member of the Trusteeship Council and, within the framework of that body, on the Committee on Italian Somaliland in 1950, over which it had the honour to preside, has at all times been marked by a sincere spirit of co-operation and an ardent desire to render the most useful services it can to the international community in these highly important fields.
27. In the same way, my country maintains the closest relations with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, am admirable and useful institution with whose valuable assistance extremely interesting seminars on the promotion of literacy were held this year at Ciudad Trujillo.
28. Continuing without break the intense progress initiated in 1930 with the abandonment of sterile political methods of unhappy memory, the Dominican Republic has justly won a place for itself in the vanguard of the Latin American countries in the movement for economic and social advancement. In all the aspects of social life, which are so important to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, my country has reason to be deeply gratified at the level already achieved and the steady progress that is being maintained.