Mr. GARCIA-SAYAN expressed his delegation’s pleasure that the United Nations had met in the city of Paris. It was a tribute to France and a recognition of its important role in world politics. It also gave the representatives of the nations an opportunity of renewing contact with an unquenchable source of culture.
His country brought to the task to be performed an unbroken attachment to peace and an international tradition of devotion to juridical solutions and to understanding based on mutual respect between sovereign States. Peru claimed to be a constructive and valuable element in the task in which the United Nations were engaged, for it was convinced that the idea of interdependence between States, now widespread in the world, was regarded by nations great and small as a peculiar and essential attribute of world organization.
General political circumstances and the views expressed in the general discussion sufficiently demonstrated the great dangers and difficulties which faced the world and the United Nations and filled the mind with profound anxiety. Awareness of such dangers and difficulties would inspire a very pessimistic view of the future, were it not still believed that human and spiritual considerations might yet triumph over motives of politics and balance of power. Victory had admittedly not meant peace. The elements of distrust and the factors engendering it had to be removed so that efforts to establish permanent peace might develop on solid ground.
Happily the United Nations had shown its appreciation of the fact that human problems were more important than political ones, the solutions to which were of an immediate and often an ephemeral nature. That appreciation was shown by the incorporation in the United Nations, as specialized agencies, of the International Labour Organisation, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, etc. Those were bodies concerned with technical and social action on the international plane which, if its aims were to be achieved, had to proceed apart from political ideologies and in an atmosphere of universality and co-operation between all nations.
Against that international background the American republics, daughters of the West and linked with Europe’s destinies and responsibilities since the last two wars, had worked unremittingly to strengthen their continental system, the oldest established of all regional groups based on mutual understanding. The similarity between their political systems, the preference for legal methods, the absence of racial or religious struggles for mastery had no doubt favoured the ideals of the liberators as expressed in 1826 at the Panama Congress convened by Bolivar from the capital of Peru. Those ideals had been largely achieved through a series of legal institutions to which the American republics could point with pride and which certainly were an ornament to international law. The American States constituted a group of nations organized on the basis of a fundamental charter drafted in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The system of consultation on urgent problems had reached a high level of perfection with the creation of a permanent organ. The procedure for the pacific settlement of disputes found its most perfect expression in the Rio de Janeiro and Bogota pacts. The pact signed at Rio de Janeiro represented the first collective defence treaty signed in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and provided for the application to the aggressor of coercive sanctions which might extend to military action. The complementary pact signed at Bogota was a veritable code of pacific methods of settlement which incorporated in the American legal system, on the basis of past experience and of the development of international law, every means recognized as efficacious in combating war. It was hoped that the spirit of that progressive organization of the American States would prevail within the United Nations, for it opened the way to conciliation of interests without impairing national sovereignty.
The representative of Peru hoped that the constructive optimism which had yielded such happy results in the American regional sphere would prevail in the United Nations. It therefore shared the view that the means of action and the legal machinery of the Organization should be strengthened, so that it might play its full part as a safeguard for large and small States.
Such were the views and considerations that governed his country’s actions in the United Nations. Under their influence Peru had participated and would continue to participate in its work.
Turning to the questions dealt with in the Secretary-General’s annual report, Mr. Garcia-Sayan said that his country, with full awareness of its duties as a Member of the United Nations and urged by its desire for peace and for settlements by process of law, had agreed to appoint one of its nationals as a member of the Special Committee that went to Palestine to study on the spot the grave moral and human problem existing in that territory. That member had concurred in the majority report (A/316). In agreement with him, his country had then supported partition.
The events which had subsequently stained the Holy Land with blood showed the grave difficulties involved in carrying out resolution 181 (II) of the Assembly and had, as was known, led some Members to believe that it would be better to reconsider the recommendation before imposing it by force. In view of those circumstances, his Government had abstained from taking part in any decision to impose the partition plan, though it was still deeply concerned with the grievous problem involved, the importance and seriousness of which it fully recognized.
In connexion with the proposal (A/241) submitted to the United Nations Assembly in November 1946 for breaking off relations with the Spanish Government and imposing other sanctions, the Government of Peru had stated its view that, according to the investigation carried out by the Security Council’s Sub-Committee, the Spanish Government did not constitute an actual threat to peace such as would permit the application of the coercive measures envisaged in the Charter. Only the Assembly, it had subsequently declared, was competent to consider whether action should be taken to promote realization of the rights and fundamental freedoms envisaged in Article 13 of the Charter, since it was clear that any action taken by it, to be equitable, had to be extended to all the nations in which freedom was being restricted.
In voicing that attitude his country had in no way sought, either directly or indirectly, to express an opinion on the internal political situation in Spain, for it was convinced, now as in the past, that only the most punctilious abstention from such pronouncements made international harmony possible. Non-intervention was a principle of public law, enshrined in the fundamental documents of Pan-American history, which had enabled the American peoples to create a vigorous system, gradually strengthened stage by stage, in which the freedom of the States and international solidarity were interwoven. He understood the desire of friendly nations that situations deemed unjust should be remedied, but feared lest that noble crusading spirit should give rise to new or greater conflicts. The principle of non-intervention was specially designed to safeguard the sovereignty and independence of small States, and was subject only to the collective action envisaged in the San Francisco Charter for safeguarding international peace when it was threatened or broken.
In line with that opinion, his delegation was opposed to the Assembly’s resolution 39 (I) recommending the recall of ambassadors and ministers, but Peru had nevertheless adjusted its relations with the Spanish Government accordingly. The General Assembly at its second session had abstained from ratifying the 1946 decision as had been proposed, and had confined itself to expressing its confidence that the Security Council would exercise its responsibilities if it considered that the situation in Spain so required. As was known, the Security Council had removed the question from its agenda on 25 June last.
In those circumstances, his Government had felt that no formal or moral obligation now restricted its full freedom to put an end to the ban on diplomatic relations with Spain. That decision had been motivated not only by the principles of respect for the personality and dignity of States on which his country’s international policy was based but also by the firm conviction that no divergences of trend or political methods, or any other circumstances, could shake the enduring bond between the Spanish people and its daughter nations, which followed the same path within the Christian civilization of the West and were united by indestructible bonds constituted by the identity of language, religion and customs, and by the common obligations and the common heritage of blood and spirit.
Turning to the problem of the veto in the Security Council, Mr. Garcia-Sayan said that the unanimity rule as laid down in Article 27 of the Charter had been accepted at San Francisco, for obvious political reasons, as an inevitable evil, in the belief that it would be temporary. The abuse of that privilege had been denounced in successive Assemblies and had aroused growing opposition to it. Its abolition or, at least, restriction or modification of its use was therefore called for. His delegation had submitted to the Assembly in November 1946 a draft resolution (A/C.1/52) recommending a more restricted use of the unanimity rule, and limiting it to cases in which those countries making use of it should be able to state publicly in what way the problem or matter in question affected their security.
Sharing, therefore, as it did the justified desire that the so-called right of the veto should be abolished, his delegation would take the opportunity of explaining its attitude at length when the subject came up for discussion in the competent Committee. He was sure that some solution of such a debated problem would be found.
Referring to the Interim Committee, Peru had participated with the greatest interest in that Committee’s work. Experience of the work done by that body, the establishment of which was authorized under Article 22 of the Charter, had led to the belief that it had achieved positive results. He therefore supported the proposals in favour of continuing it, as it supplemented and facilitated the work of the Assembly, without detracting from the powers and responsibilities of the Security Council.
With reference to the admission of new Members, the aspiration of the United Nations to achieve an increasingly universal character was not in keeping with the discriminatory attitude which had been displayed towards certain applications for admission. Since, as the Secretary-General stated in his report, the United Nations had been built to contain within peaceful hounds Members having distinct economic or political systems it was impossible to see how such exclusions could be justified without detriment to the aims pursued.
As some representatives had already emphasized, the rejection of the application by Italy, with which his country was united by the universal ties of Latin culture and by the generous contribution of the Italian people to the economic and spiritual development of South American countries, had been very painful to the Latin American republics. He hoped, therefore, that Italy, as a genuinely democratic State and with all its qualities of national and human dignity, might soon become a member of the United Nations community.
As a member of the Economic and Social Council, Peru had actively participated in the work of that permanent body. As a member of an ad hoc committee it was among those who had recommended the establishment of the Economic Commission for Latin America, the first session of which had taken place at Santiago de Chile the previous June. Peru considered the establishment of that Commission to be of the highest importance, its function being to consider the urgent economic problems deriving from the war and affecting the Western hemisphere, to raise the level of economic activities and to strengthen the economic relations of Latin American countries both among themselves and with the other countries of the world.
On the proposal of Peru, a resolution (E/CN. 12/72) had been approved at Santiago, recommending the new Commission to study a system for the multilateral compensation of payments and a system of deferred payments for adjusting trade balances, with a view to assisting the respective economies of the South American countries, which were hampered by lack of foreign exchange.
The new Commission, in virtue of another resolution (E/CN. 12/66), had also undertaken the study of the possibilities of European immigration to Latin America, taking into account his country’s proposal, based on the statement Mr. Gareia-Sayan had made on 29 December 1947 in his then capacity of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, on the Marshall Plan and its relation to Latin America.
That statement had been made in a spirit of sincere co-operation with the just and noble proposals for European recovery envisaged by the Marshall Plan. It had referred to the necessity of finding a formula which would ensure the effective recovery of the European nations, an essential element for world peace and equilibrium, without destroying the expectations of industrial development in the Latin American countries or impairing the resulting welfare of their peoples. For that purpose it had proposed the study of a large-scale plan for European migration to Latin America, including the promotion or creation in Latin-American countries of the conditions requisite for the welcome of immigrants. The relief of population pressure which would be experienced by the over-populated European nations — over-populated, that is, in relation to their natural resources — would, it had been said, have the double advantage of, on the one hand, reducing the amount of supplies necessary for European consumption, and on the other, of making possible an increased production in the New World. At the same time the Latin-American countries would see an increase of their capacity to purchase both European and North American manufactured goods. All that would result in a greater expansion and better use of the world’s manpower.
Those ideas, which had been favourably commented on, soon made headway in the Inter-American Economic and Social Council, which had taken steps to consult the American Governments. Though everyone knew that the European Recovery Programme would take place outside the sphere of the United Nations, he had ventured to stress his comments on that Programme, since those ideas had previously been referred to in commissions connected with the United Nations. Before being considered at the session of the Economic Commission for Latin America held in Santiago, a proposal by the Peruvian delegate had been adopted in Geneva the previous February by the Permanent Migration Committee of the International Labour Organisation. That constituted acceptance of his delegation’s plan since, in that proposal, the Governing Body of the ILO had been requested to urge on the countries concerned the need for co-ordinating international effort assisting the Latin American republics, with a view to absorbing without delay a substantial volume of European migration.
The occasion was not one for illustrating further the nature of Peru’s efforts. He would simply express the hope that those efforts might make headway in the United Nations agencies concerned; for, as the Secretary-General’s report said, international migration was of worldwide concern in connexion with population problems, and with problems of reconstruction, full employment and improvement of standards of living. The Secretary-General should accordingly announce a concrete programme to deal with migration in conformity with the decisions of the Economic and Social Council.
In the field of the social activities of the Economic and Social Council and in relation to the same subject of immigration, he would like to mention accession of Peru, as a signatory, to the International Refugee Organization and Peru’s support of its aims. Under the agreement concluded, various groups of European immigrants had arrived in Peru in the course of the year under the auspices of the IRO, which had expressed its satisfaction with the welcome given to those refugees. He would also mention that in Peru they enjoyed the same safeguards and the same economic and social rights as Peruvians, and that very great opportunities lay open to them.
Turning to the question of human rights, he said that his country definitely associated itself with and participated in the efforts being made by the United Nations to achieve international co-operation in the matter of recognition and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion. He accordingly attached very great importance to the adoption by the Assembly of the declaration drafted by the Commission on Human Rights. But it must be borne in mind, for the purpose of co-ordination, that the American countries had already signed a declaration (E/CN.4/122) on the same subject at Bogota.
It would not, however, be enough for the Assembly to approve the draft declaration. If it was to be given full effect steady and patient efforts must be made to have it incorporated in the national law of each State. The growing tendency of the law towards socialization showed that a good deal of work towards the improvement of the formulae expressed in the declaration would have to be undertaken by the technical bodies of the United Nations studying the problems related to the rights and duties of the individual and of groups of individuals.
In that field a considerable task would devolve on the International Labour Organisation, over whose Governing Body the representative of his country had the honour to preside. As regards freedom of association, the ILO had recently approved a convention which represented the first attempt to introduce into an international legal body one of the freedoms proclaimed in the United Nations Charter.
In the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, his delegation had supported the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry into the effects of chewing the Coca Leaf by the indigenous peoples of certain regions of the Andes (E/575). During its second session the General Assembly had, by resolution 134 (II), drawn the attention of the Economic and Social Council to that request, which was finally approved at the seventh session recently held by the Council at Geneva,
The habit, which was general among almost 20 million natives of South America, had already been extensively studied in his country. However, his country had considered it to be its moral and international responsibility to ascertain, possibly through the highest scientific authorities, the harmful effects of the habit on the individual, with a view to considering appropriate restrictions on the cultivation of the plant. It was to be hoped that the General Assembly would give its final approval to the proposal adopted by the Economic and Social Council concerning the matter.
The International Law Commission, whose members were to be elected by this Assembly, deserved all good wishes. Nowhere had the work of codification of international law achieved better results than in America. The progress made by the American countries would certainly be an example and a stimulus for the work of the Commission in the international sphere.
In conclusion, Mr. Garcia-Sayan said that the nations represented in the Assembly had a great task to carry out for the benefit of their peoples. It was incumbent upon each and all of them to ensure that the power and position of their nations, great or small, should be boldly used for purposes of peace and general wellbeing which would enable them to enter, without fear or suspicion, upon the path pointed out to them by the hand of God and by the desire for friendly relations of men of good will throughout the world.
In the splendid city of Paris, in which they all had some share, man’s capacity for harmonious achievements had reached its noblest and most beautiful expression. He hoped it would be for them a source of inspiration as well as an inducement to compromise in order to safeguard the benefits which peace afforded to the peoples.
With faith in the supreme human values which elevated and guided the life of communities, they should devote themselves to restoring, on the basis of sincere and effective cooperation, the confidence of world public opinion in the United Nations and the hopes which the world reposed in that meeting.