As Chairman of the delegation of El Salvador, I feel that it is appropriate for me to take the floor in the general debate in this important international Assembly to express the views of my delegation and the basic principles which will determine its attitude towards the main items on our agenda.
136. I should like to mention at once the great satisfaction felt by the Salvadorean delegation in collaborating with the delegations of the other Member States of the United Nations in the task of maintaining peace to be carried out by this international Organization, which today is more than ever essential if the innumerable dangers threatening the world at this historic moment are to be averted
137. The Government of El Salvador is deeply disturbed by the impediments preventing the Security Council from contributing as effectively as the United Nations Charter permits to the attainment of one of the most important objectives of this international Organization, that of becoming the real legal community of all free States. The opposition in the Council to the admission of States such as Ireland, Italy and Portugal, which are effective bulwarks of peace at the present time, cannot fail to give rise to the greatest anxiety throughout the world. These States, according to repeated declarations made by this Assembly itself, fulfil all the conditions for membership of the United Nations under Article 4 of the Charter; nevertheless, for reasons wholly foreign to the stipulations laid down therein, their admission has not been possible owing to the excessive exercise of the veto power in the Security Council. This has unfortunately produced a most justified uneasiness throughout the world, because it means that all possibility of effective co-operation within the United Nations is thereby denied to States which could make a considerable contribution to the maintenance of international peace and order. Furthermore, the unfortunate result of the unjustified rejection of these States’ requests for admission, due to the opposition of a single vote in the Security Council, is that the United Nations is unable to assume that universality which was the principal intention when the Charter of our Organization was signed.
138. The Government of El Salvador initially proposed [A/1899] the inclusion in the agenda of the present session of the General Assembly of the important item, admission of new Members, thereby emphasizing its extreme interest in this matter and its intention to co-operate as effectively as possible in the removal of all those impediments which still hinder the admission to our international Organization of States fully qualified to be Members. The Salvadorean delegation has noted with great satisfaction that other American governments have made the same or similar proposals, because that shows very clearly that these governments share the Salvadorean Government’s uneasiness with regard to this matter.
139. At the United Nations Conference to set up the international organization, held at San Francisco, California, from April to June 1945, the Salvadorean delegation made every effort to see that the General Assembly of the United Nations should be given in the Charter the widest possible powers to make it the most effective factor for the maintenance of international peace and order. Again and again our delegation has pointed out that the General Assembly is the only genuinely democratic organ of the United Nations, because all Member States are represented in it with an equal vote. At the same time, the Salvadorean delegation endeavoured, unfortunately in vain, to combat the veto power with which each of the five permanent members of the Security Council was to be invested. The apprehensions then harboured by the Salvadorean delegation have been fully confirmed in the course of the last six years. The Security Council is now suffering from the chronic paralysis which the Salvadorean delegation foresaw in 1945. The General Assembly nearly became the centre of academic discussions, without the slightest effective power.
140. These facts could not fail to produce a healthy reaction in the Assembly; and this reaction has most clearly been expressed in the resolution [377 (V)] called “Uniting for Peace” adopted by the General Assembly during its fifth session. This resolution shows clearly that the General Assembly is, in the course of time, becoming fully aware of the great authority inherent in it as the genuinely representative organ of each and all of the Member States of the United Nations.
141. The resolution “Uniting for Peace” has re-awakened in the United Nations an optimism which had almost disappeared. By its adoption the General Assembly showed the world that it fully recognized the moral authority vested in it, which empowers it to recommend to Members of the Organization the adoption of all necessary measures to maintain world peace and even to repel aggression when it occurs. There can be no doubt that the resolution, “Uniting for Peace”, is more than a mere interpretation of the Charter; it is in fact a positive development of the very concept of the General Assembly. Those who took part in drafting the Charter, and those who debated and approved it at San Francisco, in 1945 little thought that, in the course of time, the General Assembly would have to adopt a resolution such as that known under the name of “Uniting for Peace”.
142. All this, however, already belongs to history. We must now admit that the supreme importance of the resolution passed by the General Assembly was immediately recognized, particularly in the conflict in Korea. It is thus permissible to ask whether the General Assembly will find remedies for other situations, also arising from the frequent stultification of the Security Council by an immoderate use of the veto.
143. One such problem is that of the admission of new Members to the United Nations. Present conditions are so unfavourable that the result has been the total isolation from the General Assembly of the States which the Assembly itself has considered as fully qualified for membership. This isolation is absolutely complete, since even official messages and documents transmitted by those States for communication to the General Assembly are not circulated to our delegations because they do not emanate from a Member State. The delegation of El Salvador considers it unjust that this situation should continue, as it precludes the possibility of establishing valuable collaboration between the United Nations and many peace-loving States that, are not Members of the United Nations for reasons for which there is no legal justification. I am happy to state that my delegation will continue to consider this problem and seek an adequate solution for it, and it is at present prepared to collaborate in this task with other delegations also interested in the subject.
144. This year, as previously, many problems which have become familiar through their annual reappearance will again come before the General Assembly. The most serious of all relates to Korea, because here we are dealing with the tragic breaking up of a nation. We know that the conflict now being waged in Korea would quickly end if all Members of the United Nations without exception would refrain from assisting the aggressors, that is to say, communist China and North Korea. Unfortunately assistance is being given and that explains the failure of the efforts successively made by the General Assembly and the United Nations Unified Command to restore peace in Korea. The Korean nation, shattered and bled white, is deserving of respect, consideration and assistance from each and all of the Members of the United Nations.
145. My delegation is certain that it is voicing the feelings of an overwhelming majority of those present here, and of the governments they represent, in appealing to the conscience of the world to ensure that no assistance shall henceforth be given by any State to the aggressors. If this happy result were obtained, tranquillity would be restored in the world and we might affirm that the United Nations had recovered its internal harmony and was better able than ever before to remove all barriers to peace. In any case, my delegation is firmly resolved to support all measures submitted for the consideration of this Assembly which are designed to restore peace, on a basis of strict justice, in the nation which has been attacked. It must not be forgotten that the war in Korea jeopardizes not only the prestige of the United Nations but also its very reason for existence.
146. My delegation will also pay the greatest attention to other matters relating particularly to peace in the Far East, including the question of the Island of Formosa and the Nationalist Government established there: the only Chinese government recognized by the United Nations.
147. The case of Greece will once again come before the General Assembly with the various modifications it has undergone in the past year. It may be noted with justifiable satisfaction that the efforts of the General Assembly to strengthen peace and to safeguard the territorial integrity of Greece have been strikingly successful, and as a result the prestige of the United Nations has been enhanced and its authority demonstrated. Serious problems still remain to be settled, however, before that important task can be considered as satisfactorily concluded. Albania and Bulgaria have obstinately persisted in refusing to co-operate with the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans. Frontier incidents have continued to occur, according to that Committee’s report. The infiltration of guerillas into Greek territory, although apparently on a smaller scale than in previous years, has taken place with the connivance and assistance of the neighbouring States on the north. It has also been proved that Greek guerillas are being trained in States other than Albania and Bulgaria, some of these States, it should be noted, being Members of the United Nations.
148. The repatriation of Greek children taken from their homes and now in neighbouring countries has not made any considerable progress, despite the recommendations of the General Assembly and the requests of the International Red Cross to the Red Cross Societies of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. Only the last-named State, which has recently re-established official relations with Greece, has responded to these appeals and has co-operated to the extent of repatriating 289 children, as appears from the Special Committee’s report. It is terrible to think that there are still more than 10,000 children who have not been repatriated.
149. It has proved impossible to repatriate thousands of civilians who are at present, as a result of guerilla warfare, held in States bordering on Greece, as well as Greek military personnel captured by guerillas and detained in neighbouring States.
150. All these matters require the attention of the General Assembly and call for the continued existence of the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans. My delegation is ready to co-operate in the study of these matters and to lend its support to the most effective measures which may be recommended to deal with them.
151. As regards Palestine, the Salvadorean delegation insists on the maintenance in their entirety of the resolutions relating to the internationalization of Jerusalem and the protection of the Holy Places. In accordance with the precise instructions of my Government, my delegation will also strive to ensure that the problem of the Arab refugees who have been driven from their homes is settled on a basis of strict justice. The fate of those refugees is one of the gravest responsibilities incumbent upon the United Nations.
152. In conclusion, I reiterate the fervent desire of the delegation of El Salvador tb co-operate very closely with the other delegations met together here in giving due consideration to the items upon our agenda and in adopting the most appropriate resolutions to promote the work of the United Nations in the attainment of its principal objective the maintenance of peace. God grant that our efforts in this place may be crowned with success.