Although my country is small, it has been our high privilege to cherish constantly through the years the ideal of respect for freedom and the effective observance of human rights. No iron curtain along our frontiers prevents open scrutiny of our truly democratic way of life. That gives us the moral right to support in thought and in deed any thesis that will answer the anxious heartfelt cry of millions of human beings for lasting peace, aiming at respect for one another and mutual tolerance.
148. So long as there are peoples living under conditions of slavery, whatever its form, and peoples that are denied their rights, whatever their nature, no lasting peace can be achieved.
149. For that reason we cannot but regret that obstacles are being placed in the way of the revision of the full peace treaty with Italy and that that great nation, with its long tradition, is unable to enter into all the privileges inherent in membership of the brotherhood of nations. For that reason, too, we regret that the new Germany is unable, by means of an election supervised by an international commission, freely to express its right to unite in order to participate under genuinely democratic conditions in the community of nations.
150. For the same reason it is to be deplored that the delaying action of which we are aware has held up the establishment of peace in Korea, where on 25 June 1950 a peaceful people saw its frontier on the 38th parallel violated by the sovietized forces from the north. An early peace in Korea will not only stem the flow of blood with all its attendant sorrow and ruin, it will also make possible a calm and early analysis of the pressing problems of the Far East.
151. It is a source of deep regret that thousands of human beings are being daily removed from their homes to fill concentration camps and the hateful slave labour camps. Such violation of human rights cannot be compared with the unfortunate fate of two coloured men who paid with their lives for crimes they committed in sunny Florida.
152. The peace of the world depends on the firmness shown by the democratic nations and on mutual understanding of rights and obligations. But above all, it depends on the action and resolution of those who today, enjoying the hospitality of immortal France, are forging the destinies of a better world.
153. The free nations of the West are ready to raise a bulwark of peace against aggression from whatever quarter it may come. For that fundamental reason and in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter, the North Atlantic Treaty has come into being, not for aggressive purposes but as a defence against aggression. To establish peace by destroying this treaty, as has been cleverly suggested, can never be a success. The peace-loving nations which, by reasons of their democratic structure, cannot but be vulnerable, must build a force capable of resisting the sudden attacks of covetously aggressive nations, so long as the latter continue on that path.
154. History, it must be remembered, repeats itself. All this does not in any way mean that the countries of the world cannot all enjoy the right to live together with one another in peace; on the contrary, the hope of mankind is rooted in the desire that all should live under the sign peace.
155. United States Secretary of State Acheson, in interpreting the world’s cry, has asked for a reduction and control of armaments. Although he himself considers that that is not enough to guarantee peace, a number of measures have been suggested that may help to achieve that objective.
156. The Costa Rican delegation, inspired by unswerving principles of peace and universal harmony, cannot but support whole-heartedly any practicable measures which would ensure world peace, since it does not itself claim to point the way to any particular course or to offer any solution. It has, furthermore, an unshakable faith in the moral authority of the United Nations. The United States representative’s appeal for progressive disarmament and control by means of inspection of atomic energy and weapons merits considered and careful study by the General Assembly and, in particular, by the representatives of the four great Powers. On the other hand, the USSR proposal [A/1944] to declare that the conditions of the North Atlantic Treaty are incompatible with membership of the United Nations would seem to have the deliberate aim of proposing the impossible, so that it will prove unacceptable.
157. The Security Council, despite General Assembly resolution 377 (V), impeded as it constantly is by the use of the veto, does not possess the necessary authority to intervene with the requisite speed or as effectively as it should. The Security Council should have greater powers of control and of investigation, particularly in those places which have come to be known as the “explosive areas”, such as the Balkans, the Middle East, Indo-China, etc.
158. In this connexion, we have before us the case of Yugoslavia, which has submitted to the Assembly complaints of provocation by the Soviet Union and its satellites [A/1946], as well as other similar cases. The verification of such complaints should take place by means of impartial commissions competent to take speedy action and, most important of all, to recommend appropriate sanctions if such complaints prove justified. In the absence of specific and adequate sanctions, action by the United Nations can have little practical effect, especially in the case of those aggressive nations which are not inclined to pay serious attention to verbal warnings.
159. The action of the United Nations should in all events bear the clear stamp of universal co-operation, as in the case of Korea, on the battlefields of which the generous blood of the free peoples of the world has been shed.
160. The General Assembly should have greater powers in order to embrace all those organs of security such as the North Atlantic Treaty, the Organization of American States, the Tripartite Security Pact between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and the security pacts concluded by the United States with Japan and the Philippines, so that each of these bodies may immediately, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, be able to check any attempted aggression.
161. Worthy of mention as a means of co-operation in the joint effort for the maintenance of peace are the various provisions for granting assistance to under-developed countries and for succouring the needs of the world. Let it suffice to say that over 2,000 million dollars have been allocated among forty-three countries of the world under a technical assistance programme. Only last week, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund published a report on the way in which it is investing its budget. Food and medical assistance have been supplied to more than six and a half million children in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan and other countries of Asia. More than six million children have been examined, almost half of whom have been vaccinated against tuberculosis. Many others have been treated against malaria, and millions of children in all parts of the world are daily receiving milk and other food. This is an instance of effective work accomplished by the United Nations.
162. The western hemisphere is giving the world an example worthy of emulation. No element of discord exists between the nations comprising it, the relations between them being governed by the principles of the Organization of American States inspired by the statutes of the United Nations Charter. Recently, the Charter of San Salvador was signed which, inspired by the same principles, constitutes an instrument of harmony and spiritual union between the five sister Republics of Central America. There exists between all the countries of the hemisphere a close spirit of co-operation and an ever-present desire to make of the American continent a source of wealth capable of mitigating the suffering of the world and a factory which would work unceasingly in the service of mankind.
163. While hunger and misery exist there can be no genuine peace. Full production strength can be devoted to the service of suffering mankind once the clouds of war have disappeared. In this way, the common effort of all the peoples of the earth would lead to the creation of a better world. The problem of war, if considered in its true perspective, is not a problem of religion, of language, of economy or of territorial divisions; it is the problem of all mankind. Let us call on the sublime inspiration of the Almighty so that He may illumine the illustrious minds of the peat statesmen in whose hands lie the destinies of the world on that, invested with spiritual strength and mutual tolerance, they may lay the foundations of peace, which is the supreme desire of mankind anti can create art eternal oasis of happiness and well-being.