114. As I gaze from this rostrum on the panorama of the Assembly, a long-familiar feeling of admiration and an awareness of shared ideals and principles call to my mind that great figure Adlai Stevenson, one of the most distinguished leaders that the United Nations has known. While the memory of the illustrious dead is a sorrow, it is even more a consolation and an inspiration for those of us who carry on the fight they fought so brilliantly.
115. Adlai Stevenson’s political and social philosophy, conforming as it did to the conception of the United Nations, was formed in San Francisco in 1945 and at the Assembly held in London in 1946. In his political campaigns, he emphasized his determined support for our Organization. Destiny willed that in. his last years we were able to count on his talents and on his words in debates and in the solution of difficult problems. His eloquence was the product of clarity of thought, depth of feeling and felicity of expression. I am sure these words of mine reflect the feeling of the Assembly and there is nothing more just than to pay homage to a representative who was the embodiment of the virtue that we most need today: faith in the United Nations.
116. The twentieth session of the United Nations General Assembly is beginning under a sign of hope. In the most trying moments of the crisis, our faith in the providential destiny of the United Nations did not falter, certain as we were that all the difficulties would be overcome. It is both just and fitting to acknowledge the patience, skill and wisdom displayed by Mr. Quaison-Sackey, President of the General Assembly at the nineteenth session, and U Thant, our Secretary-General. At the meetings held under the no-voting procedure no serious problems were discussed,, but those meetings demonstrated at a crucial moment the will and determination of the Assembly to survive in order to fulfil the noble purposes of the Charter. With admirable instinct it achieved unanimity in its various Councils and organs, which have been functioning normally. It is as if the crisis has served to emphasize all the more clearly the importance of the work of the United Nations.
117. We must also congratulate the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations. It has followed the only possible road, respecting what might be called effective rights and leaving for future discussion the question of the most equitable and appropriate apportionment of peace-keeping expenses.
118. The Assembly is now able to resume the normal course of its fruitful work and the opening of the present session coincides with the success achieved by the Security Council in obtaining from India and Pakistan, two great Powers that arouse sympathy and admiration in all, a cease-fire in observance of Article 40 of the Charter.
119. The unanimity of the Council throughout the various stages of this problem is of far-reaching significance. A new strength and a new state of mind have replaced the bitter differences that had led to the paralysis of the Council or to emergency sessions of the Assembly, accompanied by announcements of rebellion and dissatisfaction.
120. New factors have arisen in the life of the United Nations and in the world atmosphere as a whole, factors that we should do well to ponder. We must, of course, view the universality that is being attained by the United Nations as a most propitious basis for the future. The Peruvian delegation takes this opportunity of extending a most cordial welcome to the new nations admitted as Members — the Gambia, the Maldive Islands and Singapore — and of expressing its sincere wishes for the success of their participation in the United Nations. Universality makes it possible for our debates and resolutions to reach a wider audience and encourages a more scrupulous examination of our responsibilities. All peoples can make their voices heard in this world forum.
121. It is axiomatic that the small Powers, despite understandable influences and commitments, gravitate towards peace; for it is not war alone, but also mere international tension, that blocks every load to the progress to which they are entitled.
122. The dramatic incidents of nuclear competition have in themselves brought about the profound conviction that war cannot lead to the triumph of one country or of one ideology but will inevitably lead to mutual destruction and even to the very extinction of life on the planet. It may be that a certain sector still adheres to the revolutionary myth, which is similar to and coincident with the racial myth, and still clings to the illusion of a precarious survival in the wake of the universal catastrophe; but a true realization of the tragedy that is threatening us is shared by all the other peoples of the world.
123. Wars have occurred whenever minorities, drunk with the desire for power, have succeeded in spreading the fever of the myth of racial, ideological or political hegemony to the masses, who were victims first of deception and then of the holocaust. Neither the morality of religion nor the lessons of history proved a bar to these fatal tendencies, for a number of wars were successful, in achieving temporary advantages. Today, things have changed radically; the harsh lessons of recent conflicts and the new discoveries made under the stimulus of war itself, which threaten mankind with an all-pervading and Dantesque punishment for this deviation from humanity, have been a vital and terrible experience for us all. We are now, thanks to free discussion and the information media, approaching a new stage of collective conscience. Confidence in the settlement of problems by technical compromises is replacing the call of the myth and the ill-fated promptings of man's primitive belligerence. The peoples of the world wish to work in peace towards a better life and, through it, to fulfil their destinies. However cut off from the world the minorities ruling certain régimes may be, they cannot be impervious to this mysterious awakening of the human spirit. The United Nations, by its world-wide representation, has strengthened this new universal conscience and is carrying forward its task by reaffirming the principles of coexistence and deep-rooted human solidarity.
124. There is another factor of decisive importance: the extraordinary mobilization that we are witnessing of all the spiritual energies of the world, in both the religious and cultural spheres, in favour of peace. This sense of salvation has found its greatest spokesman in the Catholic Church, in keeping with its rich and age-old history. Its theologians of Hispanic nationality had already created international law. A Pontiff who was a son of the people, with the sublime simplicity of his soul which was rooted in the soil but illuminated by the highest spiritual inspiration, appealed to the world for peace in his encyclical Pacem in Terris, addressed not only to believers but to all men of goodwill, without distinction of race, nationality or religion. His Holiness Pope Paul VI, heir and successor to His Holiness Pope John XXIII, has crossed continents and seas with this humanitarian appeal. Paying a significant tribute of trust in the mission of the United Nations, he is preparing to visit us, bringing us his words of faith and love that will be received with deep emotion by the whole of mankind. His message will be heard not only by States but by all peoples. Pope Paul VI knows foil well that, in accordance with the magnificent Preamble to our Charter, at decisive moments it is fitting to speak of the peoples of the United Nations. It is they who work, suffer and are ready to die for just causes. The fatherly exhortations of the representative of the Prince of Peace will certainly find an echo in their good and simple hearts.
125. There is no need for Peru to state once again its unchanging position on the constitutional question underlying the crisis which has fortunately been overcome. Ever since San Francisco, Peru has maintained that peace is not the exclusive responsibility of the Security Council, even though it may be its primary responsibility, but is the concern of the entire Organization and that, in accordance with an amendment unanimously adopted, when the Council is unable to act, the General Assembly, merely upon notification by the Secretary-General, is empowered to do so. In our opinion, the Assembly has not only the right but the obligation to act, for the maintenance of peace is the supreme duty of the United Nations.
126. This, however, does not relieve us of the need to do everything possible to preserve the harmony between the Security Council and the General Assembly and to exhaust every means of achieving co-operation between them. The unanimity rule is not solely the law of the veto; it imposes an obligation to seek unanimity in good faith, recording disagreement only if it was not possible to achieve unanimity. We do not think that it is contrary to the Charter — indeed, it is in the spirit of the Charter — to permit soundings and efforts to bring opposing parties closer to each other. Without prejudice to the so-called residual right of the Assembly, would it not be advisable in moments of crisis for the Secretary-General, with the advice or co-operation of a standing committee of good offices composed of one representative of each region or regional system, to try to reconcile the different points of view on a serious problem? Without altering resolution 377 (V), entitled "Uniting for peace", it would suffice to add to the bodies envisaged therein a new' committee of good offices representing all the regional systems. Under this arrangement, the Security Council would have some idea of the possible attitude of an emergency General Assembly and would weigh the disadvantages of ignoring an appeal for further consideration of the problem.
127. It should be recalled here that, in the conflict which arose between the General Assembly and the Security Council over the admission of new Members, the Assembly requested a Committee composed of one representative from Europe, one from the Afro-Asian group and one from the Latin American group, over which I had the honour to preside, to exercise its good offices. This Committee started its proceedings at San Francisco in 1955; some months later, in New York, with the support of Canada and the Nordic countries, it reached the agreement which broke the deadlock and set us on the road to universality. At that time nobody considered that this arrangement was contrary to the Charter. It sets an auspicious precedent for the committee we are proposing. The members of the Security Council cannot be denied the right to have an opportunity to modify their opinions in the light of the considerations presented by a committee backed by the authority of the entire Assembly.
128. Our main concern is to avoid anything which, at this time of hope, may cause a disturbance of the peace. International tension by its very nature entails tragic consequences, in addition to the danger or threat of actual war. This tension arises through local wars sparked by external causes which have resulted or may result in redeeming and effective action by the Security Council. The most dangerous form of tension, however, is that derived from the direct or indirect intervention of some great Power to overthrow régimes in other countries which it considers to be unfriendly and to have them replaced by régimes which are not only friendly but which fellow its political system. In other words, the danger today — as at other times — lies in the struggle for spheres of influence, with violation of respect for sovereignty and the overt or covert exercise of intervention.
129. The phenomenon has political aspects and new characteristics and must be carefully placed in its legal context. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Argentina has drawn the attention of the Assembly to this in a masterly manner [1337th meeting] and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chile has done so in the same fashion [1338th meeting]. Obviously, the regional or the universal jurisdiction must be put in motion with full effectiveness in each case. We would only venture to add, in cases where this jurisdiction cannot be established, the obligation of the Power concerned to hold a conference immediately, initiating negotiation without prior conditions, which are a remnant of imperialist tendencies and contrary to the spirit of international law and which today constitute a way of avoiding negotiation or ensuring its failure.
130. The delegation of Peru will study with due care the proposals submitted on this subject. There can be no more appropriate subject for the application of the juridical principles of the Charter, which are the most noteworthy contribution of the Americas to international law.
131. An item which stands out particularly in the heavy agenda we have this year is the problem of disarmament. Without disarmament, although there is a feeling in favour of peace among all peoples, war may break out through accident, error, miscalculation or delusion. It is a sad stage that mankind has reached. Today its fate does not depend on what is in the hearts of men. Technology has made it dependent upon the mechanical interplay of purely material factors. It is not enough to have propaganda in favour of peace or to create an emotional state in which dangerous errors and unavowable intentions can be concealed. Disarmament is above all a technical problem in the twofold sense of the word: technical because of the scientific methods made necessary by unavowable aims, and technical because of the immutable nature of the institution and of the juridical principles which must necessarily govern it.
132. Bearing this in mind, the delegation of Peru will turn its attention to the interesting report of the Disarmament Commission, to the timely proposals made by the non-aligned countries and to those just made from this rostrum by the delegations of the United States and the Soviet Union.
133. We are naturally favourably disposed towards the idea of a disarmament conference but we hope it would not be limited to asking for an unconditional ban on the atomic bomb, which would be naive or too mischievous unless there were guarantees of real and fully effective control. In all the debates we have emphasized that, in the disarmament agreement in the nuclear age, inspection to supervise the elements to be destroyed and the process of their destruction is not only a way of fulfilling the contract but an element or actual condition of the obligation. Full inspection is therefore in the nature and essence of the agreement. To oppose it or to limit it by political suspicion or by an absolute concept of sovereignty — a concept, moreover, which is today incompatible with the existence of the international community — would indeed be an indefensible attitude and contrary to the purposes of the Charter. A defective agreement involving disarmament without guarantees, designed to produce a false feeling of confidence, would be more dangerous than the existing situation, because, once the balance is upset in the process of disarmament, the illusion of a lightning war and an easy victory — man's old and lamentable weakness — would emerge.
134. We have approved by a vast majority the proposals submitted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland on the proliferation of nuclear weapons and we shall naturally give sympathetic and calm consideration to any new proposals submitted for the realization of the ideal already approved. We should, however, be failing in a duty of sincerity if we did not state that, within a strict hierarchy of values, we should give the achievement of immediate measures of disarmament priority over any other proposal or project that would barely alleviate the evil from which we suffer.
135. We listened with great interest to the statement made by the representative of Italy [1338th meeting] on this important matter and on the principles underlying the draft which establishes a link — essential, in my view — between disarmament and measures to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
136. With regard to outer space, we must applaud the rapprochement of the views of the great Powers and the announcement by the United States of its willingness to sign a bilateral treaty on co-operation in this matter. At the same time, we must emphatically state that we maintain our opinion on the need to proclaim the jurisdiction of the United Nations in any problems and questions which may arise in connexion with outer spaced. Outer space is of interest not only to the great Powers but, above all, to mankind. The difficult points in this beautiful adventure cannot be left to mere agreements between the great Powers or to chance, without there being a pre-established authority to settle any disagreements or conflicts which may arise. This function, which may entail not only declarations but also co-operation, can be fulfilled only by human authority — in other words, by the organ of the international community, namely, the United Nations.
137. We have said that disarmament has a bearing on peace for two reasons: because it eliminates the occasions of war and because, once it has been achieved, the great Powers will be able to turn their attention to economic assistance. Let us not forget that in the Charter to which we subscribed twenty years ago, the maintenance of peace is linked to collective well-being; for our part, we could undoubtedly reverse the terms and say that this collective well-being is today one of the foundations of peace.
138. What would the great Powers gain by carrying out their vast programme of development, which we all view with approbation, sympathy and lively interest, if at the same time war preparations are sapping their resources and deflecting them from their mission of saving the under-developed countries from hunger, anguish and despair? It is infinitely sad to see in those countries a kind of retrogression which is making their living conditions worse and retarding their culture and which may lead from anguish to despair and to blind outbursts of force culminating in the establishment of dictatorships or totalitarian régimes which will not cure either hunger or illiteracy but which will establish forced labour and bring back infamous slavery. I do not mince my words in the face of the heat-rending examples of today. Economic aid is not only a most lofty mission which fate has unavoidably entrusted to the great Powers but also a positive advantage for their own self-preservation.
139. Political and economic isolation is inconceivable in a world in which large regions are afflicted by hunger and may fall a prey to anarchy. The Economic and Social Council and the economic commissions will in their wisdom, we are sure, promote the most conducive methods to make the aid provided through the specialized agencies timely, effective, proportionate and generous and the General Assembly must endorse and give life to the most interesting resolutions adopted by the Conference on Trade and Development held at Geneva in 1964.
140. We do not consider that external aid is the panacea for the situation in the developing countries. This aid must be accompanied — this must be sincerely proclaimed and I am sure my words will find an echo in the developing nations — by a commensurate effort to promote self-help, to master the environment and to establish a working discipline which, indeed, is the basis of liberty. It has never been synonymous with debility or laziness but with a vision of purposes and valiant determination to, attain them. In this sense, the labours of the United Nations may provide an example of effective and timely assistance as well as an incentive.
141. Allow me, with great patriotic pleasure, to draw the attention of the Assembly to the work being done at this moment by the Government of Peru under its programme to stimulate national energies and make the maximum use of our country's human and material resources. Representatives are well aware that, owing to the' varied climate and geographic obstacles, there are few environments more difficult to conquer than the territory of Peru. The response of man has had to be equal to the challenge of nature, in which desert sands alternate with snowy summits and impenetrable forests.
142. In his last message, the President of Peru stated that the existing highways are being improved and that the provincial and even the district capitals are today linked by highways, in may cases constructed by communal action acclaimed and recommended by the United Nations. A total of 750 million soles has been invested in highways and roads.
143. The current irrigation plan will increase the land of Peru by over a million hectares. Of these, 250,000 hectares will be in the coastal region, 220,000 in the sierra and 600,000 in the forest region. As a result of the agrarian reform undertaken by the Peruvian Government, over 100,000 holdings have been given to new landowners this year.
144. The literacy campaign has been waged enthusiastically and is now the largest item in the national budget. There have been 16,980 classes in operation with 1.7 million pupils.
145. The housing plan carried out by the State, by privately organized mutual societies and by communal action has been executed, transforming and beautifying our cities. In this branch alone there has been an investment of 550 million soles.
146. The Andean countries of South America were not fortunate enough to have what Professor Turner would call the "dynamic frontier" — land near to population centres which is suitable for agriculture and livestock and is easy to farm, has access to markets and offers a haven for new immigrants.
147. Mountains, rivers and jungles have obstructed the progress of our own conquest. In the so-called "plands", however, owing to the favourable climate there is land suitable for high-quality crops and for livestock. The President of Peru is endeavouring to penetrate these territories with highways joined in a system to be called the "forest border highway", which would benefit not only Peru but other American countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia and would also be the basis for a larger continental network. The relevant agreement has already been signed and studies for this tremendous project are now in progress.
148. This huge task is able to move forward thanks to monetary stability, the establishment of new industries and a favourable balance of payments, all
of which are being achieved with the strictest respect for democratic institutions.
149. Allow me to state with justifiable satisfaction that, during these years of trial and struggle and — why not say it? — of victory for the United Nations, Peru has demonstrated its devotion and complete loyalty to the principles of the United. Nations Charter and to the fulfilment of the lofty functions bestowed upon it by the Assembly. Our policy in the United Nations, as in the American continent, has followed the clear path of our life as a democratic country.
150. Heir to a twofold cultural and humanitarian tradition through the Incas and the Viceroys, Peru established itself as an independent nation, proclaiming and practising the principle of self-determination, establishing its sovereignty in the territories liberated by its armies and by the armies of brother countries. Their peoples proclaimed the independence of Peru and recognized its first constitution and they have always been represented in the Peruvian Congress.
151. There is not one inch of Peruvian territory which was not included in the structure of its original constitution. Any questions which arose in our independent life were settled by arbitration or supplementary arrangements which we faithfully respected. When through no fault of ours arbitration failed, we sought, with the assistance and guarantee of the great countries of America, an equitable settlement which consecrated and respected the intangible personality and untouchable corporeity of Peru at the time of its independence.
152. We endorsed the ideal of fraternity of the 1826 Congress of Panama. The congresses of Lima of 1847 and 1864 reiterated the basic solidarity and. the principle of non-intervention. Whenever the independence or sovereignty of any American country was in danger, Peru immediately adopted a fine attitude of full solidarity.
153. It is in this spirit that we have been working at the Pan-American conferences which today constitute the oldest regional system in the world and whose Charter has proclaimed that international order consists of respect for the personality and territorial integrity of States and the faithful fulfilment of obligations derived from treaties and other sources of international law. It is in this spirit that we Latin American countries are working in the United Nations. By our culture we belong to the Western Christian world but we are united by distant historical ties, by elements in our own population, and above all by the adventure of independence and freedom, with the young countries of Africa and Asia. We thus belong to the old world with its millennial culture and to the so-called third world, with its anguished yearning for development and progress and its longing for brotherhood and justice.
154. Our role has been clear in the United Nations. Zealous champions of the Charter, of the powers of the Councils and of the functions of the Assembly, it has been our destiny to prepare the United Nations for universality, which facilitates contact between the great Powers and all the peoples of the earth in this forum and promotes the awakening of a universal conscience. We serve as a bridge or tie with the Atlantic world and with the countries which are heirs to the oldest human civilizations but which today are anxious, without losing their personality, to join in the better aspects of contemporary civilization.
155. We think that for these countries of the third world there is no higher loyalty, after allegiance to their own country and, I would say, side by side with it, than allegiance to the United Nations. Other ties casual and temporal in character; only the tie with the United Nations has a universal, sacred and permanent character.
156. It is today our profound conviction that a necessary and unavoidable prerequisite for social and scientific progress is the reign of juridical order, which can be achieved only through the family of nations.
157. It has fallen to us to live in an age when we have proof, based on experience, that the culture and well-being of man depend not, as was thought in the nineteenth century, on the greatest desire for power, but on the desire to love and to serve. I sincerely believe that it is this desire which has enabled the United Nations to survive in the crises of the past. I do not wish to mention them nor refer to them, for I do not want to revive unpleasant memories for any one, but I must say that, from these crises in which it seemed to flounder, our institution has emerged stronger and better prepared to overcome the obstacles of the next crisis. Thus we have succeeded, thanks to providence and to the will of all of you, in celebrating our twentieth anniversary with a feeling of triumph and a vision of shining tasks to be accomplished in the future.