107. Mr. President, I am particularly happy to convey to you once again, on behalf of the people and Government of Haiti, my most sincere congratulations on your election as President of the twentieth, session of the United Nations General Assembly. This choice made by the delegations here assembled is a tribute to your fine qualities of wisdom and moderation, a supreme recognition of your gifts as a diplomat. It is also an honour to your illustrious country, Italy, whose contribution during recent years to the safeguarding of international peace and security has earned it an enviable place in the meetings of our Organization.
108. Allow me to accompany this sincere tribute with one to the out-going President, Mr. Quaison-Sackey, who stands out in this Organization just as his ancestors, those negro giants, stood out in mother Africa and, in times gone by, built the mighty empire of Ghana in the heart of ancient Africa. His skill and tact made it possible for us to avoid many pitfalls last year during the unusual nineteenth session of the General Assembly when each one of us was careful to avoid broaching the important questions on the agenda. Undoubtedly, his advice will still be valuable to those who have the rare and hazardous privilege of belonging, in any capacity, to the higher ranks of our Organization.
109. Lastly, the good wishes of the people and Government of Haiti go to the three nations recently admitted to membership of the United Nations. May they encounter nothing but success and prosperity in their new status as sovereign peoples.
110. In his message of 24 October 1964, on the occasion of United Nations Day, Mr. Francois Duvalier, life President of the Republic of Haiti, a wise statesman and eminent sociologist, defined in felicitous terms his view of the kind of international collaboration likely to fulfil the needs of nations. This collaboration, based on equality of rights, respect for the interests of States, non-interference in their internal affairs and the need for disinterested assistance for the deprived countries, was, he suggested, an essential prerequisite for peace, stability and friendship between States.
111. May I quote again the remarkable passage from the message of the Haitian Chief of State with which I concluded the statement that, as head of my country's delegation, I made during the general debate at the nineteenth session of the United Nations General Assembly nearly a year ago [see A/PV. 1304, para. 46]:
"As I reaffirm, on behalf of the Haitian people and Government, my devotion to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, I should like to propose to this human society, so often deluded by makeshift solutions, a more satisfactory adaptation of the principle of co-operation to the positive values and pledges of nations. Without such co-operation, we cannot foster world prosperity or stability which are the essential prerequisites for peace and friendly relations between States. Such co-operation imposes the obligation of working together on the basis of equality of rights and mutual advantage, the obligation to respect the interests and needs of other States and not to interfere in their internal affairs; the obligation, finally, to provide assistance in every way to the less favoured nations, in the interest of human dignity, preservation of the peace and the happiness of peoples."
112. Is it not because we have failed to achieve such international collaboration, which is the essential guarantee of the world's political stability and, consequently, of international peace and security, that, twenty years after the signing of the San Francisco Declaration, in which the peoples of the United Nations defined the purposes, standards and lofty principles of the Organization as expressed in the preamble to the Charter, we now find ourselves facing the problem of peace indivisible, of that world peace which it is so difficult to safeguard whether the threat comes from South-East Asia, from Cyprus or from the troubled area of the Caribbean?
113. Is it not because we have failed to organize such international collaboration that mankind, filled with anguish, is today faced with the difficult problems of disarmament, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the peaceful uses of outer space, and the cessation of atomic tests of all kinds?
114. Lastly, is it not because we have failed to ensure a wise distribution of wealth that the peoples are now divided into favoured nations and deprived nations and that the Third World, in Asia and Africa as well as in our unhappy Latin America, is legitimately claiming its right to happiness through a just and equitable participation in the benefits of a civilization built at the cost of its blood and sweat?
115. Is it not because of a systematic failure to recognize and a deep-rooted contempt for man's high dignity that the black and coloured populations of South Africa are still weighed down under the terrible yoke of the so-called policy of apartheid and that the wishes and resolutions both of the General Assembly and of the Security Council have proved powerless to bring full citizenship to those sons of Africa whose labour has formed the basis of the prosperity so brazenly presented to the civilized world in numerous statistics?
116. But history pursues its irrevocable course. Many Powers, sacrificing their own material interests, have not hesitated to offer loyal support for the recommendations adopted by United Nations bodies. The greatest hope of the negro Republic of Haiti is that this movement will spread and win the unanimous support of both the permanent and. the non-permanent members of the Security Council, and that that high United Nations organ will, by adopting a resolution, decide upon action, binding on all Members, to force South Africa to eliminate this offence to civilization, the shameful policy of apartheid.
117. But now, twenty years after the signing of the San Francisco Declaration amidst the difficulties with which we are faced, the question of the efficiency and usefulness of the United Nations arises; some say that it is merely a forum where the great Powers can air matters which are of concern to them. In support of this pessimistic view they readily adduce: first, the power politics pursued by two great States in disregard of the standards, purposes and principles of the United Nations, which they invoke only when their own personal interests are at stake; secondly, the powerlessness of the United Nations to impose its will on even secondary Powers in fundamental matters concerning the noble aims of the Organization; thirdly, the disparity between the material and moral progress of mankind which makes hope illogical for man, like the sorcerer's apprentice, seems to have set in motion forces which have overtaken him and which, sooner or later, will end by crushing him; fourthly, the inability of the United Nations at the present time to achieve its goal of universality; fifthly, and lastly, the continued widening of the gap which separates the industrial Powers from the under-developed nations. Progress seems to generate misery and poverty in the Third World, whose situation appears to be hopeless.
118. The Haitian delegation, without questioning the relevance of the views I have just quoted, has nevertheless noted in the present international circumstances facts which lead it to think that, despite the gropings and retreats, which have been constant features of mankind's history, men will not, to paraphrase the words of the poet, refuse to unite with other men in order to realize their hopes.
119. Among the signs which presage better times for our suffering mankind, I should like to mention: first, the generous and constructive proposal put forward by the United States Government concerning the control and limitation of nuclear weapons. Was it not in fact Mr. Arthur J. Goldberg, the distinguished head of the United States Permanent Mission to the United Nations, who, in the course of his statement in the general debate at the present session of the Assembly, spoke in the following terms:
"The United States is ready to transfer 60,000 kilogrammes of weapons grade U 235 to non-weapon uses if the Soviet Union would be willing to transfer 40,000 kilogrammes. If the USSR accepts this proposal, each of us would destroy nuclear weapons of our own choice so as to make available for peaceful purposes such amount if fissionable material." [A/PV.1334, para. 75.]
120. Secondly, the conciliatory attitude of the United States Government with regard to the question of South-East Asia which has been made known in many public statements by the President of the United States of America, Mr. Lyndon B. Johnson. The Chief Executive of the American nation, while proclaiming the determination of the United States not to yield to totalitarian aggression, is firmly resolved to sit at the negotiating table with any competent spokesman.
121. Thirdly, and lastly, the progress made in decolonization, thanks to which three nations have attained political independence without conflict and have just been admitted to membership of the United Nations. The Haitian delegation interprets this important event as a sign presaging the complete liberation of Africa and the early accession to the ranks of sovereign States of the last remaining territories of the martyred continent which still have the status of colonies.
122. The Haitian Government can only deplore the fact that political expediency and a spirit of prudence do not favour the admission to the United Nations of a certain great Tower which, in recent times, has distinguished itself more by its aggressive actions find its obvious desire to change the form of institutions which have been freely adopted by other nations, institutions which are part of their moral and cultural patrimony and which are the guarantee of their survival and evolution.
123. I should also like to mention, as an encouraging sign of the future of mankind under the auspices of our Organization, the cease-fire obtained through the intervention of the United Nations and the intelligent endeavours of the Secretary-General, U Thant, in the dispute between two sister nations, India and Pakistan, both Members of the United Nations and both called upon to promote the concept of the peaceful settlement of disputes and the procedures of conciliation and arbitration.
124. With regard to the Third World and its requirements the ever-widening gap between the affluent Powers and the deprived countries, and the need for international co-operation to bring new vigour to impoverished economies, I should like to refer to the situation in my country, which is similar to that of other unfortunate countries of the Third World which are seeking the general welfare of their people and which live under the threat of that macabre trio-hunger, ignorance and disease.
125. Haiti is among the most deprived countries of the Western hemisphere, with a very high population density per square kilometre and one of the lowest per capita incomes in. the world. My country is caught in a veritable economic tragedy, and is struggling in the midst of a vicious circle: poverty and deprivation engender ignorance, and in addition there is the tragic inability to break the circle by national resources alone. Our appeals to international co-operation, to the solidarity of peoples, and to the Alliance for Progress, which was set up to further economic and social welfare, have found little or no response. Thus, abandoned to its own resources, and in the midst of indifference bordering on hostility to arguments which have been constantly repeated, the first black Republic on the American continent and its leader, the distinguished Dr. Francois Duvalier, strengthened by the almost unanimous support of the nation, are carrying on a struggle — so far unsuccessful — against the only real enemies, of the Haitian people: disease, ignorance and poverty.
126. It was to condemn this state of affairs that the Haitian Chief of State, in one of his messages to the people, declared:
"In a country where want, poverty, illiteracy, hunger and slums, are rife, there is no place for peace, not even the peace of the grave."
Indeed, despite the tremendous efforts made by the Government of the Republic, there is economic stagnation throughout the country. It is growing worse every day following the disturbing signs of recession in the Haitian economy, a recession which is attributable to internal as well as external causes.
127. One of the principal internal factors of recession is population growth, with an annual rate of 3 per cent, while the projected annual rate of growth of the gross national product is 2.5 per cent, but has remained well below that level. This has led to a basic imbalance between the soaring population and the development of resources.
128. In an already small country, the population explosion leads inevitably to the fragmentation of cultivable land and to the proliferation of underproductive or non-productive minifundia. Since 1962, the most significant economic indicator, the level of exports, has shown a marked decline. The disappearance of plantain from the list of export commodities since 1957, the fall in the price of sisal since June 1964, and the downward trend in sugar and, cocoa prices on the world market, have thrown the whole weight of our economy entirely on coffee, a principal export commodity which is subject to all the risks of price fluctuation. The economy of Haiti is feeling and will long feel the disastrous effects of two devastating hurricanes — hurricane Flora and hurricane Cleo — struck Haiti within a period of less than nine months, affecting live-stock and all crops, including young plantations, for two consecutive fiscal years. They were followed by a long and severe drought which ruined the efforts and hopes of our brave and courageous peasants. Then famine took a hand. In order to meet his critical and painful situation, as the few reserves available had quickly been exhausted in the south, the south-east, the south-west and the north-west of the country, the President for life of the Republic of Haiti officially requested, through the organization responsible for the country's food — the Department of Public Health and Population — an urgent plan from international organizations and the United States Government for the continuation of assistance to the stricken people.
129. The industrial sector, which already forms only a small part of the economy and which fifteen years ago represented only 11 per cent of the gross national product, has felt the backlash of the agricultural recession and has not been able to maintain itself at that level. The agricultural losses and the reduction in industrial activity have had a disastrous effect on the level of the State income and expenditures. To these internal factors of recession in the Haitian economy must be added other external factors, in particular, the political conspiracies hatched abroad by agitators in the pay of international communism, or former political leaders driven out of power by the angry people.
130. The repeated invasions of Haitian territory, sustained from outside by this corrosive propaganda, which has been rightly characterized by numerous jurists and eminent statesmen as indirect aggression, have forced the Government, in order to safeguard the integrity of its national territory, to divert available labour and capital from production.
131. The heaviest blow dealt to the Haitian economy by propaganda conducted from abroad was the steep fall, in 1963 and 1964, in tourist earnings which contributed substantially to the Haitian economy, and the depletion, not to say total disappearance, of private capital, whether domestic or foreign, which was frightened off by this unhealthy propaganda, thereby reducing still further the amount of money in circulation.
132. It is to this psychosis, aimed at toppling a Government which is firmly anchored in the hearts and minds of the peasant masses and the middle classes, that we must attribute the lack of interest shown towards my country by international or inter-American financing organizations, except for the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank which, in 1961, granted Haiti a loan of $3.5 million for agricultural development, and has just granted another of more than $2 million for studies on the supply and distribution of drinking water in the capital and its surroundings.
133. It should be emphasized that, of all the countries of the Western hemisphere, the Republic of Haiti is the one which has received the least per capita international aid. When the Inter-American Committee of the Alliance for Progress last met to discuss Haiti, at the session from 2 to 6 August 1965, it was admitted that Haiti was the only country which had not benefited from the Alliance for Progress at all.
134. Between the Charter of Punta del Este of August 1961 and September 1965, Haiti received nothing, not even a single dollar in per capita aid, whereas all the other countries on the American continent benefited greatly from such aid, whether in grants or in loans. We rejoice with them if they are satisfied. Together, the internal and external factors of recession in our economy have had a deplorable effect on the balance of payments, which is still very precarious.
135. Net receipts from tourism, which in 1961 reached $7.5 million, fell in 1962 to $4.6 million, and since then they have fallen still further, and even reached negative levels in 1963 and 1964. Inevitably, the result has been a continual reduction in reserves. According to expert estimates, the deficit on current account for 1964-1965 may amount to $3 million. Drawings under stand-by agreements signed with the International Monetary Fund supplement government credits below the level of $3 million, an insignificant sum in relation to the volume of external trade. Only the austere fiscal and monetary policy of the Government of Mr. François Duvalier has made it possible to lessen the expected effect of external payments on reserves.
136. Despite the complex interplay of recession factors, the Government of the Republic of Haiti has made strenuous efforts to improve the process of economic planning which was started in 1962. It has streamlined the servicing of the public debt, which now operates in a normal manner; it has taken vigorous action to stimulate tourism again by building an international airport for jet aircraft at Port-au-Prince and by establishing several tourist offices in the United States and Canada. The scarcity of available resources has not prevented investment in the agricultural, infra-structural and social sectors; although relatively modest, these investments nevertheless signal a resumption of economic activity by starting up infra-structural projects.
137. In July 1963 a special fund for the public debt was established, under the administration of the National Bank of the Republic of Haiti and financed by various coffee and sugar receipts and by certain customs duties. Through this fund for the public debt the country is able to settle satisfactorily all its debts to international loan organizations or foreign private firms. The Haitian economy therefore remains in the unfortunate position of being dependent on foreign markets, a position brought about by the policy of certain international financing organizations.
138. In the study which the Inter-American Committee of the Alliance for Progress carried out, during the first week of August 1965, on the internal effort and the external financing required for the development of Haiti, the secretariat found it necessary to emphasize the desperate situation in Haiti and the paucity of the efforts so far made by the international community to help solve the problem. The net disbursement of loans granted by financial institutions is 9.32 dollars per inhabitant of Latin America since the establishment of the Alliance for Progress. The net disbursements for Haiti are insignificant, less than one dollar per inhabitant for the same period, or the lowest figure per inhabitant for the whole hemisphere.
139. The economic situation in Haiti will become tragic if all the appeals to international solidarity remain unheeded, and it will fully justify the bitter statement of our distinguished President for life, Mr. Francois Duvalier, in one of his moving messages to his people: "Do we defy all hopes?"
140. It is now twenty years ago that the representatives of the peoples of the United Nations, meeting in the historic city of San Francisco, declared in the preamble to the Charter:
"WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
"to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and ;
"to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
"to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
"AND FOR THESE ENDS
"to practise tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
"to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
"to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
"to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples".
141. Once more, as the head of my country's delegation, I am proud to proclaim the fullest adherence of the nation of Haiti to the ideas, purposes and principles so eloquently expressed in the Charter, the nation of Haiti, which after paying tribute with its blood to the cause of independence of the thirteen British colonies of America, dared, as a small negro State whose newly-won independence was precarious because it was disputed, to support by force of arms the cause of independence of the Spanish colonies, the fantastic dream cherished by Miranda and miraculously realized by Simón Bolívar, the Liberator, with the disinterested assistance of Dessalines and Pétion, the immortal fathers of my country; the nation of Haiti, which has never hesitated to make its contribution to the cause of international peace and security; the nation of Haiti, which believes with all its heart in the future of the World organization, without which the dark shadows of force and egoism will soon cover the future of mankind.
142. The Republic of Haiti cannot fail to recognize the need to amend the statute which gave birth to the Organization and to adapt it to the new requirements of the atomic civilization and to the wishes of the peoples, who aspire to greater prosperity, justice and freedom.
143. Finally, I should like, as the representative of a country where 95 per cent of the population is Catholic, to welcome the imminent visit to the United Nations of the Vicar of Christ, His Holiness Pope Paul the Sixth, as the herald of a new era in which the supremacy of the spirit, which alone is capable of restoring mankind to the path of his true destiny, will be increasingly proclaimed.