51. A few months ago, Mr. President, you went to the plateau of Mexico to take part in the tribute which we paid, on the seventh centenary of his birth, to Dante Alighieri, an ambassador of the Republic of Florence in the thirteenth century. Since then, we count you among the true friends of my country and, on congratulating you upon your election as President of the General Assembly, I express the hope that the love of justice and peace of the greatest poet of the Latin world may inspire you.
52. In a few days, the United Nations will have been in existence for twenty years. During this hazardous period of profound and rapid changes in international relations, in the internal organization of many States and in all fields of human activity, the United Nations has also experienced countless vicissitudes. However, like an inspired precursor of the authors of the Charter of San Francisco, the Abbe Sieyes, when asked what he had done during the French revolution, the Organization could at least reply: I have lived.
53. Twenty years after its creation, its predecessor, the League of Nations, was already nearing its end, without having been able to avoid the most terrible war in history. The United Nations of today is something more and something less than the United Nations of 1945. From a coalition of victorious Powers, it has transformed itself into an almost universal society, with room for not only the representatives but also the feelings, aspirations and ideas of dozens of peoples who not long ago were only the passive object of international relations.
54. On the other hand, it has not been able to institutionalize its armed action as a guarantee of peace because, save in exceptional, cases, the "common ends" on which the Charter based the system of collective security were lacking. Luckily, however, the Organization has been able to add to its arsenal of peace. In 1965, the United Nations is not a better or a worse organization than it was in 1945. It is simply a different organization in many respects and it has inevitably had to adapt to new and changing conditions, which is a proof of its vitality.
55. Perhaps the most significant and at the same time the most encouraging aspect of the international scene over the past few years is the fact that the danger of a nuclear confrontation between the two principal world Powers seems more remote each day. In addition, the combined action of new factors, such as the larger number of independent international attitudes and the creation of large economic groupings — the most famous example being the European Common Market — have produced a radical change in international relations. The most characteristic signs and phenomena of the post-war era — the bipolar distribution of military and political might in the world, the cold war as the pivot of international relations and the violent opposition between ideologically and politically homogeneous blocs — are tending gradually to become things of the past, although there are still important exceptions. As the President of my country said when he took office in 1964: "The outstanding development, internationally speaking, is that the post-war period has ended. The world is on the threshold of a new stage of history, whose characteristics still cannot be clearly defined: we can, however, surmise that it will be different from the immediate past."
56. It is, of course, obvious that political problems have become more complex and difficult and that the areas of conflict seem to have multiplied, with the risk that, if the peace is interrupted, the threat of a nuclear holocaust may reappear at any time and the great Powers would find themselves dragged into a direct confrontation, even against their will. What happened in 1914 could happen again on a catastrophic scale.
57. We are living at a time which requires from all - strong and weak — calm, imagination and, above all, the strong and constant determination to recognize that there is no national or regional interest whose pursuit justifies the suicide of mankind.
58. Mexico firmly believes that all international disagreements can be settled by peaceful means. For this reason, it viewed with particular concern the dispute which has arisen between the two great countries which share the Indian sub-continent. The conflicting positions seem irreconcilable. One of the parties is invoking the self-determination of the people of Kashmir, while the other bases its case on national integrity. Without passing judgement on the intrinsic value of these positions, we regret that it has so far not been possible to transform the partial agreements which the United Nations has achieved from time to time in the difficult problem of Kashmir into a final solution.
59. The action taken by the Security Council to put an end to the hostilities [Security Council resolution 210 (1965)] was particularly welcome. Although the cessation of hostilities has been only partially implemented, we still hope that the authority of the Security Council will be respected and that a spirit of moderation and mutual understanding will prevail.
60. In response to the Secretary-General's appeal, my Government felt in duty bound to agree to send ten military observers to Kashmir, if they should be needed.
61. Mexico hopes that a peaceful solution will be found to the conflict in Viet-Nam. It would seem that existing conditions do not lend themselves to direct action, either by the Security Council or by the General Assembly. It has been thought that, for the time being, the discreet efforts of the Secretary- General offer the best changes of success. It would, however, be desirable in our view for the Secretary-General to have the support of the Organization in what, he is doing, expressed in whatever terms are considered suitable, even if only by a consensus in this general debate. This does not necessarily imply either consideration of the case by the Organization at this time or, a fortiori, prescribing terms of settlement or instructions for the Secretary-General. As I say, it would consist merely of the Organization supporting the voluntary personal efforts of the Secretary-General to bring the parties to the dispute to the conference table.
62. The serious events which occurred in the Dominican Republic at the end of April created one of the most serious political problems which has arisen in our continent since the end of the Second World War. Mexico, which in the Organization of American States (OAS) found itself differing from the majority of its sister nations of Latin America and from the United States on the subject of certain action taken, is glad that the matter seems to have been dealt with in such a way as to permit — with strict respect for the sovereignty of the Dominican people — a start to be made on the vast work of reconstruction of all kinds: economic development, justice and the strengthening of democracy.
63. We are convinced that the action taken by the United Nations in this case was very valuable, demonstrating once again that the world Organization can act to support and, whenever necessary, supervise the regional organizations, as provided in the Charter of San Francisco. The United Nations could not, without abdicating its responsibility, admit that it has no jurisdiction in the areas in which regional bodies operate.
64. This is one of the reasons why Mexico, with the sincerity and frankness which characterizes its foreign policy, has clearly and unequivocally disagreed with the idea of creating an inter-American force under the auspices of OAS.
65. The world is faced with a new and serious threat: the proliferation of nuclear weapons. By a strange and dramatic paradox, rapid technical progress in this field and the fact that it will be relatively inexpensive to manufacture atomic weapons in the next few years have created one of the greatest threats to peace.
66. My country has steadfastly supported the efforts being made in the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament to prepare a treaty to prevent such proliferation. It believes, like other States represented on the Committee, that the security for which we long will not be achieved solely by preventing new States from acquiring nuclear weapons. The nuclear Powers will have to stop manufacturing new atomic weapons and eventually reduce their stockpiles.
67. But it does not follow that the treaty must, as an essential condition, include the obligation that the nuclear Powers should destroy or reduce their stocks of nuclear weapons immediately. This would be like opposing the establishment of a quarantine until the sick were cured in the midst of an epidemic.
68. We know that negotiations to reduce the existing level of armaments are, by their very nature, long and difficult, among other reasons because of the problem of control and, unfortunately, the danger of proliferation is increasing. The risks are immediate and grave. We therefore think that the first step could and should be taken as soon as possible, namely, to stop proliferation now, establish a quarantine and embark immediately upon the following stages. In addition, an initial agreement on non-proliferation could act as a catalyst which would speed up future negotiations and lead to wider agreements.
69. Furthermore, although my Government is convinced that disarmament will only come through negotiations among the great Powers, since the latter have not made any appreciable progress, we also support the proposal submitted to us by the. Disarmament Commission that world conference should be called to explore new ideas and new paths, for it is not only those Powers but all peoples of the earth whose interests are at stake.
70. Although very little headway was made in 1965 at the world level, either as regards measures directly designed to secure general and complete disarmament under effective international control or, on a more modest scale, as regards so-called partial disarmament measures, at the regional level Latin America can justly pride itself on being able to submit an encouraging report on this last kind of measures.
71. On the basis of the resolution [1911 (XVIII)] on the denuclearization of Latin America adopted by the General Assembly in 1963, the Latin American countries held a preliminary meeting at the end of 1964 in Mexico City, at which two important resolutions were adopted. The first established very specifically, in view of the advantageous situation which fortunately exists in the countries of Latin America, that denuclearization should be understood to mean the absence of nuclear weapons and nuclear launching devices. Thus, when the denuclearization treaty is signed, it will mean that nuclear weapons are banned for ever in Latin America, whatever State may have control of such weapons. This, of course, will create no obstacle — quite the contrary — to the peaceful use of the atom, from which there is reason to expect such beneficial effects for the economic and social development of our peoples.
72. The second resolution established a preparatory commission, which has its headquarters in Mexico and which has already held two sessions this year.
73. In this matter the Latin American countries have been guided by a double conviction: firstly, that the nobility, generosity and loftiness of the aims pursued are in themselves a guarantee of ultimate success and, secondly, that to overcome the difficulties which cannot fail to arise in an undertaking of this scope, it was and is necessary to proceed without undue haste and with the prudence and caution that the circumstances require. Progress towards the achievement of those aims has therefore been slow but sure and steady, following a straight path, without the slightest deviation or faltering.
74. At its first session, the Preparatory Commission set up three working groups. The work of one of these bodies has already resulted in a useful preliminary draft of articles for inclusion in the future treaty concerning verification, inspection and control, for the preparation of which the Secretary-General of the United Nations kindly provided the valuable technical services of the United Nations Secretariat. The other groups have also accomplished laudable work, trying to increase the number of States and territories in the region which may become parties to the proposed treaty through the free consent of their Governments and seeking to obtain from the nuclear Powers an undertaking that they will strictly respect in all its aspects and implications the legal status of the denuclearization to be covered in the treaty.
75. In connexion with those matters, the Preparatory Commission set up a negotiating committee, which during the present session of the Assembly will seek mainly to obtain such a commitment in negotiations with authorized representatives of the nuclear Powers.
76. The Preparatory Commission has agreed unanimously to call upon the Governments of Member States to redouble their efforts and take such measures as they deem appropriate in order that the preparation of the preliminary draft of the treaty may be completed at the session fiat will begin on 19 April 1966. Mexico is confident, and I am bold enough to hope that this confidence is shared by all the other countries of Latin America, that the nuclear Powers will prove willing, at the appropriate time, to undertake to respect the denuclearization treaty which is fervently desired by our peoples and Governments.
77. Our confidence is based on numerous facts which are self-evident: the fact that the treaty will greatly help to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons; the fact that the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons has been unanimously recommended by the General Assembly; the fact that the representatives of the nuclear Powers themselves, both in the Assembly and in the Disarmament Commission and the Eighteen- Nation Disarmament Committee have unequivocally and repeatedly declared themselves opposed to such proliferation; and, finally, the fact that the Latin American denuclearization treaty, as a juridical instrument, freely concluded by a group of sovereign States, will enter fully into force from the very moment at which it is ratified by the contracting parties.
78. My Government has been considering for some time whether other aspects of the general problem of disarmament would not also lend themselves to a regional approach. The progress achieved towards denuclearization and the guarded optimism we feel on evaluating this progress has led us to take a closer look at other possibilities. After mature reflection, Mexico has decided to revive an idea which was to some extent current about five years ago and then had the support of some Latin American Heads of State. I refer to the possibility of making a serious effort to consider and possibly agree on disarmament measures among the non-nuclear Powers, the majority of which are developing countries.
79. I shall refer specifically, as an example, to Latin America. The enormous obstacles which have so far prevented a world-wide agreement are not of the same magnitude or significance in our countries. Thus the need to balance the cut in nuclear weapons against a cut in conventional weapons and armed forces simply does not arise in Latin America, since our countries have no nuclear weapons. Similarly, the stubborn problem of verification and control, which in the last analysis derives from mutual distrust, takes on a completely different aspect in a community of nations which is relatively more integrated.
80. From another point of view, the heavy burden of armaments represents, in Latin America more than anywhere else, an absolutely unjustified squandering of resources. Nobody can fail to see that the conventional arms in our countries would be totally inadequate to defend the continent against outside attack. As far as their function within the continent is concerned, i.e., to defend each country against its neighbours, there would likewise seem to be no justification for maintaining large-scale military establishments in Latin America. At all events, what the Latin American countries need is a more effective system for settling disputes between them peacefully.
81. Needless to say, our peoples are in urgent need of the financial resources that disarmament would release for development. One of the reasons for the high rate of economic development in Mexico may be that, political stability having been won as a result of the social reforms introduced fifty years ago, military expenditure has come to represent a smaller and smaller proportion of our national income.
82. Naturally, we are not unaware that the defence of our institutions makes it necessary to have adequate military forces. When we suggest the advisability of studying the possibility of regional disarmament, referring specifically to Latin America, what we have in mind, therefore, is that an effort should be made to eliminate everything that is not indispensable for our defence.
83. Mexico welcomes the fact that the political and financial crisis which paralysed the General Assembly has come to an end. The deadlock was resolved, in the last analysis, by applying the principle of voluntary contributions, which my delegation has proposed and advocated on various occasions since 1956. There remain to be solved, however, certain underlying political problems, which have been maturing for some time and which the crisis itself helped to spotlight.
84. Both in the Ad Hoc Committee concerned with the problem and in the Assembly itself, stress has been laid on the need to review the United Nations peace-keeping machinery in the light of the experience gained since the establishment of the Organization.
85. A thorough study of this matter would be constructive and valuable. In supporting the proposal for such a study, I should like to make the following point: we consider that any review of the present situation should be prompted solely by the permanent interests of the Organization and that a proper balance should be maintained between the Security Council and the General Assembly which will facilitate the Organization's work for peace as a whole.
86. The Assembly has embarked upon another study, which is somewhat parallel and complementary to the first and to which my Government attaches the highest importance. It concerns the formulation of certain principles relating to friendly relations and cooperation among States, namely, the prohibition of the use of force, the peaceful settlement of disputes, non-intervention, and the sovereign equality of States.
87. The function of the Assembly is nothing less than to determine and define the political and legal scope of those propositions on which the very structure of the United Nations is based in the light of the highly important changes that have occurred in international society since the war. These paramount principles are not only the corner-stone of the Charter but also of all international law. If properly formulated, they would greatly help to ease and clarify relations between States and thus to strengthen peace.
88. The prohibition of the use of force, the peaceful settlement of disputes, non-intervention, the legal equality of States and free self-determination of peoples are and always have been guiding principles of Mexico's foreign policy. They have been so not because we arrived at them by a logical process, but because our history made them so. We are, therefore, in favour of a formulation which will strengthen them by its clarity and simplicity and we are resolutely opposed to anything which restricts or weakens them.
89. I shall conclude by referring to some economic matters. I believe that no one now denies that the greatest and most difficult task of our time — if, as we must all hope, the threat of a nuclear conflict can finally be averted — is to promote economic development and, as a result, to raise the level of living of the countries in which two thirds of the world's population live.
90. The decade whose first half is drawing to a close was appropriately and perspicaciously designated as the United Nations Development Decade. It was even found possible to fix a specific target: the achievement of an average growth rate of 5 per cent in national income by the end of the Decade. Nevertheless, as was shown at the last session of the Economic and Social Council, the results so far achieved fall very short of that target.
91. In Latin America, to deal with the region which is naturally closest to Mexico's thoughts, the countries members of the Organization of American States four years ago embarked on a common enterprise which they called the "Alliance for Progress" with the object of modernizing their economies by reforming obsolete social structures — particularly the land ownership system — the modernization of their fiscal systems and the establishment of programmes of planned basic investment, in order to produce, with the added incentive of a larger volume of public and private capital channelled to that area and the diversification of exports, an average annual growth of 2-1/2 per cent in per capita income.
92. In the first three years of the current decade the average development rates of the region as a whole were extremely low. The year 1964, however, was a favourable one, because of a combination of propitious circumstances. Mexico, which has fortunately managed to maintain an average growth rate of slightly more than 6 per cent since the end of the war, is convinced, as our Head of State recently stated, that in spite of all difficulties the course mapped out by the Charter of Punta del Este, which defined the noble purpose of the Alliance in terms of specific goals and obligations, is the right one.
93. We recognize that considerable progress has been made since 1950 in improving the study and identification of problems, largely due to the activities of the United Nations and of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), and in the strengthening and expansion of the network of world and regional institutions responsible for inter-governmental economic co-operation. The Inter-American Development Bank, despite its youth, is now a vigorous and very effective organization.
94. We are, however, concerned that the measures which some of the great industrial nations have taken to protect their balance of payments are affecting the volume of capital which has for years been flowing to the developing areas. We accordingly attach great importance to efforts to strengthen the machinery for improving international liquidity. The developing countries must participate in the review of this machinery for both technical and political reasons.
95. We recognize, of course, that the role of international co-operation can be only an auxiliary one, that it should supplement and not replace the fundamental responsibility of every country to raise its productivity by hard work, proper development planning, better use of its savings and training its technical and management cadres.
96. Moreover, we are convinced that the progress, and particularly the industrial progress, of Latin America will, once the first stage of producing foods and other consumer goods has been passed, necessitate an expansion of markets which in the long run can be brought about only by the economic integration of our region; this is unquestionably the most important matter being debated at present in our hemisphere.
97. A great deal remains to be done in this field and Mexico is convinced that in the next few years we shall, by strengthening and improving the existing machinery and by recasting it, wherever necessary, inevitably reach the goal we all desire: the Latin American Common Market which, though it may be confined to that region, will have not the slightest hostility towards the great industrialized areas of the world since, as the President of Mexico stressed when he opened the session of ECLA in our capital last May, our countries "are not trying to go against anyone, but rather to combine their efforts to work for their own benefit".
98. It would be a mistake to think that integration is going to be easy and that the mere fact that our Governments are determined to foster or accomplish it will result in the acceleration of our economic development. We must demolish any obsolete and unjust structures which still exist, or whatever vestiges of them still remain; this, however, must be done by each country under the guidance of its own people and depending on its capacity to take such action. Social reform is possible only in so far as it is nourished and guided, by the desires of each people. This is what Mexicans believe on the basis of the experience of their own revolution.
99. The Government of Mexico, has from the outset vigorously supported the efforts of the United Nations to secure a revision of international trade policies and thus redress century-old injustices. The developing countries' awareness of the justice of their aspirations, the co-ordination of their endeavours and their unshakeable unity have contributed decisively to the adoption of principles and agreements from which a new concept of international economic co-operation in trade is emerging. Nevertheless, we find it deeply disquieting that, as the Secretary-General points out in the introduction to his annual report [A/6001/ Add.1], the principles approved at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva have as yet had little or no effect on the policy which in fact, rather than in theory, governs commodity trade.
100. International commodity agreements may not be perfect, but they are undoubtedly useful and we must continue to strive for their conclusion, for the incorporation in them of the principles approved at Geneva and for the application and constant improvement of those already concluded.
101. Latin America cannot continue for ever to allow the bulk of its exports to consist of raw materials, usually fetching unremunerative prices, while it imports manufactures at very high prices. We must press the demand, made at Alta Gracia and approved at Geneva, that preferences should be granted for our exports of manufactures, a demand which is not incompatible with the further request that our primary commodities should be given preferential treatment, since we must not forget that the industrialized countries are the leading exporters of some of these same products. This was recommended by a group of United Nations experts which met here early in 1961. That recommendation deserves to be heeded. The industrialized nations should not begrudge the poor the primary commodity, market which is, in any event, essentially a very hard way of financing their development.
102. We noted at the last session of the Trade and Development Board that there was a strong body of opinion in favour of establishing the headquarters of the Conference in the capital of a developing country and we have therefore made it known that we would be delighted if Mexico City were chosen, since it is fortunate enough to combine the facilities — in the important matter of communications, among others — of one of the world's major capitals with the social environment of a country which has for almost half a century been encouraging economic development in social justice.
103. Since its independence, Mexico has believed that its greatness is founded on the welfare of its citizens, on the peaceful development of its own personality and on its efforts to make freedom prevail throughout the world. It accordingly holds that its economic development must be accompanied by respect for human rights and for the fundamental freedoms. The provisions of the Mexican Constitution, which emerged from the revolution, leave no room for doubt. Time and again we have chosen the path of freedom and we do not accept that national progress justifies any deprivation of personal rights.
104. My Government hopes that, now that last year's serious constitutional crisis has been overcome the United Nations will exercise to the full its function as a forum in which the most serious international questions are raised and. discussed, and that its organs and specialized agencies may develop into a system of growing effectiveness, authority and prestige, directed towards the fulfilment of the noble purposes of the San Francisco Charter.
105. I shall conclude by repeating the wish expressed by the President of Mexico, Mr. Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, in his statement to his people on the anniversary of the start of our struggle for freedom and independence in September 1810; after the panegyric on our heroes, which is a long-standing tradition with us, he also extolled peace and friendship among all the peoples of the earth.