69. On behalf of the delegation of the Congo (Brazzaville), I should like to associate myself with those who have from this rostrum congratulated Mr. Fanfani on his election as President of the twentieth session of the General Assembly. His election is a token of the confidence which all the States Members of the United Nations have placed in him and of their wish to draw upon his long experience as a statesman and upon his unquestioned intellectual ability. The virtually unanimous acclaim that greeted him as he walked up to the Chair betokens the confidence which all Member States place, first of all, in him personally and then in Italy, the great nation which he represents and which is the cradle of so much of what is magnificent in what we now call Western civilization.
70. My delegation also takes pleasure in extending its warmest congratulations to Mr. Alex Quaison- Sackey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana, on the political sophistication, steadfastness of purpose
and, in a word, the skill, which he displayed during the darkest hours of the United Nations.
71. I should also like, on behalf of the people and the Government of the Republic of the Congo, to welcome the Gambia, Singapore and the Maldive Islands to our Organization. Their attainment of sovereignty and their admission to the United Nations are not only a resounding victory over moribund colonialism but also a sign of encouragement to the still oppressed masses who are fighting fiercely for their national independence in Africa and elsewhere. We hail the admission of these countries to the United Nations and are fully convinced that they will make an effective contribution to our work.
72. As we celebrate this year the twentieth anniversary of our Organization, we cannot fail to observe that the world, which has undergone the terrible ordeal of two successive wars during the first half of the century, has still not succeeded in establishing a true and lasting peace among the nations. For the past twenty years, there has been a profusion of speeches, decisions and reports in the United Nations all concerned with international peace and security and in favour of delivering the world from the anguish, terror and destruction of atomic weapons. Member States have always felt that the United Nations was particularly well suited for taking action to usher in a world order based on friendship and mutual understanding between peoples. My country regrets that the twenty years that have elapsed since the end of the Second World War have been partially wasted. The reasons why they were wasted are essentially political. We speak of peace and the right of peoples to self- determination, we are compelled to admit that words have not always matched deeds and that certain Powers in the United Nations which wish more than anything else to fulfil their dream of world domination have set themselves up as veritable international policemen in order to impose their political, economic and military suzerainty on the small countries.
73. These Powers have not hesitated to ignite and fan the flames of war throughout the world, to set up increasing numbers of military bases, and even to intervene with the use of military bases in the domestic affairs of the small countries. Such cases of military intervention as the United States aggression in Viet- Nam or the acts of aggression committed at Stanleyville and in the Dominican Republic are part of this policy of world domination and subjugation of the small countries. One permanent feature of this subjugation is the installation or maintenance of puppet despots whose function it is to defend colonial interests and the privileges of their masters. A veritable sword of Damocles therefore remains dangling over the head of the small countries in case they ever show the slightest sign of disliking imperialism. Let no one be surprised to hear one day that the Congo (Brazzaville) has had a humanitarian operation visited upon it. Gunboat diplomacy, great Power chauvinism, efforts to supplant the former colonial Powers (for example, the replacement of the French expeditionary force by a United States expeditionary force in former Indo-China), the use of the United Nations as a screen to cover the imperialistic designs of certain Powers, the attempts to crush liberation movements, and the cruel repression of the struggle of oppressed peoples are only some of the features characterizing the whole period that has elapsed since the day the United Nations Charter was signed. During that period we have learnt a lot about tracking down communism, that extremely elusive animal which is never run to earth and which is to be hunted out of the forests and grassy plains of Africa, Asia and Latin America as if that were some sort of divine miss. I. But all this teaches us also that the Charter has many enemies, even in the United Nations itself, and that in the last analysis the problem of world peace is closely linked to the problem of the liquidation of imperialism, colonialism and- neo-colonialism. This naturally presupposes that certain Powers must cease to play the part of international policemen and it also presupposes the dismantling
of all foreign bases as the Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries recommended at their Cairo meeting in 1964.
74. No sensational progress has so far been made towards disarmament because the political prerequisites do not yet seem to have been given sufficient attention. So far nothing more has been done than to give the greatest possible publicity to the half measures taken by some Powers. The lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations have not been restored. No effort has been made to associate China with the work on disarmament, even though it is well known that no serious problem of disarmament, whether nuclear disarmament or otherwise, can be solved without the participation of the People’s Republic of China.
75. My country, aware as it is of the gravity of the problems I have touched upon, thinks that there can be no effective or lasting solution to the problem of disarmament or of denuclearization without the convening of conference of representatives of all the countries of the world. The success of such a conference would necessarily open the way to lasting solutions and to the establishment of true peace in the world. There can be no doubt that the enormous savings resulting from disarmament could advance the economic and social development of many small countries all over the world which are fighting against insurmountable odds to overcome an almost chronic state of underdevelopment that in some cases is the legacy of a long history of trials and tribulations.
76. These problems of disarmament and denuclearization, like the other major international problems, including, I would go so far as to say, the present crisis facing our Organization, are, I repeat, linked to the problem of the restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations.
77. Twenty years ago, fifty-one States adopted the Charter of the United Nations, which had been drawn up by five sponsoring countries: France, the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and China. Since then, many changes have occurred in the world. The wind of decolonization has been sweeping away the last strongholds of imperialism and colonialism. Liberation movements have surged over Asia, Africa and Latin America. Upsetting the sombre calculations of the imperialists, the Chinese revolution has released one quarter of the world's population from the shackles of colonialism and feudalism. Then there have been all the other struggles for liberation, all the other victories scored by the peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
78. The combination of all these factors has resulted in an increase in the number of States Members of the United Nations from fifty-one to 117. Paradoxically, however, this increase in the membership of the United Nations, this inevitable progress in the recent history of mankind, has fallen short of the universality which the Charter demands. In fact, since the triumph of the Chinese revolution in 1949, the systematic and dangerous opposition of the United States, which calmly manipulates the United Nations, has so far prevented the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the Organization. Thus, one quarter of the world's population is deprived of representation in an organization which purports to be universal. The fact remains, however, that, whatever its present regime, China exists and is becoming an increasingly modern, prosperous and powerful State. The steady growth in the power of the People's Republic of China and the increasingly bigger role it plays in international affairs are sufficiently eloquent facts in themselves to show the absurdity, the futility and the danger of the ostracism to which the greatest Asian Power has been subjected for sixteen years. It is absolutely clear that a’ permanent solution to the great international problems, both of peace and disarmament, cannot be achieved without the participation of the People’s Republic of China. These are facts which all the hysteria and all the anti- Chinese campaigns cannot disguise indefinitely. It is not by keeping the People's Republic of China out of all international bodies that we shall be able to solve all the problems which our Organization must face. We ask for the unequivocal restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations and my delegation reserves the right to speak again when this item of the agenda is discussed at the present session.
79. I now come to the problem of Viet-Nam. In broaching this burning question, I cannot refrain from alluding to the United States aggression against the Viet-Namese people. We hope that this shameful colonial war, this colonial war which outrages the conscience of mankind, will end as soon as possible, for such a great Power as the United States cannot be allowed to continue for years transforming Viet-Nam into a slaughter-house, on the false pretext of protecting a fraction of the population against communism. Be they in the North or the South, the Viet-Namese are one people, and nobody can deny it.
80. For twenty years, from the North to the South, from the East to the West, the Viet-Namese have been waging a relentless war against imperialism and colonialism. This war, one of the most glorious episodes of which occurred at Dien-Bien-Phu, has brought great honour to the struggle of the oppressed and has precipitated the down fall of the colonial empires.
81. We strongly condemn this aggression committed in flagrant violation of the 1954 Geneva Agreements and no arguments, either alleged communist aggression or any other reason, advanced by the United States, can justify that country's intervention in the
affairs of the Viet-Namese people. The escalation of, this colonial war has resulted in the insane bombing of South Viet-Nam and North Viet-Nam. Viet-Nam has literally been transformed into a testing ground for weapons of mass destruction and the Viet-Namese people are struggling, day and night, against gas, and toxic and bacteriological weapons and against all kinds of atrocities. The United States expeditionary force is daily adding to its strength despite the setbacks suffered by these foreign invaders in terrain which is necessarily unfavourable to them. They talk of North Viet-Namese aggression in order to justify their own aggression against Viet-Nam, but everybody knows that it is not Viet-Nam which has traversed thousands of miles in order to bomb the United States, just as we know that Cuba has never attacked the United States, that the Dominican Republic has never attacked the United States and that the Congo has never attacked the United States. We also know that it is not the small countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America which have installed military bases around the United States to encircle it. On the contrary, it is the United States which, playing the role of international policeman, has kindled the fires of war everywhere. It is in Viet-Nam that this world-wide intervention has been the most prolonged and on the most massive scale. There are not a thousand solutions to the problem of Viet-Nam. There is only one: to put an end to the gunboat diplomacy practised, as I have just said, by the United States. Peace in Viet- Nam is linked to respect by the United States of the Geneva Agreements, i.e. to the withdrawal of all United States troops and mercenaries and the dismantling of their bases. The Viet-Namese people alone are competent to settle their own affairs. My country supports the four-point declaration of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the declaration of the National Liberation Front of South Viet-Nam dated 22 March 1965.
82. After Viet-Nam, I should now like to deal with the question of our relations with the Congo (Leopoldville). One year after the aggression by the United States and Belgium against Stanleyville, the relations between the fraternal peoples of the Congo (Brazzaville) and the Congo (Leopoldville) are still sorely strained by acts of aggression directly ordered by the imperialists.
83. We wish to affirm that the unity between the two fraternal peoples of the Congo (Brazzaville) and the Congo (Leopoldville) is a sacred unity which will triumph over all the vicissitudes of history and that the puppets installed at Leopoldville by the imperialists will, if they obey the orders of their masters, continue to fail in their attempts to divide us.
84. The people's revolution which has triumphed at Brazzaville reflects the legitimate aspirations of the Congolese masses; and all acts of flagrant aggression plotted by the imperialists and their lackeys will always be vigorously repulsed by the Congolese people. We are convinced that the bunch of flunkeys gathered at Leopoldville will be swept away by the inevitable defeat of imperialism and that the puppet Youlou, who has taken refuge at Leopoldville, will not escape the fate reserved for all traitors condemned by the revolution.
85. With regard to problems of decolonization, the Congolese people strongly condemn the colonial policy which Portugal continues to pursue in Africa; they support unreservedly the heroic struggle of the nationalists of Angola, Mozambique and "Portuguese" Guinea. We urge the United Nations to take the necessary action for the speedy implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
86. In the face of Portugal's outrageous opposition to the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, we can no longer be content with the role of legislator to which we have resigned ourselves for the last four years. We must now proceed to the implementation of these resolutions by placing at the disposal of these countries special committees which will help them to set an immediate date for their independence. For we cannot expect the fascist Government of Salazar to offer a solution which will satisfy the aspirations of the peoples who are still languishing under the barbarous yoke of Portuguese colonialism. Indeed, everyone knows that Portugal cannot survive without Angola, Mozambique and "Portuguese" Guinea.
87. The Congo (Brazzaville), which borders on the Cabinda enclave, is sufficiently acquainted with the criminal methods and machinations of the Portuguese colonialists to be unwilling to grant any further respite to the fascists who stop at nothing in their campaign to annihilate the people of Cabinda while engaging in acts of flagrant aggression against Congolese territory.
88. The situation in Southern Rhodesia also urgently calls for effective and direct action, for it is inadmissible that a minority of 250,000 settlers, simply because they are white, should be allowed to scorn the legitimate aspirations of 4 million blacks. Ian Smith's decision to declare independence unilaterally must be resisted by all means. We hope that the United Kingdom Government, in view of its responsibility for the situation which has arisen in Southern Rhodesia since the granting of the 1961 Constitution, will take at least the same action as that taken by France when it dealt with the pieds noirs in Algeria.
89. As regards our attitude to the problem of apartheid, we reaffirm our condemnation of that hateful policy and declare categorically that the Verwoerd regime represents a challenge to the conscience of the world. The African delegation, which are particularly aware of the gravity of the situation prevailing in South Africa, have constantly drawn the attention of the United Nations to the measures which it should take in order to put an end to apartheid. This policy constitutes a serious threat to peace in Africa and to international security. By continuing to close its eyes to the acts of barbarism and tyranny and to the crimes of all kinds committed by the white minority against the black majority, the United Nations is abandoning the sacred principles on which the Charter is based.
90. The pretext of non-interference in the domestic affairs of States, which is always advanced by the South Africa racists to conceal deliberate violations of human rights, Cannot be considered an obstacle to the adoption and systematic application of sanctions against a pseudo-Government which tramples all human rights underfoot. Arbitrary arrests, persecution, torture, murder and all the atrocities committed daily against the black population have already gone on for too long in South Africa. The overthrow of the racist slave regime of Pretoria has become an absolute necessity and the General Assembly can no longer evade its responsibility without continuing to betray the hopes of millions of blacks and of the champions of justice who are waging one of the most decisive battles against racial segregation. We once again draw the attention of the Assembly to the incalculable consequences of the explosive situation prevailing in South Africa.
91. Further, we condemn the annexation of South West Africa by Verwoerd, an annexation carried out in flagrant violation of international law and of the sacred right to self-determination of the people of South West Africa. We demand unconditional independence for this country.
92. Having dealt with decolonization, I should now like to say a few words about the world economic situation.
93. In this twentieth century, the world's conscience is troubled by the increasing anxiety caused by the growing disparity between the heavily industrialized countries and the developing countries. A current survey of the world economy shows that, despite the laudable efforts made both through the United Nations specialized agencies and through bilateral programmes of assistance to the developing countries, the gap between the affluent world and the developing world has only grown wider until it has come to jeopardize the future of the young States.
94. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which aroused such hopes, has not yet found rational ways and means of halting the collapse and deterioration of world market prices.
95. In view of the urgency and gravity of these vital problems, the Republic of the Congo, for its part, will join in any efforts which other countries are prepared to make to speed up the economic growth of the developing countries.
96. I should like to conclude by expressing a wish dear to the hearts of all the peoples of the world, namely, that we may see the United Nation develop into an organization in which all peoples may find the fulfilment of their legitimate hopes for peace, justice and progress.