1. Madam President, I wish to begin my statement by
expressing to you the warm congratulations of the Cuban
delegation on your election as President of this
twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly.
2. On this day, as on many earlier days, we have before us
items of great interest to all the peoples of the world. They
come up monotonously again and again, but the international
Organization cannot solve them, because they go
beyond the narrow limits of existing possibilities. Problems
of peace and war, aggression and under-development,
colonialism and racial discrimination, international
co-operation and disarmament, trade barriers and the struggle
for independence — to mention only some of the problems
of greatest concern to mankind — are not being adequately
solved through the United Nations, despite our constant
repetition of good intentions year after year, despite our
references to commitments assumed under the Charter
which regulates our activities, and above all despite the
clamour of public opinion and our daily contemplation of
the drama of peoples suffering military aggression and
overwhelmed by poverty and ignorance.
3. The reasons why the United Nations is so sterile is that
it reflects all the factors that make up the complex world
situation. The forces that attack peoples seeking their
independence; the factors which hamper and impede
development and domestic trade for the benefit of an
insatiable minority; the policy which seeks to stifle nations
unwilling to accept a foreign yoke; the power motives
which maintain a climate of insecurity, conspiracy and
pressure in the world and intrude in our debates with a
hypocritical rhetoric — all these act within the international
Organization to keep it from doing any useful work on the
vital matters it is called on to consider.
4. This situation becomes much graver when the United
Nations is transformed from a passive and useless body into
a covert or overt accomplice of actions condemned by the
Charter itself and by international morality, The history of
recent years offers many examples of its frustration, or of
its complicity by omission or commission in conflicts and
situations which have called for solution in the interests of
the peoples and not of the aggressors.
5. These weaknesses and shortcomings must be denounced
so that we can view the situation realistically and not
contribute to a farce which in any event deceives nobody.
When attitudes inspired by the loftiest and purest interests
of the peoples predominate in the membership of the
United Nations, and when it no longer responds to
strategies of aggression and plunder; when the correlation
of forces makes passivity impossible in the face of the use
of force to settle international disputes, and utterly
prevents complicity in aggression to serve powerful economic
groups or a policy of military domination, then will
the United Nations be able to give full effect to the
principles it proclaims.
6. This basic situation in no way contradicts the value of
the United Nations as a forum of exceptional importance.in
which to discuss the essential problems of our times; nor
does it exclude the possibility of partial gains within the
Organization in the internal struggle to prevent the imperialist
Powers, largely and principally the United States,
from imposing their will.
7. One point that has been mentioned in the Assembly
this year is the climate of insecurity in aerial and maritime
navigation, due to the forcible diversion of craft from their
normal routes and activities. This is a grave problem which
has already existed for 10 years, although it has not
received the attention it deserves until quite recently, when
its consequences began to affect those who had originally
given it criminal encouragement.
8. The Government of the United States and the lackey
Governments of Latin America promoted and encouraged
the hijacking of Cuban aircraft and ships as part of their
policy of blockade and aggression against Cuba, welcomed
as heroes the vulgar assassins involved, and often took
possession of the hijacked vessels, On many occasions those
piratical actions, which were encouraged and praised by
American imperialism and its servants, caused the loss of
valuable Cuban lives; but those criminal acts found no echo
in the international organizations.
9. Throughout those years the Revolutionary Government
of Cuba denounced from this very rostrum the misdeeds
and violations of international law and standards promoted
by imperialism as part of its policy against the Cuban
revolution, without evoking a single condemnation of
conduct which from every point of view infringed
international order and expressed a gangster approach to the
handling of differences between civilized countries.
10. The atmosphere of illegality created by that policy
necessarily encouraged proliferation of the new acts of
violence which today disquiet the international community
and which the Revolutionary Government of Cuba considers
must be opposed in order to re-establish security of
navigation on the seas and in the air and to purify the
unhealthy atmosphere engendered by the imperialist policy
of force and coercion, supported by Governments which
now fear the consequences of this piratical policy which
they had been applying to the Cuban people.
11. For the last 10 years, without truce or respite, United
States imperialism, followed in its tortuous manoeuvres by
the lackey regimes of Latin America, has encouraged an
illegal exodus from Cuba with complete disregard for the
lives and safety of the persons involved in the adventure.
United States imperialism has never hesitated out of any
consideration or respect for universally-accepted standards
of coexistence, legal commitments or questions of sovereignty.
Its purpose has been to harm the Cuban revolution
at any cost and in any way, particularly through the United
States naval base at Guantanamo which has been used as an
advanced base on Cuban soil itself for gross imperialist provocation.
12. And what has happened now? The violence which
they have encouraged has turned upon them. The pirates
who thought they could sail the seas with complete
impunity, sheltered by their own force, are now victims of
the same climate of illegality they irresponsibly created in
order to damage Cuba. The Government of the United
States and the lackey Governments of Latin America are
now suffering from insecurity and are in their turn affected
by the criminal procedures which they fostered by their
deeds; and now with characteristic hypocrisy they are
expressing indignation through their press organs and
through international news agencies, and are maliciously
trying to evade responsibility for the origin and development
of those acts.
13. It is a well-known fact that the Revolutionary Government
of Cuba has invariably followed the policy of paying
for the return journey of any aircraft or ships brought by
force to our national territory and of permitting the
passengers to continue their journey as soon as possible
with maximum guarantees for their safety, and has rejected
any kind of publicity or propaganda which could encourage
such acts. It was the imperialists themselves and their
lackeys who engaged in scandalous conduct. It is they who
started and continue this dirty game. With their depredations
and kidnappings they have outdone the pirates and
corsairs of old on the very scene of their misdeeds, the
Caribbean.
14. The attitude of Cuba has always been crystal clear and
in keeping with the international principles governing
relations between States. Hijacked ships and passengers
have been returned without hindrance, and at no time have
we extolled either the deeds or their perpetrators. Our
conduct, as is evident, contrasts with that of the Government
of the United States and the Latin American
Governments which abjectly follow its orders. We view the
insecurity of air and maritime traffic with the same concern
as world public opinion, and do so all the more intensely
because our country has suffered most from this criminal
imperialist invention and because our territory forms the
usual background for these acts of violence.
15. Solutions cannot, however, be found by way of
multilateral agreements or through boycotts or blockades.
In the first place, the Government of Cuba is not prepared
to comply with the decisions of international organizations
such as the Organization of American States (OAS), which,
in addition to being an altogether discredited institution,
whose agreements are completely devoid of morality, has,
in the specific case of aerial and maritime piracy, frequently
been an accomplice of the United States Government. As
for the United Nations, has it not remained silent with
folded arms when faced with cases of piracy against Cuba?
By what right should the United Nations take up this
question at the present juncture, seeing that in the past it
has allowed illegal acts to pass without the slightest show of
concern?
16. It is obvious that no solution to the problem can be
found by this means. As far as other means are concerned,
such as pressure and threats of international blockade or
boycott, what self-respecting Government could accept
these conditions when such measures are exclusively within
its own sovereign prerogatives? Furthermore, was there
ever any talk of a blockade or international boycott when
the imperialists and their lackeys were the ones causing the
trouble? Is anything said even now when they are
encouraging and assisting illegal departures from Cuba,
hijacking Cuban ships and causing the deaths of valuable
Cuban citizens?
17. The Government of Cuba wishes to put clearly on
record that it will accept no compulsion based on multilateral
agreements but will firmly maintain its position that
Cuba will adopt measures based on bilateral agreements
only with countries prepared to adopt exactly the same
rules relating to the hijacking of aircraft and ships and
similar violations of the laws governing international traffic.
18. To this effect the Revolutionary Government of Cuba
has just adopted Act No. 1226 on the diversion of aircraft
or ships, which gives a broad coverage to breaches of the
law and provides for the return of perpetrators of such
illegal acts to the States concerned, if these have agreed
bilaterally with Cuba to apply the same policy. That is
Cuba’s appropriate reply to the concern of the international
community. It is our clear and equitable response to the
promoters of the climate of violence which has brought
about the present insecurity of navigation.
19. There have recently been many editorial statements
and conjectures about the hypothetical possibility of Cuba
returning to the so-called Organization of American States.
In this very Assembly some representatives of Latin
American Governments have felt bound to make statements
on this matter.
20. The position of Cuba has been stated time and time
again and in very clear terms, but time and time again
attempts have been made to cloud it. What interest could
Cuba have in re-entering an international organization that
lacks the most elementary qualifications for the discharge
of its supposed mission? If there is any institution in the
world which exemplifies the most ignommious subordination
to the policy of a great Power, it is undoubtedly the
so-called Organization of American States. In the constellation
of organizations operating today in the international
system of relationships, OAS stands lowest in prestige and
effectiveness. It is universally and quite correctly regarded
as a mere appendix of the State Department in Washington.
21. The history of OAS with regard to Cuba is embarrassing.
In the first place it cravenly closed its eyes when, in
open violation of the Bogota Charter, economic aggression
was committed against Cuba. Next, when the military
invasion of Playa Giron was notoriously organized and
launched by the Government of the United States, it not
only closed its eyes but lowered its head in cowardly
shame. In the last 10 years of revolution it has been used by
the imperialists time and time again to set up ministerial
meetings against Cuba. With unprecedented hypocrisy it has
lent itself to the whole policy of aggression against our
people and has on numerous occasions been an open
accomplice. It has been called the colonial office of the
imperialist United States Government. That, we think, is an
exaggeration. It does not reach that level. It is merely a
low-ranking bureaucratic office for the transmission of orders.
22. The shamelessness of OAS knows no bounds in its
service of imperialist policies. It endorsed the aggression of
the Yankee Marines against the Dominican Republic without
the slightest repugnance. It associated itself with the
naval blockade of Cuba and with the economic sanctions.
As a regional organization of the United Nations it thereby
violated both the letter and spirit of the Charter, not to
mention its own constitutional documents, by inventing
and applying the strange theory of incompatibility in order
to exclude Cuba from its deliberations. Never has it spoken
out against the subversion of imperialist espionage agencies
in Latin America, against acts of military intervention,
army take-overs or the exactions levied by monopolies on
the Latin American peoples. Never has it raised its voice for
any purpose, but has tamely followed the orders given to it.
23. Cuba will not return to the Organization of American
States while that organization continues to be what it now
is, We shall not enter any regional organization except the
Organization of Revolutionary States of Latin America, as
our Prime Minister, Commandant Fidel Castro, recently
declared. As for Cuba’s alleged interest in resuming diplomatic
relations with the countries of Latin America, it
should be remembered that those countries themselves
broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba, not in
exercise of sovereignty but in compliance with a policy
dictated by imperialism, since it suited the strategy of
isolation and encirclement of the Cuban revolution. Those
Governments, the very ones which belong to OAS, accepted
imperialist propaganda accusing Cuba of promoting subversion.
At the same time, with the most astonishing
effrontery, they invited CIA and its mercenaries to use their
countryside for training and for attacking Cuba, placed
themselves at the service of the Yankee spies, offered bases
in their territory for piratical attacks against our production
centres, helped saboteurs to steal in, echoed the worst
calumnies against our people, and called in chorus for
military intervention. They carried out the whole of this
criminal policy precisely at the time when they were
accusing Cuba of the crimes they were committing against our people.
24. Taking cynicism to its extreme, they rushed to
distribute the Cuban sugar quota among themselves when
the imperialists deprived our people of it. Those crumbs
were the payment for their complicity and involvement, for
the historic crime they had committed against a people
which was gaining its independence and assuming its full
national dignity.
25. Over the last 10 years Cuba has constantly had to
defend itself against the attacks and intrigues of the
imperialists and their Latin American lackeys, while at the
same time making heroic creative efforts in the midst of an
economic blockade and of a diplomatic isolation which in
the long run has been a resounding failure. Today the
Governments that are isolated are those very ones which
took the road of servility and blackmail, of faithlessness to
their own peoples, the road to disgrace.
26. They conspired together in the Organization of American
States to vilify and attack us, trampling underfoot
every moral principle and violating even the articles they
themselves had drafted when they thought that a legal
mantle could be drawn over their total subjection to
imperialist policy.
27. The picture which the imperialist press and those
governed by it have attempted to present of a repentant
Cuba seeking diplomatic relations with those Latin American
Governments is a perfidious, calumnious and ridiculous
lie. In a speech made on 14 July last, when referring to this
question, our Prime Minister expressed himself very clearly
as follows:
“Those who believe that we are here to beg for favours
are mistaken. Those who believe that this country could
ever flinch are wrong. Those who believe that we shall go
round pleading for relations are mistaken. This country
has resisted for 10 years with its head held high. It has
lived through its most difficult hour.... It has had to
endure crimes, blockades, aggressions, connivances with
its head held high. We are very much aware of what we
have achieved during these 10 years, of what we are doing
now, of what is worthy and of what is significant; and we
are making ready for another 10 years with our heads
held higher than ever!”
He added, unequivocally:
“And any Latin American country wishing to have
diplomatic relations with Cuba must begin by declaring
that the OAS agreements were arbitrary and unjust and
that, above and beyond these agreements, and as reparation
for the crime committed against our homeland and
for their complicity with the Yankee imperialists, they
are prepared to disregard those agreements.”
28. That is the Cuban position. Our foreign policy is
guided by principles and not by opportunism. The OAS
agreements instituting sanctions against Cuba are morally
invalid, because Cuba was not the aggressor but the victim
of aggression; because OAS, even in the face of the world
scandal of the invasion prepared by the United States
Government, gave not even a sigh of disapproval, thus
making a mockery of the Bogota Charter and of all the
commitments that had been signed with all pomp and
circumstance over the years; because, when the imperialist
Government eliminated the Cuban sugar quota, shamelessly
violating article 16 of the Bogota Charter, not only did
OAS keep its mouth shut but its members even opened
their hands to take advantage of the economic sanctions
against Cuba and to share in the spoliation of our people;
because OAS invented the legal monstrosity of the
incompatibility between the social regime established in Cuba
and the so-called inter-American system in order to exclude
us; and because the Cuban presence there, in the midst of
imperialists and their lackeys representing gangsters,
oligarchs and corrupt politicians, was a perpetual denunciation
of the tortuous shifts and manoeuvres of the masters of OAS.
29. The arbitrariness and injustice of those agreements can
be neither forgotten nor condoned. Those decisions must
be revoked. Cuba has corrected nothing and has nothing to
correct. What we have done will be done by other peoples,
by the force of history. To save the country’s wealth for
our own people, to offer alliance to those struggling for
their own welfare, to defend our national independence, to
work for a higher degree of development, to rid ourselves of
exploiters and parasites — these are things which need no
correction. The amendment must come from those Latin
American Governments which have been and are accomplices
in the arbitrary, unjust and immoral measures
dictated by the imperialists.
30. Now that preparations for the Second United Nations
Development Decade are occupying a prominent place in
the work of this Assembly, we can draw conclusions from
the first Decade and see that its most noticeable result was
the disillusionment it produced in the countries of the third
world, including those of Latin America, which are daily
becoming more and more convinced that the road to
development does not pass through an illusory co-operation
with the former exploiters but presupposes, above all, a
radical transformation of internal structures and mobilization
of the efforts of the whole population.
31. It is an interesting coincidence that the years of the
first Decade have been those during which the Revolutionary
Government of Cuba was being established, and
also coincide to a large extent with the unhappy existence
of the Alliance for Progress. It is easy to draw up a
balance-sheet at this juncture, since not even the most naive
have any illusions left concerning the plan conceived by the
imperialists to counter the example of the Cuban Revolution,
while the results of the first Decade are before us. For
our people this decade has been one of profound change
and of intense and vigorous creative activity. We were
obliged to begin our march towards development with a
distorted economic structure, without financial resources,
without technical or scientific staff, with a great demand
for imports and without the necessary export earnings;
while at the same time we bore the brunt of the aggressive
policy of United States imperialism with its savage economic
and commercial blockade, constantly threatened
with aggression and subjected to provocation, harassment
and pressures.
32. The hostility of United States imperialism and of its
Latin American lackeys has roughened Cuba’s road towards
a prosperous and independent economy, and has compelled
our people to bear an additional burden of sacrifice; but the
goal they sought, to weaken and strangle us, they have not
achieved. The difficulties have tempered the character of
the Cuban people and have strengthened its will to resist
and to overcome, aware that on its labours will depend the
future of its country and that its efforts will be decisive in
winning a better tomorrow.
33. On this the threshold of the Second Development
Decade, Cuba has resolved basic social problems in education,
public health and human relations for once and for all,
It has rapidly developed its merchant marine and fishing
fleet; laid the bases of its technological and industrial
development; recovered all its wealth for its people and
eliminated unemployment; it will shortly harvest the fruits
of these years of work. The present sugar crop, which for
the first time in history will reach 10 million tons, will
demonstrate the organizational progress, the technical
advance, and the masses’ ability to achieve great feats even
in the most adverse circumstances. The impetus given to
agriculture will begin from 1970 to be reflected in
continuous growth in the production of food-stuffs for
domestic consumption and in the expansion of our export
capacity. The imperialist blockade will go down in history
as a futile example of arrogance and impotence.
34. What results can the puppet Governments of imperialism
in Latin America present to their peoples and to
the world? In the last 10 years the social, economic and
political crisis of that continent has become more acute.
Political instability and social insecurity are inseparable
parts of the Latin American drama. At best the economy of
Latin America remains static with a growing demographic
burden; and in most countries it is deteriorating. Rates of
illiteracy are still high; and poverty, disease and unemployment
are certainly not hallucinations in the minds
of those peoples, but rather heart-breaking tragedies.
35. The magical formula of the Alliance for Progress,
heralded as the panacea for all the ills of Latin America, has
become a resounding failure. It was claimed to be the
imperialistic counterpart of the Cuban revolution, so that
the governing classes of Latin America, in the imperialist
service, could retain their power without the threat of
radical changes. In the long run it had been useful in that
our new society’s achievements are set off against its
gloomy background in an ever brighter light, and the eyes
of the peoples are thus opened to their real road towards
the destiny to which they aspire.
36. Within the context of backwardness, poverty and
exploitation of Latin America into which the Alliance for
Progress has been inserted, important events are taking
place in our sister country Peru, where the new Government
has adopted some measures which we welcome, in
that they are aimed at developing the economy and raising
the country from its prostration. Logically, the first
measure adopted was against an imperialist company, an oil
company with a long history of exploitation. Next came a
radical law on agrarian reform. The Peruvian oligarchy and
the imperialist press have already begun to vilify the
Peruvian Government, to raise obstacles and to exert
pressure, It is natural that this should happen; and, as the
Government of Peru moves forward on a patriotic and
revolutionary road, the net will tighten round it and the
lackey Governments of the continent will begin to echo the
imperialist policy.
37. The bankruptcy of United States policy, which in the
Western hemisphere already presents the imperialists with
these alarming symptoms, has become even deeper in
South-East Asia. During this year the armed forces of the
National Liberation Front of South Viet-Nam have
achieved some important military victories which demonstrate
the spirit of constant offensive of that heroic people.
The establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government,
recognized by a large number of States and by all the
peoples of the world as the sole authentic representative of
the people of South Viet-Nam, is a far-reaching step
towards the complete liberation of the country and reflects
full support and patriotic union of all social levels and
sectors for resistance against the aggressors.
38. Assailed by the solidarity of the whole world with the
people of Viet-Nam, a solidarity which has even been
expressed in the United States itself, the Washington
Government has found itself compelled to declare the
suspension of the criminal bombardment of the Democratic
Republic of Viet-Nam, though in actual fact it continues to
violate that country’s sovereignty, since the United States
Air Force still attacks many areas between the seventeenth
and the nineteenth parallels, as the Government of the
Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam has just charged. At the
same time, imperialism has manoeuvred under cover of a
feigned peaceful intent while all the time its aggression continues.
39. The partial withdrawal of troops described by the
Head of the United States Government in this General
Assembly as a peace initiative is a complete farce. Both the
Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet-Nam
and the Government of the Democratic Republic of
Viet-Nam have clearly stated that what the Washington
Government is trying to do is to prolong the United States
military occupation and cling firmly to the corrupt puppet
administration in Saigon, in an attempt to continue its
domination of South Viet-Nam and perpetuate the division
of the country.
40. The imperialist manoeuvres cannot conceal their criminal
basis. References to a “mutual withdrawal of troops”
are an attempt to place the aggressor and the victim on a
footing of equality and deny the right of the people of
Viet-Nam to defend its country and its dignity. Despite the
denunciations of the two Governments of Viet-Nam, the
United States has also persisted in its demand that the
people which is the victim of aggression should lay down its
arms and submit to the treacherous puppet administration,
opposing the establishment of a provisional coalition government.
41. Clearly, to set conditions for the withdrawal of the
Yankee troops is to demand a reward for aggression. The
35,000 men which the United States has allegedly withdrawn
are insignificant in comparison with the more than
half a million United States soldiers in South Viet-Nam; and
to demand that the puppet administration of Saigon should
be the one to organize fraudulent elections in the presence
of United States troops is unacceptable from every point of
view. In his appeal of 20 July 1969 President Ho Chi Minh
stated that:
“The people of Viet-Nam demands the withdrawal of
all United States troops: not the withdrawal of 25,000,
250,000 or 500,000 men, but total and unconditional
withdrawal. As long as United States troops and the
puppet administration remain in South Viet-Nam, genuinely
free and democratic general elections will be
absolutely impossible.”
42. That is the only honourable attitude, the only one
supported by all peoples. The Provisional Revolutionary
Government of South Viet-Nam has denounced the
attempts of the United States at the Paris talks to distort
the truth by every means and to conceal its aggressive
actions and the treachery of the puppet administration in
Saigon. These diplomatic ploys are obviously in line with
the purpose of denying the people of Viet-Nam its
independence and freedom. That is why the peace talks in
Paris cannot make progress, as the representatives of the
people of Viet-Nam have stated.
43. The global 10-point solution presented by the
National Liberation Front and later adopted by the
Provisional Revolutionary Government is the only political
way out guaranteeing the fundamental national rights of
the people of South Viet-Nam. The people of Viet-Nam has
an undeniable right to self-determination and to live in
independence. Yankee imperialism has no right to intervene
in problems that fall exclusively within the competence of
that people. The immediate withdrawal of the aggressive
troops and a guarantee of the independence and freedom of
Viet-Nam are a vital interest for all States which, like that
heroic people of South-East Asia, wish to be masters of
their destinies.
44. No one doubts that the people of Viet-Nam will
continue their struggle until complete victory is achieved
and that every day they will be able to count on greater and
more militant solidarity among all the peoples of the world.
Our own people, through the Revolutionary Government,
wishes to renew its complete solidarity with them in the
battle they are waging against the aggressors and to reiterate
its complete identification with the just stand taken by the
Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and
the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet-Nam.
45. We consider it a duty to pay from this rostrum a
heartfelt tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, the great leader
of the nation of Viet-Nam in its long fight for independence.
For half a century Ho Chi Minh has fought for
the freedom of his country. He led it to the victory over the
Japanese occupation which culminated in the establishment,
24 years ago, of the Democratic Republic of
Viet-Nam: and later he fought against the French colonial
occupation. He also led his country during its heroic
resistance to United States aggression, which is now close to
total rout. Ho Chi Minh died before he could see his
country reunited and free of foreign soldiers; but he will be
reborn very shortly in the glorious victory of his people and
will live eternally in every battle, sacrifice and victory of
the peoples of the third world in their fight for independence,
and will remain for ever in the memory of all
oppressed peoples as a symbol of purity, abnegation and nobility.
46. In another part of the world, the Far East, the warlike
activities of imperialism continue also. In recent months
this has been expressed particularly through the increase in
the number of acts of armed provocation and hostility
against the territory of the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea. United States troops continue to occupy the
southern part of Korea and to keep its population in
colonial subjection under the usurped banner of the United Nations.
47. During the last year the patriotic movement in South
Korea against Yankee domination has gained strength.
Hundreds of workers, farmers, students, teachers and
intellectuals have fallen victim to the repressive fury of the
puppet regime for the sole crime of endeavouring to unify
their country. The Washington Government is constantly
increasing its war potential and supplying every type of
military equipment to the Seoul clique as part of its
preparations for a new war of aggression.
48. Nevertheless, pressures exercised by the United States
delegation prevented this Assembly at its twenty-third
session from adopting proper resolutions with regard to the
so-called Korean problem. They are more necessary this
year than ever, in view of the increasing frenzy of the
Yankees in their acts of warlike provocation.
49. A just solution of this problem is, moreover, of the
utmost importance for all States desirous of preserving their
independence and sovereignty. In connexion with this
question, two matters arise which affect the cardinal
principles of our Organization. In the first place there is the
right of the Korean people to self-determination and
independence, its inalienable right to resolve, by itself and
without any type of external interference whatsoever, all its
problems, including the reunification of the country. In the
second place there is the shameful fact that for almost two
decades the United States Government has been using this
Organization as a tool for its aggressive and colonialist
policies against the Korean people.
50. This is why, for most of the States represented here, it
is an urgent task to change the policy which the General
Assembly has thus far followed with respect to Korea.
There is only one possible alternative: to decide upon the
immediate withdrawal of all United States troops and
troops of other States that are now trampling upon Korean
sovereignty, to dissolve the so-called United Nations
Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea,
and to put an end once and for all to United Nations
interference in the internal affairs of the Korean people.
51. The problems of Africa have taken up the attention of
the Assembly in recent years. Numerous resolutions have
been adopted with the aim of defending the independence
and freedom of its peoples. However, the forces of
colonialism and racism refuse to abandon the positions they
have gained as a result of past exploitation and infamy.
Recent events in Rhodesia and Namibia have caused
mounting indignation in public opinion, which demands
decisive action against the minorities of fascist settlers who
in the mid-twentieth century are trying to maintain the
most odious practices of slavery.
52. Cuba reaffirms its complete support for the struggle of
the African peoples for full national independence, and
declares its militant solidarity with the liberation
movements in Guinea (Bissau), Angola and Mozambique and
with the oppressed African peoples in South Africa,
Namibia and Zimbabwe.
53. Another typical case of the anti-colonial farce being
staged in the United Nations, another indication that this
Organization cannot possibly act as an instrument for the
liberation of oppressed peoples, is that of Puerto Rico.
Since 1965 the representatives of all the patriotic forces in
Puerto Rico and our own delegation have demanded that
the Committee should consider the case. Despite the time
that has elapsed, however, the Committee has not succeeded
even in beginning to consider the substance of that
request, owing to the stubborn opposition of the United
States delegation. ‘The Yankee refusal to discuss this matter
constitutes the best proof that Puerto Rico is a classical
example of colonial oppression and denial of the right of
peoples to self-determination.
54. The crisis in the Middle East continues to be a cause of
concern to the international community; and this Organization
has been incapable of restoring peace and guaranteeing
the rights of the Arab States that were attacked in 1967.
55. The struggle of the Arab peoples, and particularly that
of the Palestinian people, against the interference of United
States imperialism is a key link in the movement towards
the emancipation of the third world and enjoys the
sympathy and support of all progressive forces.
56. Another problem which has not yet been resolved
after two decades is that of the representation of China in
this Organization. As in the past, my delegation requests
the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People’s
Republic of China in the United Nations and the expulsion
of those who usurp its seat.
57. The increasingly intense antagonism between the
under-developed peoples and imperialism has been a
characteristic of the past years of international life. The failure
of reforming experiments and the growing aggressiveness of
the imperialist forces is teaching the peoples how to
discover their enemies, even when they are disguised in the
apparel of saviours.
58. Nor have the peoples any more illusions about the
fertility of the international organizations, whose incapacity
to solve the vital problems of mankind runs
parallel with an exaggerated production of useless documents
and of exuberant rhetoric. Political freedom, economic
independence and an end to exploitation will not be
won either by promises or by debates in deliberative bodies
manipulated by the aggressors and by those who benefit
from exploitation.
59. At this session of the General Assembly the subject of
peace is possibly the one that has been mentioned most
from this rostrum. We all speak of peace. Reference is made
to peace by those who need peace in order to devote their
efforts to creative purposes, and also by those who
constantly disturb the peace in order to maintain their
privileges. We hear about peace from countries which are
victims of aggression and from aggressor countries, particularly
the latter, since what they seek from the peoples is
calm and tranquillity so that these will not rebel against
injustice; but they do not seek a harmony based on equality
and mutual respect.
60. Peace is talked about by the colonialists who forcibly
maintain veritable systems of slavery in Africa; by
neo-colonialists who work for the monopolies in Asia, Africa
and Latin America; by the Powers that maintain military
bases in foreign territories; by those that have moved their
guns and bombers to Viet-Nam, and by those that have
committed aggressions against Cuba and blockaded and
provoked it. But the false redeemers will no longer be able
to hide behind hypocritical policies or behind prolific
principles inscribed in the documents of the international
organizations.
61. As long as there is no solution in favour of the peoples
to the antagonism between them and their exploiters, as
long as there is no reciprocity in the solution of international
conflicts, and as long as the Powers continue to
discuss from positions of force, it will be illusory to expect
genuine peace which will be of benefit to all without
exception and without discrimination.