83. Madam President, our Permanent Representative to this Organization
has. already extended to you, on behalf of the Trinidad and
Tobago delegation, our warmest congratulations on your
election as President. I whole-heartedly endorse his
remarks. Your attainment, by election, to this position has
been a notable achievement and I feel sure that your term
of office will be a significant one.
84. I wish, on behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago
delegation, to pay a tribute to your predecessor, the late
Emilio Arenales. My own short, personal acquaintance with
him left me with the clear impression of a man of foresight
and courage. He had an abiding interest in the unity of the
peoples in and around the Caribbean. Together with our
colleagues from the delegation of Guatemala we mourn his
loss. May those of us who guide the destinies of the peoples
of the area be inspired by his vision.
85. Under your guidance, Madam President, and that of
our wise and devoted Secretary-General, we approach the
twenty-fifth year of the United Nations. We know that the
Organization has not lived up to the expectations of its
founders. Though it has had some success in the peace-keeping
field, old wars continue and new ones continually
threaten to erupt. Might is still right and the meek have not
inherited the earth. My country, however, does not despair.
In spite of its severe limitations, the United Nations alone
still offers the hope that sanity and justice can prevail on a
world scale. Alone of ail organizations, the United Nations
offers the hope that the peoples of the world will one day
speak with one voice on the important issues affecting
them. The United Nations alone sustains the hope of
greater collective effort in the next decade to undertake the
crushing burdens of development. It is the United Nations
that keeps before the eyes and the conscience of the world
infringements of fundamental human rights, as well as
violations of human dignity and the equality of peoples.
Trinidad and Tobago, therefore, continues to cherish the
ideal that the norms of our Charter, as the only basis of an
enduring order, will prevail.
86. Twenty-five years ago Members of this Organization
undertook to promote international economic and social
co-operation in the interest of international stability and
harmonious relations between States. They pledged them-selves
to devote increasing attention to the achievement of
higher standards of living and full employment, and
generally to search for solutions to international economic
and social problems.
87. The United Nations membership has now grown from
51 in 1945 to 126 in 1969. Of these, some 86 countries are
recognized to be in varying stages of poverty and under-development.
88. The dramatic achievements in outer space by the
United States and the Soviet Union have demonstrated
beyond any doubt the unlimited capacity of science and
technology to overcome obstacles to human progress. Yet
the First United Nations Development Decade is now
generally considered to have been a pitiable failure and
little if any advance has been recorded in the battle against
hunger and poverty.
89. We are now turning our attention to a Second United
Nations Development Decade. We do so with the experience
of the First Decade behind us and with a much more
elaborate process of preparation in train. I emphasize that
success in this decade will, nevertheless, depend upon a
fully co-operative effort of the whole international community.
90. We hope that this time the commitment to success,
particularly on the part of developed countries, will be
forthcoming, and the necessary action taken. We apprehend
that, with growing ease of travel and communication, the
development effort of so many countries and peoples will
not stand another decade of frustration without far-reaching
effects.
91. Of considerable importance for the Second Development
Decade will be the results of the general review of the
various United Nations activities in the economic and social
fields being undertaken by the Enlarged Committee for
Programme and Co-ordination, which is now in the closing
stages of its final session before submitting its report.
92. I cannot say, however, that we are as optimistic today
as we were at the start of our undertaking. Progress has
proceeded at a snail’s pace. But the picture has its brighter
side. Those of us who have participated in the review row
have a much better understanding of the problem, and, in a
few instances, even the outlines of possible solutions have
begun to emerge. Knowledge of the system has been
considerably increased through the excellent Handbook on
Criteria and Procedures for requesting Technical Assistance
and the information produced by the Secretariats
on their activities.
93. We welcome the study by the group under Sir Robert
Jackson on the capacity of the United Nations system to
deliver a doubled level of technical assistance; and we lock
forward to the report to the World Bank Group on the
needs of the world economy in the long and medium term
by Mr, Lester Pearson’s team, which we are delighted to see
has the services of the distinguished economist from the
Caribbean, Sir Arthur Lewis.
94. Trinidad and Tobago places great emphasis on the
economic and social activities of the United Nations. We
feel that additional resources need to be allocated to this
area of activity by the Organization.
95. We are aware of the growing chorus of dissatisfaction
among the “major contributors” to the budget over the rise
in the levels of United Nations expenditure. We accept
without hesitation that waste must be eliminated, that
programmes undertaken must be relevant to the needs of
Member States, and that cost-effective methods should, as
far as practicable, be employed in implementing programmes
agreed upon. My delegation feels strongly, however,
that once these programmes have been adequately
scrutinized, then, if the entire effort is not to be wasted,
the resources necessary to implement them should be
supplied.
96. As a twin-island State, Trinidad and Tobago has grown
increasingly dependent on the resources of the sea. At the
twenty-third session of the General Assembly, we fully
supported General Assembly resolution 2467 (XXIII)
which dealt with the question of the reservation exclusively
for peaceful purposes of the sea-bed and ocean floor and
the use of its resources in the interest of the world
community. We hold firmly to the view that the area of the
sea-bed and ocean floor that lies beyond national jurisdiction
is the heritage of all mankind. The untold resources of
this area must not be appropriated by a few and a share
denied to the many. We adhere firmly to the principle that
there should be equitable participation by all States in the
administration of the area as well as in the benefits to be
derived from the exploitation of its resources. We are
convinced that the early establishment of adequate international
machinery is the best way of ensuring these
objectives. Trinidad and Tobago notes with concern the
intransigent position of some States on this question. While
we understand the seriousness of the economic and
strategic interests involved, we cannot accept that those
special interests can or should override the general interest
of humanity.
97. Some seventy developing countries represented in this
Organization border the oceans. It is not enough for data
and the results of scientific research to be made available or
accessible. It is not enough for. samples taken from areas
under our jurisdiction to be lodged in foreign museums and
to be merely made accessible to us. Those samples should
remain with the coastal State or under international
control. Nothing short of full partnership in this enterprise
will lead to a satisfactory outcome.
98. While Trinidad and Tobago places great emphasis on
the social and economic programmes of the United Nations,
we are increasingly concerned over the persistence of
destructive attitudes which frustrate co-operative effort and
bedevil relationships between peoples.
99. In the past twenty-five years, despite myriads of
resolutions and decisions by various organs of the United
Nations, the disease of apartheid in South Africa has
assumed endemic proportions. Moreover, before our very
eyes, the process of infestation is taking place in Southern
Rhodesia. Time and again we have warned against the
inadequacy of the measures proposed or adopted to deal
with the growing menace to. the peace of Africa and with
this intolerable affront to humanity as a whole. Some
Member States believe that, by maintaining diplomatic and
other relationships with South Africa, they will be in a
better position to influence that Government to reform.
Let it be remembered that there were persons who
entertained the same hopes about Adolf Hitler.
100. We commend the Government of Sweden for the
action it has taken in respect of the fictitious trial of a
group of Namibians under South Africa’s monstrous Terrorism
Act, and we feel that the General Assembly should call
upon all States that maintain relations with South Africa to
make a comprehensive report to the United Nations on the
efforts they have made to influence that Government to
reform.
101. The Trinidad and Tobago delegation welcomes the
latest decision of the Special Committee on the Policies of
Apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South
Africa to undertake a study which would embrace the
whole economic life of South Africa [A/7625, paras. 104
and 105]. The study will identify those obstacles which
hinder the successful imposition of sanctions against that
country. We have already stated, and we reiterate our view,
that the illegal seizure of power by the racist minority in
Rhodesia should be brought to an end by all necessary
measures, including the use of force.
102. I have dwelt upon the subject of apartheid at some
length because respect for human dignity is at the very basis
of the existence of the United Nations. Without such
respect, human progress and human life will forever be
imperilled.
103. My delegation continues to hold firmly to the view
that a purely quantitative evaluation of the statistics
relating to decolonization will be misleading. Since the
adoption of the Declaration of the Granting of Independence
to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960 [resolution
1514 (XV)], many States have achieved their independence.
We cannot, however, delude ourselves into believing
that the struggle is over. The structures of some imperialisms
remain entrenched and continue to constitute an
obstacle to the evolution of more progressive political and
constitutional relationships among peoples. Many important
areas of the world still remain under colonial domination
and some newly independent States are waging fierce
battles to maintain the sovereignty of their independent
institutions. Imperialism must be dislodged from its
fortresses in Namibia and in the territories that are under
Portuguese administration in East Africa.
104. The freedom and development of colonial peoples
demand decolonization not only in the political field but in
the social and economic fields as well.
105. I spoke earlier of the primary obligation on developing
countries to take the necessary measures to promote the
development process. In the Caribbean, despite the difficulties
of competing economies and insular suspicions, which
are the legacy of our colonial past, we have begun to take
the first tentative steps towards closer economic co-operation.
Sharp consciousness of the disadvantages of a fragmented
and uncoordinated existence has persuaded us to
attempt a rationalization of our relationships.
106. Six years after the collapse of the West Indies
Federation in 1962, a Caribbean Free Trade Association has
now emerged. The CARIFTA Agreement has taken into
account the problems of its less developed members and has
provided a number of mechanisms for ensuring that they
benefit fully from the Association. With the assistance of
the agencies of the United Nations and our own University
of the West Indies, we now approach the problems of a
common external tariff, the harmonization of fiscal incentives,
the creation of regionally integrated industries
industrial development in the least developed countries of
the area, as well as rationalization of our pattern of regional
agriculture and development of a transport system for the
needs of the area.
107. The creation of an effective regional development
bank in the Caribbean with assistance from countries with
an interest in the region will provide another significant
step towards economic integration.
108. We are of the view — and that view, we are pleased to
say, is now accepted in most quarters — that CARIFTA is an
essential process in the economic integration of the whole
of Latin America.
109. Like other areas of Latin America and the rest of the
third world, Trinidad and Tobago and the other Caribbean
countries continue to suffer from exclusion of our products
from the markets of the more developed countries. With an
unemployment rate in Trinidad and Tobago of approximately
15 per cent, my Government puts special emphasis
on labour-intensive industries.
110. For us it is virtually catastrophic when developed
countries take measures which have the effect of frustrating
those initiatives. Already hundreds of jobs in Trinidad and
Tobago’s garment industry are threatened by this policy,
which makes nonsense of much of our attempt to achieve
economic transformation and development.
111. Once more, on behalf of all developing countries, we
appeal to the developed countries to support our burdensome
development efforts by removing the severe restrictions
on access to their markets. We consider this to be a
matter of considerably greater importance than financial
aid.
112. Trinidad and Tobago is acutely aware of the political
problems posed for the international community by the
emergence of the so-called mini-States or micro-States in
the Caribbean area and elsewhere in the world. The
principal problem in the Caribbean is political fragmentation,
which is largely a legacy of our colonial past.
113. The essence of the decolonized status is the ability of
men freely to choose and determine their own destiny. This
choice will, in most cases, lead to the coming together of
units too small in isolation to face the rigours of the world,
We believe that the choice in the Caribbean, if free from
external interference, will naturally lead to such an association.
But we are aware that there are instances outside the
Caribbean area where geography and other causes may
inhibit such a development.
114. We are also aware of the learned studies which have
already been devoted to this subject. At the appropriate
time we will be prepared to advance our own views on the
several proposals which are now under formulation. Meanwhile,
I propose to the General Assembly a set of principles
on the basis of which we consider the problem of the
micro-State can be approached. These principles are the
following: first, the thrust. of the United Nations effort
must be in the direction of integration rather than
fragmentation; secondly, solutions must not deny the
fundamental right of peoples to self-determination; thirdly,
integration must be on the basis of the equality of peoples;
fourthly, systems of integration must reflect the special
problems-of particular regions; fifthly, there must be no
interference with the rights and privileges of existing
Members of the United Nations; sixthly, any new relationship
to the United Nations must contemplate only those
peoples who cannot be accommodated within the existing
structure of the United Nations and seventhly, any new
rules or systems of relationship must be based on freedom
of choice for all concerned.
115. Against that background, and adopting what we
consider to be the most fundamental approach to the
problem as it affects the Caribbean peoples, Trinidad and
Tobago calls for the complete decolonization of the
Caribbean area.
116. We also call upon all the metropolitan Powers in the
area and the United Nations, together with the emerging
and independent States, to work towards a new integration
based upon equality and respect for the interests of the
peoples of the Caribbean.
117. We feel sure that such action as we have indicated
and observance of the principles we have outlined constitute
the soundest basis on which the mini-State problem
can be resolved in the Caribbean area particularly, and
generally in the world. We are ourselves a nation of peoples
of many cultures and ethnic origins. We have achieved a
substantial measure of success in breaking down the barriers
of race and creed in our own country. Against the
background of human history we know how superficial
these issues are and yet how intractable they can be. Our
task on, earth in the latter half of the twentieth century as
we reach out to the planets seems to be more a matter of
reaching across to ourselves. To the success of that task, on
which hangs the fate of the entire world community,
Trinidad and Tobago pledges before the nations represented
in this Assembly our physical, moral and spiritual co-operation.