I should like in the first place, on behalf of the delegation of the Dominican Republic and of my Government, to congratulate the President most heartily on his well-deserved election as President of the twelfth session of the General Assembly and to express my delegation’s conviction that with wisdom and diligence he will bring our deliberations to a successful conclusion.
2. Anyone who returns to this hall after some years of absence from the work of the General Assembly cannot but be struck by the spectacle of the new delegations from States which are now Members of our Organization.
3. Two vitally important principles are reflected in this new development in the United Nations: first, the principle of universality and, secondly and equally important, the principle of the self-determination of peoples. If the United Nations is to achieve the purpose for which it was setup, namely to bring States together with a view to promoting peace and improving the conditions in which man lives, on the basis of a general concept that necessarily embraces the whole of mankind, it must cease to be the restrictive war-time coalition which it was at its inception and must steadily reduce the hazard and uncertainty surrounding the conception of the qualifications required of an existing political entity before it can become a Member State.
4. Just as the exaggerated pressure of the different political ideologies which divide the world today invests some of the applications for admission to the Organization with an element of artificiality, so, too, the struggle for the principle of self-determination is being waged with varying success in the context of the atmosphere of conflict in which the fundamental purposes of the Charter are being achieved.
5. Despite adverse circumstances in which the principle of universality is being debated, recent sessions of the Assembly indicate that in the long run the imperative requirements of international life will prevail over subjective interpretations of the Charter. The admission of six new States at the eleventh regular session not only means that States which have had the legal attributes of statehood for thousands of years have joined our Organization but it is also evidence of a phenomenon which is taking on extraordinary vitality in the present-day international community, namely the renaissance of the national movements which triumphed during the nineteenth century in the centres of European culture and their offshoots on the American continent, and which are now vigorously re-emerging on the periphery of the world structure.
6. The Dominican Government cannot but sympathize with this extraordinary evolution of the modern international community and it is therefore happy to reaffirm its recognition of the Federation of Malaya as a sovereign State and enthusiastically supported its admission to the United Nations as a Member State. It is moreover glad to note that the United Kingdom, the mother of free nations, did not hesitate to promote the accession of the Federation of Malaya to sovereign statehood once circumstances made it possible to comply with the Malayan people’s aspirations for independence.
7. To what must we attribute the great desire shown by States to belong to this Organization? What considerations underlie the vexed question of the admissibility of new Member States? To say that the debates on this question are a necessity imposed by the parliamentary tactics of the opposing forces which confront each other in the United Nations is to say only a small part of the truth. It would also be true to say that the desire for membership is dictated by considerations of national prestige, however trivial this may seem.
8. Nevertheless, the great and profound truth underlying the desire of States to be Members of the United Nations must be sought in the conviction to which the peoples of the world have come in the face of the disturbing prospects of international reality. Whereas unity in the solution of the problems perturbing the world is achieved only now and then, there can be no doubt that the world is united in its fear of the mortal dangers confronting it at this point in history. And then the eyes of the world turn to this Organization, which, in the midst of the grievous paradoxes that characterize the international scene, represents the most justified and attainable utopia. The United Nations is not only the tribune for irreconcilable dogmas and militant ideologies; it is also humanity's final court of appeal; it is the organization most competent to give rational direction to the uncontrolled impulses of States and to the process of finding a healthy outlet for what Professor de Vischer called "the tensions of hegemony", which have in our time assumed the proportions of a subversive undertaking, but one that has been countered by a new crusade.
9. If the United Nations is of the people and for the people it is no less true that it must be supported by the people and that, if it is gradually to make felt its enlightened influence, it must be able to count on the unwavering support and sincere faith of States in the righteousness of its universal mission.
10. The last few sessions of the Assembly indicate that the United Nations is growing stronger, in that its decisions were firmly supported at a moment when world events were about to precipitate us into a new armed conflict of incalculable proportions. Not only has it gained in strength from the collective decisions of its organs but it has also been strengthened, in a way which merits our warmest appreciation, by the responsible and effective action of the Secretary- General.
11. These reflections lead us to ask how States can help to bring about a settlement in the United Nations, that is to say, a synthesis of the thesis and antithesis by which the modern world is shaken. In my Government's view, the answer to this question is that States must recognize the need to practise an unequivocal policy in the United Nations. An unequivocal policy in the United Nations calls for an unequivocal national policy and this in turn means that in its domestic affairs the State must settle all social, economic and political problems in such a way that the calls of the community on the State are mutually and reasonably balanced; it is only when this prerequisite has been met that the State can be said, in respect of its conduct in the international community, to practise what it preaches. The international community must be able to count on reiterated promises to abide by certain incontrovertible principles of international conduct. To have an unequivocal policy in the United Nations a State must adopt a manner of speech which is not a snare devised by cynicism in the interests of propaganda. What is most urgently needed in this Organization is to give this unequivocal character to the solemn commitment entailed in membership in the United Nations; while this is, of course, imperative for the great Powers, it is no less so for the small States.
12. We believe, however, that a note of sobriety must prevail when it comes to examining the resources of the Charter. We recognize that just as it is impossible to reduce every event in human life to a simple dispute before a court, as the International Court of Justice said in drawing attention to the contrast between legal and political problems, it is only prudent to realize that many essential aspects of the evolution of States cannot be fitted into the abstract formulae drawn up in the General Assembly. While it is proper to render to the Organization what is due to the Organization, it is also vitally important that the State should retain what is proper to the State.
13. The general debate with which the General Assembly traditionally begins its proceedings gives my delegation an opportunity to define the policy it intends to follow during the present session. We represent a State whose Government has mobilized the country's social forces and economic potential behind a drive for social and economic recovery without precedent in our national history. The Government which controls the destinies of my country has had to struggle against adverse factors, but it has laid durable foundations for a structure of deep popular significance rooted in the most deeply felt aspirations of our people; it therefore deserves respect both from the objective standpoint of what has been achieved and also because it is called upon to withstand and overcome the onslaughts of misunderstanding and hostility.
14. We are a nation of 2,698,126 inhabitants. The successive cycles of administrative action since 1930 reflect the picture of a nation engaged in redeeming a barren past of unending civil strife that precipitated it into chaos and the most painful eclipses of its national sovereignty. There is not a single aspect of the administrative programme of a modern State in which the Dominican Republic does not offer a balance sheet characterized by positive achievement. It was exactly ten years ago that my country cancelled the last remnant of its international debt estimated at $10 million. This achievement marked the beginning of an era of growing economic prosperity which is clearly reflected in the steady upward curve of national revenue as indicated by a constant improvement in the budgetary situation.
15. The present state of our national finances was recently described by the Argentinian economist, Dr. Pablo Valiente, in the 30 July 1957 issue of the Buenos Aires publication Crédito Bancario. "Those of us who listen daily to the heartbeat of the various markets, following even their smallest fluctuations in order to give the general public a truthful and objective picture of what is happening, cannot conceal our admiration for what we considers very successful government policy maintained without major economic fluctuations throughout the long struggle against the dark forces of regression."
16. The social situation is very similar. According to the 1955 census the total number of unemployed registered in the Dominican Republic averaged 0.25 per cent, a figure which indicates that for all practical purposes there is no unemployment problem in my country. We must point out, moreover, that according to the figures given by the statistical services in my country, the wage index in 1956 was 348.9, taking 1945 as the base year, while the general price indices were 235.5 calculated on the same base year; this indicates that there has been a real and positive improvement in the economic situation of Dominican workers. I would also point out that during the last four years price levels have fluctuated only slightly. Such importance has been attached to the social security laws that when the Constitution was revised in 1955, the State's obligation to continue the progressive development of the social security system so that everyone may enjoy proper protection against unemployment, disease, disability and old-age and to bring under State supervision the improvement of nutrition, housing, health services and sanitary conditions in places of work was stated as a constitutional principle. In accordance with this principle the National Congress has just extended compulsory social security to a new category of workers who were not previously protected by the social security legislation.
17. The campaign against illiteracy in my country is also of considerable importance; there are now 4,419 schools with 423,424 registered pupils, in addition to the 289,149 attending literacy centres and the 3,800 students enrolled at our university.
18. An idea of the efforts that have been made in my country to improve the precarious social and economic situation of the Dominican people can be gathered from the fact that the budgetary appropriation for public education is estimated at approximately $10 million for this year, in other words, more than the total budget of the Dominican State before 1930.
19. If, as Emerson said, an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man, then the national renaissance which the Dominican people are now enjoying reflects the convictions of one man, Generalissimo Trujillo, who throughout the unyielding struggle of a quarter of a century has guided the convolutions of our turbulent history into the straight and shining path of peace and labour and has given our Government a sound national policy, which is, of course, a sure guarantee of the policy we follow in the United Nations.
20. As a member of the family of American nations our policy in the United Nations is guided by the principles of inter-American solidarity, which are the paramount expression of our international political loyalties. My Government is fully conscious that the unity of the system of American States must be maintained intact in the face of the dividing forces which conspire against it, for it is this unify that gives the inter-American system its force in the world. My Government is also fully aware that good-will and mutual co-operation prevail in its relations and it therefore wishes to reaffirm in the plenary meeting of this Assembly, as it did within the Latin American group, its intention of voting in favour of the Republic of Panama as a member of the United Nations Security Council, thereby renouncing its own candidature for that post which had the support of a considerable number of American nations, which will now be free to support another candidate.
21. We should also like to take this opportunity of expressing to the Governments of Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela the Dominican Republic’s gratitude for their support of its candidature and to express the most sincere hope that Panama, a country with which the Dominican Republic is happy to maintain the most friendly and co-operative relations, will be elected to this post.
22. The Dominican Republic, like the other nations of the American continent, has been moulded by the great spiritual traditions of the West and it follows the teachings of its own national experience; hence it bases its policy on what is inalienable in its own heritage, without remaining indifferent to the claims of peoples of other cultures who believe in similar ideals of International co-existence and mutual respect for the fundamental prerogatives of States.
23. The preamble to the Charter of the United Nations exhorts States, as the first means to achieve its ends, to practise tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours. We cannot remain hesitant and paralysed in the face of the outbreak of intolerant ideologies which make a mockery of peaceful coexistence and convert the vicinity of a neighbour into an imminent danger to the very existence of the State. It is a good thing to draw on the resources of the Charter to achieve the objectives of peace and security within the Organization, but in the face of the almost insuperable difficulties that arise in trying to replace aggressive individualism by the system envisaged by the Charter, and until there is unmistakable evidence of a coexistence that is something more than an intermittent truce on the road to further aggression, those States which are jealous of their sovereignty must inevitably strengthen their own defensive positions individually or in concert with other States which have a similar outlook on international relations.
24. The events in Eastern Europe on which the eleventh session of the Assembly recently declared itself constitute one of the most regrettable occurrences that the nations which have placed their faith in the United Nations have had to face. The Dominican Republic supported the decisions taken by the United Nations in the case of Hungary because it considered that its abstention would imply a lack of respect towards its own history, for while any intervention in the domestic affairs of a State is to be condemned as an international crime, it is most repugnant when it takes the form of military intervention, accompanied by the most inhuman treatment of a people which has struggled to establish a new order in keeping with the upsurge of nationalism throughout the world.
25. If anyone still has any doubts about the permanent objectives of international communism, let him look at this tragic case and draw his own conclusions. Acts like this can only confirm the policy of those States which see in international communism the negation of all possibility of peaceful coexistence in conformity with the purposes mid principles of the Charter.
26. My delegation trusts that at this twelfth session of the General Assembly we shall justify the hopes of our peoples by our unwavering support of the ultimate purposes of this Organization. The pressure to reach agreement that is exerted here not only increases the likelihood of a reciprocal reduction in the stockpiles of the vast means of extermination held by the Powers in whose hands lies the destiny of the world; it will also result in spiritual disarmament through the heroic will to return to the promises made in 1945 over the smouldering ashes of the holocaust of half the human race, uprooted from its most precious memories and traditions.