A/32/PV.21 General Assembly

Mr. Presi- dent, the Tanzanian delegation is very happy to see you preside over the deliberations of the thirty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly. We consider your elevation to the high post of President to be a mark of recognition of your personal qualities and your notable role in the efforts of the United Nations to attain its goals, as well as a recognition of the outstanding role played by your country, Yugoslavia. in mankind's quest for a better, just and more secure world order. We are confident that you will discharge your heavy responsibiliti~s with skill and distinction. 25. Allow me also to pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor, Ambassador Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe for his remarkable leadership of the thirty-first session. 26. It is a matter of particular satisfaction to us that two eminent representatives of the non-aligned movement have, in succession, occupied the highest office of our AS;iembly. 27. The admission to the United Nations of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Republic of Djibouti are great landmarks in the history of the United Nations. Their admission comes as the culmination of long struggles against colonial and imperialist domination in their respec- tive territories, struggles with which the United Nations was closely identified. 28. The independence of Djibouti and its subsequent membership in both the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations constitute yet another victory in the rapid process of the liquidation ofcolonialism in Africa. . 29. The presence in our midst of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is in many ways a source of special satisfaction. Viet Nam's legendary struggle against foreign domination and imperialist aggression and its triwnph against incredible odds will always be considered one of the most brilliant and inspiring chapters of man's resistance to domination and injustice. There is no doubt that Viet Nam's rich experience in the struggle for national liberation and the defence of freedom will be an invaluable asset to our Organization. The Tanzanian delegation is privileged to have sponsored the membership of both Djibouti and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in the United Nations and we look forward to an era of close co-operation with their respective delegations. 31. The problems of the Middle East, southern Africa, Cyprus and Korea, some of which are as old as the United Nations itself, have almost become part of our normal life. The prospects for disarmament are rendered ludicrous by the inconsistency between sanctimonious rhetoric and the fevelish pursuit of nuclear-weapons superiority. Large populations suffer mass starvation while a few wallow in crass, conspicuous consumption. We witness a deteriorating human environment and the threat of conflicts spilling on to the oceans. All these problems are still on the waiting list for solution, whi!e others join and lengthen the queue. 32. Whether we admit it or not, the worid is today engulfed in forebodings of a great upheaval. No amount of dramatization is enough to describe the perilous nature of the circumstances in which we exist today. The behaviour man displays in this situation through action and inaction simply defies comprehension. 33. Yet in reality it is not so much the absence of solutions to these problems as the lack of will to apply the solutions to the problems that is responsible for their continued existence. This situation is both a cause of frustration and a basis for hope. It is a cause of frustration because the human mind is and has proved itself ingenious enough to be able to solve the mo£t complex problems if man decides so to do. It is a basis for hope because we continue to believe that man's instinct for survival, if not his desire for life, has m>t disappeared and that one day he will act to prev~nthis extinctiun. 34. It is, for example, this lack of will that constitutes a stumbling-block to the creation of a n~w international economic order. The way in which the Conference on Internation~ Economic Co-operation ended in Paris this year and the su.bsequent assessment exercise at the resumed thirty-first session of the United Nations General As- sembly2 demOl~strated that. 35. No one who is honest with himself can today deny the fact that the current international economic situation is in a state of crisis. Nobody, therefore, can pretend that far- reaching changes are not called for if that trend is to be reversed. 36. The Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the sixth special session of the General Assembly in 1974 {resolutions 3201 (S- VI) and 3202 (S- VI)J were the first collective attempt by the international community towards the establishment of a new international economic order. The seventh special session of the General Assembly on development and international economic co-operation, which followed in September 1975, adopted concrete 2 Ibid. ThirtY-first Session. Plena.y Meetings, 108th and IU9th meeting'). 37. To suggest, therefore, at this stage that the solution to world economic problems should be more charity- euphemistically called "aid"-f~r the developing countries, in whatever form the suggestion is presented, is simply to side-track the central issue. 3H. The events which followed the seventh special session revealed a persistent lack of political will, particularly on the part of some Western developed countries, to translate the decisio'ns taken at that sf;ssion into practical action. It was that lack of political will for change which prevented the fourth session of UNCTAD, held in Nairobi, from taking defmitive decisions on the crucial issues related to the debt proolems of the developing countries, the Inte- grated Programme for Commodities3 and the common fund. The UNCTAD Negotiating Conference on a Common Fund under the Integrattd Programme for Commodities, held in Geneva in March of this year, broke down without agreement-again because of the negative attitude displayed by some Western developed countries. 39. For example, the Integrated Programme for Com- modities, one of the major reforms being proposed for international trade on commodities, seeks to ensure stable prices for the primary commodities and raw materials exported by the developing countries. Stable prices would also ensure reasonable security of supplies, which is obviously of benefit to the consumers, mainly the de- veloped countries. The Programme is being criticized by certain developed countries for interfering with so-called market forces. Yet those very countries which talk about free trade and mar~et forces are the same countries which, first, determine the terms of trade and, secondly, con- tinuously interfere with the so-called market forces by imposing a multiplicity of barriers, tariff and non-tariff, to the importation of both primary commo'dities and pro- cessed goods from the developing countries. 40. This same resistance to structural changes in the world economy also dominated the Paris Conference on Inter- national Economic Co-operation, which went on for more than 18 months. The developed countries were interested mainly in discussing how aid could be given to the wmld's underprivileged, while the developing countries were in- terested in fundamental structural changes that would in concrete terms eliminate the very root-causes which led to the condition of being underprivileged. 3 See Proceedings ofthe United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Fourth Session, vol. I, Report and Annexes (United Nations pUblication, Sales No. E.76.1I.0.10), part one A, resolution 93 (IV). 42. It is a matter for profound regret that those who already have on land more than they deserve are waging the most desperate fight to get everything possible out of the oceans in complete disregard of the rights and interests of the "have-nots". if the developed countries were sincere in their sympathy and their desire to improve the lot of the masses in the developing countries, they would seize this opportunity, for example, to place the international re- sources of the sea-bed at ~he disposal of a world authority that would manage and distribute the benefits, primarily to assist the developing countries. That act would not really involve any sacrifice. Unfortunately, the developed coun- tries are prepared neither to do without that wealth nor even to share it equitably. So eager, in fact, are they to add it to their possessions that they are evel1 threatening to seize it and frustrate all the efforts of the Conference in general. In the negotiations Tanzania will continue to stand for justice ~md equality, for the success of that Conference will be measured not merely by the conclusion of a convention, but by what that convention stands for. 43. It is the desire of the developing countries that changes in the economic relationships between the rich and poor be brought about smoothly and through dialogue. This desire has been amply demonstrated in recent negotia- tions. But it can be fulfIlled only if it is met with siinilar political will on the part of the developed countries. Unfortunately, most developed countries have not demon- strated such will in concrete terms. The developing coun- tries have displayed a great deal of patience in their negotiations with the developed countries, but that pa- tience is not limitless. The time may come when the very concept of seeking international collaboration on world economic reforms will be questioned. The consequences of such a situation may be too great, but unless positive action is taken now the world may have to face such consequences. 44. As my President stated in an address during his recent state visit to the United States: "Confrontation is not a desired strategy of the weak; but if reason, justice and dialogue all fail to bring the international changes needed to win the war against world poverty, then economic conflict is bound to follow.... "The roots of OPEC",4 he pointed out, "were nour- ished by decades of gross price-fixing by major oil companies." 45. The choice between dialogue and confrontation lies with those developed countries which continue to disregard 4 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. "Dialogue or confrontation wnt depend upon whether the rich will recognize that the poor have a right to economic independence and will then seriously embark on the process of establishing a new relationship between the rich and the poor." 46. On the question of disarmament we concur com- pletely with the Secretary-General when he states that what we claim to have managed to realize as steps towards disarmament so far are, in truth, not disarmament steps at all {see A/32/1, sect. IVI. If we are serious about disarm- ing, we must stop vacillating and ir~tead proceed straight to the destruction and prohibition vi further production of the most destructive weapons-the nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Any excuse today only breeds in a vicious circle another excuse tomorrow. 47. Efforts designed to move the Middle East conflict from the present stage of a precarious "no war, no peace" .situation to a just and lasting peace in the area continue to .be frustrated by Israel's continued intransigence. This is clearly manifested in Israel's consolidation of illegal settle- ments in occupied Arab territories, its addition of new settlements in flagrant violation of international law and in defIance of world opinion, and its persistent refusal to recognize the national rights of the Palestinian people. 48. My Government's position on this question is unequi- vocal. Israel must withdraw from all the territories occupied as a result of the 1967 war. The national rights of the Palestinian people must be re'spected. These are basic prerequisites to a just and lasting peace which will guarantee the independence and security of all the States in the area. And may I add that there can be no meaningful solution if the authentic representative of the Palestinian people-the Palestine Liberation Organization-is not al- lowed to take part in the negotiating process aimed at resolving the conflict. 49. The unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of the Comoros continue to be violated through French occupation of Mayotte. It is a matter of profound concern to my Government that this situation continues despite United Nations resolutions and the efforts of the Organiza- tion of African Unity. We reiterate our call on the Government of France to respect the Comoros' unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty. 50. The non-aligned island of Cyprus continues to struggle for its territorial integrity and sovereignty against both internal and external odds. We continue to hope that the implications of the threats to that island will soon be realized and the necessary solution ~ound. The United Nations resolutions on the question cry out for immediate implementation. 51. The legitimate goal of the Korean people for national reunification continues to be frustrated by foreign inter- ference as evidenced by the continued presence of foreign troops in South Korea. Such interference, besides serving as 53. The question of peace, freedom and independence for Zimbabwe and Namibia, and the enjoyment of equal human and political rights in the Republic of South Africa is not, for Tanzania and for Africa as a whole, a subject detached for academic debate. It is a subject which affects us directly as free and independent States. It affects our very existence ·as it does affect our developmental efforts. 54. Since this Assembly met last year, thert~ have been significant developments in the area. The armed struggle has been intensified both in Zimbabwe and in Namibia, while the resistance of the African people in South Africa has been more sharply pro:lounced. There has also b~en an intensification of the international support for and soli- darity with the struggling people of southern Africa as evidenced by tht Maputo Internation~J Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia, and ~1e Lagos World Conference for Action zgainst Apartheid. 55. But parallel to these developments, there have been some initiati::es taken by some Western Powers aimed at fmding a negotiated solution to the burning issues of both Zimbabwe and Namibia. We assume that these initiatives have been taken in the knowledge that the present situation constitutes a threat to internatiomu peace and security, and that the authors of the initiative are now willing and prepared to contribute E.ifectively to the resolution of the conflict by bringing to an end the tyranny and injustice that prevails in southern Africa 56. If our premise is correct, then we in Tanzania cannot 'but welcome such moves. For we have always contended and stated quite categorically that the situation prevailing in southeI1l Africa is the direct result of the actions, 2Ild is the creation, of the Western Powers. We have used every forum to state this fact. For is it any longer arguable that both the rebel regime of lan Smith in Rho~esia and the apartheid and racist regime ofJohn Vorster in South Africa have maintained their intransigence and defied international public opinion and pressures because of the direct and indirect support which they have been receiving from some of the Western Powers? Is it any longer debatable that denied this Western support both regimes would long since have collapsed? The white minority regimes in southern Africa have survived pressures, not because of some internal magic, but because some Western Powers have been giving them direct or indirect political, economic and military support all these years. 57. It is, therefore, logical to assume that those Western countries which are involved in taking initiatives, be it in 58. And above all, these countries must also be prepared to take, in concert with the rest of the international community, both within the United Nations and outside, such measures as would effectively bring further pressure to bear on the racist and colonialist regimes. These include effective measures in the Security Council to ensure compliance with United Nations decisions. If this willing- ness is still not forthcoming-that is to say, if the Western Powers concerned continue to shield these regimes from the effective measures demanded by the international com- mUnity-then these Powers would certainly have seriously further eroded their own credibility. It is with this background that Tanzania views the recent Angle-American proposals on Zirnbabw~ and the initiative of the five Western members of the Security Council in respect to Namibia. 59. In Zimbabwe, the African people have been waging an armed struggle against the rebel regime of lan Smith ever since 1965 when Smith illegally and unilaterally declared Rhodesia independent and institut~d a reign of terror and repression with regard to the African people. The United Nations, for 1ts part, has imposed and maintained sanctions against that regime ever since 1966. These sanctions have been openly violated by South Africa and indirectly violated by many Western P-owers. Petrol and petroleum products, as well as other goods and commodities, have continued to reach Rhodesia. 60. In spite of all these odds, the African freedom fighters have continued to intensify the &med struggle and to gain great victories on the battlefield. The stage has now been reached where the initiative is in the hands of the freedom fighters and total victory is certain. 61. On our part, we have given, and we continue to give, whatever assistance we can to the nationalists and to the freedom fighters so that they can effectively wage that struggle. 62. But we have always maintained, and we continue to maintain, that an armed struggle is necessary only if it is the last resort for achieving the objective of freedom and independence in any colonial territory. For we are only too painfully aware of the costs of an armed struggle. The nationalists who fight and die, and those countries which support them, would not opt for armed struggle if the objective could b~ realized by means other than war. Very regrettably, all other means to achieve that objective in Zimbabwe, as the whole international community is aware, have so far failed. 63. Recently, the Governments of the United Kingdom and of the United States of America have put forward the Angle-American proposalss with the declared objective of S/12393~ 64. Clearly, however, until negotiations have been con- ducted and agreement on the genuine independence of Zimbabwe has been reached, the armed struggle in Zim- babwe and the pressures against Rhodesia by the inter- national community must not only continue, but should be intensified and be more effectively executed and imple- mented. In this connexion, it is essential that the United Nations should now devise means of compelling the South African regime to implement lully the sanctions against Rhodesia. A heavy responsibility lies with those Western countries which maintain economic and other relations with the South African regime. 65. There is one disturbing tendency in respect of the attitude of some Western countries, in particular those involved in the current initiatives. This element is especially manifested with regard to the que~tion of Zimbabwe. This is their excessive- indeed almost '. Jsessive-preocc:.ipation with the rights of the white minority. Need we stress that what is really at issue is not the rights of minorities but the flagrant denial of the rights of the African majority. 66. A genuine solution to the problem of Zimbabwe does not lie in attempts to safeguard the privileges of the white minority. It clearly rests on the achievement of a genuine freedom and independence where all citizens, irrespective of race, colour or creed, will be treated as equals and would equally contribute to the development of their country. To overemphasize the rights of the white minority is to ignore the reality in Zimbabwe. It is to evade the fundamental challenge. For the issue is not the rights of the white minority but the rights of all Zimbabweans. We must stop making a cause celebre of those who through all these years have arrogantly defied the United Nations and ruthlessly oppressed the African people. 67. With regard to the situation in Namibia, Tanzania has noted with close interest the initiative of the five Western members of the Security Council to help bring about majority rule to Namibia. I believe, however, it is too early at this stage, to render. substantive judgement on this initiative. 68. But there are certain basic and known facts which should not be overshadowed or ignored in whatever initiatives are undertaken by the five Western countries with regard to Namibia. 69. Namibia is a United \laf'Jns Territory. In addition to its illegal occupation of the ferritory, the South African regime has implanted in Namibia its abhorrent policy of apartheid. 70. The General Assembly, the Security Council and the United Nations Council for Namibia have adopted various resolutions calling on the South African regime to termi- 71. Several members of the South West Africa Peoples Organization have been arrested on framed-up charges. Others have been detained or imprisoned in South African jails. Many continue to flee from Namibia to safety in neighbouring countries. 72. What we have said for Rhodesia is also true for Namibia. South Africa has been able to defy all United Nations actions and international pressures because of the support it receives from Western Powers, principally from the five Western Powers which are now engaged in the current initiatives. These five, together wi'i:h several other countries in the Western camp, have been responsible through their support to South Africa, for South Africa's refusal to comply with the decisions and resolutions of the United Nations as regards Namibia. It is thus imperative to stress that these Powers have a particular responsibility for ensuring that South Africa complies with the decision~ of the United Nations, in particular, Security Council resolu- tion 385 (1976) on Namibia. It is equally relevant to 'emphasize that they should in the future refrain from shielding South Africa in the Security Council. 73. As regards the Republic of South Africa itself, we see the :;ituation changing for the worse rather than improving. Since June 1976, when the hlternational community was once again brutally reminded of the meaning of apartheid by the wanton massacres of Soweto, the South African regime has intensified its reign of terror. Schoolchildren and innocent pec..~le are being arrested, detained and killed. Steve Biko is hut the latest well-known victim of apartheid. Yet Biko's death does not tell the full story about apartheid and its victims. For hundreds have died and their names and their numbers will never be known by the international community. 74. When apartheid has been condemned by the whole international community as a crime against humanity, why does it continue to exist? Once again the answer must be found in the actions of those nations whose attitude and, in particular, their economic relations with [:outh Africa, have placed priority on profits from investments over the lives of the victims of!Zpartheid 75. Let me also stress that the~perpetratorsof apartheid will not be induced to change their attitudes or their system by the application of half measures. They will not change. because of the verbal condemnations of their system by the Western countries. They will change only when the major Western countries cease completely all economic and military relations with the South African regime. Any collaboration with that regime means only one thing. It means the stregthening of the regime and the intensification of terror against the non-white populations. The most appropriate course of action that the Western countries can take, even at this late hour, is to impose a total arms embargo and an economic boycott of the South African regime. A mandatory arms embargo under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter is long overdue. The partners to 76. Each session of this Assembly marks lost time in arresting various dangerous trends in the world. But it also offers a new opportunity to strengthen our resolution. Our people want peace, prosperity and security. These aspira- tions are the linchpins of the Charter of our Organization, and our people look to the United Nations to promote them. 77. We have both the means and the capacity to solve the problems of peace, prosperity and security. All that is asked of us is that we summon the will to address them, sustain the courage to persevere on the course, and stretch the flexibility to adjust to changing perspectives. Before us, as individual leaders and individual countries, lies the chal- lenge of problems, the honour of participation in the solution of these problems, the excitement of struggle, the promose of co-operation and the safety of success. 78. I pledge our delegation's firm commitment to the ca)lse of forging a stronger United Nations family, on this,' our one earth.

I am pleased to congratulate Mr. Lazar Mojsov on his election to preside over the thirty-second regular session of the General Assembly of our Orgar;zation. I am certain that the fulfIlment of his duties will be characterized by the skill that has distinguished his diplomatic career. 80. I should also like to convey to his distinguished predecessor, Mr. Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, the Perma- nent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, ~md the President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, our gratitude for having so wisely and so fairly gUided the work of its last session. 81. Chile extends a warm welcome to the new nations recently admitted to this world Organization in keeping with the spirit of universality which is both its inspiration and its raison d'etre. 82. We trust that in the near future the spirit underlying international relations will be improved so as to make possible a more just coexistence among nations and we reaffirm our faith in this institution, which is the most serious effort ever made to ensure a life of peace and justice in this world. 83. We deem it necessary once again to state in this international forum the fundamental principles guiding Chile's foreign policy and its unswerving devotion to them. 84. Our Government has confirmed at the world level its support of the tenets underlying Christian Western culture and has stressed its respect for treaties and other inter- national commitments legally entered into, as a basis for a world order of peace and security. It has also expressed its loyalty to the purposes and principles of this international 86. The process designed to lead to the new political and institutional regime has three stages: the present one of recovery, then that of transition and fll1ally that of full normality. Once the second stage is completed, a democ- racy will have been fully established by Chileans, in accordance with their historical traditions and with the greatest possible enhancement of our national character in all its aspects. In that democracy the President and Congress will be elected by votes t;ast by thli: citizens. Thi$ planned evolution towards a normal situation must not be attributed to weakness on our part vis-a-vis those who pretend to dictate from abroad the path we must follow, for that is a decision taken exclusively in accordance with our national sovereignty. 87. Our normalization process is inextricably linked to the achievement of the goals announced in the planning of the social and economic development of the country, a matter to which our Government is firmly committed. 88. It is an undeniable and fully recognized fact that our economy is now on a solid basis, for it is predicated on a rational and consistent economic policy that has main- tained its orientation during the entire period of the present Government's administration. 89. The philosophic basis for this policy is the Govern- ment's feeling that mere economic growth cannot be a goal in itself, for it is useless for a country to accumulate wealth and increase its national product if such economic improve- ments do not better the material, spiritual and moral lot of its inhabitants. 90. The sacrifices exacted by our economic recovery have been substantial, but it is worth pointing out that the progress made in the search for permanent solutions to our social and economic ills has also been substantial. 91. During the'first six months of this year the process of recovery of our economy has been carried on at an accelerated pace, and it is with great satisfaction that we can now say that the outlook is frankly ~ncouraging. 92. At the end of the current year we hope to have achieved a yearly growth rate of 8 per cent in our gross national product. Inflation will be down to practically one third of what it was in 1976; real income will be increased by 25 per cent; and unemployment will be almost half of the 1976 figures. 93. The skilful handling of our economic policy has earned Chile the respect of all international financial organizations, and the country can now look forward to a promising future. 94. 11l0se positive results were obtained with no sacrifice of the long-term objectives of the present economic and 95. Because our basic belief is in the need for rapid economic development and real social progress, the work done directly by th... Government stands out as a reflection of its profound concept of every individual as a being with a twofold spiritual and material dimension and as the reason for all the State's activities. 96. Our interpretation of social development is part and parcel of the State's higher policy, which guides us in the pursuit of the objectives we have set for ourselves. We are fully aware that the social aspects are inseparable from the political aspects. 97. Some measures already adopted or still being studied are worthy of special mention in speaking of our social policy: the Social Statute for Business Enterprises; social security reforms; the new Labour Code; the equalization of family allowances and an increase in expenditures for social purposes, which, from a total of 27 per cent of the national budget in 1973, have risen to 51.8 per cent of the current one. 98. Our fore:gn policy has continued to stress the priority it accords to its relations of friendship and co-ope"-ation with America. The historical understanding which is the main feature of the close bonds between Clti1e and the region is now making progress in promoting the ideals of peace, justice and development 99. This progress is encouraging and enables us to confirm our hope that Chile and all the other countries in the region will persevere in the path they have followed and that Latin America will shape a regional identity that will enable it to assert its own essential character in this hour of confusion for the free world and assume a more active role in the great problems of world policy. This is Chile's wish, and ('ur country knows that it interprets the deepest feelings of people of the Americas, who wish to participate in a mature and realistic fashion in matters of universal scope. 100. The Chilean Government has spared no effort to expedite the diplomatic negotiations aimed at providing the Republic of Bolivia with an outlet to the Pacific Ocean and an equally sovereign territory to join that shoreline to the Bolivian plateau. 101. In this connexion we have maintained our offer, accepted basically in December 1975, the terms of which are well known to the international community, and we shall continue our efforts to find ways and means which will enable these negotiations to come to a successful conclusion. 102. We have maintained a permanent dialogue with the Republic of Peru on the many aspects of our common interests. This has led to a fruitful understanding and is reflected in the high level achieved in our relations. 103. With regard to our relations with Argentina, Chile reaffirms its permanent, unalterable support for measures 105. My delegation is pleased to note that the Caribbean countries have brought to the American community rich and varied cultural and economic values which will cer- tainly make a valuable contribution to the task of finding appropriate solutions to our common problems. Chile wishes to maintain with all thos~ countries a fruitful and imaginative understanding, which, while acknowledging the identity of one and all, will still permit joint efforts and mutual assistance in our search for a common destiny. 106. The President of Chile accepted the invitation en.- tended to him by the Presidents of the United States and Panama and participated in the ceremony of the signing of the Panama Canal treaties held at the headquarters of the Organization of American States {OAS/ in Washington, D.e., on 7 September 1977. The same day, consistent with his previous stand, our President signed the Declaration of Washington,6 which expressed the satisfaction of the American States at the signature by the Presidents of the United States and Panama of the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty and the Treaty concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal. 107. Like the other States on the western coast of the American continent, we are especially concerned about the security and efficient operation of, and the collection of fair tolls on, that waterway, for through it passes an important part of our trade with the United States and Europe. 108. As to Belize, Chile is following closely the current negotiations between Guatemala and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We hope that the distinguished negotiators will succeed in finding a mutually satisfactOly formula reconciling the interests of the popula- tion with Guatemala's unquestionable rights in that area. 109. Consistent with its peace-loving tradition and its permanent quest for the rule of law and consensus in international relations, Chile views with concern the ex- istence of an abnormal situation in various areas. 110. My Government hopes that the' problems prevailing in the Korean peninsula will fmd a peaceful solution within a framework ofpeace, lega~ty and consensus. An important 6See The Department of State Bulletin, vol. LXXVII, No. 1999 (Washington, D.e., V.S. Government Printing Office, 1977), p. 502• 112. On previous occasions we have set forth our Govern- ment's views on this matter. In our view, it is essential that Israel withdraw its forces from the Arab territories it has been occupying since 1967, subject to the establishment of mutually acceptable boundaries. It is also necessary to recognize the right of all States in the region-and con- sequently of Israel-to live within secure and guaranteed boundaries. Moreover, the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland must also be recognized. Only on these conditions, which do not have an order of priority and must be accepted as parts of a whole, will it become possible to achieve the peace aspired to by all inhabitants of the region. That is why we view with concern the illegal, unilateral actions taking place in the occupied territories. 113. We hope th2t the Peace Conference on the Middle East to be convened in Geneva will be fully successful. The Palestinian people must be legitimately represented there, since their interests will be the main subject of discussion. 114. The Chilean Government has repeatedly expressed interest in a closer relationship with the African nations as a means of recognizing the numerous elements of identity existing between our peoples. Indeed, there are many reasons for our closeness to the countries of Africa: our common status as developing countries and producers of raw materials, the similarity of our essential ideological beliefs in such matters as self-determination, the equality of human beings, and fmally freedom, in the widest" sense of the term. 115. Ever since African States gained independence, Chile has given them understanding and support in the various stages of the struggle to achieve their legitimate rights. Thus, when the Organization of African Unity was born at the beginning of the last decade, our country offered it our co-operation. The same can be said of the United Nations Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in which Chile has participated actively and has made its contribu- tion to the cause of freedom and justice. 116. We hope that the difficult situation in Rhodesia will soon fmd a peaceful solution that will enable a gradual accession to majority rule without anarchy and without economic setbacks. 117. Chile also declares its support for the people of Namibia in the just struggle for their legitimate right to rule their own Territory, within the framework of a peaceful and orderly transition to their assumption of power. 118. We reiterate once again our firm rejection of all forms of racism or racial discrimination. 120. We have noted with satisfactinn the international community's acceptance of the principle of an economic zone of 200 nautical miles, which was proposed unilaterally by my country 30 years ago, and jointly with Peru and Ecuador some five years later in the weil-known Santiago Ded~lration on the Maritime Zone of 18 August 1952.7 121. The signing of the Treaty on Antarctica8 in Wash- ington, D.C. in 1959 may be mentioned as an example of positive achievement in matters of international co- operation. The signatory States declared Antarctica a peaceful and nudear-fr~e zone, dl(voted entirely to scienti- fic research. The provisions and the spirit of that treaty have enabled that continent so far to remain a privileged region in the world 122. Our country, whose sovereignty over the Antarctic between longitude 53° and 90° west is based on indisput- able historical, legal and geographical rights, reaffirms its decision to continue its campaign to keep the Antarctic free from pollution and to prevent any change in its present condition and ecological systems. 123. Since the last session of the General Assembly, a number of efforts have been made to introduce political considerations into the decision-making process of inter- national and regional financial institutions. In no way can we accept any impairment of the objectives for which those institutions were created, lest we turn them into political forums, which would soon render them inoperative. 124. The latest General Assembly of the OAS adopted a position in this matter when it declared that these bodies must act in accordance with their charters and with objective criteria. We firmly repeat at this time that statement by the OAS in the conviction that it is a contribution to international peace and development. 125. The Government of Chile supports detente because it believes that it is a means of lessening international tension and because, to the extent that it is applied in good faith, it dispels the threat of world conflict. 126. Nevertheless; we feel that, for the process of detente to be valid, it should be extended to all nations. Only then will its ultimate aim, the maintenance I)f peace, become real and effective and correspond to the moral desire of mankind. 127. Referring to human rights and terrorism, at the seventh regular session of the General Assembly of the OAS, held in Grenada from 14 t":' 22 June 1977, we expressed, together with other nations, our concern for human rights, which has merited the attention of America and States Members of this world Organization. In analys- 7 See Yearbook of the International Law Commission. 1956, vol. I (United Nations publication, Sales No. 1956.V 3, vot I), 362nd meeting, para. 35. 8 United Nations, Treaty Series, voL 402, No. 5778. 128. How deceptive it is to say that it is hunger and injustice that cause terrorism! The real truth is that it is neither the poor nor the working sectors who inspire and plot terrorist violence. This is to be found, financed by foreign money and weapons, among frustrated and resent- ful individuals who have wasted all their oppoltanities in life. 129. In referring to subversive terrorism, we do not mean isolated or unrelated acts of violence, which have existed throughout history. The terrorism which is of concern to us is that which has the political and ideological aim of planned subversion of the democratic order throughout the world. 130. Therefore, we believe that it is essential for com- petent international organizations, when studying the si~a­ tion on human rights in a given country, to attempt to verify the extent to which interna.tional subversion and terrorism have caused restrictions of certain frcedoms and rights. It is nece~gary to have courage to single out and tackle the causes, so that once and for all subversion, terrorism and repression may be eliminated. 131. The concern necessitated by the equity and objec- tivity with which the bodies undertaking these studies must act must lead to judgements "'Yhich will take that factc; into account and to studies end measures conducive to the condemnation and eradication of subversive terrorist action as a direct 8.l,d indirect factor of respect for human rights. 132. The United Nations, which was created to bring peace and brotherhood to the world, cannot remain silent in this chaotic and generalized situation. To rem3ID passive would be tantamount to accepting a role of complicity and would make many lose faith in the legal and ethical effectiveness of this world Organization. 133. In the specific field of human rights, any investiga- tion of alleged violations by a nation entails interference in its affairs clnd acquires features which make it very similar to a trial, for it becomes a matter of investigating facts that were assumed to have occurred on the sovereign territory of a given nation with a view to obtaining proofs for the purpose of evaluating those facts. 134. It seems, therefore, that in the light of natural equity applied at the international level, the need for due process . becomes clear. Due process means the intervention of a body which in itz origin and action would be independent of political interests, would have come into being prior to the trial, would have universal competence and, at the same time, would have a pee-established procedure that would ensure the impartiality of the international inquiry, the certainty of the proof and a real possibility for the nation accused to defend itself. 135. In the present state of our international juridical situation, only two achievements may be mentioned in the i37. All of those reasons led Chile to submit to the thirtieth session of the General Assembly a draft resolution proposing the study of ways and means witltin the United Nations system for improving ~e effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, 10 so that the measures adopted in this field under the competence of this Organization should be uni·;ersally applied and biJ'lding on all Member States, obviating conflicting competencies and giving the States investigated the appropriate guarantees under due process. 138. In spite of showing genuine respect for human rights, the Chilean Government COl1tinues to be the 'Iictim of singular attack in this field in which no recognition has been shown of its commendable moderation exercised dUring the emergency. 139. Certain political leaders have been devoting them- selves from afar to judging Chile and to proposing actions detrimental to it. A.s far as my country i~ concerned, by tradition and its personality, it is strengthened by adversity, and now more than ever we look forward to the future with renewed faith and hope. 140. There are other Western leaders who, differing ideologically with the present C~j}ean process, have never- theless been able freely to visit my country and to see for themselves how false is the portrayal that some interested sectors are attempting to give with respect to Chile before international public opinion. 141. We reiterate before this international forum our readiness to receive the representatives of all friendly countries to come and witness with their own eyes how Chile, through the efforts of its sons and daughters, strives in peace to achieve its national destiny. 142. Chile accepts and recognizes international jurisdic- tion with respect to fundamental human rights, but, along with the best jurists, we affIrm that with respect to their implementation and the individual interpretation by each people of the exercise of political., civil, economic and social rights, internal jurisdiction prevails. This individual competence not only derives from national sovereignty but is at the same time an elementary and logical consequence of the principle of self-determination of peoples. The rigllts of the human being, the rigr~ts of the national community and the rights of international society should all be concerted under the guidance of internatiol1allaw, inspired by natural law. 9 American Convention on Human Rights. "Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica", Treaty Series No. 36 (Washington, D.C., Organization of American States, 1'70). 10 Sce Oificial Records of the General Assembly. Thirtieth Session, Annexes. agendll item 73, document A/l0404, para. 9.

Mr. President, the Barbados delegation wishes to offer you its congratulations on your election as President of the current session of this As- sembly. Your election not only redounds to your personal credit, but it alsO' indicates the high esteem in which your country is held. Your country's role over the last 20 years as a rational and mediating influence in- world affairs has not gone unnoticed. The members of this Assembly confidently expect that the good sense that has tradi- tionally been displayed by your country will be reflected in your judgement during this session. 145. My delegation also wishes to place on record its congratulations to Secretary-General Waldheim on his reappointment to his high office. His willingness to accept a second term of'office may be indicative of his courage, but our decision to re-elect him is clear evidence of the high reg.'rd in which he is held. 146. Once again, his admirable report on the work of the Organization has higt'1lighted the main issues which have confronted the United Nations during - the past year [A/32/1/. Many of these issues have remained unresolved for far too long. Few of them are new. Some of them h:iVe reappeared in a new guise. Each of them is crucial for the maintenance of international peace and good order. The most striking of them is the continued failure of the nations of the world to grapple with the challenge of achieving a just economic order and an equitable distribution of the world's resources among all its peoples. 147. The main concern of the poor peoples of the developing countries still remains the stark failure of the world community to answer our urgent probiems of disea~, food, shelter, water, education and health-in short, our basic hum~m needs. This Assembly's primary duty is still to promote higher living standards, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development. 148. My Government therefore shares the disappointment and anxiety reflected in the Secretary-General's comments on the lack of real progress k;~ards achieving a new international economic order. The ree,ent Conference on International Economic Co-operation has done precious little towards effecting real structural change, improving the rate of recovery of the world economy or solving the problems of high unemployment, inflation and balance-of- payments deficits which continue to plague our nations, especially the developing non-oil-producing States. 149. For the millions who live in the smail developing and relatively resourceless countries, action requires inter- national economic co-operation. Strongly committed though we are to the principles of self-reliance, we cannot simply raise ourselves by our own bootstraps, for a programme of self-reliance can only achieve optimum results jf external factors that inhibit internal development are eliminated. For this reason, Barbados, like other developing countries of the world, will continue to place its 151. The wlution of these problems does not lie in the declining sense of urgency and concomitant dash for protectionist policies being adopted by the industrialized developed countries. Instead, there is an urgent need for a new approach to commodity arrangements so as to prOVide price stability for producers of primary products. The early establishment of a comI11on fund of some $6 billion, as proposed QY UNCTAD, is imperative. Measures must be taken to expand the International Fund for Agricultural Development to accelerate agricultural and rural develop- ment, and there must also be a concerted effort for industrial development and co-operation between the indus- trialized and non-industrialized countries. 152. The issue of energy, which was a dominant issue at the Conference on International Economic Co-operation in Paris, is crucial to the restructuring of the econcmies of developing countries and of the world economic order. The Government of Bar!"ados is aware that the world's non- renewable resources of oil and gas "are being rapidly depleted because of the world-wide energy demand. The interests of all peoples of developing countries demand that we exploit, expanJ and diversify our indigenous and non-conventional sources of energy. Programmes for the transfer of appropriate technology-especially related to the search for alternative sources of energy-must be initiated without delay. This United Nation:. and its specialized agencies have a crucial role to play in devising such programmes, which will guarantee the flow of resources for investment purposes from developed to developing coun- tries on a massive scale and enable oil-deficient developing countries to develop new energy supplies. 153. One of the direct results of the acute energy situati"n in the world is the massive increase of· indebtedness of developing countries. Those countries continue to be hampered in their efforts to develop their economies by having to service large debts borrowed on the international capital markets. The existence of this chronic indebtedness is symptomatic of the fact th·at something is fundamentally wrong with the entire structure of the world economy and the international trade system. 154. Regrettably, no significant progress has been made towards framing a comprehensive programme to assist developing countries in overcoming the crushing burden.of 11 Sce document A/AC.176/5. 156. If there is to be any serious dent in the problem of world borrowing, then assistance should be granted on concessionary terms without the attachment of difficult conditions which at present militate against the fulfIlment of development targets. 157. The record of developed countries in providing concessionary assistance has been deplorable. While the developed countries are committed to reaching an official development assistance target of 0.7 per cent of their gross national product, in fact, only two of the industrialized countries have reached this target, and not many others seem to have the political will to do so. Yet the gross national product of the industrialized countries has been rising, while their net disbursement of aid has stagnated. 158. Missing the target, in this regard, knows no ideology. The record clearly indicates that both the United States of America, almost all of the other industrialized free market countries, the Soviet Union and the other centrally planned economies of Eastern Europe-all of which often claim to be most concerned about the welfare of the developing countries, and are equally solicitious for our support-have treated the world's poor most shabbily. The United States of America has transferred less than 0.3 per cent of its gross national product and the Soviet Union less than 0.1 per cent. 159. The record of the members of OPEC is, on the whole, also a cause of concern. Not only is their conces- sional aid highly concentrated in a handful of countries, mainly Arab and Islamic, but huge portions of the oil-based surpluses which they accumulate are allow~d to be si- phoned off by developed countries, at no benefit whatso- ever to the developing countries. 160. This parsimonious attitude towards developmental concessionary aid has also had a deleterious impact on the effectiveness of this Organization's development pro- gramme. It has adversely affected UNDP, a body which is still to be congratulated for the constructive work it is doing in channelling technical assistance to developing countries. UNDP must be given adequate means to continue its extremely important work. 161. In this regard, the factors which are considered to be of gre'atest significance ~ indicative-planning-figure alloca- tions must be reviewed. While the Government of Barbados agrees in principle that the granting of technical assistance should discriminate in favour of the least developed 162. My country's Government would wish this session to direct specific and more urgent attention to the special characteristics of the small island economies-countries of limited markets. The erroneous belief exists that small island countries receive reasonably generous amounts of official development assistance. It is further incorrectly argued that, since they are not among the world's poorest, it would be difficult to make a general case for an increase in their share of world aid. 163. I submit that this represents the misuse of crude aggregates for the determination of eligibility for assistance. The extent of the spurious generosity is measured in per capita terms-a criterion of more than doubtful validity for a country like Barbados. A single loan to a single sector for a specific project could not suddenly catapult a small economy like Barbados with a population of 250,000 into that category of developing countries best equipped to sustain improved living standards without external as- sistance. But crude per capita criteria would have us believe so. The sweeping uncritical use of per capita aid flows as a measure of the needs of a country for continued external assistance guarantees the perpetuation of an inadequate appreciation of need, in the fac~ of dismally unsatisfactory levels of assistance. 164. My delegation suggests [hat the aid community rid itself of the simplistic notion that all the social and economic complexities of small economies can be com- pressed in a per capita measurement of gross national product. My delegation further maintains that a country's capacity to sustain an acceptable or agreed rate of economic advance should be the true measure of its need. 165. This Assembly's attention has previously been drawn to the urgent need for an action programme in favour of developing island economies. Resolution 31/156, which recommends such a programme, is in accordance with the decisions taken at the fourth session of UNCTAD in Nairobi which recognized that parti;;ular attention should be devoted to such countries. I wish, however, to express my country's disappointment at the rate of progress in implementing the terms of that resolution. Strong and urgent action is called for. 166. My Government considers that the rapid economic development of the less-privileged countries continues to be recklessly delayed by the wanton spending on arms by the developed countries. The record shows that in the last 15 years nations have spent almost $40C1 billion annually on arms-a shameful waste that is a savage indictment of man's claim to civilization. This conduct highlights the monu- mental contradiction which the world faces. "Squander- mania" on munitions is practised with reckless abandon as 168. Barbados welcomes the decision that a special session of the United Nations be devoted to disarmament in 1978. Barbados strongly supports the adoption of a declaration on disarmament which would embody the following basic principles. 169. First, disarmament is the concern and responsibility of all mankind and not an esoteric problem for a few militarily powerful countries. 170. Secondly, disarmament is po~.ible only within the framework of universal confidence and mutual trust. Hence the Government of Barbados believes that an international system of security is a necessary pre-condition for complete disarmament. 171. Thirdly, a corollary of the need to foster confidence is the development of machinery which would permit a reduction of arms and armed forces to take place without any unfair advantage accruing to any nation. 172. Fourthly, the political will to achieve disarmament will not spring into existence ex nihilo but must be generated by a mass campaign designed to inform the peoples of the world of the perils that threaten them. 173. Principles are lifeless, however, unless they are applied to real problems, and for this reason Barbados strongly advocates the adoption of a programme of action as the instrument to animate the principles adumbrated in the declaration on disarmament. The limitation and reduc- tion of nuclear weapons and delivery systems are central to a programme of disarmament. Barbados is therefore in agreement 'with the holding of the Strategic Arms Limita- tion Talks and the European meetings on mutual force reductions. 174. Barbados is resolutely and unalterably opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and is firmly of the opinion that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons {resolution 2373 (XXII), annexJ should be ad- hered to by all the nations of the world. A firm commitment and strict observance would, in the view of this delegation, go a long way towards ensuring that the Caribbean, among other regions, remains a zone of peace. 175. In southern Africa there can be found arms mer- chants plying their military hardware to assist in shoring up decaying colonialist regimes. Barbados was first intimately 176. Barbados hails the courageous struggle being waged by African nationalist freedom fighters, whose actions on the field of battle have been so effective that reluctant Western Powers have been forced at long last to look for solutions to a problem to which they have contributed in no small measure. Once again my country wishes to pay a tribute to those whose lives have been cut short because they sought their freedom from shameful tyranny. Neither we nor history will forget them. 177. Barbados welcomes the Angle-American proposals as constituting a basis for !lgreement on a settlement which provides for majority rule without delay and for the full independence of Zimbabwe in 1978. While welcoming the push for peace, Barbados cannot accept peace at any price. The arrangement of a cease fire must not emasculate the Patriotic Front. We applaud the front-line States for their reasonable but firm approach to the Zimbabwe freedom struggle, and will continue to support steps ttken to assist them in bearing the heavy burden which they must carry until Zimbabwe is free. 178. Just as last year in this Assembly Barbados urged that there be no sham independence for the Transkei, I 3 so today Barbados urges that there be no sham independence for Zimbabwe and no sham independence for a truncated Namibia. The South African policy on Namibia, including the attempt to cling to Walvis Bay, represents a wicked attempt to control without governing, to extend the "bantustan" policy in all but name. 179. During the past year the waters in southern Africa have been troubled. Nowhere has this been more so than in Soweto, where youths and schoolchildren have been cut down by the agents of bitter tyranny. Since the Soweto riots of last year murders and detentions have increased; the latest martyr to fall before the diabolical killers that govern South Africa is Steven Biko, a leader of the "black consciousness" movement of that country. But the white rulers of South Africa and their supporters are not the only guilty persons in this sordid chapter of human history. They have allies in many of the capitals of the world. Their allies are persons who pose as respectable, law-abiding citizens while they give economic support through trans- nationals corporations to that violent regime. 180. Barbados calls upon all those countries whose trans- national corporations operate in South Africa to introduce regulations without delay to put an end to this immoral economic intercourse. The Government of Barbados be- lieves that South Africa should be totally isolated through economic sanctions, including an oil embargo and a mandatory arms embargo. 13 Ibid., Thirty-first Session, Plenary Meetings, 26th meeting, para. 19. 182. Much as my Government despises the blatant dis- regard of human rights in southern Africa, it cannot turn a blind eye to disrespect for human rights elsewhere, whether in central or northern Africa, in eastern or western Europe, in northern, central or southern America, in the Caribbean or elsewhere in the world. For us in Barbados two wrongs do not make a right. 183. While Barbados does not subscribe to the view that the question of human rights should be hypocritically or mischievously used as a propaganda tool, it cannot regard as a breach of the principle of non-intervention all comments on and condemnation of violations of civil, political or other rights in places beyond one's own boundaries. Barbados recognizes that the matter of human rights is one of great complexity and delicacy, reflecting as it does the diversity of traditions, codes of behaviour, practices and priorities in different countries and different parts of the world. Nevertheless there are certain violations which must be denounced. It would be unprincipled to overlook these. 184. Barbadian policy has traditionally been m!)tivat~d by profound humanistic impulses, and Barbados has conse- quently pressed for and supported instruments that express concern for and protect human rights, such as the Inter- national Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, together with its Optional Protocol. Barbados would like to see all the nations of the world ratify and implement in good faith the terms of these important instruments. 185. On the question of civil and political rights, the Government of Barbados remains unreservedly and without qualification committed to freedom of speech, freedom from victimization on account of political or religious belief, freedom from discrimination on grounds of class, sex or race, the right to a free and open press, the right freely to choose one's leaders, and respect for human dignity, which prohibits acts of unlawful detention or torture. 186. In the field of economic rights, the Government of Barbados is committed to a programme of social justice and accordingly subscribes to the proposition that the people of every country are entitled to have their basic needs satisfied-including the right to work, the right to proper health services, the right to adequate food, and the right to proper housing and to maximum opportunities for edu- cation. 187. Barbados wishes to welcome the nations of Djibouti and Viet Nam to this Organization. Both have made their way to independence through difficulties, but my dele- gation is confident that those two vastly dissimilar States have the capacity to add their own distinctive element to the mosaic that is the United Nations. 188. While welcoming Djibouti and Viet Nam Barbados wishes to direct the attention of this Organization to the 189. Barbados is a small peace-loving, law-abiding Carib- bean nation which seeks no quarrel with any country. The people of my country have in the past lived peaceably with all men and we intend to continue to do so. It is our wish that the Caribbean remain free from war and the threat of war. We have no military resources to enforce peace within the region, but in respect of Belize we call upon those who have the power or influence to disturb the tranquillity of the Caribbean to desist from so doing. The Government of Barbados wishes to express its approval of the emphatic response of the United Kingdom to the military threat to Belize last June, and it is heartened by the demonstration of will on the part of the United Kingdom to discharge its obligations as the administering Power of Belize. 190. Barbados looks forward to welcoming a free Belize to this Organization in the near future and urges all nations to assist in enabling Belize to take its rightful place in this Assembly. 191. During the past years the cancer of international terrorism has continued to aftlfct the entire body of nations, bedevilling the security of the world arid causing the death of innocent persons. 192. At the. thirty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly the Prime Minister of Barbados, the Right Honourable J. M. G. M. Adams, declared an un- swerving commitment on the part of the Government of Barbados to the removal of the scourge of terrorism from the face ef the earth.I 4 The will and resolve of Barbados to work towards this end remain as firm as ever. 193. Acts of terrorism have international ramifications and, particularly when they are executed in a random and senseless fashion, a single country finds it extremely difficult to deal with the menace. Barbados belie' . .) it is imperative that instruments be drawn up which would attempt to distinguish nakedly criminal acts from genuine struggies for liberation. Barbados also wishes to'reiterate its 14/bid, paras. 35 and 36. 194. Barbados, as a small island standing out in the Atlantic, has a natural interest in the proceedings of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. The collapse of that Conference at this stage would be particularly detrimental to island communities such as ours, which would be placed at the tender mer(;leS of wealthy predators. 195. Barbados hopes that at the seventh session of the Conference, plann~d for Geneva in 1978, the countries of the world will demonstrate that, whatever its short- comings, as a negotiating forum the United Nations is as useful an instrument as we can invent at this stage of mankind's development. 196. Barbados will continue to give its full support to the United Nations, confident in the knowledge that it is an institution whose importance for small States cannot be exaggerated. For small States, this Org::nization goes some way towards precluding the operation of the law of the jungle and of the more savage inclinations of States. In the past Barbados has always resisted attempts to belittle or disregard the role of the United Nations, and we will continue to cling to the belief that our role is to strengthen this institution and to enable it to accomplish the task with which it is charged by its Charter. At the same time Barbados wishes to reaffirm the right of all States to participate in United Nations activities as sovereign equals and to reaffirm the principle of universality which guaran- tees the right of all States to be Members of this world body. 197. My delegation comes to this session bringing not might but reason, realizing that wisdom is not related to size, nor vision to power. Barbados will aim to speak out frankly where necessary, but without rancour or malice. Our aim will be to defend principles and to promote policies for their implementation. Barbados will therefore support all efforts designed to advance the economic development of all peoples of all nations, especially those of the poorest nations, holdi!1g the view that, since the world's technology has given us the tools to do the job, it would be tragic to fail. Barbados will aim to introduce into the debates of this Assembly a concern for morality and justice in international rehitionships. Our traditions and best instincts dictate this role to us, and we shall play it without fear or favour. 198. The issues which this Assembly faces are daunting, but to despair would be disastrous. The lives and well-being of this world's millions hang on our decisions. We must not allow our jargon, our euphemisms, our rhetoric and our resolutions to conceal the fact that behind all our words and documents lie food, houses, schools, jobs, disease-even wars, if we fail. This places on us all a very solemn responsibility. For the sake of all the peoples of this world, IS Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, signed at Montreal on 23 September 1971- 16 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963.

My country feels that the election of Mr. Lazar Mojsov to the presidency. of this General Assem- bly is truly a felicitous decision. His intellectual and personal qualities represent the virtues of the Yugoslavs, a people which has upheld the image of the principles of its political organization but which also has coexisted con- structively with the various ideological trends of our time and has contributed to the alleviation of tensions created by intolerance in the international community. Mr. Mojsov in the presidency is a guarantee that at this session the international Organization will make a sincere effort to work with the dynamism, authority and efficiency that the maintenance of world peace demands. 201. An effort is now more necessary than ever for the Assembly meets at a time when there are not many reasons for optimism and little progress has been made in finding solutions to the problems that have been discussed in recent years. As such solutions continue to evade us and the problem£ meet in international forums with the dilatory treatment of bureaucratic routine, the areas for friction become more numerous and the increasing tensions put to stringent tests the systems devised after the Second World War to settle disputes among nations within a freely accepted legal order. 202. Much light would be shed on the true nature of the present conflicts if we started by acknowledging the fact that the post-war world was organized as a political democracy of States recognized as equals-a democracy that was to coexist with an oligarchy of prosperous nations endowed with protective mechanisms rooted in the prestige of tradition and the influence of power. 203. If the democratic spirit of international institutions has had little success in moderating the old and new inequalities, that is due to the constant opposition of the tight network of institutions and practices protecting an economic order based on mechanisms which create and maintain an. excessively unequal international distribution of wealth. 204. To appreciate the importance in international life of such practices and institutions, which constitute an eco- nomic world of their own, it should be enough to mention matters such as international liquidity; terms of trade between nations; trade restrictions; income distribution at the world level; and the control over technological progress and its effect on the new resources of the planet~ such as the riches of the sea-bed or the uses of outer space. 205. While international organizations devise, without insurmountable difficulties, important concepts in matters of political democracy-as in the case of the protection of human rights, the struggle against racial discrimination, or the equal representation of States-on the other hand obstacles systematically arise whenever the powerful vested 206. Every legal-political organization can resist inequali- ties up to a certain critical point. One indication that we are nearing that point is that confrontations between developed and developing countries are becoming more and more widespread, and that industrial nations show a distinct tendency to discuss, outside this Organization the very problems that justify its existence. This tendency becomes even more serious when the Governments of industrial societies do not even oppose the consolidation of a certain attitude of public opinion in their countries which is adverse to the international organizations, an attitude inspired by the feeling that belonging to such organizations entails commitments and duties of solidarity that are viewed as hindrances to an unlimited enjoyment of the benefits yielded by their own prosperity. 207. It would, in all truthfulness, be unfair to say that the power, the wealth and the abundance enjoyed by the highly developed countries have been acquired by them at no cost and are unrelated to the strenuous efforts of their people over generations, and to the sacrifices they made to attain their current levels of pre-eminence and well-being. How- ever, even though admitting such achievements and their merits, the explanations for the origin of the wide gap now separating peoples would be incomplete if no mention were made of the decisive role played in the distribution of wealth and poverty inherited by our generation by the power and the monopolistic concentration of their eco- nomic organizations. 208. The huge accumulation of wealth now concentrated in a few areas of the world, and which can be distributed among their inhabitants with a certain equity because of institutional mechanisms of those areas, is not only the result of the ingenuity and economic ethics they so frequently boast of, but also of the entrenchment, at the international level, of a pattern of relationships between the peoples of the entire world; between the areas north and south of the equator, and between the temperate and the tropical zones, where the value equations for products was set, in large measure, by means of coercive and often predatory procedures. 209. The mechanisms by which the world markets work, assumed to be automatic and impersonal by the established economic doctrines, were soon distorted by the monopoly prices the industrial societies set for their goods. Thus a situation took shape in which a small number of nations became a privileged world establishment while in the greater part of the world the laws of a free and competitive market for their exports did indeed apply. The inhabitants of these vast areas were despoiled of an ever increasing portion of the economic value of their work and th!s in a situation where the meagre income they were allowed precluded the use of distributive systems for the improve- ment of the population's appalling living conditions. 211. Approaching these subjects somewhat at random, we could start by mentioning the important issue of inter- national liquidity. The record of post-war international monetary institutions is characterized by the constant requests made by the developing countries that the volume of international means of payment should be sufficient for their trade needs and for the financing of the development and modernization processes, new phenomena requiring a revision of the solutions imposed by the victors of the Second World War. That revision became even more necessary in view of the fact that such solutions called for excessive ties between the international means of payment and the currencies ofhighly industrialized countries and, in practice, adjusted the volume of such means to trade flow of the industrial societies. 212. The systematic reply to such requests was that measures for increasing international liquidity in order to respond to trade needs and the financing of developing countries would lead to world inflation and the disruption of the monetary system and would cause a deep crisis in the economy. Those were the reasons given by the industrial societies in opposing the wishes of the developing countries, and they only tolerated minor reforms which coincided with the requirements of their own economic growth. 213. All that developing countries can do now is watch with amazement as they see how inflation, used as a pretext for refusing the changes reque.sted in the international monetary system, has made its appearance on the world scene on a scale unprecedented in history. And that inflation was due to the political, economic and monetary measures:"-prompted by domestic and foreign considera- tions-of the very same industrial nations, which took great pride in their cautious orthodoxy. The crumbling of the foundations of the monetary system created after the war was not the doing of the economic policies of the developing countries. Those countries did not unleash world inflation, reignite the devaluation wars used to secur~ trade advantages or start domestic inflationary processes of such magnitude that they have been exported to the furthest reaches of the world. Those who dug the grave of the Bretton Woods Agreements were not the developing countries, but precisely the Powers which drew up and imposed those Agreements, which refused to modify them for as long as they'served their own interests, and which then ignored them when their mechanisms no longer gave them the advantages initially afforded them. And today, paradoxically, they strive to attribute the crisis in the world economy to the efforts of some developing countries to defend the price levels of their exports, as the oil-producing countries did. 214. This brings us to the problems that result from the need to seek-if the planned new international economic order is to have any meaning-the most efficient means of avoiding the perpetuation of trade situations belonging to a time when the world economy worked on the undisputed assumption that prices of commodities and food-stuffs 216. Industrial societies would give proof of the political maturity expected of them because of their progress in other fields if.they were prepared to live with the realities of the new era, typified by the disappearance of that resignation with which for centuries the majority of the planet's population bore the yoke of a trade system by virtue of which the prosperity of some was obtained at the expense of the "non-development of others"-to quote a French economist. 217. Unfortunately, the recent conduct of industrial societies with regard to trade is not very encouraging. Their trade laws. the use of restrictive practices such as tariffs and paratariffs, the poor results of the so-called United Nations Development Decades and of the North-South dialogue, and the delay in enforcing the Charter on Economic Rights and Duties of States all denote an insistence on maintaining the excessive advantages of the old international economic order. 218. It can hardly be though that a contribution is being made to co-operation between States when freedom of trade to expand markets for industrial goods is requested and simultaneously an anachronistic protectionism is applied again whenever commodities or manufactures of new industries in developing countries turn out to be competitive in the markets of affluent societies. It is indeed strangely contradictory to see the protectionist practices, historically devised for "infant industries" in the first stages of their modernization process, now being applied by countries at the summit of technological development against nations struggling laboriously in the initial stages of development. It is contradictory, because with this practice the balanced operation of the international economy is disrupted, as it is also by the r~strictive practices and official and private boycotts the developed nations resort to when a situation of obvious scarcity in one commodity triggers a spasmodic increase in its price. 219. Understandably, then. it is trade between developed countries which has grown in recent years, while their trade flows with the developing world have suffered a gradual decrease. These centres of prosperity in the geographical areas where the affluent societies are located have monopo- lized the benefits of trade expansion, and their experts and economists have come to think that the world economy can function normally even when such expansion is held within the bounds of industrial societies. This gives an insight into 220. What the experience of history does tell us is that this optimistic assumption is very precarious. It is not new or typical of our age to believe that certain world trade patterns, because they favour one or more nations, can guarantee the smooth functioning of the international economy. In the past, such a claim resulted in deep crises when new nations appeared on the scene competing with traditional Powers in markets that did not expand, because they lacked any system to counteract the concentration of wealth in small areas of the planet. 121. In reality, we see the first signs of a similar situation. The frequency of recessions not followed, as was hoped, by genuine recoveries, the rebirth of protectionism among the major Powers as a tool to fight unemployment, and the low rates of economic activity, are all signs that we are nearing the end of the exceptional opportunities created by the ravages of the Second World War. 212. The reconstruction of the countries deeply affected by the conflict and the modernization of new nations have already created trade imbalances that point to the effects of unequal distribution of world demand. This casts doubt on the too-easily accepted hypothesis that mere expansion of trade between highly industrialized nations is an appro- priate foundation for the operation of the world economy, and underlines the need for raising the levels of consump- tion of a major portion of the world's population kept, in the past as now, in a situation of scarcity and dangerous stagnation by a world market distorted by power mecha- nisms and monopolistic systems. 223. This is the true meaning of the desire to establish a new international order, all the more justified since it seeks not only to correct inequalities created by the impact of colonialism and the various forms of economic dependence but also to adjust th;e distribution of world demand to the enormous surge in the supply of goods and services from the gigantic production facilities of the present day, facilities which seem doomed to less and less use of their capacity if the traditional terms of trade are perpetuated. 124. When a structural-and not temporary-imbalance between supply and demand appears in a country, the remedy for it has generally been sought in reforms entailing a redistribution of income. The nations that have been most successful in their growth are those that have not allowed too great a concentration of income in small sectors of their population or territory. 225. I do not, of course, wish to say that the case of a national economy is completely similar to that of the international economy. However, we should be fully aware that today's alarming symptoms of a crisis, strikingly similar to those that preceded the great depressions, make it more than ever impossible to accept the wide gap now 226. This gap becomes even more alarming when new factors loom on the horizon which, if not treated with foresight and equity, will contribute to a serious disruption of coexistence between nations; for we are on the threshold of a critical era, when what is debated is more than the traditional way of distributing the resources known to humanity and used by it for thousands of years. Technol- ogy's spectacular progress and demographic pressures have given a sudden economic value to resources and elements in nature that were given scant attention in the past. Such is the case, for instance, with the sea and its wealth, and with the synchronous geostationary orbit that enables satellite communications to reach undreamed-of limits. If the great wealth of goods and resources, whose economic value has only recently begun to reveal itself, is left to the exclusive management of the nations in possession of the most advanced technologies, and if a circumstantial pre-eminence in the field of such technologies were used to claim a new title of ownership over critical resources on this earth, the antagonisms now eroding the coexistence mechanisms of the international community would become even deeper. 227. At a time when there is increasing tension between the democratic spirit of the international Organization and the vested interests of a group of nations which have had ample opportunity to enjoy the advantages acquired in the past, Colombia is confident that the countries entrusted with the maintenance ofpeace will not, by acts of omission or commission, allow such tension to reach critical1imits. In the same way, Colombia trusts that these countries will not yield to the temptation of regarding as a victory or an act of wisdom the possible prolongation of the tottering reign of an economic order which is already posing serious problems to the very countries that derived the greatest benefits from it. 228. A historic example of how goodwill and genuine foresight can eliminate situations which have lost all justification in modern times is the recent settlement between the Governments of the United States of America and Panama concerning the Canal Zone. My country expressed here its most fervent wish that nothing will be allowed to stand in the way of the successful fulfilment of this settlement, for it is a model of the type of solution possible when the work is not influenced by the arrogance of power. . 229. My country also wishes, at this session of the United Nations General Assembly, to stress its concern over the universal spread of inflation, a scourge which is causing serious social and economic upheavals in the world. Accordingly, the international community must give it priority consideration-the more so since the swift spread of its effects is showing us that the measures adopted indiVidually by States are not sufficient to tackle a problem which is eroding the economic life of nations and the orderly functioning of the world economy. 230. That is why I feel it timely to suggest to this Assembly that it consider the possibility of convening-as 231. On behalf of my fellow citizens, I renew here my ~est wishes to the General Assembly in its efforts to make true progress in the patient and .difficult enterprise of filling the gaps left by inequalities among peoples, which are now testing the authority of the international Organization by multiplying the sources of conflict between States, con- tinents and the various geographical and economic areas of the planet. 232. Colombia also hails the entry into the world Organi- zation of such nations as Viet Nam and Djibouti, which will surely contribute their"will to work for peace, as well as the valuable experience they have acquired in the course of their unremitting struggle to achieve independence.

Sir; on behalfof the Govern- ment of Bangladesh and my delegation, it is both a pleasure and privilege for me to congratulate you most warmly on your election as President of this thirty-second General Assembly session. We can say with the utmost confidence that your eminent qualifications, your intimate knowledge of the work of this Organization and the many important services you have rendered on behalf of your country will contribute greatly to the success of our work. It gives us added pleasure that for the second year in succession a Member State of the non-aligned movement is at the helm of our affairs. 234. I should also like to express our deep appreciation to the President of the last session, Mr. Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe of Sri Lanka, whose determined and energetic leadership was a major contribution to the successful conclusion of the thirty-first session. 235. I take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General, who in his second term continues his tireless efforts on behalf of the world community with vision, courage and infinite patience. He has successfully upheld the Charter principles of fairness, impartiality and dedication to the cause of peace and human dignity in the world. Bangladesh owes a particular debt of gratitude to him for his continuing sympathy, concern and positive interest in our affairs. 236. Bangladesh hails the admission of the Republic of Djibouti and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to membership in the United Nations as sovereign equals. We extend our fullest co-operation to the delegations of these friendly countries. We expect to work with them in the closest harmony. . 237. With the accession of its onc hundred forty-eighth and one hundred forty-ninth Members the United Nations 238. The thirty·second session of the United Nations General Assembly is meeting under the shadow of a deepening politic.al and economic crisis. The Middle East continues to remain an explosive area of tension. Unless the initiatives now under way to bring about a peaceful settlement are brought to an immediate and successful conclusion, that region may very well become the threatre of another all-consuming holocaust. 239. Bangladesh firmly believes that a just and durable. peace can only be ensured by the withdrawal of all Israel's forces from the Arab territories it has occypied since June 1967, including the holy city of Jerusalem, and the restoration of the inalienable national rights of the Pales~ tinian people, including an independent State in Palestine:: Towards this end Bangaldesh urges all parties concerned vigorously to renew efforts for the early convening of the Geneva Conference with the full participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization. 240. Banglacesh strongly condemns the continued attempts of Israel to entrench its occupation by colonizing that region through a chain of illegal settlements designed to changed the geographical and demographic composition . of the occupied territories. Bangladesh reiterates its total support for the measures recommended by the recent extraordinary meetings held in New York of the Foreign Ministers of the non-aligned countries {see A/32/255- 8/12410/ and of the Foreign Ministers of the States members of the Islamic Conference {see A/32/261/ to- wards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. 241. The great continent of Africa is astir with the promise of total emancipation. but the southern part of it still continues to bleed under the repressive rule of racist minority regimes. Bangladesh fully supports the legitimate struggle of the African people in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa for freedom, liberty and human dignity and is convinced that their efforts are bound ultimately to triumph. 242. While we note the initiatives being taken on the one hand by the United Kingdom and the United States in Zimbabwe. and on the other hand by five members of the Security Council-the United Kingdom, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States-in Namibia. Bangladesh believes that independence in these last remaining bastions of colonialism can and must be achieved without concessions to the principles already embodied in the resolutions of the United Nations. :!43. Bangladesh welcomes the succes.s of the two impor- tant world conferences in Africa this year: the International Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and 244. Annually the international community records for posterity the dangers inherent in the failure to disarm. Yearly the disarmament debate 'echoes the refrain that failure to act is a hazardous folly-a madness. And yet, ironically enough, the only palliative is the recognition of the peril and the record of its danger and cost to mankind, with no significant advance being made to halt, control or reverse this process. 245. The record of prQgress in the disarmament negotia- tions is indeed pitiful in its content. Only seven treaties adopted by the United Nations General Assembly are in force. Regional and bilateral efforts, particularly by the super-Powers, have failed dismally to live up to even the minimum .expectations. What is worse is that moves towards the limitation and reduction of conventional weapons have also been completely ignored, notwith- standing the fact that all armed conflicts since 1945 have been fought with conventional weapons. 246. As we have stated, the dimensions of the problem are well known, in all their staggering impact. What is needed is the will and determination for action to halt and reverse this inexorable drive to destruction and to enable a new international security system to achieve a world free from war. Bangladesh, therefore, attaches gI:eat importance to the special session of the General Assembly on disarmament and the formulation of a declaration and programme of action. 247. While the problems of nuclear disarmament and of the proliferation of nuclear weapons continue to be the predominant concerns, Bangladesh's particular interest will lie in the measures directed towards the protection of the interests of the non-nuclear countries, including security guarantees and measures towards the creation of nuclear- weapon-free zones and zones of peace, freedom and neutrality in South' and South-East Asia and elsewhere. Of overriding priority is the relation between disarmament and development and the widespread concern to find practical and concrete ways to reduce military budgets and to transfer human and material resources to more productive ends, particularly in the cause of economic and social development. 248. Bangladesh has been making every possible effort for peace and stability in the subcontinent on the basis of mutual respect for sovereign equality, independence and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. We have striven to promote the process of accommodation along all avenues open to us. It is our firm belief that Bangladesh would be able materially to contribute towards building a 17 For the Maputo Declaration in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia, see document A/32/109/Rev.l- S/12344/Rev.l, annex V. For the Lagos Declaration for Action against Apartheid, scc Report of the World COllference for .4tt;on againSt Apartheid (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.77.XIV.2), chap. X. 250. A series of bilateral meetings between Bangladesh and India on the sharing of the Ganges waters were held in pursuance of the consensus statement {see decision 31/ 404/ adopted on 26 November 1976 at the thirty-first session of tI~e United Nations General Assembly. I am hndeed happy to report that the last meeting held at the official level in New Delhi was concluded on 30 September 1977 with the initialling of an agreement. That successful outcome of highly complicated and protracted negotiations is pre-eminently due to the statesmanship shown by the leaders of the two countries. This agreement covers the sharing of the Ganges waters at Farakka between Bangla- desh and India for the period from 1 January to 31 May every year. The agreement also provides for study of long-term measures to augment the dry-season flow of the Ganges. It also includes provisions for machinery of implementation by a joint committee to be constituted by the representatives of the two countries. The agreement is for an initial period of five years. It may be extended by mutual agreement at the appropriate time. The agreement will be formally signed at a level and date to be mutually determined by the two Governments. With the initialling of the agreement, the first part of the task was accomplished and it is hoped that a permenent solution may be found through the optimum development of water resources of international rivers flowing through the territories of these countries for the welfare of the millions of people of the two nations. We believe that this agreement will serve as an important milestone in the efforts of the two countries to improve all their relations and to maintain peace and stability in the region. I should like to take this oppor- tunity, on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh. to convey our most sincere thanks to all of our friends who have contributed towards reaching this agreement. 251. Fruitful steps were recently taken by Bangladesh further to strengthen its relations with Pakistan. We look forward to increasing co-operation with Pakistan in all fields. 252. Bangladesh continues to strive to consolidate its ties with its neighbours and near neighbours, including Afghan- istan, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 253. We believe that Bangladesh, by virtue of its geograph- ical location as well as its historical and cultural affinities with the people of South-East Asia, stands as a bridge between this region and the subcontinent. It is our intention to pursue every effort to strengthen our relations with our South-East Asian neighbours. 254. Ba~gladesh has consistently adhered to the principles of non-alIgnment as the corner-stone of its foreign policy. Bound by deeply rooted historical and cultural ties, - Bangladesh has always expressed its sense of solidarity with the Islamic countries and has been persistent in its efforts 256. The international community has in recent years been grappling with two vital initiatives with regard to the progressive development and codification of international law. The deliberations in the Third United Nations Con- ference on the Law of the Sea have now reached a crucial decision-making stage. As a coastal developing countries, Bangladesh has a large stake in the successful outcome of the Conference. Of particular importance to Bangladesh is its case pertaining to baselines and the delineation of maritime boundaries. The unique geographical and geomor- phological circumstances that govern our coastline led us to sul>mit a formulation covering what we believe constituted a legitimate exception within the universally acceptable nornlS. At the last session, in spite of overwhelming overt support and no opposition from any State to the inclusion of our proposal in the basic negotiating text before the Conference, our proposal was excluded. We continue to believe that the exclusion of our. text, given the nature of the document-that of a negotiating instrument rather than one that had been negotiated-would be tantamount to leaving us isolated. The merit of our case lay in seeking the objective sanction of the Conference as a whole. We are firmly of the view that, for an adequate and piOp~r consideration of tpe composite informal negotiating text, our formulation should also be taken into consideration at the forthcoming session of the Conference. We believe that a crucial motivation of the Conference must be to accord preferential treatment to the poorer and geographically disadvantaged nations as the logical consequence of the concept of the common heritage of mankind. 257. The United Nations Water Conference was to high- light the need for another major initiative in the sphere of international legal order for the progressive development and codification of the rules of international law regulating non-navigational uses of international watercourses, and particularly the development and use of shared water resources. Given the finite nature of water resources and the ever rising pressures on those resources, Bangladesh believes that the matter is one of paramount importance and urgency, for it raises questions that have an immense bearing on the economic well-being of vast numbers of people on this globe. We would urge the International Law Commission. already charged with the responsibility of pursuing the matter, to expedite the submission of an intemational convention. 258. As we review these crucial global developments, the position of Bangladesh and its contribution to the develop- 259. The main thrust of our planned efforts in the economic sector is towards rural development around co-operatives, a rapid increase in food production, the stabilization of prices, population control and population development. About half the country has already been covered under the integrated rural development pro- gramme. As a result of increased agricultural production, the importation of foodgrains was reduced from 2.2 million tons in 1974/1975 to 8&0,000 tons in 1976/1977. Given favourable weather conditions and an adequate supply of inputs, Bangladesh, will, it is hoped, be able to raise its food production within the next few years to the point where it can become fully self-sufficient in food. The prices of essential commodities have also been lowered and the cost-of-living index, which had risen to 500 per cent in 1974, is currently down to 300 per cent, in 1969/1970 prices. A key development strategy is the decentralization of the planning machinery and the generation of self-reliant efforts on the part of the people through the3r direct participation in the formulation and implementation of the development plans at the local levels. Along with a vigorous fanlily-planning programme, a nation-wide campaign has been mounted for the mobilization and harnessing of the country's vast human resources for productive efforts. The National Foundation for Research on Human Resources Development, headed by the President of Bangladesh, has been set up in the light of the decision of the Co-ordinating Bureau of Uon-Aligned Countries. We shall be happy to share our experience in this regard with cur s:ster countries of the third world. 260. The experience of Bangladesh in the field of develop- ment indicates however, certain constraints inherent in global factors which call for closer co-operation among the nations of the world. 261. The international community is largely composed of States in a similar position to that of Bangladesh. The hopes 262. It is here that the world's major political crises rage. Notwithstanding their combined weight, which has trans- formed the structure and voting- pattern of the United Nations, those countries yet remain outside the plane of true decision-making. Their role and integration in this process constitute the most important potential for peace and prosperity in the world. 263. Faced with the series of global problems that now confront the international community, no nation, however rich or powerful, can remain immune, nor can any nation hope to resolve them without the co-operation of all. While modern communications and the advances of science and technology have led us to a common perception of our unity and shared dependence, they have also highlighted the dangers of divisiveness. Differences in military and economic strength are hard realities. While the classic relationship of domination of the many by the few-the so-called vertical polarization-has been somewhat eroded, in its place has emerged the equally disturbing phenomenon of unequal relations among States and the threat to their economic and political sovereignty emanating not only from the big Powers but also from medium-sized and small Powers. 264. If there is any theme that emerges from the foregoing brief analysis, it is the recognition of the basic amalgam between national and international interests, sometimes conflicting, but essentially coinciding. Bangladesh firmly believes that the cardinal function and indeed justification of the United Nations lies in its search for the preservation of the delicate balance between nationalism and inter- national responsibility. The motive force of the Organi- zation-the very essence of its community-lies in the need to protect the weak from the strong through the manifesta- tion of collective responsibility and the strengthening of collective capacity to deal with the problems that face all of our nations. It is towards this end that we must strive. 265. In assessing the work of this Organization we are cunscious of its limitations. The Secretary-General himself acknowledged in his report on the work of the Organi- zation that "a miraculous and sudden transformation to a new and better world order is inconceivable" [A/32/1, sect. 11. But it is our task to seize the initiatives taken and to build, brick by brick, an edifice that will substantially contribute to the long-term interests of all States. 266. We believe that the foundation already exists; that Governments, including the major Powers, do consciously recognize the value of the Un~ted N~tion~ as a vital mechanism for strengthening theIr relatlOnslups and fos- tering their short-term goals. ~or coun~ries SUCh. as ours, powerless in isolation, the Umted NatlOns certamly pro- vides, through cohesion and a shared awareness of p'rob- lems; a greater strength. It does provide a safety-va1~e to release gathering tensions when bilateral efforts fail to achieve their objectives. 268. These are the basic elements that, in our opinion, constitute the keystone of the new international political and economic order. 269. As we stand today poised on the threshold of a new decade, we are conscious of the crucial economic stake in the quest for political stability and ordered prosperity in our world. This has placed before us the choice of achieving either unified and balanced progress of all mankind with human dignity, or a world torn by ever-widening social and economic inequalities. 270. The experience of the International Development Strategy of each of the last two decades, while strengthen- ing the ability of the world to identify and recognize problems, also revealed that those Strategies had -no real answers to the problems of mass poverty and mass unemployment which face most of our countries in the third world. Ad hoc solutions and basically short-term and patch-work remedies were essentially directed to preserve a system which itself was at fault r.d which tended to perpetuate the inequities of the existing order. The caB, therefore, was made for a total restructuring of world economic relationships through a new and just international economic order. 271. Thus, in the last few years, through successive sessions of the General Assembly. through the fourth session of UNCTAD, the Conference on International Economic Co-operation in Paris and other forums. the international community has sought to spell out the pattern of this vital new design. An approach to a global perspective plan' should provide greater eqUity through improved terms of trade, a better quality and greater flow of aid on softer terms, easier access to markets, the sharing of technological know-how and benefits, improved monetary facilities, the easing of indebtedness and a whole range of related issues. Despite the efforts at the various forums and the vital stakes involved, progress towards these ends has been extremely disappointing. - 272. One of the chief causes of the resistance to these efforts appears to be the unexpressed fear lurking in the 273. Some of the glaring ab-surdities inherent in the existing economic system are underscored by the following facts. 274. First, the developing world, representing 70 per cent of the world's population, commands only 30 per cent of total world resources. 275. ~econdly, the share of the third world, with a population of more than 2 billion, in the production of manufactured goods is only 7 per cent. 276. Thirdly, the combined share of all the countries of the third world in total international trade is under 18 per cent. 277. Fourthly. while final consumers in the industrial countries pay over S200 billion for the major primary products of the developing countries, excluding oil. the developing countries receive back only S30 billion of that S200 billion. 278. Fifthly, the total external indebtedness of the devel- oping countries has already exceeded S250 billion and their balance-of-payments deficit is about 530 billion. 279. As a result, the developing countries have been inexorably led to export more, and this has had a deleterious effect on the quality of life of the people of these countries. Such a position is totally untenable when the annual expenditure on armaments has already exceeded 5300 billion. 280. In renewing our commitment to pursue the establish- ment of the new international economic order. Bangladesh believes that there is also a need for continuing intro- spection and an in-depth evaluation of past performance and a better perception of the conceptual framework in which the new order would evolve. 281. What was essentially lacking was specific action concerning the attack on poverty, the system of produc- tion, the distribution of income and wealth. and the socio-ecoD0mic structures. Among the more significant lessons learned from experience. to which virtually no attention had been paid in the past. was the demonstrated fu tility of plan models in which the crucial role of a motivated, creative and innovative people as the main driving force in development was completely overlooked. The conversion of this human resources into viable human capital for national development has assumed such urgency that it requires priority attention. 282. Bangladesh believes that, among the essential ele- ments that need to be mapped out in any future perspective 4~00ds and services to be shared by the world community and therefore enriching the quality of life of the people globally; thirdly, strengthening the capacity of developing countries for individual and collective self-reliance through increased co-operation in economic and other fields, the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries, to be held in Buenos Aires next August, being of special relevance to this objective; fourthly, radically transforming socio-econornic structures, with particular stress o~ agrarian and rural development. the distribution of wealrh and the means of production, greater decentralization at the grass-roots level to ensure the democratization of the political and economic decision-making process, and the promotion of self- management and local leadership; fifthly, focusing on the role and status of women and ensuring their full participa- tion in national development and the. decision-making process; sixthly, redefining internatio!:al policy governing the transfer of finanCIal resources, with particular attention to the needs of the least developed and most seriously affected developing countries and, in this regard, matters that require an exploration of the flow of the resources to be gen'~rated are thl;' exploitation of the resources of the sea bed and those to be released through possible disarmament and the lung-standing demand of the developing countries for an organic link between speciai drawing ['ghts and development finance; seventhly, liberalizing trade by re- moving tariff and non-tariff barriers and meeting the mounting problem rf the third world'£ accumulated debt, including rescheduling of existing debt liabilities and tying debt repayment to real resource transfers, and the con- version of the outstanding de::>ts of the least developed countries into outright gnmts; eiglithly, increasing the availability of and access to food-stuffs through appropriate structural transformation and technological innovation, with tr.e realization that, while the establishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development has been a remarkable achievement, other mechanisms, particularly the early establishment of a decentralized system of essential food reserves, should be expeditiously fostered; ninthly, ensuring that people affected by natural disasters are always afforded adequate supplies to meet their basic needs, and in this regard, the institutional strengthening of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co- ordinator and the possibility of an international disaster reliefagency should be seriously explored; tenthly, udapting science and technology in order to promote the cause of development in the third world according to t.l~e indigenous requirements of the developing countries and; in tt~is regard, the preparations for and the results of the forth- coming United Nations Conference on Science and Tech- nology for Development will have particular relevance in mapping out a future strategy in this regard; eleventhly, enhancing internaHonal co-operation in the field of energy resources and here Bangladesh strongly supports the idea mooted by the Secretary-General regarding the establish- ment of an energy institute and believes that this should be pursued urgently; finally, paying adequate attention to 283. These are the 12 elements which we believe consti- tute an essential foundation for the planning of the next development strategy in what we' believe must be the decade of equity.

I should like to associate myself and my Government with all those who at this rostrum have congratulated Mr. Mojsov on his election to the presidency of the thirty-second session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. That Unanimous election constitutes not only a fitting tribute to his great qualities as statesman, jurist and diplomat but also a well-deserved recognition of his country, Yugoslavia, which has succeeded in preserving its independence with dignity in a world in which it is so difficult to escape the influence and domination of ex- tremely powerful and frequently ~nsuperable political and economic forces. 285. It is a pleasure for me to welcome the delegations of Djibouti and Viet Nam, new Members of the United Nations, and to wish them success in their mission and growing prosperity in their countries, which have been welcomed to this great family of nations. 286. The regular session of the General Assembly is particularly overburdened with work,' having an agenda which includes more than 125 items. It is true that among these there are, naturally, some which are more or less routine and many others which are not new but have, rather, come to us from previous sessions. These circum- stances, however, in no way detract from the significance of the large number of items to be considered. 287. Every year the General Assembly studies numerous reports and various suggestions and proposals on subjects that have repeatedly been considered in previous years. This proves not only t,he complexity and importance of the subjects but also the great diversity in trends, aspirations, interests and opinions which divide men and peoples and characterize" their complexity. Therefore we can in no way attribute to a deficiency in the Organization or to inef- ficacy on its part the fact that certain items remain for ever on the agenda of the Assembly. 288. Since this is the first time the new Government of El Salvador, which came into office just three months ago, has come before the General Assembly through my representa- tion, I should like to refer, though not at great length, to some of the items we are most interested in or which affect us most closely among the many included on the agenda. 289. To the efforts to attain disarmament, denucleariza- tion, the strengthening of international security, decoloni- zation and so madY other noble objectives pursued in this Organization to benefit mankind, we should always add a constant persevering and indefatigable struggle to further the over-all development of peoples, to improve the lot of 290. My delegation regrets that, for reasons which we all know, when we resumed the work of the thirty-first regular session of the General Assembly in mid-September to consider the items left pending last year, namely, develop- ~ent and international economic co-operation, and the ilTlplementation of the decisions adopted by the Assembly at its seventh special session-at which time the results of the Conference on International Economic Co-operation recently concluded in Paris should have been analysed-it was not possible to achieve the desired consensus. Since new efforts in that regard will be undertaken at this session, we hope that this time the necessary consensus will be achieved. 291. It would be extremely discouraging if developing countries were ultimat~ly to fail in their efforts to establish and consolidate a new international economic order. That would be tantamount to taking a step backwards from the position of the seventh special session, at which, for- tunately, there was a frank spirit of conciliation between the industrialized nations and the developing world which opened up broad prospects for co-operation and under- standing, thus keeping alive the hopes of more than two thirds of the population of the world. It is generally recognized that a new international economic order more eqUitable and just than the one that has prevailed hereto- fore will favour all those sectors equally. 292. In this connexion I wish to emphasize the impor- tance of the Declaration adopted by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 at their meeting on 29 September last here at United Nations Headquarters f see A/32/244J and to higlllight, in particular, the concepts expressed by my colleague the Foreign Minister of Uruguay in his brilliant presentation at that time, when he spoke for the Latin American group of States. 293. El Salvador participated and will continue to parti- cipate very actively in the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. The work of the Conference on such important matters as the evolution and codification of this new field of law is of capital importance for the economic development of all the peoples of the world. The body to be established to exploit the sea-bed for the benefit of all must have the necessary powers duly to safeguard the interests of the international community. These and other aspects of the subject must be considered at the forth- coming meetings of the Conference in Geneva on the basis of the composite informal negotiating text,1 8 and it is to 294. Scattered throughout the agenda of the present session there are items on two problems that are different but are nevertheless interrelated in certain respects. I refer to human rights and international terrorism. 295_ My Government is ~ firm supporter of the exercise and protection of human rights, which are broadly guar- anteed in our political Constitution. 296. In addition to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other United Nations documents on specific matters, two new instruments have come into force-the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 297. Thus, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 7, of the Charter, which enshrines in the United Nations the principle of non-interference, the subject of ~uman rights, while continuing to fall within the purview of the internal law of States, has been included in the fie.ld of international law. This is shown by the existence of declarations of rights, of the covenants I have just men- tioned, and of the American Convention on Human Rights, signed in San Jose on 22 November 1969, which we hope will enter into force soon. States have freely committed themselves to promote, guarantee a.nd respect human rights, and under international public law that commitment is not only of a moral nature; it is unquestionably legally binding. 298. Under the present United Nations system, as well as at the inter-American level, it is incumbent upon the various commissions on human rights to act in cases of violation of human- rights. No State mayor should bypass those commissions and itself investigate the situation with regard to human rights in anJther State. There is no doubt that that would be tantamount to intervention, and, although it might be done for humanitarian reascns, it would none the less be intolerable. Furthermore, that attitude ;nay, obviously, be construed as unfriendly and therefore prejudicial to good relations between friendly countries. 299. El Salvador agrees with the idea that the United Nations should have a High Commissioner for Human Rights. That idea that has been under consideration since the. French professor Rene Cassin, whose memory we praIse, several years ago suggested the creation of the post of Solicitor-General of the United Nations for Human Rights. No doubt the establishment of the post of High Commissioner would be a positive step in this regard. 300. My country has always been against all forms of discrimination and will continue to support the efforts of the United Nations to eliminate the abnormal practices which still persist in some parts of the world and which are prejudicial to man's dignity and therefore a flagrant violation of human rights. 302. In recent years terrorist crimes have occurred fre- quently in El Salvador, especially kidnappings, extortion and the murder of important and progressive persons useful to the country. 303. My G.)Vernment, aware of the difficulties en- countered in the struggle against this type of common crime, terrorism, will be pieased to co-operate with any efforts which this General Assembly or other United Nations bodies may undertake in order, if not to eliminate, which seems impossible, at least to reduce acts of terrorism and their abhorrent consequences. 304. In the internal struggle against this evil of our times, Governments usually find themselves having to suspend constitutional guarantees in order to maintain public order and to safeguard the institutions of the State. The exercise of this power within reasonable limits cannot, and should not, be interpreted in the international field as being a violation of human rights, since the aim is rather to defend society and individual persons from the danger of terrorist criminals, whether active or potential. 305. The work of decolonization, which has been launched and developed successfully by this Organization for several years, remains among the main items in the a!;~nda of the General Assembly. My delegation will support every initiative to favour the aspirations of peoples wishing to attain their independence, as also the aspirations of those who defend their territorial integrity, such as the cases of Guatemala and Argentina with regard to Belize and the Islas Malvinas, respectively. 306. With regard to Belize, El Salvador, which observed with extreme concern the tension which arose a few months ago in the Central American region, now views with satisfaction the talks between the Guatemalan and British Governments, which offer favourable prospects for a negotiated. settlement that will harmonize the aspirations of Guatemala with the interests of the people of Belize. 307. Latin American countries joyously welcome the results of the negotiations carried out for over 13 years between the Governments of Panama and the United States of America on the question of the Panama Canal. President Carter and his immediate predecessors have undoubtedly made laudable efforts to try to give reasonable and just satisfaction to the aspirations of the Panamanian people, which were advocated nobly by its Government. It only remains for the two treaties signed in Washington on 7 September last, which were to replace the original instrument signed in 1903, to enter into force, after the Panamanian people adopts them in a plebiscite and the United States Senate has consented to them as provided for in its Constitution. 309. The prospects for the convenihg of a conference on the question of the Middle East soon, and, above all, the attitude adopted by the Government of Israel in recent weeks, indicate that negotiations may lead to a positive result. A recognition of the existence of Israel by the Arab States, and the just fulfilment of the aspirations of the latter, and in particular of the •Palestinian people, would certainly be the pillars of a lasting peace in that area 31u. With regard to Cyprus we also hope that conflicting interests may be reconciled, thus ensuring a pearefullife for all of the population of Cyprus. 311. It is frequently said that today's world is undergoing a period of transition; that the problems it faces are se- serious and complex that it remains at the cross-roads; that this is the most critical, the crucial moment in its existence, and so on and so forth. This is repeated year after year from this rostrum and, therefore, we are used to hearing these words, and we almost do not realize that in fact something serious and irreparable could befall mankind. What is true is that events may occur which could lead to a better life for human beings inhabiting this planet, or which, on the contrary, could result in a world di"3ster or a series of cataclysms which would engulf us in desperation and suffering. 312. This Organization, the United Nations, has the virtue for the world of generating and strengthening the necessary hope and faith in God which is the only thing which can give us peace of mind. 313. ·Mr. CHARLES (Haiti) (interpretation from French): Mr. President, I have the honour on behalf of the Haitian delegation to offer you my cordial congratulations on your election to the presidency of this Assembly. This choice is bound to lend a special dynamism to the work of the thirty-second session, at which our Organization will face urgent and important problems. My delegation assures you of the same co-operation which it gave your eminent predecessor, whom we salute respectfully on the oc..;asion of his departure. 314. We offer the Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, both our tribute and our congratulations for his indefatig- able efforts on behalf of the cause of the United Nations. 315. The Haitian delegation is pleased to welcome the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam which has, at the cost of enormous sacrifices, succeeded in recovering its unity and its sovereignty. 316. We are also pleased that our sister Republic of Djibouti has succeeded in achieving its independence, and 318. Our country has ent.ered a new phase of its existence. The people of Haiti have understood that the unity and the mobilizatiOlil of all the country's vital energies are essential if it is to cope successfully with the ever more urgent problems facing the nation. Therefore, the Haitian Govern- ment, under the wise leadership of its President-for-Life, His Excellency Mr. Jean-Claude Duvalier, concerned with facilitating national reconciliation, has felt that certain measures aimed at ensuring the maintenance of Haiti's peace and national integrity were no longer necessary. Thus the decision has been taken to normalize the conditions of our daily life. 319. Today, we can affirm that we do not have a single political prisoner in our prisons. We have appealed to the patriotism of our former adversaries to join with us in the great war to be waged against hunger, dise2se, illiteracy, unemployment, and so on, within the framework of our laws and that ofhuman rights. 320. I.. series of measures have been taken and the Haitian Government has, inter alia. just acceded to the American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica, and plans to invite the lilter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS to visit Haiti on a date convenient to it so that it may take note on the spot of the positive developments in the situation which have taken place in the political, economic and social sectors. Among other things, the Legislative Chamber of Haiti, on the proposal ef the Executive Branch, has just passed a law establishing a Tribunal of State Security where, in ac- cordance with our Constitution, civilians accused of crimes against the security of the State will be judged by civilians. Ail these are actions which demonstrate my Government's clear desire to promote the cause of human rights. 321. One of the most important events of this year for us in Latin Amefica remains the solution of the Panama Canal problem. 322. The entire Haitian people celebrated the signing of agreements between the United States and the Republic of Panama which confer a new status upon the Canal. We are all the more pleased at this event since at one moment in 323. We should like to believe that the conclusion of the new treaty will usher in a new stage in the relations between Latin America and the United States, a stage which seems to lay the basis of a ~ew approach in their foreign policies. 324. All of us in the Americas feel that this fact marks the end of a system which long held sway-even for too long-and which delayed the development of more harmo- nious relations between our nations and their powerfu. northern neighbour. 325. The Republic of Haiti is deeply disturbed by the course of events which in southern Africa, in the Middle East and Cyprus are endangering world peace, closely linked as it is to improved living conditions for the peoples of the third world. 326. The Haitian Government remains deeply concerned at the explosive situation preVailing in Namibia and in Zimbabwe. It fully endorses the Maputo Declaration becal~se of the support which this document gives these peoples and reaffirms its solidarity and backing for the struggle being waged by the liberation movements. We are following with sustained interest the Anglo-American initia- tives and the Security Council debates aimed at finding an early solution to the conflict affe~ting that part of the world. We feel that everything possible must be done to ensure the full success of these steps. However, if these should fail, the Security Council and, with it, the entire international community will have to be prepared to face their responsibilities, using all the means available to them under the United Nations Charter to restore to the African peoples, those victims of so many injustices, the full range of their rights to equality, dignity and happiness. 327. In the meantime, the valiant freedom fighters will ensure and must ensure that their vigilance shall never be found lacking. We believe that in the final anal¥sis it is they who will have to resolve the dispute through the force of their arms. We ar.e convinced that the international corn· munity will continue to furnish them the inaterial, moral and political assistance which will permit them to attain their final goal. 328. My Government is also disturbed by the situation of our brothers in South Africa who in their own country are living in a situation bordering on slavery. The human tragedy of apartheid has been condemned by all men of goodwill. We condemn any form. of discrimination based upon race, religion or nationality. We support unreservedly the Lagos Declaration on Apartheid and we should like to express the hope that the programme of action recom- mended therein will be strictly observed by all members of the international community. This will make it possible for us in the not-too-distant future to welcome here a genuine South African delegation which will represent the majority of the population. 330. In this regard, we think on the one hand that Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), although subject to different interpretations, offer the best framework for negotiations and, on the other hand, that all parties concerned must be represented. Otherwise, we risk not achieving a generally accepted agreement. In the meantime, the parties to the conflict should attempt to refrain from any action which might impede the negotiating process. 331. It is crucial that peace return to this part of the world and we believe that the parties to the dispute will be the first to benefit from this. 332. Regarding the Republic of Cyprus. we deplore the fact that a formula for reconciliation has so far not been found by the parties to the conflict which would make it possible for them to unite above and beyond all conceivable differences in a larger community: their motherland. The United Nations will have to ensure that new initiatives be taken to resume the negotiations. For our part we shall support all solutions adopted by the parties themselves. without any outside pressure. 333. My delegation would like to stress that its position on the question of Cyprus does not constitute derogation from either the principle of self-determination or from that of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of States. These principles constitute the corner-stone of the foreign policy of the Haitian Government. We consider Cyprus to be a special case which recalls in many respects the situation of the island of Haiti, which we share with the Dominican Republic. We remain firmly devoted to the principle of self·determination and the right of all peoples to national independence. Any attempt on the part of certain States, whether or not they are former colonies, to recolonize young newly independent States or those soon to become independent, will not be endorsed by the Republic of Haiti. 334. My delegation is also pleased with the inclusion on the agenda of the thirty-second session of an item on the non-use of force in international relations Iitem 37/ and it intends to work in the coming days in close co-operation with the other interested delegations in order to achieve the framing of a draft convention on that subject. We see no reason not to endorse such steps. because actually we ourselves, we Haitians, have no force to which we could conceivably resort, apart from the fierce will of our people 335. In regard to the question of the law of the sea, my delegation deeply regrets the absence of real progress in the negotiations and it reaffirms its devotion to the principle of the common heritage of mankind: It urges the indus- trialized countries to demonstrate, at the next session, more understanding and a greater desire for co-operation, so that a treaty may be arrived at without undue delay. 336. On the national level, my Government, exercising its full sovereignty, opened in Port-au-Prince, in the period from 10 to 14 August 1977, the first phase of the negotiations between the Republic of Cuba and Haiti on the demarcation of the exclusive economic zone of the two States. At the end of this month the representatives of the two Governments are to meet in Havana to fmalize the agreement in this regard. 337. After more than three decades of ceaseless debate of the question of the economic development of the third world countries, the United Nations will have no trouble in summing up what has been accomplished because. despite the proliferation of organizations, negotiations and inter- national arrangements, the problems of the under- developed countries still demand, even more urgently, the attention and concerted action of the industrialized world. 338. These problems remain with us in all their gravity, and their solutions seem to depend much more on the high degree of understanding and global dialogue ushered in by the new international order than on the national policies of governments formulated and carried out in isolation. 339. Therefore the Haitian Government wishes to express its regret that the last Conference on International Eco- nomic Co-operation did not lead to the structural changes required by the international economic system and did not offer certain immediate solutions to pressing problems confronting the third-world countries. 340. So far it has not been possible to find any acceptable solution to the problem of the fluctuation of commodity prices, which affects the development process. Generally speaking, attempts made to improve· the position of the countries producing raw materials and to provide them with outlet~ on the world market have been qUickly neutralized by the consumer countries. 341. As far as the commodity prices are concerned, they have recently risen sharply. Unfortunately, not all the developing countries benefit from this to the same degree. Some of them, including my own country, are in a situation where this price increase in commodities means merely an increase in the prices of manufactured products, whether consum~r products or capital goods. The producers have quickly passed on the increases to the consumers. As a result the developing countries with very few commodities to export or engaged in the export of products the foreign market demand for which is weak, find their trade deficits increased. For those countries that are near bankruptcy as 342. The increase in commodity prices is not the only factor responsible for the exorbitant prices of manu- factured goods. Mention has been made of the cost of the processing of raw materials into semi-manufactured and manufactured goods, without stressing the present infla- tionary wage policy. It is high time the developed countries recognized that in the present situation it is no longer possible for poor countries to continue to subsidize the standard of living of the populations of the rich countries. One way of obviating this difficulty would be to encourage local processing of raw materials, as this would be of considerable help in overcoming or at least reducing the effects of paralysing endemic unemployment. 343. Another factor which also has an impact on the increase in the prices of manufactured products is the high cost of shipping. Here, too, the industrialized countries enjoy a de facto monopoly which makes it possible for them from one day to the next to increase the already exaggerated prices in this area of maritime transport. 344. Not only are these prices arbitrary, they are very often discriminatory. The specious pretext of the profit- ability of certain routes as compared with others makes it possible for them to impose lower prices on routes between industrialized countries and higher ones on routes linking industrialized and developing countries, with very little importance attached to the factor of distance. This is a truly unjust situation which must be remedied. 345. The increase in petroleum prices has disrupted national economies to such an extent that it deserves to be considered separately. Its consequences on the Haitian economy have been immediate and particularly trying. Last year Haiti paid approximately $16 million more for the same quantity of petroleum as it bought the previous year. This is equivalent to half the total of foreign aid it received during that same year. Faced with this situation and to avoid general stagnation, the Haitian Government took prompt measures to reduce the tax on petroleum imports, thus helping out the consumers ~nd particularly the low income groups most affected. This action by the Haitian Government, although it reflects the determination of the Government to maintain the standard of living of its population, will cost our treasury a great part of the income which could have been used to finance investments in the pubUc sector. That situation continues to demand great sacrifices of my country. We have accepted them willingly, because we feel that the claims of those third-world 346. By the same token, it would be well for the countries having a surplus of capital to give investment preference to the developing countries. That would enable them, first, to contribute to the rapid raising of the living standards of the populations of those countries by reducing unemployment rates; secondly, not to participate in the total deterioration of the environment seen in the developed countries, which are already victims of over-industri~ization;and, thirdly, to demonstrate their solidarity with their less fortunate brothers of the third world. 347. As if the picture were not sufficiently gloomy, an acute food crisis is currently being felt in various areas of the world. This is largely the result of adverse climatic conditions affecting the environment. While some of those countries will be able, as these conditions change, to regain their former productivity, others, such as the Sahelian countries, which have been so gravely affected, run the risk of reaching the point of no return unless the international community, FAO, WHO and non-governmental institutions speedily grant them the necessary aid and assistance. 348. Finally, in other countries where traditional, archaic production methods have remained the same, the earth is unable to feed an ever-growing population. Hence it has become necessary for rich lands to be cultivated more intensively and for poor areas not yet cultivated to be exploited through the application of modern agricultural techniques. Developed as well as developing countries, in co-operation with FAO and the International Development Association, will have to create the necessary conditions for the development of that land. 349. For its part, the Haitian Government has embarked on a vast programme of agricultural expansion providing for the intensive utilization of fertilizers, the more extensive use of agricultural machinery and the irrigation of thou- sands of hectares of unirrigated land. 350. In any case, we feel that the problem of the shortage of agricultural products on a world scale cannot and will not be solved without the establishment of an international plan for production and consumption with the participa- tion of FAO. 351. One factor that could undermine the results of an international agricultural policy is the world population growth, which will have to be controlled by a strict national population policy, with the assistance of the international agencies conc,erned. 352. Two of the most urgent problems confronting the world economy, which have had particularly disastrous effects upon the economies of the developing countries, are monetary instability wd inflation. The system of floating currencies in which the dewloping countries kee~ their reserves has been a harmful one, because of the uncertainty it creates in international trade and in the over-all develop- ment plans of developing countries. There can no longer by any dOll bt that the present monetary system has been 353. IMF must be reconstituted by according greater participation to the developing countries at the decision- making level. Finally, it is important that measures be taken to guarantee international monetary stability. This stability, I must say, will not be sufficient to redress the trade balance between rich and poor countries. That will be achieved only by reviewing the entire system of inter- national trade relations, and eliminating protective meas- ures, such as prohibitive taxes, quota and preference systems, and so forth. 354. We are far from believing that these goals which we have outlined here are easy to attain. To assume so would be to underestimate the scope of the task. We know that it is a tremendous one. However, it is not beyond our capabilities; it merely calls upon all our physical, intel- lectual, moral and economic resources. 355. In conclusion, the Haitian Government would re- affirm its loyalty to the principles of the United Nations Charter, and its trust in the reason and wisdom of the representatives here assembled. We are convinced that with their goodwill these problems which at first sight seem insoluble will gradually be solved to the satisfaction of all mankind.

I shall now call on those represen- tatives wishing to exercise their right of reply, As represen- tatives will recall, the General Assembly has decided that statements in exercise of the right of reply shall be limited to 10 minutes, and I am sure that representatives will co-operate in complying with that limitation.

At the end of yesterday after- noon's meeting the representative of the Cuban Govern- ment used offensive, slanderous language when referring to the Government of Guatemala in connexion with my Government's claim against the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the Territory of Belize, which is occupied by that great Power. 358. TIie Cuban representative stated that the Territory of Belize had not acceded to independence because: "... the reactionary dictatorship which oppresses Gua- temala is prepared to annex it by force as soon as the Administering Authority withdraws." f 19th meeting, para. 268./ And the Cuban representative continued, in scurrilous language, with his impertinent and false accusations against my country, with the veiled threat that Cuba backs the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Be- lize. 359. I should like the Cuban representative to know that we are not intimidated by his veiled threats, even though still fn;sh in our memory is the world-wide indignation over the flagrant interventions in Africa, and in various countries 361. The Cuban representative seems to have forgotten that all these characteristics of democracy have long been abandoned in his own country and replaced by a strong police system, which is not the best of Utopian systems. 362. By referring to the problem of Belize, the representa- tive of Cuba is interfering flagrantly in an affair which is not within the competence of his Government in'any way, an interference which my Government firmly rejects. 363. In my statement 'to this General Assembly on 30 September this year f 15th meetingj I said that throughout its history the Government of Guatemala had maintained its faith in the efficacy of peaceful means for the settlement of conflicts among States, difficult though that may seem. In that firm conviction, we have entered into negotiations with the Government of the United Kingdom to make ~ew arrangements for the just and honourable settlement of the age-old controversy with that great Power over the territory of Belize, a settlement which would reconcile the interests of the population of Belize with the legitimate rights of the Guatemalan nation. 364. I also express the hope of my delegation that the negotiations at present in progress will not be disturbed by undue interference by countries peripheral to the dispute which faH in their duty to keep hands off and to remain impartial-an attitude which should prevail during negotia- tions-and, instead of contributing to a solution of the conflict, exacerbate it and render it more complex. 365. We reiterate our rejection of Cuban intervention in the settlem~nt of the dispute over Belize. 366. Today, the representative of Barbados at this meeting has described Guatemala as belligerent and bellicose with reference to its age-old claim to the t~rritory of Belize. In fact, the Guatemalan attitude vis-a-vis the United King- dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is claiming a Territory that wa~ taken from Guatemala by no other means than force, is rum and unflinching. Guatemala has even been accused of having "evil. intentions" of invading Belize. But the representative conveniently re- mains silent on the significant fact that Belize, as a British colony, is protected by the entire military strength of the colonizing great Power, which maintains in that area overwhelmingly powerful military equipment and the most sophjsdcated weapon in the world. On several occasions the area has been visited by naval units of that Power, employing a gunboat policy which is totally anachrorajstic in our time. 368. Once again, my Government reiterates that it is not seeking military confrontation with the United Kingdom because it has faith in those peaceful means of settling conflicts that are the very foundation of this Organization. For that reason, we view with hope the negotiations at present under way with the United Kingdom Government and we trust that with good faith and a determination to resolve the conflict, a satisfactory agreement may be found.

The Minister for External Relations of Chile, Mr. Patricio Carvajal, in his statement this afternoon referred to sovereignty over areas of Antarctica which are under the sovereignty of Argentina. As a result, we feel obliged to reject those statements. 370. Similarly, with regard to what he said about relations with Argentina, my delegation would like to point out that the position of Argentina in that respect has been publicly stated and is well known to the Government of Chile.

The representative of Guatemala has referred at length to the statement made yesterday by the Minister for External Relations of Cuba [19th meetingj, in which, with dignified words and appropriate adjectives, he referred to the policy and the regime obtaining in Guatemala, in particular in relation to its threat to the independence of Belize. 372. It would be proper to recall once again that, independent of seven successive PreSidents, those who hold power in Guatemala today are the direct descendants of the regime which in 1954, against the will of the people of 373. The present regime is also a descendant of the regime which allowed the territory of Guatemala to be used for action by traitors and mercenaries against Cuba. The ruler of Guatemala in power at that time recognized that publicly. The forces which committed acts of imperialist aggression against Cuba and which were defeated within 72 hours were armed, trained, prepared and launched from that country. 374. That is also the regime which, throughout its long history of voting in the United Nations on any colonial issue, on apartheid. on the Middle East or on any other such issue is always to be found on the side of the most reactionary tendencies and opposed to the will of the peoples. 375. It appears that our statements of Cuban support for the independ.ence and territorial integrity of Belize disturb the representative of Guatemala. He would be even more concerned if he were to read again the records of the last session of the Assembly and were to see that 115 countries supported the right of self-determination and independence for the people of Belize. 376. For all those reasons, my delegation. in addition to condemning the chauvinist and war-mongering statements of the Government of Guatemala and once again draWing the attention of this Assembly to the threats hanging over the people of Belize, joins with the delegations of Jamiaca and Barbados in reiterating its condemnation and in stating that Belize is not independent because of the policy of the Government of Guatemala.