A/38/PV.20 General Assembly

9.  Geeeral debate 1. Mr.. BIRD (Antigua and Barbuda): Mr. President, may I flfst of all congratulate you on your election to the presidency of the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly. My delegation finds particular pleasure in your election since it testifies to the abundance of talent to he found in our region, Latin America and the Caribbean. Yo~r vast e~~rien~ of multilateral diplomacy within the Umted Nations wIll be much needed during a session which already promises to be of vital importance to the future of mankind as a whole. Beyond the poli.:y state- ments which we have already heard from such a large number of he..1ds of State is the crucial work which must take place behind the scenes to reconcile divergent views and turn dissension into discussion. Your well-known negotiating abilities will help to carry this session to a sensible resolution of the issues which lie beforr. us. 2. I also wish to take this opportunity to welcome the newest Member of the United Nations, Saint Christo..,her and Nevis. This is a small island State, a neighbour of !D~ own c0!Jn~ry, which has demonstrated that although It IS small It IS prepared to play a role in international affairs. 3. Apart from Saint Christopher and Nevis, my coun- try, Antigua and Barbuda, was the most recent State to become a Member of the United Nations. We are a small island State, a member of that group of States that is militarily weak and economically vulnerable. In the wide scheme of great-Power politics, we are ignored because we do not JK!int ~ missile at some other country's capital; we are margmallZed because we threaten none with wea- pons of mass destruction; VIe are disregarded because we have neither the economic strength nor the inclination to intimidate other nations in the world community. 4: In other words, ~n a world that has become progres- SIVely !D0re susceptible to the threat of power, sm,:l11 coulitnes such as mine are discovering with increasing frequency that the principles ofjustice, equality, universal peace and development for which this body was created are nothing short of illusions-illusions which now only s~t~y conceal ~he reality of naked power currently dlctatmg the destmy of humanity as a whole. 5. Thus, in the drama of negotiation which is being enacted at Geneva on disarmament and arms limitation the starring roles-indeed the only roles- are being playe~ by the two countries whose arsenals have the capacity for total human obliteration. The rest of l1S- even t~ough we represent the majority of mankind-have n.o VOice,. no say, not a single utterance in those discus- sions which may well decide whether we live or die. 6. My people find it difficult to place their fate in the hands of any whom they cannot bring to account. I NEW YORK suspect the majority of the peoples of the world hold a similar position. We are dissatisfied with the tyranny of the minority. We are frustrated with being discarded by a handful of countries. We deeply resent the arrogance which leads some States to believe that they have a God- given right to make decisions for the rest of us without dialogue and without discussion. Unless this wanton and wilful disregard for the majority of the world's peoples is corrected, global peace will always elude us and global stability will remain a meaningless dream. 7. Of necessity, the principal char;lcters in disarmament and arms limitation talks must be those who have so ~e~eloped.and stockpiled those weapons that their par- t~~p~tlon IS mandatory. But the Assembly cannot aban- don the task to them alone, for we are now all involved' we are now all consumed by the folly which threatens th; extinction of the human race. We have an obligation to our own peoples and to humanity as a whole to bring an end to the madness of militarization. 8. In this context, Antigua and Barbuda calls for the fuHest internationaIization of the dif~ussions on arms limi~tion and disarmament. At the ve.,> least the United NatiOns should have a presence at the Geneva talks. But this body should also establish practical mechanisms to sensitize the peoples of the world to the dangers of arms escalation and to alert them to the frightening mili- tary technology which now surrounds us. For it is only through such methods, it is only by educating world opinion, including the opinion of the people whose Gov- ernments are the principal participants in the arms race, that we can hope to recall this planet from the precipice of mass destruction. 9. My delegation supports the proposal ofCanada that a working group on arms control and outer space be established by the Committee on Disarmament. In our view, the Prime Minister of Canada is fu.ndamentally correct that we can wait no longer if we are to foreclose the prospects ?f wars from space. Already it appears that facelesl> men, ID anonymous officesin a few ofthe world's cap~tals, are determined to make a reality of science fictIOn-to play space roulette with the lives of people as the stake and ultimate destruction as the purse. 10. My country resents the fact that we are simply a pawn in a series of global war games. We call upon this body, we urge all nations, large and small, and we sum- mon all peoples, white and black, to resist the tyranny of the minority and to call to account those Governntents whose philosophy of militarism threatens the survival of all. 11. The South Korean airline tragedy in which an air- craft carrying 269 civilians was shot down by the Soviet Umon brought the human face of cold-war politics bru- tally and vividly to the world's attention. We looked at th~t face and it was ugly. We saw J:?lothers weeping for chddrer they would never see agam and wives fatally wrenched from husbands. We looked upon that ugly human face that could so callously cause innocent life to be slaughtered, and anger raged within us. There, but for fortune, C"'wd have been your wife, my children, your mother. The ~...'.'; has come for the Assembly to demand sm~ ;ountry, Malaysia, for the world publicly to learn that two super-Powers co-operate in Antarctica in a way they failed to do through the cold war, the Cuban missile crisis and the inv[1C'TIon of Afghanistan. Further, it took that same initiative for the world to learn from the mouths' of the representatives of two other countries which last year were at war with each other that they, too, are able to co-operate with each other peacefully and constructively in Antarctica. 14. My country welcomes the news of such magnificent co-opei'ation among the Contracting Parties, and we call upon each of tn;;!'l individually and all of them collec- tively to extf;nd this capacity for co-operation from Antarctica to ~h 'Other areas in which they are involved, including arm~,~imitation, disarmam~nt and territorial disputes. Were they able to do so, the world would become a safer place for this generation to inhabit and for succeeding generations to inherit. The quality of all our lives would improve and the prospects for ~ustained betterment wC'uld be assured. 15. My delegation joined be delegation of Malaysia in proposing the inscription Oi' the question of Antarctica in the agenda of this thirty-eighth session [see A/38/193]. We are grateful that the General Committee saw merit in endorsing the inscriptior.•. 16. Antarctica covers Oiie tenth of the Earth's surface. It is larger than Australia, larger than Eurnpe, larger than the United States and Mexico combine~ ~ild larger than India and China together. It is half as big again as the United States. It seems likely that Antarctica's cor.tinental shelves harbour vast reserves of oil and gas. It is known to have other minerals, and its marine life is abundant. 17. Since 1959 a handful of countries have arrogated to themselves the right to manage Antarctica under the Antarctic Treaty. They have thus far concluded a con- vention on marine resources and established a secretariat to service their activities under the convention. They are now in the process of negotiating a regime on minerals exploitation. 18. But there has been no consultat:on with other States; there has been no discussion with other countries. Of course, their response to this charge of lack of consulta- tion will be that the Treaty is open for signature to all, but this ignores the reality thatsignature does not accord membership in the decision-making commission, nor does it take account of the fact that the presence of South Africa among the Contracting Parties makes it impossible Org~izationplaces an equally great burden, in compar- ative terms, upon us. We have no great industrial wealth, no massive population; we have no transnationals that bring home money from abroad; our resources are mea- gre and our revenues minsicule. Yet, despite great hard- ship, we make our financial contribution to the United Nations and do so gladly, for we agree with President Reagan's observation that the United Nations and its affiliates have made more important contributions te the life of this planet. 25. In our view, the United Nations should be accorded the role for which it was intended, to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. In this context, it is a matter of grave concern to my country that yet another year has passed with Namibia still not independent. Indeed, social progress in Namibia has been further retarded and freedom hijacked by the heinous regime in South Africa. 26. South Africa's pre-condition that Cuban troops should be withdrawn from Angola before Namibia gains its independence challenges the very efficacy of the Or- ganization. The tacit support given South Africa by some who sit in this chamber serves only to weaken the Organ- ization which so many profess to value. And we should Bank group should be particularly mindful of the need to modify the policies ofthese institutions towards small States. 39. What is obvious in the world today is that we are in an age ofintolerance, an age ofconfrontation, acquis- itiveness and narrow-mindedness. These are the symp- toms ofa world divided against itself, with'nations more concerned to grab their own narrow benefits today than ~ *Mr. Sipraseuth spoke in Lao. The French version of his statement was supplied by the delegation. 122. Ifpeaceful existence on our planet is to be achieved it is of paramount importance that the international situation be improved by eliminating current insecurities and restoring a climate of trust and detente in interna- tional relations. 123. The peoples demand an end to the arms race and the abandonment of the philosophy of military suprem- acy and the endless accumulation of weapons, which can lead only to the peace of the graveyard. 124. Today, perhaps more than ever before, man- kind demands that decisions be made and agreements adopted which will pave the way to security, peace and development. th~ Seventh Conference ofHeads of State or Government Cif Non-Aligned Countries. 130. Cuba's positions of principle on the most urgent, serious and important problems of international relations are known. On every occasion the voice of our people has been clear in one way or another. Fighters for free- dom and independence in any part of the world have 148. In the same way, Guatemala is becominf' a possible springboard for Yankee military intervention in the area. United States and Israeli military aid to Guatemala is destined to strengthen the army in its effort to annihilate the Guatemalan revolutionary movement and to pre- pare it for i.he eventual intervention in El Salvador and Nicaragua. 149. American Government circles are obsessed with the idea that the imposition of a military solution to the conflict in Central America is possible and advisable. Under the feeble pretext of preserving the "third border", they are sliding down a slope that will plunge them into a quagmire, but what else can be expected of those who still think in terms of "spheres of influence" and endorse the feasibility ofa "limited nuclear war"? Obsessed with creating a climate of terror and insecurity in Nicaragua in order to destroy the revolution and attack the national liberation movement in the area, the Reagan Administra- tion may reproduce a new Viet Nam in America itself. 150. Peace-loving governments, the peoples of the world and those forces that struggle for international security and peaceful coexistence are called upon to make increas~s its veto in the Security Council the imposition against the repression and terror as t e patnotlc an emocratlc South African regime of the sanctions provided for in movement becomes stronger and the opposition to that Chapter VII of the Charter. That is why now we must unjust system and the struggle for its eradication grow. demand more strongly than ever that the United States The incarceration for more than 21 years of Nelson Man- l Government end its policy of blackmail and deceit regard- dela, a combatant ofthe ANC who has become a symbo mg the African peoples and fulfIl the commitments it has of the struggle against racial discrimination on a world made. scale, is outrageous. The shameless disregard ofthe South Afric~racists for General Assembly and Security Coun- 181. The Arab peoples of the Middle East are living in ci1 resolutions is outrageous. They continue the tortures, a very critical situation. Israel, thanks to the support it massacres, executions and false suicides in South African receives from the United States, has become a military gaols. But even more outrageous is the fact that, despite Power and has unleashed a bestial policy of expansion repeated resolutions of the General Assembly opposing and domination against all Arab peoples in general and aid to the racists of Pretoria, the IMF continues to grant of annihilation of the Palestinian people in particular. astronomical loans, while denying them or attempting to 182. Today the danger posed by lack of a solution to impose in exchange for those funds conditions detrimen- the complex situation prevailing in the Middle East has tal to the sovereignty ofGovernments which struggle for increased, owing to the fact that the American forces a better life for their citizens. No one can deny that stationed on Lebanese soil under the cover provjded by responsibility for this rests mainly with the Government the so-called multinational forces have taken an active of the United States. part in the fighting in Lebanon, thus making a reality of 176. The Government ofRonald Reagan has proclaimed the old dream ofAmerican imperialists of penetrating and the legitimacy of its strategic alliance with the racists of dominating the Middle East. Pretoria, and that is the fundamental reason for the 183. Lebanon, which was the target of aggression by perilous situation which persists in southern Africa. We the Israeli hordes that are still present in its territory, is are all aware that only that alliance, accompanied by now also the target of direct aggression by the United sordid delaying tactics and brutal pressures, has pre- States. The combined forces of zionism and Yankee vented the peaceful negotiated settlement ofthe Namibian imperialism will not be able to crush the independent problem. spirit of the Lebanese patriots who are now defending 177. That is why it has not yet been possible to imple- their soil from external aggression. Some day, sooner ment Security Council resolution 435 (1978). The United rather-than later, Lebanon will be able to exercise its full States Government is primarily responsible for dashing rights as a free and sovereign nation. ~ke, first of all, to joiD the preceding speakers in extend- mg to you, on behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my warmest congratu- lations on your well-deserved election to the presidency ofthe thirty-eighth session ofthe General Assembly. You have assumed the presidency of this august Assembly at a particularly difficult time when the international situ- ation is under considerable strain, with the eruption of conflicts and tensions in virtually all regions of the world and the apparent collapse of detente between the two s~per-Power~. Your ~utstanding diplomatic skills, pa- tience and wlsdom WIll be severely tested in the months ahead. But we are confident that under your able leader- ship and wise guidance, the General Assembly will make substantial ?rogress towards the attainment of an endur- ing global peace and security. 21',9. I should also like to avail myself of this opportu- nity to extend to your predecessor, Mr. Imre Hollaf of Hungary, our deep appreciation and gratitude for the able and effective manner in which he guided the General Assembly in its deliber~t~ons in the past year. We were deeply impressed by his exertions in promoting the cause of peace throughout the world. He proved extremely adroit in his handling ofvery delicate and sensitive issues. The failures of this Assembly, however, particularly in reaching agreement on several critical issues, such as the launching of the global economic negotiations, cannot be blamed on him. Collectively, we bear responsibility for those failures. 230. I should also like, on behalf of my Government and the people of Nigeria, to welcome Saint Christopher and Nevis to membership in the United Nations and to e~pre~s our conviction that it will make a positive con- tnbutlon to the search for global peace and security. 231. Since the last sessiQn of this body there has been a steady and disturbing deterioration ofthe international situation. It has reached such crisis proportions that there i~ now universal concern that the world is now tottering on the brink of war. 232. The global eruption ofcrises, conflicts and tensions has be-en further aggravated by the massive buildup of arms, especially nuclear weapons, which now represent the gravest danger to international peace and security and to the very survival of mankind itself. Ignoring mankind's pleas and appeals for sanity, the super-Powers in partic- ular have embarked not only upon a massive accumula- tion of weaponry, but also a qualitative improvement of such weapons. Negotiations on arms r(';duction and dis- armament at the various forums have continued to foun- der on the rock of rivalry and deep mistrust between the two super-Powers. Instead of making a steady and pro- gressive effort towards achieving nuclear disarmament, the two Powers are hell-bent on achieving nuclear deter- rence through a further expansion of their already awe- some arsenals. Mr. Abdal/a (Sudan), Vice-President, took the Chair. 233. Doomsday may well be on our doorstep now. That is why it is absolutely essential for the two super-Powers to seek ~etente and peace through co-operation, instead ~fadopting confrontation as a substitute for negotiation. In a futile attempt to achieve global hegemony and world domination for themselves, they have resorted to proxy wars in all regions ofthe world where the clearly expressed regime of South Africa is most objectionable, and we reject it completely. It is apartheidSouth Africa that has consistently sought to undermine the peace, security and stability of the region by its incessant and unprovoked aggression against its neighbours. Collectively and sepa- rately, African States in the region have never posed, and 241. The apartheid regime stands universally con- demned for its persistent, unjustified and unprovoked aggression and acts of destabilization against the front- line States. Recently the racist regime closed its borders with Lesotho in order to force that country to deny political refuge to those fleeing from Pretoria's persecu- tion. When Lesotho turned to the Western allies of the racist regime, it met with a stony silence from them. Lesotho's independence and sovereignty mean nothing to them. Yet these countries which continue to collaborate with the apartheid regime would have the world believe that they are the defenders of freedom throughout the world. Africa is not and cannot be deceived by the dupli- city of these Powers. 242. With regard to the situation in Namibia, my Gov- ernment would like to express its deep appreciation and gratitude to the Secretary-General for his unticing efforts to bring about the independence ofthat Territory. As he discovered during his recent mission to South Africa, all outstanding constitutional issues within the framework ofSecurity Council resolution 435 (1978) had in fact been resolved during proximity talks with the contact group last year. South Africa's insistence on the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola as a precondition for Nami- bia's independence is merely a red herring, a pretext for pursuing other sinister objectives in Angola. Neither Angola itself, nor the presence of Cuban forces there at the invitation of the Angolan Government~can conceiv- ably be represented as a threat to the security of South Africa, which now occupies one third of Angola's terri- tory. Without the withdrawal of South Africa's forces from Angola, .the cessation of support for the UNITA7 bandits and reasonable assurances and guarantees about Angola's security, Angola cannot reasonably be expected to terminate its security arrangements with Cuba. 243. It is the view ofmy Government that nothing short of the application of economic and other sanctions will bring racist South Africa to its senses. For decades all international appeals to apartheid South Africa have fallen on deaf ears. There is no longer any valid excuse or explanation for South Africa's continued intransigence except that it hopes and, indeed, believes that those Western countries that profit from the apartheid system will continue to thwart all efforts to impose sanctions on that regime. 244. Clearly, the situation in southern Africa, particu- larly the persistent refusal of the racist regime to withdraw from Namibia, now calls for the invoking of the provi- sions of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Na- tions. Those provisions, including recourse to sanctions as a punitive measure, were intended to deal with precisely the kind of situation we now have in southern Mrica. Those permanent members of the Security Council which continue to prevent the Council from discharging its full responsibility by protecting the racist regime from sanc- tions bear a very heavy moral and historical responsibility for their reprehensible policy. They have left the people of South Africa and Namibia with no choice other than to seek redress through armed stuggle. The Government and people of Nigeria will continue to provide them with all necessary support to enable them to wage their war of liberation against the racists. We have a moral obli- gation to do so, for our own independence and freedom 251. My Government is equally concerned about the ever-widening economic gap between the developed and developing countries. This is an important point, not just because it underscores the inherent structural imbalance in the global economy, but also because the burden of adjustment in the current crisis has fallen disproportion- ately on the developing countries. The grim economic , picture in most of the developing countries is all too familiar: high foreign debts, continued erosion of terms of trade, an unacceptably high level of inflation-most of it exported to them-sharp increases in the cost of capital and international credit, further restrictions on lending by the commercial banks and the continued decline in the flows of official development assistance. These formidable negative trends have led to a deep recession in the economies of the developing nations, resulting in a further decline in 1982 of the per capita gross domestic product of those countries. The deveiop- ment process has virtually come to a halt in most devel- oping countries, as many of us have been forced by the deteriorating external environment in particular to curtail essential imports and national development programmes. 252. The critical economic situation in the African continent should indeed be underlined at this juncture because our countries are much worse off than those of any other region of the world. At a time of global im- provement in food supply, acute shortages persist in Africa and have serious consequences in terms not only ofincreasing famine and hunger but also ofthe constrain- ing influence on development of mounting food import bills. Owing to over-dependence on the export of one or two primary commodities, the continuing decline and uncertainty in commodity prices have taken their heaviest toll on¥rican economies. The calamitous fall ofexport earnings has been compounded by a contraction of the external flow of resources. Obviously, one of the major 254. A word about the sixth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held at Belgrade, is appropriate at this stage, since it was the most important negotiating conference held this year. We had hoped that the oP90rtunity ofthe Belgrade meeting would be fully seized to deal decisively, effectively and in an integrated and global manner with the various problems of global trade and development, particularly the adverse situation facing the developing countries. Along with other members of the Group of 77, we went to Belgrade determined to be constructive and conciliatory, but we discovered to our utter dismay and disappointment that our partners in the North were in no mood for reciprocity. In the end what emerged from the Conference was a rehash of the results of previous sessions, with the addi- tion of just a few half-measures, which did not amount to the serious package of urgent remedial and long-term measures that had been sought. 255. It is clear that we have all missed yet a"other golden opportunity to take appropriate measures to revitalize the world economy and, in particular, the accelerated and sustained development of developing countries. The international community has delayed taking the necessary vital steps, however, and this has worsened the plight of both the strong and the weak. We therefore wonder how long our partners in the North, particularly the d~veloped market economies, will con- tinue to drag their feet with regard to the restructuring of international economic relations. Greater progress could undoubtedly be made in this regard through a better appreciation by the developed countries of the reality of interdependence and the fact that the developing countries as a group have become a significant partner in the international economy. 256. The foregoing remarks are pertinent since they underscore the caution with which many have been in- clined to receive reports about the economic upturn in certain developed countries. To us this is not a time for raising false expectations. Nor do we think that any trickle-down from the so-called recovery is the panacea for the grave economic problems facing the developing world. The deepening global crisis makes it ever more clear that we are dealing not with a mere cyclical phe- nomenon but with problems ofstructural maladjustments