A/44/PV.06 General Assembly
The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution
A/44/L.64. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt the draft resolution
without a vote?
~raft resolution A/44/L.64 was adopted (resolution 44/239).
Mr. TANASIE (Romania): My delegation would like to express its deep
gratitude to the General Assembly for adopting by consensus draft resolution
A/44/L.64, entitled "Emergency humanitarian assistance to Romania". I should like
to thank all the sponsors of the draft resolution, and in particular the
representa tive of Austr la, who introduced it. My delega tion also wishes to
reiterate its thanks to the President for his kind support of Romania and the
Roman ian people.
Finally, my delegation would like to stress that we interpret the adoption by
consensus of dra ft resolu tion A/44/L. 64 as a 'Convincing illustra Hen of the
solidarity and support of all Member States. This is really a touching hUlllanistic
gesture which w.111 never be forgotten by the Roman ian people.
The PRF.SIDENT, We have concluded our consideration of agenda item 161.
(Mr. Hajnoczi, Austria)
AGEM>A IT9l 34 (CCXltinued)
THE SITUATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, THREATS TO IN'lERNATIONAL PEACE AND SEOJRITY AND E£ACE INITIATIVIiS (dra Et resolu tion A/44/L.63)
The PRESIDENT, In connection with this ~tem, draft resolution A/44/L.63
has been distributed this IfDrning. As I menticned earlier, draft resolution
A/44/L.62 has been withdrawn by the sponso[s.
I call en the representa tive of Nicaragua, who will introduce draft resolu tion
A/44/L.63.
Mr. SERRANO ~LDER! (Nicaragua) (interpretation from Spanish): I wish to
make a sta tement setting forth the posi tioo of Nicaragua, and then I shall
introduce the draft resolution.
The Assembly has taken up the agenda item "The situation in Central America:
~ threats to in terna t10nal peace and securi ty and peace ini tia tives· in the midst of
a new and most serious situation caused by the invasion of the Republic of Panama
by nearly 30,000 men of the United States army. It is obvious that this situation
tranScends the framework within which this item has customarily been discuseed. It
is a serious threat to the peace process in Central America, and this affront to
the sovereignty of one of the countries of Latin America, is a new and especially
dangerous factor which threatens the entire peace process in Central Aroorica.
For this reason, Nicaragua, which introduced the item on the situation in
Central America to the General Assembly, did not for a noment hesita te to convene
this meeting, especially given the present circumstances, under agenda item 34.
There can be no moral, juridic.'!l or political justification for one country's
invading another militarily. The day that this ceases to be the case, the day that
brute force is justified for any reason, the day that we do not have the JlDral
fortitude to denounce and condemn such violations - on that day violence will
become the no~ of conduct, injustice will become a social and political practice,
and the law of the jungle will become the gui.ding principle for relations among
individuals and nations. On that day we shall set aside years and ~ears of efforts
to build the rule of law in international relations, we shall set aside the
enorm:>us sys tema tic efforts of the Uni ted Na Hons to find ways and means to bu ild
peace~ and we shall descend to a very low level in our human and moral values. We
cannot, then, accept any pretext to justi fy what cannot be justified.
Any act of aggression against a given people is an offence against all
peoples, against all na tions. We have always tried to ensure that those woo form
the community of nations and social relations are guided by certain fundamental
principles. That is what the United Nations has been doingl it is the essence of
civilization.
(Mr. Serrano Caldera, Nicaragua)
Our social and poli tical structures are founded on certain principles. They
also form the foundation of our community of nations and are an expression of the
societies of our nations and international society. They are the bases of
international relations, and they cannot be changed to suit the most powerful.
They cannot and must not be compromised. The golden rule of the soc ial pact
between nations, express or tacit, is respect for those principles. Anything else
would flout the norms of the international community, would mean remaining outside
the community of nations and would alter the very essence of human relations.
Non-intervention, non-use of force, respect for sovereignty, full
self-determination, the peaceful settlement of disputes - those are precisely the
principles to which we refer. They cannot be altered. Respect for them must not
be made dependent on the views - negative or positive, justified or unjustified -
of a given nation regarding other Governments or individuals. That cannot be
allowed, for if it were we should be entering the arena of subjectivity, of
arbitrariness, and we should be compromising the very objectivity of the principles
we wish to form the foundation of a civilized human community.
I wish to draw the Assembly's attention to the gravity of the invas ion of the
Republic of Panama by the United States. This is the sixth time it ha~ invaded
Panama. Can this possibly be explained? Do members know how many times the United
States has invaded Latin American countries? Forty-six times. Do they think there
can possibly be any justification?
If a single invasion is a serious offence and an arbitrary act, what can be
said of a Power such as the United States, which has committed such deeds and made
them customary practice and a standard of co~duct?
I have listenea to the representatives of the United States. On a number of
occasions t-.hey have said that the invasio•• was an act of self-defence. Are they
perhaps deliberately forgetting that Article 51 of the Charter establishes the
conditions under which self-defence can take place? Are they deliberately
forget ting that a ~ountry must have been subjected to at'ned invas ion and that the
means used to repel invasion must be proportional? Has Panama committed an act of
armed aggression? Is the sending of 25,000 marines to Panama a proportional
response to who knows what invasion?
I do not wish to sound pretentious, but I believe that in our statement before
the Security Council I demonstrated that there have been multiple violations by the
United States of international law - and, indeed, of its own Constitution and
domestic law. I shall not revert to those arguments; I wish merely to mention in
passing, without further explanation, the nature of those violations of
Article 1 (2) of the United Nations Charter, which establishes the principle of the
self-determination of peoples and the strengthening of universal peace, of
Article 2, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of any State, of resolution 2131 (XX), on the
inadmissibili ty of intervention in the internal affairs of States and protection of
their independence and sovereignty, which is also guaranteed in General Assembly
resolution 2625 (XXV), of article 21 of the Charter of the Organization of American
States, which prohibits the use of force, of resolution 78, of 21 April 1972, of
the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, which establishes the
obligation to observe the principles of non-intervention and self-determination, of
article 4 of the Convention of 23 December 1936, of which the United States is a
signatory and which establishes the rights of States in the event of disputes, of
the principle of non-agression and conciliation of the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro, .of
10 October 1933, condemning wars of aggression and calling for the use of peaceful
means to settle disputes, of article 3 of the same Treaty, to which the United
States is a party, concerning the maintenance of peace and the obligation to adopt
(Mr. Serrano Caldera, Nicaragua)
political, legal and economic means authorized by international law in the event of
disputes, of the Convention on the Maintenance, Preservation and Restoration of
Peace, of 23 December 1936, which has been binding on the Uni ted States since
25 August 1937, in the additional Protocol to which the signatory parties are
forbidden to engage in direct or indirect intervention for any reason in the
internal or external affairs of any of the other parties, of article 18 of the
Charter of the Organization of Arrerican States, l?rohibi ting the intervention of any
State, direct or indirect, for any reason in the internal or external affairs of
any other State, of article 20 of the same instrument, which enshrines the
inviolability of territory and pruhibits the occupation of territory by another
State, of Article 2 (4) of the United Na.tions Charter, which prohibits the threat
or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any
State.
This invasion took place a few days after the most recent summit conference of
Central American Presidents, at a time when enormous efforts were being made to
ensure that the precarious situation in Central America would not deteriorate
further, when the United Nations wa<> making an effort to intensify ana expand its
efforts at pacification in the region through the use of machinery created by the
General Assembly and set in mHon by the Secretary-General, at a time when three
countries of the region - Cbsta Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua - were carrying out
elections now about ~o culminate. In the case of Nicaragua there were more than
2,000 international observers from the United Nations, the Organization of American
States and the European ParI iament, anDng others.
(Mr. Serrano C~ldera, Nicaragua)
Military intervention by the United States in Panama, in addition to being an
offence against a sovereign nation, undermines stability in the Central American
reg ion and deals a heavy blC1tl to the process of detente, which had prompted some to
think in terms of the end of the cold war ~nd the emerqence of a new era in
internatio\1al relations.
(Mr. Serrano Caldera, Nicaragua)
We are confident that the General Assembly will discharge its historic
responsibility and demand that the United States immediately and completely
withdraw its invading troops from Panamanian soil. We have faith that it will, and
we have put our trust in the members of the Organization, this unique human
community, where all the peoples of the Earth are represented. We therefore call
for complete respect for the Tbrrijos-Carter Treaties. We ask that sovereignty be
returned to the Panamanian people. The decisions to be taken here will be historic
ones, and the decision we adopt today will determine whether aggression and brute
force are to be given free rein or whether we will stand up against and condemn any
act that leads to deterioration and violence. Saying no to intervention, invasion
and brute force will mean restoring faith in this institution and ensuring that
hope and faith in man's future will again flourish.
For all these reasons we request a resounding vote in support of the draft
resolution that I now submit to the Assembly for consideration (A/44/L.63). It is
sponsored ~ my delegation and the delegation of Cuba, annng others. The serious
repercussions of the armed intervention by the United States in Panama on
20 December and the fact that the Security Council in its recent delibera tions on
the invasion of Panama has been unable, notwithstanding the vote of the majority of
its members, to reach a decision Q"l that question, makes it incumbent upon the
General Assembly to consider a draft resolution such as that we are now
introducinq •
The sponsors of the draft resolution are convinced that the text submitted by
the non-aligK'led countries to the Security Council reflected the feelinqs of the
majority of States Members of the United Nations with regard to the invasion of
Pan3118. Therefore, using the elements contained in that dra ft resolu tion, anu
taking into account the import3nce in the present circumstances of reaffirming th~
basic principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, the dr:\ft
(Mr. Serrano Caldera, Nicaragua)
resolu tion stresses the full effectiveness of the principles and objectives of the
United Nations Charter in the present context. It reaffirms the sovereign and
inalienable right of PanallB freely to de termine its sac ial, economic and poli tical
system and to develop its international relations without any form of foreign
intervention, interference, subversion, coercion or threat. It reaffirms the
Panamanian people's right to self~etermination and to form its own institutions.
It also reflects the principle of the inadmisRibility of the threat or use of
force. The draft resolution therefore strongly deplores the intervention in Panama
by the Jni ted Sta tes of America and demands the immedia te wi thdrawal of arlled
invasion forces and compliance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The draft
resolution requests the Secretary-~neral to monitor developmentF in Pana~ and to
report to the General Assembly within a 24-hour period.
My delegation would like to ~mphasize the importance of the fifth preambular
paragraph, which expresses profound concern at the serious consequences the armed
intervention in Panama mi9ht have for peace and security in the Central American
region. All delegations are well aware of the fragility of the situation in
Central America and of the enormous efforts that have been deployed tJ:) find
political and negotiated settlements to the various situations existing in our
countries. All delega tions are also well aware of the fact that for eight years my
country has been the victim of aggression bV the Power that is today illegally
occupying Panama. The rela Hons between my country and the Uni too Sta tea have
entered a critical period as a result of actions taken by the invadin9 troops
a9ainst the Nicaraguan Embassy and Nicaraquans in Panama. Those actions are the
SUbject of a letter that my Government sent ~esterday to Mr. James Baker, United
Sta tes Secretary of Sta te, \"Ihich was issued today as document AI 44/910.
(Mr. Serrano Caldera, Nicaragua)
For all those reasons, my dele9ation hopes that Members will vote in favollr of
the draft resolution and thereby reaffirm their commitment to the purposes and
principles of the Organization.
The PRESIDENT, The Assenbly will resume its cClnsideration of agenda
item 34 and draft resolution A/44/L.63 tomorrow, Friday, 29 Det:lember, at 10 a.m.
The meeting rose at 1.25 e:,m.
(Mr. Serrano Caldera, Nicara~~)