S/PV.1674 Security Council

In accordance with the decisions taken by the Security Council at its 1672nd and 1673rd meetings, I invite the representatives of Burundi, Ethiopia, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the United Republic of Tanzania, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Uganda and Morocco to participate in the debate on the item before the Council, without the right to vote. 6. It is particularly agreeable for us to welcome you, Madam President, because this is the first time in the 27 years of the existence of the United Nations that the presidency of the Security Council has fallen to ,a woman 1 I. Members of’ the Security Council have had an opportunity, in the course rrf the discussion at the present session of the Geneml Assembly of the question of the implemea. tation of that khration and as a result of the considerstiort in the Aswntbly, and now in the Security Counc& of thr question of the Prrrtuguese colanies, to become tIlr)rru~lly xquzttirlteti witi the numerous specific facts and detn, citrrf in thr statements by representatives of African countries and of patriotic national liberation movemeats! concerning the acts of violence and terror being committed by the colonialists and racists and the destructive colonial wars being waged by the Portuguese colonialists, with the aid of foreign imperialist forces, against the patriots of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (Bissnu). In order to maintain their power, the Portuguese oppressors are resort* ing to the most monstrous punitive measures in the struggle against members of the national liberation movements* In order to maintain and reinforce its colonial rule,Portugalis strengthening its political, military and economic ties with two other colonial, racist r@mes in southern AfricaVthe Republic of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia* Rei@r troops of the Republic of South Africa are uk@ part! the colonial wars being waged against African Patriots ’ the Portuguese colonies and have become direct accom pliccs in that international crime, the suPPression and 13. Despite the Council’s repeated condemnation of Portugal for its criminal attacks on African States, despite the Council’s demands for an end to all acts of violence and destruction directed against African States and peoples, the leaders in Lisbon continue to pursue their policies of aggression, colonial oppression and the despoilment of African peoples, hypocritically calling them “Portuguese citizens”. What hypocrisy and deception of world public opinion! 17. At the present session, the General Assembly adopted, on 14 November, resolution 2918 (XXVII) concerning the Portuguese colonies, in which it affirmed that the national liberation movements of Angola, Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde and Mozambique are the authentic representatives of the true aspirations of the peoples of those Territories; the resolution recommended that, pending the accession of those Territories to independence, all Governments, the specialized agencies and other organizations within the United Nations system and the United Nations bodies concerned should, when dealing with matters pertaining to the Territories, ensure the representation of those TerrItories by the liberation movements concerned in an appropriate capacity and in consultation with the Organization of African Unity. 14. It is no secret that this is happening because Portugal can count on the support of certain influential States members of NATO. Portugal is backed by its powerful allies, pursuing their own political, strategic and economic aims and protecting the interests of their national monopolies and of the international monopolies, which are piling up profits by exploiting the African peoples and plundering their national wealth. In southern Africa we see the fullest expression of a new, special type of modern neo-colonialism-collective colonialism. The ancestral African lands occupied by Portugal are in fact controlled not only by the Portuguese colonialists but also by international monopolies, whose headquarters are situated in a number of capitals and large cities in Western countries. We all know what this collective colonialism brings to the Africans: populated areas burned by napalm, crops in the fields destroyed by defoliants, the mass destruction of people by bombing, artillery bombardments, napalm and cruel colonial terror as well as economic impoverishment and racial and social oppression. 18. The peoples of Africa are carrying on a difficult and heroic struggle to win their freedom from the colonialists. It is the task and duty of the Security Council to take all necessary steps to give them effective aid in this just and lawful struggle and to adopt effective, practical measures to put an end to Portuguese colonial domination on African soil. 19. The Soviet Union steadfastly pursues the Leninist policy which was reaffirmed by the decisions of the Twenty-fourth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union-a policy of comprehensive support for peoples struggling for their national liberation, including the peoples of Guinea (Bissau), Mozambique and Angola. 15. However, despite all the support which the Portuguese colonialists receive from their highly placed friends and patrons, all their efforts to keep the peoples of the colonies in a state of colonial slavery will come to naught; they are doomed to failure, The peoples of the colonies are fighting back, Their struggle is just and lawful, and their use of force against the foreign usurpers and enslavers is entirely legitimate and universally recognized as justified. Its legitimacy has also been recognized by the United Nations. 20. The message which the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Mr. Kosygin, sent to the Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at the meeting in Rabat, in June, emphasized that the peoples of Africa can rest assured that the Soviet Union stands beside them and fully 16. The Soviet delegation is in full agreement with the views and position of the African States on this item, as set forth by their representatives in the letter requesting a meeting of the Security Council [S/10828] ; in particular, 22. We are all aware that the present session of the General Assembly, acting on the proposal put forward by the USSR delegation, has adopted by an overwhelming majority a resolution calling upon the Governments and peoples of the whole world to celebrate annually a Week of Solidarity with the Colonial Peoples of Southern Africa and Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde Fighting for Freedom, Independence and Equal Rights [resolution 2911 (XXVII)J. 23. The Soviet delegation fully supports the demands of the delegations of sovereign African States that the Security Council should take the necessary steps to compel Portugal to halt its colonial oppression of African peoples and to refrain from impeding their attainment of the cherished goal of self-determination and independence, The Council should set specific deadlines for the transfer of power to the authentic representatives of the African peoples of Guinea (Bissau), Angola and Mozambique. It must base such action on the provisions of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, which stipulates that “immediate steps shall be taken, in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories . . . which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those Territories . , . in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire”. 24. If Portugal violates the Security Council resolution concerning the transfer of power to the representatives of the peoples of those countries, the Council will be obliged to consider the adoption of sanctions against Portugal. 25. The Security Council must do everything necessary to bring nearer the hour of the final liberation of the African peoples of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau) and other Territories from colonial enslavement. 26. The Soviet delegation would like to make the following preliminary statement on the draft resolution on this item which the distinguished representative of Somalia, Mr. Nur Elmi, introduced yesterday on behalf of Guinea, Somalia and the Sudan [S/l 08341. 27. We are giving this important document careful study. . The following three elements seem to us the most important in it. 28. First of all, there is the appeal to Portugal to enter into negotiations with the national liberation movements of Angola, Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde and Mozambique with a view to ending the armed conflict and bringing independence to those Territories. We regard this provision as a just demand on the part of the representatives of the national liberation movements and sovereign African States and as a manifestation of their goodwill and intention to use all acceptable methods of attaining by peaceful, political means the independence of those African peoples 29. The Soviet delegation would like particularly to emphasize that the holding of such negotiations must, of course, under no circumstances delay the granting of independence to the peoples of the Territories under Portuguese domination. We must decisively reject any attempts to take advantage of the willingness of the national liberation movements and the sovereign African States to seek a peaceful settlement in order to drown the substance of the matter in endless debate and negotiation-thus, in effect, helping the Portuguese colonialists to maintain their domination over African peoples. We must not allow to happen what is now happening in the case of Namibia. It should, by the way, be noted that it was apparently the Western countries which initiated the dialogue in Namibia, and the South African racists are using the idea of “dialogue” more and more openly in order to strengthen and maintain their rule in Namibia. 30 + The second important ‘element in the draft resolution of the three African countries is the recognition of the national liberation movements of Angola, Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde and Mozambique as the legitimate representatives of the peoples of those countries and as spokesmen for their wishes and aspirations. This provlsion is, first and foremost, a reflection of the actual situation ln those Territories. It reflects the fact that the Africans themselves must be and are the masters of Africa. In this connexion, it is important to bear in mind that United Nations bodies such as the Committee of Twenty-Four as well as the General Assembly also recognize the representatives of the liberation movements as the legitimate representatives of the peoples of the Territories. Under these circumstances, the Security Council must declare itself decisively and unambiguously in favour of recog. nizing this reality and must declare its support of the African peoples concerned and the national liberation movements, which express the will of those peoples. 31. The third important provision of the draft resolution submitted by the African countries is, in our view, the legitimate and justified demand that those States which are continuing to supply the Portuguese colonialist murderers with weapons and military equipment to carry on the bloody colonial wars against African peoples should halt that aid to the racist colonialists. We consider that the Security Council should without delay adopt a decision calling for an end to the delivery of arms and military materiel to the Portuguese colonialists.

I thank the representative of the Soviet Union for the kind words addressed to my country and to myself. 42. I should like to ask those Powers how they can fail to be embarrassed by an ally which, after all, has caused them nothing but disappointment, an ally which wages an outdated and costly colonial war while keeping its own people in an anachronistic state of underdevelopment. Why is the alliance with Portugal so precious to them? Why are they SO indulgent with that State, to the point of forgetting their own international obligations and tarnishing their reputation? 35. The next speaker on our list is the representative of Morocco, I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement. 36. Mr. ZENTAR (Morocco) (interpret&ion fvom Frenchj: Madam President, first of all I should like to express to you how happy and proud my delegation is to see you presiding over the Security Council, a privilege conferred on a woman for the first time in the history of our Organization. We Africans feel this privilege more deeply than anyone else because you are a daughter of Africa, a young continent where African women, under your guidance, have already waged and are still waging today an unflagging battle for their complete emancipation. Your presidency today constitutes for your African sisters not only a symbol but a confirmation of the paramount role which they must in future play in our society. 43. Must they take sides with Portugal at all costs because the overlapping of their economic interests, to the detriment of the local populations, is so extensive that the surrender of every principle is possible, acceptable and lightly accepted? 44. And yet it is open to those Powers, and I would even say it is their duty, to co-operate in a better way with the United Nations so as to help the populations of the Portuguese colonies free themselves to help establish peace and co-operation on an equal footing throughout the African continent. They could do so, first and foremost, by dealing directly with Portugal, by making it feel that it is alone in its insane policy, by giving it formal notice to abandon the wars it is fighting without honour or glory and which are in any case doomed to defeat. 37. I also wish to express our gratitude to you and to the members of the Security Council for having given me the opportunity to participate in your debate today. Once again the Security Council is meeting in connexion with resolution 1514 (XV) concerning the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples. Once again it is meeting to examine, but in a more serious context, the situation in which millions of our African brothers suffer under Portuguese domination. 45, At the very least, and as a fust step, Portugal’s allies should decree an embargo on all weapons which sustain that war of repression and prolong the suffering of the captive populations. By adopting so just and necessary an attitude, would those Powers be doing something new in the matter? Certainly not, because there are recent precedents when weapons, not to say foodstuffs, have been cut off by a great ally to one of its closest partners because of the unpopularity and worldwide disapproval of the domestic policy of the country concerned. 38. Since the beginning of these debates, this Council has received sufficient information and reports on the grievances of the struggling populations and the extent of the fighting, which is becoming increasingly intense and deadly. 39. This Council has already had to examine so often the overflow of those manifestations of violence into the neighbouring countries, the growing risks of seeing the war become even more extensive and covering entire regions. 46. What is one to think of this other ally, Portugal, which is engaged in three long and inexcusable colonial wars. 47. That being so, let us not forget, thank God, that the work of liberation is in progress and that the end is in sight. The report of the Special Mission of the United Nations which was sent to Guinea (Bissau) has brought to US irrefutable proof of this. 40. Without any restraint whatsoever Portugal is waging at one and the same time three typically colonial wars which are clearly beyond its means. That country, which has been called to the dock more than 100 times for an explanation, has still not found anything better than its claim so often refuted by facts elsewhere and in other circumstances, that those vast territories belonging to the black continent are an integral part of its national territory. That claim which, for decades, has aroused torrents of protests and provoked upheavals elsewhere, today can be considered laughable, particularly when we know that it is an oft-abused myth and that it is manifestly contrary to the expressed will of the local populations which have absolutely no ties with Portugal, no relations either historic, linguistic, or human other than by the grace of the present colonial domination. 48. In Mozambique and in Angola the same fight is carried out with the same determination and also with the same success. But the dramatic element is Portugal’s stubborn refusal to curtail its now futile exercise. Despite common sense and the will of the entire international community, it continues to impose numerous sacrifices on its people and on the African peoples of those regions, in an attempt to real&e a dream for which there is no further place on our planet. 50. We have repeated this often. Portugal refuses to draw any lesson from the history of all the colonial empires which have invariably had the same fate, that is, of disappearing, sometimes with honour. When will Portugal decide to convene a conference similar to the Evian Conference and sit with the genuine representatives of the people of the Territories under its domination in order to settle, in the best possible way and by the peaceful means recommended by the United Nations Charter, a situation which cannot after all last much longer? If this wish were one day to materialize my country, Morocco, would dbubtless immediately offer, as the site of that conference the beautiful city of Tangiers, whose position is ideal bo& geographically and politically. There would be great temptation, in such a beautiful setting, to obliterate decades of error and of criminal obstinacy. 51. But have we reached this stage yet? Alas, after having reminded Portugal and its allies of their commitments, their duty and where their true interests lie, we have no choice other than to provide the liberation movements with our material and moral assistance so as to enable them to continue, until final victory, their determined struggle for survival and dignity. We call on the entire international community to act jointly and in the most suitable manner so as to shorten the suffering of our African brothers. And is not the best way to achieve that result first and foremost to use all adequate means and arguments to persuade Portugal-and, if need be, make Portugal-bring about without further delay a development which has become indispensable and inevitable, and which would follow the trend of history? 52. As we see it, the first duty, and doubtless the most effective,’ would be to cut off once and for all the sources of weapons intended for the massacre and destruction of our African brothers. Once this step is taken and those sources are really cut off, it will be easy for us all to awaken Portugal to the realities of the present-day world and guide it to the only course that remains open to it to return with dignity into the international community, in which it is in a state of uncomfortable banishment. Portugal must, without hesitation or regret, abandon a colonialist policy which has been condemned a thousand times. Then, and only then, will it be able to set out, with all the peoples of the world, on an era of frank, loyal and mutually beneficial co-operation. Until that time, it remains our duty unreservedly to extend a brotherly and strong hand of friendship to the freedom fighters.

I thank the representative of Morocco for the kind words he addressed to me.

Madam President, it is a source of enormous satisfaction and gratification for my delegation to see you presiding over the Security Council during this month of November. Your great country and 55. My delegation also takes this opportunity to express to your predecessor, the representative of France, MT. de Guiringaud, our admiration for the excellent and efficient manner in which he conducted the affairs of this Council during the month of October. 56. My delegation is grateful to those speakers, and particularly to the Foreign Ministers of Liberia and Sierra Leone, and the leaders of the liberation movements of the so-called Portuguese Territories, who have reminded this Council of the position of Portugal, of which this Council is constantly aware and seized. For over 10 years Portugal has defiantly refused to acknowledge the principle of self-determination and independence, contemptuously refused to comply with all the appeals for negotiations, and, despite 13 condemnations, continues to pursue its wars of aggression against the peoples of Angola, Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde and Mozambique, extending those wars beyond those Territories to neighbouring African States Members Of this Organization. 57. The members of this Council may wish to have a second look at the letter from the representative of Portugal, as contained in document S/10833 of 15 November 1972, which affirms beyond doubt that Portugal persists in its refusal to comply with, inter aria, United Nations appeals for negotiations with a view to arriving at a peaceful implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. In that letter the representative of Portugal asserts that “it is beyond the competence of [the Security Council], as defined by the United Nations Charter, to consider such a request”. The reference is to the request of African delegations to the President of the Security Council to convene this series of meetings, Why? The letter itself goes on to explain: “there being no dispute prevailing between Portugal and any of the States whose representatives have appended their signatures to that letter in relation to the overseas portion of Portugal’s national territory.” And I underline “to the overseas portion of Portugal’s national territory”. Following the same logic, the letter argues that if the objective is to discuss the situation in the “overseas territories”--and I underline “overseas territories”-resulting from the anti-national and subversive activities of certain political movements, then that situation is essential-, ly the result of a dispute between the Portuguese State and Portuguese nationals acting outside the law-and I underline “Portuguese nationals”. Furthermore, the letter Wads Us to believe its affirmation that: “. , . there are no territories that are either ‘under Portuguese domination’ or that can be described as being ‘occupied by Portugal’ “. 58. It is not only boring but, as has been said before, insulting to the minds of members of this Council that 59. In those circumstances, my delegation cannot but acknowledge the realities of the situation: namely, that Portugal has no mind to Iook afresh into the situation that exists in the so-called Portuguese Territories today. 60. We have said before, and many delegations have stated in greater detail during this debate, that Portugal alone could not have kept 1.5 million persons, in an area many times its size, under subjugation and terror had it not been mainly for the assistance it receives from some NATO Powers, in the first place, and from South Africa and the financial and economic concerns appertaining to the NATO Powers and to South Africa, Without that assistance Portugal would be alone, too poor and too weak to hold back the tide of freedom for so long-much less for ever. 66. My delegation is convinced that Portugal is aware of all those adverse possibilities and-instead of forestalling them by acknowledging the liberation movements’ leaders and hammering out together with them a formula satisfactory to both sides-in the madness of power has chosen to follow a course which has led always to the disastrous end of dictatorial and oppressive regimes like its own. 61. Portugal should have realized that neither in NATO nor in the European community has it any future to rely on. It is by a sheer accident of history and geographical situation that it has been strategically chosen, as befitting a period of cold war between East and West. It has otherwise no qualification whatsoever to be a member of, that alliance. Perhaps Portugal does not conceive that the present detente, which is dictated by the interests of peace and security in Europe, will evolve into an entente, during which period Portugal will have outlived its usefulness as a base. In short, trade, and not military aid, is likely to be the norm of relations between Portugal and its present allies. 67. It is not, however, too late for Portugal to see the wisdom of the course drawn by the United Nations Charter; indeed, the realities of the situation in the Portuguese Territories and in Europe, to which Portugal belongs, are destined to cut Portugal to its natural size and geographical situation. 68. As for Africa, the decision is made: negotiations or continuation of wars of liberation. Negotiations can be acceptable only if conducted with the authentic leaders of the peoples in the Territories and in an atmosphere congenial to free political negotiations. 62. Yet, because of certain economic and political qua&?- cations, Portugal cannot aspire to be a member of the European Economic Community; nor can it be sure that its ally, South Africa, will be in any way associated with the European community. Portugal will therefore have to rely on its own power and resources, which in no way can enable it to maintain its position in Africa, thousands of miles away. 69. The General Assembly has already endorsed the African decision on 14 November this year. It remains for the Council to take a firm decision about a situation which threatens international peace and security in southern Africa. It will be in vain for the Council to try to consider the situation in the Portuguese Territories in isolation from the whole dangerous situation that prevails in southern Africa and without due consideration of the role of the NATO alliance and the part that foreign economic and financial concerns play in perpetuating the permanent aggression of the Lisbon-Pretoria-Salisbury axis. Any exercise by the Council which ignored these factors would be futile and tantamount to condoning the present aggression and the state of international insecurity in that part of Africa. 63. In that case, need Portugal be reminded that, sooner or later, mutual co-operation with independent Angola, Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde and Mozambique is more beneficial to it than its old military allies? 64. Assuming that Portugal is depending on military aid and economic assistance from South Africa, what would be the state of the South African economy after Britain’s entry into the Common Market and of European political unity thereafter? Would it be acceptable to the partners of Britain in the European Community that it should retainlet alone increase-its present over one billion pounds investment in South Africa? And this figure refers only to the statistics for 1966, so that the amount must be well over that one billion by now. How would this new development affect the economy of South Africa and the present assistance which South Africa is advancing to Portugal In Mozambique and Angola? These are simple 70. Should the Council succeed in persuading the NATO Powers to withdraw their mihtary and financial assistance to Portugal, Portugal itself will be greatly helped to consider the situation in its naked reality. Should Portugal fail to do so, the Council can invoke Chapter VII of the Charter and apply total sanctions to the whole of southern Africa for a start. Finally, if those efforts fail, the Council may have to consider, a,s a final attempt, a new innovation-as suggested by the Foreign Minister of Liberia-such as the declaration of independence for those Territories under Portuguese domination. 72. We agreed also to sponsor the draft resolution in the hope that Portugal itself might take into consideration the possibility that such a change in the cold war alliances may take place in the not distant future. In the eyes of Portugal these may be mere speculations, and they may therefore be lightly dismissed by it. In such a case, the liberation movements and the masses of the peoples in the Portuguese Territories will have no choice but to accept the challenge and the sacrifices it entails, and to intensify their struggle by all ways and means open to them. 73. As for the policy of my country towards the liberation movements in Angola, Guinea (B&au>, Cape Verde and Mozambique, it stands firmly by the pledge which it made with all African States at the Rabat summit meeting to give all moral and material support to the legitimate struggle of all African peoples under colonial domination until total liberation is achieved. We only hope and pray that the NATO Powers will decide before it is too late between Africa as a whole and Portugal; and it is in the interest of ail parties that the decision should be made before the African climate changes.

I thank the representative of Sudan for the kind remarks he was good enough to address to me. 75. Mr. LONGBRSTAEY (Belgium) (interpretation from French/: Madam President, allow me first of all to discharge the pleasant duty of congratulating you on your accession to the presidency of the Council for the month of November, to assure you of my delegation’s entire support and, lastly, to express my best wishes for your success. 76. I should like to pay a deserved tribute to the representative of France for the talent ,wit.h which he conducted our proceedings in October and to tell him what happy memories we have of his term in the President’s chair. 77. Here in this Chamber and on several occasions-most recently when the Security Council met in Addis Ababa last January and February-my delegation has made known the position of Belgium on the question of the African Territories administered by Portugal. My country has long recognized that the peoples of those Territories have an inalienable right to self-determination and independence. 78. We should like to say to Portugal that the end of their colonial empire did not lead to a break in relations between the African countries that became independent and the former metropolitan countries. Quite the contrary. On both sides there emerged a political will to institute, in equality and mutual non-interference, relations of co-operation whose objective was to aid the young States of Africa in their own economic, social and cultural development efforts. 79. We hope that Portugal will join this movement, which has established between Africa and Europe special relations to which they were undoubtedly predisposed by a common past, common languages and geographical neighbourhood, but which was also confirmed by the free choice of the partners. 80. We hope, too, that this development, which Portugal knows we wish for, will take place through peaceful means in conformity with the principles of the Charter. We therefore hope that negotiations will be started between Portugal and the qualified representatives of the peopIes of the Territories under its administration with a view to transferring power to the freely elected and representative political institutions of those peoples. 81. As regards the representativeness of the national liberation movements, only some form of consultation with the populations concerned, possibly under United Nations supervision, will enable us to be certain of this. To act otherwise would be to disregard Security Council resolutions 180 (1963) and 218 (1965) and to fail to recognize the right of the peoples of the Territories to be directly associated with any settlement concerning their destiny. 82. This in no way reduces the necessity to give special attention to those who are now acting as the spokesmen for the peoples of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea (B&au). 83. Several of the speakers whom the Council has already heard have criticized the military and other assistance that certain allies of Portugal within NATO are alleged to be providing that country. They have alleged that this assistance is enabling Portugal to continue its policy of colonial domination and armed repression against the peoples of Angola, Guinea (Bissau) and Mozambique. 84. For its part, my country cannot remain insensitive to these accusations. Belgium has a clear conscience; it has 92. Since 1960, the year of African independence, when, for the first time, the United Nations condemned Portuguese colonialism, many other resolutions have been added to the famous resolution 1514 (XV); but Portugal continues to adhere to its position of total scorn for the resolutions of this international Organization. That attitude is not caused by ignorance of the rules of international law, nor by ingenuousness. This is Portuguese defiance of the international community. 85. In conclusion, I should like to reaffirm Belgium’s dedication to the right of the peoples of the Portuguese Territories to self-determination and independence, and also to the negotiations which should make possible its exercise. But, if they are to succeed, these negotiations must not be accompanied by prior conditions other than a reaffirmation of their final objective, In particular, there can be no question of the Council substituting itself for the populations concerned or deciding in their place who their spokesmen should be. Lastly, the objective sought can very well be obtained without condemning Portugal or countries which could very well use their relations with Portugal to induce it to respect the rights of the peoples in the Territories under its administration. 93. Today, the Security Council is meeting, and we hope that it will show the same spirit which prompted the Fourth Committee of the General Assembly to grant observer status to the national liberation movements in Angola, Guinea (B&au) and Cape Verde, Zimbabwe and Namibia. That will enable us to take a decisive step regarding our inalienable rights and the confirmation of our exclusive competence to represent-wherever that may be-our country and our people. We are grateful to all the countries which voted for resolution 2918 (XXVII) on the Portuguese colonies, adopted by the General Assembly on 14 November. At the same time, we regret the fact that certain countries which voted against it showed themselves to be going against the logic of history, to be forces of regression in this world committed to the process of detente.

I thank the representative of Belgium for the encouraging words he has addressed to me. 94. We wish to avail ourselves of this opportunity to thank the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone and Liberia for the very fruitful and substantial contribution they made to the understanding of the devious nature of Portuguese colonialism and the reasons for the votes of certain of Portugal’s allies. 87. The Council, it will be recalled, decided at its 1672nd meeting to accede to the request made by the represen tatives of Somalia and the Sudan, as contained in document S/10830, that we invite Mr, Manuel Jorge to participate in our discussion. Consequently, with the Council’s consent, I intend to invite Mr. Manuel Jorge to take a place at the Council table and I now invite him to make his statement. 93. Our presence here reflects our intention, expressed long ago; not to be considered as an organization set apart from the international community. Our presence is to be interpreted and understood-as an expression of our dedication to the standards and principles of the United Nations Charter, those same principles which Portugal tramples under foot at all times and in all circumstances, while the . international community looks on with indifference. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Manuel Jorge took a place at the Council table.

Madam President, allow me to tell you that the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is happy to see you presiding over this meeting of the Security Council, thus enhancing Africa’s dignity. 96. It was in response to this irresponsible attitude of the Portuguese Government that the people of Angola, under the direction of MPLA, decided to challenge Portuguese colonialism by the use of arms, and in 1961 the armed struggle for national liberation was unleashed in our country. That was an attitude of legitimate self-defence against the massacres, the barbarism and the repression perpetrated by Portugal since its arrival in our country. We used the only means that would enable us to accede to independence and the only language which Portugal understood. Nevertheless, our people has never neglected the 89. On behalf of the entire Angolan people, the fighters and leaders of MPLA, I extend to you and to the Council our warmest and sincerest greetings. 90. We also wish to thank the Security Council-you, personally, Madam President, and all the members of the Council-for having responded affirmatively to the appeal of the African Group at the United Nations to hold this meeting at which you will have the difficult task of 97. Since 1961 the armed struggle for national liberation in our country has never ceased to develop and has had as its fundamental feature the establishment of a society which is an alternative to the colonial society, by setting up new structures of organization, administration and management of power which have given to the regions under our control all the characteristics of an independent State. 98. Indeed, MPLA controls more than one third of the territory of Angola, corresponding to an area of approximately 500,000 square kilometres. In a part of our eastern province 1 million men, women and children already know the joy of living in democracy, freedom, mutual respect and a spirit of co-operation. In these liberated areas the aspirations of our people are fulfilled and their needs met. In these liberated areas forced labour no longer exists, production is rising, our culture is reviving and the new man is born. In these liberated areas the new Angolan State is rising in the midst of institutions of people’s power. 99. We shall try to draw you a picture which will enable you to see and understand how we are substituting for a colonialist society a free and democratic society in our liberated areas, and above all how the MPLA has become the only legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Angolan people. 100. What is the present situation of Portuguese colonialism in Angola? 101. There are approximately 6 million inhabitants of Angola, of which 400,000 are Portuguese settlers, The Portuguese Fascist colonialist Government pursues its war of aggression and genocide in our territory by concentrating there most of its troops-more than 130,000 men, of which 60,000 are members of the army, the navy and the air force, the remainder being made up of Katangan mercenaries who formerly served Tshomb$, mercenaries, soldiers and pilots of the regular South African Army, the Portuguese political police @DE-DGS), the customs officers, and the militia of the armed settlers called the Provincial Organization of Volunteers for Civil Defence (OPVDCA). There can be no possible justification for the presence of Portugal in our country other than the will of the Portuguese colonialist Government at all cost to dominate our people and exploit our national wealth. 102. Angola’s strategic position has often been emphasized by the Portuguese Government by drawing the attention of its NATO allies to the need to safeguard the South Atlantic route for the imperialist Powers, the plan being to see those Powers more deeply committed in the South Atlantic. Actually, what the Portuguese Government seeks-and it does not conceal this-is more military assistance so as to extend its plans of aggression in our country. Internally, it is in fact increasing the repression of our people and even builds more prisons than teacher training schools. 104. Not being able to put an end to our popular struggle, the Portuguese Government organized, in October 1969, so-called legislative elections for the so-called National Assembly of Lisbon. The MPLA, well aware of the cynical procedures of Portuguese colonialism, denounced the ma. noeuvre and called upon our people not to participate in this farce. The seven Portuguese candidates appointed for Angola considered themselves as elected even before the counting of votes in that electoral farce. Those elections, which were yet another masquerade, were a failure for Caetano and his famous “liberalization” and at the same time yet another victory for MPLA, which is the legitimate representative of the just aspirations of the Angolan people. 105. Faced with the determination of our people, Portuguese colonialism strengthens its ties with the South African and Rhodesian racists and officially requests the countries members of NATO to establish military bases on Angolan territory and also makes the ports of Angola available to the naval forces of the NATO countries. 106. In 1969 hundreds of Angolans were arrested at Luanda, having been accused of collaborating with the first political-military region of MPLA. Some were deported to the Cape Verde Islands and others were sent to concentration camps in the southern part of the country, Their only crime was to desire the independence of our country and the complete end of Portuguese colonialism on our soil. 107. To prevent the progress of our struggle, Portuguese colonialism, proud of its Machiavellian policy, has set up a system of “strategic hamlets” by organizing and settling the populations in regions which it considers essential for the establishment of its defence system and fundamental for avoiding any contact with the guerrillas, This policy, which the Portuguese call aldeamentos, reordenamento rural and colonatos de soldados, failed completely, because by displacing the population the Portuguese colonialists suffered nefarious consequences. They were not able to find the means to feed that population which lived surrounded by barbed wire, with no possibility to cultivate the fields, even for its own subsistence, and they were unable to check the growing hatred of the people towards colonialism and were unable to prevent them from joining our ranks. 108. Thus, the fighters of MPLA continue in their offensive to follow the watchword, which is to spread armed struggle to the entire national Territory. They ensure control of the liberated areas by eliminating thevestiges of colonial domination. Progress is preceded by hard work among the popular masses by educating them politically and awakening their national conscience. The colonialist expeditionary corps is becoming increasingly convinced that it has lost the war. From the first political-military region to the fifth, our divisions are striking increasingly hard blows against the colonialist occupier. By spreading armed struggle, we are pursuing our purpose of eliminating 109. More than a third of our country has been liberated- 500,000 square kilometres with a population of approximately a million inhabitants. That is the largest area at present liberated by a national liberation movement in Africa. Thus, it constitutes a solid base for our people who are still in areas under enemy control, where the colonialists practice institutionalized banditry and where crime be. comes the law, and genocide becomes a system which enables Portugal to remain in Africa. Slavery, corruption and violence are still the law under Portuguese occupation. What, then, is the alternative society which MPLA has established to serve our people? 116. In the field of health, we have set up the Medical Assistance Service in order to cure diseases and render the necessary assistance to our people and to the wounded fighters. Due to a lack of sufficient means, we emphasize preventive medicine, and organize vast vaccination campaigns which enabled us last year to avoid having any victims while, regrettably, there were cholera victims in Luanda, the capital, which is still under Portuguese occupation. 110. It need not be proved that where there is colonialist suppression resistance must of necessity be organized by a party representing the legitimate aspirations of the dominated people to self-determination and independence. It is in these circumstances that MPLA has succeeded in organizing within our country a vast movement of struggle against Portuguese colonialism and, by liberating a third of our sacred territory, where popular power has been established, it has fulfilled its historic role of being the organization in the forefront in the political-military struggle. 117. In the social field, a group of doctors working in the liberated areas has decided to set up an Angolan Red Cross, so as to comply with the Geneva Conventions, because Portugal, in its way of waging its colonial war, is acting contrary to the Geneva Conventions. To dominate the civilian populations it uses napalm and chemical warfare; it tortures prisoners of war; and since the Portuguese Red Cross does not come into our liberated areas the Angolan Red Cross will see to it that the Conventions are respected, 118. In the economic field, we have set up co-operatives for agricultural production so as to feed the population and the guerillas and, at the same time, the diversification of crops enables our people to be better nourished from the point of view of proteins. Peoples’ shops ensure commerce and the Union of Angolan Workers is entrusted with increasing production and preventing any attempt at exploitation. 111. In our liberated areas the people are organized under the guidance of councils for popular action, whose members are directly elected by the people. Those committees, which deal with production and the organization of self-defence as well as the administration of justice, are proof that in our liberated areas the people really participate in an independent life. The existing organization in our liberated areas enables our people to meet in a committee of action, in village assemblies or regional assemblies, to decide democratically and freely on various problems and to ensure the implementation of the decisions taken. In order to carry out all these tasks the mass organizations, such as the Organization of Women of Angola, the National Union of Angolan Workers, the Youth of MPLA, of which one branch is the Organization of Pioneers and the other the Union of Angolan Students, are very active. 119. Handicrafts are springing up again and our culture is opening up and establishing itself. The Angolan culture is no longer either nonexistent or a subculture. 126. Many newspapermen, movie-producers, foreign press correspondents and delegations, and the Military Committee of Inquiry of the Organization of African Unity have stayed in and travelled through scores of villages spread over hundreds of kilometres, and have been able to appreciate the traditional hospitality of our people and the enthusiasm that the population and the fighters throw into the tasks of consolidating the people’s power, into agricultural labours, and into politico-military training and literacy campaigns for children and adults. They have thus been able to judge how colonialism has oppressed the peoples by abandoning them to their poverty. 112. We are acting on the basis of the following principle: “to build to continue the battle until our people is completely free, so that complete independence will be fruitful and useful to all our free population.” 113. This means that our people is embarked in an effort of national reconstruction in the liberated areas, covering the political, economic, social and cultural fields. That is why we insist on the fact that our liberated areas must be considered as an underdeveloped State to which every assistance must be granted. 121. The guiding principle of national reconstruction in our country is that of relying fust on our own strength. But confronted with the powerful means available to our enemy, massive assistance on the political, diplomatic, material and . moral levels are extremely necessary and must be accorded us so as to hasten the end of the war and assist us in our programme of national reconstruction. 114. The national reconstruction which is under way covers the fields of education, health, agricultural produc. tion and handicrafts. 123. To counter this new reality, barbarous Portuguese coIonialism stops at nothing; from political Machiavellism to police-state repression and cultural and physical genocide, all means are employed. In addition to the napalm, our people are today suffering the consequences of amost atrocibus chemical warfare being waged on African soil, and on several occasions international bodies have heard the cries for help of our people. 124. It can never be too often repeated that the Portuguese colonialists, who have no sufficiently developed aeronautical industry or war industry, could never carry on their colonial war without the aid and active support, on all levels-political, military, economic and diplomatic-of the countries which are members of NATO, of the racist complex of Rhodesia and South Africa, and of Brazil. 125. The napalm that burns our children is “made in USA”, the planes that bomb us are “made in Italy”, the defoliants that destroy our harvests are “made in Germany”, and the helicopters that transport the Portuguese commandos are “made in France”, This is what we call the “NATO-ization” of the war in Angola. The Portuguese troops use Panhard armoured vehicles, Alouette 2 and 3 helicopters, SA 330 Pumas, Augustas, Fiat G-91 aircraft, Breda machine-guns, FN and Ml6 automatic rifles; all manufactured and furnished to them by Western countries. This raises the problem of whether the illegal and illegitimate colonialist regime in our country could carry on its war of aggression against our people without this assistance that is being supplied in the name of the so-called Western civilization, which in our country can be credited only with bringing death by genocide and torture. 126. We are certain that halting this furnishing of military assistance to Portugal would serve to hasten the end of the war. However,, almost isolated from the international viewpoint, the Portuguese Government trains, organizes and finances commandos for the purpose of attacking the countries bordering on Angola when its forces do not do so directly, thus imperilling international peace and security in the African continent. 127. The development of the situation in Angola shows ever more clearly that the continued Portuguese aggression is, for Lisbon, a catastrophe. Today, more than 59 per cent of the national budget of Portugal is devoted to war expenditures. The number of desertions from the ranks of the enemy is increasing. The opposition to the war in Portugal itself is growing. 129. This step on our part is not an attitude of weakness, as the Portuguese sometimes claim; it is proof and demonstration of a maturity and political realism that are lacking in the Portuguese Government. 130. As a corollary to this proposal and in consequence of the statement of 14 November of the Prime Minister of Portugal, Mr. Caetano, as reported in TheNew York Times of 15 November, the Security Council should not object ta the granting of assistance at every level to the people of Angola by international organizations acting through that people’s sole and legitimate representative, MPLA. 131. We could not end without saying that we do not accept the farce of the Portuguese “constitutional revision” that would grant “a certain autonomy to the overseas provinces” which “can be called States”. Indeed, we are not fighting for an autonomous status; we are fighting for our land and our freedom, we are fighting for our right to self-determination and independence, as defined by the international community, meeting in its General Assembly, in its historic resolution 15 14 (XV). We therefore reject and condemn the demagogic manoeuvre of the Portuguese Government aimed at deceiving public opinion at home in Portugal, in Angola and throughout the world. 132. Eleven years of armed stmggle have led our people to understand better and hate Portuguese colonialism and have made us determined to fight against its organized war. In the 500,000 square kilometres that have been liberated, there is a new life and a people is creating a new Angola h dignity. The Angolans are united as one man in blood with MPLA, their true and legitimate representative. 133. We thank the Council for its kind attention and we are strengthened in our confidence in the commitment of the United Nations, of the Security Council and of the General Assembly to support the just struggle of the People of Angola for self-determination and independence. As our people always say: Victory is certain.

1 thank Mr. Jorge for his statement. 135. The next name on the list of speakers is that of the representative of Uganda. I now invite him to take a place at the Council table and to make his statement. 137. When there is substantial disagreement about the validity of principles or when the ideals we reach out for are in dispute, there is justification for lengthy arguments and counter-arguments. But we meet here to discuss a question on which there is a very extensive consensus, both in this Organization and outside it. We do not meet here to discuss whether Portuguese Territories should be granted independence, because, by several resolutions of this Council and the General Assembly, that has been established as a clearly defined objective. But we meet here to discuss how to hasten the freedom and independence of Portuguese colonies, and indeed also to take an opportunity to censure Portugal for its total refusal to acknowledge what the rest of mankind acknowledges, namely, independence for the Portuguese colonies, 142. The latest study on Portuguese thinking, contained in the report of the Special Committee of Twenty-Four concerning the Territories under Portuguese administration, bears this out. In that document we are told that Portugal was described at the Institute of Higher Military Studies in Lisbon as a nation “with 4.2 per cent of its area and 41 per cent of its population in Europe and 95 per cent of its area and 55 per cent of its population in Africa”.4 Thus, according to the Portuguese Government, Portugal extends to both the European and the African continents as a single constitutional whole. 143. The Portuguese Foreign Minister in that same speech, in an attempt to persuade us-or more accurately, to mislead us into believing-that Portugal has a progressive colonial policy, stated that the designation of “State” would be applied to any of the Territories concerned, to mark their relatively advanced level of development. This expression, however, to us is meaningless. The word “State” within Portuguese constitutional law bears a different connotation from what we would have it mean. It does not entail the existence of a sovereign nation-State, either now or ln the future;like the nation-States represented in this Organization. It is in fact a convenient expression of an administrative unit within one sovereign nation-State, Portugal. 138. In his address to the General Assembly on Monday, 2 October, the Portuguese Foreign Minister claimed that as long ago as 1963, in what he called “conversations” with representatives of African States under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, his Government stated: “Portugal does not reject the principle of self-determination”.3 139. But what is the meaning of self-determination? Most of us understand it to mean a situation where a people, through the free exercise of their will, express the manner in which they wish their society to be governed, and, in the case of colonies, by so expressing their will become an independent, sovereign State. That is how many of us have come to this Organization, from Asia, from Africa and from the Caribbean. 144. Indeed, this is confirmed by Professor Alfonso Queiro, who wrote the report of the Portuguese Corporative Chamber on the latest constitutional reforms for Portuguese overseas territories in 1971. He said that the designation “State” did not mean the application of a scientific designation in accordance with the legal system. The communities made up of the inhabitants of the regions-Guinea (Bissau), Mozambique and Angola-are not separately endowed with their own sovereignty in the exercise of which they could formulate their respective constitutions, or amend the constitutions which at some time might have been granted to them by the sovereign organs of the State. The legislative, executive and judicial organs of each expresses no sovereignty other than that of the Portuguese nation as a whole, 140. The self-determination we are talking about basically envisages a juridical, political separation of the colony from the colonial Power. It means, for example, that whereas my own country, Uganda, was part of Her Majesty’s Territories and realms during our colonial period, when Uganda attained its independence in 1962 there was a clean and complete separation between us and the colonial Power. It means that we emerged as an independent, sovereign State, endowed with a juridical and sovereign personality in the world community of nations, free to exercise our sovereign authority without any impediment or interference from our former colonial rulers. That was a result of selfdetermination which many members here have shared in their respedtive countries in the course of their colonial history and emancipation. 145. It is therefore clear that the words “selfdetermination” and “State”, as we understand them, and as they have been applied to all the Members who are ex-colonial Territories in this Organization, are used by Portugal in an entirely different and fraudulent sense. They 4 Ibid., Twenty-seventh Session, Supplement NO. 23, vol. 111, chap. X, annex II, sect. A, para. 7. 3 Ibid., Twenty-seventh Session, Plenary Meetings, 2048th meeting, para. 42. 146. It is of fundamental significance, we think, that the biggest colonial Powers in African history, namely, the United Kingdom, France, and even lesser ones like Belgium, have obviously not subscribed to this Portuguese definition of self-determination., They have accepted, even though reluctantly in a number of cases, and sometimes by force, that self-determination must have as its objective the attainment of sovereign status by subject peoples. Portugal, therefore, even in the context of our European fellow colonial Powers, stands alone, in comparison, on the African continent. 147. I have had occasion to state in the General Assembly during this session that the brand of Portuguese colonialism in Africa is outside the spirit and intention of Chapter XI, Article 73, of the Charter of the United Nations. That Article demands of all colonial Powers to advance their colonial peoples to freedom and self-determination. It was in pursuance of that article that resolution 1514 (XV), containing the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, was adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1960. The Charter, therefore, together with all the resolutions passed both here and in the General Assembly, always, expressly or by implication, have been on the basis that any colonial situation is of a temporary nature, and that the ultimate objective must be the self-determination and independence of the colonised. 148. A colonial Power has its status as such recognized by this Organization only when it complies with this objective of self-determination, But we maintain that a colonial Power like Portugal, which does not allow its subject provinces to become independent, sovereign States, forefeits its right as a colonial Power under the Charter. All its activities consequently become illegal, including the very occupation and administration of the foreign territories over which it exercises jurisdiction. We are aware that the United Nations has not gone this far. The reason can only be political convenience, not logic or legality. 149. If one looked at the political map of Africa in January 1957 and again in 1972, the most immediate and dramatic thing to notice would be the emergence of so many independent African nations. If the United Kingdom and France, being the biggest and, by comparison, the most Powerful colonialists in Africa, could be forced to recog nize realities in granting independence to the vast majority of their Territories on that continent, it becomes rather absurd and grotesque that a country of the small stature of Portugal can hope to maintain a colonial empire in Africa in perpetuity. 150. The logic and realities that forced the British, the French and the Belgians to yield and to grant independence to their colonies in Africa are even more imperative in our contemporary time, and will surely and inexorably remove the sore of Portugal from the fair face of the African continent. 152. The Government of Portugal should take the earliest opportunity and, as requested in that resolution, begin negotiating with recognized national liberation movements in Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde, Mozambique and Angola, with a view to ending hostilities and making mutually acceptable preparations for granting them selfdetermination and independence without delay. In this way, Portugal will have acted properly, however belatedly, in accepting the irreversible lessons of history, which bigger colonial Powers have done before it. 153. We continue to be disturbed when we note the sustained involvement of some big Powers, directly or indirectly, in the colonization activities of Portugal. In the special Committee’s report we notice that Portugal con. tinues to have relations-of a nature beneficial to her and, therefore, injurious to freedom fighters-with several countries, such as South Africa, Rhodesia, the United Kingdom and the United States. 154. The relations between the Governments of those countries and Portugal have given her the muscle which she otherwise lacks in prosecuting a war in distant lands on the African continent. We were, therefore, happy in the General Assembly to vote for that resolution which calls upon all such States to take forthwith all possible measures to put an end to any activities that help the furtherance of Portuguese domination and colonialism. 1.55. Let me say that the Security Council has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the resolutions we adopt, either here or in the General Assembly, are implemented if they touch on the very fabric for which this Organization was founded. 156. We believe that the greatest crisis facing the world today is a crisis of human values. To what extent, we may ask, can a world that is shrinking so rapidly because of spectacular technological advance still be safe for the whole of mankind, when human nature has altered so little from the beginning of time? To what extent can we continue to indulge in rhetoric, preaching ideals when in the deepest recesses of our hearts we are prepared to destroy, or at least frustrate, and still hope that we shall establish a truly stable peace for mankind as a whole? 157. It is our view that the selfishness which enables one human being to hold another in subjection, the self-interest which compels one to trample over the rights of another, is the very same weakness, fundamentally, that has precipitated armed conflict and colonial wars, and still does so, in the whole history of the human race. The difference in intensity and degree is not of substance. 158. This may be taken as a purely philosophical Or moralistic point, but it has direct and practical relevance tc the times in which we live. Man must change the balance within his being decisively towards peace and brotherhood, 162. In my country we have demonstrated our solidarity with all colonial freedom fighters not merely in words but in concrete action, with material assistance commensurate with our own resources. We had the honour in my country last May to host the liberation committee session which prepared the way for the resolutions adopted by the African Heads of State later in Rabat. We shall continue our support to those freedom fighters until their struggle yields the ultimate prize of independence and freedom. 160. It is probable that our capacity as the human race to attain the peace, justice and freedom we speak of, for which this Organization was formed, will be det.ermined, according to the ultimate verdict of time, by our ability and genuine desire to resolve relatively smaller, but certainly fundamental, human problems such as the right of a people to determine its own destiny, such as the right of Mozambique, Angola and Guinea (Bissau) and Cape Verde * to govern themselves, without the machinations of powerful nations or the heartlessness of multinational COQOrations, or the greed and caprice of a powerful dictator from distant shores.

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