S/PV.46 Security Council

If there are no more speakers on the list, 1 am going ta address the Council as the representative of Mexico. Mter examining the report presented by the Sub-Committee, 1 should like to couley to the Council sc~e views and remarks relating to my country's position in this question, as weIl as to sorne aspects of that document. The resolution providing for the 'appointment of the Sub-Committee was approved, notwithstanding serious objections, due to -the fact that the prevailing sentiment was a desire to avoid any division on this issue. Several members were also not satisfied with the evidence at our disposal at that time, and favoured further enquiries into the present situation in Spain, in order to ascertain whether the fascist Franco regime did actually endanger international peace and security. The Mexican deJpgation was then, and is still, convinced that such an investigation was not absolutely necessary9 as the evidence at our disposal and the merits of the case were of such a nature as to justify immediate action. We joined other members of the Council in voting for the final text of the Australian resolution, trusting that the findings of the Sub-Committee might provide convincing -evidence to those members who had not expressed their readiness to act, "nd in the hope of reaching, in the end, a unani· mous decision, since we attach great importance to the attainment of unanimity in this case. Concerning the report, alth(l'lgh we do not endorse certain views and conclusions contained therein, 1 nevertheless have noted w;+~' satisfaction that the Sub-Corr~:rlttee'[iactual nndings do provide support to the position taken in this issue by the Mexican Government, as 1 stated it in this Council during the thirty-fourth meeting he1d on 17 April of thi~year. In particular, the report supports our position in its definition of the Franco regime as one resulting from the intervention of Hitler's Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Fascist Italy in the domestic affairs of Spain, as weIl as in its characterization of the state of affairs in Spain as one of international concern. The Sub-Committee's report has invoked t.lae resolutions on Franco Spain adopted at San Francisco, London and New York, as well as the Potsdam and three-Power declarations, to show that this case is one upon which a judgement has already been passed. These documents, the significanee of which should never be underestimated, make this CaEe a unique one, which cannot and should not be incorporated with an)' other. Franco's active participation in the war, which na,s aIso been established by the evidence examined by the Sub-Commîttee, and bis complicity wi'th the aggressive Axis powers have brought about Spain's proscription from our Organization, whose aim is universal peace and which was born as the response of civilization to the ordeal of the last conflagration. This clearly is an unparalleled case which justifies and calls for special, not ordinary, attention and treatment. For this reason, l do not think we sho'ùld feel tao inhibited by the fear of establishing precedents to be applied indiscriminate1y in future cases, which will of necessity be different. Our main concern must be, l believe, to proceed in accordance with the spirit and sense of the judgement passed on this question. {;~ spéciales. devons d'établir pliqués cas préoccupation harmonie déjà As regards the question of deciding whether or not the Franco regime constitutes a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security, we strongly believe ·that it can only be answered in the affirmative, and that this answer has been sufficiently substantiated. affirmativement réginae au tionales preuves du force indiscutablement franquiste son ses l'Espagne The paramount conclusion to be drawn from the Sub-Commîttee's report, and the one that impresses itself most strongly on the democratic . opinion .of the world, is nccessarily the conviction thatthe fascist Franco regime, by its origin, its nature and structure, its internal and extemal activities, and its incompatibility with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, stands Première édition 2 Ibid., pages 75.76. •Ibid., page 75. 'Ibid., page 77. attention~ and in respect of which the United Nations and the Allied Powers have already com~ mitted themselves. The position taken by the United Nations has been unanimous on this issue. The Sub--Cununittee opens its report with th,,: general state:ment: "There 'Can he no question that the situation in Spain is of international concern. That faet is sufficiently evidenced by the resolution of the first part of the first session of the General Assembly in London, the resolution of the Security Cauneil and the joint declaration of the United States, United Kingdom and France, dated 4 March 1946." The Sub-Committee did arrive unanimously at some very important conclusions, name1y: That the Franco regime is a fascist regime, pattemed and established as a result of aid received from Hitler and Mussolini; That during the war Franco gave very substantial aid to the enemy powers, fought against the USSR on the eastern front and seized Tangier in breach of the international statute; That mcontrovertible evidence establishes the faet that Franco was a guilty party with Hitler and Mussolini in the conspiracy to wage war against the United Nations; That there is evidence against Franco of the same kind as has been submitted at the Nürnberg tria:1s of war criminals to substantiate the charges of "crimes against peace, namely, planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of a war of aggression or war in violation of intel"ilational treaties, agreements or assurances, or partcipation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing"; That the Franco regime continues to practise those methods of persecution of political opponents and police supervision over its people which are characteristic of fascist regimes and which are inconsistent with the prïnciples of the United Nations coneerning the respect for human rights and for the fundamental freedoms; That the number of men under arms in Spain is far larger than might be expected in any peaeeloving and non-aggressive country; That it is plain, from the evidence before the Sub-Committee, that Franco Spain might again become a ready instrument of aggressive warfare; Finally, that the strategie situation and resources of Spain, coupled wtih the declared unfit- Nevertheless, consideringthat the motion to refer this question to the General Assembly appears to have gained a majority inthe qmlllcil; that in accordance with the interpretation of tlle report, this procedure was deemed the best course of action under the present circumstances; and considering also that the recommendations of the FORTY-SEVENTH MEETING Held at Hunte~ College~ New York~ on Tuesday~ 18 June 1946~ at 3 p.rn. President: Ml'. CASTILLO NAJERA (Mexico). Present: The representatives of the following countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Mexico, Netherlands: Poland, Union of Soviet Socia1ist Republics, United Kingdom. United States of America. 85.Provisional agenda (document 5/89) 1. Adoption of the agenda. 2. The Spanish question. (a) Letter dated 8 April 1946 from the representative of Poland addressed to the Secretary-General (document 8/32).1 (b) Letter dated 9 April 1946 from the representative of Poland addressed to the Secretary-General (document S/34).2 (c) Report of the Sub-Committee on the 8panish Question appointed by the SecurityCouncil on 29 April 1946 (document S/75).3 , (d) Fa ~tual fincli.Iwi conceI'Ilin.e: the Spanish situation (8upplementary memorandum ta the report of the Sub-Committee) (document S/76).3 (e) Letter qated 2 June 1946 from th~ representative of Brazil addressed to the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Spanish Question appointed by the Security Council on 29 April 1946 (document 8/77).3 lSee OffieialRecords of the Securlêy (;oulIcil, First Year, First Series, Supplement No. 2. Annex Ba. 1 Ibid., Annex ab.