UN General Assembly
1977

21. It is important to note, in my view, that both conflicts are signs of the break-down of the world system of which I spoke earlier. Southern Africa, for instance, has been encouraged to resist the demands for an end to colonialism and the elimination of apartheid. When Caetano was still in power in Portugal, he received considerable financial, diplomatic and military assistance from other Powers, and, although the liberation forces did eventually win freedom for Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, the effect was to prolong the wars of liberation and to inflict unnecessary suffering on the people. 22. The victory of the liberation forces in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau showed that the balance of forces in the world was changing. There is no longer any real possibility of preserving the economic, social and political structures left behind in the region by the colonial Powers. 23. Yet the efforts to preserve them persist. The illegal regime in Southern Rhodesia continues to fight, and South Africa continues to occupy Namibia illegally.