UN General Assembly
1974

50. My Government wishes to express its sympathy with the Government of Honduras, whose people have suffered so recently in the wake of the natural disaster which has struck that country. We laud efforts by the international community to aid the victims of the hurricane. 51. The cardinal duty of this world Organization is the maintenance of international peace and security. Twenty-nine years have elapsed since the end of the Second World War. Thus far, another global war has been avoided, although on a number of occasions calamity has been checked only at the last hour. None the less, fear of the outbreak of violence and world conflagration should be shared by us all as long as the basic requirements for lasting peace and security throughout the world have not been achieved. Moreover, the inalienable rights of peoples to independence and self-determination, to freedom from alien domination, foreign occupation and exploitation have not been fully realized. Therefore, international peace and security remain only an ideal towards which this Organization shall continue to strive in vain.