UN General Assembly
1969

75. The oppressed people of the world will not be completely free unless they shake off the stranglehold of neo-colonialism—the major oppressive force of our day. Direct colonial rule has now all but disappeared from the face of the earth. Since 1945 over sixty countries of Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, inhabited by over one third of mankind—have become independent. This has been the era of the great dawn of freedom all over the world. 76. But the imperialist Powers were not willing to allow freedom to see the light of day. They resorted to all available means to suppress it. In many cases they drew up the constitutions of the newly independent countries and built up the leaders to whom they were to hand over the reins of power. They instituted regional organizations through which they exercised great influence in order to safeguard their interests, and they made absolutely certain of the dependence of the economies of the newly independent countries on their own. That has been the insidious and dangerous work of neo-colonialism since the end of the