UN General Assembly
1973

73. It seems obvious to us that, within a natural and legitimate relationship between our countries, the jurisdictional exercise claimed by the Republic of Panama as an expression of its own territorial sovereignty also contains within it the maximum guarantees that the international waterway will continue to serve the needs of trade and international transit and the maintenance of international peace and security. 74. As Panama has found sympathy, warmth and support in this hall for our just cause, so too my country is at one with all those who nobly and justly are struggling, in Latin America, in Africa and in Asia. In other words, Panama is true to the struggle against colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism and racial discrimination. Panama welcomes the decision of the liberation movement of Guinea-Bissau to declare that territory an independent State.