UN General Assembly
1982

Countries and Peoples. The Territories still to be decolonized, many of them small in size and limited in resources, are of particular concern to Trinidad and Tobago since several of them form part of our own Caribbean region. Some of these Terri¬tories remain in a state of virtual economic depen¬dency. In these circumstances it is very difficult for them to exercise freely their right to self-determination. The colonial Power therefore has a duty to devote the necessary resources to preparing these Territories for independence. There is ample evidence to show that when the colonial Power wishes to do so it can. 11. If the political picture of the world which I have painted is one beset with problems, the economic one is no less troubled. I do not think that there is now any doubt that today we are experiencing the worst down-turn in the world economy since the 1930s. What is perhaps even more chilling is that there is little confidence in the prospect of global economic recovery in the short term and even less in the international