UN General Assembly
1985

We should also pay special attention to all the different regions of the world where the human being is a prisoner of poverty. In an environment shadowed by hunger, illiteracy and the lack of minimum economic, social and cultural standards, civil and political rights can hardly be exercised in adequate conditions. The human being is entitled to development, and even though development must involve the entire international community, it is essential to bear in mind that man himself is the reason for such development and that States have the primary responsibility to ensure the full participation of their respective populations in such a process, without any kind of discrimination against the more vulnerable sectors of society. In view of this, Portugal refuses to accept the lack of existence of a new international economic order as a pretext for the constant and systematic derogation of civil and political rights.