Mr. President, while highly appreciating your chairmanship of this meeting, I wish to express, through you, to the President, the congratulations of my Government on his election to the presidency of this
General Assembly. We recognize in him the skilled and experienced representative of- Asia and a nation that recently acted as the host for the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-aligned Countries in Colombo-one of the major international events preceding this General Assembly. We are confident that under his leadership the General Assembly will discharge its responsibilities in an efficient manner.
33.	We have gathered at this session at a time which is challenging but also promising. It is true that no major war is being waged in the world today. This in itself is of tremendous value. On the other hand, our world is still menaced by serious war-like situations. If not contained, these situations could result in armed conflicts with disastrous international repercussions. Furthermore, injustices inherent in the existing economic and social world order contain the seeds of future conflicts. Therefore, they, too, must be eliminated through conciliation and co-operation. In the view of my Government the basic problem both in the national as well as in the international sphere is how to ensure that necessary changes are reached in a peaceful and orderly manner. Indeed, the demand of today is constructive change. The United Nations provides us with an indispensable tool to meet this challenging problem. It can only be solved with as universal participation as possible of the nations of the increasingly interdependent world. Finland welcomes the Republic of Seychelles as a new Member of the United Nations. It is our hope that the People's Republic of Angola and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam will also be admitted to the Organization.
34.	The process of decolonization is one of the truly great changes generated by the United Nations. Its final fulfillment is not far ahead. However, the prevailing situation in southern Africa causes us deep concern. The Foreign Ministers of the five Nordic countries at their recent meeting had an extensive discussion on the situation in southern Africa. At the meeting we agreed on a set of guidelines for our policy in these problems. Of course, the whole world is now focusing on this area, where the last remnants of the colonial era still resist the rightful demands of the peoples under oppression. The wind of change in Africa is again blowing strong. The important question to everybody now is whether this change will be achieved peacefully or only through bloodshed and violence.
35.	It is still our sincere, hope that the white minority in Southern Rhodesia will listen to the calls of the African people and the international community so that majority rule can be established in Zimbabwe. The white population in Rhodesia must recognize the inevitable and proceed rapidly towards a negotiated and peaceful solution for an independent Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, all the Members of the United Nations must strictly implement the sanctions adopted by the Security Council.
36.	South Africa continues its illegal occupation of Namibia. The international community and especially the United Nations have assumed special responsibility for the achievement of self-determination and independence for Namibia. The South African regime must heed the demands of the Security Council and the General Assembly calling for immediate South African withdrawal and free elections under United Nations supervision and control. The proposals of the so-called constitutional conference in Windhoek in the words of the United Nations Council for Namibia-did not even approach any of the requirements for genuine self-determination and independence laid down by the United Nations. Failure to comply with the decisions of the Security Council would be a serious mistake.
37.	In South Africa itself the system of institutionalized discrimination against the black majority through the policy of apartheid has caused suffering and provoked determined resistance in Soweto and other locations. The Finnish Government must express its strongest disapproval and abhorrence of the violence and brutality shown by the South African authorities. The United Nations must strengthen its policy of sanctions against the Govemn ent of South Africa. As an immediate measure by the international community my Government would welcome a decision by the Security Council on a compulsory arms embargo against South Africa as proposed by the Nordic Foreign Ministers. Finland for its own part has already many years ago banned arms exports to South Africa.
38.	The active participation of the permanent members of the Security Council and of the African countries is in our opinion of decisive importance in the search for just and lasting solutions to the problems in southern Africa. We therefore welcome the recent initiatives that have been taken and hope that they will be pursued and lead to results.
39.	The peace-making process in the Middle East and in Cyprus has come to a standstill notwithstanding strenuous bilateral and multilateral efforts to reach negotiated settlements. It is our sincere hope that the parties in both cases will resume their efforts towards a peaceful solution on the basis of the relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council. The Finnish Government has followed with great concern and deep sympathy the protracted human suffering in the Middle East and in Cyprus. It is our fervent hope that, while the search for peaceful solutions is going on, all the parties concerned respect and facilitate efforts of humanitarian aid to the suffering civilian population.
40.	In the search for a peaceful solution my Government continues to give its full support to the United Nations peace-keeping operations in the Middle East and in Cyprus. In this context, I cannot but draw the serious attention of the Member States to one important aspect of the peace-keeping activities of the United Nations i.e. their financing. The growing deficit in the budget of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus is causing great concern to my Government, which is contributing troops to the peace force. The troop contributors have too long shouldered a disproportionate share of the expenses involved and face the prospect of increased burdens if contributions from other Governments are not initiated and augmented. Taking into account the joint responsibility of the Members of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security, we strongly feel that there is an obligation of all Member States to participate in financing of the peace-keeping activities agreed to by the United Nations.
41.	Another central problem in peace-keeping is the lack of progress in political negotiations, to which I referred earlier. Conditions created by peace-keeping for peacemaking should be fully utilized by the parties. Otherwise these stalemates if continued for too long-can frustrate not only the troop contributors but the whole purpose of peace-keeping. I believe, therefore, that the international community should give high priority to the strengthening of the effectiveness of its mechanisms for peace.
42.	As a representative of Finland, the host country for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, I feel bound to review the development of the situation after the signature of the Final Act of the Conference just more, than a year ago. Some reserves were expressed on the importance of the Final Act and voices of doubt can still be heard, but I think it is fair to say that the over-all assessment is clearly positive.
43.	Thus the Final Act of Helsinki is a political codification of the rules of inter-State conduct between the participating countries. Certain new forms of political, economic and humanitarian co-operation have emerged. The spirit of the Final Act of Helsinki reflects perfectly and, indeed, conforms to the principles and purposes of the United Nations. This underlines the non-isolating character of the European Conference. As a whole the implementation of the provisions of the document is well on its way, and, in good faith, the Governments have shown a great responsibility in doing this. Political, economic and social co-operation on a regional level can only enhance global detente and dialog, which are the main concern of this world Organization.
44.	Finland attaches a great importance to the follow-up meeting of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe to be held in Belgrade in June next year and is doing its best to contribute to its success. I am happy to mention in this context the important role of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations in implementing the Final Act and paving the way to the follow-up conference. We hope that the Conference of Belgrade will play its part in promoting international understanding and co-operation on a regional level, which would also extend its benefits to global endeavors.
45.	My Government has long considered disarmament an integral part of detente, and genuine progress in arms control and in disarmament negotiations an essential factor in underpinning the continuing process of relaxation of international tensions. To our mind it would have been reasonable to expect that the impressive gains scored in this respect particularly on the European continent could have been translated into tangible results in the field of disarmament. But to our profound regret this has failed to materialize, at least in the two most crucial sets of negotiations: the SALT negotiations [Strategic Arms Limitation Talks] and the Vienna talks. In saying this I must add that my Government is fully aware of the complexity of the issues involved, of the persistent efforts devoted to their solution and of file intrinsic value of these negotiating processes in the context of lessening of tensions.
46.	Against this background it is more encouraging to note that after a hiatus of four years, the major organ for multilateral disarmament negotiations, the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, has succeeded in producing the draft of another multilateral arms control agreement for the consideration of this General Assembly. The draft convention on the prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques [AI31/27, annex I], while limited in scope and substance, nevertheless does have the merit of outlawing the use of a potential weapon of mass destruction of incalculable consequences. As such it deserves, in the opinion of the Finnish Government, the endorsement of this General Assembly. Besides its value as an arms limitation measure, it serves the purpose of reviving the momentum of negotiation and agreement, which the international community has grown to expect from its oldest and most experienced multilateral negotiating forum in the field of disarmament.
47.	Though my Government will have an opportunity to propound more fully its views on the manifold disarmament items in the course of the disarmament debate in the First Committee, I hope it will not be amiss for me to say a few words from this rostrum to illustrate the effort that the Finnish Government is devoting to this common task of the United Nations. Because of our awareness of the organic union between political detente and disarmament, the Finnish Government has already for some years tried to increase its contribution to disarmament efforts in a practical way both in terms of manpower and money. Obviously our resources remain limited and we have therefore concentrated our efforts on a few selected projects concerning the control of chemical weapons, the study on nuclear-weapon-free zones and the strengthening of nuclear safeguards in the context of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII), annex). The response to our initiatives so far has been most satisfactory, and this cannot but encourage us to continue to pursue the objectives they are designed to achieve.
48.	In the changing and more just world which we are working for, respect for human rights assumes special significance. We are all too painfully aware of the violations of human rights that are continuously brought to our attention. My Government wants to give its full support to the United Nations in its efforts to combat affronts to human dignity. The wide basis for this work has been defined in the Charter and in the International Covenants on Human Rights which have now entered into force. We hope that the Covenants will prove effective in our common fight for human rights and human dignity. This can only happen if they are ratified by the largest possible number of Member States.
49.	It is increasingly evident that we are in the midst of a profound change in the world economy. Our aims have been firmly set in the decisions of the sixth and seventh special sessions of the General Assembly-a revision and readjustment of the entire economic system which has evolved since industrialization began more than 200 years ago. Although concrete results so far are relatively modest, the United Nations system has nevertheless embarked upon this task with the goal of reaching viable solutions based on negotiation between equals instead of on unilateral decisions.
50.	During the next 12 to 18 months the concept of negotiated solutions to major international economic problems will again be put to trial. I am referring primarily to the series of negotiations on commodity questions which is about to begin under the auspices of UNCTAD and to the conference to establish a common fund for buffer-stock financing.
51.	Finland gave its support to the integrated program for commodities and to the concept of a common fund at the fourth session of UNCTAD. We look forward to a period when discussions on international economic relations and development at last move from generalities to specifics. Important as the commodity problems are in this context, the question of the debt burden of developing countries is equally in the forefront and deserves urgent attention with a view to arriving at a satisfactory solution.
52.	The recent Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries in Colombo-which my Government was honored to attend as an invited guest was an important step in the ongoing discussions on international co-operation for economic development. Finland has repeatedly expressed its support of the concept of collective self-reliance, which was strongly endorsed in the economic deliberations of the Colombo Conference. Cooperation among developing countries in the economic field deserves the support of the entire international community. My Government tends to view such co-operation as a complementary part of a future world economic order rather than an alternative to a truly global set of solutions based on the principle of interdependence of all nations. We therefore also welcome the readiness shown in Colombo to pursue the negotiations between North and South.
53.	My Government has also observed with interest the negotiations in the Conference on International Economic Co-operation in Paris. In spite of the difficulties which the Paris Conference has encountered my Government hopes that the negotiations will regain their momentum and thus contribute to the work carried on within the United Nations system. While it is certainly to the advantage of all States that substantive progress should be reached in the work of that Conference, it is nevertheless obvious that in the final analysis only the United Nations can give the results of the Conference the global validity which they need to be translated into action.

International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)f has served the international community well and the principles contained therein are still valid. In particular, it takes adequate account of the need of balance between social and economic development. In addition to strengthening and elaborating the concept of the new international economic order, the new strategy should reflect important ideas evolved after the adoption of the present Strategy in the series of global socio-economic conferences held or forthcoming during this decade. The results of these conferences should be woven into a single texture which would be an essential part of our approach to the problems of the 1980s. Thereby we would achieve the integrated approach to development problems which Finland has always considered to be of fundamental importance. Only by devoting our attention both to social and economic issues can we achieve our final goal genuine development, social justice and progress based not on confrontation but on co-operation.


Mr. President, in addressing this central United Nations forum as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Peru, I am pleased to express my Government's satisfaction at your election as President .of the thirty-first session of the General Assembly. Your brilliant professional career in a particularly difficult period for multilateral diplomacy, as well as the perseverance and distinction of your actions in favor of the fundamental interests of the third world and of peace, bode well for a fruitful session, during which I offer you the best efforts of the delegation which I lead.
106.	At the same time, I should like to place on record the gratitude of the Government of Peru for the important and clear-sighted actions which have characterized the term of office of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, a period which has seen our Organization reach near universality in its membership and in which serious problems have been faced, problems rooted in a profound alteration of the structure of international relations.
107.	Last year, when the United Nations had been in existence for three decades, attempts were made to assess its historical role. We then participated in the expression of a multiplicity of viewpoints and a rich diversity in emphasis as well as in the assertion of criticism. We thus witnessed how, by expressing our aspirations and pointing out the obstacles to them, we could reach a positive conclusion- of cautious optimism about the international role of the United Nations.
108.	In reaffirming Peru's support for this world Organization, I wish on this occasion to add a word of encouragement regarding our sincere concern about the future responsibility of the United Nations, specially in relation to the need for a change in the political will of the nations of the world in the direction of future collective action for peace.
109.	Today we have fresh in our minds the struggle of peoples which have won their liberation and unity with their blood. Today when the passing away of one of the great leaders of mankind, Chairman Mao Tsetung, provides us with the serenity and the perspective to draw up a precise balance-sheet of the evolution of the world; today when the vain arrogance of racist regimes is being shaken by the attacks of oppressed peoples and the pressure of the universal conscience, the time has come to ask ourselves with humility and above all with realism whether the time has not come to change an archaic and short-sighted mentality which refuses to perceive not only what is inevitable but also the advantages and benefits of the great historical change of our times.
110.	On this occasion Peru reiterates its most genuine desire to participate loyally in the process of true understanding and co-operation and to maintain, within the necessary framework of the review and reform of the unjust structures which still prevail, the most open and fruitful relations with all the peoples of the earth so as to work together in that common task of ensuring for small as well as large, for poor as well as rich, that freedom and justice which today more clearly than ever are an irreplaceable and urgent requirement in the cause of maintaining peace and security, a cause to which this Organization is essentially and fundamentally committed.
111.	It will avail us nothing at this stage for each side to endeavor to reiterate that: in the economic field we have no wish for confrontation. That confrontation which we do not wish to avow but which holds the industrial, commercial and financial world in suspense and which is at the root of the international economic crisis which we are unable to overcome-constitutes the most tangible proof of the interdependence which the new correlation of economic forces, and hence of political, military and strategic power, has brought to light in its full dramatic dimensions. We live in a world so interdependent that the mere rumor of the rise in the price of a single commodity is capable of shaking the foundations of the great industrial Powers, which in turn anticipate the possible repercussions of other adjustments in different sectors of the production of strategic natural resources.
112.	In the process of seeking genuine world understanding which we advocate, we commit our most sincere and positive efforts without reservation, as befits the independent, tranquil and constructive nature of our revolution, which is nationalist, humanist and inspired by the principles of Christianity, respectful of liberty and human rights, committed only to the supreme and abiding interests of its people and to solidarity with other peoples which struggle for the same ideals; ours is a revolution which is not identified with any imported model and which stubbornly defends its conceptual autonomy and its ideological independence; it is a revolution, finally, which on the international level expresses itself through a foreign policy proudly independent and sovereign, deeply Latin American, third-world, non-aligned and avowedly universal.
113.	It appears impossible to calculate the true importance of the contours defining the international context of the past few years. But it is symptomatic that the resulting configuration coincides, in its evolution and nature, with the essence of the work of this forum, with the political function of the United Nations. It shows the appropriateness of shaping this world institution for the future and not the strength of the great Powers, or to foreign policy as a game of influence or a means of coercion.
114.	In line with that reasoning it Is relevant to sketch out certain central aspects of tile agreements of the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non- Aligned Countries at Colombo, so brilliantly presided over by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Bandaranaike, who has today so clearly explained the agreements arrived at which confirm the common views on the present nature of international relations. The precise reaffirmation of the fundamental principles of non-alignment, through an independent foreign policy, which is the dynamic essence of the movement, means that it is on the basis of free determination, independence and peaceful coexistence principles originally put forward by a small but important group of Latin American, Asian and African countries that the catalytic nucleus of developing countries in the recent phase of international relations is being built today.
115.	I do not believe that I err in underscoring that the Colombo Conference will project above all a legitimate vocation for horizontal co-operation, a profound trend towards collective self-sufficiency, no longer of the members of the non-aligned group alone, but of the third world in its entirety. This paramount task of our countries will play a preponderant role in the future structuring of international relations.
116.	Against that background there are three concrete concepts that could be included within the framework of our debates at this thirty-first session of the General Assembly. The first concept refers to the pressing task of making universal the process of detente set into motion by the super-Powers. But if detente were extended to the third world without first eliminating residual conflicts, that not only would be unrealistic but also could become a cause for growing competition and general risk, instead of a prelude to peace.
117.	Needless to say, the elimination of the sources of tension to which I am referring is not a simple matter. Essentially it involves a historical cycle of adjustment and readjustment of the structure of international relations which are complicated by a state of dependence that is more acute than ever today and subordinates the economic aspirations of the countries of the third world to the so-called priority demands of the established global order. The political essence of the North-South economic confrontation, the polarization of the opposing interests of the developed and under-developed world in respect of the resources of the earth, their distribution and control, condition any final settlement and constitute the second concept to which I have referred.
118.	The third task of this Assembly would thus be the positive projection of the aforementioned definitions- that is to say, the reformulation of the process of detente at the global level and the new political framework of the North-South economic confrontation.
119.	The provisional or preventive character of solutions recently applied to critical questions in international relations is a total departure from the type of approach which we are suggesting and which is rooted in the imperative need to bring into effect a world order based on the complementary nature of the process of effective democratization of international relations and the new international economic order.
120.	The absence of the third world from effective decision-making has produced partial, incomplete emergency measures, particularly in the painful conflicts in the Middle East, Cyprus and South Africa: In each of these cases the absent factor is precisely the indispensable element for a complete solution. I am referring to the lack of consultation of the wishes of oppressed nations.
121.	I believe that it is difficult to harmonize the wills of the developed world and the emerging world in terms of the reformulation of the future political context unless the will to dominate that has been manifest in the political and economic relations between nations for centuries is set aside in advance. A policy which allows institutions so repudiated as apartheid, which attempts to disguise the crudest racism beneath a paternalism which is as repressive as it is counter-productive, can only be the fruit of a distorted view of human values, which we, too, repudiate. It is on the basis of that judgment that our support for the liberation of southern Africa and our constant and definitive rejection of racist practices is derived.
122.	My country supports the efforts recently made in the search for a peaceful solution in southern Africa, efforts in which, under the auspices of great African statesmen -who feel in their flesh and blood that there is an imperative need to find a solution to this tragic situation-we are pleased to note that distinguished European personalities and the United States Secretary of State personally are participating. Like everyone present here, we hope that these efforts will soon prove fruitful. I must add that in our view no solution can be definitive unless it takes into account the rights of oppressed majorities -that is to say, unless it contributes to the attainment of the legitimate aspirations of African peoples, aspirations which Peru has the honor to defend.
123.	The Economic Declaration of the Colombo Conference [A/31/197, annex II] sets forth a program for mutual co-operation which represents a step forward in the efforts to enabling developing countries to attain well- being.
124.	The recovery of basic resources, the just pricing of those resources, and the constant and level-headed defense of our economic activity require co-operation among developing countries, not only in respect of raw materials but also in order to lay the groundwork for their just participation in the monetary and financial design of the future world economic system.
125.	The shift in the balance-of-payments problem of the bulk of the third world, the alarming indebtedness, unemployment and recession in our economies are now added to the grave problems facing many independent regimes in the under-developed world. While that is occurring, we have witnessed the truncated dialog that took place at the fourth session of UNCTAD in Nairobi, as well as the impasse which arose as the Conference on International Economic Co-operation in Paris.

126.	In a word, we realize that, side by side with an experiment in horizontal co-operation, ambitious in its dimensions, an economic crisis of enormous and unforeseeable effects persists, one against which there is no wish to apply structural solutions capable of mobilizing the vast resources of our peoples.
127.	Against this background, at its test session the Third United Nations Conference of the Law of the Sea has achieved little that was fruitful in tangible terms. In part this can be attributed to the fact that it was convened prematurely, when political circumstances were hardly propitious for negotiations. The problems facing the Conference are very difficult, especially as regards the sea-bed beyond national jurisdiction, an area which happens to provide an opportunity for the concrete application of the principles of the new international economic order. For this purpose, however, it is indispensable that the developed countries approach the question of the sea in that context so that we can progress and reach an agreement at an early date.
128.	In putting forward general guidelines for international action emanating from a conception based on honesty and equity of treatment, I must confess that precisely for this reason the Government of my country finds it difficult to understand recent interpretations by various sectors which distort the essence of our political process and therefore jeopardize the exercise of responsible international opinion. I say this because I find these simplistic interpretations of Peruvian reality particularly inexplicable at the very time when my Government is setting out to implement a policy which lays down the pragmatic character of its actions on the basis of continuous consultation and dialog, consultation which only at the national level can give us a true measure of the actions we are taking. I say "at the national level" because, the measures we adopt being Peruvian measures for a strictly Peruvian problem, certain distorted interpretations in the international arena can hardly be helpful.
129.	I believe it is the unwavering duty of the Government of Peru to analyze and evaluate the trajectory and methodology which has been applied for eight years in an atmosphere of peace and profound human tolerance and has been aimed at achieving revolutionary objectives which remain unalterable.
130.	If that analysis and evaluation, which are the clearest expressions of the humanist meaning of our revolution, are interpreted otherwise, they will be of little help for the pragmatism we seek at this phase of the Peruvian revolution coinciding with the development needs of our country in an atmosphere of peace and harmony.
131.	I am convinced that world public opinion will find it possible to grant my country, which is imbued with a deep sense of responsibility and solidarity, an objective appraisal and more just treatment, particularly when, as is now the case in other countries, we are suffering a grave economic crisis the overcoming of which requires serious internal sacrifices and the broadest possible international co-operation.
132.	Latin America has not only contributed to the strengthening of self-determination and non-intervention as basic principles of international relations; when it faced obstacles to the consolidation of its republican personality, it confronted incessant threats from the centers of power to the juridical rationale of its incipient nationalism. Through this long experience of national struggle and affirmation Latin American countries have been able to combine their varied internal and diplomatic resources. They have made key changes in internal power relationships. They have produced models for development of different types and have assumed a cultural mix which identifies us with our particular nature within the context of the third world.
133.	In this long process of national formation in Latin America we see a liberating dynamism which is presented with the very first moments of national identity. It started three years ago, and at that time a dynamic current of social reform was unleashed, a current which has already achieved marked influence. I have in mind the gradual control and management of natural resources, the systematic defense of sovereignty over those resources, the preparation and adjustment of our different development processes to a preferential concern for social justice.
134.	Externally, the Latin American republics have impressed a creative sense upon the process of their national formation. We have promoted this since the very beginning of our republican era 150 years ago. We have laid the foundations for a single nationality through the ideals of liberty and unity which inspired our liberators.
135.	This very year we are celebrating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama, an early diplomatic event sponsored by Peru in which the vocation of Latin America for unity was manifested, and we established a precedent for a world conclave. It seems just and timely, therefore, that Latin America and the brother countries of the third world should turn their eyes to Panama and offer it their solidarity and support in its efforts to gain sovereign control of the Canal Zone, an anachronistic vestige and an obstacle to an understanding between the collective personality of Latin America and of North America.
136.	In the present circumstances Peru thought it essential to stress its efforts to meet the desire for unity in Latin America and institutional models through which those purposes can best and more concretely be fulfilled.
137.	The fulfillment of both conditions has so far made possible the vitality and vigor of the Andean Group and, in a wider context, the promising establishment of the Latin American Economic System, to which, as in the case of the Congress of Panama 150 years ago, Peru gave its full support, as it would in regard to all effective efforts at integration in Latin America.
138.	Nevertheless, the mere existence of these institutional arrangements does not in itself guarantee fulfillment of the aims which constitute their raison d'etre, as the destiny of the regional organizations will ultimately depend upon the unshakable will of their Governments and their commitment to one of the earliest ideals of Latin America integration.

139.	In the case of Peru, the historical commitment to the cause of integration, from its closest and most intimate sphere, the Andean context, determines an obligation, to enrich it permanently through joint action with our neighbors, who share the Bolivarisn ideal of integration and the depth and wealth of aims on which the Cartagena Agreement  was founded.
140.	Latin America's historical participation in international affairs has led it to make a particularly constant contribution to the treatment of key United Nations issues. I am referring to, among others, the economic issues, the regime of the oceans and the disarmament and denuclearization formula, tasks within which Latin American thinking has played and continues to play a major role.
141.	The notion of dependency as a conditioning factor of under-development leads us to a widely operative language in international economic forums and constitutes the very same structural link which Latin American countries have been defining in explaining the present economic crisis. Secondly, the legal system of three Latin American countries on the Pacific defending their sovereignty over the sea up to a 200-mile limit has become a substantial element of any solution to the problem of the law of the sea. Lastly, from the denuclearization of Latin America, established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco,  to the proliferation of zones of peace, Latin America is one in steadfast safeguard and defense against the nuclear threat of the Powers.
142.	The international commitment of the Revolutionary Government of Peru is, in the present phase, identified with the renovating, profoundly Latin American conception of the international status quo. The independent foreign policy of Peru, which has earned it notable solidarity and support, is based on a deep respect for the sovereignty and self-determination of peoples, as well as on the conviction that, parallel with the development of our own nationalities a personality is shaping itself of which all the many Latin American nations partake. That awareness of, and hope for, our common historical destiny arises from our own experience, at times frustrating but always rich, that leads us to favor unity, intercommunication and world peace, to which Peru has lent, and will continue to lend, its unwavering support within the framework of its solidarity with the third world in the constant quest for a better, more just future.


The delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany is pleased that this thirty-first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations meets under the chairmanship of a man who belongs to one of the leading nations of the group of non-aligned countries. He has acquired the highest personal respect among our nations both in his capacity as spokesman of his country at the United Nations and as President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, one of the most important conferences of our time.
60.	I combine my congratulations for the new President with my thanks to the outgoing President, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr. Thorn, who gave exemplary and balanced guidance to the work of our Assembly and whose country and personality symbolize the best traditions of a Europe that stands for peace and justice.
61.	I am furthermore pleased to welcome the Republic of Seychelles to our midst. With the admission of this one hundred and forty-fifth Member, the United Nations has taken a further step towards universality.
62.	This General Assembly of the United Nations, like the previous one, must continue to promote the idea of co-operation between all States of the world. Co-operation means combining all our efforts in the search for peaceful solutions to the problems that make it so difficult for the peoples of this globe to live peacefully together. Let us not forget that at the end of this century the world will have twice as many people to feed and twice as many jobs to find.
63.	In the year that has passed since the thirtieth session of the General Assembly, it has been possible to lead the world economy out of the deepest recession since 1930, but the world is still far away from lasting, stable growth and continuing acceleration. In the past year international peace has been maintained, but the conflicts in the Middle East, in Cyprus and elsewhere continue to smolder, and in southern Africa the task is to avoid a racial war. At the same time, new forms of illegal force, such as the seizing of hostages, have been developing into a world-wide plague. Whereas old conflicts basically remain unresolved and new ones are already pushing their way to the surface, the potential of destructive weapons in all parts of the world is growing and so is the capability of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
64.	The year 1975 brought no progress towards accomplishing so urgent a task as reducing military expenditure. On the contrary, we are faced with the threat of another build-up in the arms race.
65.	This year the International Covenants on Human Rights entered into force, but in many parts of the world the individual is still denied the most elementary human rights: his right to life and to personal safety, his right to equality without regard to race, his right to move freely, his right to free expression, and his basic economic and social rights.
66.	In a world threatened in this way it is our duty to create durable foundations for peace and co-operation. The one needs the other: we cannot achieve peace without the will to co-operate beyond frontiers, and co-operation will remain ineffectual without peace. Thus the future of this planet really does depend on whether we achieve a break-through to that co-operation.
67.	Awareness of this began to dawn following the crises of recent years, and this gives us good reason to be hopeful. It is significant that the Conference of non-aligned States in Colombo and, similarly, the Conference of the Group of 77 in Mexico  have so unequivocally supplemented the principle of national sovereignty and independence by the principle of international co-operation "as the basis of a secure world order". My Government has made this view the guideline for its action in international relations.
68.	The Federal Republic of Germany will therefore continue at this session, as at previous ones, to pursue a policy aimed at safeguarding peace and securing international co-operation. The foundations and objectives of our policy remain unchanged: European union; our firmly rooted position within the Atlantic Alliance, which ensures the balance of power and is thus the prerequisite for peace in Europe; the policy of detente towards the States of Eastern Europe, and partnership and an equitable reconciliation of interests with the third world.
69.	The members of the European Community have made encouraging progress towards creating stable structures for co-operation in a spirit of solidarity. For centuries the history of Western Europe was a series of wars. Even in this century it has been the source of two world wars. Today, however, the people in the European Community see their future as a common future-so thoroughly has the situation changed within the span of a single generation. Outside Europe this may not seem an earth-shaking event, but all, I am sure, should be able to judge from it what can be achieved through goodwill in relations between peoples.
70.	The members of the Community have set themselves the task of together putting into practice the great historic concept of freedom and human dignity. We adhere to the aim of European union. Yet the Community is not inward-looking. It is not a closed community whose responsibility stops at its own front door. It actively supports efforts towards peace and justice and towards a world economy that is open for trade and investment. It is the biggest trading partner in the world. And it is, in particular, a partner of the third world: as the most important source of investment capital and technology, as the most important trading partner, and as a pioneer in the creation of equal, balanced relations between industrialized and developing countries.
71.	The previous speaker, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, who spoke on behalf of the nine member States of the European Community, has been able to show how far our common aims extend in foreign policy as well.
72.	The Federal Republic of Germany is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. It understands that alliance and its role in it as a contribution to the safeguarding of peace in our region. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] is a pact for peace, and it is in line with that understanding of its role that it renders an active contribution of its own to detente. This alliance testifies to the close and manifold ties existing between Western Europe, the United States and Canada.
73.	On the basis of the European Community and the Atlantic Alliance, a policy of realistic detente towards the East became possible for Western Europe, That policy starts from the following consideration: if we cannot remove the ideological division and the basic differences between political and social systems in Europe, then it is all the more urgent to resolve conflicts by negotiation or at least to mitigate them and to discover areas where co-operation between East and West is possible, to the mutual advantage of both and for the benefit of the peoples of both sides.
74.	The policy pursued by the Federal Republic of Germany in concluding treaties with the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovakia and the other members of the Warsaw Pact serves this very aim. We attach special importance to the further development of the relationship between the two German States on the basis of treaty arrangements. The policy of detente pursued by the Federal Government is a long-term policy and it consistently continues the policy initiated by Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel.
75.	The nations of Europe, the United States and Canada held the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. They laid down principles for peaceful relations and agreed on a whole series of specific arrangements. Among other tilings, these arrangements are intended to foster economic and scientific co-operation, regulate humanitarian questions and facilitate contacts between people in East and West and the exchange of ideas and information; in the military field, they are intended to build up confidence.
76.	All those arrangements must now be put into practice. The more co-operation across the ideological barrier becomes possible and the less energy is wasted in sterile confrontation, the more will the nations of Europe be able to contribute to an equitable reconciliation of interests between the industrialized countries and countries of the third world.
77.	This year, too, we have resolutely pursued our treaty policy. The agreements concluded with the Polish People's Republic have removed burdens of the past and opened up hopeful prospects for relations between the two countries. The relaxation of tension in Europe brought about since 1970 would not have been possible without an improvement of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the USSR. Relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union will also in future be of particular importance for the process of detente. For this reason, great significance attaches to the visit of Mr. Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to the Federal Republic of Germany which is planned to take place in the course of this year.
78.	No nation can be more interested in co-operation across the frontiers of different systems than the German people which is compelled to live in two States. Through Germany runs the frontier which divides Europe. Our negotiations with the German Democratic Republic have also been, and will continue to be, concerned with easing conditions for the people and with further developing co-operation. To pursue a policy of detente in a divided country and for a divided country is a great and, at the same time, a difficult task; but we Germans know that there is no acceptable alternative.
79.	A great deal has been made possible by negotiations between the two German States; much has been achieved in the way of practical improvements; it has been possible to alleviate human suffering; human contacts between Germans have become increasingly possible. But all objectives have not been attained-far from it. As before, the aim of our policy is to overcome the painful consequences of the division of Germany by patient negotiation.
80.	The Federal Government is not resigned to the reality of a frontier where only recently shots were still fired from the other side. This must at last be stopped. The Federal Government will not tire in its efforts to achieve this too by means of its policy of detente.
81.	In the heart of Germany also lies the city which for better or worse, has been a touchstone of detente- Berlin The Federal Government will not relax its efforts to promote the viability of West Berlin. For Berlin, the strict observance and full application of the Quadripartite Agreement of 3 September 1971 is of essential importance. The Federal Government will, as before, ensure that West Berlin continues to be included in international co-operation. The more we succeed in this the less will be the danger of the city's again becoming a source of international crises.
82.	The Federal Republic of Germany, whose foreign policy has been a policy of and for peace from the very first day of its existence, will unflinchingly continue its policy of detente and thus contribute to the safeguarding of peace. It remains its political objective to work for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will regain its unity through free self-determination. For us, history has not yet passed its final verdict on the division of the German nation.
83.	It will be of decisive importance for the progress of detente whether the current negotiations on the second SALT agreement and on the balanced reduction of ground forces in central Europe prove successful. For nothing could constitute a greater threat to detente than another arms race.
84.	The Federal Government will make special efforts in talks with the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries concerned, to get the stagnant expert discussions on mutual and balanced force reduction in Vienna going again. This was announced by Chancellor Schmidt last week.
85.	Peace itself and efforts to safeguard it by means of more stable structures are jeopardized by unrelenting efforts in nearly all parts of the world to build up arms strengths. Exports of conventional weapons in particular have increased rapidly.
86.	The monstrous waste of scarce resources in the industrialized countries as in the developing countries works to the detriment of the people.
87.	We must not give up hope because of the disappointing results in the field of arms control and disarmament so far. In the process of detente efforts must be redoubled to halt the arms race and, both world-wide and regionally, to translate into reality effective measures of arms control and arms limitation.
88.	Balanced and controlled disarmament remains one of the most urgent tasks. But it is high time words were followed by deeds. The world needs plough and workbench more urgently than rifle and missile.
89.	In Europe, within the framework of the negotiations in Vienna, the Federal Government will continue to seek the establishment of an equal and hence stable relationship of power in central Europe.
90.	The Federal Government welcomes the request made by the non-aligned States in Colombo calling for a special session of the General Assembly to deal with questions of world-wide disarmament [see A/31/197, annex IV, resolution 12] and is ready to play a constructive part in it.
91.	But we still live in a heavily armed world. All the more urgent, therefore, is the one principal task of international politics: to ward off dangers for peace in time, and that means resolving conflicts without war.
92.	Consequently, we look with anxiety towards a region whose unresolved problems are a constant threat to world peace: the Middle East. The guidelines for a solution to the Middle East conflict were mapped out long ago. They are based on resolutions of the Security Council, complemented by a large consensus of international opinion that the national rights of the Palestinian people must also be taken into consideration. Thus, at the 1974 session of the General Assembly,  the Federal Republic of Germany stated that a peace settlement, apart from providing for the termination of the territorial occupation, should make allowance for the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people, including the right to establish a State authority, and for Israel's right to live within secure and recognized boundaries.
93.	It is not a question of keeping on repeating the principles governing a solution; it is a question of putting them into practice. The Federal Republic of Germany, together with its partners in the European Community, has a vital interest in a peaceful solution to the conflict in its neighboring region to the south, and today it is more than ever convinced that a solution is possible.
94.	Our special interest in this region also finds expression in the Euro-Arab dialog. No one can today speak of the Middle East problem without including the tragic developments in the Lebanon. Efforts have been of no avail to stop hostilities that have taken a heavy toll of human life and are destroying a country in which the seed of violence has sprung up. We appeal to all concerned to stop the terrible bloodshed.
95.	A second source of danger for international relations has developed in southern Africa. It is impossible to imagine the consequences which a racial war embracing the whole region would have. All countries in that region are aware of this. The Federal Republic of Germany has, therefore, not abandoned hope of a peaceful solution being achieved.
96.	But it knows that only where no one attempts to hold up a historically necessary change can we expect peaceful developments, can we feel that peace is secure.
97.	Everyone must realize, also in southern Africa, that racism and colonialism no longer have a place in this world. The sands have run out.
98.	Southern Africa, too, must determine its own destiny. There is only one way to attain this: blacks and whites must develop some form of co-operation based on equality, which will prove a sound foundation also in the future;
there must be majority rule, but at the same time safeguards must be provided for the rights of the minority.
99.	In Rhodesia, as we hope, the first and decisive step in this direction has now been taken. This could well be the beginning of an era of people of all races in southern Africa living peacefully together.
100.	Recent developments confirm in an impressive manner the correctness of the position we have always taken: that only the renunciation of force prevents the catastrophe of a racial war which would otherwise be unavoidable. The urgently required changes in southern Africa can be brought about only by peaceful means and by negotiation. A turn of events is foreshadowed for which all concerned deserve thanks and appreciation the Secretary of State of the United States, the British Government, and those African statesmen who are working with perseverance for a peaceful solution of this pressing problem.
101.	As regards the Namibia problem, we reaffirm the demands: that the rule of South Africa should end and the earliest possible date for independence be fixed in a binding manner; that the competence of the United Nations to lead the former Mandated Territory to independence should be recognized; and that in exercising the right of self-determination under the supervision of the United Nations all political groups in the country should participate in the preparations for independence.
102.	Only the speedy fulfillment of all these demands will prevent any further aggravation of the situation. The Federal Government will assist a free Namibia as far as possible in building up its economy.
103.	We appeal to the Government of the Republic of South Africa to give up the policy of apartheid and not to oppose necessary reforms any longer. Only those who are prepared to carry out the necessary changes can preserve the heritage of the past.
104.	We support the appeal of President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia to the white population in southern Africa to join with the other parts of Africa in creating a new society which is not based on color. Only then will it be possible for a new society of black and white Africans with equal rights to master together the great task of developing the continent.
105.	The efforts made by the community of nations to control the use of force must now also include the new illegal forms of force which in recent years have come to be a problem assuming more and more menacing proportions.
106.	The most widespread of these new forms of violence, and one of the most murderous, is the taking of hostages. The growing number of acts involving the taking of hostages has spotlighted the extent of the threat, None of the 500 million passengers traveling on airliners every year can be sure not to be among the next victims.
107.	Acts involving the taking of hostages are not the problem of just one State or another or of any group of States; they are a problem concerning us all. The United Nations bears a special responsibility. The Secretary-
General in his annual report on the work of the Organization rightly pointed that out [see A/31 (1 (Add. 1, sect. VI}.
108.	What is at stake is the protection of human beings, the sovereignty of States, the safety of international traffic and an international order free from violence. The taking of hostages is a particularly cruel act of violence which indiscriminately claims or threatens the lives of helpless people, of women and children. For this reason, the Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits this act as a means of warfare.
109.	It is an act offending the dignity, safety and fundamental rights of the individual person, that is, basic values the protection of which is proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex].
110.	Those taking hostages attempt to blackmail sovereign States and to confront them with the unbearable choice of either yielding to their demands or risking the lives of the hostages taken. Acts involving the taking of hostages are a threat to international relations. The efforts made by all States to settle international conflicts peacefully and also the endeavors of this world Organization to make peace more secure are placed in jeopardy by criminal acts of violence committed by a few.
111.	International conferences and diplomatic exchanges are thus threatened. In exploiting the particular vulnerability of aeroplanes, the taking of hostages above all imperils international air traffic,
112.	Our peoples expect the United Nations to exhaust all possibilities of checking this method of using brute force. We must face up to this danger which affects us all and initiate an objective discussion on possible steps. After the bitter experiences of recent months, the Governments of all countries should unite in condemning the act of taking hostages as a particularly abhorrent crime and in introducing world-wide measures against it.
113.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany deems it necessary that the United Nations should draft a convention banning the taking of hostages internationally and making sure that the perpetrators are either extradited or brought before a court in the country in which they have been seized. We are convinced that it should be possible soon to arrive at such a convention within the framework of the United Nations. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany will therefore request that an item on international action against the taking of hostages be included in the agenda of this General Assembly as an important and urgent matter.
114.	General acceptance of and respect for human rights is an inalienable element of any order of peace and worldwide co-operation.
115.	This is one of the noblest aims of the United Nations. The concept of human rights has played a decisive role in the emergence of the United Nations. The year 1976 is a historic year for human rights and for the United Nations. It is the year in which the international covenants on human rights-the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights- have entered into force. Both Covenants guide our action. The Federal Republic of Germany orients its policy towards the developing countries in keeping with demands embodied in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
116.	We advocate in the strongest possible terms respect for basic human rights not only in Germany but all over the world. Our policy serves the individual human being; only the realization of his rights and his dignity lends ultimate meaning and purpose to all our efforts to ensure political and economic co-operation. And this includes the right of all men to live under conditions which are really consistent with human dignity.
117.	The year 1976, with its important events in the field of human rights, now confronts us with the task of translating into reality the principles of law which we have worked out. In this new phase too the United Nations must remain the champion of human rights. An institution should therefore be established which should ensure comprehensive and world-wide protection of human rights. What we need is an independent, international authority making objective judgments in order to ensure that human rights are safeguarded in all parts of the world. Such an authority would not be directed against anybody; it would be there for somebody, namely, the individual human being and his rights.
118.	The phase of codifying human rights was long and difficult; it lasted 30 years. The implementing phase will perhaps be even more difficult, but this should not lead us to believe that we can take that much time again.
119.	Much patient negotiating will be necessary. Our aim must be to guarantee the application of human rights throughout the world by means of an institution which would prevent the question of human rights from being abused for political purposes.
120.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is aware that this is a difficult task. But it is convinced that the aim of establishing an international court for human rights can be attained. Its belief is strengthened by its experience with the protective system of the European Convention on Human Rights,  which has proved its value for more than two decades and which will not lose anything of its importance should the United Nations establish an institution along its lines.
121.	I have already pointed out that it is also the application of human rights that makes it incumbent on us to reduce the economic gap between the rich and poor countries. The difference in prosperity between North and South is a threat to peace and stability throughout the world. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany notes with great satisfaction that the will for co-operation which is the prerequisite to any effective action in this field has grown in all parts of the world and is today actually unchallenged.
122.	The seventh special session of the General Assembly last year, the Conference on International Economic Co-operation in Paris, the fourth session of UNCTAD in Nairobi and also the Conference of the non-aligned States in Colombo have confirmed this principle.
123.	It is a positive sign that such complicated problems as those of raw materials and energy and the reorganization of the law of the sea are negotiated at international conferences. But now it is essential to achieve rapid and concrete results. Solemn declarations of intent are not enough to feed the people in the poorest countries. A hard year lies behind us. In 1975, the year of the nadir of recession, the national products of the free-market industrialized countries fell and, although the developing countries' national products continued to rise, their growth rate declined and, in many developing countries, dropped below the growth rate of the population.
124.	The gap between industrialized and developing countries decreased for the first time, but it decreased because the world as a whole became poorer. The world all of a sudden became aware of the magnitude of the threat. We had to realize that development as such can be accelerated only within an international economy which, as a whole, is expanding. It was this experience that increased the awareness of the need for co-operation and made 1975 the year of a common departure.
125.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany realizes without any illusions that up to now we have come only a short way together, but even along this short distance we certainly have scored results.
126.	First, in 1975 there was a sharp rise in the flow of capital into the developing countries. The countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development increased their official and private capital transfers to the unprecedented amount of $39 billion, which is an increase of 40 per cent. This means that for the first time ever the target of the capital transfer amounting to 1 per cent of gross national product was reached. The Federal Republic of Germany exceeded that target by having attained 1.18 per cent. At the same time, there was an increase in the capital influx from the States, of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC].
127.	Secondly, progress was made in the efforts to stabilize the developing countries' export earnings. The International Monetary Fund considerably widened the possibilities of taking up compensatory credits in the event of a decline in export earnings. The European Community in the Lomé Convention set up the world's first stabilizing system for commodity exports from developing countries.
128.	Third, progress was also made in the opening of markets to third-world exports. The multilateral trade negotiations in Geneva have made this objective a focal subject for talks. This year, too, the European Community plans to increase essentially the possibilities for tariff-free imports of industrial goods from developing countries. In 1975 the Federal Republic of Germany increased its imports of manufactures from developing countries by one quarter and that in a year of heavy recession.
129.	Fourth, and finally, to promote the development of agriculture in the third world it was decided to set up a fund which will make available considerable funds to increase agricultural production.
130.	To speed up the development of the third world is the common task of all countries. It requires that the developing countries themselves concentrate their strength and efforts on the development goal. It also requires that they assist one another. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany therefore appreciates it that the Colombo Conference strongly emphasized the idea of collective self-help.
131.	Already now the oil-producing countries substantially contribute to the transfer of resources to developing countries in want of capital. At the latest conference of OPEC they also showed their readiness to share in the responsibility for the world economy as a whole.
132.	But the largest external contribution to development undoubtedly has to come from the industrialized countries. In the past, the free-market industrialized countries have already been a motor of third-world development. The power of that motor must grow even stronger. The integration of the countries with a centrally-controlled economy into the world economic system -an integration which has begun in recent years -now opens up the possibility that those countries, too, will finally become a motor of development. That possibility should, however, be pursued. Trade between free-market industrialized countries and centrally-planned industrialized countries has almost quadrupled during the past four years. It is necessary now to increase trade between centrally-planned industrialized countries and developing countries with similar speed.
133.	The potential is enormous. Whereas free-market industrialized countries absorb three quarters of the developing countries' exports, the share of the centrally-planned industrialized countries in these exports is no more than 4 per cent.
134.	When we look ahead, the question is, What can we and what must we do together now in order to promote the equitable reconciliation of interests between industrialized and developing countries?
135.	First, in the four commissions of the Paris Conference on International Economic Co-operation-on energy, commodities, finance and development - we must quickly find concrete solutions to the problems defined in the initial phase of the Conference.
136.	Second, at the meetings and conferences on commodity problems decided on by the fourth session of UNCTAD we must achieve rapid and appropriate results.
137.	Third, we would like to see all industrialized countries, whatever their economic system, make greater efforts with regard to the transfer of capital and technology to developing countries. The developing countries, for their part, should create the prerequisites for these efforts to be successful.
138.	Fourth, we regard the intensified industrialization of the developing countries as an urgent requirement. We therefore participate in all efforts contributing to that goal and are prepared to open our markets still further. We are aware of the adjustment problems entailed for our own economy and shall be prepared for this.
139.	Fifth, the solution of the problem of indebtedness becomes an ever-more pressing requirement. Like other countries, the Federal Republic of Germany gives the solution of that problem priority attention. In the spirit which has imbued the Federal Republic of Germany in rendering its financial assistance and in continuing to render such assistance, it will, together with other donor countries, use its full energies to help solve the problem of indebtedness. We do this because we have full confidence in the future of the developing countries and their peoples.
140.	The success of our endeavors to build a co-operative world will be decisively influenced by the outcome of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, We have declared the sea the common heritage of mankind. It is now essential to translate this principle into reality, and that means establishing a legal system governing the seas which will take into account the interests of all States in a well-balanced manner. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany will actively participate in the work on these problems because it is convinced that the problems of die developing countries are the problems of the industrialized countries as well. That is a new piece of knowledge which all of our citizens do not yet find it easy to accept. In our countries many people still have to learn that their own destiny is connected with that of all others.
141.	In all industrialized countries a great deal of information and education is still necessary to make it understood that the North-South dialog is concerned not with the giving and taking of alms, but with our common future.
142.	The Secretary-General in the introduction to his report to the General Assembly on the work of the Organization correctly defined the role of the United Nations when he characterized our time as a period of transition in which we must overcome the antagonism between the principle of national sovereignty and the regulatory principles governing an interdependent world. Only co-operation can help us steer this development in such a way that it will benefit mankind as a whole,
143.	In this co-operation a central role falls to the United Nations as the only world-embracing organization, a role which no one else and nothing else can play. According to the mandate of the Charter, our Organization is to be the center in which the nations of the world will harmonize their actions to attain the common objectives of peace and progress. Let us at this thirty-first session of the General Assembly fulfill this mandate which the Charter gives us. Let us continue to work on the great task of building a world to conform to the vision of our Charter: a world of peace, a world of economic and social progress, and a world in which the freedom and dignity of man are a reality.
144.	My country is today more convinced than ever that in creating the United Nations mankind endowed itself with a great opportunity. We understand only too well the impatience of many who are waiting for their most elementary rights to come true. Nor do we underrate the difficulties which the United Nations is having in trying to close the big gap between demands and reality. We do not close our eyes to the obstacles besetting the road to an equitable and peaceful world-wide order. Only the spirit of co-operation on a basis of partnership can help us to go forward. Let us therefore use the opportunity we have.


It is a matter of great good fortune that the deliberations of this session of the General Assembly are being presided over by Mr. Amerasinghe, who represents his country, SriLanka, with singular authority. His outstanding human and intellectual qualities, as well as his brilliant performance at international conferences, have earned him the respect of the world community. We are delighted at being presided over by a distinguished personality from
Asia, a continent whose ancient cultures have bequeathed us a legacy of wisdom and spiritual serenity, so necessary at a time like ours when mankind is drawing near the disasters it has been approaching-even calling into question the survival of the species because of the ever more marked imbalance between material progress and the slow progress of the spiritual values which bind men together in every great civilization.

133.	We are pleased also to take note of the admission of the Republic of Seychelles as a State Member of this Organization.
134.	Since the last session of the United Nations General Assembly there has been no change in the negative image of this Organization in the press and other communications media of the great Powers. What these media organizations have failed to mention, however, is that while there have been an increasing number of confrontations in inter-national forums, such confrontations have not been exclusively a mark of United Nations conferences. Internal tensions in the world community have become more acute in many critical areas because of the absence of serious efforts to create a more balanced international order or because these efforts, when they have been made, have not enjoyed effective support from nations that are primarily responsible for maintaining peace. International institutions, like national institutions, have only a limited capacity for establishing coexistence when applied to human groups or State entities between which there persist unresolved causes of discord.
135.	Some people think that the United Nations enjoyed a golden age in its first few decades but that in recent years the Organization has entered into a period of inevitable decadence attributable to the influence exercised on it by new countries which until recently were only allowed scant participation in international affairs. That idea stems from a conception of world politics in which it was assumed, with unfounded optimism, that power relations and., economic relations, as they existed in the world before-the war, were satisfactory and that all that was needed was to remove the threat of totalitarian regimes for the existing civilization and international order to fulfill the aspirations of the peoples. It was assumed that the democratic machinery which in the victorious nations had determined the nature of the States and the distribution of wealth would result in beneficial effects for the entire international community.

136.	But that was not the case. What some nostalgically considered to be the golden age of this Organization was in fact a time when relations of dependence and unequal distribution of wealth in the world were not properly examined; nor was there any serious insistence on the fulfillment of promises made during the difficult years of the war with regard to a new order. It was a time when the Organization served to strengthen alliances and blocs among countries, which led to the tense atmosphere of the cold war and to ferocious localized wars in various parts of the planet. At that time the press and other communications" media in the great Powers were unstinting in their praise of those who had conceived an organization which was so superior-so they said-to the League of Nations of Geneva.
At that time, no objections were raised in the budget departments of those Powers to the prompt payment of their assessments.
137.	But that situation could not last. The legacy of inequality was like a millstone fastened to the established order and could hardly be institutionalized with the help of the United Nations. The massive economic and social transformations in the past few years have been and are reflected in bitter confrontations in world forums, but this cannot be attributed exclusively to the immaturity of young nations nor to their limited familiarity with the machinery of compromise, which for centuries had been the pride of nations that have designed institutional systems to facilitate and create broad domestic consensus on their fundamental problems.
138.	If controversy in international organizations, in which for years the great Powers were the leading protagonists, has increasingly come to be replaced by radical antagonisms, with such unexpected and of course discomforting guests as the new developing nations, this is a result of the fact that the advanced countries of the world were determined to preserve the excessive advantages they enjoyed under the established order, even though the premises which had served as. the basis for that order since its very origins had disappeared; and these origins did not go so far back as to constitute the kind of legal precedent to which so much value is attached in systems of law based on tradition rather than written norms.
139.	In the past, the construction of an international order was the result of the efforts of statesmen to achieve a relative balance between the ambitions find interests of the great Powers of the time. The duration of that order was subject to the maintenance of this balance by the exclusion of new Powers or outsiders that might disturb it.
140.	In this contemporary world there has been an unsuccessful attempt to revive the old models of international order based exclusively upon the agreement of the great Powers. The failure of such efforts results from the impact caused by the concerted action of weak and traditionally poor countries whose participation is now essential if we want to invest the international order with the legitimacy that comes fro.m longevity and stability. Today the world is undergoing a crisis created by the vacuum that has in turn been created by the absence of a consensus expressing the aspirations of the international community as a whole.
141.	It is therefore understandable that it was only recently that some statesmen of foresight in nations which bear some responsibility for the maintenance of peace initiated a slight change of course in the foreign policies of their countries. Those who acted in this way knew that peace and concord, cannot be decreed, nor imposed solely by power, but result from a delicate balance which can be achieved only when aspirations which genuinely reflect the aims and variety of interests of an era form part of the international order. This fruitful endeavor, which has been the achievement of great leaders of history whose names are indelibly printed on long periods of peace, is not an easy one to consummate. Furthermore, those who attempt it as a rule have to cope with the opposition of their fellow citizens, who often fail to understand the need to make concessions or to renounce the use and abuse of the advantages and prerogatives of power and wealth.
142.	Our era is not exceptional in terms of the recurrence of a phenomenon, familiar because it has appeared with similar characteristics in other periods of profound crisis. Hence the statesmen of the great Powers who have made an effort to approach with sympathy the possibility of building a world order which will not mean putting new labels on old inequalities have been the object of furious opposition in their own countries. The ancient Chinese saying, uttered as a curse, might well have been spoken against them: "May you live in an interesting age."
143.	The growing indifference of .affluent societies to world problems reflects the desire of increasingly broad sectors of their populations to enjoy their prosperity to the utmost while attaching ever less importance to international problems. That indifference has significantly influenced those societies to strive to reduce the attributes of executive or administrative offices whose orientation in foreign as well as domestic policies they view as an impediment to unlimited enjoyment by their citizens and voters of the good life, which the abundant resources and technology of their countries permit.
144.	It would be wrong not to recognize this development if we remember that it is the broadening of the executive powers of administration which for some decades now has enabled affluent societies to fight the domestic concentration of wealth and to impose mechanisms for its more equitable distribution. What can the world and the underdeveloped countries expect in the future if, in their dialog with the highly industrialized nations, they will not be dealing with the type of Governments which, because they were able to do so, imposed some discipline on the major private powers in their economies, on their monopolies, their labor and trade-union organizations and their transnational communication empires, but will instead be dealing with internally weakened Governments, Governments therefore fearful of those power groups? The latter, as though in a post-industrial state of feudalism, will gradually fill the vacuum left by an administration devoid of strength, devoid of the capacity to take decisions, which is essential to reduce the inequalities which exist and are becoming greater in the international community. This new international isolationism, masquerading as democratic or moral concern, and the institutionalization of the weakening of governmental authority in affluent nations are not a happy augury for the future. They would appear to be an attempt to preserve in the world an anonymous imperial power fragmented into private pressure groups free of the burden of responsibility which all power entails.
145.	The fact that this is happening arises from the belief still prevailing in affluent societies that their prosperity and well-being are exclusively the result of the intelligence and superiority of their peoples. And because of that belief they refuse to analyze the extent to which the prosperity and extravagance so characteristic of their economic organization have depended and still depend on an income distribution governed by a world market that is influenced by power mechanisms or by monopolistic systems on an international level which have enabled them to retain the
surpluses generated by the marketing of the products of developing countries at low prices.
146.	It is not compatible with the aspiration to create more stable conditions in the world for the major consumer countries to respond to the well intentioned attempts of developing countries to reach agreements between producers and consumers of raw materials with indifference or hostility and then for them to feel that there is aggression against them and to proclaim that the world economy is in danger when producers of raw materials join forces to defend their incomes.
147.	One of the beneficial effects of the rise in oil prices, which in affluent societies is known as the energy crisis, was to bring out into the open the very high degree to which the standard of living of affluent societies is linked to the low prices of the export products of the developing countries. This experience has already unleashed a chain reaction and will inevitably lead to a search for new patterns of balance in the economic relations of the world.
148.	We are not unaware that among the great Powers the idea is gaining ground that it has become unjustifiable to maintain the level of foreign-aid funds of the past few decades for developing peoples. Nor 'ire we unaware that it is thought that such funds could be better used for transforming the suburbs of their cities; for the education of their young or their war veterans; for medical and hospital services for their citizens; for increasing unemployment benefits; for improving police forces; for the treatment of delinquents or drug addicts; for protecting their parks; for adequately equipping their libraries or museums and for maintaining a level of conspicuous consumption which does not correspond with man's spontaneous needs but is promoted by a vast advertising community which is frantically attempting to create artificial needs, thus encouraging the squandering of the scarce resources of this planet.

149.	It is not for us, of course, to challenge the right of affluent societies to allocate their surplus funds for the improvement of the quality of life of their citizens and to encourage unnecessary consumption rather than to co-operate in lessening the alarming economic inequalities which exist on a world-wide scale. But it is our hope that, similarly, without any show of surprise, it will be recognized that we enjoy an identical right to organize ourselves in order to defend the proper remuneration for our exports so that income therefrom will permit us to remedy the consequences of backwardness, make the subhuman life in our suburbs more bearable, prevent the deterioration of our environment, lower the illiteracy rates of our populations, close the gap between the rural and the urban populations, create medical and hospital services in order to eradicate diseases caused by malnutrition and endemic sickness, provide jobs for the unemployed, and protect ourselves from the Mafias which finance the traffic in drugs from the territories of the great Powers and with that traffic export to us all the home-grown means of corruption. And, on the subject of international trade, we also trust that they will not invoke the so-called comparative advantages when seeking to ensure a market for the highly effective products of the industrialized nations, while regressing, at the same time, to the crudest protectionism when it comes to safeguarding the interests of their economic enterprises which, because they are inefficient or obsolete, cannot compete with exports from developing countries.
150.	Events of the last decades indicate that there cannot be an indefinite postponement of 3 new international division of labor more in keeping with realities of the day. This new division must be organized in such a way that the developed nations, which have a complex and highly sophisticated technology, take some steps towards opening their markets not only to raw materials or tropical products but also to the manufactured products of those countries which have already embarked upon the initial stages of industrialization. This will contribute to increasing and balancing world trade and will strengthen a more equitable and desirable type of economic relations between the north and south on our planet. The nature of these relations and the adjustments it will be necessary to make in their traditional standards will be the major theme of inter-national policy in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
151.	This vast transformation will imply concessions and responsibilities on both sides; it will require prudence and wisdom on the part of the leaders of the affluent nations and the peoples in the process of modernization. Just as it would be reprehensible for great nations to abuse their power so as to impose solutions which are inordinately in their favor such abuses would tarnish their image and lessen their options to defend peacefully their legitimate interests-so it would be, and is, equally reprehensible to follow the undesirable practice of debating political items, the natural forum for which is this Assembly, at conferences of the specialized agencies, to the grave detriment of the services which the United Nations renders, and should render, to Member states. The same criticism can be applied to acts of violence and terrorism which jeopardize the lives of innocent third persons and are frequently carried out in the name of the right of peoples to fight for their independence. Terrorism invites the repudiation of world opinion and brings about a loss of prestige for the cause which those who use terrorism as a political weapon claim to defend. This is already happening. A formula for co-operation between Governments and the United Nations must be found so as to seek out and punish those who perpetrate acts of violence and piracy, and who, by means of terror, threaten the fundamental freedoms of human beings for the purpose of demanding of States that they violate their own laws.

152.	There is likewise an urgent need for a specific legal definition of outer space and of geostationary space communications, because recent experience and foreseeable developments within the next few years have brought to light glaring gaps and omissions in the conventions in force on the peaceful exploration and use of outer space. These conventions fail to take into account, for example, the use of outer space for profit; and nothing at all is said about the legal and physically immutable existence of the segments of the synchronic geostationary orbit which generate rights by reason of being permanently situated within the territorial airspace of several equatorial countries Members of the United Nations. Such is the case of Colombia, which lies between 70 and 75 degrees west of Greenwich.

153.	My country does not object to free orbital and communications transit as required for the devices en-visaged in and authorized by the International Telecommunications Convention, as long as those devices traverse the territorial airspace in a gravitational flight from a practicable height. But we make a clear exception in the case of devices which it might be intended to establish as fixtures on the segment of our own synchronic geostationary orbit.
154.	As Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia, I am pleased to state to you my confidence that the deliberations of this Assembly will result in effective progress in the difficult task of arriving at compromises which will not mistakenly underrate the legitimate hopes of the pauperized masses of the world, on whose discontent no lasting international order can be built. The concessions essential to a consolidation of the legitimacy of a new world order must be granted, to a large extent, by the nations in which wealth has been accumulated through the ages, and not by peoples whose resources have been ill rewarded for centuries, with the result that prosperity and well-being have been concentrated in limited areas of our planet.
155.	As representative of my country in a forum that has gained such prestige from the learned words of so many eminent personalities, I am bound to express the hope of my fellow citizens that the antagonisms which today seriously divide the international community will find peaceful solutions in channels constituted by the norms of law which give form to the Charter of the United Nations. Let us at any rate remember that we are not living in an age of calm when historical time passes with soothing evenness; in our day, time flows like those large tropical rivers whose currents become impetuous and devastating as they approach the cataract.