Mr. President, I take the greatest pleasure in expressing to you the heartfelt congratulations of the Austrian delegation on your election to the presidency of the twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly. We greet you as a personality of the highest professional and human qualifications and we also greet you as the representative of a country with which Austria maintains close ties through a policy of friendly understanding and an auspiciously developing co-operation. We are convinced that under your guidance this General Assembly will be successful in its work.
45.	I also take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Adam Malik, President of last year's General Assembly, for the prudence and the skill with which he directed it.
46.	The twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly has witnessed the termination of more than a decade of self-sacrificing endeavor on the part of a man whose term of office has coincided not only with one of the most active periods in world politics, but also with one of the most difficult phases in the history of the United Nations. The place U Thant has taken among the tireless protagonists in the cause of world peace is lasting and unshakable and we shall always be grateful to him. The Austrian delegation deems it particularly appropriate to pay a tribute to this historic achievement, as our delegation today has the special privilege-in full respect of Article 100 of the United Nations Charter to say how proud and happy Austria is to see an Austrian, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, holding the responsible post of Secretary-General of the United Nations.
47.	Mr. Secretary-General, we offer you our greetings and wish you most sincerely every success in the service of the high ideals of the United Nations. We know your outstanding qualities and your dedication to the task entrusted to you. Accordingly, we look forward with confidence to your activities in your high office. The first nine months of your tenure entitle us fully to this expectation.
48.	More than 100 ministers of foreign affairs, other members of Government, and even prime ministers have gathered in New York for this twenty-seventh session of the General Assembly. This affords great opportunities for personal contacts. They are of great value. But personal contacts alone are not enough. The peoples of the world expect more. They expect us to come closer to the goal of peace and security in justice.
49.	The Charter and several basic declarations of the General Assembly have defined the purposes and principles which should govern the life of the community of nations. Rather than only discussing them, we should apply them and apply them in good faith. The scientists of our generation have gained access to the universe. Why then should we, who carry political responsibility, and why should sociologists and humanists lag so far behind their counterparts in the exact sciences in their efforts to achieve peace and security in justice?
50.	We are painfully aware of centers of crisis throughout the world and also of the danger they represent for peace in every other part of the world. Yet it seems to me that we can assess political developments since the last session of the General Assembly with some guarded optimism.
51.	The President of the United States of America has visited China and the Soviet Union during the first half of this year. This highlighted the efforts by the three greatest Powers of the world to place their relationships on a new footing of trust and co-operation.
52.	At the beginning of this week an agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States of America limiting their strategic weapons  has entered into force, and the two Governments have expressed their willingness to continue their efforts in this field.
53.	In Europe we are witnessing a process aimed at detente and co-operation. The status of permanent neutrality has enabled Austria to make its contribution to this process as one of the first countries, more than a decade ago.
54.	This year, the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin and the ratification of the treaties concluded in 1970 between the Federal Republic of Germany on the one hand and the Soviet Union and Poland on the other gave a strong impetus to a reduction of tensions in Europe. We sincerely hoDe that the necessary prerequisites will be soon brought about to enable both German States to become Members of our world Organization.
55.	The first preparatory phase for a conference on European security and co-operation now lies before us. Security presupposes a credible renunciation of force and the threat of force, credible for all States, large, medium- sized and small. It will therefore be the task of the conference to provide the appropriate basis for security in Europe.
56.	A step in this direction could be a treaty which would codify, in a legally binding and politically feasible way, the duties and rights of States and would set up machinery to ensure the peaceful settlement of disputes. Negotiations on a balanced reduction of military forces in Europe could become a good test of the effectiveness of detente actually achieved.
57.	Comprehensive co-operation in Europe in the economic, cultural, scientific and technological fields and also in the field of human environment is of great significance for progress in these areas. It is of equally great significance for a better understanding between men. Co-operation thus promotes the relaxation of tensions and strengthens security.
58.	In pursuing these thoughts, I fully realize that the solution of the problems existing in Europe would not by itself eliminate tension, warfare and injustice in other parts of the world. It may, however, be justified to assume that a solution of European problems in the spirit of the Charter would not fail to have its impact on other continents too. The whole world has suffered in the course of this century from the consequences of two wars which spread from Europe. Why, then, should the whole world not benefit from the consequences of a peaceful development in Europe? Thus, the Austrian Government, in contributing to the strengthening of security and co-operation in Europe, does so in the firm hope that such action will also serve to promote peaceful development in other parts of the world.
59.	Austria is a permanently neutral country. The concept of neutrality originates in the law of war. This, however, should not lead to the idea that a permanently neutral State needs the setting of war or international tension to play a part in the community of nations. On the contrary, my Government interprets neutrality as a means of preserving Austria's independence and, at the same time, as a stabilizing and peace-keeping element within the international community. What Austria can give to the world are works and values which can grow only in an atmosphere of peace. The objective of Austrian policy is the enhancement of the well-being of the individual. Humanitarian tasks form an integral part of the primary duties of a neutral State.
60.	Recent years have shown a strong trend towards acts of violence perpetrated at both the national and the international level. Terrorism has become a social and an international problem. We must be able to assess this development clearly. If acts of terror continue to increase in the future at the same rate as they did in the last years, then, a few years from now, we shall be faced with a situation which may not be called war in the proper sense of the term but which will none the less inflict all the scourges of war upon innocent people, the very scourges of war which the United Nations wanted to rule out forever.
61.	In view of the very objectives and principles of its Charter, the United Nations will have to take a stand against terror. The time for such action is already late. The Federal Government of Austria has condemned and will continue to condemn terrorism. Austria itself has taken and will take all measures necessary to suppress and to eliminate terrorism. Moreover, Austria will support all measures serving this purpose on the international level. Hijacking, the taking of hostages and murder cannot be accepted as means of resolving social or international problems if the dignity of man as enshrined in the Charter is to be taken seriously.
62.	The existence of terrorism should not, however, serve as an excuse to abstain from an earnest consideration of the social and international phenomena underlying such acts. Should v/e fail in our efforts to provide and make effective the peaceful means needed for the implementation of the purposes and principles proclaimed in the Charter and in the declarations and resolutions of the United Nations, our condemnation of terror will be devoid of success and even devoid of sincerity. The serious nature of the problem and the multitude of facets it involves can hardly be underestimated. The dignity of our world Organization would be best served if the treatment of the problem were to lead to a concerted search for a common goal, rather than to mutual charges and counter-charges.
63.	I said at the beginning that people throughout the world expect from us, who have gathered here, peace and security in justice. Peace and security alone may well satisfy a few of the "haves"-but not, at least, the "have-nots". They will also demand justice.
64.	The demand for justice confronts us in a variety of contexts. In particular, I am thinking of the elimination of discrimination based on race, religion or other grounds, and, especially, the termination of the policy of apartheid. In this context, I wish to refer to the position taken by the Austrian delegation at all previous sessions of the General Assembly. My Government also welcomes the decisions adopted by the Security Council at its meetings held in Addis Ababa, particularly with reference to Namibia.
65.	The demand for justice also centers on the solution of the economic and social problems in the developing countries. We all know, and my Government knows, that more has to be done both in respect of the substance and of the methods to be pursued. In the coming year Austria will greatly increase its official development assistance.
66.	In this connexion, I should like to refer to the following considerations submitted by Austria at the annual meetings of the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, held jointly with that of the International Monetary Fund, which took place in Washington from 25 to 29 September 1972.
67.	A number of important international capital movements between the industrialized nations of Western Europe and North America have resulted in the accumulation of considerable amounts of United States dollars outside the United States. Careful consideration should be given to the possibility of using part of this "overhang" of United States dollars for low-cost development financing.
68.	My Government is considering the purchase of United States dollars from the Austrian National Bank, our central bank, in order to offer these dollars as loans to international organizations which are concerned with development financing, such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. These loans would be made available at interest rates attractive to developing countries.
69.	In my contribution to the general debate I have focused attention on only a few subjects. Other questions of equal importance have had to be left untouched, such as, for example, the question of disarmament, an area where Austria is ready to off" constructive co-operation; and the question of the protection of the environment, which is basic to human life in the future. I also have not mentioned the crisis in the Middle East. Austria's position in this matter is well known and was extensively explained both from this rostrum and during official visits to Israel and Egypt. Austria believes in the continued usefulness of the Jarring mission.
70.	For 10 years now, at every session of the General Assembly, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria has reported on the question of South Tyrol, which was the subject-matter of resolutions 1497 (XV) and 1661 (XVI) by which Austria and Italy were urged to find a solution for all differences through negotiation. Two years ago I could report to the General Assembly that after nine years of effort the two States had agreed on a proposal for a solution which contained provisions for an extension of the autonomy of South Tyrol and a relevant time-table agreed to by both States [see 1855th meeting, paras. 169-174].
71.	I am happy to be able to state that the implementation of the proposal for a settlement of this question has made further progress since the last session of the General Assembly. Thus, the constitutional law on the extension of the autonomy of South Tyrol came into effect on 20 January 1972. In April of this year, a large part of the ordinary laws provided for in addition to the constitutional law also entered into effect; a certain part is still pending.
72.	I wish to express the hope that the development now in progress will continue to advance further in a satisfactory way on the basis of the implementation, in letter and in spirit, of the still-outstanding measures in South Tyrol, and of an understanding attitude on the part of the Italian Government towards the needs of the South Tyrolean ethnic group, which, in turn, will lead to an even better relationship between the two neighboring countries.
73.	Permit me to go back to the beginning of my statement. I said that the establishment of peace and security based on justice is the aim the peoples of the world expect us to achieve. This expectation coincides with the aims and purposes of the United Nations. The United Nations is not just an organization in New York, far from our home countries. We ourselves are the United Nations, first as Member States, but also as human beings for whose sake this Organization was created, as individuals-members of nations, of religious denominations, of political parties, of majorities and minorities, of the affluent and of the needy. We must strive to make peace and security based on justice a reality in each and every one of these, our capacities. We should not be judges one over the other, one State over another State. To this we have no right, but we do have the duty to unite our energies to achieve peace and security injustice.


History shows that man cannot and should not live alone. Accordingly, since the most remote times of history up until the present day he has persistently tried to become integrated with and to seek a full measure of development within various social nuclei. These efforts were manifested, first, within the family the essential cell of any human community, then within the tribe, later in towns and finally within the State, which is the most comprehensive social organization.
67.	Neither can States live alone. They need to join with others for progress and mutual protection. Although sometimes imperfect and at other times not a complete success, interstate association is required if human beings are to coexist in today's world. That explains why the establishment of the United Nations was not merely a reflection of a feeling of brotherhood but was rather the satisfaction of a great need to develop the international community.
68.	The elimination of any act designed to stand in the way of the true union of States is a continuing task to which this world Organization must devote its best efforts. Accordingly, war or ambition for hegemony, as well as economic domination by those with material power, when exercised to the detriment of the fair development of the materially weak, are disturbing elements which must be removed.
69.	Freedom, for which millions of human beings have laid down their lives in the course of history, of necessity implies strict respect for human dignity and faithful observance of the legal equality of States. Accordingly, we should always try in our work to ensure that these basic tenets of the San Francisco Charter become general rules which are put into practice and are universally observed.
70.	Mr. President, we know that you were elected because of your impartiality and efficiency, which you have displayed on more than one occasion in your conduct of our debates. We offer you sincere congratulations.
71.	I should like to convey to the Secretary-General, in addition to our high esteem for his meritorious efforts, the gratitude of my country for having appointed a distinguished Mexican, Mr. Antonio Carrillo Flores, as Secretary- General of the United Nations World Population Conference, which is scheduled to be held in 1974. The population explosion is already a problem which it is urgent to solve and it is a fact of life which commands our utmost attention. As it is a multifaceted issue which has an impact in the educational, political, social and economic fields, it requires the broadest possible approach, subject always to the policy and program which all our peoples have adopted in the exercise of their sovereignty.
72.	Whenever we come together we must, albeit briefly, review the most salient international developments. This year the situation in Central Europe has stabilized, and the efforts of the two largest world Powers to normalize, consolidate and strengthen their relations in all areas have begun to yield gratifying results. It might be said that their mere coexistence, based on a respective capacity for nuclear deterrence, is tending to be transformed into active co-operation between these Powers.
73.	We should all welcome the understandings reached, particularly when they diminish the risks of a nuclear confrontation which would engulf mankind. None the less, there are clouds on the horizon if we look in the direction of the third world.
74.	The absurd desire to divide the earth into zones of influence or hegemony is not the best approach to international coexistence. Thus, despite ideological divergences among the great Powers, upon occasion' there has emerged a certain identity or at least a similarity of interests with respect to their positions vis-a-vis the third world. When this has occurred their common stand tends to preserve the status quo, which certainly has not proved to be favorable to the non-aligned countries. Thus, during the last few years we have noticed a decline in the financial assistance provided by these Powers to the developing countries. In other areas the positions of these great Powers have also come so close together that they nearly represent a common front vis-a-vis the majority of the countries of the third world; this occurs with respect to the law of the sea and disarmament, where they have only looked after their own interests and have frequently paid little heed to the wishes of almost all other States.
75.	As the President of Mexico so aptly put it in addressing the United States Congress recently, we cannot reduce world policy to contacts between the powerful countries, since anything that affects those countries in the final analysis affects all of us. Genuine universal peace, in addition to an understanding between the powerful States, requires the active participation by all members of the international community in a strengthened system of collective security. Accordingly, we believe that we should improve and institutionalize the representation of the third world in international political organs. Later in this statement we will give our ideas on that subject.
76.	With respect to continuing efforts within the United Nations to halt the nuclear arms race and to eliminate other weapons of mass destruction, the balance sheet for 1972 could not be more discouraging. As clearly emerges from the last report of the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament [A/8818], that body in its most recent meetings did not achieve the slightest bit of progress on any of the items it was dealing with.
77.	The bogging down of work to bring about the total elimination of chemical weapons, which was the subject of three General Assembly resolutions at its last session, is doubly regrettable, as it may jeopardize the convention that had already been agreed upon for the elimination of biological weapons.
78.	A similar situation exists with respect to nuclear weapon tests which, on the initiative of the Mexican delegation, th<; General Assembly once again last year emphatically and unreservedly condemned for the second time [resolution 2828 A (XXVI)]. However, not only have such practices continued, but there has been an increase in underground testing, a situation which, apart from endangering the health of present and future generations, will inevitably lead, if those tests are continued, to the crumbling of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII), annex], which was concluded only after arduous efforts.
79.	The negative results of the work done in Geneva confirm our belief that we must without delay strengthen the system which the United Nations has to fulfil the obligations entrusted to it under the Charter in the field of disarmament. It would appear necessary for both the negotiating body, with its headquarters at Geneva, and the other deliberative bodies available to the United Nations for disarmament to be substantially strengthened and their performance brought into line with the basic principle of the sovereign equality of States.
80.	We should as a matter of urgency begin preparatory work on the convening of the World Disarmament Conference wherein all peoples and Governments will have an appropriate forum, a rostrum from which the voices of reason, anguish, impatience and indignation can be heard.
81.	It is encouraging that there has been no break in the growth of the nuclear free zone established by the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco). During the current year the number of States parties to the Treaty has risen to 18 as a result of the ratification deposited by Colombia. The Latin American nuclear-free zone today covers an area of some 8 million square kilometers and has a population in excess of 140 million people. With respect to Additional Protocol II to the Treaty, the purpose of which is to ensure that the Treaty's provisions should be fully respected by the nuclear Powers, it would appear appropriate to recall that in the joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States of Mexico and the People's Republic of China [see A/8818, annex 13, sect. 2], the latter Government stated that it supported the just position of Mexico and other Latin American States on the establishment of a Latin American nuclear-free zone and that all States possessing such weapons should assume the obligation not to employ them against the Latin American States. We interpret that statement as a promising sign that we can look forward to the valuable co-operation in the near future of the People's Republic of China with the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which would be signified by its signing and ratifying Additional Protocol II, a position which we believe should also be taken by other States which possess nuclear weapons but which have not yet subscribed to that document.
82.	In Mexico City the work of the sixteenth session of The General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which began last 26 September, will come to a close very shortly. My country has had the honor to be the host of that Conference, which has considered items of great concern to all mankind. At that Conference Mexico has reiterated its deep interest in having the constant progress of nuclear science help to improve our standards of living and not contribute to the production of weapons which threaten our very existence. The use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is and will continue to be the constant goal of Mexico. As was so well said by President Echeverria in his opening speech at the Conference, we believe that the word "atom" should not be linked to the idea of death, but to the idea of a power capable of improving the conditions of human life.
83.	The Secretary-General expressed his concern over the use of means of warfare which have particularly cruel, devastating and indiscriminate effects, when he emphasized in the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization that the moral responsibility which he bears "does not allow him to turn a blind eye when innocent civilian lives are placed in jeopardy on a large scale" [A/8701/Add.l, p. 4].
84.	Mexico entirely agrees with that position. Accordingly, it was one of the first to offer its modest co-' operation through the appointment of a Mexican governmental adviser to help prepare the report which the General Assembly requested of the Secretary-General in its resolution 2852 (XXVI) [A/8781 and Corr.l], which was intended, as the title indicates, to promote respect for human rights during armed conflicts, and in which the Assembly emphasized its deep concern over the "terrible suffering that armed conflicts continue to inflict upon combatants and civilians, particularly through the use of cruel means and methods of warfare and through inadequate restraints in defining military objectives". We trust that that report, which the Assembly will b: considering at its current session, will contribute to the realization of that noble and pressing objective.
85.	It seems appropriate to us that the item on international terrorism should have been included on the agenda of this session [item 92]. Barbarous acts like these merit punishment and the condemnation of all peoples, regardless of the ideological system under which one attempts to conceal them.
86.	In 1970 Mexico defined terrorist acts in its penal laws. Furthermore, within the system of the Organization of American States, we attended in February 1971 a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization which had been convened in Washington for that very purpose, and we signed the final document adopted by the Council.
87.	Despite our determination to repress acts which are in themselves abominable, we stated then, and we should like to repeat now, our concern to ensure that the instruments on this question that are prepared should not infringe or limit in any way the right of territorial or diplomatic asylum, which is so deeply rooted in the traditions of the countries of Latin America. It is also necessary that the definition of terrorism should be worked out with the utmost caution, in order to avoid its serving as a pretext to restrict or suppress individual freedoms or to limit the exercise of the right of self-determination of those peoples which are still subject to colonialism. Lastly, it seems essential to us that the determination of terrorist acts should always be the responsibility of the State in whose territory those acts have occurred, inasmuch as only in this way can we avoid violations of the State's sovereignty. On those conditions, we are prepared to enter into a dialog in this international forum and provide our unstinting co-operation in a study of measures that appear advisable to bring about the elimination of international terrorism.
88.	We are still convinced that one of the fundamental tasks of the United Nations continues to be the proper and complete application of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples [resolution 1514 (XV)]. It is incredible, in the opinion of my country, that in this space age in which we live, we should still be debating this item and placing it exclusively within a political framework, which has long since been superseded, as indeed it should be; it is high time that we now deal with the other form of colonialism which is equally ominous, and I refer to economic colonialism.
89.	Absolute decolonization, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration, solemnly proclaimed in 1960, and the elimination of the remnants of colonialism in all of its forms and manifestations are essential prerequisites if developing States are to be able fully to exercise their economic rights in the international arena.
90.	The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National
Jurisdiction has made progress which in our opinion gives grounds for the hope that the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea may start on the substantive portion of its work in 1974. Indeed, after two years of arduous and sometimes frustrating negotiations, the list of topics and issues to serve as the framework of the study and approval of the various articles to be induced in the instrument or instruments to be adopted by the Conference was finally adopted.
91. With respect to the priorities that should be assigned to the consideration of the items, it would be well to make an effort to reconcile the various approaches that have been expressed on this point, starting from the fact-which is already obvious at this stage-that :t will be necessary to preserve and always bear in mind the unity of the various branches of law which come under the law of the sea. If this premise is accepted, it seems to us that we could easily avoid the procedural obstacle of discussing a pre-established order for the presentation of proposals on any of the topics and issues included in the list already approved.
, 92. Apart from the concept, which is steadily gaining ground, of a 12-mile-wide territorial sea, Mexico recently 'spoke out in favor of the universal recognition of the coastal State's right to exercise jurisdiction over a zone whose maximum width should not exceed 200 miles. In that zone, for which we are in favor of the term "patrimonial sea", the coastal State would be entitled to exploit and explore resources for the benefit of its people, without this signifying that we are thinking of establishing limitations on the laying of under-water cables, navigation or over-flight by other States.
93.	Last June we participated, together with other countries of the Caribbean region, in the Specialized Conference of the Caribbean Countries on Problems of the Sea, convened by the Government of the Dominican Republic. There we supported and clearly defined the characteristic features which, in our opinion, should be contained in the thesis of the patrimonial sea. The Declaration of Santo Domingo [A/8721, annex I sect. 2] took up this theory, which we very much hope will eventually become, after the changes and additions to be agreed upon by common accord, a formula encompassing all of the States of Latin America.
94.	Unquestionably, one of the most important international events which have occurred under the auspices of the United Nations was the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which took place in the capital of Sweden also in June of this year. The preservation of the human environment is the responsibility of all States. Those that because of their degree of development have contributed the most to the deterioration of the environment should assume greater technical and financial responsibilities for the establishment of corrective machinery.
95.	Thus, it is the duty of all States to see to it that pollution caused by activities within their jurisdiction or under their control should not go beyond national boundaries, and also to provide compensation for the damage caused, Mexico has been the victim of non-compliance with this equitable and common-sensical rule, which should be accepted by all on a bilateral as well as multilateral basis.
96.	No policy for the preservation of the human environment adopted by the international community should impede the development effort of the non-industrialized countries.
97.	In our opinion, the foregoing should appear first and among the fundamental rules which we hope will be adopted at the second United Nations conference on the human environment, which we would hope would be convened in 1975, with the active participation of all States. Because of the benefits of such a conference for mankind and because of the importance that my country attributes to the protection of the national environment, as is shown by the especially significant legislative and practical measures it has adopted to prevent pollution, Mexico has announced that it would be pleased to have the second conference held in our capital. We repeat now this cordial and sincere invitation.
98.	As is well known, a great deal of the extraordinary economic and social progress registered in recent decades is the result of advances in science and, more specifically, the application of scientific knowledge to technology investments and, in general, production processes. However, every day the gap between the technological achievements of the more advanced and the less developed countries is growing.
99.	Accordingly, the developed countries are duty bound to support without reservation the preparation of an international program designed to promote the transfer of appropriate technology to *he developing countries including, inter alia, the revision of international agreements on patents, the conclusion of agreements or conventions required to facilitate, in permanent and favorable conditions, the access of developing countries to patented and non-patented technology and the adaption of measures designed to promote those countries own technology.
100.	At the outset of this statement we expressed our conviction that we should improve and institutionalize the participation of the third world in the system of collective security of the Unite ' Nations, and we would venture to put forward now a few specific ideas on this point.
101.	Ever since 1945, when our Organization was created at the San Francisco Conference, Mexico has advanced serious reservations on the system adopted for the membership and the voting procedure of the Security Council, that organ to which the Charter has entrusted primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Since the amendment which we proposed at that time in the appropriate Committee of the Conference  was not adopted, Mexico stated for the record that it had decided to accept the text of Article 23 of the Charter because it interpreted that Article as an implicit application of the rule of law that there is a connection between powers and obligations which leaves intact the basic principles of the equal rights of all States.
102.	No delegation came forward to object to this interpretation of ours, which, for that matter, had a solid foundation in numerous official declarations made by the Heads of State of the Powers that participated in the Dumbarton Oaks talks. Thus, we wish now to propose in this forum that we should include in the Security Council at least one representative of the third world with the status of a permanent member of the Council and given the same powers as are enjoyed by the five permanent members now on the Council.
103.	Our proposal has the same logical, legal and political basis which we expounded in San Francisco in explaining our acceptance of the privileged position that the five permanent members of the Council have been enjoying through the years. We think that since that time a new fact has emerged which would more than justify the idea that we should immediately accept this proposal, that is, the emergence of a third world, which was practically nonexistent in San Francisco but which today makes up the largest group of States Members of our Organization. If, taken in isolation, the countries of the third world cannot hope to be counted either among the most wealthy or the most powerful, taken together they represent, beyond question, one of the most forceful elements in the United Nations. It is t!iis moral force—this force which they have by virtue of being spokesmen for about two thirds of the world's population and frequently the champions of the principles of the Charter-which gives us grounds for asserting that they have a capacity to contribute to the maintenance of peace equal to or even greater than that of some of the States that have been sitting as permanent members. That is why, I repeat, we are convinced that it would be entirely just and, furthermore, of great benefit to the Organization if the third world had a permanent representative in the Security Council.
104.	Peace is not merely the absence of war; it is rather the implementation of measures necessary for the socioeconomic progress of nations. Peace will not be complete as long as some live in abundance and many others subsist in poverty. Peace is one of the natural consequences of the exercise of freedom, at all levels and in all realms. However, as was already said by a famous English liberal: "Liberty is subject to control, and he who controls conditions controls freedom." In our times, as long as some have a monopoly on the world's economic elements, they will control in varying degrees the freedom of the rest.
105.	An examination of the world economic situation shows definitely that the policy of the developed countries is departing every day more and more from the objectives of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)}. International co-operation has reached its lowest point since the United Nations was established, and the growing social and economic abyss that divides the developed from the developing States poses today one of the most serious threats to world peace. The alarming picture that we are confronted with makes it of pressing urgency to ensure that the principle of the juridical equality of States ceases to be a Utopian arrangement devoid of any real content and that international economic co-operation should not be viewed in terms of goodwill but should rather enter fully into the field of law so that the prevalent inequality in the world may be diminished and we can bring about a more equitable distribution of wealth.
106.	That is why the President of Mexico proposed, during the third session of UNCTAD, that there should be drawn up a charter of the economic rights and duties of States which would be complementary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an appropriate means for bringing about an atmosphere of social equity which would promote the full flowering of all human beings.
107.	The development of nations is both a duty and a right, and access to the benefits of scientific progress, the application of technology, the development of natural resources and the promotion of foreign trade and financial co-operation are continuing prerogatives of mankind. All States are in duty bound to carry out a foreign and domestic policy designed to accelerate the balanced economic growth of the world as a whole and, in particular, to foster in the developing countries a rate of growth consistent with the need to achieve a substantial and continuing increase in the average income, in order to reduce the vast difference which exists between the standard of living in the developing countries and that obtaining in the developed countries and to create an atmosphere which will guarantee social justice. The developed countries will have to apply to the developing countries generalized, non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory preferential treatment with respect to all goods which may be objects of trade.
108.	We should draw a precise distinction between those natural resources, be they on land or in the sea, which belong to a State and which that State therefore enjoys the sovereign right to make free use of in order to promote the economic development and well-being of its people and those resources which constitute the common heritage of mankind, be they in the sea or in outer space, the exploration and exploitation of which should be carried out for the benefit of mankind.
109.	I have set forth some of the key ideas which, in the opinion of my country, should govern economic relations among States. We are gratified that Mexico's initiative has met with enthusiastic support from the developing countries and is also supported by some highly developed and industrialized countries. We have already established the procedures that should be followed in the elaboration of the draft charter of the economic rights and duties of States, which we hope can be submitted for the consideration of the General Assembly at its next session.
110.	A document of universal legal validity such as the one Mexico has suggested to the community of nations will test the readiness of the powerful countries to put into practice true international solidarity which, resting on the principles of the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention and the self-determination of peoples, and governed by binding legal rules, could become the best instrument to achieve and consolidate stable and lasting peace.
111.	As we have already stated, neither man nor the State can live alone.
112.	Without further delay we must end the arms race. We must severely punish those who use human lives as a means of political extortion. We must put an end to colonialism, draw up regulations for the equitable exploitation of the resources of the sea, improve our environment, and use science and technology for the harmonious development of all peoples. We must provide permanent representation for the third world in the maintenance of peace and security. We must reduce the vast gap between the overwhelmingly wealthy and the bitterly poor by adopting a rule of general application clearly establishing the economic rights and duties of States.
113.	Unless these tasks are fulfilled our planet earth will be converted into a piece of the cosmos pursuing its eternal course forever in solitude.


The outstanding election of the representative of Poland as President of this year's session of the General Assembly fills us with joy. We believe that at one and the same it is a tribute paid to his qualifications as a statesman and his wide knowledge of international problems and a tribute paid to Poland, a country that is friendly to the Central African Republic.
174.	I should like to associate the delegation of the Central African Republic with the warm congratulations and good wishes that have been addressed to him, to assure him of our full co-operation and to express the deeply felt conviction that under his enlightened guidance our work will lead to results that will live up to his competence and be worthy of the United Nations.
175.	I am also pleased to pay a tribute to your illustrious predecessor, Mr. President, Mr. Adam Malik, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. We greatly appreciate his tact and outstanding competence, thanks to which we were able to work calmly during the course of a particularly difficult session.
176.	Finally, it is also a particular pleasure for me to extend again to our eminent Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, the personal congratulations of General of the Army Jean-Bedel Bokassa, President for Life of the Central African Republic and of the Government and people of my country, as well as my own personal congratulations, on his appointment to such a high and arduous post at the end of the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly.
177.	We are not unaware of the many difficulties that he will confront, but we know, too, that he will give the best of himself in order to overcome them. In assuring him of our unconditional support, we can only wish him great courage and excellent health so that he will be able to work as long as possible on behalf of our Organization.
178.	The year 1972 will have been a year of detente, marked by the process of profound change that has taken place in the structure of international relations, and more particularly among the great Powers. We must mention the Soviet-American agreements on the limitation of strategic offensive and defensive weapons; the allied Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin; the agreements between Poland and the Federal Republic Of Germany and between the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic; negotiations on a treaty to normalize relations between the two Germanys; the announcement of a European security conference; the agreement between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America; the visit of Mr. Tanaka, the Prime Minister of Japan, to the People's Republic of China; and the rapprochement between the two Koreas, to name but a few.
179.	These changes were welcomed with joy and satisfaction by the international community as a whole, and particularly by my own country, the Central African Republic, whose domestic and foreign policies have always been based on peace and represent progress that must not be underestimated.
180.	But, unfortunately, we must also note that certain principles of the Charter are far from being complied with.
181.	Peace is constantly being disturbed by the persistence or outbreak of numerous conflicts in different parts of the world.
182.	The arms race makes the day of disarmament seem ever more remote. The international division of labor, learnedly advocated by some, nevertheless widens the gap between a super-industrialized world, replete and satisfied, and a world where hunger, sickness, ignorance, need and destitution are the daily portion of hundreds of millions of human beings.
183.	Entire peoples are still held in the shackles of colonialism and are despised by the racists, while neocolonialism tries to maintain or consolidate its interests by organizing, assisting or encouraging subversive activities and conspiracies intended to change by violence the regimes of
States where the neo-colonialists feel that their interests might be harmed or simply threatened.
184. Briefly, we must recognize with bitterness that social peace, economic peace and peace itself still must be achieved.
185. In fact, my delegation is fully aware that the war in South-East Asia, which is unscrupulously maintained by certain great Powers, continues to bring anguish to the tortured souls of the peoples of Viet-Nam and Cambodia, who strongly desire peace and happiness. But it was with satisfaction that we heard from this rostrum a few days ago the statement by Mr. William Rogers, the United States Secretary of State [2038th meeting], in whir! he spoke of a cease-fire throughout IndoChina under international supervision and a total withdrawal of United States troops that would allow the VietNamese people to settle their problems themselves and to decide upon their own future. We are convinced that that was not merely thinking aloud, but that it was a statement of high political import that will without doubt begin to be implemented very soon.
186.	The Middle East crisis is still one of the main concerns of our Organization. We continue to believe that the only road to a peaceful settlement of that painful conflict lies in the strict application of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and in the resumption of the Jarring mission.
187.	What are we to say of the persistence of colonialism and of racial discrimination in Africa, and particularly in southern Africa? In South Africa, in Namibia, in Zimbabwe, in Mozambique and in Guinea (Bissau) the dignity of the black man is still being offended. His fundamental and inalienable rights to self-determination are constantly being trampled underfoot, despite all the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations.
188.	The unholy alliance which has arisen in southern Africa between the forces of Portuguese colonialism and the forces of racism of Pretoria and Salisbury and is intended to maintain the supremacy of the white minority constitutes the most heinous crime of this century against mankind.
189.	We strongly condemn and denounce the attitude of certain Powers which not only encourage the racist regimes entrenched in southern Africa and the Portuguese policy in their colonies but continue to deliver weapons to those regimes in order to perpetuate foreign domination in Africa and to allow it to reconquer its positions from its devilish strongholds.
190.	In this connexion we urge the countries directly or indirectly concerned to take into account the Declarations of Lusaka  and Mogadishu  and the more recent Georgetown Declaration of 1972 on these questions. Our firm conviction has been and remains that it is imperative that suitable measures should be taken to allow the United Nations to play a wider and more effective role in the elimination of colonialism and racial discrimination in Africa and in the field of peace-keeping and security in the world.
191.	The full implementation by all Members of the United Nations of the resolutions of this Organization is, we believe, one of the basic elements in the struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination. We are pleased to note the praiseworthy efforts already made by the Secretary-General in these fields and we should like to encourage him to continue along these lines.
192.	But how could I end this chapter without mentioning a problem that has been the number one problem in the tendentious international press, a problem insidiously introduced in the General Assembly by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? I am speaking of the Uganda question.
193.	In fact, despite the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of other States and the principle of respect for national sovereignty, it is undeniable that certain great Powers continue to organize slander and smear campaigns against other States which are wedded to peace and justice.
194.	May I state on this subject that my delegation is amazed that, after having suffered an unprecedented failure when the people of Zimbabwe rejected the so-called Anglo-Rhodesian arrangements, that same Great Britain has again tried by low and devious maneuvers to focus world attention on a problem that falls exclusively within the domestic jurisdiction of a sister republic, namely, the Republic of Uganda.
195.	For our part we believe that it is not within the purview of the United Nations and the General Assembly to find any solution whatsoever to the problem of the expulsion of what the representative of Uganda quite justifiably termed "British citizens of Asian origin" at one of the recent conferences in Africa.
196.	What are we to say? Are we to set up our Organization as a biased international tribunal? No! The problem presented to our august Assembly is a false one and we must combat it by opposing its consideration, because in the view of my delegation that is a problem that is essentially a domestic problem of Uganda.
197.	How, then, can we explain that Great Britain refuses to welcome on its own soil British subjects expelled by Uganda solely because they are of Asian origin and asks us, the United Nations, to solve in its stead problems which concern it directly?
198.	Today the ideas of peace and security, of development and wide-scale multilateral co-operation are supported and appreciated by an ever-growing number of countries. Real conditions exist, such as trade and international economic relations that, we are sure, can become important factors in the maintenance and strengthening of peace and economic and social progress of all peoples.
Imbued with this conviction, we said last year from this same rostrum:
"For us, in a low income country, the most important objective is and remains the economic and social progress of our people. That is the top priority." [1958th meeting, para. 223.]
199.	We earnestly hope that the United Nations will be able to bring together the industrialized and the developing countries into a network of economic, trade, technical, social and cultural co-operation. In so doing it would widely contribute to the transformation of the human condition in a very inequitable world.
200.	One of these inequities, as we know, lies in the daily deterioration of the terms of trade which deprives the developing countries of the necessary resources for their arduous struggle for economic progress and helps to widen the gap that separates the needy from the wealthy countries.
201.	The state of international co-operation between the industrialized countries and the third-world nations is far from satisfactory. Today it is undeniable that the third session of UNCTAD held at Santiago did not offer new prospects in trade, nor was any real progress achieved in the desired implementation of generalized preferences. We are still waiting for a spectacular upswing in the curve of transfer of capital, which, unfortunately, has not changed.
202.	How could it be otherwise when many countries were diffident regarding even the holding of that session?
203.	As regards public assistance, today it is reduced to a level that is less than half the commitments established in the International Development Strategy. We might then wonder regarding the future of that so-called Strategy for the "Second Development Decade".
204.	However, we have not given up hope and we trust that the series of provisions approved by the General Assembly more than a year ago will enable a United Nations development system to handle significant resources more effectively. We are looking forward to the effective implementation of all these measures.
205.	Furthermore, we urge the Organization to bring to bear its influence on the specialized loan agencies in order to encourage greater assistance to the needy nations.
206.	In this regard, we feel that these financial organizations should lend a more willing ear to certain vital projects that are so necessary to the developing countries, particularly the least favored ones, such as the land-locked nations, into which category my own country, the Central African Republic, falls when, for different reasons these projects have not acquired financing from bilateral assistance or from private capital sources.
207.	The land-locked developing countries feel that the special measures adopted to favor them will not meet their needs until they are allowed to participate effectively in world trade and its growth and until they are guaranteed access to the sea and possess the necessary transit facilities.
208.	In this connexion it is with great pleasure that I draw the attention of the Assembly to the joint efforts of the African countries to carry out a road project, whose importance is obvious to all, for the linking of Mombasa in the east and Lagos in the west of the African continent. Surely this project deserves the unreserved support of the international community.
209.	On the other hand, it is with great pain that we are reluctantly forced once again to complain from this rostrum of the fact that the railroad project for the linking of the Central African Republic with the Atlantic Ocean, thus releasing my country from its land-locked status a project that was studied for many years and was placed before the World Bank for financing has been languishing endlessly in the offices of that great international organization, although we are a .full-fledged member of it. The reasons for this indifferent attitude towards us escapes our modest understanding; but in the light of the situation how are we to speak of social justice and peace in the world?
210.	I cannot remain silent about a problem which is of concern to the Central African Government, that of environment. I am happy to recall that my country was present at the Stockholm Conference and took a very active part in the work done.
211.	Although the Central African Republic does not suffer equally with the industrialized countries from problems of the environment for which we thank God we are aware of the inter-penetration of the problems of development as a whole with those of the environment and we therefore hops that the United Nations, which bears an important responsibility in this matter, will forthwith adopt suitable measures to ensure the welfare of man and the future of humanity. On the problem of the protection of the environment the United Nations cannot adopt a complacent attitude. The least we could expect would be a policy of vigilance.
212.	It is obvious that the developing countries admit the need for foreign capital, but they do not expect miracles from outside.
213.	We are also aware of the fact that foreign assistance cannot be effective unless it is based on an intensive national effort. As far as the Central African Republic is concerned, under the guidance of its dynamic Head of State, His Excellency General of the Army Jean-Bedel Bokassa, and within the framework of Operation Bokassa, a vast and original strategy for the harmonious development of all the potential of the country, of which I spoke at great length last year from this same rostrum [1958th meeting], the Central African Republic has turned resolutely to continued national participation, thus supporting the economic, social and cultural development of our country.
214.	The results of this strategy, particularly in the agricultural field, have gone well beyond our expectations, and we justifiably think that the specialized agencies of the United Nations, which are already assisting us, will increase their assistance in the years to come in promoting this great national undertaking for the benefit of the hard-working people of Central Africa.
215.	In the present troubled world conditions we can only hope that the Second Development Decade will link the Development Decade with the Disarmament Decade. The two are closely related and they must become one, if not in the letter at least in the spirit, in a Decade of peaceful co-operation for the increased well-being of all peoples.
216.	It surely would not be Utopian to ask the United Nations, on which we found our hopes for a better world, to do all in its power so that this day and age which is already witnessing a universal civilization may mark the beginning of true brotherhood and justice in the world.
217.	I would appeal to the peoples of the United Nations on the face of the earth to attack all the ills that threaten peace, so that from the untapped oceans and outer space we may prepare for a harvest of peace.


Mr. President, I am very happy to add my congratulations to those you have already received from so many on your unanimous election as President of this session of the Assembly. It is a just recognition of your personal merits and a well-deserved tribute to your country, Poland, for whose prosperity I express my best wishes.
133.	The report of the Secretary-General on the work of our Organization during the past year [A/8701 andAdd.l] has been given the careful consideration which such a well-prepared document deserves. We are grateful to Mr. Waldheim for the information and the guidance his report has given us. It shall be our guide as we strive to be productive in the service of mankind, and it has aroused in my delegation greater confidence in what we can accomplish here.
134.	We continue to believe that the United Nations is our best option to resolve the political conflicts which at present keep many nations apart or only serve to foster tension among them. We also continue to believe that it is here in this Organization that States have their best opportunity jointly to forge just, viable and effective solutions to reconcile their economic interests which have thus far seemed to be incompatible. We believe that in the United Nations peoples have their best opportunity to leave behind past errors and to build a future in which various cultures, diverse ideologies and different economic systems will compete nobly, in broad areas of agreement, so as to obtain for their citizens freedom, prosperity and the advancement of the human spirit.
135.	The United Nations, born of the tragedy of global warfare and of the dismaying poverty and ignorance in which most of our fellow human beings live, cannot and must not fail.
136.	Human institutions must periodically revise their structures and activities. New and unforeseeable needs require more suitable procedures, more flexible methods and more functional structures. The United Nations is no exception to this sociological rule. We do not cling to standards of action or structures which, in the face of new requirements, reduce the likelihood of attaining the purposes of those who forged the Charter at San Francisco. Experience is our teacher, and we must benefit from its lessons.
137.	Costa Rica has welcomed, and plans to study, the proposals made by the illustrious Government of Colombia regarding certain amendments to the United Nations Charter [see A/8746]. We shall participate in the discussion of this item [item 89] in the certainty that the statements of other delegations will shed new light on how best still further to improve upon the proposals of Colombia, and we shall vote in favor of them when the time comes to adopt a decision.
138.	However, we believe that together with reforms to improve the performance of our Organization it is necessary for all of us to acquire the conviction that the United Nations will be what the Member States wish it to be. The whole will be no better than the sum of its parts. The degree of sincerity with which each State Member of this Organization adheres to and achieves its objectives, the degree of sincerity with which each State supports its purposes and action, will be a measure of the degree to which the United Nations will respond to the hopes of the peoples of the world.
139.	We welcome the relaxation of tension which has taken place between the great Powers, which has been made manifest in the statements of the Secretary of State of the United States of America [2038th meeting] and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [2040th meeting] in this general debate. This move by certain great nations, which had maintained until quite recently dangerously hostile relations, to seek no longer armed confrontation but dialog, no longer diatribe but understanding and negotiation, nourishes the hope that peaceful coexistence and, even more, constructive relations among nations of various political creeds, can some day become a magnificent reality.
140.	In our Organization we must give these budding signs, like weak plants, all our solicitous, patient and generous support, being aware that there is no human problem that man cannot solve if it is approached with a desire for justice and truth.
141.	Of course, it is necessary that this collective action be supported by the individual conduct of each nation consistent with the expressions of peace and international co-operation which may be heard here.
142.	The era of confrontation, born of the hatred and suspicion of the cold war, must for all time yield to an era of negotiation.
143.	The extremist thesis that the democratic and Communist nations cannot coexist in the same world and that sooner or later one form of society will completely dominate the other must be rejected in theory and in practice as the product of sick fanaticism.
144.	Regrettably, the residue of this fanaticism still permeates the propaganda which poisons the minds of peoples who live under both political systems. While the statesmen of the great Powers meet and strive to build a world in which they can live together in peace, their propaganda and security agencies continue to function according to the obsolete dogmas of the cold war. They seem to be determined to carry on the absurd task of maintaining the small nations as belligerents in a cold war which the leaders of the great Powers have already decided to replace by peaceful coexistence.
145.	Costa Rica believes that the desire for peace, which has inspired the steps taken by the statesmen of the most powerful nations in the world in the last few years and has led to an atmosphere of coexistence, which we here applaud, must be supported and practiced by all nations, large and small. It is precisely for this reason that the Government of which I am a part decided to break the isolation in which it has lived with regard to the socialist nations and has established beneficial diplomatic and trade relations with the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia.
146.	This position has exposed us to enraged propaganda attacks on the part of those who wish to maintain the climate of the cold war, and those attacks have been welcomed by the fanatics in our own country and have created suspicion among some Governments in our area which are still living under that influence. Nevertheless, our Government is prepared to continue to deal with those who prefer to sacrifice mankind to a nuclear holocaust rather than tolerate the existence of political doctrines contrary to their own.
147.	The acceptance of the existence of various ideologies in the political field and the conviction that it is undesirable, and indeed impossible, for a man or a nation to determine what is best for all of mankind constitute the very basis of the democratic system, in which we hope to continue to live in Costa Rica. We are therefore prepared to maintain and broaden our relations with nations which have adopted systems different from ours, as long as they respect our sovereignty. We feel sure that this position, which has unleashed a storm against our Government, deserves the support and understanding of the vast majority of the States Members of this Organization.
148.	The United Nations is committed, because of its origin, to carry forward to the end in the fight against fear. That is why the item on disarmament must be a key question at every session of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General has sadly warned us that there has been no halt or perceptible slowing down in the arms race [A/8701/Add. 1, p. 3]. The information that he has furnished us is alarming. It states that in the decade of the 1960s the countries of the world allocated $1,870,000 million to acquire weapons of war and that in the last years the total military expenditures for that purpose have increased by approximately $200,000 million a year. Costa Rica, which has set an example and shown that it is possible for a nation to live without an army, sadly takes note of these facts. We regret even more that nations with grave problems of under-development have become swept up in this dizzying arms race.
149.	However, there are signs of hope, at least in the legal field, in the commitments that nations have entered into. The Antarctic Treaty; the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, Outer Space and under Water; the Tlatelolco Treaty; the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; the treaties which forbid the emplacement of nuclear weapons in outer space, the sea-bed and the ocean floor; and the recent convention on the prohibition of the use of biological weapons; as well as the agreement reached at the summit meeting held in Moscow in May of this year by the leaders of the two great Powers of the world on the limitation of strategic weapons-all of this has raised the hopes of peoples that the night of terror will be left behind, and we now dimly see at least the dawn of a day without terror.
150.	The General Assembly must continue to go forward. The hopes of peoples during this session would be increased if States which have not yet done so would announce that they have signed any of those treaties, in which they have been invited to participate. We shall welcome any action intended to establish some organ charged with preparing, prudently but with firm resolution, the convening of a world disarmament conference which would be charged with attaining one of the noblest goals which the peoples set for themselves when they constituted the United Nations, namely, to end the scourge of war.
151.	In the past years there has been an epidemic of criminal attacks and threats against personal security. We have had to endure a wave of savage terrorism which, in the words of Secretary of State Rodgers, "tragically touched the lives of people everywhere, without warning, without discrimination, without regard for the sanctity of human Me" [2038th meeting, para. 76].
152.	In a praiseworthy move to draw the attention of the United Nations to the principal problems of mankind, the Secretary-General made a solemn appeal to this Assembly to seek the appropriate means to fight terrorism and other forms of violence which jeopardize and destroy innocent human lives.
153.	The Foreign Minister of Brazil, Ambassador Mario Gibson Barboza, deplored in this Assembly the fact that no support had been given to the wording of the item as requested by Secretary-General Waldheim in the clear and decisive manner in which it was recommended by the General Committee [ibid., para. 6]. Like my colleague, I regret that amendments were introduced to that wording which seem to imply that in certain cases terrorism could be considered a legitimate political instrument. We totally reject these attempts to justify what cannot be justified. We can never accept the view that in order to reach certain political or social aims it is permissible to endanger the lives of innocent human beings who are totally alien to the conflict, or to disrupt international communications, thereby reducing the opportunities for people to come together.
154.	On other occasions in this and other forums Costa Rica has proposed the adoption of severe measures to put an end to terrorism. We have asked that such measures be applied not only to the persons who carry out terrorism and to the organizations responsible, but also to the Governments which protect them. If no nations were accomplices, terrorism would not last long. The suspension of air service to and from the countries which give refuge to the pirates and terrorists in general would doubtless constitute one of the most effective means in the fight against such crimes against mankind.
155.	My delegation will support any draft resolution or convention intended to combat in the most effective way possible this criminal activity. We consider that we cannot leave this session of the Assembly without having formulated adequate instruments to contain international terrorism. We therefore would venture to appeal to the delegations that were determined to postpone the discussion of so fundamental an item in the Sixth Committee to set aside their obstructionist attitude and, '-without any political preferences or ideological partisanship, to realize that it is urgent and indispensable to unite firmly and decisively to confront this indiscriminate and odious violence, which violates one of the basic human rights proclaimed by our Organization.
156.	The Middle East continues to be the burning issue in which world peace is at stake. There is at issue both peace and security as well as the possibilities for the economic and social development of the people of the area who deserve our fullest sympathy.
157.	It is with dismay that we have seen how in the past this Organization has adopted certain resolutions which, instead of promoting peace, have contributed to the creation of obstacles to a direct understanding between the parties to the dispute. The debates have been neither calm nor objective. The voting has been in blocs, in most cases without taking into account the merits of the proposals under study.
158.	Costa Rica is intensely concerned to contribute, with other nations, to bring about the day when peace will reign in the Middle East. We have proposed and will continue to ; propose and support dispassionate draft resolutions which seek a meeting of the minds between the parties. We shall insist on the need to prepare the way for direct negotiations between the belligerents and on the just demand that all the States of the area recognize the lawful and sovereign existence of the State of Israel within secure borders clearly defined in treaties with its neighbors.
159.	This Organization cannot afford to continue to neglect, as though it did not exist, the conflict in Indochina. I here endorse the prudent words of the Secretary-General when he told us that he was deeply concerned that "the United Nations, which was created as a result of a world war in order to safeguard international peace and security in the future, appears to have no relevance to what is now happening in Viet-Nam" [see A/'8701/Add. 1, p. 4].
160.	Undoubtedly it is the duty of the United Nations at last to concern itself with the enormous humanitarian problems which arise in that area of conflict. We must be vigilant to prevent the worsening of the situation from affecting the peace and security of all mankind.
161.	We consider that the peace offer made by President Nixon is reasonable: if the North VietNamese were to release the United States prisoners and accept a genuine cease-fire, the United States would withdraw completely from VietNam and would even end its military assistance to the South VietNamese. In these conditions, the future of Viet-Nam could be discussed in peace conferences and not on the battlefield.
162.	If all foreign support for North and South Viet-Nam were to end, the cease-fire to be negotiated could put an end to a bloody war which for more than 20 years has been eroding the vitality of that country. Without foreign support the North and South VietNamese will find a solution to their differences, even though this may not be wholly satisfactory to a sizable part of the population. The political regime that would arise from the settlement could be no worse than the brutal bloodletting and destruction that the VietNamese have suffered for decades, in large measure because of foreign intervention.
163.	Costa Rica continues to be firmly in the trenches in the struggle against all forms of racial discrimination. With the same vigor as that with which we have condemned and continue to condemn apartheid and other odious forms of discrimination which men of the white race practice against those of the black race, we also condemn the new manifestations of racism which have led majority groups of the black race to commit odious discriminatory acts against human beings of another race.
164.	World public opinion is shaken by the deportation en masse of persons of Asian origin who have had their homes in Uganda. That is particularly serious when one realizes that, apart from being driven from their homes because they belong to a race different from that of the majority of the population of Uganda, thousands of human beings will be deprived of all their belongings. A mandatory deadline has been set for leaving the country, under the threat that if they do not leave their homes they will be sent to concentration camps.
165.	My deleDation adds its voice to the voices of protest of other delegations and unfortunately, all too few-against this brutal trampling of the rights of the Ugandans of Asian origin. We support the British proposal that the item should be included in the agenda of this Assembly [A/8794]. We agree with the point of view stated by Sir Alec Douglas- Home, to the effect that this item should be debated without delay in the General Assembly, since the inhuman action which creates refugees is of undoubted international concern [2042nd meeting, para. 118].
166.	Costa Rica, although it is a developing country with unemployment problems, is prepared, as a token of the good faith with which it acts in such matters, to receive on its soil a group of inhabitants of Uganda who are victims of the discriminatory acts of their Government. President Figueres has responded to the humanitarian appeal made by the Secretary-General with a warm message of support and with a decision to contribute to the asylum provided to those who have been expelled.
167.	The Russian Jews constitute a small part of the Soviet population. Nevertheless, they have contributed to the great achievements of that great Power. They maintain spiritual links with a nation which, spread throughout the world, has decided to establish a proper home on the soil where its forefathers forged its culture and history.
168.	International public opinion has come out against the restrictions imposed on the Jews by the Soviet Union with regard to free emigration to their homeland. Criticism comes not only from the enemies of the political-social regime of the Soviet Union; it comes also from many great admirers of socialism and leaders of Communist parties in various parts of the world.
169.	My delegation sincerely believes that the Soviet Union would win greater respect in world public opinion if, instead of bargaining for the talents of these people, they were to yield those talents, which have forged their own culture, to a nation which is trying to build a prosperous, just and free society for its sons who have wandered throughout the world. It is, furthermore, a nation that has given constant proof of its decision to share its own achievements with the under-developed peoples of the world.
170.	The State of Bangladesh came into being as a result of the resistance of a people heroically united against the most pitiless form of political repression. The Bengali nation stoically bore genocide rather than abdicate its endeavors to exercise self-determination. Now that the people have achieved self-determination, after a bloody battle, we cannot close the doors of the international community to them.
171.	It is an irony that the People's Republic of China, to which entry to the United Nations was prohibited for so many years, has cast its first veto in the Security Council to prevent the State of Bangladesh from occupying its lawful seat in our Organization.
172.	Costa Rica, which was the first Latin American country to extend diplomatic recognition to the new Bengali State, will enthusiastically support the recommendation it hopes the General Assembly will make for the purpose of opening the doors of the United Nations to the representatives of Bangladesh.
173.	The Secretary-General, as an encouraging fact mentioned in his report on the work of the Organization, emphasizes the efforts of co-operation within the Organization in the fields of trade and development, the human environment and population. Indeed, even the severest critics of the United Nations are generous in their praise of this field of action of the United Nations,
174.	This is the hour of international justice and equity. The poorer nations of the world harbor resentments born of an injustice-laden past. They wish to possess and reap the fruits of their national resources and to have their national labor well paid for, since they have to pay very well for the labor of the wealthy nations. The poor nations wish to achieve an integral economic and social growth. They cannot agree that growth should continue to favor only some small sectors of mankind or certain nations while the vast majority continues to be immersed in poverty, ill- health, malnutrition, lack of opportunity for education and under-employment of natural and human resources.
175.	Let us bear in mind, as the Secretary-General warns us in his report, that to make progress in the solution of the global problems of the economic and social development of peoples "... Governments must develop more of a concern for each other's interests, a clear sense of each other's preoccupations and a wider knowledge of the sensibilities of other Governments and cuVLmQs" [A/9701/Add. 1, p. 5]. My delegation wishes to place on record its confidence that the highly developed nations will for their own benefit heed the demands of the developing countries. We trust that in reducing their arms expenditures they will channel such resources to the peoples that live submerged in underdevelopment and thereby co-operate with them in the attainment of a better life.
176.	The United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea held in Geneva in 1958 and 1960 constituted the point of departure, and not the target, of legal developments which must bear fruit in the forthcoming United Nations conference on the law of the sea. The most important contribution to this development was given by Latin America, with its thesis of a greater extension of the territorial sea or of broader special jurisdiction for the coastal State to protect and exploit the ichthyological and natural resources of the adjacent sea and its coast.
177.	The thesis that sea-hunting and fishing beyond the territorial waters of only a few miles of breadth must be governed absolutely by the principle of the freedom of the seas might have been warranted in the periods of history in which maritime resources seemed to be inexhaustible. But the use of increasingly sophisticated techniques of sea- hunting and fishing, and the building of increasingly bigger fleets, with a greater capacity to extend their activities to areas far removed from their countries of origin, brought about an irrational and wrongful exploitation of the riches of the sea.
178.	That is why the principle of the freedom of the seas, which must continue to be considered untouchable for maritime and air transit, must be limited so far as the exploitation of resources is concerned.
179.	In order to conserve and exploit for the benefit of the peoples of the coastal States the riches of the adjacent seas, in South America the thesis emerged that 200 miles should be the breadth of the territorial sea. At the Specialized Conference of the Caribbean Countries on Problems of the Sea, held at Santo Domingo on 7 June 1972, the more advanced concept was adopted of a patrimonial sea with a breadth of up to 200 miles.
180.	In the Declaration of Santo Domingo [A/8721, annex I, sect. 2] it was recognized that the breadth of the territorial sea should be the subject of an international agreement. It was also agreed that until such time, "every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit of 12 nautical miles measured from the applicable base line."
181.	At that Conference it was made perfectly clear that one must not confuse the territorial sea, where the coastal State exercises all the attributes of full sovereignty, with another additional and broader area, which has been called the patrimonial sea, where the coastal State exercises a sovereignty limited to the exploitation, exploration and conservation of marine resources, without jurisdiction to interfere with free navigation or with the right to lay under-water cables and pipes which any other State enjoys.
182.	The 12-mile breadth is more than sufficient for the territorial sea and its purposes, which are conservation and the security of the coastal State. The complication has arisen because of the use of the concept of territorial sea for the economic defense of fisheries or the exploration and exploitation of marine resources existing in an adjacent area of the territorial sea, which can be extended up to 200 miles. Because the truth is that the jurisdiction which some South American States exercise over an area up to 200 miles, which they call the territorial sea, does not have the characteristics of full sovereignty, but is limited to the exploration, exploitation and conservation of the renewable and non-renewable resources of what was formerly the high seas. The confusion therefore arises out of giving the same name to two different things: the zone of the territorial sea, strictly speaking and there is no reason for it to exceed 12 miles and the adjacent area which can be extended up to 200 miles, where jurisdiction limited to the economic field is the only one exercised.
183.	In the patrimonial sea, aircraft and ships of all States, whether coastal or not, have the right to free navigation and overflight, with no other restrictions than those that result from the exercise by the coastal State of its rights in the same area.
184.	Inasmuch as recognizing a breadth of up to 12 miles for the territorial sea would include some straits, one must therefore enter a qualification to the effect that the extension of the territorial sea, and still less that of the patrimonial sea, shall in no way curtail the freedom of maritime navigation and air navigation over those straits.
185.	Costa Rica reiterates at this time its support for the principle stated by the General Assembly in its resolution 2749 (XXV) that the sea-bed and ocean floor beyond the territorial sea and continental shelf are the common heritage of mankind.
186.	The peoples of the world expect just solutions for the many international problems which beset them. For them let us try to maintain this Organization as the most appropriate instrument to preserve peace, to bring about general well-being, and to defend freedom.