2.	  I come here to this high rostrum as a head of Slate to speak on behalf of a nation which, serenely and surely, is traveling the path of history. I do so in order to bring the concerns of the Government and people of Bolivia about some of the most pressing problems that mankind faces in a world as yet beset by crises, conflict, fear and poverty.
3.	I should like to begin by most cordially greeting the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, Mr. Gaston Thorn, who is so ably presiding over the thirtieth regular session of the General Assembly. 1 should also like to greet the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who, brilliant statesman that he is, presided over two sessions.
4 f should also like to greet the Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, whose tireless work is all the more admirable and useful for purposes of this Organization, because he is imbued with deep humanism and with a serenity with which he has tackled the gravest difficulties. Mr. Waldheim has made a positive contribution to the United Nations. Soon after taking office he proposed that the question of international terrorism in its broadest context should be considered. It is regrettable that this urgent item has not as yet been taken up.
5 I should also like to join in the welcome extended to the new States of Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Cape Verde. The peaceful political transition of these three States is a clear example of the maturity of their peoples, as well as of the sincere decision of the administering Power to decolonize. 1 am certain that the presence of these newest States will strengthen our Organization and will provide a new and powerful impetus to the peoples of Africa.
6.	I should like to welcome Papua New Guinea, whose independence has already been achieved. 1 should also like to greet in advance Suriname, soon to be independent, a Caribbean territory which is therefore an integral part of Latin America.
7.	One of the crucial subjects of our time is peace among men. Without international peace and security, it is an illusion to dream of the total development of mankind, of the full satisfaction of its material and spiritual needs, of mankind meeting its common destiny in a more just economic order.
8.	It is ever more essential to stop the arms race, to reduce arms traffic and sales abroad, to channel nuclear energy for the benefit of the peace and well- being of men rather than to use them for their total destruction. No international co-operation can attain positive results if we do not ensure an era of permanent and constructive peace.
9.	In this context, the Bolivian position is clear. We do not believe in the absolute victory of weapons. We are aware of the power that some nations wield in that area. We know that the nuclear bombs that are being manufactured would alone be enough in the 1980s to destroy life on our planet. Despite this paradoxical advance, we are certain that mankind will stand to gain little or nothing if it is not capable of avoiding the dangers that threaten it now. As developing countries see it, the essential question is how to avoid self-destruction, how to prevent the supreme holocaust, how to protect the service of collective well-being, the marvelous creations of man's genius.
10.	To forestall those risks, firearms are not enough, A new spirit is required taking account of man in relation to his eternal destiny and his selfless nature.
11.	Every year more than $3,000 million is being squandered on military expenditure. It would be wonderful if mankind used those resources to combat ignorance, disease and hunger!
12.	The food and energy crisis, world inflation, social conflicts, terrorism, pollution, ecological imbalance, the manufacture, traffic and use of drugs, the gap that separates poor peoples from wealthy nations, are, among other things, the most pressing problems faced by contemporary society.
13.	It is incumbent upon the United Nations to ensure world coexistence, to find practical ways and means to harmonize relations between exporters of industrialized goods and producers of raw materials.
that is, of historically specific entities, and consequently of its obligation to urge the wealthy countries to accord just treatment to the less advanced ones.
15.	During the colonial period Bolivia, which was then called Alto Peru, produced so much gold and silver, according to the chroniclers of the time, that a bridge could be built from the fabulous Potosi to the Iberian Peninsula.
16.	Leaving fantasy aside, it is true that for a long time Alto Peru maintained the splendor of the old world.
17.	Despite sacrifices of many centuries and the enormous drain on natural resources, the compensation to which it was legitimately entitled was never forthcoming.
18.	Since 1825, the date when we began our independent life, Bolivia has generated, on an annual average at present prices, -wealth amounting to $300 million; it created wealth of more than $40,000 million. However, its total investments hardly reached $1,000 million. We are therefore far from having the resources that the country requires to tackle the first stages of its development.
19.	Therefore, with respect to this revealing picture, we may well ask: Where is this wealth and to whom did it go? Which foreign economies did it benefit? Why did it have to impoverish some and enrich others?
20.	We legitimately believe that we must be compensated for the injustices and exorbitant demands of which we were the victims in the past.
21.	It is time to imbue international relations with a new character, to replace dependence by interdependence, paternalism by solidarity, assistance by mutual co-operation.
22.	In the area of co-operation for development, cause and effect require careful study. So far, despite the fact that we are at an advanced stage of the Second United Nations Development Decade, we are still involved in uncertainty and skepticism, All this is generated by an acute crisis of confidence in the machinery underlying the system of international economic relations.
23.	Bolivia would like to place on record its support for the efforts of the United Nations to solve the painful problems that limit the development of the economically less advanced countries.
24.	We support unreservedly the principles, purposes and resolutions that were adopted at the sixth special session of the General Assembly held in April 1974 as well as at the seventh special session, whose deliberations were concluded recently.
25.	The Government and people of Bolivia are identified with the purpose of establishing a new international economic order. In this context, they hope that the Declaration and the program of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order [resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VJ)] which enshrine this important goal will be implemented, together with the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States [resolution 3281 (XXIX)].
26.	In celebrating the J50th anniversary of the founding of Bolivia, from the House of Freedom in Sucre, the city which transmitted the ideas of emancipation to America, I addressed a message in which 1 expressed the position of my country concerning many of the problems that are of interest today to the international community.
27.	It must be noted that this is not the time for regrets, but the time for action. It is no longer the time for rhetoric. We must create, construct and organize a new and more just world, as everybody demands.
28.	Mankind has a common destiny. It cannot be conceived as fragmented, divided by differences, hatred or the irritating inequalities that separate peoples. We are duty-bound to work in unity, in cooperation, in solidarity and to establish a dialog among ourselves. Otherwise our civilization may plunge into the holocaust of war or jeopardize indefinitely the benefits of peace, freedom, progress and justice.
29.	We cannot allow, without concern, wealth to be increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few. Neither nations nor men have the right to accumulate a disproportionate amount of wealth. A situation in which some flaunt offensive opulence while others suffer painful poverty is not acceptable.
30.	In order to eliminate this international economic and social anachronism we must find a solution to the problem. We must pass from words to deeds. The equality of the peoples must be attained, in global terms, in the social, economic, cultural and political fields.
31.	It is difficult to destroy the barriers of underdevelopment and dependence without using the resources of science and technology. 1 repeat my proposal that we must take action to convert these resources into a common heritage of mankind. The idea has been launched; it is no longer a Bolivian idea. The important thing is to begin, and to create the instruments to implement, sooner or later, this transcendental objective.
32.	There is another burning problem which mankind faces today, namely, the presence in many countries of a few transnational enterprises whose methods are neither scrupulous nor honest. They interfere in internal affairs. They make a mockery of sovereignty. They use bribes and slander, they promote corruption and they exploit to the utmost our non-renewable natural resources, In their search for profits they act against the interests of the people and contribute irresponsibly to the deterioration of international relations.
33.	It is imperative to fix standards to regulate the activities of transnational enterprises and monopolies, and to establish the sanctions befitting their deceitful practices.
34.	States which engage in economic aggression deserve similar condemnation. Bolivia, as a producer country of tin, is a periodic victim of that treacherous activity.
35.	It is difficult in this forum to pass over the question of raw materials. The countries which are producers of raw materials will have to act in their own defence by forming an unshakable common front. It is only in this way that we shall be able to form a common front against the manipulation of prices: unstable and low for raw materials and excessively high for manufactured products.
36.	We recognize that the United Nations, through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [IJNCTAD], attempts to enact a policy of the stabilization of equitable and just prices. Regrettably, resolutions take too much time and the developing countries are tired of waiting. If efforts are not co-ordinated and if definite progress is not made among the producer and consumer countries there will be no other course for the former than to organize, without delay, prompted by the absolute necessity of attaining positive results.
37.	A general policy for raw materials could take specific form in the following way: first, an association of producer countries; secondly, stepped-up industrialization; and thirdly, creation of funds to regulate reserves.
38.	1 should now like to speak about my country, which has been described as varied, wonderful and fertile. On its land everything can be produced, so fertile is the soil, so diverse the climate throughout this very large country. With regard to the wealth in its subsoil, nature has been very generous to my country. Although we have been given much, we hope for much more as a result of capital and work, in order to channel this abundance into the well-being and progress of our people.
39.	Bolivia has enacted modern legislation providing for guarantees and incentives, legislation which in a rational way reconciles the interests of foreign investors with the objectives and priorities of our nation.
40.	My country is a land of links and contacts. It is at the crossroads of two great oceans; the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is a part of two river basins: the Amazon and the Plate. It has adhered to all the regional mechanisms for integration. It is a member of the sub-regional Andean Pact, the Latin American Free Trade Association, URUPABOL, and the Treaty concerning the Plate River basin.
41.	This firm and unconditional attitude taken by Bolivia is an embodiment of the purest ideals of the liberators. For the Government and people of Bolivia the concept of integration does not mean merely establishing a policy of no tariff barriers, of economic co-operation and increase of trade. The enterprise should be more ambitious: seek to establish the political, economic and cultural machinery that will create the great American homeland of which Bolivar dreamed.
42.	Until recently my country lived under the unjust system of a dual society: on the one hand, the exploited and illiterate majority, totally alienated from civilization and the most elementary benefits of progress; on the other, a feudal oligarchy, which had all the privileges, wielded political and economic power and was insensitive to the suffering and poverty of the people.
43.	The Bolivian revolution was directed against that system of oppression and injustice. We have instituted agrarian reform, the tin mines have been nationalized, we have decreed that we shall have sovereignty over our natural strategic resources, and the rural worker has been enabled to participate in the political life of the country.
44.	However, some of these achievements for example, agrarian reform were for a long time stratified in the mere distribution of titles to land. Now the Government of the Armed Forces is establishing, within the process of the continuity of the Bolivian revolution, the modern bases for farming and animal husbandry and the agricultural industry.
45.	To that must be added our policy of establishing agricultural co-operatives and engaging in rural education, an endeavor without precedent in the life of the Republic.
46.	Thus, structural changes of major importance are taking place in Bolivia. The Bolivian revolution continues as a vanguard in Latin America of the processes of liberation.
47.	I represent a Government whose legitimacy is demonstrated through the militant support of the majority of the national community. That support, which is reflected in political stability, in social peace, in internal order, in constructive work, makes it possible for the people freely to express themselves and to demonstrate their best talents and aptitudes.
48.	Bolivia, as we have already said on various occasions, guarantees that everyone can express himself fully and in any way he desires. With the strength it has gathered from the past and the energy it has at present, its desire is to ensure that every Bolivian can work, produce, study and fulfill his material and spiritual aspirations.
49.	The Government of Bolivia is the political expression of broad national agreement. It enjoys the active participation of all elements of society, and mainly of the professionals and the rural and other workers. The armed forces of our nation are the pivot of the system, of the new model, through its historical training in uniting and mobilizing the entire population for the good of the country and for the benefit of development.
50.	In various countries of America and the rest of the world where the expression of national sentiment is a slow, laborious process, it seems that the optimum conditions for the practice of an ideal democracy have not been achieved. My country too has been suffering from this institutional crisis, largely because of the eruption of new factors such as our burning need for housing, education, good health conditions and work.
51.	In Bolivia the armed forces, representing the most faithful expression of our nationhood, have assumed political responsibility, aware that their function cannot be limited to military activity and faced ■with the lack of structures capable of overcoming the deep crisis of transition in the world and especially on the American continent.
52.	In view of the burning need to reassess our social objectives, we are revamping our constitutional life. This is, as it were, a parenthesis, in the course of which we intend to strengthen our institutions and make them more rational. Our position exceeds the bounds of the traditional framework. It is a question of doing away with anachronisms and adapting the new system of national aspiration to the real fulfillment of the expectations of the majority. The development of this process will lead us on the path of pluralistic and effective democracy, the path we have chosen.
53.	We have acted in full awareness of the difficulties and dangers that the armed forces must face in undertaking these great social changes. The task of giving the dispossessed their rights again, without falling into demagogy, abuse or despotism, is an open challenge to powerful interests. It arouses the impatience of certain elements with those who want to overcome chronic poverty,
54.	In a country like Bolivia, with deep structural imbalances and insufficient institutional cohesion  a situation similar in many ways to that existing in the newly established States it is not easy to channel in a rational and peaceful way all the forces of compulsion that are typical of peoples acutely desiring liberation. To correct these imbalances and direct the peoples towards these pre-established objectives of effective democracy, we must inevitably adopt new standards of conduct and there must be a firm political will.
55.	Any step towards change and accelerated development almost always has its price. The important thing is to be aware of its real value and to make the means to attain those changes as perfect as possible so that the benefits do not represent too onerous a burden on the weakest layers of the population, precisely those whom we are trying to help.
56.	The burning problem of our time is the deep imbalances dividing contemporary society, a problem that is affecting an ever greater number of people in the world. The universalism that we seek is designed precisely to find a solution to that situation.
57.	In the face of the set and inevitable attitudes of the great centers of economic power, developing countries are in duty bound to establish their own action fronts to interact jointly, as far as possible in a spirit of conciliation and co-operation, with those centers of power. What we must do is achieve that new order in which the situations created in a divided and stratified world whose consequences we still feel will not be repeated.
58.	Ideologically, our nationalism is revolutionary, humanistic and Christian. We have established a pluralistic democracy which allows free expression of ideas, initiatives and attitudes, within the framework of the general debates of the nation. Until very recently, democracy in its accepted sense was a myth which perpetuated the power of the dominating minorities.
59.	This is no longer the case in the Bolivian revolution. In order that the people may become an active factor in development, history requires the broadest popular participation and a rapid increase in and a better distribution of wealth. Only thus can not only well-being and equality of opportunity but also the means to develop fully be ensured.
60.	Internationally, my Government is in favor of maintaining diplomatic relations with all countries in the world subject to one condition only, namely, that these countries respect our sovereignty and our culture.
61.	The Bolivian revolution is defined as an authentically nationalistic movement against imperialism, racial discrimination, colonialism and neo-colonialism in all their forms and manifestations.
62.	With the support of all Bolivians, the armed forces of my country have assumed a heavy responsibility before history. This has doubtless been their most important decision but one worthy of their sacrifice, their ability, their abnegation and patriotism. In view of the civic maturity and the social awareness of their members, they are competent to be the protagonists in the present stage of structural transformations.
63.	There is unity and identification around my Government, especially with regard to the great national objectives which are, among others, security, development and renewed access to the sea.
64.	The unity which tacitly has been consolidated around the armed forces increases, as never before, the capacity of my people to carry out its fundamental tasks. In the recent past, because of the limited political sphere or due to the confusion created by past conditions, such tasks were not carried out in good time.
65.	Convinced of the magnitude of the challenge, our revolution has taken the most direct and expeditious way to narrow the gap between the Bolivian reality and the highest levels attained by the most developed societies.
66.	In the five-year plan that we have drawn up, it is contemplated that Bolivia will double its wealth. Concurrently with the economic growth that broadens social well-being and the cultural level of the people, we are processing raw materials; we are speeding up literacy programs; we are integrating the population in conditions of respect and conciliation among the various traditional cultures.
67.	Our goal is to integrate the nation spiritually, physically and demographically. By encouraging the traditional communities of a secular organization, we want the peasant to develop his initiative within his own sphere. By his support, channeled through the civic action programs of the armed forces, we shall urbanize the rural areas. We are implementing a vast plan of road communication. Our extensive water resources will provide a source of energy for a vast rural electrification plan which will transform agriculture and raise the standard of living of the peasants.
68.	I believe that the best resource of a people is its human capital; therefore, we have begun a difficult and long campaign to eradicate the manufacture, traffic and use of drugs. In this task, we require the co-operation of all nations and institutions to combat the traffic of drugs because the criminal extension of this traffic affects all countries in the world.
69.	Bolivia will spare no effort to attain this goal. From this high rostrum, as the President of my country, I fervently appeal for international co-operation to protect the moral and physical health of youth all over the world.
70.	On this occasion I should like to refer to Bolivia's support of the solution of international disputes by peaceful means.
71.	Consistent with this principle, the Inter-American Conference of Foreign Ministers, held at Rio de Janeiro in 1965, sponsored a resolution which applauded the decision of the United States of America to review
the treaty which Panama signed with regard to the Canal Zone.
72.	Faithful to this principle, we consider it a duty of American solidarity to declare that we fervently hope that, in keeping with the mutual interests of both countries the Canal Zone problem will soon be settled satisfactorily in favor of the rights and sovereignty of the brother Panamanian people.
73.	I have ventured to outline some of the broad policies of the nationalist Government which I represent.
74.	On the basis of these objectives and the realization of these great ideals, I have entered into an irrevocable commitment with my people: to return to Bolivia its sea, the sea it had when it started life as an independent, free and sovereign State.
75.	Powerful reasons prompt us to seek this goal. The integration advocated today, an integration without access to the sea, is for Bolivia a process of dependency which hampers, delays and stifles its full development.
76.	This very situation is recognized as a phenomenon affecting all nations and, in our case, landlocked as we are by force of circumstance, is one of exploitation and subjection.
77.	Our sovereignty, as indeed the sovereignty of all land-locked countries, is hampered in its free exercise by having to pay levies for conditional transit which is tantamount to subjection, however free that subjection may seem.
78.	It is well known that my country suspended its diplomatic relations with Chile for over 12 years. This was due to the fact that Chile made unilateral use of the international waters of the Lauca River. Both countries reached an impasse, a vicious circle which prevented them from coming to a healthy understanding which would have served the higher interests of both countries.
79.	Bolivia maintained that it would not resume its relations with the Government of Santiago if it did not obtain, together with compensation for the diversion of the Lauca river, a means of access to the Pacific coast. Chile, in turn, stated that it would resume its relations with Bolivia only without preconditions, the sole basis which would permit the opening of a dialog for discussion of the Bolivian proposals.
80.	I understood that such a state of affairs could not continue and that the time had come for Bolivia once more to prove its readiness for a dialog to reach a common understanding. Thus after my talks at Charana with the President of Chile, on my initiative, we decided to resume our relations with the express purpose of studying at government level the need for us to have our maritime legacy restored to us. I must definitely state that I found brotherly understanding on the part of Mr. Augusto Pinochet, and a firm determination to deal resolutely with this great and historic question.
81.	Thanks to the exchange of ambassadors, which has enabled us to open an active fruitful dialog, it has been possible for my Government to make a formal proposal to the Government of Chile, in which the Bolivian people places its dearest hopes.
82.	It could not be otherwise. I am certain that the Chilean President will respond positively to my sincere and constructive concern as my country's President.
83.	This world assembly has heard the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chile state:
"The exchange of ambassadors has made possible the establishment of a direct and active dialog for the purpose of analyzing the wishes of each country, including Bolivia's wish to obtain a sovereign outlet to the sea supplementing the free transit facilities it currently enjoys." [2376th meeting, para. 263.]
84.	While quoting the views in echoing the ideas voiced by the Government of Chile through its Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Patricio Carvajal, 1 must also recall the resolution adopted by the Organization of American States at its fourth regular session, held in April 1975 at Atlanta, Georgia, assuring my country of the desire to amend the situation.
85.	The peoples of Latin America subsequently endorsed this desire in the historic Declaration of Ayacucho, signed at Lima on 9 December 1974 [see Al10044, annex], in which it was openly and objectively recognized that one of the problems affecting America, Bolivia's lack of access to the sea, deserved the closest general consideration.
86.	I should like to state, in the spirit of the Americas that governs the fair play of our negotiation with Chile, that I fully share Foreign Minister Carvajal's confidence that "... the good will prevailing within the Governments of Chile and Bolivia will enable us to achieve realistic and final agreements" [2376th meeting, para. 264],
87.	Those agreements, anxiously awaited by the Bolivian people and, I venture to hope, by all the peoples of our wonderful Latin American world  will have to be crystallized very soon, however lengthy the investigations needed, and however many meetings are required.
88.	The solution of great problems which affect the harmony and the peace of America cannot be postponed indefinitely. We must state frankly that there can be no playing with human hopes, with the hopes of an entire people.
89.	From this rostrum, in this universal forum, I want to state before the world that Bolivia is awaiting Chile's response to its proposals. Let us repeat emphatically: that those proposals have nothing to do with the right of transit deriving from our land-locked position, but are directed to a basic solution, final and comprehensive, that will give us our own free and sovereign access to the sea, naturally and geographically contiguous with our territory.
90.	Moreover, statesmen and other distinguished Latin Americans, and inter-American legal and cultural organizations have, in a praiseworthy manner, fully agreed with Bolivia's right to access to the sea. For all those manifestations of support essentially spontaneous, since my Government has not attempted to convert others to its convictions I must express deep gratitude on behalf of my people, since it is rare in our world to find such outstanding champions of justice.
91.	Only thus will permanent justice and peace in America be attained; only thus shall we be able to dispel the concerns of all those sister countries, which, as I said earlier, have assumed the cause of restoring Bolivia's access to the sea as though it were one of their own fundamental problems.
92.	From this high rostrum of human solidarity, in this hour of great change when justice must prevail, I bear witness before the world of the noble, democratic and peaceful efforts Bolivia is making to regain, after almost a century, the access to the sea which is rightfully ours, and that we so sorely need to communicate and trade with the rest of mankind.


104.	 Mr. President, on behalf of the delegation of the Soviet Union I should like to congratulate you on the occasion of your election to the high position of President of the General Assembly for its thirtieth session and I wish you full success in the discharge of this most important function.
105.	For three decades now, regular sessions of the General Assembly have been held towards the end of each year. And each session becomes a significant event in international life. Indeed, the United Nations activities are focused on the most important and acute problems.
106.	If we try to visualize with our mind's eye the work of our Organization over all these years, we shall see a vivid picture of the concerns and anxieties, aspirations and hopes of mankind, permeated by a desire, common to all peoples, for peace and for material, social and spiritual progress.
107.	Whether or not international developments are in line with that desire, this should be, above all, the starting-point in analyzing the state of affairs in the world. It is from this angle that the Soviet Union views the situation in which representatives of States have gathered for the thirtieth session of the General Assembly.
108.	The main feature of the situation is that the process of relaxation of international tensions is gaining in scope, and detente itself is increasingly gaining substance. This finds its expression, in particular, in the conclusion of a whole number of agreements between States, including the well-known Soviet- American agreements, which are ot great importance for the cause of peace and international security.
109.	And though the process of improving the political climate is still being influenced by various, sometimes conflicting, factors, it can be definitely stated that in the past year a new significant step has been taken along the path leading, towards a more durable peace.
110.	The peaceful foreign policy of the USSR, a policy of socialism, is aimed at those objectives, at the strengthening of international security. Those objectives were set forth by the great Lenin himself, back in the early years of the existence of the Soviet State, and our country has been invariably guided by them throughout its historical march.
111.	Following this course, a course embodied in the Peace Program adopted by the Twenty-Fourth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the USSR is an active participant in, and in many instances a sponsor of, efforts radically to improve the international situation.
112.	In present-day conditions, we believe it feasible, though not at all easy, to carry out a restructuring of relations among States such as would leave no room for wars between them and would secure respect for the rights of all peoples, large or small, to free and independent development.
113.	The principled foreign policy line of the USSR will, no doubt, be reaffirmed and expanded in the decisions of the forthcoming Twenty-Fifth Congress of the Party of Soviet communists early next year. All those who fight for the peace, national independence and social progress of peoples can continue to count on our solidarity and active support.
114.	In pursuing its policy of peace, the Soviet Union acts in the world arena in close unity with the fraternal socialist countries. And we are proud that the peaceful policies of the socialist countries are in keeping with ti.s aspirations of all peoples.
115.	This yea.' will remain in the memory of the peoples as the year of the conclusion of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. The Final Act of the Conference, to which the signatures of top leaders of 33 European countries, the United States of America and Canada were affixed in Helsinki, in one of the most outstanding documents of our times.
116.	The peoples of Europe to a very large extent pinned on the Conference the hope that the European continent would be able, at last, to break out of the vicious circle of its history where every post-war period turned into a pre-war period, to be followed by a war unleashed by aggressors. The peoples of Europe expected that the Conference would work out and adopt important decisions in the interests of ensuring their security and agree on the main directions for equal and versatile co-operation. Everywhere in Europe people wished the Conference to succeed.
117.	The participants in the Conference succeeded through intense collective efforts in achieving important results, which have been clearly recorded in the Final Act.
118.	This concerns, above all, the political sphere —the working out of principles governing relations among the participating States. Provided they are strictly observed by all States, the threat of war will be excluded from the life of the peoples of Europe and an atmosphere of trust in the peaceful development of each country will come into being on the continent.
119.	This is also true and applicable with regard to the stability and confidence measures agreed on at the Conference, which are designed to promote a reduction of the risk of armed conflicts in Europe.
120.	A positive role is to be played by the understandings reached at the Conference on co-operation in the fields of trade, large-scale industrial projects, science and technology, and the protection of the environment.
121.	A substantial contribution to the development of co-operation between the States participating in the Conference are the understandings reached on questions of co-operation in the fields of culture, information, contacts and education, and their significance will be ever increasingly felt as detente deepens and develops.
122.	It is not without a sense of satisfaction that I note that the success of the Conference was largely facilitated by the efforts of the socialist countries, which invariably seek to switch international relations on to the track of peaceful coexistence. This success became possible also because in Western countries the well-founded conviction is gaining strength that it is necessary to adopt a constructive approach to the solution of problems that arise in Europe instead of aggravating and inflaming the situation, which in the past often reached dangerous levels.
123.	The understandings reached as a result of the Conference are based on the recognition by all its participants of the absolute truth that respect for the sovereign equality of States, the non-use of force, the inviolability of frontiers, territorial integrity, nonintervention from outside in the internal affairs of States as well as other basic principles are laws which no one may transgress.
124.	What are the implications of the result of this joint work of 35 States for the peoples of Europe and indeed of the entire world?
125.	The answer is provided by the experience of the past, when a desire to seize others' territories and brute force raised to the level of State policy acquired the character of criminal claims to world domination and developed into the brown plague of fascism, racism, direct aggression and the tragedy of world wars. Now 35 States which took part in the Conference have assumed, jointly and before the whole world, the obligation to build their relations on the principles of peace, and peace alone, and of deeper co-operation.
126.	The results of the Conference constitute a carefully weighed balance of the interests of all its participants, and they reflect generally acceptable understandings and well-founded compromises. We have every reason to state that the experience of the Conference should be used most extensively for the settlement in general of the pressing problems of today.
127.	In short, as was stressed by L. I. Brezhnev in his speech at Helsinki:
"The results of the prolonged negotiations are such that there are neither victors nor vanquished, neither winners nor losers. This is a victory for reason. Everyone has won the countries of the East and of the West , the peoples of socialist and capitalist States, parties to alliances and neutrals, large and small. This is a gain for all people who hold dear the cause of peace and security on our planet.
128.	Assessing highly the results of the Conference, the Soviet Union believes that the main task now is to translate the understandings reached into deeds, and to advance towards new milestones in the struggle for a lasting peace. This is the course the Soviet Union follows and will continue to follow, and this is what we also expect others to do.
129.	Who would contest that the year 1975 will go down in history as the year of the triumph of the just cause of the peoples of Indo-China? Triumph crowned their liberation struggle that had been carried on for almost 30 years against colonialists and aggression.
130.	Those people sustained tremendous losses, but their will for freedom was never broken. The victory won by the peoples of Indo-China is above all the result of their own efforts. At the same time, it is also a major and common success of all the peace-loving and progressive: forces which invariably demonstrated their solidarity with the struggle of the patriots of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia, and provided them with moral and material support.
131.	The Soviet Union as the whole world knows has fulfilled its internationalist duty to the Vietnamese people. It has sought persistently the elimination in
Indo-China of one of the most dangerous hot-beds of war which troubled international relations.
132.	Understandably, the removal of that hot-bed was welcomed everywhere with a sense of relief. Now that freedom and peace have dawned over the whole of Indo-China, favorable prospects are opening up for its peoples to begin healing the wounds of war and building a new life, which they are doing with the dedication and heroism so characteristic of them.
133.	Having defended their sovereignty and independence in the long struggle, the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and the Republic of South Viet Nam now express their willingness to participate within the framework of this world Organization also in efforts to develop international co-operation. We are convinced that the admission to the United Nations of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam and the Republic of South Viet Nam would be fully in keeping with the lofty purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter; and the Soviet Union supports the request of their Governments to that effect. No one who stands for peace should fear such a decision of the United Nations.
134.	The lessons of Indo-China are simple and obvious. The struggle of peoples for freedom, national independence and social progress is invincible. It cannot be destroyed by bullets or fire. The outcome of many years of conflict in Indo-China is a convincing case in point. It is also clear that any attempt to dictate or to impose one's will on other peoples by force of arms is untenable and in the final account doomed to failure.
135.	This is a good lesson, in the sense that the policy of acting from "positions of strength", which has now been rejected also at the conference table in Helsinki, should be relegated to the archives of history, never to be revived.
136.	The radical change in the state of affairs in Indo-China creates more favorable prerequisites for establishing peaceful co-operation in Asia as a whole. Practical steps in this direction would serve the interests of the settlement of urgent problems and the strengthening of security throughout the continent of Asia which of course requires, as in Europe, collective efforts by all States concerned, both large and small. And it is through such efforts, and subject to strict compliance with the principles of equality and non- use of force in any guise in resolving disputes between States, that a most effective solution of the problem of Asian security can be found. Let no one think that the Soviet Union would benefit from such a turn of events in Asia to a greater extent than some other States. Not at all; objectively all countries of Asia are equally interested in this.
137.	The entire course of world events in recent times confirms the conclusion reached a long time ago by all those who stand on the ground of reality, that only the policy of peaceful coexistence of States with different social systems can have a future and is in keeping with the interests of the peoples.
138.	Our country, the Soviet Union, which is faithful to the legacy of Lenin, carries on a tireless struggle for the further establishment of these principles as a generally recognized rule of international relations. In our relationships with countries of different social systems 'here are a good many positive elements which serve both our interests and those of our partners in corresponding agreements and understandings. This finds its expression in particular in the development of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States of America in recent years, primarily as a result of Soviet-American summit meetings, which favorably influences the situation in the world as a whole.
139.	A joint search for solutions of urgent problems, including their consideration at the very highest level, the development of political contacts, the expansion of economic, scientific, technological and cultural exchanges have already yielded tangible results which have a positive impact on the general state of international relations and strengthen the spirit of trust in them, without which relations among States cannot be built on a solid basis.
140.	The Soviet Union continues to consolidate friendly relations with developing countries with which we are united by a common desire for peace and progress. We have invariably rendered and will continue to render support to the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America and to the movement of non- aligned States in their struggle to consolidate their national sovereignty and economic independence, to overcome the grim legacy of the colonial past, and against intrigues aimed at undermining their independence and infringing upon their legitimate rights.
141.	Step by step the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America are freeing themselves of the consequences of the "cold war" and its distortions in politics. In this respect the decision by Latin American States to put an end to the policy of boycotting socialist Cuba, a policy imposed upon them, was an important event.
142.	It is quite natural that it should be precisely in the present-day situation that the last pillars of colonialism, built up over centuries, are falling down. Quite recently, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, the Comoros and Papua New Guinea have joined the ranks of independent States. Our country welcomes the victory of the just cause of their peoples.
143.	We congratulate the representatives present in this Hall of the Republic of Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, and the People's Republic of Mozambique, which have become full-fledged Members of our Organization.
144.	Of course, the completion of the process of decolonization is not proceeding without difficulties. The events in Angola, for example, testify to this. The forces hostile to the liberation struggle of peoples do not surrender their positions without fighting. They sometimes find accomplices also among those who like to pose as zealous champions of the good of oppressed peoples while in practice they are in collusion with the oppressors.
145.	But in spite of all difficulties, the struggle for the elimination of the vestiges of colonialism, for the uprooting of racism, is now closer to final victory than ever before.
146.	The States of Asia, Africa and Latin America constitute a great and active force in world politics, and this imposes on them a grave responsibility for the state of affairs in the world. We view with understanding the fact that these countries, still suffering from the consequences of exploitation, discrimination and economic coercion, are today participating in the work of putting forward and elaborating proposals to establish such international economic relations as would be based on equality and justice.
147.	The solution of those questions, too, is inseparably connected with the further relaxation of political tensions in the world. The Soviet Union is fully aware of the legitimate interests and demands of the developing countries, and it based itself precisely upon such positions in the course of the recently concluded seventh special session of the General Assembly, the results of which we assess positively, although it is quite clear to everyone that much has still to be done before the relevant problems are actually solved.
148.	Thus, the past was marked by significant inter-national events of a positive nature. It is not for us, the socialist States, to underestimate the significance of successes in the international arena. Their contribution to the struggle for those successes is common knowledge.
149.	At the same time, one should be clearly conscious of the fact that detente is not a process which develops by its own momentum. For detente to move ahead, ever new impulses must be given it. A continuous day-to-day struggle must be conducted for it in international forums and from parliamentary rostrums. Each State, each Government, should realize that it can and should make its own contribution to detente.
150.	We deem it necessary to state this from the rostrum of the United Nations because, as facts prove, it would be wrong to underestimate the resistance of the enemies of detente.
151.	Designs dangerous to the cause of international co-operation continue to originate in their camp. And in this connexion no small arsenal of means is put into action, ranging from the direct use of force against other countries and peoples to demagoguery which exploits the tenacity of the "cold-war" dogmas and sows doubts as to the benefits of detente for all peoples.
152.	The same forces which once in the past sought to thwart the convening of the all-European Conference, and later on tried to prevent it from succeeding, attempt to question the effectiveness of its results.
153.	However the problem does not only lie in tendentious propaganda campaigns against detente and international actions aimed at deepening it; what is even more dangerous is the continuous policy of interference which endangers the independence of States, even though such a policy may be camouflaged words in defense of the ideals of freedom and democracy. Two years ago, this policy paved the way for the bloody Fascist coup in Chile. Today, almost the same methods are used to exacerbate the situation concerning some other countries.
154.	The world is deeply concerned over the blatant attempts to bring outside pressure to bear on Portugal, clearly made with the intent to compel the Portuguese people to abandon their chosen road of free development.
155.	The interests of solving the complex political and economic problems faced by Portugal require that a calm situation be ensured with regard to that country. No one can be allowed to flout the inalienable right of the Portuguese people to determine its destiny independently and without outside interference. Such is the position on which the Soviet Union has proceeded and will continue to proceed.
156.	Opponents of the process of detente will try to slow it down. But if we ask all those who, overtly or semi-overtly, today come out against the line of lessening international tensions what alternative they offer, they cannot come up with anything intelligible. In reality, their policy has but one answer, an answer which would tend to reserve this process and bring it back to the times of the "cold war".
157.	Herein lies the watershed between those who in practice stand for peace, for the improvement of relations between States and for the development of peaceful co-operation in all fields and they are backed by the peoples and those who reject this course in the development of world affairs, who would rather push the world towards the old path of tension, clashes between States, and an unrestrained arms race with all the ensuing dangers.
158.	All participants in this world forum of States would probably agree that one of the main tasks in the international sphere remains the elimination of the hot-beds of armed conflict. One need not dwell on the gravity of the threat when in this or that hot-bed the conflict suddenly flares up and again produces a crisis. The world has repeatedly faced such a turn of events and knows full well how hard it is to put out the flames of war.
159.	This, above all, concerns the Middle East, where a dangerous situation has persisted for many years.
160.	The essence of the conflict, its origins and causes are well knwon. What is required for the solution of the problem is no secret either. Only those do not see it who do not wish to. To establish a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in the interests of all States of the area and peoples inhabiting it, it is necessary that Israeli forces be withdrawn from all the Arab territories occupied by them in 1967; to ensure the lawful rights of the Arab people of Palestine, including their right to establish their own State; to guarantee the rights of all the countries of the Middle East to independent development. I repeat, "all" the countries of the Middle East.
161.	A Middle East settlement cannot make headway if those crucial problems are left unsolved. Without their solution a settlement in the Middle East can only be delayed indefinitely, with increasing dangers for the situation. No palliative measures or camouflaging can change the substance of the matter.
162.	The problem of the Middle East must be free from an approach based on momentary considerations and publicity. It can be solved in the interests of the security and independence of all the countries of the region only in conditions of a serious and responsible approach to its solution.
163.	From all appearances, the circles which determine the political course of Israel have not yet realized that it is impossible to ensure the security of the country while trampling upon the legitimate rights of other countries which are jits neighbors. That policy naturally meets with broad condemnation. The Soviet Union, too, decisively condemns it.
164.	The main problems of the Middle East are still awaiting solution. There is appropriate machinery for their examination the Geneva Peace Conference. The Soviet Union stands for the reconvening of the Conference with the participation of all—and I stress "all"—parties concerned, including representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization. It will be recalled that the General Assembly at its twenty- ninth session reaffirmed by an overwhelming majority the right of the Arab people of Palestine to self-determination and national sovereignty [resolution 3236 (XXIX)\. The solution of the Palestine problem is an integral part of an over-all settlement in the Middle East. Today this is axiomatic and politicians cannot pretend that they do not see it.
165.	The main thing with which the participants should come to the Conference is a firm desire jointly to seek acceptable solutions. The Soviet Union, for its part, is ready to continue to do everything so that the Middle East may become an area of lasting and durable peace. That is what we mainly want to see in the Middle East, an area adjacent to the southern borders of our country.
166.	The Soviet Union consistently pursues a policy of friendship with the Arab countries, which are defending their just cause. This friendship is deeply ingrained and we do not believe that anyone will succeed in undermining it. The Soviet Union will continue to do everything in its power to consolidate this friendship on a basis of justice and principle.
167.	The situation in and around Cyprus still remains complicated. To satisfy interests alien to Cyprus the sovereignty of that small country and the inalienable rights of its people have been trampled upon for more than a year.
168.	The Soviet Union has consistently come out in defence of the independence and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the island, and for the settlement of the internal matters of their State by the two communities, Greek and Turkish, themselves. In other words, we are for the implementation of the well-known United Nations decisions on Cyprus. It is only on such a basis that a just settlement of the Cyprus problem and the elimination of this hotbed of tension will be possible.
169.	The precarious state of armistice obviously does not ensure the stabilization of the state of affairs on the Korean peninsula. The need to create conditions for establishing durable peace on the Korean peninsula and speeding up the peaceful reunification of Korea has long been pressing.
170.	Those goals would be served by a cessation of outside interference in the internal affairs of the Korean people and, in the first place, the withdrawal from South Korea of all foreign troops stationed there under the United Nations flag, as well as by the conclusion of a peace treaty. It is the duty of the United Nations to assist in every possible way in taking such steps. This can be done on the basis of the proposals put forward at the current session of the General
Assembly by a large group of States, including the Soviet Union.
171.	The process of lessening tensions in the world, the very logic of its development, pose most acutely the question of the need to curb the arms race. The measures taken in this direction in recent years are to be commended. We attach great importance also to the negotiations now under way aimed at working out a new long-term agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States of America on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons. Its conclusion will be a new and major step forward, not only in bilateral Soviet-American relations, but in a wider international context as well.
172.	Hardly anyone would dispute the fact that everything that has been achieved in the field of disarm-ament so far represents but the first steps. Indeed, mankind so far has been unable to check the arms race or even substantially to slow down its pace. It goes on in the direction both of developing ever more destructive means of warfare and of building up the total volume of armaments.
173.	The Soviet Union is convinced that in the conditions of a relaxation of tensions in the world the prerequisites have been created for the implementation of effective measures which would end the arms race. In other words, it is now not only necessary but also possible to supplement political detente with military detente. The States participating in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe unanimously pronounced themselves in favor of this in the Final Act.
174.	The Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, held last May at Geneva, came out for the implementation of broad measures for the limitation of the arms race ana fcr disarmament. It is precisely such specific steps towards easing the burden of armaments that become the touchstone for testing the genuine readiness of States and Governments to pursue the course of peace.
175.	The struggle for disarmament has always been and continues to be an integral part of the foreign policy line of the Soviet Union. The USSR is a permanent and active participant in negotiations on various aspects of the disarmament problem.
176.	We attach great importance to the lessening of military confrontation in areas where it is especially dangerous. Now, following the conclusion of the all- European Conference, one of the primary tasks is to find ways towards agreement on the reduction of armed forces and armaments in central Europe, without infringing the security of anyone. The Soviet Union will contribute in every way to the success of the talks on this problem currently under way in Vienna.
177.	Within the framework of the United Nations we have on more than one occasion already stated in detail our position on disarmament questions. And we have not merely stated it. The Soviet Union has put forward a large number of specific proposals many of which have formed the basis of important decisions adopted by the United Nations. We have consistently supported their implementation. This applies in particular to the resolution of the twenty- seventh session of the General Assembly on the non-use of force in international relations and the simultaneous permanent prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons [resolution 2936 (XXVII)].
178.	Another question raised by the Soviet Union the reduction of the military budgets of States permanent members of the United Nations Security Council also retains the utmost importance..
179.	We consider it important speedily to conclude an international convention on the prohibition of military or any other hostile use of techniques to influence the environment. The conclusion of such a convention would be not only a means of limiting the sphere of the arms race, but also an important means of preserving the environment, which would meet the vital interests of all States and peoples. We would like to express the hope that agreement will be reached on this matter in the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, where a relevant draft is under consideration.
180.	In the field of disarmament, as in other matters, the Soviet Union adopts a realistic approach. It is constantly seeking areas of disarmament and arms- race limitation in which it is feasible to find commonly acceptable agreements.
181.	At the same time, we have never overlooked the main objective general and complete disarmament. We are of the view that this problem should be in the forefront of the attention of the World Disarmament Conference. The United Nations has already approved the idea of convening it. In that forum all countries of the world could, on an equal footing and freely, set out and compare their positions and outline ways and means of limiting and arresting the arms race.
182.	It is high time that efforts were made to complete preparations for the conference and to convene it. As is well known, this is something in which the Soviet Union will not be, and has not been, found wanting.
183.	The Soviet delegation would like to draw your attention to two aspects of the disarmament problem on which, in our view, decisions are required and can be taken in practice at the earliest possible date.
184.	We all realize the importance of scientific and technological progress. The mission of science is noble and humane in essence. It expands the horizons of human knowledge, makes knowledge a powerful force of economic development, of raising the well- being of peoples and their cultural levels, and links countries together by bonds of peaceful co-operation.
185.	Quite recently the entire world was given new proof of this. We are referring to the outstanding international experiment in outer space, the docking and joint flight of the Soviet and American space craft, "Soyuz" and "Apollo". The • handshake in orbit, as this experiment is now known, has rightfully become a symbol of the fruitful union of scientific achievements and the policy of peaceful coexistence.
186.	The USSR is a consistent champion of the use of science exclusively for peaceful purposes and in the interest of mankind, and is prepared for wide, large-scale co-operation in the sphere of science and technology with all States interested in this.
187.	However, the experience of the past shows that achievements in science and technology can be used for dangerous, even criminal purposes.
188.	With today's rapid development of science and technology in various countries new types and new systems of weapons of mass destruction could emerge in various places. One can assume with a high degree of certainty that they would be even more ominous than those existing at present.
189.	None of this can be ignored. Further, it is well known how difficult it is to withdraw any weapon that has already been developed from the arsenals of States, and consequently how much safer and more reasonable it is to prevent its emergence in advance. If things are viewed from that angle, the need for, the urgency of, effective measures to prohibit the development of new types and new systems of weapons of mass destruction should become absolutely evident.
190.	Proceeding from this, aware of its responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council, the Soviet Union proposes the inclusion in the agenda of the current session of the General Assembly as an important and urgent matter of item 126 entitled "Prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons".
191.	We propose that States, and first of all the major Powers, conclude an agreement based on an undertaking neither to develop nor to manufacture new types and new systems of such weapons and not to assist in or encourage any activities in that direction.
192.	The need may arise to be more specific as to the categories of weapons which should be covered by the ban. The Soviet Union is prepared to take part in a detailed examination of this question in the course of appropriate negotiations. It is ready to speak out on the substance of this matter and to put forward most concrete proposals.
193.	The draft agreement which we submit to the General Assembly [see A/10243, annex] is worded in such a way that, while banning the development of new types and new systems of weapons of mass destruction, the agreement would not at the same time impede the economic, scientific and technical development of States parties and would not infringe their right to make use of scientific research and discoveries for peaceful purposes, for the benefit of people and without any discrimination.
194.	Such an international agreement would make a major contribution to the cause of limiting the arms race and to the cause of further easing international tensions. We should like to express our hope that our proposal will find support from the participants in this session and that other countries will join us in our initiative.
195.	In submitting^ our second proposal we were moved by the same concern, that of delivering mankind from the danger of war; by the desire to curb the race in the most pernicious weapons at present in the arsenals of States, nuclear weapons. Its purpose is to end completely nuclear weapon tests and thus radically to limit the practical possibilities for perfecting it further.
196.	Major steps have already been taken towards this aim: the 1963 Moscow Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water," and the 1974 Treaty between the USSR and the United States of America on the limitation of underground nuclear weapons tests.2
197.	_ In our view, conditions are ripe at present for the final step along this road: to conclude a broad international agreement imposing a ban on all nuclear weapon tests without exception.
198.	In line with this approach, the Soviet Union has already proposed the inclusion in the agenda of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly of an important and urgent item entitled "Conclusion of a treaty on the complete and general prohibition of nuclear weapon tests" [item 122].
199.	In accordance with the draft treaty which is submitted for the consideration of Member States [see AH0241, annex], its adherents would undertake from now on not to manufacture nuclear weapons and to prohibit and prevent any test explosions of nuclear weapons in any environment, including the underground environment. Such an obligation must, of course, be assumed by all States, including all nuclear Powers.
200.	While outlawing all nuclear weapon tests, the treaty must not at the same time deny access to the benefits of the peaceful uses of nuclear explosions for both nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon countries.
201.	We hope that the General Assembly will support our initiative for the conclusion of a treaty on the complete and general prohibition of nuclear weapon tests.
202.	The implementation of the proposals submitted by the Soviet Union for consideration at the present session is in our view an integral part of the fulfillment of the general task which life itself has today made the corner-stone of all United Nations activities. The essence of the task is to promote the further development of the positive processes taking place in the world and to make them irreversible.
203.	We are convinced that the United Nations is equal to that task. Our world Organization has accumulated enormous experience in the multilateral co-operation of States. That valuable asset can and must be constantly employed for the benefit of peace.
204.	The successful fulfillment of its lofty mission by the United Nations as an important instrument for consolidating international security, particularly in the present-day most responsible period, presupposes constant enhancement of the effectiveness of its work. That need is ever greater, since some useful decisions of the United Nations still remain unimplemented, and that plays into the hands of those who would like to maintain hotbeds of the danger of war, colonial domination and remnants of racism.
205.	It would do no harm to recall once again from this rostrum that, as regards the obligation to comply strictly with the provisions of the United Nations Charter, there can be no exceptions for any of its Members. The Charter is the foundation of the entire structure of the United Nations. It has stood the test of time, and fully retains its significance for the future.
It is in the strict observance of the Charter, rather than in its revision, that one should look for resources for the further enhancement of the effectiveness of the United Nations and the strengthening of its authority.
206.	The lofty purposes and principles proclaimed in the Charter are an embodiment of the collective quest of the peoples for peace and progress. They were born out of the flames of the greatest tragedy that has ever befallen mankind. Celebrating this year the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the peoples look to the future with hope.
207.	The greatness of the exploits performed in the struggle against fascism and aggression by the peoples of the Soviet Union and the peoples of all countries who, during the years of war, combined their efforts in the name of victory and founded the United Nations, setting themselves the task of saving present and succeeding generations from the scourge of war, will never fade.
208.	In the three decades since the end of the Second World War a great distance has been covered in the struggle for international security. Particularly impressive are the successes achieved in recent years, which graphically prove that the prevention of wars between States is not a Utopian but an attainable goal. However, that must not be a source of complacency. There is still much to be done to achieve a truly stable peace on earth.
209.	As for the Soviet Union, we wish to see no stops on this road, no zigzags and, above all, no reversals. Substantial steps in that direction can be made here, at this General Assembly, and we are willing to take a most active part in this common endeavor.


137.	  May I convey to the President, on behalf of the Party-State of Guinea and its leader, the Supreme Authority of the Revolution, Comrade Ahmed Sekou Toure, our warm congratulations on his brilliant election to the presidency of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly. I am convinced that his eminent qualities as a statesman and his lengthy experience of international problems will undoubtedly confer a special seriousness on the work of this session.
138.	I should also like to pay a special tribute to his predecessor, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whose remarkable lucidity, assured competence, total availability and, above all, revolutionary courage, have enabled him to discharge effectively the heavy and complex task that was incumbent upon him both at the twenty-ninth session and the seventh special session of the General Assembly.
139.	Among those well-deserved tributes I should also like to include a tribute to the Secretary-General for his tireless efforts in the search for peace, the initiation and strengthening of mutual understanding between States and their rapprochement, with a view to more effective international co-operation. I should like once more to assure him of the complete support of the people and Government of the Republic of Guinea. The admirable way in which he performs his lofty and difficult mission in the vast fields of activity of the United Nations commands the esteem and recognition of our people.
140.	A careful analysis of the events we are now living through reveals the contradictions opposing international imperialism and the peoples it is subjugating. This reality is clearly proved by the ever-growing dimensions of the courageous struggle undertaken by the different national liberation movements in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and also by the successes achieved on various fronts by the progressive forces of the world.
141.	With the brilliant victory of Frente de Libertadao de Mozambique [FRELJMO], Partido Africano da Independencia da Guine e Cabo Verde fPA1GC], Movimento Popular de Libertagao de Angola [MP LA] and Movimento de Liberta?ao de Sao Tome e Principe [MLSTP] over Portuguese fascism, one of the most retrograde bastions of colonialism has just collapsed, at the same time liberating the Portuguese people and marking an important and historic turning point in the new stage of the decolonization process.
142.	May I therefore welcome with militant fervor the admission to our Organization of the Republic of Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, and the People's Republic of Mozambique. In welcoming these fraternal peoples, who have written with their blood some glorious pages in the history of Africa's liberation struggle, the delegation of the Party-State of Guinea would like to assure them once more of its militant solidarity and to pay a tribute, through them, to the memory of the heroes, Amilcar Cabral, founder of PAIGC, and Eduardo Mondlane of FRELIMO.
143.	We warmly congratulate the State of Papua New Guinea on its accession to national independence and on its forthcoming admission to the United Nations.
144.	Taking advantage of this opportunity, I would like to convey the warm congratulations of the Party-State of Guinea and of my delegation to the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, to the Republic of South Viet Nam and to Cambodia for the brilliant victory which their peoples have just won over the greatest military Power in the world. The heroic peoples of Indo-China, through their determination and faith in the justice of their cause, have compelled the best equipped imperialist forces to abandon their country, thus confirming the thesis that, however strong, a Power cannot obstruct the triumphal march towards the conquest of its independence and sovereignty by a united and organized people determined to achieve victory. This dual military and political victory, which has been welcomed by all peace-loving and justice-loving peoples, is an inestimable contribution to the realization of the legitimate aspirations of all oppressed peoples.
145.	It is regrettable that the rancorous attitude of a permanent member of the Security Council the United States has prevented the entry into full membership of the United Nations of the Republic of South Viet Nam and the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. Those two countries, whose peoples have made heavy sacrifices for the preservation of their national independence and sovereignty and for the realization of the ideals of freedom and peace in the world, could, if they were admitted to our Organization, make a valuable contribution, based on their experience and qualities, to the attainment of the objectives laid down in the Charter. The overwhelming majority which recently expressed itself both in the Security Council and in this Assembly in favor of the admission of those two countries to the United Nations should induce the United States to examine its conscience seriously, reconsider its attitude towards those two States and support their rapid admission to our Organization.
146.	While the rejection of the applications for admission of the two valiant Vietnamese Republics has embittered my delegation, we are, on the other hand, pleased to see Cambodia's seat occupied by the authentic representatives of the Cambodian people  one of the fortunate consequences of the victory of the Indo-Chinese over imperialism and its lackeys.
147.	While in recent months we have welcomed the success achieved over international imperialism, we remain concerned over the problem of Korea, where the artificial division of the country resulting from the
presence of foreign troops in the southern part creates a situation which threatens peace and security. Moreover, the efforts towards peace being made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are being impeded by the enormous obstacles placed in their way by the Seoul Government, with the encouragement of outside Powers.
148.	Consequently, the Party-State of Guinea supports the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in its just demand for an end of foreign interference in the internal affairs of Korea and for the acceleration of the peaceful reunification of the country. Already, at previous sessions, our delegation has favored the dissolution of the United Nations Command. It is convinced that, during our present deliberations, the General Assembly will be able to adopt measures for the creation of favorable conditions to transform the armistice into a durable peace and to accelerate, in conformity with the desire expressed by both sides, the reunification of the country. My delegation also remains convinced that to admit one of the parties now to membership in the United Nations might jeopardize for ever the chances of this reunification.
149.	Besides the situation in the Korean peninsula, other sources of tension no less serious for the international community persist in the Middle East, Cyprus and southern Africa.
150.	In the Middle East, the Zionist State of Israel continues not only illegally to occupy Arab lands but also to multiply armed attacks against the neighboring States. In the view of the delegation of the Party-State of Guinea, the "no war, no peace" situation in the Middle East will finally be settled only when the Palestinian people recover their national rights and Israel withdraws from all the occupied Arab territories. Within this framework, the participation of the PLO in all the efforts designed to achieve a negotiated settlement of the problem remains the sine qua non of the success of this process. The Republic of Guinea expresses its complete solidarity with the just cause of the Arab people and in particular with the PLO, the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people struggling for the recovery of its usurped homeland.
151.	The persistence of the Cyprus crisis constitutes a threat to international peace and security. In the search for ways which should lead to ajust and lasting solution of the problem, it would be desirable to take into account the provisions of General Assembly resolution 3212 (XXIX), which stresses the equal rights of the Greek and Turkish communities on the island, asks for a negotiated settlement of the constitutional problems and calls upon all States to respect the independence, territorial integrity and non-alignment of the Republic of Cyprus and to refrain from all acts of intervention directed against it.
152.	With a view to reaching freely a mutually acceptable political settlement, based on the fundamental and legitimate rights of the Cypriot people, we encourage the two communities to continue contacts and negotiations with the good offices of the Secretary-General.
153.	In southern Africa, in spite of the recrudescence of repression and of the methods of intimidation, the liberation movements of Azania, Zimbabwe and Namibia are progressing in their struggle against the
policy of apartheid and its inhuman practices. With the breaking up of the Pretoria-Lisbon-Salisbury axis and the pressures of public opinion against its odious regime, the racist Government of South Africa is becoming more and more aware, not only of its vulnerability, but also of the increasingly intolerable character of its position. The rejection by an overwhelming majority, at the twenty-ninth session, of the credentials of the Vorster representatives provides eloquent testimony to this fact. The disarray of the advocates of apartheid will now induce them to seek a so-called detente designed to lull the vigilance of the African leaders and to find new subterfuges for increasing their oppression of the peoples of Namibia and the black majority of South Africa.
154.	In spite of a scandalous propaganda campaign inspired from abroad and built up around the so-called detente, the racist regime of Pretoria has just unleashed a wave of bloody repression, inhuman torture and arbitrary arrest against the South African population. The much vaunted dialog should first be established between Vorster and the legitimate representatives of the people, that is, the liberation movements.
155.	Using fallacious arguments, the South African Government persists in its illegal occupation of Namibia and in the imposition of the bantustans. In conformity with the pertinent resolutions of the Security Council and of the General Assembly, Namibia must accede to independence as a single entity.
156.	The so-called constitutional conference on Namibia, trumped up by Vorster, and the conference he orchestrated with his henchman, Ian Smith, at Victoria Falls in Rhodesia are maneuvers designed to reinforce the supremacy of the white minority in southern Africa. The sole aim of Vorster and Ian Smith is to prevent by every means the African majority from achieving power in these countries so as to perpetuate the unrestrained exploitation of their natural resources.
157.	The delegation of Guinea hopes that in Zimbabwe the liberation movements will remain vigilant so as to thwart all the maneuvers designed to divide them or to induce them to proclaim a semblance of participation of the African majority in a puppet Government.
158.	It hopes also that the United Nations, after a long period of hesitation, will assume its responsibilities and decide to put an end, once and for all, to a situation in southern Africa which contains the seeds of conflagration.
159.	In the same region, and more precisely in Angola, the unstable internal situation created by the clashes provoked and maintained by neo-colonialism constitutes a serious obstacle to the attainment of independence by that country. However, with the considerable efforts continually being made by the MPLA, the authentic embodiment of the interests of the working masses, independence will be won on the date anticipated, 11 November 1975.
160.	The situation in the Comoros, a State member of the OAU, is still a source of concern to my delegation, which hopes that the international community will take appropriate steps to preserve the national independence and territorial integrity of that country.
161.	The delegation of the Republic of Guinea appreciates the efforts being made to achieve decolonization in various parts of the world and supports all peoples struggling courageously for the attainment of their inalienable rights to self-determination, independence and national sovereignty: in so-called Spanish Sahara, the Seychelles, so-called French Somaliland, the Pacific Islands, and so on.
162.	The acuteness of the problem of development and international co-operation has in recent years engaged the countries of the third world in a battle for the liquidation of the old international economic order. Indeed, since the sixth special session of the General Assembly the problem has constantly been a central concern of the international community. The evaluations made during that session made it possible to adopt a Declaration and a Program of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order [resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI)], whose modalities, establishment and basic principles were studied by the seventh special session, which has just ended.
163.	The work of those two sessions proved the strength of the awareness and unity of the third world, and particularly the realization of peoples of the interdependence of the modern world. It is particularly interesting to note that, as we face the need for changing, rebuilding and redefining the international economic system, the outdated dogmas and the old ideas of the world are in the process of disintegration. The changes begun are irreversible and are characterized by the revolutionary overthrow of the old order, which upheld the supremacy of the big, powerful and developed countries to the detriment of the small, weak and under-equipped countries.
164.	The seventh special session, which revealed the will of all States to reach positive conclusions, though not entirely satisfactory, led to the adoption of concrete measures in the fields of international trade, the transfer of real resources, techniques and technology, monetary reform, industrialization, food and agriculture, and so on. These measures, we dare to hope, will mark the beginning of a new era in international economic co-operation based on the increased and more equitable interdependence of mankind.
165.	In any event, it is we, the developing countries, which must help the industrialized countries to cooperate more loyally with us in destroying and redefining the present international economic order in conformity with the new concepts and the new situation. For, as President Ahmed Sekou Toure has stated:
"It is not at all fatal that there has been what is modestly called a deterioration in the terms of trade. This is the normal evolution of an imposed system which is essentially bad. It is absolutely abnormal that the developing countries, the legitimate owners of vast mineral and energy resources and other resources which have been snatched away from then-economies and used as the basis for the rich countries' prosperity, should be kept in poverty, although benefiting officially from technical and material assistance. The system is surely a bad one. Therefore, we must break away from it deliberately and as soon as possible."
166.	It is in this context that we must understand the action, or rather the reaction, of the developing countries as producers of raw materials. The decision taken by the countries members of the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries [OPEC], far from being an act of hostility directed against the capitalist Powers which are the major oil consumers, constitutes essentially the first step in the radical modification of a situation and the liquidation of a system which, if allowed to persist, could only end in a brutal clash between the countries injured by, and the countries benefiting from, that iniquitous situation, a clash which would also swallow up the beneficiaries.
167.	We are convinced that the measures adopted at the two special sessions will help to equalize the economic and commercial exchanges between nations and to promote a form of international co-operation which will ensure the well-being and progress of all peoples. These noble objectives, the economic and social progress of mankind, would receive a powerful boost if we could put a stop to the frantic arms race and if all the nuclear Powers made a sincere effort towards general and complete disarmament. Let them therefore decide to release the enormous sums they are now spending on research and the development of new weapons so that they can be used to help overcome under-development.
168.	The fortunate changes which have taken place in the political, economic, social and cultural fields in the 30 years of United Nations history have profoundly modified the physiognomy of the international community. Conceived by about 50 countries, the Charter of the United Nations, signed at San Francisco must be adapted to the requirements of the new realities; the Charter must be revised and the Organization must be restructured.
169.	The Government of the Republic of Guinea considers that the time has come to review the structures of certain organs of the United Nations, particularly the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. The Security Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, remains the instrument of the big Powers, which hold the power of veto, the treacherous use of which has been condemned more than once by my delegation. The very criterion which confers this right on the permanent members of the Council is no longer acceptable. Even the continued assignment of permanent seats can no longer be justified after 30 years of existence of the Organization. Hence my delegation, with a view to reinforcing the foundations of the' United Nations, renews its proposal for the elimination of the right of veto.
170.	In view of the importance of economic and social questions, the operating machinery of the Economic and Social Council should be redefined so as to make it more effective for the primary role incumbent on the Council in the establishment ol a new international economic order.
171 The Republic of Guinea is firmly attached to the noble ideals of the Charter; hence it expresses its willingness to participate conscientiously and responsibly in the strengthening of the United Nations and in the establishment of links of friendship and co-operation between Guinea and all peoples of the world on the basis of mutual respect for national
sovereignty. In this spirit it welcomes the normalization of its relations with France and with the Federal Republic of Germany.
172.	One of the priority tasks of the international community of States concerns the need to find common ground for the elaboration and signature of a convention governing the specific status of the sea-bed regime. Indeed, during the last three sessions of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea the need for the elaboration of a universal instrument has been recognized. My delegation regrets that the attitude of certain Powers has made it impossible to overcome the deadlock resulting from their failure to recognize the sovereignty of States over their maritime space and resources.
173.	At sessions of the Conference held at Caracas, New York and Geneva my delegation clearly stated that Guinea has no intention of reducing by one millimeter the extent of its territorial sea, which of course includes the economic zone. With regard to this zone, we respect the principle of freedom of navigation for the individuals and corporate bodies of other nations and also agree to the laying of pipelines and submarine cables in the event of the interested persons requesting authorization in conformity with existing international regulations.
174.	The participation of women in the fight against imperialism, colonialism and racism and in favor of progress and peace is of decisive importance. The proclamation of 1975 as International Women's Year constitutes a recognition of women's role and represents an advance towards the liquidation of all forms of discrimination based on sex, which is a serious infringement of human dignity and a flagrant violation of human rights. The promotion of the status of women is not the fabrication of the good conscience of a repentant society; it is a problem to be viewed, not from the angle of sex, but from the angle of human dignity.
175.	We must therefore rid ourselves of all the causes of social injustice: indignity, exploitation, oppression and inequality. To this end, societies must be based on democratic and dynamic bases; social relations must favor social equality; and principles and methods must enable each and every one of whatever sex to participate, solely on the basis of ability, in the management and direction of the public affairs of a country, thus paving the way for the happy future of the universal society. Thus the level of development, the achievements of science, technology and economics and the new realities of the world militate in favor of the complete integration of women in political, social and cultural life.
176.	The World Conference of the International Women's Year, held in Mexico in June and July, adopted measures to accelerate this process of integration. On the application of the decisions of that Conference at the national, regional and international levels will depend the improvement of the status of women and hence of society. The Guinean delegation welcomes the encouraging results of the World Conference in Mexico and reaffirms the unreserved support of the Government for the World Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Objectives of the International Women's Years and the Declaration of
Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace, 1975.9
177.	The Guinean delegation expresses the hope that the work of this session, which coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations, will be crowned with success and will hasten the advent of a world based on justice and peace.