The delegation of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago extends its heartfelt congratulations to you, Sir, on your unanimous election to preside over the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session. The historical and cultural ties which have for so long existed between the Caribbean region and the great continent of Africa make your election to that high office a source of particular pride, delight and satisfaction to the delegation of Trinidad and Tobago. Your presidency over this world body is yet another manifestation of the contribution that small States and developing countries can and do make to the direction of the work of the United Nations. We are confident that your boundless diplomatic skill, wisdom and experience will contribute immensely to the success of the work that lies before this session of the Assembly.
292.	My delegation pays tribute to the previous President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jorge illueca, of Panama, for his capable leadership throughout the thirty-eighth session, which has been successfully concluded.
293.	The delegation of Trinidad and Tobago takes pleasure in congratulating Brunei Darussalam upon its admission as the 159th member of the United Nations. It is very gratifying to welcome to this family of nations yet another sovereign country, which marks an important step towards the universality of this body. We are confident that Brunei Darussalam, a sister island developing country, will make a significant contribution towards the fulfilment of the purposes and principles of the Organization.
294.	It is already 22 years since the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was welcomed into the United Nations. As a small and fledgling State emerging into an international environment of such complexity and beset by many conflicts, Trinidad and Tobago drew then, even as it draws now, great comfort from the system of collective security that is enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. Collective security was one of the main considerations which impelled us to seek entry into the Organization immediately upon our attainment of independence.
295.	Trinidad and Tobago is guided by the conviction that resort to massive military expenditure, even where the financial and other means permit, is no guarantee of national security. By logical extension, such activity cannot promote international security. Security, national and international, in our view must derive from active co-operation by members of this world body. It must also be sustained by respect for the sovereignty of its individual Members, freedom and opportunity for members of the world community to pursue their socio-economic and political paths without external interference, and full respect by all States for the fundamental rights of their citizenry. It follows, therefore, that each State, large or small, has a role to play in the overall question of security, from which these stated principles derive.
296.	The Charter of the United Nations explicitly and implicitly asserts these principles and promotes these objectives. For us, these objectives resolve into three essential elements: first, the maintenance of international peace and security; secondly, the achievement of international co-operation; and, thirdly, the resolution of international economic and social problems.
297.	The attainment of these objectives constitutes for us fundamental imperatives and can be realized only by the full involvement and meaningful participation of all States as they bring to bear the particularities of their individual systems on the general thrust towards world stability. The role of small States in pursuit of this goal is particularly crucial. For too long, the rights and interests of small States have occupied a secondary position in the determination of international problems which at times involve their very existence. Small States must be heard; small States must be encouraged to make themselves heard; and small States must be allowed full opportunity to contribute to the resolution of all questions that affect their vital interests and to the achievement of the objectives of the United Nations.
298.	In the field of international peace and security, the United Nations has avoided global conflagration, but has not achieved world peace; we have limited the spread of nuclear weaponry, but have not eliminated it. Through our continued efforts, we have sensitized the international community to the lethal consequences of more sophisticated armaments and mobilized world consciousness against their use. Developing countries, dwarfed in the power struggle of sophisticated weaponry, have raised their voices against the development of destructive arms, including chemical weapons, and condemned their use because of the dangers they pose to mankind. The voices of developing countries and small States have sustained a moral force against the use and proliferation of nuclear and other armaments. Without the cooperation and commitment of developed countries, however, we cannot succeed.
299.	The achievements of the Organization in the maintenance of international peace and security in other areas appear more encouraging. The process of decolonization is almost complete, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV); the rights of the people of Palestine have been recognized; the choice of a means for settlement of the outstanding border question between Guyana and Venezuela has been referred to the Secretary-General in recognition of the central role of the "United Nations in the peaceful settlement of disputes among nations; apartheid has been unequivocally condemned and must now be eradicated and excised from human memory; Namibia's right to independence and sovereignty has been recognized in spite of the ill-founded refusal of South Africa to abandon its illegal occupation of that Territory. The adoption in 1982 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea13 has been described as the most significant achievement in treaty-making by the United Nations since its inception. The Convention provides for peace and order in the management of the "Ocean Commons".
300.	The origins of many of these achievements can be attributed to the initiatives by developing countries and small States. In the case of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a single small State evoked the awareness of the international community concerning the need for order, collective security and co-operation in the global commons of the ocean. The recent history of the United Nations reveals that small States and developing countries have contributed importantly in shaping the perspectives of the Organization in the continuous process of its dynamic evolution.
301.	However, a more careful scrutiny of the inter-national scene reveals that peace and security as global objectives continue to elude us.
302.	Trinidad and Tobago has witnessed with grave concern the developments which have taken place in southern Africa over the last year, for they represent a new stage in Pretoria's entrenchment of apartheid within its borders and the extension of its sinister influence beyond them. We emphatically reject Pretoria's attempt to hoodwink the international community into believing that the tricameral constitution introduced last month represents a reform and relaxation of apartheid. The new constitution is clearly an attempt to divide the dispossessed non- white majority and refine and entrench the apartheid system. My delegation reiterates that apartheid cannot be reformed; it must be entirely dismantled.
303.	The situation in occupied and exploited Namibia remains another source of deep concern. The Territory's formerly abundant natural resources are being rapidly dissipated, in contravention of Decree No. 1 for the Protection of the Natural Resources of Namibia,14 enacted by the United Nations Council for Namibia on 27 September 1974; and the United Nations plan for Namibian independence, endorsed by the Security Council in resolution 435 (1978), remains unimplemented. Indeed, my delegation has taken note of Pretoria's latest moves to bypass the plan and impose its own independence plan on Namibia by means of its protégé, the Multi-Party Conference.
304.	It is time for the Organization to put an end to the ceaseless machinations and prevarications of that repugnant regime and determine to deal with it in an effective and unequivocal manner in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
305.	The international scene continues to be strewn with obstacles, and certain enigmatic events challenge the very fabric of established and accepted Charter principles. Profligate expenditure by some States on armaments continues. The Middle East is in turmoil, and a potentially explosive war persists in Central America in spite of the worthy efforts of the Contadora Group; the situation in Afghanistan is still not resolved; the efforts of several groups to achieve a political settlement in Kampuchea have yet to bear success; and the problem of Cyprus remains unsettled. My Government is of the view that a just and lasting settlement of this question can come only through meaningful talks between the representatives of the two Cypriot communities, under the auspices of the Secretary-General and on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions. More recently, the sanctity of sovereignty has again been violated.
306.	The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago continues to reject unequivocally the threat or use of force as a means of settling disputes among States. The right to security, which, in our understanding subsumes the logical implication of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inalienable rights of States to self-determination, has always and indeed remains the corner-stone of our foreign policy.
307.	The refusal of some Member States to renounce and denounce recourse to war as the "ultimate arbitration", the related infringement of the territorial integrity and independence of States in defiance of Charter principles, and the all too frequent disregard for mechanisms aimed at the pacific settlement of disputes continue to give rise to an increasing number of events of crisis proportions. Moreover, the limited progress made in disarmament and the seemingly applied proposition that negotiation can proceed only from a position of strength is a zero-sum approach which guarantees only instability and increased political tension.
308.	It is essential that a means be found to strengthen international peace and security and reduce international tension and great-Power rivalry so as to create a climate conducive to the birth of new international trust and confidence. Trinidad and Tobago calls on all States of this international community to assist in creating such a climate.
309.	Concomitant with the political obstacles to the achievement of international peace are the systematic dysfunctional economic forces which pervade the international environment and frustrate the objective of international co-operation. We identify these forces as follows: the stagnation in the global negotiations; the inconclusive outcome of the North-South dialogue; the increasing protectionist measures adopted by States; the debt burden of the developing countries; the constraints encountered by small States and developing countries to participate more fully in the determination of necessary monetary and international economic reforms; and the adverse effects of these constraints on the efforts by developing countries towards economic and technical cooperation.
310.	The age of high technology has brought new threats to the sovereignty of nations, not solely by means of weapons of war, but through technology that can be diverted from peaceful uses. The development of space technology is undoubtedly a manifestation of the genius of mankind. However, while there are clear benefits for the development of nations in so far as natural resources are concerned, the technological gap between developed nations, as well as between developed and developing nations, can not only lead to dissatisfaction and conflict but can also undermine the sovereignty and security of developing nations. This is an area in which the international community must remain vigilant.
311.	It is not that the world's resources are not adequate to support the needs of its peoples, but rather that these are unjustly distributed. It is not that independent developing countries themselves are not endowed with considerable natural resources and potential wealth, but rather that their utilization of these resources is manipulated by external influences over which they have no control.
312.	There is dire need for the international com-munity to eschew the new arrogance and indifference that has emerged and to seize the opportunity to rededicate itself to the principles and objectives which gave rise to the noble experiments in international co-operation that followed the tragedy of the Second World War. International co-operation in our view is a sine qua non for the resolution of national and international economic and social problems. International peace cannot be achieved or sustained without socio-economic development. No Member State can deny, therefore, that any measure or combination of measures which erodes the well-being of citizens of the international community presents a threat to the achievement and maintenance of peace, inherently diminishes the role of co-operation and stultifies efforts at economic and social development.
313.	The world economy, which has been in the grip of recession for the last few years, has shown some signs of recovery in some of the major Western industrialized countries. However, the recovery has not yet affected a wide-ranging influence on the world economy, and especially in the developing countries taken as a group. While some regions have been able to sustain growth, others, in particular Latin America and Africa, have found that conflicting influences at work within the system retard their attempts to achieve meaningful growth and development. In essence, the recovery has not succeeded in eliminating for developing countries the legacy of difficulties which has its genesis in the recession and in the outmoded structure of the international financial and trading systems.
314.	The international economic history of the last decade has seen the emergence of a heightened appreciation of the relationship of interdependence which characterizes all inter-State behaviour. Whether or not we continue to argue about the precise dynamics of this relationship, the fact is that the world economy constitutes an ' entity. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago are therefore challenges and rejects the new mercantilism of increased protectionism and urges all States to abandon any search for economic national security that leads exclusively in that direction. We hold the view that the resolution of the economic difficulties with which international society is at present confronted requires—nay, demands—a resort to co-operative and complementary measures and mechanisms.
315.	During the last decade, the General Assembly called for the establishment of a new international economic order. That decision by the Assembly emanated from the limited successes of policies based on trade versus aid, import substitution, the establishment of regional integration movements and development decades—all designed to resolve the development problems facing the international community. The call for a new international economic order is even more urgent today.
316.	Among the central proposals for the creation of this new international economic order is the need to reformulate both the activities and the management structure of IMF and the World Bank. The fact is that the relative order and predictability that characterize the operation of an international system based on fixed exchange rates have fallen prey to the dynamics of the system itself. In addition, balance- of-payments disequilibria no longer typify only the temporary or deviant cases but have assumed a more permanent and entrenched aspect of today's economy. In a word, the structural dynamics of the international financial system have changed. We believe, therefore, that it is essential that the responses of those institutions which are the effective managers of that system accord with current realities. It is in this context that appeals for a new international economic order become more readily understood; and it is in this context also that the need for new management techniques and criteria should be developed and implemented.
317.	My delegation would like at this time to present three observations with respect to IMF and its operations. We refer first of all to the apparent retreat by that body from the position of lender of early recourse to that of lender almost of last resort; secondly, to the burdens imposed by the demands of conditionality in return for assistance; and, thirdly, to the need to emphasize and ensure a strong developmental role for that institution, on whose functioning the prosperity of the international economy as a whole depends.
318.	Implicit in the danger of what I term the retreat by the Fund to the position of lender of last resort is the additional stress that is placed on would- be debtor countries—typically, though not exclusively, the developing countries. Invariably, interest rates charged by the private international capital market are anything but concessional, and there is the danger in this practice of having the economies of debtor developing countries mortgaged to private financial institutions—and that is only one of the dangers we see.
319.	The burdens of conditionality imposed by IMF, in the form of required currency devaluations, the decrease or removal of welfare payments and subsidies, or whatever forms they assume, constitute sources of additional economic, social and political stresses which further inhibit the capacity of individual States to pursue their development objectives.
320.	With respect to the World Bank—the other pillar of the international financial establishment— my delegation notes that that institution, as a result of the prevailing favourable interest rate structure, has amassed an excess of income over expenditure mounting to some $600 million in the course of its 1983 operations. Does that signal both quantitative and qualitative increases in the assistance to be granted in future to developing countries by that agency? We look forward to a more flexible and diversified pattern of assistance to developing countries on terms which are effectively concessional, which take into account the low level of prices for their primary products and which will reduce the volume of the net capital flows away from less endowed countries to the World Bank and the already developed countries.
321.	It is in the context of this severe picture of international co-operation and socio-economic development that the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago fully supports the attempts made by countries members of the Group of 77 to establish a "South Bank" in the nature of a development bank to be responsive to the particular needs of developing countries.
322.	The proposed establishment of a "South Bank" draws attention to the capital-deficient status of the countries of the third world. In our time, the problem of the international indebtedness of developing countries imposes a burden and an immense constraint on the pursuit of objectives aimed at economic and social development. The plight of some members of our region in terms of the amortization of their accumulated international financial obligations gives rise to the gravest concern. The combination of this factor with the effects of protectionism, the ravages of, for the most part, imported inflation and the fluctuation and essential deterioration of international commodity prices threatens to condemn those countries to a state of penury and to a degrading and burdensome subjection within the international community. Such a situation still supports the aims and purposes of the United Nations. My delegation therefore expresses the hope that appropriate measures will be adopted by the community of nations to eliminate this obvious danger to international peace, co-operation and development.
323.	The search for a new international economic order has led to initiatives in the areas of food, population, trade and a host of other concerns which have plagued the international community for decades. Almost invariably the quest for solutions to these problems or problem areas took the form of an international conference generally sponsored by the United Nations.
324.	Today, with members' permission, I should like to confine my remarks in this general area to a clear and unmistakable trend which has emerged in the management of global resources in the context of a new international economic order. The signing by the overwhelming majority of States of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—the Montego Bay Convention, as it is more generally known—is evidence of the general endorsement by the community of nations of a new international economic order.
325.	Part XI of the Montego Bay Convention deals with the "Area", which is the term applied to the seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, and, in article 136 of the Convention, the Area and its resources are stated to be "the common heritage of mankind". In article 157, the Convention vests the organization and control of activities in the Area in an International Sea-Bed Authority, particularly with a view to administering the resources of the Area. My delegation considers the consolidation of the common heritage as enshrined in the Convention a matter of absolute necessity. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago would condemn any action which was calculated to subvert or in any way frustrate the spirit or the letter of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
326.	This overview of the international scenario brings into relief three major issues. The first points to the need to renew, redouble or redesign international initiatives aimed at the resolution of the problems related to the achievement of peace, cooperation and development. The second—necessarily related to the first—is the need to revitalize, if not refurbish, the machinery at our disposal for the attainment of these tasks. The third has as its main thrust the need to incorporate more fully the participation of developing States and of small developing countries in particular, for which the activities of the United Nations have the greatest relevance, in the decision-making process and in the general management of the pursuit of peace, security and development.
327.	This is particularly relevant to us as members of a world body which has proclaimed 1986 the International Year of Peace. Peace for us implies more than a cessation of conflict and a dismantling of armament. Peace for us involves respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the equality of States, large and small. Above all, peace for us means removal and eradication of structural violence, the causes of which are rooted in the social ills of discrimination and the developmental ills of poverty, misery, ill health, hunger and frustrated socio-economic aspirations. Let us target these essential goals in a combined effort towards the achievement of true peace through international co-operation.
328.	In this combined effort towards the achievement of peace, my country aspires to make a more effective contribution. My delegation is of the view that there is an important role to be played by small States in the revitalization of the United Nations and in the securing of peace and economic prosperity and welfare through co-operation. Small States cannot harbour pretensions to power and military might, even if these were desirable goals. Thus, in our interaction with other members of the international community, we rely on the force of international law and of international morality.
329.	For Trinidad and Tobago, non-alignment is a cardinal principle of our foreign policy. We have pursued its tenets in our actions in the regional bodies to which we belong—the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States—and in the wider international forums. Trinidad and Tobago holds firmly to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and sees as one of its major objectives the strengthening and enhancing of the role of the Organization the better to serve the interests of Member States. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago seeks to be allowed to participate more fully in efforts to establish and maintain international peace and security and a general climate in which international development can flourish.
330.	We appeal to all other Members of the United Nations to work together in this quest for peace and, in so doing, bequeath to succeeding generations a legacy that is worthy of the dignity of man. Trinidad and Tobago stands ready to serve.


First of all, I wish to congratulate you, Mr. Lusaka, on your election as President of the General Assembly. I wish you every success in carrying out the responsibilities of that high international office.
3.	It is an honour to be here, and I thank you all for your gracious invitation. I would speak in support of the two great goals that led to the formation of the United Nations—the cause of peace and the cause of human dignity.
4.	The responsibility of the General Assembly—the peaceful resolution of disputes between peoples and nations—can be discharged successfully only if we recognize the great common ground upon which we all stand: our fellowship as members of the human race, our oneness as inhabitants of this planet, our place as representatives of billions of our countrymen whose fondest hope remains the end to war and to the repression of the human spirit. These are the important, central realities that bind us, that per-
us to dream of a future without the antagonisms of the past. And, just as shadows can be seen only where there is light, so, too, can we overcome what is wrong only if we remember how much is right; and we will resolve what divides us only if we remember how much more unites us. This chamber has heard enough about the problems and dangers ahead; today let us dare to speak of a future that is bright and hopeful and can be ours only if we seek it. I believe that future is far nearer than most of us would dare to hope.
5.	At the start of this decade one scholar at the Hudson Institute noted that mankind also had undergone enormous changes for the better in the past two centuries, changes which are not always readily noticed or written about.
6.	"Up until 200 years ago, there were relatively few people in the world," he wrote. "All human societies were poor. Disease and early death dominated most people's lives. People were ignorant, and largely at the mercy of forces of nature."
7.	"Now," he said, "we are somewhere near the middle of a process of economic development ... At the end of that process, almost no one will live in a country as poor as the richest country of the past. There will be many more people .. . living long, healthy lives, with immense knowledge and more to learn than anybody has time for." They will be "able to cope with the forces of nature, and almost indifferent to distance."
8.	We do live today, as that scholar suggested, in the middle of one of the most important and dramatic periods in human history—one in which all of us can serve as catalysts for an era of world peace and unimagined human freedom and dignity.
9.	Today I would like to report to you, as distinguished and influential members of the world community, on what the United States has been attempting to do to help move the world closer to this new era. On many fronts enormous progress has been made, and I think our efforts are complemented by the trend of history.
10.	If we look closely enough, I believe we can see all the world moving towards a deeper appreciation of the value of human freedom in both its political and its economic manifestations. This is partially motivated by a world-wide desire for economic growth and higher standards of living. And there is an increasing realization that economic freedom is a prelude to economic progress and growth and is intricately and inseparably linked to political freedom.
11.	Everywhere, people and Governments are beginning to recognize that the secret of a progressive new world is to take advantage of the creativity of the human spirit; to encourage innovation and individual enterprise; to reward hard work; and to reduce barriers to the free flow of trade and information.
12.	Our opposition to economic restrictions and trade barriers is consistent with our view of economic freedom and human progress. We believe such barriers pose a particularly dangerous threat to the developing nations and their chance to share in world prosperity through expanded export markets. Tomorrow, at the International Monetary Fund, I will address this question more fully, including America's desire for more open trading markets throughout the world.
13.	This desire to cut down trade barriers and our open advocacy of freedom as the engine of human progress are two of the important ways the United States and the American people hope to assist in bringing about a world where prosperity is commonplace, conflict an aberration, and human dignity and freedom a way of life.
14.	Let me place these steps more in context by briefly outlining the major goals of American foreign
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policy and then exploring with you the practical ways we are attempting to further freedom and prevent war. By that I mean, first, how we have moved to strengthen ties with old allies and new friends; secondly, what we are doing to help avoid the regional conflicts that could contain the seeds of world conflagration; and thirdly, the status of our efforts with the Soviet Union to reduce the levels of arms.
15.	Let me begin with a word about the objectives of American foreign policy, which have been consistent since the post-war era and which fuelled the formation of the United Nations and were incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations itself.
16.	The Charter states two overriding goals: "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind" and "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small".
17.	The founders of the United Nations understood full well the relationship between these two goals. And I want you to know that the Government of the United States will continue to view this concern for human rights as the moral centre of our foreign policy. We can never look at anyone's freedom as a bargaining chip in world politics. Our hope is for a time when all the people of the world can enjoy the blessings of personal liberty.
18.	But I would like also to emphasize that our concern for protecting human rights is part of our concern for protecting the peace.
19.	The answer is for all nations to fulfil the obligations they freely assumed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration states that: "The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections". The Declaration also includes the right of everyone: "to form and to join trade unions," "to own property alone as well as in association with others," "to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country," and to enjoy "freedom of opinion and expression". Perhaps the most graphic example of the relationship between human rights and peace is the right of peace groups to exist and to promote their views. In fact, the treatment of peace groups may be a litmus test of a Government's true desire for peace.
20.	In addition to emphasizing this tie between the advocacy of human rights and the prevention of war, the United States has taken important steps, as I mentioned earlier, to prevent world conflict. The starting-point and comer-stone of our foreign policy is our alliance and partnership with our fellow democracies. For 35 years, the North Atlantic alliance has guaranteed the peace in Europe. In both Europe and Asia, our alliances have been the vehicle for a great reconciliation among nations that had fought bitter wars in decades and centuries past. And here in the western hemisphere, North and South are being lifted on the tide of freedom and are joined in a common effort to foster peaceful economic development.
21.	We are proud of our association with all those countries that share our commitment to freedom, human rights, the rule of law—and international peace. Indeed, the bulwark of security that the democratic alliance provides is essential, and remains essential, to the maintenance of world peace. Every alliance involves burdens and obligations, but these are far less than the risks and sacrifices that would result if the peace-loving nations were divided and neglectful of their common security. The people of the United States will remain faithful to their commitments.
22.	But the United States is also faithful to its alliances and friendships with scores of nations in the developed and developing worlds with differing political systems, cultures and traditions. The development of ties between the United States and China—a significant global event of the last dozen years—shows our willingness to improve relations with countries ideologically very different from ours.
23.	We are ready to be the friend of any country that is a friend to us and a friend of peace. And we respect genuine non-alignment. Our own nation was born in revolution; we helped promote the process of decolonization that brought about the independence of so many members of this body, and we are proud of that history.
24.	We are proud, too, of our role in the formation of the United Nations and our support of the Organization over the years. And let me again emphasize our unwavering commitment to a central principle of the United Nations system, the principle of universality, both here and in the United Nations technical agencies around the world. If universality is ignored, if nations are expelled illegally, then the United Nations itself cannot be expected to succeed.
25.	The United States welcomes diversity and peaceful competition; we do not fear the trends of history. We are not ideologically rigid; we do have principles and we will stand by them, but we will also seek the friendship and goodwill of all, both old friends and new.
26.	We have always sought to lend a hand to help others—from our relief efforts in Europe after the First World War to the Marshall Plan and massive foreign assistance programmes after the Second World War. Since 1946, the United States has provided over $115 billion in economic aid to developing countries, and today it provides about one third of the nearly $90 billion in financial resources, public and private, that flows to the developing world. And the United States imports about one third of the manufactured exports of the developing world.
27.	But any economic progress, as well as any movement in the direction of greater understanding between the nations of the world, is, of course, endangered by the prospect of conflict at both the global and the regional levels. In a few minutes I will turn to the menace of conflict on a world-wide scale and discuss the status of negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union. But permit me first to address the critical problem of regional conflicts, for history displays tragic evidence that it is these conflicts which can set off the sparks leading to world-wide conflagration.
28.	In a glass display case across the hall from the Oval Office at the White House there is a gold medal—the Nobel Peace Prize won by Theodore Roosevelt for his contribution in mediating the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. It was the first such prize won by an American, and it is part of a tradition of which the American people are very
proud, a tradition that is being continued today in many regions of the globe.
29.	We are engaged, for example, in diplomacy to resolve conflicts in southern Africa, working with the front-line States and our partners in the Contact Group. Mozambique and South Africa have reached a historic accord on non-aggression and co-operation; South Africa and Angola have agreed on a disengagement of forces from Angola, and the groundwork has been laid for the independence of Namibia, with virtually all aspects of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) agreed upon. Let me add that the United States considers it a moral imperative that South Africa's racial policies evolve peacefully but decisively towards a system compatible with basic norms of justice, liberty and human dignity. I am pleased that American companies in South Africa, by providing equal employment opportunities, are contributing to the economic advancement of the black population. But clearly, much more must be done.
30.	In Central America, the United States has lent support to a diplomatic process to restore regional peace and security. We have committed substantial resources to promote economic development and social progress.
31.	The growing success of democracy in El Salvador is the best proof that the key to peace lies in a political solution. Free elections brought into office a government dedicated to democracy, reform, economic progress and regional peace. Regrettably, there are forces in the region eager to thwart democratic change, but these forces are now on the defensive. The tide is turning in the direction of freedom. We call upon Nicaragua, in particular, to abandon its policies of subversion and militarism, and to carry out the promises it made to the Organization of American States to establish democracy at home.
32.	The Middle East has known more than its share of tragedy and conflict for decades, and the United States has been actively involved in peace diplomacy for just as long. We consider ourselves a full partner in the quest for peace. The record of the 11 years since the October war shows that much can be achieved through negotiations; it also shows that the road is long and hard.
33.	Two years ago, I proposed a fresh start toward a negotiated solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. My initiative of 1 September 1982 contains a set of positions that can serve as a basis for a just and lasting peace.' That initiative remains a realistic and workable approach, and I am committed to it as firmly as on the day I announced it. And the foundation-stone of this effort remains Security Council resolution 242 (1967), which, in turn, was incorporated in all its parts in the Camp David accords.
34.	The tragedy of Lebanon has not ended. Only last week, a despicable act of barbarism by some who are unfit to associate with humankind reminded us once again that Lebanon continues to suffer. In 1983 we helped Israel and Lebanon reach an agreement that, if implemented, could have led to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces in the context of the withdrawal of all foreign forces. This agreement was blocked, and the long agony of the Lebanese continues. Thousands of people are still kept from their homes by continued violence and are refugees in their own country. The once-flourishing economy of
Lebanon is near collapse. All of Lebanon's friends should work together to help end this nightmare.
35.	In the Gulf, the United States has supported a series of Security Council resolutions that call for an end to the war between Iran and Iraq that has meant so much death and destruction and has put the world's economic well-being at risk. Our hope is that hostilities will soon end, leaving each side with its political and territorial integrity intact, so that both may devote their energies to addressing the needs of their people and a return to relationships with other States.
36.	The lesson of experience is that negotiations work. The peace treaty between Israel and Egypt brought about the peaceful return of the Sinai, clearly showing that the negotiating process brings results when the parties commit themselves to it. The time is bound to come when the same wisdom and courage will be applied, with success, to reach peace between Israel and all of its Arab neighbours in a manner that assures security for all in the region, the recognition of Israel, and a solution to the Palestinian problem.
37.	In every part of the world, the United States is similarly engaged in peace diplomacy as an active player or a strong supporter.
38.	In South-East Asia, we have backed the efforts of the Association of South-East Asian Nations
to mobilize international support for a peaceful resolution of the Cambodian problem, which must include the withdrawal of Vietnamese forces and the election of a representative government. ASEAN's success in promoting economic and political development has made a major contribution to the peace and stability of the region.
39.	In Afghanistan, the dedicated efforts of the Secretary-General and his representatives to find a diplomatic settlement have our strong support. I assure the General Assembly that the United States will continue to do everything possible to find a negotiated outcome which provides the Afghan people with the right to determine their own destiny, allows the Afghan refugees to return to *heir own country in dignity, and protects the legitimate security interests of all neighbouring countries.
40.	On the divided and tense Korean peninsula, we have strongly backed the confidence-building measures proposed by the Republic of Korea and by the United Nations Command at Panmunjom. These are an important first step towards peaceful reunification in the long term.
41.	We take heart from progress by others in lessening tensions, notably the efforts by the Federal Republic of Germany to reduce barriers between the two German States.
42.	And the United States strongly supports the Secretary-General's efforts to assist the Cypriot parties in achieving a peaceful and reunited Cyprus.
43.	The United States has been and will always be a friend of peaceful solutions.
44.	This is no less true with respect to my country's relations with the Soviet Union.
45.	When I appeared before the General Assembly, at its thirty-eighth session. I noted that we cannot count on the instinct for survival alone to protect us against war. Deterrence is necessary but not sufficient. America has repaired its strength. We have invigorated our alliances and friendships. We are ready for constructive negotiations with the Soviet Union.
46.	We recognize that there is no sane alternative to negotiations on arms control and other issues between our two nations, which have the capacity to destroy civilization as we know it. I believe this is a view shared by virtually every country in the world and by the Soviet Union itself.
47.	I want to speak to the General Assembly today on what the United States and the Soviet Union can accomplish together in the coming years, and the concrete steps that we need to take.
48.	As I stand here and look out from this podium, there in front of me I can see the seat of the representative of the Soviet Union, and not far from that seat, just over to the side, is the seat of the representative of the United States. In this historic assembly hall it is clear there is not a great distance between us. Outside this room, while there will still be clear differences, there is every reason why we should do all that is possible to shorten that distance. That is why we are here. Is that not what the United Nations is all about?
49.	On 16 January last, I set out three objectives for United States-Soviet relations that can provide an agenda for our work over the months ahead.
50.	First, I said, we need to find ways to reduce, and eventually to eliminate, the threat and use of force in solving international disputes. Our concern over the potential for nuclear war cannot deflect us from the terrible human tragedies occurring every day in the regional conflicts I have just discussed. Together we have a particular responsibility to contribute to political solutions to these problems, rather than to exacerbate them through the provision of even more weapons.
51.	I propose that our two countries agree to embark on periodic consultations at policy level about regional problems. We will be prepared, if the Soviets agree, to make senior experts available at regular intervals for in-depth exchanges of views. I have asked Secretary of State Shultz to explore this with Foreign Minister Gromyko. Spheres of influence are a thing of the past. Differences between American and Soviet interests are not. The objectives of this political dialogue will be to help avoid miscalculation, reduce the potential risk of United States-Soviet confrontation and help the people in areas of conflict to find peaceful solutions.
52.	The United States and the Soviet Union have achieved agreements of historic importance on some regional issues. The Austrian State Treaty and the Berlin accords are notable and lasting examples. Let us resolve to achieve similar agreements in the future.
53.	Our second task must be to find ways to reduce the vast stockpiles of armaments in the world. I am committed to redoubling our negotiating efforts to achieve real results: in Geneva, a complete ban on chemical weapons; in Vienna, real reductions—to lower and equal levels—in Soviet and American, Warsaw Pact and North Atlantic Treaty Organization conventional forces; in Stockholm, concrete practical measures to enhance mutual confidence, to reduce the risk of war and to reaffirm commitments concerning non-use of force; in the field of nuclear testing, improvements in verification essential to ensure compliance with the threshold test-ban and peaceful nuclear explosions agreements; and in the field of non-proliferation, close co-operation to strengthen the international institutions and practices aimed at halting the Spread of nuclear weapons, together with redoubled efforts to meet the legitimate expectation of all nations that the Soviet Union and the United States will substantially reduce their own nuclear arsenals. We and the Soviets have agreed to upgrade our hotline communications facility, and our discussions of nuclear non-proliferation in recent years have been useful to both sides. We think there are other possibilities for improving communications in this area that deserve serious exploration.
54.	I believe the proposal of the Soviet Union for opening United States-Soviet talks at Vienna provides an important opportunity to advance these objectives. We have been prepared to discuss a wide range of issues of concern to both sides, such as the relationship between defensive and offensive forces and what has been called the militarization of space. During the talks we would consider what measures of restraint both sides might take while negotiations proceeded. However, any agreement must logically depend upon our ability to get the competition in offensive arms under control and to achieve genuine stability at substantially lower levels of nuclear arms.
55.	Our approach in all these areas will be designed to take into account concerns the Soviet Union has voiced. It will attempt to provide a basis for a historic breakthrough in arms control. I am disappointed that we were not able to open our meeting at Vienna earlier this month on the date originally proposed by the Soviet Union. I hope we can begin these talks by the end of the year or shortly thereafter.
56.	The third task I set in January was to establish a better working relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States, one marked by greater co-operation and understanding.
57.	We have made some modest progress. We have reached agreements to improve our hotline, extend our 10-year economic agreement, enhance consular co-operation and explore co-ordination of search and rescue efforts at sea.
58.	We have also offered to increase significantly the amount of United States grain for purchase by the Soviets and to provide the Soviets with a direct fishing allocation off United States coasts. But there is much more we could do together. I feel particularly strongly about breaking down the barriers between the peoples of the United States and the Soviet Union and between our political, military and other leaders.
59.	AH of these steps that I have mentioned, and especially the arms control negotiations, are extremely important to a step-by-step process towards peace. But let me also say that we need to extend the arms control process, to build a bigger umbrella under which it can operate—a road-map, as it were, showing where during the next 20 years or so these individual efforts can lead. This can greatly assist step-by-step negotiations and enable us to avoid having all our hopes or expectations ride on any single set or series of negotiations. If progress is temporarily halted at one set of talks, this newly established framework for arms control could help us take up the slack at other negotiations.
60.	Today, to the great end of lifting the dread of nuclear war from the peoples of the Earth, I invite the leaders of the world to join in a new beginning. We
need a fresh approach to reducing international tensions. History demonstrates beyond controversy that, just as the arms competition has its roots in political suspicions and anxieties, so it can be channelled in more stabilizing directions and eventually be eliminated, if those political suspicions and anxieties are addressed as well.
61.	Towards this end I will suggest to the Soviet Union that we institutionalize regular ministerial or cabinet-level meetings between our two countries on the whole agenda of issues before us, including the problem of needless obstacles to understanding. To take but one idea for discussion, in such talks we could consider the exchange of outlines of five-year military plans for weapons development and our schedules of intended procurement. We would also welcome the exchange of observers at military exercises and locations. And I propose that we find a way for Soviet experts to come to the United States nuclear-test site, and for ours to go to theirs, to measure directly the yields of tests of nuclear weapons. We should work towards having such arrangements in place by next spring. I hope that the Soviet Union will co-operate in this undertaking and reciprocate in a manner that will enable the two countries to establish the basis for verification for effective limits on underground nuclear testing.
62.	I believe such talks could work rapidly towards developing a new climate of policy understanding, one that is essential if crises are to be avoided and real arms control is to be negotiated. Of course, summit meetings have a useful role to play. But they need to be carefully prepared, and the benefit here is that meetings at the ministerial level would provide the kind of progress that is the best preparation for higher-level talks between ourselves and the Soviet leaders.
63.	How much progress we will make, and at what pace, I cannot say, but we have a moral obligation to try and try again.
64.	Some may dismiss such proposals and my own optimism as simplistic American idealism. And they will point to the burdens of the modem world and to history. Well, yes, if we sit down and catalogue year by year, generation by generation, the famines, the plagues, the wars, the invasions mankind has endured, the list will grow so long and the assault on humanity so terrifying that it seems too much for the human spirit ^o bear.
65.	But is that not narrow and short-sighted and not at all how we think of history? Yes, the deeds of infamy or injustice are all recorded, but what shines out from the pages of history is the daring of the dreamers and the deeds of the builders and the doers. These things make up the stories we tell and pass on to our children. They comprise the most enduring and striking fact about human history: that through the heart-break and tragedy man has always dared to perceive the outline of human progress, the steady growth in not just the material well-being but the spiritual insight of mankind.
"There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Think on it—always. All through history the way of truth and love has always won."
That "as the belief and the vision of Mahatma Gandhi, and it remains today a vision that is good and true.
66.	"All is gift" is said to have been the favourite expression of another great spiritualist, a Spanish soldier who gave up the ways of war for that of love and peace. And if we are to make realities of the two great goals of the Charter of the United Nations—the dreams of peace and human dignity—we must take to heart these words of Ignatius Loyola: "We must pause long enough to contemplate the gifts received from Him who made us—the gift of life, the gift of this world, the gift of each other."
67.	And the gift of the present, for it is this present, this time, that now we must seize. I leave you with a reflection from Mahatma Gandhi spoken with those in mind who said that the disputes and conflicts of the modem world are too great to overcome. It was spoken shortly after Gandhi's quest for independence had taken him to Britain.
"I am not conscious of a single experience throughout my three months' stay in England and Europe that made me feel that after all East is East and West is West. On the contrary, I have been convinced more than ever that human nature is much the same no matter under what clime it flourishes and that, if you approach people with trust and affection, you would have tenfold trust and thousand-fold affection returned to you."
68.	For the sake of a peaceful world, a world where human dignity and freedom are respected and enshrined, let us approach each other with tenfold trust and thousand fold affection. A new future awaits us. The time is here, the moment is now.
69.	One of the founding fathers of our nation, Thomas Paine, spoke words that apply to all of us gathered here today. They apply directly to all sitting here in this Hall. He said: "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."


Allow me first of all, on behalf of the delegation of the Central African Republic, to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the thirty-ninth session of the General Assembly. Your long experience acquired in the course of your diplomatic career and your superb knowledge of international issues bode well for the great success of the work of this session. My delegation would like to assure you at the outset of its readiness to assist you.
105.	I should also like to take this opportunity to reaffirm the support of the Central African Republic for the Secretary-General, whose work on behalf of the Organization is both dedicated and selfless.
106.	Lastly, our delegation wishes to extend a warm welcome to Brunei Darussalam whose admission is a further reflection of the universal role of the United Nations.
107.	Since the founding of the Organization, its usefulness and effectiveness have continually been called into question. The resolutions it has adopted, the solutions it has worked out, the recommendations it has made, have never really fulfilled the hopes cherished by peoples stricken by crises and conflicts; they have never completely allayed the tensions and upheavals in the world. Therefore, despite the heterogeneous nature of the Organization and its complexity, it should show a more definite spirit of consensus and return to its original objectives, namely, the noble ideals of peace and development laid down in the Charter of the United Nations.
108.	The sweeping currents of ideas, discoveries and technological innovations should lead to a change in the relations between nations; all such changes should lead to a true world balance. Unfortunately, reality is quite different. We are, in fact, witnessing a resurgence of intolerance, insecurity, selfishness and violence. Despite that gloomy picture, we shall not give in to either defeatism or scepticism. Despite numerous stumbling-blocks, the United Nations continues to be the forum in which discussions and negotiations on the fate of the world are held.
109.	In today's world, which is characterized by diversity, the right to be different should be recognized as a fundamental principle governing relations among States, a right to be different that the United Nations fosters and develops, the right of each people to flourish within the context of its own history, its own culture, its own beliefs and the political and economic system it has freely chosen. When denied to others—as is so often the case—this right to be different becomes a source of turbulence, hatred and confrontation.
110.	In Africa, in Asia, in Europe, as well as in America, evidence of such intolerance and selfishness is all too common. Often, peoples are stifled. Their legitimate struggles for their inevitable emancipation and their power to decide their lot in full exercise of their sovereignty are being thwarted by sordid personal interests.
111.	Are examples necessary? The situation prevailing in southern Africa is a very eloquent case in point. It is, of course, true that the agreements recently concluded between South Africa and some countries of the region are an encouraging step along the road towards peace. However, that remains problematical. So long as SWAPO, the sole representative of the Namibian people, is denied recognition of its national rights, peace cannot be lasting and total. It is more than ever important that Security Council resolution 435 (1978) be fully observed and implemented.
112.	The Central African Republic welcomes the recent agreements concluded between France and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to withdraw all foreign forces from Chad. It hopes, however, that the simultaneous withdrawals will be effective and complete, not just from the capital, N'djamena, and its immediate environs, but from all Chadian territory. Chad must regain possession of the whole of its original territory. That would enable the Government of that brotherly neighbouring country finally to dedicate itself fully to the task of reconciliation and national reconstruction begun by President Hissein Habre.
113.	With regard to the question of Western Sahara, our delegation believes that an excellent basis for seeking a solution can be found in the resolutions adopted at the eighteenth and nineteenth ordinary sessions of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity. In that connection, we cherish the firm hope that the next session of that Assembly will provide an opportunity to assess the efforts made by the countries involved.
114.	With regard to the question of the Middle East, everyone knows that the Palestinian problem lies at the heart of the conflict. No acceptable solution can therefore be arrived at which ignores the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination under the aegis of the Palestine Liberation Organization. In that connection, we shall continue to support any initiative in line with the spirit of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) aimed at bringing about a lasting and comprehensive settlement of the conflict.
115.	In the same context, the Central African Republic makes an urgent appeal to the international community to spare no effort to preserve and guarantee the national unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty and neutrality of Lebanon.
116.	In the name of the principle of recognizing the right to be different, Democratic Kampuchea should be enabled fully to exercise its sovereignty. To that end, we hope to see the full application of the principles laid down by the Organization.
117.	The Central African Republic also supports any initiative designed to enable Afghanistan to regain its national rights and its status as a neutral, non-aligned country.
118.	The problem of Korea remains a pressing one. The persistent tension in the Korean peninsula is of concern to the Central African Republic. Thus, as part of our contribution to the efforts being made by the international community to reduce such tension, we shall continue to urge both parties, which undeniably aspire to reunification, to pursue their dialogue on the basis of the South-North Joint Communique of 4 July 1972, which set forth the principles for such action. Free, direct dialogue, free of outside interference, would unquestionably enable the parties to establish the conditions for the restoration of the mutual confidence indispensable for the maintenance of peace in the region. Both parties could, in the meantime, plan for their simultaneous admission to membership in the United Nations.
119.	Given the situation prevailing in Central America, the Central African Republic believes that negotiation is the only appropriate means for achieving a peaceful solution and for promoting the harmonious coexistence of the States of the region,
120.	These several examples of the refusal of certain States to recognize and accept the right to differences are based on a two-pronged interest. First, there is an ideological interest, since those States which reject the right to differences are often members of an alliance bloc. A treacherous complicity does, indeed, exist on the part of part of the international community. That complicity impedes mutual understanding and confidence. And then there is strategic interest in the policies of certain States which have embarked on the arms race in order to maintain their military and economic domination.
121.	Thus, while the Central African Republic welcomes the negotiations under way on disarmament, it also deplores the fact that they are brought to stalemate at a time when the proliferation and development of arms are reaching alarming levels, thus perpetuating the vicious circle of destruction.
122.	The disarmament we so fervently wish for cannot be achieved solely through regional security and arms limitation agreements. All States must be aware of the pressing and collective task of championing international, peace and security.
123.	The Central African Republic is firmly convinced that the effective development of all the countries of our community is a condition for global balance and a guarantee of peace. Development also means the right to life and therefore it cannot be jeopardized. We call on the developed countries to contribute effectively, through bilateral or multilateral agreements, to the realistic development of the countries of the third world. For, one and indivisible, peace requires, if it is to be preserved, the universal development of all the members of the international community.
124.	The inadequacy of the present international economic system is resulting in enormous difficulties for the developing countries. Will the alarm so often sounded ever be heard?
125.	While concerned with providing a minimal decent standard of living for our peoples, our countries are rarely able to find the means to implement the economic plans and programmes which have been drawn up. Thus, we continue to suffer severely from the effects of the world economic crisis and from the shortcomings of the economic system. We deplore the attitude of certain industrialized countries which act as though the developing countries should come to terms with their poverty levels and even be content with them.
126.	The countries of the third world are struggling not only for the right to development but also Tor a more significant mobilization of the means for development. The unbreakable link between the right to development and the right to security requires, in turn, the developing countries to observe an indispensable and reasonable balance between the means allocated for security and those given over to development.
127.	Thus, it is regrettable that, after the adoption in 1974 of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, there is still a gap between the socio-economic development efforts of certain industrialized countries and others which are less industrialized.
128.	The international crisis seems to have disallowed any claim of the developing countries to such development, and therefore to life. The assistance which is accorded them, dwindling day by day, is clearly inadequate and the terms of trade are growing worse at a dizzying pace.
129.	Our countries are in debt and are bowed under the burden of the amounts due; these debts are worsened and inflated by the crisis of the international monetary system. At the same time, our balance of trade shows a deficit and access to development sources and new technology, which are so badly needed to maintain development projects, seems to be denied to us solely because we happen to be developing countries.
130.	We continue to be greatly disappointed, and we state this in this lofty gathering, all the more so because our hopes have faded since the work of the sixth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held at Belgrade in 1983, and of the Fourth General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, held at Vienna earlier this year.
131.	A joint definition of new international economic regulations by the industrialized countries and by the third world is needed today. The entire international community would benefit from the beginning of global negotiations designed to putting a halt to this crisis.
132.	The results achieved in three years by the Military Committee for National Recovery in working to restore and rebuild the Central African Republic are very encouraging and are a cause of satisfaction for us because the result first and foremost from our own efforts
133.	But such success is also due to the valuable assistance given by friendly countries and by international organizations, including the United Nations. I should like once again to pay a heartfelt tribute to the Secretary-General and his co-workers for the unceasing concern which they continue to show for the Central African Republic. The road is still long and the task an arduous one. That is why we should like to be assured of continuity and stepping up of international assistance.
134.	While observing the third anniversary of ac-cession to power of the Military Committee for National Recovery, the Head of State, General Andre Kolingba, began his speech as follows: "For three years now the Central African Republic has seen the Military Committee for National Recovery at work. These three years have been imbued, above all, with peace,"—I repeat, with peace—"a factor working for stability and a sine qua non condition for any kind of development."
135.	That equation of peace and development is the basis of the philosophy of action advocated by the Central African Republic, on both the domestic and the international level.
136.	For we have faith in the possibility of warding off those ills which loom as a serious threat over the future of the international community. The solution lies in respect by all States for the fundamental values of the right to differences and the right to development.
137.	That is the message which General Andre Kolingba, Chairman of the Military Committee for National Recovery and Head of State, deeply convinced of the ability of the Organization to resolve world problems and drawing inspiration from the well-springs of our philosophy, has entrusted us to present for the consideration of the Assembly.
138.	The entire Central African Republic joins us in wishing all possible success for the work of the Assembly.