I am happy to join previous speakers in congratulating Mr. Ismat Kittani on his election as President of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly. His personal qualities augur well for his success in performing the important functions entrusted to him by the Assembly.
179.	I should also like to pay a tribute of admiration and appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Rudiger von
Wechmar, for his leadership of the thirty-fifth session, which all previous speakers have acknowledged to have been dynamic and decisive.
180.	Finally, I should like to express the admiration of the delegation of Costa Rica for the consummate skill with which the Secretary-General has carried out his important duties.
181.	It is an honor and a privilege for me to be able to welcome to the United Nations a sovereign and independent Belize. We share the great emotion which its representatives must feel today. Their presence will lend renewed vigor to the United Nations, which with each day that passes represents all the peoples of the earth with greater enthusiasm. We welcome Belize's entry into the United Nations, where common struggles await us. After 35 years we are witnessing the collapse of colonialism all over the world. This is one of the great achievements of the United Nations and the fulfillment of one of the fundamental principles of its Charter.
182.	I have great pleasure in welcoming the Republic of Vanuatu as a Member of the United Nations. Costa Rica was most gratified when Vanuatu became independent on 30 July 1980 and wishes this new Member State a happy, peaceful and prosperous future for its people, trusting that its newfound freedom and self-determination will be preserved and strengthened.
183.	As the Secretary-General so clearly says in his report [A/3611], the picture of international risks and dangers which he described to us a year ago, far from disappearing, has become more disturbing than ever.
184.	There has not been the necessary will in international affairs to permit the major changes which might enable peoples to live together in harmony. There has been no change in the politics of domination which continue to block the possibilities of progress towards a better world for all mankind.
185.	The political and ideological struggles between the great Powers have intensified, while in some regions new sources of armed conflict have arisen. The competition for spheres of influence continues unabated, thwarting the aspiration of peoples to a world order in which weak and powerful nations alike would organize their relations and tackle their common problems with the full participation of all.
186.	In the light of this disturbing situation, the purposes and principles of the United Nations acquire greater relevance. Costa Rica believes in international organizations. We believe that within this Organization and under its auspices we can reconcile extreme positions and settle the conflicts which threaten peace and justice. We can develop a feeling of human solidarity despite the incomprehension and intransigence of a handful of States. If we are tenacious and persevering we shall be able to achieve these goals through concerted political, social and economic action.
187.	As the Assembly begins its work this year, the Government of Costa Rica would like to place on record its position on some of the serious problems confronting the international community.
188.	Central America today is an erupting volcano. It is the battlefield for the struggle of peoples for freedom and dignity, and it roust suffer all the unhappy consequences of that struggle. The peoples of Central America are demanding greater social justice, complete freedom and respect for human dignity. Various forces and interests oppose these legitimate demands: the selfishness of those who wish to maintain the status quo for the benefit of the few, in total disregard of the vast majority; the direct damage caused to our countries by the international economic situation, particularly inflation, the drop in international market prices for our commodity exports and the inordinate rise in the price of energy-related products, all of which affect our region particularly, because of its geographical, economic, social and political situation; and, finally, the manipulation by extremist ideologies which, taking advantage of these circumstances, are trying to subvert the people's legitimate ideals and steer our nations towards the fateful goal of left-wing or right-wing extremism.
189.	We are confident that the countries of Central America will manage to emerge from this titanic struggle as democratic nations committed to peace, freedom and justice.
190.	It is with sorrow that we witness the bloodbath suffered by the fraternal people of El Salvador. Costa Rica has given its backing to the Government of President Duarte, as a viable transitional formula by which the country can move towards institutionalization, and is grateful for the latter's efforts to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution by means of a political dialog leading to the expression of the popular will in free and democratic elections.
191.	The problems facing Central America do not concern that region alone. Our success or failure in resolving the crisis has a direct bearing on the future of democracy not only in the region but throughout the world.
192.	The geographical, economic and social constraints suffered by the countries of the region prevent them from resolving the crisis without the support of the community of nations. The international community knows this and is willing to help, for such is the duty of every country in the world that believes in democracy and whose system of government is based on freedom, justice and peace. The industrialized countries have a special responsibility, for they are in the best position to help and cooperate in the defense of democracy and of these fundamental principles.
193.	In this context, we have promoted the Central American dialog, and we have acknowledged with enthusiasm the interest expressed by the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Mexico, the United States and Venezuela to assist the region in the search for solutions to its economic problems. Also, we support the proposal of the Foreign Minister of Peru to set up a trust fund that would serve as a basis for an aid program of horizontal cooperation [6th meeting, para. 163],
194.	Notwithstanding the serious crisis in the region, my country has continued to conduct its affairs in a peaceful and orderly fashion, respecting the electoral decisions of its people, solving its problems within a state of law and trusting in God and man. We have been the calm eye in the middle of the cyclone that buffets our suffering neighbors.
195.	In the struggle between spiritual and purely material values, between freedom without bread and bread without freedom, we Costa Ricans have achieved the ideal goal of bread and freedom. For 160 years we have upheld the ideals of economic and social justice, freedom, respect for human rights and representative government,
196.	But all this can change if we are not careful. There can be no doubt that our peaceful way of life and our love of freedom are threatened by the critical situation facing the world today. This is why, in the interests of the very survival of democracy, intelligent and close collaboration is needed now more than ever before between the industrialized and developing countries. It is only by unity of action that we can move forward, preserving system that affords man the best opportunities in his search for happiness and his enjoyment of peace, freedom and justice,
197.	I wish to reiterate that my country is aware of the historic role that the stability of its democratic system demands that it play in the Central American region. Consequently, we desire the establishment in Central America of governments that are a true expression of the popular will, the product of an electoral process, a democratic manifestation in the true sense of the word; governments that will lead their peoples to economic and social progress in peace and freedom.
198.	The Latin American countries form a group of re> publics with ties unmatched anywhere in the world. Latin. American unity is an historical necessity if our countries* are to be able to play their part in the community of nations and develop their potential to the full. Today, despite its difficult economic situation, its precarious social stability and its slow progress towards democracy, Latin America is part of the developing world that shows a greater identity of aims, a greater convergence towards those aims and a greater possibility of managing to achieve them.
199.	Latin Americans must be alive to the tremendous historical importance of the present moment and of our responsibility towards the future, which calls for wisdom and courage in the decisions which our peoples expect and demand of us. By striving for a Latin American consensus free of intolerance and exclusivity, we shall be helping to strengthen the United Nations.
200.	My country has been a staunch supporter of all the efforts and actions to change the present international order and lay the bases for genuine cooperation among' all States. We are convinced of the effectiveness and the necessity of common action in this era of determined opposition to domination and exploitation. The unity and solidarity of the third world are the new alternative for securing recognition for the common aspirations for justice and equity.
201.	We realize that it will be difficult for our countries to move ahead with their development programs until the foundations have been laid of a new international economic order which places the same value on our raw materials and our labor as it does on the labor, manufactured goods and technologies of the industrialized' countries. In this connection, the NorthSouth and South
South dialogs and the global negotiations on international economic cooperation for development are especially significant.
202.	My delegation notes with regret that, 35 years after the Assembly first considered the question of apartheid, the Government of South Africa continues to repress that country's black population. The United Nations cannot continue to be a passive witness to events in southern Africa. Costa Rica supports the measures taken by the United Nations in the struggle against apartheid.
203.	I should like to emphasize once again that there is a tradition of antiracism in Costa Rica, one that has its roots in our history. All the ethnic groups in our country have mixed spontaneously, and we are proud to be a nation with a democratic system that allows every Costa Rican without distinction to develop his skills.
204.	My delegation hopes that more decisive steps will be taken at this session to put an end to this form of totalitarianism, and, on behalf of our Government, we shall vote in favour of and join in any action that might further the struggle against apartheid and contribute to its final eradication.
205.	The Government of Costa Rica condemns South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia. South Africa has an obligation to withdraw its administration from that Territory so that the people of Namibia can achieve a genuine independence that respects their territorial integrity, including Walvis Bay and the coastal islands. We support the legitimate struggle of the Namibian people for self determination.
206.	We strongly condemn the invasion of Angola recently committed by South Africa from Namibia. My delegation considers the situation in Namibia to be a threat to international peace and security and therefore urges all Member States to strengthen the comprehensive sanctions against South Africa in order to compel it to comply immediately with United Nations resolutions on Namibia.
207.	With respect to the situation in Afghanistan, the delegation of Costa Rica stated its position at the Security Council's emergency meeting called in response to requests by numerous States Members of the United Nations, Costa Rica among them, which believed that what was happening in Afghanistan then, and is still happening there today, constitutes a serious violation of the fundamental principles of international law by one of the permanent members of the Security Council and hence a grave threat to international peace and security.
208.	The position taken then remains the same today. Like most of the countries of the third world, my country relies on the enforcement of international law for its external Security and is above any suspicion of seeking to interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors or of any other nation. We are concerned therefore that treaties of friendship, cooperation and good-neighborliness can overnight become tools of aggression, invasion and intervention in the affairs of a sovereign State. We are also concerned over what happens in any other part of the world, especially when the good faith and friendly intentions that inspire international law are violated.
209.	For years, Costa Rica has followed developments in Cyprus with keen attention and interest. We attach the greatest importance to the preservation of that country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions, and we hope that the sense of responsibility of the States and communities directly involved in the conflict will prevail.
210.	The Government of Costa Rica maintains the position it has taken at previous sessions of the General Assembly with regard to the serious situation in the Middle East. There are several difficult elements in that conflict, some of them deeply painful, such as the useless bloodbath inflicted on the communities of Lebanon, for whom the international community should be able to guarantee the right and the real possibility for finding peace and harmony, without the outside interference that makes that impossible. Other elements, besides being painful, seriously threaten the peace of the world; among them is the ArabIsraeli conflict. We believe that the problem could be solved if the parties to the conflict were truly determined to put an end to it and if all involved accepted that both an Israeli and a Palestinian State have a right to existence, that dialog is the best means of relaxing the tensions between the parties and is a prerequisite to formal negotiations, and that the Israeli and Palestinian States have a right to live within definite, secure borders guaranteed by the United Nations.
211.	Were the parties to the conflict to agree to those principles, the problem could be solved and the borders of the States could be fixed in a universally satisfactory manner. The Government of Costa Rica has a very clear picture of what the Middle East could be if all the States there were to put an end to hostilities and launch a program of cooperation among themselves, thereby heeding the call for peace that we have so often made in this forum.
212.	We have always added Costa Rica's voice to those of many other Member States and have joined in the efforts to achieve peace, justice, freedom and respect for human rights in Kampuchea. Like all peace-loving peoples, we believe that the people of Kampuchea deserves to be allowed to live in peace and fully to exercise its rights as a sovereign and independent State.
213.	Strategic interests cannot take precedence over the longing of peoples for freedom nor usurp their right to genuine self-determination, territorial integrity and independence. That is why my delegation supported General Assembly resolutions 34/22 and 35/6 and believes we must continue to insist on fulfillment of the requirements outlined in paragraph 3 of resolution 35/6. I should like to reiterate our hope that the difficult and serious situation in Kampuchea will be resolved by means of the necessary political will and a manifestation of the spirit of justice.
214.	Faithful to the fundamental principles of the United Nations, my country believes that the process of decolonization resulting from the effective exercise by peoples of their right to self-determination is now almost complete.
215.	My Government supports and will continue to support all legitimate struggles for the effective exercise of the right to self-determination in accordance with resolutions 1514 (XV) and 1541 (XV), which were adopted by the General Assembly 20 years ago and which have since been both guide and foundation of the decolonization process. That is why we have supported the just aspirations of the POLISARIO Front" and have recognized the sovereign and independent Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic.
216.	In all the years that the question of Korea has been before the General Assembly, Costa Rica has advocated direct contacts between the two parties at the highest level with a view to arriving at an understanding that would put an end once and for all to a tense situation which affects not only the Korean peninsula but also the entire region of NorthEast Asia. Despite the repeated initiatives of the Republic of Korea, as put forward by President Chun on 12 January 1981 and again on 5 June, and despite the support of Members of this Organization for direct dialog as a means of achieving the peaceful reunification of Korea, no such contacts have been possible.
217.	My country further believes that both Koreas should be admitted as full Members of the Organization, as a first step towards creating an international climate of reconciliation and, ultimately, peaceful democratic reunification, that is, by means of free elections, thereby enhancing the principle of the universality of the United Nations.
218.	My delegation once again appeals to Member States to make their positive contribution towards creating a favourable climate for the resumption of the dialog between North Korea and South Korea and for the peaceful resolution of the question of Korea.
219.	It has become a frustrating ritual for those of us who come to the Assembly year after year to draw attention to the grave risks presented by the arms race, to speak in the debate on that subject. The military forces of the great Powers and the tremendous destructive power of their weapons cast the darkest of shadows over the world. The arms race is a fierce competition to acquire more and better weapons. Not only do nuclear weapons pose an intolerable threat because of the unspeakable devastation that they cause, but the theories about their use and the prospects of their spread to other States magnify that threat and can make disarmament ever more difficult to achieve.
220.	In this connection, I should like also to emphasize the importance my country attaches to all efforts to prevent the militarization of outer space and to reiterate once again Costa Rica's pacifist vocation and its conviction that it is only through conciliation and peace that our peoples can move forward.
221.	We are convinced that the problems of disarmament, although difficult and complex, can be solved if weak and powerful together are determined to solve them. The future of mankind depends to a large extent on how we solve those problems, and in that process the United Nations will continue to be the most appropriate body for pooling our efforts and freeing mankind from the threat of destruction.
222.	The question of the University for Peace was first brought before the Assembly at its thirty-fourth session, when the idea of establishing the University was approved and an international commission created to prepare its organization, structure and setting in motion [resolution 341 111]. The Commission's report" was presented to the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth session. On the Commission's recommendation, on 5 December 1980, the Assembly decided by consensus to establish the University for Peace and approved the University's Charter and the International Agreement for the Establishment of the University for Peace. Since that time 20 countries have signed the Agreement.

223.	The University is conceived as an international institution created with the intellectual and material cooperation of all countries, as a melting pot where different cultures can make their contribution to peace, as an international forum where the theoretical and practical problems of peace and war can be studied and explained, and as a house of learning which can create alternatives for peaceful coexistence among all the peoples of the earth.
224.	On behalf of the Government of Costa Rica, I should like to thank the General Assembly for its clear and resolute support for this venture. We are especially grateful to the Secretariat and above all to the Secretary General, who made his own decisive contribution to the new institution's promising future by appointing such an eminent and representative Council, which will no doubt convince the world, and the United Nations in particular, of the immense challenge facing the University and help ensure that its objectives are achieved and even surpassed.
225.	I make a fervent appeal to all Governments to make their decisive contribution to this new venture, designed to strengthen the foundations needed for establishing an increasingly just and, hence, increasingly peaceful world.
226.	Costa Rica is confident that the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea will finally complete its work in spring 1982 in New York. We are ready to take final decisions at that last session and then to go to Caracas with all the other participating States to adopt the Convention on the Law of the Sea so long awaited by the international community. It is in this spirit that we urge those nations which appear to have problems with the text of a convention which was forged with the assistance and understanding of all participants to join in working towards a consensus with the greatest good will. Failure to adopt a convention like that embodied in what is now the Conference's official text would seriously damage the relations between rich and poor nations and would no doubt become a further source of international tension.
227.	Human rights constitutes one of the issues to which the Organization has devoted time, effort and determination. As it is one of the cornerstones of our foreign policy which we have reaffirmed in numerous declarations, we shall support any initiatives which might help to strengthen human rights and promote their strict observance and protection wherever there is an attempt to violate or lessen them.
228.	The question of human rights is becoming more relevant every day, which makes it increasingly vital and indispensable that the international community join jn efforts to protect them. We believe that human rights are a matter of universal importance. Costa Rica believes that it must pursue its efforts in support of the creation of a post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
229.	I should like to draw attention to the concern expressed by the Secretary-General in his report to the General Assembly at the lack of appropriate ways and means of filling the vacuum that exists in the field of the promotion of and respect for human rights. Costa Rica, a staunch defender of human rights and fundamental freedoms, is seeking to strengthen the international machinery for the protection and promotion of human rights, so as to guarantee or improve the conditions in which such rights are exercised internationally.
230.	The Government of Costa Rica is deeply concerned at the serious refugee problem, which often threatens the political and social stability and economic development of the States and regions concerned, especially developing regions. That is why it cosponsored resolution 35/124 on the subject, adopted on 11 December 1980. That resolution represented an important step in the search for a solution to this problem at the present session of the General Assembly. At future sessions the international community will be called upon to consider not only the humanitarian aspects of the problem but also the adoption of preventive measures to prevent new flows of refugees.
231.	The Government of Costa Rica supports the ideas and suggestions formulated by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Security Council and wishes to express the hope that other Members will participate and help in ensuring that these ideas and suggestions are discussed fully so that we can proceed in this direction in close cooperation.
232.	Costa Rica has requested the inclusion in the agenda of a new item entitled "Declaration of a Peace Year, a Peace Month and a Peace Day" [see A/361197] not only because it is committed to the cause of peace but also because it acted as host to the Sixth Triennial Conference of the International Association of University Presidents held at San Jose from 28 June to 3 July 1981, which proposed such an initiative. My Government welcomed the proposal and had the honor of submitting it to the General Assembly at the thirty-sixth session. I shall not go into the details of the draft resolution here, Its text will be submitted to delegations in the hope that this initiative will receive the General Assembly's broad support.
233.	I should like to end by reiterating my country's faith in the validity and vitality of the Organization. We are firm believers in the decisive role that the United Nations must play in shaping the future of mankind in an environment of peace, freedom and universal justice.


223.	 Sir, I should like to begin by extending to you my warmest words of congratulation on your election to the presidency of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly. It is with profound satisfaction that we once again see serving the international community someone whose human qualities and vast experience as politician and diplomat guarantee that we shall reach positive results during this session.
224.	I am very pleased to see this high office occupied by the representative of a friendly Arab nation with which we share so many historical and traditional links and specially from Iraq, whose relations with Portugal have teen marked by a close and fruitful cooperation that we wish to maintain and develop.
225.	I should also like to express our sincere esteem and gratitude to Mr. von Wechmar for his constant and devoted efforts in favour of peace and justice and for the untiring and commendable manner in which he dedicated himself to the presidency of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly. We have the highest respect for his excellent contribution to the good conduct of our work last year.
226.	Finally, I wish to address a special word of greeting and gratitude to the Secretary-General, who recently greatly honoured our country with an official visit. His clear vision of the international community, his human and diplomatic qualities, and the competent and devoted way in which he guides the work of the Organization are all worthy of our highest praise.
227.	We welcome the admission to the United Nations of the Republic of Vanuatu and we extend to its Government and people our sincere congratulations. We also express the hope that soon we may see amongst" us Belize, which we warmly welcome today on its independence. These are most encouraging signs that step by step we are approaching one of the highest goals of the United Nations universality.
228.	The General Assembly has gathered once again to avail itself of the diligence and efforts of its Members to analyze and debate the grave issues facing the world which, for the major part, call for an urgent solution. Notwithstanding their best efforts, it is not an easy task to find new solutions, to follow up and reinforce those already advocated and to remove the obstacles in the path of peace and progress.
229.	Profound changes in the international system have been brought about by the cumulative effects of diverse factors. The agenda of the General Assembly has been broadened beyond the traditional themes of security and the balance of power to include matters of increasing complexity which pose a continuing challenge to the Governments of all the countries here represented. However, like the speakers who preceded me and those who will follow, I am certain that we, the Members of this distinguished Organization, will do our utmost to find the proper solutions.
230.	The continuing situation in Afghanistan, where a Soviet intervention, persists in open violation of the Charter and in defiance of the condemnation of international public opinion and of the Assembly, constitutes clear evidence of a policy of expansion and of the ensuing risks to stability and international detente. Convinced that the present situation is not evolving favorably, and aware of the risk it represents to the geostrategic balance of power and to peace, the Portuguese Government has clearly and consistently condemned the persistence of a situation that is both politically and juridical unacceptable.
231.	In this spirit, my delegation wishes to express its full support for the recent plan of the European Council meeting at Luxembourg on 29 and 30 June 13 for the convening of an international conference within the framework of the diplomatic efforts initiated by the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly.
232.	The invasion and occupation of Kampuchea by the Vietnamese armed forces have also been condemned by an overwhelming majority of the States Members of the Organization, including my own country. Portugal considers that a solution to this problem must be based on the withdrawal of all foreign troops from the territory of Kampuchea. We further consider that the International Conference convened earlier this year by the United Nations constituted an important step towards the peaceful solution of this conflict.
233.	In view of such situations as these, the fundamental question confronting the General Assembly is to decide whether the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations [resolution 2625 (XXV)} and the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating
States included in the Final Act of Helsinki of 1 August 1975 actually derive from a will to organize the world in a more peaceful and humane manner, or whether they represent smokescreens hiding contradictory aspirations, mental reservations or subjective interpretations. Were this to be the case, we would all be cooperating on the basis of a false and therefore dangerous construction, built on quicksand and made only of misunderstandings and empty words.
234.. These fundamental questions have been, and still are under discussion in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting in Madrid. New proposals and criticisms presented there must not be seen as contrary to detente, but in their proper context of review and positive appraisal. What cannot be admitted is a concept of detente that allows it to exist simultaneously as an instrument of cooperation and struggle in all fields, to suit each party's interests at any given moment. If detente is a necessity of international life, the practice of reciprocity is essential to it.
235.	Furthermore, good faith is required if detente is to lead to cooperation in all fields and to the elimination, or at least the easing of tensions. This is, we believe, the correct position, one which has guided our participation in this important meeting within the framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. We still hope that such an approach will prevail and that substantial results will be achieved.
236.	Finally, the principles of detente must also be observed and respected in the relations between countries with basically similar political and social systems. In fact, there is no sense in confining respect for the principles of detente, peace, territorial integrity and noninterference in the internal affairs of States to relations between countries with different systems. Moreover, we think that drastic action against them will inevitably lead to developments difficult to control and therefore capable of generating the most dangerous reactions.
237.	It has often been stated here that the degree of technological development in the field of armaments has rendered obsolete the classic geographical theories of defense. We all know that the security that resulted from distance and natural frontiers is today to a certain extent greatly reduced, if not nullified. The sole reality is that the capability for mutual destruction exists.
238.	Considering, from this perspective* the destabilizing changes that have taken place during the last several years in the military balance between East and West, it seems appropriate for me to underline the fact that NATO, of which Portugal is an active and committed member, consider the stability of the military balance to be an important and timely contribution to general security and peace.
239.	This is also the primary objective of arms control, the aim of which is to attain a balance of power at a minimal level of armaments, especially nuclear armaments, without loss of security. The decision taken by the members of NATO on 12 December 1979" served that purpose. In this sense, my country strongly supports the important negotiaions between the United States and the Soviet Union which are due to open before the end of this year and for which my country will express its support where necessary.
240.	In the field of disarmament, nuclear weapons, because of their awesome power of destruction, should receive special attention, as was decided by consensus at the tenth special session of this Assembly [resolution S10/2]. The ban on all nuclear weapon testing, subject to effective international inspection and accepted by all parties concerned, would be a significant contribution. It would also be desirable to have the nuclear Powers agree on a common formula of guarantees to strengthen the security of States that do not possess nuclear weapons, thus responding to the legitimate concern frequently expressed in this Assembly. However, our concern with nuclear weapons should not mask the fact that the power of the militarily more important States results from the combination of their nuclear .and conventional arsenals. Negotiating efforts in the field of nuclear disarmament should not serve as a pretext for the international community to refuse a parallel effort in the field of conventional weapons.
241.	It is our hope that the second special session on disarmament will allow us collectively to review the achievements in the field of disarmament in the light of the Final Document of the tenth special session of the General Assembly, whose validity remains intact. We hope its conclusions will help the negotiations and assure them of significant progress in this field.
242.	I should now like to mention some of the problems that contribute to the worsening of Regional tensions and jeopardize the United Nations principles and capacity for effective intervention. The question of Namibia, where South Africa persists in maintaining an illegal situation, thus preventing the Namibian people from exercising their right to self-determination, has led to attacks on Angolan territory that are to be condemned. Almost three years have elapsed since the adoption of Security Council resolution 435 (1978), yet, notwithstanding the constant diplomatic initiatives of the SecretaryGeneral and of the "contact group", with the support of the frontline States, the legitimate hopes for a final settlement have not yet been fulfilled.
243.	The recent invasion of Angola's territory unjustifiable on any grounds, and undermining the principles of international law that should govern us all is a negative result of a latent confrontation that must urgently be solved through political means.
244.	The events in southern Angola represent an evident sign of the risks created by the present situation, resulting in heavy sacrifices for the sovereign State of Angola, with which we renew our solidarity. We should not forget, either, the attack perpetrated on Mozambique last January, which we equally reject.
245.	My country has supported Namibia's independence in accordance with Security Council resolution 435 (1978) and trusts the diplomatic efforts that the "contact group" has been conducting within its framework. This support we reiterate today, convinced that new delays or unacceptable intransigence may lead to a grave confrontation in southern. Africa, with dire repercussions on international stability.
246.	Another source of tension that has been debated here for several years, without the concrete results that the security of the international community would demand, is the question of the Middle East. This is a question of particular and universal importance, in view of the high values and interests at stake and of all its inherent risks. Portugal has clearly expressed its standpoint, defending the establishment of a climate of conciliation and mutual respect that would put an end to the present growing armed confrontations and consolidate an essential spirit of negotiation. My Government has thus stressed the responsibility of the international community in contributing to a global solution that would lead to Israel's withdrawal from the Arab territories occupied since 1967, and to the dismantling of the settlements established since then. We have supported the recognition of the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people, with all its consequences, and of their return. We have defended the right to full security and sovereignty within safe and recognized boundaries of all countries in the area, including Israel, We have called for an end to the unacceptable violations of the territorial integrity of Lebanon. We have condemned the Israeli attack on Iraq's nuclear installations, for it constituted a grave violation of the sovereignty of Iraq and of the principle of the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
247.	On the other hand, my country has stressed the urgent need for a mutual effort towards an understanding between Israel and the PLO, based on a mutual recognition that would take into account unquestionable political realities and help create a peaceful future for the area. To this end, it is legitimate to hope that the Government of Tel Aviv may draw from the martyred history of the Jewish people such human understanding as will permit it to break the present circle of intransigence, recognizing that' the Palestinian people cannot be denied the political, national and social rights that have made possible the existence and consolidation of the State of Israel itself.
248.	It is in this context that Portugal supports the diplomatic initiatives particularly the, efforts made by the EEC—that, hopefully, will substitute for the present confrontation an indispensable dialog of peace and cooperation. Likewise, the recent plan advanced by Crown Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia represents a significant political step that should be given the attention that it deserves.
249.	Still within the existing sources of international tension that are gloomily pictured in our agenda, we should acknowledge with hope that progress has been achieved under the auspices of the OAU on the problem of the selfdetermination of Western Sahara. We salute the spirit of negotiation resulting in the exploration of avenues leading towards a democratic solution and an equitable conciliation of the legitimate interests of the parties concerned.
250.	As is known, Portugal's adherence as quickly as possible to the European Communities, to which my Government remains deeply committed, reflects the profound political, economic, social and cultural realities that identify us with the countries members of those Communities. This goal is in keeping with the legitimate aspirations of the Portuguese people and constitutes one of the main priorities of my Government within the framework of its global policy and its. external action.
251.	Portugal faces as a challenge the important tasks resulting from its adherence. They will no doubt bring about significant changes and improvements in the economic and social structure of our country. We share the model of a democratic and free society existing in the Communities, just as we equally share the spirit of solidarity characterizing its actions not only in its geographical region but also on a worldwide basis.

252.	In a broader field, we view with concern that the efforts being made to diminish the profound disparities between developed and developing countries are not achieving the desired results. This is the result mainly of the present economic crisis, which impedes the availability of additional resources for development.
253.	Because of its intermediate state of economic development, Portugal is in a position to understand the difficulties facing both sides. We attach importance to all initiatives aimed at overcoming the present crisis. We believe that all countries should contribute to these initiatives, regardless of their own level of development or economic and social systems. That is the only way to keep the NorthSouth dialog alive and to contribute to the timely launching of the global negotiations, which have given rise to so many hopes in the international community. It is in that spirit that Portugal has actively participated in several meetings and conferences of the United Nations, more particularly the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy and the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. We support the basic idea of the International Meeting on Cooperation and Development which will be held at Cancun, and we hope that this meeting will bear positive results and a better understanding between countries with larger dimensions and consequently commitments, and those which have suffered more because of their lack of resources.
254.	We share the view that there are two main problems which stand out in the complex of development: energy and food. Interlinked and complementary, these two issues, which are indeed important to the international community as a whole, to a large extent determine the possibilities of overcoming the stage of underdevelopment. In fact, more than two thirds of mankind are afflicted with a scarcity of food and energy jeopardizing all efforts towards development. Because of the worldwide crisis in energy products and the acute world food and agricultural situation causing the depletion of grain reserves and the consequent price increases, the importing countries, in addition to endangering gravely their balance of payments, must allocate to these consumer products resources that are vital to support the structural changes capable of allowing them to make progress on the path to development.
255.	My country has historic relations with a group of nations occupying extensive areas of what is traditionally called the third world. Together with the leaders of these nations, we have embarked upon broader cooperation, cooperation which hitherto has been mainly bilateral. Our growing and untiring efforts are aimed at diversifying this cooperation which we intend to intensify with the third-world countries and the specialized agencies. Thus we hope to overcome a situation representing an obstacle to progress, one which is an insult to human dignity.
256.	We believe that the gradual elimination of international tension and divisions among nations is closely linked to the universal promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Human rights must be considered as an integral part of a global dimension required for all activities we pursue in our search for justice, security and development, as well as for a fruitful dialog between the acting partners of the international
community.
257.	As we have already mentioned, this is a particularly important aspect of the present world situation. Serious violations of individual rights are still occurring, and there are still situations where human dignity is ignored. The right of peoples to self-determination and independence is viewed with contempt. The territorial integrity of sovereign States and their right to decide freely on their own system of government are blatantly disregarded. Thus the foundations of democratic society and international relations are being jeopardized. Since these are the basic principles guiding this Organization's work, we as Member States are bound to respect, abide by and promote them.
258.	This is a field where the United Nations, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter, has the responsibility to promote and protect human rights and to provide an opportunity for dialog and cooperation among its Member States with the most diverse systems and historical and social conditions. It is our view that such a task can be fulfilled only through enhancing the effectiveness of the United Nations system, whose capabilities to intervene should also be strengthened. That is the position we have been advocating particularly during the past three years in the Commission on Human Rights, of which we have had the privilege of being a member.
259.	The Portuguese Government attaches the highest importance to the observance of these principles, which are enshrined in clear and decisive terms in our Constitution and integrated in the daytoday practice of the Portuguese people. We have stated as much in the report on the implementation of the rights protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights preserve*! by Portugal to the last session of the Commission on Human Rights.15
260.	We wish to reiterate the importance we attach to civil and political rights, which are the very foundation of our own historical reality. Even though we recognize that the effective enjoyment of such rights calls for the improvement of the present economic, social and cultural conditions, we cannot agree that the search for such improvement should take precedence over the guarantee of what we consider to be the fundamental rights inherent in human dignity, which, above all, we must protect at any cost.
261.	However, we think it is far more important to ensure effective and increasingly wide protection of all rights than to form a hierarchy of various types of rights. Let us remain hopeful that those rights will be implemented. This is a field in which a primary role must be played by the international community and for which the United Nations has a special responsibility.
262.	Still regarding the protection of the rights of peoples, I must mention that one problem persists which is a reminder of our common incapacity to make the principles of the Charter and international law prevail in the practice of nations. I am referring to East Timor. Year after year appeals and condemnations have been repeated here concerning a situation that is condemned by legal and moral standards and prevents the people of Timor from freely exercising their right to self-determination.
263.	Conscious of our responsibility in defending the future of that people, to which we are historically bound, and concerned with the difficult conditions and the serious problems facing East Timor, my Government has shown an availability for dialog reflected in some detail in the report of the Secretariat itself that until now has unfortunately not met with an adequate response. In spite of the difficulties of the problem, Portugal will continue seeking to develop and exhaust all diplomatic efforts that will protect the national rights and the identity of the people of Timor in accordance with the spirit of the Charter.
264.	The resolution of this problem lies within the responsibility of the United Nations. However, Portugal, having no territorial claims whatsoever to East Timor, acknowledges its responsibilities in helping to find solutions by consent that are in keeping with the right of self-determination.
265.	Many and grave are the problems demanding an urgent solution that are faced by the international community. Without the goodwill of peoples in the struggle against misery, hunger and war, the ingenuity of man and the potential of States will continue to be misdirected towards the perpetuation of conflicts, and thus the progress and wellbeing of mankind will be set aside. We trust that common sense will prevail and that the world of tomorrow will see the conflagrations that now afflict mankind progressively diminish.
266.	It is our profound belief that the United Nations will play an important role in this fundamental harmonization of efforts.


95.	  First of all, may I associate myself, on behalf of the Government and people of the Upper Volta, with previous speakers in expressing deepest condolences to the Egyptian people and to the bereaved family of President Sadat, whose brutal and tragic death was a profound shock to us. We hope that the memory of that great African statesman will inspire all men of good will in their struggle for peace.
96.	When the Military Committee for National Recovery and Progress decided, on 25 November 1980, to assume leadership of the country, some saw in that a repetition of a coup d'etat in that part of Africa. In so doing, they were too quick to forget and for good reason that the constant deterioration in the political, economic and social situation, so full of promise and hope, that had compelled the admiration of the world for our form of democracy, had become potentially dangerous for the future and wellbeing of our working people.
97.	We are convinced that the major objectives announced by our head of State, Colonel Saye Zerbo, Chairman of the Military Committee for National Recovery and Progress, in his speech of 1 May 1981 did a lot to reassure them. Those objectives are to ensure for our country development based on the elimination of all external domination and the exploitation of man by man; development based, above all, on our own resources so that we can bring about our own wellbeing; a social policy based on giving highest priority to satisfying the fundamental needs of the citizens of our country, particularly the least privileged classes; the fulfillment of the human person as an individual and within the framework of the family, as well as professionally and collectively, by promoting national wellbeing, culture and identity; and dynamic, effective international cooperation.
98.	As a spokesman for the Military Committee for National Recovery and Progress, the people of the Upper Volta and the Government, I have come to this rostrum today to make known to you our views on the urgent problems of the current international situation and to share with you the new hopes and the disappointments which have been prompted in us by this annual ritual of the sessions of the General Assembly of the Organization.
99.	First, however, I should like to bid a warm welcome to Vanuatu and Belize on their admission to the Organization. I am convinced that these two new Members will make a valuable contribution to the achievement of the
, noble objectives of the Charter.
100.	May I pay a well-deserved tribute to Mr. von Wechmar of the Federal Republic of Germany, who presided with such firmness and good humor over the proceedings of the previous session. This is a particular pleasure for me, because his country and mine maintain links of solid and friendly cooperation.
101.	It is also fitting that I should voice praise here for the tireless efforts of the Secretary General and express to him our great appreciation for the work he has been doing to fulfill the ideals of the Charter.
102.	Your election, Sir, to the presidency of this thirty- sixth session of the General Assembly is, by reason of your qualities and competence, a good augury for the conduct of our proceedings. I hope you will accept the congratulations of my delegation, which assures you of its constant readiness to aid you in your difficult task.
103.	We are living today in a troubled, disordered and pitiless world. Unfortunately, that observation is not a new one, and we must live in our time. The ideals proclaimed in the Charter seem remote even inaccessible. Nevertheless the peoples of the world ardently yearn to see them pursued and achieved.
104.	How is it that year after year we have been coming to this rostrum to declare that the world is sick because the international community is divided, because poverty and injustice far too often still hold sway, because the exploitation of man by man knows no respite, and because, in the final analysis, what is lacking is a concerted political will for us to unite for victory?
105.	How is it that year after year there seems to be no noticeable improvement in international relations?
106.	How is it that today, like yesterday, we seem to be offering sacrifices to tradition, to a routine which we go through without, illusions and which we will repeat without enthusiasm?
107.	Enthusiasm and hope, I am afraid, are precisely what have been lacking till now, because in relations between States we do not always see any firm determination to turn our backs on the old demons of hegemonism, racism, selfishness and indifference, to embrace the notions of justice, solidarity, peace and collective security.
108.	Examples of this are legion. A year ago conflicts and tensions beset independent Africa. From north to south, from east to west, tragedy succeeded tragedy and whole populations, the victims of expansionist and interventionist ambitions, swelled the flood of refugees, the majority of whom are on our continent. While today Africa is enjoying a relative lull, the seeds of explosion remain, and we must not relax our vigilance.
109.	Therefore, the Upper Volta views with interest the important steps taken in the case of Western Sahara and hopes that they will lead to a just and lasting solution in keeping with the wishes of the peoples concerned. It would be a due reward for the efforts of the Organization of African Unity [OAU\.
110.	This is also the appropriate time for us to associate ourselves with Chad in expressing the ardent hope that that country will be helped in its efforts at reconstruction and unify, and that we will succeed in banishing forever the specter of fratricidal struggles and divisions sustained from outside.
111.	For several years now, the question of Namibia has been an item on the agenda, and yet the Organization has not managed to ensure the exercise by the Namibian people of its right to self-determination and independence.
112.	From one resolution to another, from special sessions to contact groups, from the Geneva meeting, which in January 1981 ended in failure as a result of South Africa's maneuvers and the tolerant attitude of that country's Western allies, right up to the recent well-known initiatives, ground has very clearly, patently and worryingly
been lost. Now the terms of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) have been set aside by the five countries of the contact group, which are taking refuge in a vague demand for an "internationally acceptable settlement".
113.	To the Upper Volta, an acceptable international settlement is one which leads to immediate independence, which recognizes the SouthWest Africa People's Organization [SWAPO] as the sole legitimate representative of the Namibian people, which preserves and protects the territorial integrity of Namibia as an indivisible State, including Walvis Bay, as well as the Penguin Islands and the other islands off the Namibian coast.
114.	In the face of the deviousness and arrogance of South Africa and the passivity, amounting at times to complicity, on the part of some Members of the Organization, the Upper Volta has no choice but to encourage SWAPO in its just struggle for liberation. There can be no peace without justice ideals of the Organization to which my country is deeply attached.
115.	However, it is with some bitterness that we note the persistent and increasing assistance given by the West in the perpetuation of the Pretoria regime's abominable policy of segregation and repression.
116.	Day after day, Africa ceaselessly calls on those very countries which pride themselves on their age-old civilizations and traditions of respect for human rights to cast off their blinkers, to face the facts and prevent people from torturing and murdering others because of their color.

117.	In spite of the repeated warnings of the international community, South Africa, pursuing its odious policy of segregation in Azania and Namibia, no longer has any hesitation in threatening the security of States which in the name of justice and in accordance with the ideals of the Charter give assistance and refuge to the movements fighting for the dignity and the liberation of man.
118.	So South Africa, instead of tackling the true causes of the problems born of its policy of apartheid and colonial domination, has chosen rather to send its racist hordes into Angola to burn and destroy, without the international community taking immediate measures which are necessary to put an end to this barbarous aggression.
119.	The constant and repeated violations of international law by the racist Pretoria regime stem from the passivity, if not the actual complicity, of certain great Powers. The determination of those Powers, accompanied by consistent action, would be a much better contribution to the search for peace and justice than their purely ritual and "ineffectual protestations.
120.	Peace based on justice cannot be brought about within a framework of aggression, domination, any kind of discrimination, denial of the right of peoples to self determination, or denial of the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
121.	Is the West willing and is it able to understand that Africa has already done too much talking and that racist South Africa has already done too much humiliating , and torturing? Must the worst come to the worst before the supposedly civilized world realizes that it is necessary to
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impose the proper solutions before it sees the martyred peoples of southern Africa succumbing totally and irremediably to hatred?
122.	We therefore appeal urgently to the hearts and minds of men and nations of goodwill. There can be no negotiation with an executioner. What has to be done must be done before it is too late.
123.	In its constant search for peace and justice the Upper Volta cannot remain indifferent to any positive attitude that would promote a settlement of the problems of southern Africa. That is why we welcome the declaration by France at the International Conference on Sanctions against South Africa, held in Paris, a declaration, unless we are much mistaken, that foreshadows a change in French policy regarding the Pretoria regime. Is there any need to remind representatives of the great importance of that first international conference on sanctions against South Africa? Our only wish is that the resolutions adopted there should not remain mere pious hopes and that the sanctions advocated there should not remain a dead letter but should be effectively and immediately put into effect in order to bring South Africa to its senses.
124.	Sometimes painful, often explosive, the problem of the Middle East has taken a terrible toll in blood, tears, hatred and destruction. The martyred country of Lebanon, in spite of its heroic resistance, has become the plaything of forces which transcend it and are rending it asunder.
125.. At the center of that tragedy we find the denial by Israel of the rights of the Palestinian people and its representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO]. Israel continues to believe that it can defy the international community by feeding the fires of controversy with unacceptable provocations and aggressions. The rending apart of Lebanon, the bombing of Tamuz and the refusal to consider the PLO as a party to a settlement of the conflict are all actions and attitudes that make the prospect of peace ever more distant. However, simple common sense should make Israel understand that it cannot always and in the face of everyone else be the only one to be always in the right. The same simple common sense should make Israel understand that its present policy is not the best one to guarantee its own interests and security.
126.	Twenty years ago the nonaligned movement was born, the expression of the wish of certain States to oppose the division of the world into two antagonistic camps. This refusal stemmed from their determination to seek a true international balance based on justice, independence, equality, peace and economic and social progress.
127.	Confident in this ideal, the Upper Volta wishes to reaffirm its devotion and adherence to the sacred principles of nonalignment and warns member countries against attempts to move us from the basic principles of the movement.
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128.	With regard to those principles, we deplore the situation created in Afghanistan and Kampuchea, where clear interference by foreign Powers in the internal affairs of those countries has given rise to and is sustaining serious tension accompanied by the loss of human life and material destruction.
129.	Similarly, the Upper Volta deplores and condemns what is happening in Latin America, where people are dying every day because they are claiming their right to dignity, freedom and wellbeing. Those men and women are dying because interests alien to their own countries have dictated it.
130.	The question of Korea has always received the attention of my country, which has been working and calling for reconciliation between the two Koreas and their reunification. The Upper Volta appeals to them to find a peaceful solution in full independence, that is to say, without foreign intervention.
131.	This brief survey does not encourage optimism because peace and security, which it is the task of the United Nations to bring about, seem to be objectives that are receding ever further into the future. How could it be otherwise when those very countries which under the Charter are charged with responsibility for security are themselves engaging in an unbridled arms race? We are witnessing, powerless, the revival of what should be known as the balance of terror. The sophistication of arms and their cost, paradoxically, are taking us ever further away from the necessary concerted effort to bring about true disarmament. The wasting of resources on death and destruction when they should be put to much better use is an affront to the poor and the needy of the world. There are forces at work trying to accustom us to a concept of conflict, of a division of the world between East and West, North and South, when the simple fact of the matter is that three quarters of mankind are suffering from poverty and misery.
132.	The Upper Volta considers these attempts to be blows against the dignity and the survival of that part of humanity that is suffering from hunger.
133.	We can never stress too much the fact that without concerted political will, without a massive input of resources and technology to accelerate a structural transformation of the poor countries and without a revision of priorities, economic recession, inflation, unemployment, a decline in purchasing power, deterioration in the terms of trade and food insecurity will continue to Widen the gap between the world of conspicuous and wasteful consumption and the world of misery and poverty.
134.	The praiseworthy efforts of the Arab countries in their policy of cooperation with the African nations and the meritorious endeavors of so many specialized agencies might then be insufficient to prevent this kind of confrontation. Thus, the readjustment of relations between the North and the South, those global negotiations which were expected to lead to a true new economic order are for the time being deadlocked, which is a contradiction to the very notion of international cooperation.
135.	Those difficulties, which we would describe as a deterioration in the terms of dialog, have recently been exposed again at the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Paris, not because there was any lack of will to approach the true problems facing that group of countries which are particularly underdeveloped, but because the determination to impose solutions was lacking. It was in fact a perpetuation of the spirit of Manila, namely, the refusal of the industrialized countries to come as quickly as possible to the assistance of the least developed countries by means of a massive inflow of resources and technology in order to effect their structural transformation. At this moment we are undoubtedly going through one of the gravest economic crises that the world has ever known. Undoubtedly, economic recession, inflation, unemployment, declining purchasing power, and growing energy costs are the same phenomena that we can observe everywhere, but invoking those phenomena is nothing but an attempt to conceal from us the lack of solidarity which is today having such an effect on international relations.
136.	In such a context, where the obstacles and difficulties are varied and complex, the Upper Volta has naturally chosen to fight, to rehabilitate itself in all respects, and to break once and for all with the glibness and equivocation of the past in order to build and consolidate a truly progressive economy and a society by rationally and methodically exploiting its resources, both material and human. It is within that framework that the program of the Military Committee for National Recovery and Progress finds its meaning. It is within that framework that the objectives it has laid down can be properly appreciated by our partners in the international community, who, of course, share with us this vision of a world without complacency, where self-motivated effort is the true driving force to bring about food self-sufficiency, a rapid improvement in the living conditions of the broad masses, rational development of the industrial and mining sector, and a broadening of horizons and a sincere opening to the outside world.
137.	We think objectively that on the basis of those broad guidelines, our program of action will achieve the following concrete results: in terms of food production, a substantial increase in grain tonnage, from 1.1 million at present to 2.6 million by 1990; in terms of geological prospecting and mining, an increased effort at research, diversification and exploitation of our resources, among which we include so-called strategic minerals; in terms of infrastructure, an expansion of our road, rail and air networks, which will make it possible for us fully to play our role as a crossroads in the subregion; in terms of energy, the construction of hydroelectric dams to reduce the disadvantages inherent in our considerable dependence on other countries, thus reducing the operation costs of our production and processing units; and, finally, in terms of regional solidarity and international cooperation, a more important role as a responsible partner capable of making a contribution to the building of a new world.
138.	That program is ambitious on more than one count, but we remain convinced that, conceived and worked out in terms of our determination to rely on Ourselves, it can and it should, in that regard, win the encouragement and understanding that we are entitled to expect from the international community.
139.	That is why we feel that enthusiasm and hope can be found in true international cooperation and no longer
is outmoded and lethal concepts of sterile hegemonistic confrontation, misguided isolationism, and camouflaged egoism and indifference.
140.	For my country, which is among the least developed of the developing countries, a tangible and unequivocal manifestation of that concerted determination to
j make international cooperation the only path to salvation would, in our view, be the immediate revival of a true NorthSouth dialog. In that context, the International Meeting on Cooperation and Development, to be held at Cancun, should succeed in easing respective positions and conflicts of all sorts in order to make possible a calm resumption of global negotiations; and the rapid implementation of the Substantial New program of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries, which was the subject of the recent United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
141.	In spite of results which did not fully satisfy the hopes that had been raised, we remain convinced that those industrialized countries which still hesitate to increase their public aid for development will ultimately come to understand the need for international solidarity and interdependence among States. The indispensable basis for the collective security that all the nations assembled here so ardently desire.
142.	If in fact the Marshall Plan, the Colombo Plan and other rescue plans of the same scale had not been rapidly put into effect to come to the assistance of certain nations sorely tried by the last world conflict, many of those nations which are today economically powerful would undoubtedly be prey to those same tragedies that are affecting the least developed countries today.
143.	Thus, in the economic crisis which the world is experiencing today, a crisis aggravated by the uncertainties of tomorrow, notions of solidarity, cooperation and aid can no longer be analyzed solely in terms of generosity, charity or pity, but rather in terms of moral obligation and a common determination to survive. To put into effect, on the model of the Marshall Plan, a plan to help the least developed countries find the path to salvation should be based on such an appreciation of the situation.
144.	In conclusion, I should like to repeat that in today's world, where economic difficulties are so severe that they constitute a serious threat to stability and peace, where on all sides we see the development of violence and blind terrorism, it is important that all men of goodwill more than ever before combine their efforts to bring about a triumph for the ideals of the Charter. The Upper Volta, for its part, is ready to make its own modest contribution to that collective endeavor without which humanity will inevitably court disaster.


48.	 Mr. President, it was my privilege to convey to you from this rostrum the congratulations and best wishes of the group of African States, which I represented on the day you were elected, as well as the congratulations of my own country. I particularly expressed at that time Algeria's deep satisfaction with this choice, a tribute both to a fraternal country and to a highly esteemed person. It is indeed, a great pleasure for me to reiterate our satisfaction today.
49.	The general debate which marks the opening of each of these sessions provides us with an opportunity to draw up a critical balance sheet of past action. Through the dynamic process of comparing ideas, it calls upon us to demonstrate the necessary collective ambition for major efforts, and to ensure that it becomes a reality. This year once again one conclusion must be drawn: the situation is serious and entails great risks.
50.	In an extremely sombre international atmosphere, there are abundant reasons for concern. Anxiety is rooted in the hearts of men and societies. The confusion of some, the anguish of others, the poverty of the majority, claim our attention from all corners of the world. It is indeed a global crisis that is facing our world.
51.	This crisis is fed by a large number of conflicting power relationships. It is increasing the gap between the affluence of a small number of countries and the poverty suffered by the vast majority of mankind. World disorder and the absurdity of the present system of international economic relations are strikingly apparent. To have the strength and the will to act, we must first try to understand.
52.	It is appalling when this indifferent world is told that, in less than two decades from now, we shall have to find the means of life, employment and food for 2 billion people, the equivalent to give a striking illustration of 2,000 cities with 1 million inhabitants each. The mind reels when we invert this line of reasoning and see that with the way the world is going, those 2 billion people will be doomed to perish in less than two decades. Our understanding and our awareness seem to have become so anesthetized that we seem no longer able to react to what is inconceivable today, but is the horrifying reality of tomorrow.
53.	It has being estimated that in 1980 50 million human beings died of hunger a worldwide holocaust resulting in no outburst of collective indignation. It took the Second World War five years to achieve that macabre result. One may legitimately speak of non-assistance to endangered peoples, when more than $500 billion are spent annually on armaments throughout the world, and when the report Global 2000, produced by a commission established by Jimmy Carter, informs us that the quantity of cereals needed to eradicate malnutrition throughout the world has a value equivalent to the price of only five submarines.
54.	In the year 2000, practically 1 billion people will be living below the absolute poverty line a scientific euphemism which is far from describing everything that that subhuman condition means.
55.	The foreign debt of the developing world exactly equals the amount spent on arms each year by a human society which seems unable to imagine its own future, unless it be to waver between a boundless fascination with destruction and the irresistible temptation to commit collective suicide. It is a striking fact that the increase in this indebtedness is not, as one might imagine, the logical result of economic development but results simply from debt servicing costs, which in 1981 will surpass the staggering figure of $100 billion.
56.	Should there not be an effort to explain how, contrary to misleading appearances, the industrial nations receive in reverse aid from the proletarian nations almost seven times the amount that they invest there?
57.	High interest rates are a heavy burden on our fragile economies. A merciless trade war is being waged against our exports. The restructuring of world industry is at the discretion of transnational corporations, at the whim of their strategies and their profits. In an unequal confrontation, our countries cannot even control the abuses of the system. The international monetary system is completely destroying what we are so laboriously building.
58.	At a time when the world structure is revealing inherent flaws, the importance that is finally being attached to international economic relations should be accompanied by an examination of conscience. That would have the merit of placing development and peace not only in their relationship of cause and effect, but in a close dialectical relationship which shows them to be interdependent. There can be no peace without development and no development without peace. Peace and development will be the characteristic features of the Identikit portrait of the new international relations so ardently desired by the international community.
59.	In denouncing the iniquities on which the present system of international relations is based, the countries of the third world have underlined the fundamental truth that development is indeed the new name for peace. Like war, underdevelopment is not inevitable. It is the product of an organized system of domination and exploitation. By its very nature, this system thwarts the prospects for prosperity of two thirds of mankind. It denies their legitimate right to development. Furthermore, it generates insecurity, even for those who built the system. Creating frustration and alienation, the prevailing system is the negation of peace.
60.	We have already said that there is no peace without development, but development has its rules certainly not those, recently reinstated, of the market economy.
61.	The regressive note which can be discerned in the philosophy underlying international economic cooperation causes us concern. New ideas in the global approach to the problem of development are in many ways disquieting. The virtues of bilateralism arc praised for ulterior motives with which we are all familiar. A whole series of proposals has been built up on the basis of the concept of individual cooperation founded on political and strategic considerations. Today we also hear praise of the free play of private market forces as a means both of restarting growth and ensuring development.
62.	It must be said that the present world crisis a structural crisis, above all has been engendered precisely by the uncontrolled and unforeseeable actions of those private enterprise forces. In a system characterized by inequality of opportunity and of the means of development, the free play of market forces heightens dependency and the spread of underdevelopment.
63.	The laws of the market and of competition are manipulated to serve the interests of major world capital and transnational corporations. The facile glorification of these laws is a result of mystification. Liberalism is a doctrine developed by the powerful and the strong. The free, spontaneous and beneficent functioning of the natural laws of the market is a grim illusion.
64.	These are the realities. The market economy is at the end of its tether. It completely fails to take into account the complexity of economic interdependence and the profound aspirations of the human being to more freedom and more humanity. The world economy is not a blind movement of objects and things. The natural laws of the market, in their anarchic haphazardness, are themselves condemned, as they in their turn condemn to failure growth per se, liberal growth, that which alienates man as a producer and as a consumer and which downgrades his social environment and his natural environment.
65.	To give free reign to private actors in the world economy is tantamount to allowing them to develop according to their own rationality, that which prompts them to acquire even greater power, which is the very negation of international cooperation. Therefore how can we acquiesce in allowing the lives of billions of persons to be played with in this way, how can we agree to allow the future of the globe to be left to the uncertain vicissitudes of chance through the liberal laws of laissez-faire in this great world casino in which the great majority of inhabitants of the world are deprived? In this very dubious operation, the winners themselves will in fact gain only a Pyrrhic victory for, in the final analysis, our entire planet will be the loser in this immense game with marked cards.
66.	I need hardly add that we find very suspicious this strong recommendation we are being given to create in our own countries political and material conditions which will make it possible for transnational corporations to operate freely there. Are these to be the agents of our development, as has been suggested to us? At least we may be permitted to have doubts on that score. Since we have long suffered exploitation by a system of which we form part as the objects of the market, the countries of the third world are well aware that the transnational corporations could hardly today give up their vocation, ignore their strategic objective, their profit motive, and work for their own destruction.
67.	Today we are being reminded of the virtues of self reliance. Self-reliance is part of ourselves and undoubtedly the most demanding part. It is indeed the affirmation of our identity. It is the expression of our becoming responsible for the aspirations of our peoples. Finally, as we are aware, it is the inevitable and only way to national reconstruction. But what weight can be given to such a national mobilization for development if the international environment itself impedes it and nullifies its effects through the laws of a worldwide jungle?
68.	This paradox has to be removed. The free interplay of the so-called natural market laws may well result in an exacerbation of the feeling of frustration that is felt by the starving masses. The paradox is that such laws organize anarchy, as it were, and at the same time are fraught with violence. The paradox is that, in the course of the fight against man's alienation, they themselves become transformed into actual manufacturers of violence. Thus, they are not by any means the appropriate remedy for the problems we are experiencing, for it is impossible to combat anarchy with anarchy; it is impossible to eliminate violence by bringing about even more violence.
69.	In fact, the world crisis is so profound that a reinstatement of the so-called natural market laws as a panacea would produce a ridiculous situation. There is a pressing need for development. Undoubtedly what is required is more than a simple glorification of the merits of laissez-faire. We prefer responsible dialog to the vain rehabilitation of archaic liberalism. Global negotiations are an integral part of such dialog. We want such dialog; we believe in it. As we see it, it is both the condition and the means of orderly work directed towards collective wellbeing.
70.	This necessary dialog is not only something that is made imperative by the world crisis; it represents for mankind a gamble on the future. It is an act of faith. For that reason, its outcome is of historic importance. It is the work of 'building of peace.
71.	*	In this context, we regret that the global negotiations have not yet been started. We reaffirm our support for such negotiations because we believe in their worth. Through these global negotiations, by means of dynamic, concerted action, a restructuring process to serve the interests of all could be undertaken. It is our hope that at the Cancun meeting, the necessary political impulse will be given to the initiation of such a process.
72.	There can be no development without peace. If the process of development is the desired culmination of efforts for peace, an improvement of the international political climate is quite obviously an essential stage in that process.
73.	There can be no doubt that international relations during the past two decades have undergone a qualitative evolution which can be seen in terms of the relative relaxation of tension between the major blocs and in the striking achievements of the liberation movements of peoples; but it remains true that the foundations for peace have not been solidly laid.
74.	The persistent manifestations of a spirit of confrontation and the increasing number of hotbeds of tension in the third world can be seen to be rooted in the very logic of a system which spawns, crisis while at the same time trying to maintain it below the level of general conflagration.
75.	The policy of spheres of influence, the doctrines of intervention based on a so-called vital interest, the installation or reactivation of military bases and the formation and deployment of armed forces for rapid intervention are all part of a firm desire to make the countries of the third world sites for the application of the global strategies directed fundamentally at the independence of those countries and their legitimate aspirations to peace.
76.	The resurgence of gunboat policies and the feverish search for positions of strength are accompanied by efforts to block disarmament negotiations and to call into question freely contracted commitments in the field of arms control. Furthermore, the refinements of the technology of death have today given rise to a new weapon of mass destruction which, we are aghast to learn, is designed to kill men while leaving equipment intact. The production of the neutron bomb sheds a harsh light on the tragic absurdity in which technological civilization has gone astray; the consecration of things in a spirit of contempt for life.
77.	Such an initiative is part of the spirit which underlies that concept of the readiness to use arms to protect security. It can only add fuel to the arms race and further impede the effective pursuit of the major objective of general and complete disarmament, the ultimate and absolute guarantee of the principle of the non-use of force.
78.	The deterioration of the international political climate is part and parcel of the intrinsic logic of the system, even if the phenomenon of detente might have led us to believe, at one time, because of the promises of indivisibility which it gave us, in a dynamic spreading of a wave of peace which would extend its benefits to ever broader spheres of international relations.
79.	Since it has not generated any such dynamic flow, particularly in the third world, detente has revealed all the limits of its role in history.
80.	From the geostrategic standpoint, the third world is covered with relay States and hotbeds of tension. This tends to perpetuate the subjugation of peoples. The attempts to distort the basic nature of the Palestinian, Namibian and South African problems are aimed at containing the upsurge of the peoples' liberation movement by trying to make it appear in an EastWest context with which it is in no way concerned.
81.	In the Middle East, the deterioration of the situation which arose as a result of the Camp David agreements has now entered a crucial phase. At the present time, we see increased manifestations of the aggressiveness of the Zionist entity directed against the Palestinian people and other peoples of the region. The repeated acts of aggression against martyred Lebanon, which is thus threatened with criminal dismemberment, the bombing of Iraq's nuclear installations which were set up for peaceful purposes, the unbridled repression of the Arab populations of the occupied territories all that allows us to gauge the very strange concept of peace which, from the outset, was intended solely to liquidate the cause of the Palestinian people and reshape the entire Middle East for foreign purposes. In that respect, the strategic cooperation which has just become official doctrine is fraught with danger for .that sorely tried region.
82.	As long as the Palestinian people are not enabled to exercise their national rights, as long as a genuine process of peace has not been initiated, with the full participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, its sole and legitimate representative, any attempt at a solution which is not mindful of the origin of that crisis and merely dwells on its manifestations will be pointless.
83.	In southern Africa, the Pretoria regime, through its practice of apartheid, its illegal occupation of Namibia and its acts of aggression against States in that region, is seriously damaging the United Nations by undermining its foundations and defying its authority.
84.	The eighth emergency special session of the General Assembly will undoubtedly have strengthened the international consensus on the need for the immediate independence of Namibia on the basis of the strict implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978), applied in its entirety. That consensus must prevail. It must bring about the independence of Namibia which will be the culminating point in the heroic struggle of its people, under the leadership of the South West Africa People's Organization [SMP0], its sole authentic representative.
85.	The same battle must be waged against apartheid, the most retrograde and unacceptable system.
86.	Whether overt or potential, other crises need to be resolved. Whether it be Afghanistan, the IranIraq conflict, Korea or Cyprus, full and frank dialog is the preferred way to promote political solutions through which, in accordance with international norms, the rights of each individual to live in peace and dignity will prevail.
87.	In the context of the tireless efforts which have been made by OAU, the eighteenth session of its Assembly of Heads of State and Government has defined the elements of a just and final settlement of the question of Western Sahara [see AI36I534, annex II, resolution AHG/Res.103 (XVIII)].
88.	In deciding to organize and hold a general and free referendum on self-determination among the people of Western Sahara and to work towards bringing about a ceasefire, and in creating the Implementation Committee for that purpose, the African Heads of State intended to make every effort to achieve the final decolonization of that Territory. This desire to put back on the rails that process which had long been impeded and to bring it to completion can be seen through the intricate machinery which was defined by the Implementation Committee, such as the establishment of an impartial interim administration, the constitution of an international peacekeeping force and the imposition of a ceasefire by both parties to the conflict by means of negotiations undertaken under the auspices of the Implementation Committee [see A/36/512, annex].
89.	The direct responsibility and the authority of the Implementation Committee in carrying out that process, as well as the involvement of the United Nations in bringing it about, are the best guarantees that it will be properly conducted.
90.	Here I wish to pay a tribute to the OAU and to the Heads of the States members of its Implementation Committee for their laudable efforts with a view to a solution which will be freely determined. Algeria, whose position on that question is the same as that of the OAU and of the United Nations, can only reaffirm its availability to help both belligerent parties, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front, to undertake full and frank negotiations with a view to establishing a ceasefire in order to create the required impetus for the establishment of peace.
91.	Peace is the precondition for development. However, it is by no means sufficient in itself. Peace and development are inseparable and must be part of a clear-sighted and ambitious perception of a future for mankind which is characterized by solidarity. It is precisely that perception of the world which the non-aligned movement brings before the international community.
92.	This year, our movement is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. It bears within itself the aspirations of mankind to peace and progress. It invites us collectively to devote ourselves, through democratic dialog, to the task of rationally planning the new political and economic space of our times.
93.	That undertaking has peace and development as its key words. It requires that the unjust and tension-producing structures of the present system of international relations be replaced by an egalitarian order, built with the assistance of all and for the benefit of all. It is designed to promote an international order which would be an authentic product of universal civilization and a common intellectual effort to ensure the common good.
94.	The dialog which the third world is today proposing takes on the connotation of an historic dialog; dialog which will generate a universal era of peace; peace which will enable each people to take charge of its own affairs and which will make of our planet a true land of men.