Sir, at the outset I should like to congratulate you on your election to the high position of President of the General Assembly for the fortieth session. I am convinced that your wealth of diplomatic experience and proven skills will contribute to the enrichment of the deliberations during this special session.
This year we are commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, which was established with many hopes and expectations in the aftermath of a world distraught by death, destruction and the plunder of war.
Like many other peoples, but significantly different from them, the Jewish people underwent an ordeal which will leave its eternal mark not only in the long annals of its history but also in its deeper spiritual and psychological experience. This was, of course, the horrendous Holocaust which was wrought upon us by nazism and anti-semitism. For this reason the emergence of the United Nations provided a source of inspiration and light for us at the end of a very dark era in our history.
Indeed, what could be more stirring than the unequivocal declarations of principle appearing in the opening paragraphs of the United Nations Charter, such as: "We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" and the call "to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors"? To my great regret, however, this Organization has had a part in shattering these aspirations and noble ideals.
The slander of anti-semitism has also been propagated in the guise of anti-zionism. In this context, we sadly note the tenth anniversary of the passing of the infamous General Assembly resolution falsely equating the Jewish National Liberation Movement - Zionism - with an outrageous phenomenon totally alien to the most fundamental and spiritual values of the Jewish heritage. That resolution, 3379 (XXX), of 10 November 1975, will be remembered in the history of the United Nations as a terrible blot on its record and a discredit to the Organization and to those irresponsible Members that supported it.
Other international forums have also been exploited for the purpose of propaganda and political warfare against Israel, distorting the real purposes for which they were established. It would, therefore, be appropriate and timely to strive for what I would call "political disarmament" in these bodies, in order to guarantee that they maintain their integrity and credibility in the exercise of their legitimate functions.
Israel was established in 1948 against the background of a United Nations resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine. The United Nations, however, did nothing to implement its resolution, and the State of Israel came into being through the will, the toil and the sacrifice of its people. Nor, I might add, did the United Nations alleviate the immense threats and dangers that Israel had to face since its establishment.
Since the founding of the State we have made every possible effort towards the achievement of peace and the normalization of relations with our neighbors. Peace for us is a natural and integral part of our national heritage. The Jewish people is a small, democratic and free people, striving to rebuild its renewed nationhood in its ancient homeland. We cherish peace and we teach its blessings to our children. Indeed, after a prolonged period of strife and hostility forced on us by our neighbors, we found a way to build a bridge of peace with one of our Arab neighbors.
Egypt and Israel have demonstrated clearly that face-to-face negotiations and direct dialog are the most constructive and beneficial ways of achieving peace. This was brought about on the basis of the Camp David Accords, which established a just and effective framework for the settlement of conflicts. It is for this reason that Israel is so insistent on applying this framework to the further extension of the peace process. We hope that in the near future we shall be able to negotiate with Jordan, our neighbor to the East. It is crucial that the peace treaty with Egypt should not remain the sole example of peace with our neighbors, and therefore we earnestly seek to widen and deepen that peace by extending the process to include the rest of our Arab neighbors.
From this rostrum I once again urge King Hussein of Jordan to enter into direct negotiations with Israel - not in some vague, deflecting international forum, but in direct, bilateral discussions. An international conference is a means of evading direct negotiations. It will be a stage for hostile and extreme propaganda and will not serve the cause of peace. Our aim should be the achievement of a bilaterally negotiated peace treaty between our countries. There is no change in our deep commitment to the Camp David accords, and we stand ready therefore to meet a Jordanian delegation, which may include Arab Palestinians from Judea, Samaria and Gaza, or other Arab Palestinians to be mutually agreed upon.
Israel firmly believes that there is no way to solve the problems of our region except through negotiations and peace. If King Hussein has finally decided to offer his hand in peace, let him act the way the late President Sadat did. He should not drown the quest for peace in a sea of conditions that nullify any chance of peace - conditions such as an international conference and the participation of terrorist organizations in the peace process. I should also like to urge King Hussein to free himself at this eleventh hour, from the clutches of the PLO. King Hussein has been caught in their clutches before and it seems that he has failed to learn from his own experience. Only after freeing himself from his dangerous association with the PLO terrorists will it be possible to achieve progress towards peace between Israel and Jordan. Indeed, the recent marked increase in terror attacks against Israelis stems, among other things, from Hussein's partnership with the PLO. Jordan cannot extend the olive branch of peace on the one hand and play host to terror at the same time. The two are mutually exclusive.
Our position in this regard is clear and decisive. We are firmly against any contacts or dealings with terrorists or their representatives - and, in this case, with an organization whose declared purpose is the liquidation of Israel. PLO leaders have been intimating that they are engaged in the political process of peace. However, they have been waging cruel and murderous terrorist activity all along. According to their declared program, political action and terrorist activities should go hand in hand until they achieve their goal, the elimination of Israel. He are not ready to negotiate with terror. There is no place for its self-proclaimed representatives at a table where peace, security and tranquility are to be negotiated. Acknowledging that organization would be tantamount to legitimizing terror, and should be rejected by all those who value peace.
To protect our people and territory from terror, we were obliged to act against the PLO terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, which posed an intolerable threat to our people in the Galilee region.
Meanwhile, terror continues to wreak havoc in Lebanon. The latest outrage was the kidnapping of four Soviet diplomats in Beirut. Kidnapping and the holding of hostages for ransom is only one of the manifestations of international terrorism, whose linchpin is the PLO, which we roust fight and stamp out. This is another example of the fact that terror knows no bounds, neither political nor any other.
The removal of the various threats from Israel's northern border continues to be an important priority for us. We will do all in our power to defend and protect the population of the north. This objective has become no less important in the wake of the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from Lebanon, in accordance with the decision of the Government of Israel of 14 January 1935.
Yesterday Israel took action against terror bases, this time in Tunisia. Israel's air force acted against the terrorists only after it became evident that the terrorists were mounting attacks from Tunis with impunity. Only last week, PLO terrorists, who were directed and commanded from Tunis, attacked an Israeli boat in Larnaca, Cyprus, and murdered three Israeli civilians in cold blood. In recent months, those headquarters were responsible for a number of seaborne attempts
against our people, which were prevented by Israel's navy. We had no intention of attacking Tunisia, although that country has permitted terrorist bases to exist on its soil. We acted against murderous criminals in order to prevent the continuation of their criminal acts.
The United Nations has been sadly remiss in meeting the challenge of international and PLO terror. It could and should have come out resolutely against this evil phenomenon of our time and placed it outside the pale of civilization. Instead, it has equivocated and, worse, legitimized terror in terms that have provided encouragement to the terrorists and their supporters.
I regret to state that, in spite of numerous outrages and continuing attacks by PLO terrorists, this issue has never been seriously addressed by the Security Council or other United Nations and international forums. Israel cannot be expected to ignore this double standard. In spite of this, Israel is willing to act with other free nations to curb, if not stamp out, terrorism. Similarly, we urge joint international action against terrorists and their sponsors.
Among the most distressing and oppressing phenomena of our international experience is racism. The very word evokes dark and brutal memories of the long history of the Jewish people. Apartheid is a system of discrimination which the Jewish faith and the State of Israel totally reject and repudiate. The Government of Israel, on 11 August 1985, reiterated that it is unconditionally opposed to the policy of apartheid in South Africa and to any discrimination on grounds of race, religion or color or on any other grounds.
Israel has diplomatic relations with some of the African States and we are ready to renew our relations with those with which we do not have them. This is, of course, up to them. We believe that many have by now seen who the real friends of Africa are: it is not those who use high-flown words but will not lend a helping hand in time of need and distress, or those who remember Africa only when they need its votes at the United Nations. The State of Israel, in contrast, was one of the first to reach out to the nations of Africa, in their early years of sovereignty and statehood and in their current travails, and we are ready to increase our efforts.
In the area of disarmament the nations of the Middle Bast are confronted with three main challenges. These are the reduction of conventional arms, the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the eradication of the use. of chemical warfare. My Government believes that concerted regional action on all three issues is a moral imperative of the highest priority.
Concerning the accumulation of conventional arras, Israel voices its concern over the accelerated supply of large quantities of weapons to a number of belligerent Arab Governments in our region. These regimes do not need these arms for their defense, but are stockpiling them to use against Israel. This can only serve to undermine the chances for peace in the Middle East.
On the subject of nuclear weapons, we believe that the most effective and credible barrier to proliferation in so sensitive an area as the Middle Bast is a freely and directly negotiated convention establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone, based on a system of obligations binding' on all States concerned. Israel stands ready to begin such negotiations without delay or preconditions.
While Israel is conscious of the necessity to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we are also aware of the substantial contribution which the peaceful use of nuclear energy can make to the well-being of the world and the right of all countries to benefit from such uses. We support those international agreements that would ensure the status and inviolability of nuclear facilities dedicated to peaceful purposes.
Another issue that arouses the deepest anxiety is the repeated use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war and the danger that such use may spread in a manner that could not easily be reversed, if at all. It is tragic that the sixtieth anniversary of the 1925 Geneva Protocol forbidding the use of such weapons should be commemorated in this manner. This total disregard for solemn international legal obligations by Iraq demonstrates the difficulty of achieving genuine disarmament. But we must not despair; we must continue our efforts in this vital field of human endeavor.
The deteriorating situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union obliges us once again to speak out in defense of their elementary rights. Our concern relates especially to the hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews who have indicated their desire to join their people in Israel. The Soviet authorities, however, in flagrant violation of the Helsinki Final Act and many other international obligations assumed by the Soviet Government, refuse them permission to leave.
Many of those Jews who have been denied permission to leave are forced to live as outcasts from Soviet society, subject to all manner of official harassment and persecution, while being effectively deprived of the means of legal redress. Increasing numbers have been engulfed in recent months in an accelerating wave of arrests, trials and savage sentences of imprisonment on trumped-up criminal charges. Jews seeking to disseminate knowledge of the Hebrew language have been prominent among these recent victims of judicial repression. These Jews are in no way violating Soviet law, nor are they involved in any form of anti-Soviet activity. Their real crimes, in the eyes of the authorities, are their persistent demand to leave for Israel and their efforts, in the face of strenuous official opposition, to perpetuate their Jewish heritage, culture and religion.
All of these outrages are taking place against the background of a relentless campaign of anti-semitic incitement, usually camouflaged as anti-zionism, in the officially controlled media - a campaign designed by the authorities to encourage an attitude of suspicion, hatred and contempt towards Soviet Jews on the part of the Soviet population.
We call upon all persons of goodwill and all Governments in the civilized world to join us in our protests and in urging the Soviet authorities to conform their policies towards Soviet Jewry to the international obligations solemnly undertaken by the Soviet Government.
Israel seeks good relations with all States including, naturally, the Soviet Union. We have looked to the new Soviet leadership for signs of change in its attitude towards Soviet Jewry. Regrettably, so far we have seen no positive changes whatsoever. .We therefore have no choice but to continue to expose energetically and protest vigorously these flagrant violations of the rights of our fellow Jews seeking to join their people in Israel. He shall continue to do so untiA every Soviet Jew who so wishes is free to exercise this basic right.
There is also the problem of the Jews of Syria, who are subjected by the Syrian regime to discrimination and restrictive policies and are not free to choose to live wherever they wish. This is a flagrant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Syria is a signatory. Jews who wish to travel abroad must leave their families behind as living hostages to ensure the travelers return.
Several hundred young Jewish women remain unmarried because of the depleted male Jewish population in Syria. The Syrian Government has cruelly refused to allow those women to leave the country in order to be able to marry within their faith and establish families.
tJe are also concerned about the small, ancient Jewish community left in Ethiopia, because of its isolation and suffering and the latest disasters that have befallen that country. Some of these Jews have already returned to their historic homeland and have been received as long-lost brothers and sisters who have finally returned home.
The people of Israel and its Government have expressed their solidarity with the Ethiopian people, which has undergone much suffering as a result of the recent famine and other difficulties. We appeal to the Ethiopian Government to respect the cultural and religious rights of the Jewish community and to enable it to continue to maintain its heritage and religion and, on humanitarian grounds, to permit those among them who so desire to be reunited with their families in Israel.
The fortieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations may be a fitting occasion for a review and reappraisal of its activities, in frank and constructive self-criticism.
The United Nations should not merely celebrate its past but also plan for its future.
Some may feel disheartened by the fact that, after so many years of United Nations preoccupation with the problems of the developing countries, we still remain so distant from the goal of bridging the gap between the poor and the rich nations of the world. Poverty, hunger, malnutrition and disease still characterize the conditions of life in many parts of the world.
One inescapable conclusion is that progress has too often been hampered by a tendency to substitute slogans for serious plans of action. Meeting the world's pressing economic and social problems will require new dimensions of international co-operation. The danger of famine continues to afflict developing countries. There is dire need for urgent action by the world community. The peoples of Africa are struggling to free themselves from the curses of poverty and hunger, and the rest of the world must help them in this struggle.
The vital element of developing traditional agriculture has been sorely neglected. Israel is now preparing an aid proposal for more efficient food delivery systems that would provide better nutrition and would link such aid with land and water development programs.
The success of integrated rural development has been proved in Israel's own rapid agricultural development. Israel has much experience in the proper use of soil and water, marketing organization, agro-industrial systems appropriate for developing countries, and the integration of populations and development projects. He are ready to share our know-how in these fields with other developing countries. The benefits of this experience can contribute to raising living standards in many societies.	4
Israel has presented to international organizations, both within and outside the United Nations, a development proposal entitled "Transitional Economy". It seeks to break the vicious circle of poverty by improving the productivity and quality of life in developing countries. The proposed program seeks to combine a comprehensive development process with decentralized planning and implementation.
In the 26 years of Israel's involvement in international development efforts, Israel has co-operated with more than 100 countries and trained over 50,000 men and women in agriculture, in rural development and in health and education. During Israel's development it encountered some of the same problems that are now facing African countries and has successfully overcome them.
The United Nations may recapture some of its prestige and authority if it gives priority to these pressing social and economic issues. The magnitude of the tasks before us will require unprecedented international co-operation.
Unfortunately, the United Nations record is not very encouraging. At its last session the General Assembly had 143 items on its agenda. It passed no less than 38 resolutions relating to the Middle East, out of which 37 were negative, even hostile, in their reference to Israel. Such resolutions have long ceased to attract any attention or carry any weight. Yet the General Assembly did not see fit to address itself to such danger-spots as the Iraq-Iran war and Afghanistan, or to many of the socio-economic problems which plague our society.
Let us put aside the political differences that beset our world and join forces in an effort to find solutions for the ordinary man, woman and child, who are too often ignored in the heat of political debate. Let us work together in the spirit of the ancient prophets who gave to the world the concept of the brotherhood of man, a concept which has been the basis for the great ideals of mankind.
In the present age of unprecedented opportunities, Israel calls upon all Governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations to rise to the challenge offered by science and technology. Let us share the fruits of scientific and technological advances to improve our lives. Let us build a moral and prosperous future to achieve justice and dignity for all. Let the United Nations become, truly, a "United Nations for a better world".


Forty years ago, on the ruins of Nazi fascism and of the infamous and ignominious "New Order" that Hitler's hordes tried to impose on mankind, the peoples of the United Nations founded this Organization "determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war", to reaffirm their faith in the undying values of man and mankind and in the equal rights of nations large and small, to establish conditions under which justice and equity could be maintained and "to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom".
Now, four decades after that great victory, as we gather once again to take stock, the signs are cloudy in regard to the international situation.
With deep concern, we note the continued worsening of the world political and economic situation owing to the persistence of serious crises and tensions in international relations, to the obstacles set up against the peoples' legitimate aspirations to emancipation and independent development without foreign interference or intervention, to the spiraling growth of the arms race resulting from the insane imperialist policy of seeking an impossible military supremacy so as to decide the fate of the world from positions of strength, and to the attempts at extending this race to outer space.
Today more than ever before, the threat of nuclear extermination weighs on mankind. The policies of imperialism are characterized by the use or threat of use of force, intervention, destabilization, aggression, economic and political coercion, hegemony and oppression, while the crisis of the world capitalist system, which is growing ever deeper, brutally affects the developing countries and endangers their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, making economic development virtually impossible for them.
The overwhelming foreign debt of the so-called third-world countries - an explosive phenomenon with an unquestionable political dimension - is a tragic note in the sombre panorama of the current international situation.
The economic crisis is becoming evident in the unceasingly widening gap between the developed and the developing countries, many of which cannot even meet their people's basic needs or essential development requirements.
Far from improving the terms of trade and overcoming the unjust structures of an obsolete international economic order, inequality is increasing, highlighting the asymmetry in relations between the two groups of countries - an asymmetry which leads to the ever greater enrichment of the capitalist countries at the expense of the decapitalization and impoverishment of third-world nations.
The seriousness of the present situation and the consequences that would result from a nuclear conflagration show - if proof is needed - that there is no viable option for the survived, of the human race other than the policy of peaceful coexistence between states with different economic, social and political systems, international detente and the settlement of conflicts through exclusively peaceful Beans.
On addressing the difficult problems facing the international community today, I should like. Sir, to express the satisfaction of the Cuban delegation over your election as President of the General Assembly on this significant and delicate occasion. I am sure that your recognized qualities as an experienced diplomat and your long-standing ties with this Organization will enable you to guide our labors with wisdom towards the lofty goals we all seek to achieve. We assure you of our delegation's support in carrying out your important tasks.
Set on imposing their domination, the United States imperialists will stop at nothing to attain a military superiority that will allow them to negotiate from positions of strength and nuclear blackmail. In its eagerness to militarize outer space, the united States Government recently announced the beginning of anti-satellite weapons tests as part of a programs that will require expenditures of up to $95 billion by the year 2000.
United States imperialism is promoting this new escalation in the arms race, which includes nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction, even though this practice increases the risks of nuclear war and thus endangers the very-survival of mankind.

During the past 40 years, one united States Administration after another has the world from the so-called cold war and the policy of brinkmanship to the policy of local wars waged against third-world countries, the provocative installation of new weapons and missile systems aimed against the Soviet union and other socialist countries, and the so-called star wars - if not to State terrorism directed against revolutionary countries and peoples. They have even advanced the absurd theory that it is possible to survive a nuclear strike, and have hinted that a surprise attack could be successfully launched against the Soviet Union. Their arrogant language is filled with expressions such as "surgical strikes" - to be used against small countries like Nicaragua - "covert operations" and "clean-up operations," expressions that reveal the predatory, zoological nature of their foreign policy.
Cuba condemns all attempts to militarize outer space - especially the united States Government's so-called strategic defense initiative - and expresses its support for the Soviet Union's proposal concerning international co-operation in the peaceful exploration of outer space in the context of the non-militarization of outer space.
He welcome the holding of talks at the highest level between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America. The determination and readiness of Soviet leaders to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent a new world conflagration, to avoid a nuclear holocaust, to pat an end to the arms race and to prevent it from spreading to outer space are quite evident. He know of their firm determination to struggle for international detente, and we place our full trust in their Leninist peace policy, which embraces the hopes and aspirations of all the peoples of the world.
"But", as President Fidel Castro said in this very Hall in 1979 "for our countries, peace is indivisible (A/34/PV.31, p. 3-5). Thus, the search for peace is a cardinal objective of our peoples and ranks among our most important concerns during this session of the General Assembly.
Just as the avoidance of nuclear war is an irrenounceable historical imperative, so too is the prevention of the use of an agreement banning the possibility of nuclear war as an excuse for the proliferation of imperialist wars against those Asian, African or Latin-American countries seeking to exercise their rights to self-determination and independence and attempting to build a new life based on economic and political pluralism, on a non-capital is t option of development or on socialism.
As Comrade Fidel pointed out, "The time has therefore come for all of us to join in the task of drawing entire peoples - hundreds of millions of hum?" beings - out of the backwardness, poverty, malnutrition, disease and illiteracy that keep them from enjoying full human dignity and pride". (A/34/PV.31, p. 53-55) Therefore, when we invoke the need to settle conflicts by peaceful means, to avoid a terrible and final war that would end human life as we know it, to promote dialog and understanding among all states, regardless of their social and economic systems, and when we demand an end to the philosophy of plunder, so that there may be an end to the philosophy of war, we should also demand that all vestiges of colonialism be wiped off the face of the earth.
The situation of the third-world countries has dramatically worsened since the beginning of this decade. Their foreign debt has multiplied, the terms of trade between the developed capitalist countries and the developing countries continue to be totally unjust and to constitute an abuse; credits are granted in unfair conditions; markets have contracted owing to protectionist measures applied by developed capitalist countries against our industrial products and raw materials; and the influx of capital, both official and private, into underdeveloped countries has been reduced - all of which contributes to the progressive deterioration of their fragile economies.
The foreign debt of developing countries has already reached the impressive figure of more than $900 billion. Latin America alone now owes $360 billion, more than the total debt of all the third-world countries only six years ago. The total debt of the African countries, which is over $160 billion, has a greater per capita impact than Latin America's if, in addition to the lesser relative development of those countries, we consider the serious damage caused by drought and hunger to a large number of them.
The economic crisis has overtaken and, in a way, has been thrust on the economics of the less-developed countries. He can say that we are dealing with a process that had been in the offing for some time and the consequences of which are more or less serious, depending on each country's economic resources and also on the greater or lesser efficiency with which it has been able to defend itself against the crisis or to try to overcome it.
The group of non-aligned countries, which convened in Luanda a few weeks ago for the eighth ministerial meeting of the Movement, owe Western countries a total of almost $590 billion. This means that we must pay over $60 billion for debt-servicing this year alone. What could our peoples not do with such a sum of money if it were used to stimulate industry and agricultural production, to increase food production, health development and education?
The insurmountable problems- generated by the existence of this swollen debt do not lie only in the difficulties which our countries face in paying the interest. While it is true that receiving credits to cover the servicing of the debt raises the level of their indebtedness in a way that calls into question any possibility of development, and therefore of eventually repaying the debt, the attempts that some countries have made to honor their commitments - in unfair conditions, as we have already seen, in which the dollar has been overvalued several tines and high interest rates prevail - have failed, owing to the serious deterioration in the terms of trade and the resultant reduction in their export earnings for this period.
If we consider that the allocation of 20 per cent of export earnings to pay the foreign debt, far from solving the debt, will increase it and is practically untenable, what will happen when our countries must devote - a-i many are already doing - 57, 52, 45 or 36 per cent of their export earnings to this purpose? How can the sharp drop in the standard of living of the majority sectors of the population be curbed? Have the deflationary measures prescribed-by the International Monetary Fund managed to halt the desperation of the working classes, the impoverishment of the middle classes, unemployment, the increase in consumer prices, and the reduction of exports and domestic production in the developing countries?
The daily papers in any Latin-American country bear witness to the contrary -as has also been evident for some time now in the statistical yearbooks of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
What is true is that the capitalist countries' protectionist measures; dumping; the over-evaluation of the dollar; the persistence of unequal terms of trade; high interest rates; and the current international monetary, financial and economic trade system as a whole - all work to the detriment of the developing countries, have prcRsct@d a reverse transfer of capital to the developed capitalist countries, and reinforce the dependence, underdevelopment and stagnation of the countries of the so-called third world.
Cuba insists that it is necessary to do away with the abysmal inequality that separates our countries from the developed countries, we must therefore struggle to eradicate the poverty, hunger, sickness and illiteracy from which hundreds of millions of human beings still suffer. We aspire to a new world order, based on justice, equity and peace, to replace the unjust, unequal system which now prevails, in which, as was proclaimed in the Havana Declaration of 1979 by the Heads of State or Government of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries,
"wealth is still concentrated in the hands of a few powers whose wasteful economies are maintained by the exploitation of the labor as well as the transfer and plunder of the natural and other resources of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other regions of the world." (A/34/542, Annex, Political Declaration, para. 7)
In proclaiming the unpayable and uncollected nature of the developing countries' foreign debt, we do not indulge in hyperbole, nor do we brandish propagandists slogans, as some capitalist leaders and certain elements of their press claim. We base our opinion on rigorous, scientific analysis that can be clearly demonstrated with irrefutable facts - for example, in 1984 the flight of Latin American capital to the developed capitalist countries, mainly the United States; the deterioration in the terns of trade, provoked by an increase in the prices of the industrial goods and intermediate goods that we import and a drop in the purchasing power of our export products; the artificial, arbitrary maintenance of high interest rates; and the real increase in the debt and the interest on it, due to the over-evaluation of the dollar.
All of that led to the illegal plunder of more than $45 billion from our America, as Fidel Castro pointed out in his well-known interview granted to the Mexican daily newspaper Excelsior; 020 billion owing to the deterioration in the terns of exchange, $10 billion owing to excessive interest, $10 billion owing to the flight of currency and - at a conservative estimate - $5 billion owing to the over-evaluation of the dollar. He also affirmed:
"Adding it all up, including what can be considered normal interest on the debt, in just one year the Latin American countries have turned over to the rich, developed world around $70 billion, of which $50 billion was in cash.
"That is why we feel that it is indispensable, decisive and urgent to solve the problem of the debt. The crisis is advancing and will continue to do so. It is illusory to think it can be solved through palliatives, debt rescheduling and traditional formulas. We must get to the bottom of the problems created by under-development, which hinder our countries' development and continue to widen the gap between the industrialized and the third world countries. In addition to solving the problem of the debt, we must establish the new international economic order once and for all."
That that is feasible is shown by the capitalist countries' experience, as was pointed out on 12 September by The Wall Street Journal, which cannot be suspected of having the slightest leftist proclivities. It said:
"To realize the folly of this course imposed by the IMF it is only necessary to consider western Europe in the aftermath of world War II. Suppose that the Marshall Plan had been organized by the commandant es now installed in the IMF. Those weary and indebted nations would have been pressed to further sacrifices. Instead of the aid that revived their economies, benefited the U.S. and helped stimulate the great post-war boom, IMF measures of the sort urged today would have meant a continuation of the horrors of war by other means."
The article added:
"Yet in contrast to that post-war boldness the approach espoused by the IMF has led, since 1982, to a net capital inflow from the third to the first world. The only sector to which this can possibly be of advantage is the banks, which will do anything rather than write off their uncollectable loans, since this would mean confessing to their shareholders that a large amount of their assets are worthless." The Wall Street Journal concluded:
"The only answer is to write off the debt and begin again with productive loans that are not merely roll-over servicing for debt, but that will underwrite that desirable state of affairs: the net outflow of the surplus from the developed to the developing world."
In other words, as in the bank crisis of 1928, the Governments of the capitalist States should assume the third world countries' debts to private banks and stimulate a new flow of resources for development, which could very well come from a low percentage of their military expenditures. Ten per cent or, if the interest remains high, 12 per cent of their military expenditure would suffice, and those expenditures would still be.fabulously high and give cause for concern.
We hope that the United Nations, as an irreplaceable forum for examining and helping to solve the main economic and political problems of our time, will make a positive contribution to the solution of the thorny problems of the foreign debt, together with the efforts that are already being made to convene an international conference on monetary and financial resources for development.
In mentioning the dramatic situation presently faced by the underdeveloped countries as a result of the capitalist economic crisis surrounding them and of the unequal exchange holding them back, we cannot forget the tragedy nature has just inflicted on one of them, a respected member of the United Nations community and a Latin American sister nation, Mexico. Mexico's grief is shared by all the people of Cuba, who are linked to Mexico not only by geographical proximity and the fact that they belong to Latin America and the Caribbean, but also by unbreakable bonds of history and affection, we reiterate our sympathy for and solidarity with Mexico at this unfortunate time for its people.
In conveying Cuba's condolences to the Government and people of Mexico, and our readiness to assist. President Fidel Castro urged Mexico's creditor countries to suspend servicing of the foreign debt so that Mexico might - with the integrity it has already shown - face up to the effects of the disaster now afflicting the country. That would be a way of alleviating its terrible situation. Mexico needs real and effective solidarity, not crumbs from the International Monetary Fund.
Today the unity of Latin America and the Caribbean - above and beyond ideologies and ideas that might be opposed on certain issues - is more urgent and necessary than ever before, in order to tackle the huge problems, overwhelming them. It is regrettable that at such a time we heard from this rostrum in Latin American words a repetition of the vile slanders and rotten arguments developed in Washington, in an attempt to obscure the irrefutable signs and the only possible solutions, put forward by those who have for a quarter of a century, with unique firmness and heroism, resisted blockade, military aggression, economic siege and attempts to isolate them politically, and who have practiced genuine internationalism everywhere in the world. It is regrettable because we know those infamous suggestions are a product of consultations and capitulations in the belief that the empire would forgive them for their timid and compromised rebellion. It is regrettable because what is being stridently presented as a drastic solution and a realistic way out will be converted into tithing that will perpetuate dependence and bar the path to the only worthy, moral, profound and true solution.
We will not allow ourselves to be drawn into dissension, we reaffirm the commitment by President Fidel Castro that those who are attacked or harassed for defending the rights of their peoples to reject - through whichever formula they may choose - the misery that would be wrought upon them by demanding that they repay their foreign debt will have Cuba's support. But we doubt that those who pick their arguments from the arsenal of imperialism, those who repeat Yankee slanders, will be able to make good their promises and hoist with firm hands the colors they seek to uphold before world public opinion. Latin America's history is replete with such outdated, prevaricating redeemers.
As the Foreign Ministers of the non-aligned countries stated in the Luanda Declaration a few weeks ago, Latin America and the Caribbean are one of the areas of the world which have suffered most directly from acts of aggression by colonial and imperialist Powers. The Ministers noted with deep concern that the situation in Central America now constituted one of the main focal points of tension in the international arena and that, notwithstanding repeated appeals by the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries and the rest of the international community, as well as efforts by the Contadora Group to find a negotiated solution, the situation in that area was continuing to deteriorate as a result of the implementation of imperialist policies of interference and intervention. This, together with the poverty and oppression to which the region has been subjected throughout its history, constitutes a real threat to international peace and security. In this regard, they observed that the danger of direct United States intervention in Nicaragua, Cuba and other countries of the region had increased alarmingly.
The non-aligned countries were not mistaken when they described the situation in our part of the world in such severe terms. Age-old hunger, lack of land, jobs, schools, hospitals and political rights, continued humiliation, and other abuses of all kinds have filled the people with a hatred of tyrants and a longing for a freedom that they do not yet enjoy. Those are the true roots of the social revolution that the imperialists are trying to crush by establishing an enormous military apparatus in the territories adjoining Nicaragua.
Bands of counter-revolutions continue to penetrate Nicaraguan territory from Costa Rica and Honduras. They are trained, armed and financed and receive logistical support from the United States Government; they commit abominable crimes against farmers and other inhabitants of small settlements. During this period the number of Attacks, military actions and other measures against the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, stability and self-determination of Nicaragua has increased.
Its air space and territorial waters are still being violated, and joint military maneuvers of a purely intimidatory nature by United States, together with those of other states in the region, are still going on, emphasizing the threats of surgical operations or selective bombardments against Sandino's homeland.
Since the creation of the Contadora Group in 1983, Cuba has expressed its support for that Group's goals of searching for a peaceful, negotiated solution for the Central American conflict. Nicaragua has expressed its willingness to sign the Act on Peace and Co-operation in Central America, of 7 September 1984, which was the result of long and arduous discussions by the parties concerned. However, the United States Government - which until then had been making hypocritical statements in support of the efforts of the Latin American countries - mobilized its allies in the area to prevent the adoption of any formula that would proscribe military interference in an area which it considers its backyard.
The situation is no less critical in El Salvador, where increased united States military aid to the genocidal Government has resulted in a worsening of the conflict and taken a toll of thousands of victims among the civilian population in the territories controlled by the Salvadorian patriots. The revolutionary forces, grouped in the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front and the Revolutionary Democratic Front, have given convincing proof not only of their willingness but also of their capacity to undertake a serious dialog with the Government, without any strings attached, in order to find a peaceful, negotiated solution in accord with the aspirations of the Salvadorian people and the overwhelming majority of the international community. That dialog, which was unilaterally broken off by the Government, should be resumed as soon as possible.
Cuba supports the Cantadora Group's genuine Latin—American initiative and hails the backing it has received- from the Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay. It calls on all interested States to speed up negotiations aimed at achieving an Act acceptable to all the Central American States and demands that the United States Government end all its military, economic and political acts of aggression against the legitimate Government of Nicaragua.
No examination of the situation in Latin America and the Caribbean would be complete without mention of the criminal United States invasion of the tiny island of Grenada which so brutally destroyed that sister country's aspirations to national sovereignty and freedom, once more reducing it to the sad condition of a semi-colony under the Yankee imperial boot, in defiance of decisions of this Assembly. We express our deep aversion to the presence in this hall of those who claiming to represent Grenada are thus staining the immortal principles of those who, together with the unforgettable Maurice Bishop, once proclaimed the genuine independence of that country.
Also in the Caribbean, the people of Betances, Hostos, Albizu Campos and Corretjer are still seeking recognition of their right to self-determination and independence, as was seen in the united Nations special Committee on decolonization some months ago. In reaffirming the full applicability of resolution 1514 (XV) to Puerto Rico, the Committee expressed the international community's hope that the Puerto Rican people would be able freely to exercise their rights without outside interference and that they would be able to determine their political status in keeping with their Latin American and Caribbean identity. From this rostrum, we once again reiterate our lasting solidarity with the Puerto Rican people and its ideals of freedom.
Together with the other Foreign Ministers of non-aligned countries who net in Luanda, we reiterate the need to do away with colonialism in all its forms and manifestations in Latin America and the Caribbean and express our concern at the fact that colonial Powers are using territories in the region as bases or ports of call for ships carrying nuclear weapons or for storing such weaponry.
In this regard, we denounce the existence of imperialist military bases in Puerto Rico, at Guantanamo, in the Malvinas Islands and in other parts of Latin America, because they constitute a threat to our countries' security and peace in the region.
He express our support for the legitimate expectations of the Panamanian people and Government that the agreements on the Panama Canal and on the neutrality of that inter-oceanic waterway be strictly observed.
- He also firmly support the right of the Argentine Republic to reestablish its sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands through negotiations with the Government of the United Kingdom, with the participation and good offices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and we endorse Bolivia's legitimate and just claim to have restored to it a direct, useful outlet to the Pacific Ocean, with full sovereignty over such an area.
He trust that the establishment of democratic Governments in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay will represent a new stage in Latin America and deal a powerful blow to the imperialists hegemonistic pretentions in the region. The broad avenues of freedom foreseen by President Salvador Allende will open up sooner, rather than later, for his still unredeemed people, who are struggling courageously against Pinochet's cruel tyranny. The people's steadfast determination to exercise their sovereignty without restrictions of any kind will be shared in Latin America.
Our Government places particular importance on the situation prevailing in southern Africa where the racist regime in Pretoria, a strategic ally of United States imperialism, illegally continues to occupy the Territory of Namibia in flagrant violation of resolutions of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, the Non-Aligned Movement and other international forums.
Thanks to President Reagans "constructive engagement" with Mr. Botha's fascists. South Africa is persisting in its policy of bantustanization and the exportation of apartheid, attempting to impose a puppet government on Namibia, facilitating the plundering of that Territory by Yankee and other imperialist transnational corporations and ruthlessly repressing the Namibian patriots. Cuba hails the heroic Namibian combatants and reiterates its support for that people's legitimate struggle, led by the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), their sole legitimate representative.
The duplicity of the United States Government and its racist associates has become obvious, for, on the pretext of holding talks with the People's Republic of Angola with a view to finding a solution for Namibia's independence and for the situation in southern Africa, they have been playing for time in order, to shore up the apartheid regime in South Africa, to expand and strengthen their control in Namibia, to weaken and divide the front-line States and to intimidate other independent neighboring States.
This maneuver was revealed when, in spite of the steps taken by the Government of the People's Republic of Angola in compliance with the Lusaka Agreements and with the talks held at Cape Verde and Luanda that were announced by President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos in a letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the racist South Africa troops continued to occupy a part of Angolan territory. Both the United States and South Africa continued fully to support the counterrevolutionaries who are trying to destabilize Angola, and a commando team of the racist special forces went into Cabinda to sabotage the oil installations there, to paralyze the.country's economy, attributing the action to the counterrevolutionary forces. This was done in order to intimidate the heroic Angolan people, to prevent the holding of the Ministerial Meeting of the non-aligned countries in the region and to make the world believe that the revolutionary Government was approaching its end.
The facts are that the Angolan armed forces quickly and efficiently defeated the South African aggressors and prevented them from carrying out their criminal plans in Cabinda, plans that would have taken hundreds of lives, including those of the United States technicians working there for Gulf Oil. The bands of counterrevolutionaries are being dealt heavy losses; the so-called victories of the UNXTA traitors occur only in the Lisbon newspapers and the non-aligned Ministerial Meeting was held in Luanda in absolute peace and quiet with the warn hospitality of that courageous people.
The South African racists have once again shown their arrogance and contempt for world public opinion.
More them 120 countries sent delegations to the Ministerial Meeting of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries in Luanda, Angola, and over half of those delegations were headed by Ministers. That constituted a powerful expression of the Movement's solidarity with the Angolan people in their struggle in defense of their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. In the course of the ten years that have passed since Angola achieved its independence it has repulsed continual acts of aggression by the racist Pretoria regime.
The first decision adopted at the Ministerial Meeting at Luanda was to send a warm message of solidarity to Nelson Mandela in his apartheid prison. South Africa responded in its customary style, with a new attack on Angola. On 16 September South African troops invaded Angolan territory and the South African air forces penetrated deep into Angola's air space in order to attack the units of the Angolan armed forces that were pursuing fleeing UNITAR bands in Mavinga in Cuando-Cubango Province.
The Pretoria racists place no limits on their actions and do not hesitate to violate even the most elementary norms of international law in their vain attempts to save their servants in the UNITA counterrevolutionary bands from inexorable defeat. The Security Council must denounce South Africa for this flagrant new evidence of its attitude, which violates the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
It Is therefore imperative for us to continue to support the struggle of the Namibian people by all possible means until final victory is won. In this regard Cuba supports the convening of a special session of the General Assembly on the. question of Namibia in 1986 and the holding of an international consultative conference on this question in Western Europe during the course of that same year. It also supports the imposition of mandatory comprehensive sanctions against South Africa in conformity with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations if Pretoria refuses to comply with Security Council resolution 435 (1978) and other Security Council resolutions on Namibia.
Because of its policies and practices the racist Pretoria regime is th'i main cause of the violence and instability in southern Africa. Its brutal acts of oppression, repression and discrimination against the black population have recently been stepped up with the arbitrary detention, arrest and imprisonment of opponents of the apartheid regime and the imposition of a state of emergency, all of which reached alarming proportions with a brutal massacre of the defenseless population, including children.
There is no doubt that this hideous system of discrimination and exploitation practiced by the fascist white minority against the overwhelming majority of the South African people is possible only because of the unlimited support given it by the United States Government and the aid given it by other western countries and Israel.
The growing movement against apartheid in Western Europe, North America,
Australasia and other parts of the world reveals the worldwide opposition to this monstrous system, which the United Nations has described as a crime against mankind, and there is a growing demand that economic, financial, military, political and diplomatic support for the Pretoria regime be ended.
In concert with all progressive men and women we call for the immediate and unconditional release of Nelson Mandela, Zephania, Mothopeng and all the other patriots and political prisoners who are confined in South African prisons? we also call for respect for the prisoner-of-war status of all freedom fighters who have been captured, in conformity with the 1949 Geneve Convention and of Article 44 of Protocol 1 annexed to that Convention. The application of mandatory comprehensive sanctions against the racist Pretoria regime will help to speed the downfall of the iniquitous system of oppression, exploitation and discrimination that, to the shame
of their leaders, the racists and their imperialist allies maintain in the southern cone of Africa.
 It is necessary that the Security Council adopt them as soon as possible. Cuba reiterates its militant support for the South African combatants in the heroic Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed branch of the African National Congress, the sole, legitimate representative of the South African people.
We support the Sahraoui people's legitimate cause and their right to self-determination and independence in conformity with the resolutions of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.
In the year of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1514 (XV), the Magna Carta of decolonization, we insist on the restitution of Madagascar's sovereignty over the islands of Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorieuses and Bassas da India. We affirm our solidarity with the Comorians in their aspiration to recover the island of Mayotte and with Mauritius in its struggle to recover Diego Garcia. We support the cause of the abolition of colonialism in Africa, Asia and Latin America before the end of this century in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and the Charter of the United Nations. And we call on all Member States of the United Nations to redouble their efforts to fulfill this sacred mandate of the peoples as soon as possible.
The situation in the Middle East continues to deteriorate as a result of Israel's aggressive and expansionist policies in the region, in which it has the support- and complicity of the imperialist United States Government.
As has been said countless times, the question of Palestine lies at the heart of the crisis in the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Since they are inextricably linked, no partial or isolated solution can lead to just, comprehensive, lasting peace in the region. Such peace can be based only on the
total, unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from all the occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories, including Jerusalem and on recognition of the Palestinian people's inalienable rights, including the right to return to their homeland and their homes, the right to self-determination without outside interference and the right to establish their own independent, sovereign State in Palestine.
Cuba reiterates its solidarity with the Palestinian people's cause and calls for the prompt holding of an international conference on peace in the Middle East under the auspices of the United Nations and with the participation of all interested parties, including the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of that people which has suffered for so long.
We call for the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the re-establishment of the Lebanese people's national sovereignty over their territory up to its internationally recognized borders.
We condemn United States imperialism's strategic alliance with expansionist, exclusivist Zionism against the Arab and African countries, in connivance with South Africa's racist regime, and especially the nuclear collaboration between South Africa and Israel, which endangers international peace and security.
The situation in the Republic of Cyprus continues to be a cause of concern to the international community. We deplore the Turkish Cypriot leadership's unilateral declaration of independence of 15 November 1983. we consider it to bo legally null and void. We believe that serious negotiations between the two communities and the good offices of the Secretary—General are necessary to arrive at a just and viable solution of the Cypriot question that ensures for the Cypriot people independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-aligned status.
As in the past, we are in favor of increasing the efforts of the united Nations and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries to put an end to the fratricidal war between Iran and Iraq, which has already taken a heavy toll in human lives and property.
In South-East Asia, threats and acts of aggression continue against the Indo-Chinese countries, for which we reaffirm our support. We endorse the successes of the People's Republic of Kampuchea in its struggle to do away with the remnants of Pol Pot's savagery and to build a new life. We wish to make known our disagreement with the presence in the United Nations of the executioners of the Kampuchean people, who are basely linked to the Yankee imperialists, who put Lon Nol in power and attacked the Kampuchean people. They are usurping the seat of the People's Republic.
With regard to South-west Asia, we favor seeking a solution on the basis of the consultations being promoted by the Secretary-General of the united Nations, with full respect for the political, economic and social options of each of the peoples of the region and for their independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-aligned status.
We hail the efforts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to achieve the peaceful reunification of Korea, free of all foreign interference, by means of dialog and consultations between the north and the south in accordance with the principles of independence, peaceful reunification and national unity, as expressed in the Joint Declaration of 4 June 1972. The peaceful reunification of Korea must inevitably be supplemented by the withdrawal of the united States troops occupying the southern part of the peninsula.
In advocating the continuance of such efforts we feel compelled to express our concern at the fact that the forthcoming Olympic Games have been scheduled to be held in only one part of Korea, the south. This reflects a deplorable political decision on the part of those who direct the Olympic movement and is contrary to the spirit of the Olympic Games and the aspirations to brotherhood and friendship among peoples and mutual understanding embodied in the Olympic ideal. We are in favor of the Olympic Games being held throughout the Korean peninsula, both north and south, so as to safeguard the Olympic movement and to make a positive contribution to the peaceful reunification of and mutual understanding between the two parts of the country.
Ever since its founding on 24 October 1945, the United Nations has played a vital role in international relations. The aims and objectives expressed in its Charter are as relevant, powerful and significant today as they ever were. The world we wish to build, a world in which weapons have been turned into plough shares and the use of force has been abolished except in the service of common interests, is far from a reality.
During those 40 years, however, old colonial empires have disappeared; people:: in Asia and Africa that used to be oppressed have won their national liberation struggles and attained independence; the socialist camp has been established and over two thirds of mankind have been freed from the exploitation of man by man. Furthermore, at the initiative of the Soviet Union and with the support of the third world, the international community adopted in 1960 the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Since then, dozens of third-world peoples and territories, some of them in Latin America and the Caribbean, have freed themselves from the colonial yoke.
The task is not yet completed of course, as the cases of South Africa, the Malvinas Islands, the colonial situation of Namibia, the islands in the South Pacific, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean territories bear witness. It is for this Organization, together with the struggling peoples of those territories, to speed the hour of their final liberation. Throughout these four decades the United Nations system has been strengthened and extended. Its specialized agencies have been responsible for important achievements in several fields of international relations and especially in the process of decolonization. Such agencies as the United Nations Educational, Scientific land Cultural Organization, the united Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Development program, the world Health Organization, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, the World Food Council and the United Nations Environment program have made valuable contributions to cur countries' development and to understanding among the peoples.
The United Nations has been and still is the ideal forum in which to discuss the problems of economic development and international' economic relations. If there have not been greater achievements, that is due not to any fault on the part of the Organization but to the lack of political will on the part of some Western countries. The Declaration and program of Action on the establishment of a new international economic order are historic documents whose implementation would radically modify international relations.
In spite of its limitations, the Security Council is a useful instrument for watching over the preservation of international peace and security. Those limitations, it must be admitted, stem from the correlation of forces throughout the world and from the existence of a small number of imperialist States which refuse to give up their privileges, spheres of influence and hegemonist ambitions.
The abuse of the rule of unanimity - the veto - has prevented the imposition of sanctions against Israel and South Africa for their acts of aggression against independent Arab and African countries, respectively, and for South Africa's refusal to abide by the United Nations resolutions on Namibia and the policies and practice of apartheid.
Nevertheless,' the fact remains that the United Nations has managed to prevent the outbreak of another world war, and this, in itself, has been a major contribution to the cause of peace.
In expressing its full support for all efforts to strengthen and extend the United Nations system and to reinforce its role in solving the main problems with which mankind is faced in the fields of economics, health, education^ science, culture, information and communications, and in preserving international peace and security, Cuba denounces the policies of pressure and blackmail that have been applied against the united Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other specialized agencies; these constitute an attack on multi-lateralism and on the united Nations system itself.
The campaigns which have been waged against our Organization in the United States and in other western countries are not aimed at making healthy or even necessary criticism in order to increase the efficiency and the results or productivity of the system; rather, they seek to undermine and destroy it because it is a forum in which contemporary problems can be taken up and solved. We are and always will be opposed to any attempt to reduce, weigh down or prevent the important work of the United Nations and its specialized agencies in their different fields.
We feel that one of the most outstanding achievements of the last few years has been the adoption of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed by 159 countries and ratified by 21 to date. In this regard, the position of the united States Government - which refused to sign it - and its decision to grant licenses to private corporations to engage in prospecting activities in parts of the Zone, in violation of General Assembly resolution 2749 (XXV) and of article 137 of the Convention, should be vigorously condemned by the international community.
He are in favor of the establishment of the new international information and communications order as an invaluable contribution to the cause of decolonization in this vital area of relations among peoples; we are also in favor of scientific education and the free and thorough education of the human person. The peoples' basic rights include the right to self-determination, development, work and an independent life.
Sports are also a right of the people and it is high time for them to be practiced by all, on an equal footing, without hierarchies or small groups deciding on where sports events shall be held and who will participate in them, without consulting the people. He believe that the United Nations is the appropriate Organization for promoting sports, since its universal nature makes it the depository par excellence of the high ideals of the Olympic Games.
The Cuban people, which has been constructing socialism 90 miles from the strongest imperialist Power for the last 26 years and has managed to withstand every blow with firmness and heroism and victoriously to defend its independence and national sovereignty, is still ready to set aside its tools and take up weapons with who to defend itself and to defeat whoever attempts to conquer its territory.
On reiterating our support for the United Nations on the fortieth anniversary of its founding, we also reiterate our faith in justice, freedom, independence, development and equality for all people. As Jose Marti said, "Man is more than race, more than white or black." The Cuban Revolution is for this universal man; for mankind without exploited or exploiters; and for peace for all States, both large and small.
Today, to this august assembly, we reiterate our firm commitment to struggle tirelessly, alongside the United Nations, for the construction of a better world.


On 25 April 40 years ago a close observer of the city of San Francisco related how there was a gathering of representatives of various states, some of which had a proud past, while others had been in century-long isolation, with cultures that had changed little; some had been overwhelmed by the chaos of war, while others had just begun to move along the paths of history. The differences between the countries, both spiritual and material, were reflected in the flowing robes of the desert, the saris and the turbans. They were meeting under the aegis of peace and the most generous hopes for the building of a new and different world which would draw inspiration from the shattering experience mankind had lived through until then. It was said that men at long last had learned through bitter experience that the Tower of Babel could be built, and it was hoped that this time it would reach to the sky.
At the conclusion of that Conference Lord Halifax expressed the yearnings of the people of 51 nations, vested in the United Nations Charter which they had created in order to bring a future of peace and security, co-operation and democracy:
"Let us pray, keeping equally in mind the needs of the world and our own weakness, that what we have done, assisted by the hand of God, here in the past few weeks will be worthy of the faith that gave rise to it and the human suffering at the cost of which it was achieved."
In this general debate most of the eminent speakers have quite rightly agreed that the President at this session of the General Assembly bears an enormous responsibility. The challenge faced by the United Nations at this time is matched only by the responsibility assumed by the founders of the Organization four decades ago. We are fortunate that an experienced diplomat has been elected President of this Assembly. We are certain that he is fully familiar with every aspect of the work of this Organization, because of his years of outstanding service and his personal dedication to the cause of peace, and his election as President of the Assembly is also a tribute to Spain. That noble and admirable country gave birth to us and nourished us, and is permanently committed to the lofty purposes and principles of the Charter.
The phenomenon of the world Organization has become possible only in the twentieth century. The old world empires were only an expression of expanded sovereignties. Before this century the world had a very weak political framework, based on a precarious balance of power. In our age, international relations are based rather on interaction between power and morality. Power expressed through the use of force in relations among States has been gradually curtailed by the new responsibilities imposed on the monopoly of power. Even the super-Powers have been obliged to adjust to the restrictions on the use of force imposed by considerations of their own survival. No State in our age can invoke the use of force in moral terms without previously availing itself of the means of negotiation and international law.
We are still far from achieving the Plan for Perpetual Peace of the Vicar of St. Peter, or from governing the international community on the basis of the principle of magnanimity advocated by Burke; but it is equally true that today's world is far removed from the realities confronted by our forefathers, the builders of a past which still has its repercussions on the historical development of peoples and States.
The fortieth anniversary of the founding of the united Nations invites us to ponder dispassionately on the most appropriate way of meeting the challenge of today's world. International relations have become universalized with the dizzying increase in the membership of the international community. The list of the protagonists on the world stage has grown more diverse, thus complicating the development of this Organization and the attainment of its purposes: international peace and security.
Today's world is one in which interchanges of all kinds between nations have been intensified and multiplied, a phenomenon that runs counter to the fragmentation of the world into numerous sovereignties, national and absolute. These interchanges are at once a reason for the integration of the most dissimilar societies and a source of previously unknown conflicts, which are none the less always risky and dangerous.
But we cannot act today without taking into account the fact that international issues are no longer the preserve of an elite of initiates. There is a genuine international debate in which the citizens of democratic countries take an active part in the formulation of national foreign policy and, what is more, in the pattern of continuing relations between third States. The impressive development of communications and the resulting realization that many subjects in international affairs affect the life of ordinary citizens has led to an
unaccustomed publicity being given to diplomacy which still cannot replace the efficacy of methods of private negotiation in order to reach working compromises.
He are now experiencing a world which has left behind the old systems of colonial and imperialist domination, a world which is caught between nationalism and the constant human need for political freedom. The struggle for national independence cannot make liberty irrelevant. None the less, the United Nations, which has contributed so greatly to the process of decolonization, which started at the end of the Second World War, notes the increasing frequency of the imprisonment of man by the State.
Now we are living in a world in which the concept of war equates with total annihilation. The development of thermonuclear weapons and the strategy of deterrence have left the destiny of mankind hanging by a thread. This is a sword of Damocles, which may deliver a mortal blow to the whole of mankind and plunge us into chaos.
Today we see a world in which tensions have shifted away from the old centers of power towards new zones of instability located outside the territories of the major Powers and concentrated in developing countries, in which the various ideologies and sources of hegemony pursue their own interests.
Today we third-world nations cannot be indifferent to the imperative need for understanding among the strongest in order to prevent, as Bertrand Russell said, open confrontation and the oppression of the weak nations.
Now more than ever are we duty-bound to close the gap between wealthy and poor nations. In this century, which is now drawing to a close, we have experienced a period in which the fundamental idea of economic and social progress has been focused on the construction of increasingly egalitarian national societies. The challenge of the future is this: Will we be able to build a more just and more humane world society?
Today's world tells us also that we have set up a genuine international system with a series of specialized agencies which are working to fulfill their responsibility to bring men closer together as brothers through co-operative efforts for common understanding and common well-being. This impressive network of agencies also leads us to inquire whether we have been capable of meeting with the urgency required the fundamental needs to which they are addressed: hunger, illness and ignorance, which afflict to an equal, extent millions of persons languishing in despair and anguish in "a world divided for all".
The States Members of the United Nations are confronting this reality, which is, at the same time, what we have done and what we have failed to do to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, to promote fundamental human rights, to maintain justice and respect for international obligations and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.
The United Nations as an Organization cannot be merely a debating society in which the sufferings of our peoples and the sorrow of mankind is described. As well as being a forum for exchanging views, the United Nations must increasingly be a meeting-place for finding collective solutions to the problems facing this age of unknowns and expectations.
There is also a growing requirement for the United Nations to be known more for its achievements than for its failures in the effective maintenance of international peace and security. This requires that Member States should strengthen their political role and their means of action in order resolutely to confront the dangers that lie in wait for us.
There is a need for the United Nations to have the ability to change with time and in time. Perhaps this capacity for accommodation and flexibility has enabled it to survive moments of immense confusion and turmoil. But essentially it is necessary that the United Nations should cease to be peripheral to the vital interests of the Member States, particularly the super-Powers. It must assume shared responsibility based on a pattern of national policies which will not interfere with the fundamental objectives of the United Nations, policies which will not challenge its authority but which will, on the contrary, strengthen its prestige.
The "first and most important step towards peace is to desire peace sincerely"; and this sincere desire does not allow for reserving spheres of competence, which would be detrimental to the dynamic and effective activity of the United Nations in building peace on the solid basis of collective interest rather than of isolated and exclusive interests.
We should not be top confident that the worst will not in fact come to pass. At die present time there are political, strategic and security conditions which are so dangerous that they constitute in themselves an appeal to common sense and compromise. There are economic and social conditions which, like open wounds, are clamoring not just for compassion but also for justice and equity. Let us not commit the error of relying unduly on our development and underestimating our weakness. We should never have to repeat the words of Sir Charles Webster, who said, deploring the situation which gave rise to the second world conflagration:
"There were so many enmeshed links between nations that some, with excessive enthusiasm, felt they were sufficient to check the forces that were capable of leading to war. None the less, when they were put to the test those intermeshed links turned out to be no stronger than a spider's web across the mouth of a cannon."
The United Nations is today facing a whole range of problems that will have a great bearing on our future. We note with justifiable concern that little or nothing has been done by us towards disarmament, the reduction of the arsenals of war. The principle enunciated at the Hague Peace Conference in 1899 remains valid. It is that
"it is highly desirable for the improvement of the material and moral well-being of mankind that there should be a restriction of military expenditures, which at the present time constitute a heavy burden on the world".
We are today confronted with the same problems as yesterday, without having committed ourselves to freeing mankind from the sinister specter of the balance of terror, death and destruction.
Lowes Dickinson explained this, showing a striking grasp of the facts, when he
said:
"As long as the States of the world go on arming themselves with a view to war, as long as they continue to follow policies which can be carried out only by means of war and as long as they enter into alliances with the expectation of war and conduct their relations in secret because of war, there will continue to be war, until that war puts an end to mankind; and throughout
all that time anything alleged to be a reason for the continued existence of the State - the prosperity of the people, the quest for knowledge, the practice of art and religion - will be sacrificed to Moloch, which in turn will offer nothing back except the expectation of sacrificing it all yet again."
We may well wonder whether the twenty-first century will find us without an institutional system that will truly get rid of the use of force as a means of resolving conflicts between States, without a system for the prevention of conflicts, without a collective system capable of suppressing acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace. It is truly a source of concern that the international legal order, notwithstanding the noteworthy progress made in the development of its codification, might in fact fail, even in certain specific areas to become a common law of mankind applicable on a mandatory basis as the only way of exorcising the bellicose spirit. A common law of mankind which would give practical expression to the maxim of Thomas More that "nothing is less glorious than glory won by war".
With that in mind, we must work hard to banish the use of force as a means of settling disputes between States. As long as the system of the peaceful settlement of disputes is applied universally, to that extent also we shall be serving the essential purpose of the united Nations, which is the maintenance of international peace and security. As fat as the mechanisms of peace are concerned, the task facing us is such a pressing one that we must make greater progress than has been made in the machinery for extermination through war.
Within the broad and fundamental chapter in the history of peoples concerned with human rights, it has been one of the primary purposes of the United Nations to promote respect for the dignity of man. None the less, the world witnesses with indignation and horror continuing disregard of and contempt for human rights, which has given rise and continues to give rise to acts of barbarity which are an outrage to the conscience of mankind. This is all the more important in that it has been universally recognized that the highest expression of man and the advent of a world in which human beings, freed from fear and poverty, enjoy freedom will derive from those rights.
He are also deeply convinced that, through world and regional institutions, one of the primary obligations of the community of nations is to protect those rights and condemn those who, inexcusably, violate them and trample them under foot.
The concept of human rights has spread from the original individual and public rights to rights in the economic, social and cultural spheres which should be enjoyed by all men and worsen. Such a concept indicates that we should also strengthen our struggle against discriminatory practices which, unfortunately, still prevail against certain human groups and minorities.
By virtue of their very universal essence, human rights cannot be the privilege of one country or group of countries or to any system of government. Human rights, in addition to being a collective obligation, constitute an ethical obligation that must be fulfilled in each and every one of our societies.
He shall discover that the true essence and nobility of democracy lies precisely in respect for and the promotion of human rights, and in those States where the systematic violation of those rights tarnishes our primordial commitment to the Creator we shall find the most cruel expression of offensive and degrading absolutism.
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the United Nations is that of meeting the most pressing demand of our time - the demand for international justice. The United Nations has devoted much of its efforts and resources to this task, through its specialized agencies, in areas such as food, population, trade, education, refugees, children, industrialization, technology, development finance and monetary questions. This titanic task requires a new political impetus. There is an urgent need for motivation, which will be derived from the feeling of humanity and the need for the survival of the international community, for without any doubt international injustice is the greatest threat to international peace and security.
Nearly 900 million human beings are in a situation of extreme poverty. There are so many needs that we must establish a system of priorities and it will be necessary to review the categories of countries which should receive international assistance in accordance with the particular features of their economic and social situation. In order to be successful it is essential to incorporate in this task of salvation the efforts of the populations of the countries themselves.
In this regard, the United Nations should establish an international development strategy that would give concrete expression to assistance in well-structured programs based on proper priorities. We need precise plans and goals, the achievement of which necessitates also a commitment on the part of the most privileged countries to contribute a sufficient quantity of material and human resources.
The United Nations should give proof of the political will of its Members and the ability to innovate and show imagination.
We cannot continue to allow millions of human beings to die of hunger from inanition, nor can we continue to tolerate the present high rates of infant mortality when measures such as universal immunization, proposed by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), can effectively reduce them before long.
We cannot continue to allow arms expenditures to grow in inverse ratio to the decline in international development aid.
We cannot continue allowing the absurdity of having the poorer countries being major capital exporters despite their heavy burdens resulting from the overwhelming weight of servicing foreign debt, given the onerous conditions in which financing has taken place.
We cannot continue to allow the massive efforts to develop production in the third world to be frustrated by restrictions imposed by international trade designed to protect the most advanced economies.
We cannot go on tolerating a situation in which, through an imbalance in the terms of trade, our countries continue to transfer wealth to the richer countries, thus widening the enormous gulf that already separates them from us.
We cannot continue to allow delays in the necessary reforms in the international monetary system that should permit greater participation by the developing countries in decision-making that directly affects them, a participation that should become particularly evident in the processes of adjustment of their economies but which will not mean greater social sacrifices that might destabilize their political and economic systems.
The United Nations has an agenda that is crucial for the years ahead. The report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues put it as follows:
"At the beginning of a new decade, just 20 years from the millennium, we must rise above disputes and routine negotiations and face the problems that threaten us over the long term. We live in a world where poverty and hunger continue in vast regions on earth, in which weapons are manufactured and sold as never before, and in which the destructive capacity to blow our world to smithereens has been built up.
"What can now be seen on the agenda is the reordering of international relations, the establishment of a new order and a broad approach to development problems. A similar process of reconstruction and renewal should be guided by the principle of equality of rights and opportunities. It should seek just settlements in order to put an end to grave injustices. It must put an end to pointless disputes and promote the common well-being of nations. Experience shows that there will be a need for great determination and firmness of purpose in order to achieve structural changes that will be just and of mutual benefit."
We must not leave out of account in our thoughts the machinery necessary to keep the peace. We see that the United Nations has to cope with problems of efficiency and means for action essential for it to do its job.
In this connection I wish to draw the attention of delegations to the problems arising from the lack of implementation of the provisions for collective security provided for in the Charter, the lack of a harmonious relationship between the principal political bodies of the United Nations, the use of those bodies as spheres for confrontation and rostrums for propaganda, and the importance of guaranteeing the political independence and initiative of the Secretary-General in pursuit of the purposes and principles of the Organization.
We also cannot fail to refer to the need for greater, more effective co-ordination among the organs, bodies and institutions of this international entity and the urgent need to establish priorities to solve the basic problems and to discuss subjects of fundamental importance.
The United Nations now faces a challenge of knowing whether man will prove able to perfect a system to govern himself and to exercise the right to self-determination inherent in the purposes of the United Nations.
The main issues on which the United Nations capacity to fulfill the purposes and principles of the San Francisco Charter are being challenged today have been demonstrated by a series of peripheral conflicts which are detrimental to international stability and the security of States.
These conflicts, most of which are local in nature, have been before the Organization for many years and in some cases for decades. The fact that pending conflicts remain unresolved is also a new test for the world system of peace and security.
Suffice it for me to refer to a few striking and disturbing examples cause us some concern: the case of the bloody struggle going on for the independence of Namibia; the foreign occupation of Kampuchea and Afghanistan; the bloody war between Iraq and Iran; the prolonged absence of South Korea from this Organization, a fact that strikes at the principle of the universality of the united Nations; the violence that is shaking the Middle East; the uncertainty as to the future of Cyprus; the crisis afflicting the Central American region; the conflict of the Malvinas, and the odious policy of racial discrimination in South Africa, which is an illustration of the dominance of the force of might over the force of law.
Honduras, my country, belongs to a part of the world that in the last few years has been subjected to the distressing harassment characteristic of international relations.
In Central America it would seem that the ideological hegemonies have turned a deaf ear to the cry of despair of the poor and oppressed which are so moving as to strike a responsive chord in the heart of Central American man.
In this region of the Western Hemisphere a struggle is going on that is sometimes very much out in the open, and other times less so, aimed at imposing
designs contrary to the dignity of the human being in order to give free rein to a totalitarianism that is incompatible with our peoples' desire to redress injustice.
The constant effort to secure freedom as an instrument for a better destiny for man; the unrelenting desire for justice as a principle that gives each one what is his due; the struggle for democracy as a pluralistic expression in the political and economic sphere; and the dedication to the cause of peace as constituting a state of understanding and not an artificial truce, all find in Central America a fertile seed-bed in which to germinate in the furrows of human activity; but this is a land abandoned because "it has been waiting in vain for the gardener". Those at the level of world-wide confrontations must not forget that man is part of society and that society is part of the State, and must respond to Christian and spiritual values so that all human beings may coexist on a basis of co-operation and solidarity.
In this tumultuous region in which we live - and live together - attempts are being made to supplant our aspirations for a better future. This is the region which has so long been under discussion by the Contadora Group, which seeks to replace our collective plight by dedication to peace and democracy, to justice and security, so that men can work together as brothers and flourish.
If we fail to understand this situation, which speaks for itself like a cry of protest at an unhinged world, we shall be failing to interpret properly a fundamental aspect of the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted in this Organization, which warns us that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, so that men should not be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression.
Natural and political tragedies, in violent and destructive form, have struck the destiny of our peoples. The earthquake which caused such damage in Mexico has greatly saddened us. The international community has expressed its solidarity with this Latin American nation, where the republican voice of Benito Juarez was once heard saying that among men as among nations, peace lies in respecting the rights of others. The kidnapping of the daughter of the President of El Salvador is a barbarous act which deserves to be strongly condemned by all countries which seek, through dialog and democracy, systems of civilized and pluralistic coexistence.
There are other actions which downgrade the noble aspirations of man on this continent. The breach of values of the human being looms like a specter roaming the dark alleys of absolutism, while violations of the attributes of the sovereignty of the people strike at the very essence of our collective desires at a time when we should all be concentrating on our internal obligations and international commitments.
When submitting the fifth annual report on the work of the United Nations
on 12 July 1950, barely five years after the foundation of the Organization, the then Secretary-General, Trygve Lie, said:
"At the time that this report is written it is not possible to be confident about the future of the United Nations and the prospects of world peace. But it is equally impossible to be hopeless. There is too much support among the peoples of the world for the United Nations and too much constructive work being carried out under United Nations auspices to permit any of those who bear the burdens of authority in the Governments of Members or in the Secretariat of the United Nations to relax for an instant in the determination to do everything possible to save the united Nations as a universal Organization standing firmly against war and to make it a stronger instrument for peace and progress.
"If the United Nations is able to emerge intact and successful from the present crisis, its strength and influence will be immeasurably enhanced, and the world will be much closer to lasting peace than at any time since 1945." (A/1287, Introduction, p. XIV)
In the four decades that have passed since its founding, the United Nations has represented in the history of mankind, an instrument available to all for the building of peace, as the supreme ideal of man and of nations. While in San Francisco we were able to meet the challenge of the post-war period, it is now our obligation to attack with equal strength and resolution our task of building a world of peace and freedom.
It was for those ideals that General Francisco Morazan, who was born in Honduras 193 years ago today, fought and died. General Morazan, born on 3 October 1792, was shot on 15 September 1842 by the die hards of conservative reaction, just when the twenty-first anniversary of the political independence of
that turbulent region was being celebrated. He is the most outstanding hero and. martyr of the unity of Central America, the creator and President of the Federation of the five States, -who spurned the lure of dictatorship in order to establish a democratic government and who engraved in the bronze of history the visionary warning that freedom must recover its rules in the world.