Permit me, Mr. President, on behalf of my delegation to extend to you our most sincere congratulations on your unanimous and well deserved election to the presidency of the thirty-first session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Your outstanding qualities of leadership and your immense experience in diplomacy are well known to all of us. We are confident that your undying and dedicated efforts as President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of th" Sea will prove beneficial to our deliberations. The thirty ^ session of the General Assembly is an auspicious occasion for the non-aligned movement: it is particularly gratifying to the Kingdom of Lesotho that the President of this session should be not only a distinguished and long-standing servant of the United Nations but also an outstanding representative of a non-aligned and Commonwealth country.
2.	i would also like to express my delegation's gratitude to your distinguished predecessor, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr. Gaston Thorn, for the brilliant manner in which he discharged his functions as President of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly.
3.	I also take pleasure in welcoming the Republic of Seychelles, whose membership in this Organization we were most happy to sponsor. The Seychelles is a country with which we have the most fraternal relations. We look forward to its contribution towards solving-critical problems facing small States Members of this Organization.
4.	We deeply regret that, as a result of the objections of certain Member States, the two Republics of Angola and Viet Nam have not been accorded membership in the United Nations. In the interests of universality of membership of this Organization, we sincerely hope that these two Republics will be allowed to take their place among us in the very near future.
5.	It is not a matter of surprise that the agenda of this Assembly contains so many pressing and urgent issues, for it is a feature of modern life that, at the same time as man scales the contours of outer space, on this planet he is creating problems of such profound dimensions that the very concept of progress has become of dubious value. The very elements that sustain life-the waters of the rivers and of the seas, the agricultural landscape of the world and the air we breathe -have all been desecrated by man's folly.
6.	The march of humanity towards the twenty-first century is matched by a singular failure to solve the problem of man's peace with himself.
7.	In the Middle East, the people of Palestine continue to remain hostages to a situation that threatens international peace. In 1974, this Assembly took a most profound decision on the question of Palestine [resolution 3236 (XXIX)]. The twenty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly finally recognized the injustice of treating the people of Palestine as refugees. By resolution 3236 (XXIX), the United Nations finally recognized the basic human rights of a people that has not known any homeland or any peace for well over 30 years. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is no substitute for the responsibility of the United Nations for resolving the question of the people of Palestine.
8.	My Government accepts as a matter of fundamental principle the right of Israel to an existence. At the same time, my Government does not recognize the right of any nation in the Middle East to ail existence at the expense of other nations. We cannot accept the acquisition of territory of other States on the grounds of security. Neither can my Government accept changes in the economic, social or political topography of conquered territories under any pretext.
A/31/PV.29
9.	In Asia, the peace of South-East Asia is marred by the foot-note of the question of Korea. In 1973, this Assembly accepted a consensus  that North and South Korea should continue a dialog to resolve the outstanding problems between the two Koreas. Clearly, the consensus of 1973 is the most substantive basis for resolving the question of Korea, and I should like to express my delegation's appreciation to the two parties for the understanding which has been reached to remove this issue from the agenda of this session and for their readiness to continue their dialog.
10.	Economic imbalance continues to frustrate the efforts of the developing Countries to improve the living conditions of their peoples. The new international economic order adopted by the United Nations in 11974 generated hope for millions of people of the developing world. And yet the impotence of the United Nations in translating that order into reality has meant more poverty, more helplessness and more bitterness for the third world. As the President of the WoHd Bank observed not so long ago, there are 1 billion people all over the world who live in poverty. As Mr. McNamiara said:
"Some 900 million of these individuals subsist on incomes of less than $75 a year in an environment of squalor, hunger and hopelessness. They are the absolute poor, living in situations so deprived as to be below any rational definition of human decency. Absolute poverty is a condition of life so limited by illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, high infant-mortality and low life-expectancy as to deny its victims the very potential of the genes with which they were born."
11.	The ink is not yet dry on the new international economic order. The poor of the world are not asking for welfare. They are not asking for hand-outs but for an opportunity to help themselves. Millions of peoples of member countries of this Assembly are locked in the tight grip of the poverty of the rural hinterland of the world. Yet other millions are subjected to the grim poverty of the urban ghetto, the shanty town, the tin hovels, and the locations of South Africa and Rhodesia and Namibia. There is no country which is immune from the problems of the rural and the urban poor. And it does not take much imagination to recognize that unless we all concentrate our joint energies, our intellects, on solving this problem', the ghettos of the world will deal most destructively with the rich of the cities-just as the rural poor of the world will deal most savagely with the urban rich of the world.
12.	At stake is the whole fabric of an orderly international society. The seams of this fabric are already too frayed- frayed by the selfishness of the rich in transferring capital and technology to the developing world on terms that outrage the dignity of the peoples of the third world.
13.	In this connexion, my Government supports the plea made by the President of the World Bank that the developed countries speedily conclude negotiations-by March 1977-to make transitional financing available to avoid any break in the flow of resources from the International Development Agency, to the less developed countries like Lesotho.
14.	A peaceful international order is being threatened by the tendencies of certain coastal States to hold land-locked States hostage with regard to access to the sea and to the riches of the oceans.
15.	My Government has actively participated in the deliberations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea because we believe that this historic' Conference should work out a just and equitable law for more than two thirds of our planet and its resources. We are rather disappointed, however, with the very slow progress that is being made at the Conference. We hope and trust that the next session will be fruitful and produce a universally accepted convention. Being more than a landlocked country, we are grateful that the convention is to embody and spell out the right of free access to and from the sea for land-locked States. We trust and hope that the coastal States will accept the right of land-locked and geographically disadvantaged States t<J participate on an equal basis with coastal States in the resources of the areas beyond the territorial waters of 12 nautical miles. As regards the resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, we expect the Conference to work out an economically viable regime which will produce tangible benefits for mankind. We should like to see the Conference adopt the principle that the sharing of the benefits of the area should be on the basis of need, with particular reference to the land-locked countries.
16.	On this occasion, you will have to bear with me if I focus my remarks on southern Africa. Southern Africa has featured on the agenda of this Assembly for well over 25 years. It is an area that poses the most tragic consequences for the international community.
17.	My country is not on the fringes of southern Africa; it is in the vortex. And thus the interests of my Government, of my people, are directly threatened by the situation in southern Africa. I speak of southern Africa not as an observer, not as a witness, but as one directly involved.
18.	Southern Africa is an area rich in natural resources. It is an area that boasts of every mineral of use to man. It is an area that is so richly endowed in agricultural resources that it is criminal that children still die in southern Africa because of malnutrition. In its human resources, southern Africa is so rich in potential that it contains a promise for the world and for the development of the African continent.
19.	Of all the regions of the world, none has the wonderful opportunity that southern Africa has of demonstrating the common humanity of man irrespective of race, of religion and of sex. Yet the promise of southern Africa is today darkened by the cloud of racism. Southern Africa today does not offer the world an example of racial harmony. It offers, instead, racial bigotry and the promise of a racial holocaust. Southern Africa does not present to the world the common humanity of man, but its denial.
20.	In South Africa, in Namibia, in Zimbabwe, the refusal of white minorities to recognize the basic right of the African majorities has been accorded the halo of a dogma, that of institutionalized racism, or apartheid.
21.	Of all the evils that man is capable of inflicting upon himself, there is none more evil than racism. The genius of science has put man on the threshold of an era that contains profound promises for humanity. And yet man still cannot change the color of his skin. Nor is it necessarily desirable that man should acquire that capability.
22.	Throughout man's history, man's quest for liberty has varied in its forms as tyranny has taken new forms and
threatened from new quarters. At times, the tyrant has been the church, and even today lives are still being lost because of religious intolerance. At times, the tyrant has been the feudal monarch. Today the tyrant is racial bigotry.
23.	Fifteen years ago, men and women of Sharpeville fell under the bullets of a racist system.
24.	A few months ago, the children of Soweto faced the same guns.
25.	The carnage in Soweto, in Langa and in other black townships of South Africa is the clearest testimony of the brutality of apartheid.
26.	The graves of the black children of South Africa who died at the hands of the South African police will forever remain symbols of the mindlessness of racism.
27.	Last year the white leaders of South Africa asked the world for a grace period within which the world would see changes in South Africa. The gunfire of Soweto clearly indicates how far the white leaders of South Africa have gone in effecting changes. They have gone beyond the pale of common sense.
28.	If today the African youth of South Africa is ready to take up arms, it is only because for too long its life has been blighted by the brutality of racism and the dignity and self-respect of its parentage denied by white minority rule.
29.	As an African, I do not advocate violence as a solution to human problems, and yet violent struggle is often the only option left to oppressed peoples. It is an irony of our times that PAIGC;3 MFLA,  FRELIMO,  in their bitter struggle for the freedom of Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique, created the very conditions that today allow the people of Portugal the right to free speech, the right of assembly and the right to participate in government.
30.	Even the white minorities of southern Africa will acquire basic freedoms from the sweat and sacrifices of the liberation movements of southern Africa. In this sense, the struggle of the youth of Zimbabwe, of Namibia and of South Africa has a most profound meaning. That struggle is fundamentally in the interests of the rule of law and basic morality.
31.	My Government and the people of Lesotho do not claim any monopoly of wisdom about how the situation of southern Africa can be solved. On the contrary, we recognize that the people of Zimbabwe, the Government of the United Kingdom and the United Nations will have to solve the problem of Rhodesia.
32.	My Government has noted the recent initiatives of Britain and the United States on Rhodesia. We have also taken note of the decision of the British Government, as the legal administering Power in Rhodesia, to convene a conference later this month. In the view of my Government, the agenda of that conference must concentrate on the transfer of constitutional power to the majority of the people of Zimbabwe.
33.	It does not take too much insight to recognize that the success of the British/American initiatives is predicated on the successes scored by the liberation movement of Zimbabwe. The credit for ending the Smith rebellion belongs first and foremost to the people of Zimbabwe. It is to them that we owe appreciation for the efforts aimed at ending 11 years of Rhodesia's plight under the illegal Smith regime.
34.	The liberation movement of Zimbabwe, the youth of Zimbabwe whose life was snuffed out by the Smith rebels, those who had to assume responsibility for the armed struggle against the Smith regime and its supporters these are the real heroes of the recent Rhodesian drama.
35.	After the bitter struggles that the people of Zimbabwe have waged, after suffering 11 years of Smith's rebellion, the people of Zimbabwe have a clear and undeniable right to basic freedoms and majority rule now, and not after two more years of compromises with those who for so long have been responsible for the denial of these, freedoms to them. No Government, except that of Zimbabwe, any longer possesses any moral authority to dictate the timing of the exercise of basic rights by the people of Zimbabwe. Nor should the Smith rebels feature in any considerations of financial assistance to Zimbabwe.
36.	Basic morality demands that the people of Zimbabwe, a people that has suffered so much and for so long, should be the recipients of any outside assistance to Zimbabwe. Now that victory is at hand, the people of Zimbabwe must be vigilant against foreign elements, which will inevitably attempt to sow confusion and undermine the stability, peace and independence of Zimbabwe.
37.	With regard to Namibia, we recognize that the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO], the United Nations and the people of Namibia have a direct responsibility for terminating South Africa's illegal occupation of that Territory. SWAPO has already demonstrated its determination to resort to armed struggle to free Namibia from South African control. On the other hand, as an expression of the statesmanship of its leaders, SWAPO has indicated its willingness to participate in tripartite talks with the United Nations and the Government of South Africa about ending South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia.
38.	The Government of South Africa has a clear duty to accept the offer of SWAPO. The solution to the problem of Namibia will not emanate from the discussions at the Tumhalle conference: it will only emerge from contacts with the authentic and legitimate leaders of the people of Namibia.
39.	Mr. Vorster must recognize that political wisdom dictates that he speak to the leadership of SWAPO and not to pretenders to the leadership of the people of Namibia.
40.	In recognition of the complexity of the problem my Government accepts, as a matter of fundamental reality and common sense, that the people of South Africa will themselves have to solve the problem of apartheid. And yet my Government has a most direct responsibility in the whole question of South Africa.
41.	The first concern of my Government is that white minority rule and racism are so obviously evil that any man of goodwill and of basic morality must be outraged by them. Further, my Government has an undeniable right to safeguard the lives and welfare of the people of Lesotho. And racial war in southern Africa will impose extreme pressures on any Government to meet this duty.
42.	In Sharpeville, 37 of the dead were citizens of Lesotho. Whenever the guns of apartheid open their lethal fire, among the targets are my countrymen.
43.	In blatant disregard of international law and basic principles governing relations among States, even the very sovereignty of my country has been violated by agents of the South African Government. The police of South Africa have repeatedly and illegally entered my country and kidnapped South African refugees resident in Lesotho. In the darkness of the night they have carried out their nefarious activities. They have converted the common frontier between Lesotho and South Africa into a target area for shooting at citizens of Lesotho. They have created a climate in South Africa which has led even ordinary whites in that country to believe that citizens of Lesotho are a legitimate target of abuse and assault, a target with no rights, not even the right to life itself.
44.	I do not wish to go into the details of every incident that has been created by agents of the South African Government in its relations with Lesotho. At the same time, I have a clear duty to inform this Assembly that my Government has suffered repeated provocations created by the Government of South Africa.
45.	For too long, my Government has opted for quiet diplomacy. For too long, we have hoped that those in charge in South Africa would realize that the activities of their agents could create a most dangerous situation in southern Africa. My Government now has come to recognize that these activities, unchecked, are calculated to frighten the people of Lesotho into submission and cow my Government into docility. In response to the provocations, my Government has made the strongest protests to the Government of South Africa.
46.	We shall not be cowed. We shall not be frightened. We shall never accept any situation that attempts to diminish the independence and compromise the sovereignty of Lesotho.
47.	My Government cannot in these circumstances remain indifferent to a situation that so directly affects its own citizens and their welfare. My Government adheres faithfully to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States. But my Government cannot accept the right of any Government in southern Africa to create conditions that threaten the peace of southern Africa, not to precipitate a racial war for the sake of discredited notions of racial superiority.
48.	In 1974, the people of Lesotho were accorded the rare honor of presenting a posthumous award by the Organization of African Unity [OAU] to that great southern African leader and Nobel peace-prize winner, Chief Albert Luthuli. The people of Lesotho accepted the honor of conferring this award as a gesture of our peaceful intentions towards all the people of South Africa.
49.	My Government has never denied the rights of the white minorities. But neither shall my country ever acquiesce in the denial of the basic rights of the African majorities of southern Africa.
50.	Six years ago, my Prime Minister, the Honorable Mr. Leabua Jonathan, proposed discussions between the white minorities and independent Africa on the basis of the Lusaka Manifesto on Southern Africa.  That process of discussion is now continuing on the basis of the Dar es Salaam declaration on Southern Africa.  Africa, in its profound humanity, continues to offer the white minorities a chance-a last chance-to avert racial war. Time is no longer on the side of the unjust, but on the side of those striving for liberty. Today, a dialog between independent Africa and the white minorities is almost peripheral to the issue of a racial confrontation. I recognize that it was an act of political prudence for Mr. H. Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, to meet my Prime Minister in 1965. I fully appreciate the wisdom of Mr. Vorster, his successor, in continuing those meetings. No one can minimize the courage of Mr. Vorster in meeting President Kaunda and the leaders of Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls last February. And yet the bridges of dialog for peace, for justice and for basic rights are not going to be forged at Victoria Falls. Nor are they going to be forged between Pretoria and the capitals of independent Africa. The bridges for justice, for any meaningful dialog, must span Robben Island and Cape Town.
51.	To the leaders of the white minorities I have a simple message: as politicians you have displayed a most adroit ability in arranging meetings with leaders of independent Africa. Your challenge has always been one of statesmanship. Unclasp southern Africa from the cold grip of racism. Muster the political will to free southern Africa from a racist constituency. Too much is at stake for all of us, for our descendants, for humanity, for domestic political considerations to dictate the outcome of our fate and the peace of southern Africa.
52.	Last week the people of Lesotho celebrated their tenth anniversary of independence from colonial rule. Independence for any country is a condition of great moment. But independence for a country that is an enclave in South Africa is much more. For the last 10 years, Lesotho has been an island of freedom in a sea of racism. We have Ken an island of refuge for victims of repression and apartheid. Even today, the children of Soweto are seeking political asylum in Lesotho.
53.	No observer of southern Africa can miss the stark contrast between Lesotho and South Africa. Non-racialism
in Lesotho is matched on the South African side of our frontiers by a system that creates refugees out of school-children. lite Basotho nation was forged in the crucible of warfare in southern Africa. The Basotho people consist of virtually every ethnic grouping in southern Africa. Thus, for us, it is a tradition-a customary duty - to receive refugees from persecution. And yet, recent events in South Africa threaten to stretch our capability to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of apartheid. In the circumstances, this Assembly has a clear obligation to assist my Government to continue to provide refuge to the hungry, the weary and the persecuted of South Africa.
54.	Despite our geographical position and the problems we have had, the first 10 years of our independence have witnessed significant economic progress for Lesotho. My Government has created over 20 new industries where there were none in 1966. The Kingdom of Lesotho is today no longer a hostage market to South African infant industries. Nor are we now any longer resigned to the role of source of cheap labor for South African industry.
55.	I must, however, candidly admit that the presence of over 4G per cent of our manpower in South Africa continues to be the most critical problem facing my country. The system of migratory labor is essentially unsatisfactory, in that it unsettles family life without conferring any cushioning benefits on migrant workers. My country is not alone in being confronted with this problem. Migratory labor into South Africa does, however, present problems involving the denial to migrant laborers of their very basic human rights.
56.	Lesotho miners in South Africa are housed in com-pounds that insult their very manhood. Their families are not allowed to join them. In our times, when the rights of women have become almost universally acknowledged, the wives of our miners in South Africa are denied the very basic right of living with their husbands for periods ranging from nine months to two years. The miners are employed on contracts of such short duration that they do not provide for advancement because, on the expiry of every contract, the miners are treated as new recruits. Nor do the contracts allow for any pension schemes or other terminal benefits. Under South African laws, the miners are denied the very basic right of any worker to join labor unions for the purpose of bargaining for better terms of employment.
57.	In the current circumstances, the options open to my Government are limited. With the assistance of the World Bank, we have been engaged in a serious examination of ways of reabsorbing this labor into the Lesotho economy. Clearly, for such an effort to be successful, my country would need a massive infusion of capital to raise the level of employment opportunities in Lesotho. In the short term, we are continuing to impress upon the main employers of our labor, including foreign investors in South Africa, the need to provide decent wages to our workers in conditions that respect their basic human rights.
58.	I should like to take this opportunity to reiterate to the United Nations the urgent need to convene a conference under the auspices of the Division of Human Rights of the United Nations to examine the whole question of migratory labor and to formulate general principles which will form the basis of a convention to safeguard the rights of migrant workers.
59.	From this platform I should also like to thank the United Nations system and States Members of the United Nations for the assistance that they have provided to my country and for the concern they have shown for consolidating our independence.
60.	In the second decade of independence we shall continue to count on the support of the United Nations, for, if anything, the next 10 years promise to be the most difficult for us. The Government of South Africa has already made known its intention to encircle my country with bantustans. My Government has repeatedly condemned the system of bantustans and rejected the Balkanization of South Africa as a solution to the problem of apartheid. The policy of bantustans is so lacking in sincerity, so devoid of any rational justification and so patently racist in conception that it does not provide any basis for resolving the question of apartheid.
61.	The policy of bantustans is bound to be short-lived, as it does not enjoy the support of the people of South Africa. Even some of the bantustan leaders have already made clear their opposition to it. It is a policy that has been formulated without any pretense of consultation with the people it most affects the majority of the African people of South Africa. And yet the Government of South Africa arrogantly persists in its implementation. That government has already made known its plans to grant independence to the Transkei. My Government will not acquiesce in any scheme that violates the territorial integrity of South Africa without the consent of the majority of the people of South Africa. To encircle my country with bantustans has no other objective than to complicate the already difficult position of my country.
62.	Those who are responsible for the creation of the bantustans will have to bear full responsibility for the difficulties that are bound to arise as a result of setting these bantustans on our borders and on territory that rightfully belongs to the Basotho nation.
63.	The twentieth session of the General Assembly in considering the future of Lesotho in 1965 had before it a draft resolution which inter alia asked the Assembly to request the United Kingdom as the then administering Power over Basutoland to take "immediate steps to return to the indigenous inhabitants all the land taken from them, whatever the form of or pretext for such alienation".
64.	The debate on this question at the twentieth session reflected the anxieties expressed by the people of Lesotho regarding parts of the territory of Lesotho that the former British colonial administration had wrongfully ceded to South Africa.
65.	It had been the consistent view of the people of Lesotho that large tracts of land in the South African provinces of the Free State, Natal and Cape Province rightfully belonged to the Basotho nation. The people of Lesotho still demand the return of these lands.
66.	Even as the twentieth session of the General Assembly was seized with this question, the Government of South Africa was frantically attempting to real conclusions with the erstwhile colonial administration in Lesotho to formalize the cessation of these lands and present the Government of the independent Kingdom of Lesotho with an accomplished fact.
67.	It is to the credit of the British Government in power in 1965 that it categorically refused to become implicated in these efforts to deny the people of Lesotho any voice in the finalization of the matter.
68.	In their communication of 1965, the authorities of the Government of South Africa had pressed upon the British Government the need to settle all outstanding border issues between the Republic and Basutoland, and had gone further to propose the establishment of a joint boundary commission.
69.	In 1968, the South African authorities again raised the question of the establishment of a joint boundary commission but reflecting the grand South African design to establish bantustans, the terms of reference proposed for the commission were now so restrictive as to empower the commission only to consider the demarcation and fencing of certain sectors of the boundary between the two countries where uncertainties exist regarding the actual ground location of the boundary.
70.	My Government has exchanged official communications with the Government of South Africa and held talks at official level aimed at resolving the question of the lands of the Basotho.
71.	The people of Lesotho are not interested in the location of fences and arbitrary boundaries but in substantive discussions on the return of their lands.
72.	My Government does not harbor any irredentist designs on South Africa.
73.	My Government accepted the view first put forth by South Africa in 1965 that all outstanding border questions should be settled by a judicial commission. This view is in conformity with our respect for law and the need not to add border questions to the already serious agenda on southern Africa.
74.	At the same time, it behooves my Government to put this matter on the public record of the United Nations.
75.	It is a measure of the difficulties that are bound to arise that the Government of South Africa has unilaterally terminated discussions with my Government on territories that the former colonial administration in Lesotho illegally ceded to South Africa.
76.	The termination of these discussions has been accompanied by determined encroachments on the remaining Lesotho territory. Only last year, the authorities of South Africa started erecting a weather station on Lesotho territory.
77.	The approaches by my Government to the South African authorities have elicited counter-claims by South Africa on the lands of Lesotho.
78.	It has never been the policy of my Government to inflame the already tense situation of southern Africa. Thus, my Government will continue to insist that the South African authorities remove their settlements on our territory. Further, with the support of the international community system, we shall continue to demand that the authorities of South Africa reopen bilateral, talks with my Government about the lands that were illegally ceded to that country.
79.	To those of my African brothers who have opted for support of the bantustan policy, I want to make this observation. Those who are actively destroying the territorial integrity of South Africa will one day have to answer to the majority of the people of South Africa for their actions. Neither shall the people of Lesotho forget those who are acquiescing in the occupation of Lesotho territory. Bantustan leaders must recognize a fundamental truth: dissent from bad policy is the test of leadership, the first obligation of patriotism and surest defense of freedom of the people of southern Africa.
80.	The situation in southern Africa demands the urgent attention of the United Nations; as the situation in southern Africa poses a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council has a direct obligation to exercise its powers in terms of the Charter; the international community equally has the responsibility to free that region of Africa from the blight of racism and human deprivation; to free the people of southern Africa from the tragedy of war; and to assure the majority of the people of southern Africa the opportunity to seek the liberation of the human spirit.


I am grateful for this opportunity to convey to you from this rostrum the warm greetings of the Government and people of Fiji, and to assure you of our continuing commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
64.	We are especially pleased that, in its current deliberations, the General Assembly should be guided by the representative of a country which has contributed greatly to the promotion of international goodwill and understanding. Your own significant contribution to the negotiations on the law of the sea as President gives us confidence that your judgment and wisdom will ensure the success of this session.
65.	I should also like to express the deep appreciation of the Government and people Fiji to our distinguished Secretary-General, whom we had the pleasure of welcoming
to our shores earlier this year, and also to the staff of all United Nations organizations and agencies.
66.	It is now six years since I last had the privilege of addressing this Assembly. I thought, therefore, it might be of interest to Members to hear briefly how progress and developments appear since then to a representative of a small country far away in the Pacific.
67.	One of the notable features of the period has been the growth of regional and other world-wide groupings. There has been the birth of new bodies like the partnership between the European Economic Community, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, formalized by the Lome Convention.10 Another new body is the South Pacific Forum. This latter must be one of die few international meetings in the world where it is the established practice that the national leaders confer on their own, without advisers and teams of technical experts (though these are on hand if required). Both these groups seem to me to have made significant impact and to have achieved worth-while results. And I think the reason is that they include representatives of developed and developing nations, working together side by side, to determine policies which take account of the needs and aspirations of all. That is not to say that such policies can always be determined and agreed upon. There can be hard words and hard bargaining. There can be deadlock. But at least there is the continuing opportunity for dialog and for all to put forward their viewpoints.
68.	Very different seem to me the activities of some other groupings which confine their membership to those of like philosophies, politics and persuasions and like stages of development From such bodies we are apt to hear numbers of pronouncements on world problems and issues; and yet such declarations tend not to result in successful execution. I wonder if it is not because the very people who are expected to pay for the execution of the policies are either very much in the minority, or excluded altogether. Could it be that this is an example of what has been called the tyranny of the majority?
69.	If, for example, we take a recent exposition of the principles of one of these bodies, we find that they can be very closely paralleled by texts from the Bible which call upon us to love our neighbor as ourselves; to do unto others as we would they would do unto us; and render no man evil for evil. And yet the same Bible has this to say about charity or love-what we call in Fijian "loloma" or
caring "I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I am without love I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I may dole out all I possess, but if I have no love I am none the better."
And the same passage lists the qualities of caring-they are patience, kindness, envy of no one, humility, modesty, courtesy and unselfishness; reluctance to take offense;
keeping no score of wrongs. And above all-it has no ending. Could there be a better description of the relationship that could, and should exist between peoples and countries? For there are parallel examples of the tyranny of the minority also-both of specially favored nations and of commercial groupings who similarly go their own exclusive way, and similarly should consider how to bridge the gap.
70.	The fuel crisis has shown us this most vividly. It has frustrated those of us in the third world who have interpreted development 23 industrialization. For all that has happened is that much of the wealth from oil has been transferred from the great multinational companies to the producers. In the jargon of the industry, the multinational companies were losing profits "upstream", from the oil producers, and therefore had to look for more profits "downstream", from refining, distributing and selling the petroleum products. So we now have a situation where it is to the benefit of both the oil producers and the distributors to maintain high price levels. The sufferers are the third world; and in general our only hope of progress is the development and exploitation of alternative sources of energy. To pursue this investigation we look to this great world body, and I appeal to it to treat this with the highest priority. But once again we have here our exclusive grouping forming their own cartel without consultation with, or regard for, the consumers.
71.	I talked earlier of the sort of relationship that was needed between peoples and countries. But how do we achieve this relationship? This brings me to my basic point that we cannot look for the achievement of concord and progress unless there is dialog and opportunity for the free expression of different viewpoints. And I stress dialog. For far too many meetings today consist of an endless series of individual addresses by delegation heads, prepared in advance, delivered whether relevant or repetitive, and in no way geared to generate the dialog and debate, question and answer, from which real solutions can emerge. The statements are prepared at least as much for national as international consumption, and careful arrangements are made for their release in home capitals to synchronize with their delivery. The pattern becomes so stereotyped that it is hard to escape. After all, what am I myself doing at this very moment? I have fallen into the very trap against which I am trying to sound a note of warning. I can only hope I may be forgiven on the grounds that I am trying to point another way, and that I do not propose to take up the time of representatives with my comments on individual international issues.
72.	I make one exception-and it is inescapable-southern Africa. I must frankly confess that, for a long time, we in the Pacific did not take much interest in the affairs of Africa. It was far away, contacts were few, and perhaps the administering Power was just as happy this should be so. So I think our real interest began after independence when we first attended meetings of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments and met intimately with leaders of the distinction of President Nyerere, President Kaunda and others, who put the issues of Africa starkly and dramatically. And they are men of Christian background and Christian principles. Then there was, of course, our experience in this great forum itself. And most recently we
found ourselves locked in the most complicated negotiations with the European Economic Community alongside the African countries as well as the Caribbean. While the West Indian countries certainly made a notable contribution, and we like to think we may ourselves have played a role, from the outset it was the Africans who were the solid pacemakers. All these contacts have brought us much closer to the people of Africa and their burning issues. Apartheid is anathema to us. We completely support majority rule in Rhodesia. But we do not support violence in any form on either side; and situations look very different when you are not living close at hand in Africa and daily in contact with a situation. But we have a racial situation of our own which we are slowly solving together. No race is getting all it wants, particularly the extremists, but men of goodwill of all our races, creeds, cultures and languages are striving together and maintaining dialog. As so we are speaking from experience, and I am more than ever convinced that only from dialog can come real lasting peace in Africa. It is perhaps symbolic that in the two hundredth anniversary year cf its own independence, the United States should have joined with the United Kingdom and African leaders to try to help bring such independence in Africa through peaceful dialog.
73.	And on dialog, can it be that the misunderstandings between developed and developing countries are so very different from the between the various parties in industry? And can it be that, just as in that field the only satisfactory way to achieve fair shares and a harmonious atmosphere is by continuous dialog and give and take, so it is in the international sphere?
74.	Perhaps before going further I should stress that in trying to learn some lessons from collective bargaining, I am in no way saying that the developed-developing country relationship is one of superior to inferior. After all, I was among those in the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries who objected to the word "controller" to describe the representative of the European Economic Community in the various countries where Community funds are channeled. He is now called "delegate", which almost by definition means a party to a discussion.
75.	In industry there are a number of broad categories of management objectives. Businessmen want to preserve and strengthen their business; they want stable and business-like relationships with bargaining agents; they have broad social and economic goals, as well as their own personal advancement.
76.	None of these are incompatible with reciprocal benefits to employees, provided that the latter's needs and aspirations are part of the whole decision-making process and that they have a positive role. It should be a matter of trying to find all the points of agreement and then identifying and trying to minimize points of difference. It is fortunately now generally recognized that there are substantial areas of decision where failure to consult would be not only unwise but fatal to an enterprise. Successful co-operation of this kind does not hit the. headlines, but it
- is what produces enduring results.
77.	All this is to stress dialog; it is the only way to reach solutions; and to exclude relevant parties from such
discussions is equally foolish, whether it be a group of developed or developing countries or anyone else. Exclusion causes suspicion, which can harden into resentment and render consensus difficult, if not impossible. Even if agreement is reached, it may leave grudges smoldering away.
78.	But when we come to have this dialog we have to know what we want and we have to know what to say. Other speakers more distinguished than myself will enlarge on the new international economic order. I am already on record as saying that perhaps our best first step is to build on existing associations such as the Lome Convention. In fact "start small".
79.	After all, "small is beautiful", as Professor Schumacher tells us when he pleads the pause for the transfer of intermediate technology and even techniques at a lower level. He says:
"... the best aid is intellectual aid-the gift of useful knowledge. It is better than material aid. After all, nothing becomes truly one's own except on the basis of some genuine effort to acquire it. Material gifts make people dependent, the gift of knowledge makes them free-provided it is the right kind of knowledge, of course."
80.	It is not only a matter of knowing what we want. We must abo know what we do not want. And very often the most important and most difficult lesson we have to learn as aid-receiving countries is to say "No". After all, we cannot substitute dollars for dignity. If we do, we undermine the humanity of the giver as well as the taker.
81.	One of the rather sad things is that, with all the advances in knowledge and techniques, we are in very real danger of losing knowledge which was available to our forefathers, and which was of great value. We are in danger of losing this knowledge simply because the holders of it are fast disappearing. But there is also an attitude of mind, among the less sophisticated members of our societies, which says that these are modern times, and we should not produce goods in such old-fashioned ways, when nowadays our young people are so well educated and advanced. The same applies to herbal and other remedies of a medical nature, and to traditional fishing and planting methods. The old Russian saying that the education of a child begins with his grandfather's education is equally true in the Pacific, where grandfathers preserve so much lore and knowledge that would be lost without their presence. At least we should have the opportunity of trying and judging, and not missing out by default, as it were. This requires active measures of preservation and encouragement.
82.	And finally, in closing, may I just leave with you one brief thought on one major difference I have noticed about aid giving in the Western world and in our own Pacific Island way. From the developed countries aid is given, largely in the form of charity, from a surplus after everything else has been looked after. Sacrifice is minimal and there is no implication of a gap left which at some stage will need to be replenished. In these circumstances it is hard, with the best intentions in the world-and these I do not deny-to establish complete identity with the recipient.
And there is a tendency to think that the best aid that can be conferred is aid which will help the recipient to lead a life more like that of the donor.
83.	Our method of giving is rather one of sharing what we have, so that in due course there will be an opportunity for the receiver to aid his neighbor. A reciprocal nexus is established; there is close involvement; and at the end of the day, all can look at each other in the eye.
84.	I am one of those who believe that we all have something to give and I think this is more and more realized by the developed countries as well. This belief and the will to implement it will not obviate the need for all the detailed economic, social and cultural studies. But it could invest them with a meaning, a purpose, an urgency and above all an integration where all could play their part towards a better world for all.


Mr. President, on behalf of my country and on my own behalf I am extremely pleased to express the sincere congratulations of my delegation to Mr. Amerasinghe on his election to the presidency of the thirty-first session of the General Assembly. The outstanding work which he has done as President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea assures us of wise, effective and expert leadership which will undoubtedly contribute to the success of our deliberations.
277.	May I also pay a tribute to the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr. Gaston Thorn, for his remarkable work as the head of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly.
278.	On behalf of my Government and on my own behalf I should like specially to greet our Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, who has served our Organization loyally and selflessly, with an honesty and dignity that have earned for him the gratitude of the entire world. His excellent understanding of the aspirations of mankind and his constant struggle for a lasting peace in the world, for the advancement of the peopled and for the strengthening of international security have established him as the most valuable official of the United Nations whose presence creates trust and confidence. We wish Mr. Waidheim all success for his future at the service of the international community.
279.	I should like, on behalf of the President of my country, His Excellency General Anastasio Somoza Debayle, to thank the Latin American group of States for having supported our candidacy for one of the vice- presidencies of the General Assembly. I should also like to thank all Member States who voted for us. As in the past, we shall give our full co-operation to the President of the General Assembly in discharging the duties and responsibilities entrusted to him.
280.	This year we are welcoming the delegation of the Republic of Seychelles, the newest Member of the Organization and we hope that we will in future give full effect to the principle of universality. We must keep that principle in mind and not let ourselves be influenced by a country's form of government or the way in which it may conduct affairs falling essentially within its own jurisdiction.
281.	In the statement which I made last year before the General Assembly,  I expressed the belief that we should not feel proud of the behaviour of the international society in the year which we were then considering. New developments, especially in the last few months-although they do not improve the general picture-make it possible for us to be cautiously optimistic when we look at the long-term situation.
282.	Clearly there has been a relaxation of tensions among the great Powers, a greater recognition of their interdependence and in general the creation of more favourable conditions for the maintenance of a situation of peace between them.
283.	Unfortunately, as regards the developing countries, I must once again and with great emphasis say that the conditions for peace are becoming increasingly more precarious every day.
284.	In Lebanon there has been re-emergence of internal problems, which we truly regret. It is painful to see a nation dismembering itself and heading for a very serious situation of conflict whose consequences are difficult to foresee. Lebanon's fate introduces new factors in the general Middle East situation to which we cannot be indifferent. We urge all Powers from outside that area to act as cautiously as possible in order to prevent any deterioration of the situation.
285.	We do not share the simplistic views of those who feel that the worsening of the general situation in that part of the world is due only to the existence and acts of the State of Israel. We firmly believe that there exist in the Middle East factors totally unrelated to the Jewish- Palestinian problem and that it is rather the interference of elements which are extraneous to the problems of those peoples, their special characteristics, their way of acting and their beliefs that have actually brought about the present' situation. Various countries have suffered the consequences of this process of systematic agitation. For some their progress towards a higher level of economic and social development has been set back; realizing their mistake, such countries are taking the necessary action to make up for lost time and, abandoning the use of force, are seeking through negotiations to normalize their international relations. Others have had to go through cruel, internal struggles in order to restore their administrative and political unity, threatened by unnecessarily large penetration systematically stirred up by outside interests, forgetting that peace is the most certain and best way of achieving national integrity and progress for their peoples.
286.	In our opinion solutions for that region cannot be found a priori We are all in favour of peace, but it is the parties that are directly involved that can find solutions, because it is the only way in which these solutions will truly be accepted by all sides and will have the lasting quality derived from agreement and accommodation among the parties. What we must do is to stimulate and promote negotiations, open and unbiased negotiations inspired only by the desire to achieve a peace in which there will be no victors and no vanquished.
287.	Last year I expressed our joy at the acceleration of the process of decolonization. We have witnessed the marvelous emergence of new nations in Africa through the accelerating process of liberation which a century and a half ago caused upheavals in the American continent. One by one the peoples of Africa, formerly languishing in a desperate colonial situation, have arisen to demand the inherent right of all peoples to self-determination and freedom and have emerged as independent States which today confirm the universal vocation of our Organization.
288.	However, the methods used to achieve freedom and to go from freedom to international co-operation and interdependence* differ greatly. In some States freedom was the offspring of bloody struggles in which arms asserted what the law denied. In those circumstances, the wounds will be slow to heal and the return to a reasonable mean from the extremist positions which inspired the struggle has to be slow and painful.
289.	In those countries where freedom was achieved through the upheavals of revolution, it is there that we have seen most clearly the dangers of all forms of foreign intervention. The presence of those external factors prevents the new directions taken by the people who have been victims of the intervention from being determined by the will of its citizens and, through subterfuges or overt violations of the right to self-determination, the forces of intervention impose on new States from abroad a particular foreign ideological policy which does not always reflect the interests, concerns and true needs of the people they say they have helped to liberate.
290.	My Government maintains the hope that the serious problem which has been confronted by all African nations in solidarity today can be resolved by means of negotiation, and that the international community will take all necessary measures in order to lay the foundations for a movement towards more just forms of political organization and towards higher levels of economic development.
291.	In referring to the problems of Africa we do not intend to engage in pious expressions, of egalitarianism. We have never advocated a policy not in keeping with our own conduct. We do not claim to be, but rather we are and we act as, opponents of racism. Our Government has not only promulgated laws for the elimination of all traces of racism but has also granted, as an inherent human right, equality of opportunity for all sectors of the Nicaraguan population, whose various ethnic groups can hope to participate effectively and successfully in our foreign relations and in the economic and social development of our entire human potential.
292.	We wish to leave no doubt of the fact that we disapprove of violence and that we believe that national and international dialogue have no substitutes as means to promote the rational advance of human institutions, and that all the peoples of the world without exception have the same right to exist with their own characteristics and identities.
293.	For this reason we regret the fact that in matters of disarmament so little has been achieved so far. The arms race, which was formerly carried on only by the great Powers, is being continued more intensively by medium- sized and small countries, which divert to the manufacture or acquisition of armaments considerable human and economic resources which could be used to accelerate the economic and social development so urgently needed by our peoples. Furthermore, this new phase of the arms race continues to increase international tension and is a danger to international peace and security.
294.	Our laws embody the rejection by the people and the Government of Nicaragua of war and the use of force as an instrument of international policy, and, consistent with our Christian and democratic traditions, the only forces which we maintain in our country are those which are indispensable for the guarantee of good public order and the normal development of our institutions.
295.	In international and national affairs our Government has recourse to the peaceful settlement of disputes, to negotiation and open dialogue without preconceptions as the normal tools of governmental action.
296.	Our military budget is extremely small and much of what is allocated to the armed forces is actually used to help our local communities to improve their development- infrastructures or to achieve higher educational and technical levels for members of the armed forces in civilian occupations and for the civilian population.
297. What I have said applies in particular to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, which increases every day. In Latin America we took the first step in the banning of these weapons, although one of the great nuclear Powers has not as yet signed and ratified the Optional Protocol II of the Tlatelolco Treaty, which would oblige it to respect our denuclearization. In view of recent events in that field we believe that the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency should be most firmly supported in order to ensure that atomic energy is used exclusively for peaceful purposes.
298.	In the last four years the United Nations has placed greater emphasis on the search for the solution to international terrorism. This criminal form of political action has been a constant universal evil with sporadic but proliferating manifestations.
299.	Following an intensification of terrorism after the First World War attempts were made at establishing international limits applicable to the perpetrators of such crimes. At the International Conference for the Unification of Criminal Law in the 1920s and 1930s, attention was again paid to terrorism, leading to the revision of certain extradition treaties which defined as terrorist crimes those acts that could not be covered by the humanitarian principle of asylum.
300.	In the first two decades of its life the United Nations attached relatively little importance to this problem. The work of the International Law Commission, particularly when it tried to define in its rules breaches of the peace and of the security of human beings in general for the war-crimes tribunal and judges, constituted the most serious attempt to codify applicable international law.
301.	The culmination of the work of the Special Committee on the Question of Defining Aggression; the Declaration of the Principles of International Law Regarding Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations [resolution 2625 (XXV)]; the adoption by the Organization of American States in 1971 of a convention for the prevention and punishment of acts of international terrorism;  the work of the International Civil Aviation Organization, with its Tokyo Conventions of 1963, the Hague Convention of 1970 and the Montreal Convention of 1971; all these constitute the most meaningful efforts which have been made prior to the taking up of this item by our Organization at this stage. But these efforts have been frustrated, in fact ridiculed, by the refusal of some countries not to act as sanctuaries for those who -reasonably or not in terms of their objectives-resort to the crime of terrorism in order to underscore with innocent blood their so-called political demands.
302.	The twenty-seventh session established a special committee of 35 members  including my country. That Committee submitted a report to the next session,  but since then no action has been taken in the matter. My Government believes that the need to take effective measures is growing daily more urgent. We cannot view with indifference the increasingly frequent sacrifice of innocent victims, whatever the cause or motivation, because nothing can justify or excuse it. Undoubtedly, the study of the underlying causes and subjective motivations of terrorist behaviour is of great importance, but such studies cannot serve as a pretext for postponing indefinitely the adoption of specific measures for the prevention of terrorist acts. Effective action should also be taken to prevent any State from giving any co-operation in the commission of acts of terrorism, and to ensure that if they are committed they do not go unpunished.
303.	I reaffirm here my Government's firm conviction that no effort should be spared in persuading all States that there must be no sacrosanct refuge or inviolable asylum, for political crimes, if we desire reason rather than recourse to crime to be the tool with which peoples forge their political institutions.
304.	This is why my delegation listened sympathetically to the request by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany [1th meetingJ that the item "Drafting of an international convention against the taking of hostages" should be included in the agenda as an important and urgent question at this session. My delegation offers here and now its firm and faithful support for this proposal and will oppose any delaying tactics in regard to it.
305.	The civilized coexistence of individuals, the tranquility of homes and the flourishing of communities is impossible without a reasonable minimum of peace and calm. As long as terrorism continues to be an effective tool for political ends, no nation will be sure of that essential minimum of peace and calm.
306.	Whatever its ideological banner, there can be no political or moral justification of terrorism, and we must use all our will and intelligence to ensure that those who take hostages or commit atrocities for the purpose of terrorizing whole peoples shall find refuge in no country and shall be subject to mandatory extradition or some- other form of legal proceedings which satisfies the international conscience that condemns them.
307.	A few days before this session of the Assembly opened the fifth session of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea came to an end. Looking at the work done by the Conference so far we see that the original hope of achieving in a short time a complete solution of these problems has not been fulfilled. Particularly if we take into account the complexity and difficulty of these problems we must recognize the fact that much has been accomplished. So serious would be the consequences if no solutions were to be found, that all countries are interested in finding solutions and are sparing no effort for that purpose. We are confident that at its next session the Conference will be able to reconcile the opposing positions and formulate a more equitable set of principles for the law of the sea than those that have traditionally obtained.
308.	I should like to reiterate here that my Government will continue to maintain the most cordial relations with its neighbours and that it is unswervingly dedicated to the peaceful solution of any controversies that might arise as a result of the demarcation of its sea frontiers. I should like to make it clear that we claim the whole of our continental shelf in both oceans under concepts of sovereignty incorporated in our basic legislation and under the applicable rules of international law. This territorial integrity will be maintained in full, since this is the formal decision of the Government of Nicaragua.
309.	Nicaragua is a country which strictly observes human rights. Thus it will support at this Assembly any initiative for their advancement at the world level. We understand the difficulties that exist in this respect, not least of which is that of reconciling such advancement with the principal of national sovereignty and resisting the temptation to apply it selectively only to countries whose ideologies differ from our own. We must note the proliferation of international organizations which, with the ostensible aim of promoting human rights, indulge in attacks on and denigration of the countries which for some reason do not share their thinking. Where human rights are concerned we think it essential to eliminate racial discrimination and the exaggerated economic imbalance which truly underlies de facto segregation. Although much progress has been made on these two problems, much still remains to be done to give human rights effect in all parts of the world.
310.	We also believe it essential not to have a double standard for human rights. The sustained and full exercise of human rights finds its counterpart and can only be maintained when there is observance of the human duty to live in conformity with the law and to respect the rights of others.
311.	Human rights are embodied in the Constitution and laws of my country, and even in states of extreme emergency their enforcement and protection have been the immutable concern of my Government. Being aware of national law and universal ethical norms, although we have not wavered in our unbiased application of the law to safeguard the right of all to live and flourish in peace, such application has not been more stringent than necessary, notwithstanding the political philosophy of raison d'etat.
312.	Nicaragua attaches great importance to problems of development and international co-operation. Today the problems of economic and social development are the most pressing ones and they require urgent solution if we desire that the growing crisis should not continue to divide mankind into two castes with different levels of welfare, whose separation increases in step with the technological imbalance between the two sectors of mankind.
313.	It is clear that the present international situation, unless subjected to realistic and just changes, will continue to be one of the most important factors influencing the unsatisfactory promotion at the world level of the development of our societies and of the opportunities for integrated development available to the individual.
314.	The struggle for the realistic and just revision of that international economic and social order must be sustained, persistent and intelligent. We are aware of the close link between economics and politics, but we do not belong to any deterministic school and we firmly believe that confrontation is not the most satisfactory approach to the problem or the most practicable way of solving it.
315.	In that spirit we participated in the Third Ministerial Meeting at Manila which approved the declaration and plan of action of the Group of 77. My Government believes that one of the main planks of the new international economic order is the strengthening and rationalization of individual national economic systems. These systems must be based on the philosophy and aspirations of each people and must aim at establishing the internal conditions needed to enable the citizens to participate equally in the benefits of their economic system and to adjust standards of living to the national capacity to generate wealth.
316.	We share with the majority of the developing countries the conviction that international economic relations must undergo significant changes. We also believe that the solution to development problems does not depend only on the building of new international structures and the creation of new conditions within which international economic relations are planned and put into practice. We think that there are ways open in the present institutional situation and that they should be used.
317.	It is significant that on the fringe of, or parallel with, the meetings of the economic bodies of the United Nations system, other meetings have been held which enable the more developed nations to draw up a strategy for action in the light of the demands of the developing countries. In some of those meetings developing countries whose economic development makes their interests more clearly identifiable with those of the developed countries have taken part.
318.	It must be recognized that there exists a functional relationship between national Governments and the international structures which those Governments establish. All that we can expect from the international structures is the solutions that we actively seek. It is our own Governments that must determine the policies of the various international bodies, and we must be more sensitive than ever to the differences which have gradually entered what was once an international unity of thinking of the two main economic blocs in our Organization.
319.	I will not repeat here the appeals which the developing countries have made for equity in international economic relations: on questions of raw materials; on international finance; on the terms of trade; on the flow of capital, the levels of external debt and the currency and brain drain. The effectiveness and equity of the international order will not depend-it never has depended -on the statements we make, but on the action we take and on the collective influence we can bring to bear.
320.	When in this Assembly we consider the agreements reached at the meetings at Manila, Nairobi, Colombo, Rambouillet, Jamaica and Puerto Rico we should leave aside statements about our anxieties and concerns expressed in such past resolutions. Concrete plans have been put forward. The two main economic blocs have been specific. My Government expresses today through me its determination to participate fully in the objective study of those declarations and seek to harmonize its aspirations and thinking with all the other Member countries in all areas of international co-operation. Slowly and gradually we have been preparing for this clearly new international venture. We have laid the national legal foundations to enable us to promote and benefit from trade with other countries, including those having economic and political systems different from our own.
321.	In economic matters Nicaragua places special emphasis on the development of its human resources, the true infrastructure for a national economy. In recent decades our Government has made notable progress in reducing total and functional illiteracy: it has increased the number and quality of its primary education institutions; diversified and increased the secondary and vocational education centres; maintained the autonomy of the universities and encouraged their growth and diversification. It is clear, however, that the quality of the education that we give has a direct relation to our access to the sources of technological development that will enable us not merely to import technology but to develop our own capacity to create it.
322.	We intend to introduce a system for the planning of our economic and social development, giving increasing emphasis to those aspects of the development of our human resources, and we are convinced that frameworks for international co-operation and regional integration to which we can belong will not produce their maximum benefits for us unless we have the social infrastructure which such progress will make possible.
323.	We have just attended the Conference on Economic Co-operation among Developing Countries at Mexico City, which approved resolutions that will positively affect the lives of our peoples and ensure greater self-determination, self-sufficiency and group negotiating power. Among.the resolutions adopted mention should be made of one concerning the reform and improvement of the present systems of integration. My country has collaborated vigorously in the efforts of the five nations of the Central American isthmus to revitalize the Central American Common Market and convert it into the Central American Economic and Social Community. Moreover we welcome enthusiastically the call by the Presidents of Mexico and Venezuela for the establishment of the Latin American Economic System, which will present in united form the thinking of our region on economic matters at world meetings. Another important aspect of the Conference was the recognition that multinational enterprises of the developing countries should be set up. In this connexion, Nicaragua participates in the multinational fleet of the Caribbean (NAMUCAR)  and views with growing interest the strengthening of its relations with the countries of the Caribbean region.
324.	Nicaragua has benefited from the assistance pro-grammes sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] and welcomes the fact that it is now able to overcome the economic problems which limited its activities in the past year. We wish to urge all those countries able to do so to support UNDP so that it may continue its work of building an international community in which all countries will enjoy a more acceptable and just standard of living. My Government reaffirms here its support for UNDP and urges its strengthening at the local level and thus-at the world level-the strengthening of its capacity to participate in the identification, evaluation and control of operational activities for development.
325.	My Government views with great concern the problems arising from the constant pollution of the atmosphere, rivers and seas, and the diminution of the productive potential of agricultural land, which in turn diminishes the possibilities of survival of future generations. Accordingly, my Government supports the programmes of UNEP and is most ready to co-operate in the search for formulas and the implementation of measures to ensure the necessary conditions for the protection of the common heritage of mankind. Reaffirming our support for the UNEP programmes, it was with great pleasure that my Government observed World Environment Day celebrated by the United Nations on 5 June each year.
326.	Environmental pollution is a problem which must be solved at the world level by such means as the world environmental monitoring system. Regional co-ordination could produce especially fruitful results in such areas as training and education, the drafting of national laws on the environment and the management of natural resources at the regional level. To that end it seems to us necessary for UNEP to consider holding seminars in the developing countries for the discussion of environmental problems.
327.	But what is more important is for the differences in levels of development to be taken into account. For that purpose it is essential that international rules and regulations for the protection of the environment should not be so rigid as to affect adversely the development efforts of the developing countries. As the President of Nicaragua, His Excellency General Anastasio Somoza Debayle, stated on World Environment Day:
"We seek in technology the means of harmonizing the paramount responsibility of safeguarding the environment without limiting the activities of peoples such as our own which have embarked on a process of growth for the social and economic welfare of each of our citizens."
328.	Our country is making efforts to improve its present situation and make a substantial improvement in the standard of living of its inhabitants, on the basis of the principle that improvement of our state of development depends mainly on our own efforts. From the international standpoint we recognize that co-operation among countries is an important and complementary factor, founded on an international development strategy. It has been shown that the present international order does not foster the advancement of our interests and accentuates the gap between our countries and the industrialized countries. Thus, in talking of an international development strategy suited to our needs, we must refer to the imperative need for this order to be changed so as to serve as the basis for more equitable relations among countries and co-operation for the common good.
329.	Accordingly, our country, like the other developing countries, supported the decision of the vast majority of the international community to establish a new international economic order based on the principles of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States [resolution 3281 (XXIX)] and on the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the sixth special session of the General Assembly [resolutions 3201 (S- VI) and 3202 (S-VI)] and on the agreements reached at the seventh special session, without infringing the sovereign rights of all States to choose their own economic systems so as to provide the essential stimulus for capital and labour to work together for the good of the community.


Once again it is my signal honor and satisfaction to address this supreme forum where all nations present should overcome their differences, with their hands outstretched in concord and friendship. On behalf of the Government of El Salvador, of my delegation and on my own behalf I have the satisfaction to express to Mr. Amerasinghe our most effusive congratulations on his unanimous election to preside over this General Assembly at its thirty-first session. His distinguished and recognized merits constitute an effective guarantee that this world Assembly will bring to a successful conclusion the important tasks entrusted to it.
99.	I likewise wish to emphasize my appreciation to Mr. Gaston Thorn for his success in guiding this General Assembly during its thirtieth session.
100.	I give my warmest welcome on behalf of my country to the Republic of Seychelles on its entry into this Organization. Its .presence strengthens the United Nations system and is tangible proof that every day we are more forcefully achieving the objective of universality, that aspiration which, strengthened by the observance of the precepts of the Charter, the maintenance of world peace seeks.
101.	I shall now refer to matters which my delegation considers to be paramount and deserving of the attention of this Assembly. In recent years, my country has wished to state its views on these subjects and reveal its wish to bring forward facts which will be helpful to effective international co-operation in all its aspects.
102.	In the first place, my Government would like to emphasize the gradual transformation it has observed in the political atmosphere as regards the new international economic order from a pragmatic standpoint.
103.	In 1974, as a consequence of the sixth special session of the General Assembly, my country emphasized the need for political willingness, on the part of the industrialized countries, to alter the antiquated and unjust world structure in the economic sphere because at that time the positions of those countries were not precisely favorable to a prompt acceptance of such ideas. Now this underwent a positive change because of the excellent results of the seventh special session of the General Assembly in 1975, results which were obtained by consensus in an atmosphere of optimism and enthusiastic declarations of good intentions which led us to believe in the existence of vast possibilities for the new international economic order to become a reality. However, after another year went by, we observed with profound concern that, when it comes to dealing with concrete proposals to make such intentions a practical reality, obstacles crop up and the specter of the lack of political will reappears.
104.	This is precisely what happened at the fourth session of UNCTAD in May of this year at Nairobi. At that gathering the hopes of the developing countries, as contained in the Manila Declaration and program of Action,  were largely centered on the operation of the integrated program for commodities and its consequent financial support, which was to be an effective instrument in the efforts of the poorer countries to attain higher stages of development. But the response of the industrialized countries to this proposal was discouraging for it deferred the adoption of decisions, thus deflecting a real commitment of support for this program, the purpose of which, as is known, is to obtain stable and remunerative prices for a series of commodities that affect the economies of the third world.
105.	El Salvador would therefore draw the attention of Governments once again to the fact that pragmatic dealing in a system of co-operation based on equity, sovereign equality, and interdependence are of common interest to all States. Establishment of a system which would make it possible for the developing countries to attain a better standard of living will in fact be to the advantage of the industrialized countries themselves because of the benefits they would derive from an increase in trade relations. Within that context, emphasis is warranted on the need to redress the notorious disparities in national income by such measures as special treatment of financial surpluses, setting them up as credit programs for the benefit of the less developed countries. Such surpluses could be canalized, for example, through the common fund for the financing of international commodity stocks, the establishment of which was considered during the recently concluded session of UNCTAD.
106.	The previously mentioned objective would be more easily attained if the obstacles to international trade were eliminated through promoting more effectively the schemes of generalized preferences, affording easier access of the developing countries to the markets of the industrialized Powers, and setting up adequate and timely assistance for the transfer of technology. At the same time there should be a study of the need for short-term application of the theory of complementarity of regions on the basis of a rational international division of labor and within a framework which would encourage the establishment or strengthening of schemes for regional and subregional integration.
107.	This series of actions could be carried out within the UNCTAD forum if it were to become a strengthened and adjusted body, so that it would not only deliberate and negotiate but take action on international trade matters and related questions of economic development and cooperation. My Government firmly supports proposals to achieve this objective because they are part of the new international economic order.
108.	El Salvador once again wants to emphasize the importance attached to the Latin American economic system (SELA] as the most appropriate mechanism established for the purposes of co-ordinating, consulting, analyzing and proposing solutions to the economic problems of the area, giving,,.impetus to co-operation systems and prompting multinational projects. SELA as the cement binding Latin American countries together will make it possible to adopt a sound negotiating position vis-a-vis developed countries on the continent and other areas of the world. It will also promote and facilitate progress towards Latin American integrationist objectives taking into account the special characteristics of the relatively less developed countries.
109.	An outstanding event in the year 1976 was Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements which was held at Vancouver from 31 May to 11 June. The background for that gathering as is known dates back to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in June 1972, where the urgency of viable formulas for solving the problems originated by the concentration of human beings in cities was made manifest, as well as the need for urgent solutions to environmental pollution and the worsening housing crisis. All of those led to the idea of holding a conference which would specifically consider these items and promote the dignity of man so that he could develop fully by being provided with a suitable environment,
110.	The Government of El Salvador considers that the Conference largely attained the specific objective set for it toy serving as a practical means for an exchange of information about solutions to problems of human settlements and on measures against action detrimental to the environment as well, by formulating policies and programs for Governments and international organizations n accordance with the provisions of resolution 128 (XXVIII) of the General Assembly. In fact the final documents of the Conference, that is to say the Vancouver declaration on Human Settlements, 197612 and the programs for international cooperation and the 64 recommendations addressed to Governments constitute an instrument which opens up new horizons for conducting national and international actions with more vigor and effectiveness in respect to problems of habitat,
111.	The Government of EI Salvador wishes to take this opportunity to reaffirm its support for the resolutions and recommendations of that Conference, in particular the Vancouver Declaration which was proposed by the Group of 77 since it constitutes a far-reaching step in die efforts of the international community to overcome burning problems, thus creating an atmosphere favorable to peace, harmonious coexistence and development.
112.	At the institutional level the Conference recommended the establishment of a global intergovernmental body and an efficient United Nations secretariat for human settlements. In the opinion of my Government the efficiency of that secretariat will in large measure depend on its autonomy and availability of resources. Furthermore it should have a suitable location that will enable it to act with the necessary flexibility in co-operation with national and international institutions. In this respect I am pleased to state that El Salvador supports the wish of the Government of Mexico to be host to this body. The experience of my country in this field has made us more aware of the importance of intensifying international co-operation to seek solutions to the problems of human settlements. Recognizing that the resolutions of the Conference are timely, my Government endorses the report of the Secretary-General on Habitat [A/31/156] and we hope that the Assembly, when considering item 60 of its agenda, will take decisions which will immediately promote international action on this subject.
113.	In the month of August last an event of great importance in world politics came to a successful conclusion. I am referring to the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, at Colombo. The presence of 85 high-level delegations from five continents is in itself a fact which reveals the magnitude of the decisions adopted. The Colombo agreements will no doubt affect the international actions of the vast majority if not of all States, individually considered, because of the fact that interdependence is a sign of our times and the parameter in projecting international relations. The degree of cohesion and drive attained by the non-aligned movement is furthermore manifest in its forceful participation in this Assembly. The Government of El Salvador has noted with pleasure that the object of the movement is to obtain adequate formulate by consensus to resolve international situations of conflict. Its motive which contributes to the cause of world peace is praiseworthy.
114.	We have previously stated that no one can reverse the decolonization process. Its final triumphs will be celebrated in a not-too-distant day throughout the world by the elimination of the very last bastions of colonial oppression. In this respect special mention should be made of the struggle of the peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia for their emancipation. Hence my Government supports as an appropriate measure the convening in 1977 of an international conference to mobilize world public opinion in support of these peoples as proposed by the Ad Hoc Group established by the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the
Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples [see A/31/23/Add.l, para. 17(33)]. This conference will be helpful in assisting these peoples, will mobilize world public opinion even more in their favor and will constitute a step forward towards the goal of complete decolonization.
115.	My Government wishes emphatically to reiterate as major foreign policy guidelines its solidarity with the peoples of Africa for independence, for the abolition of racial discrimination and apartheid, and reiterates its rejection of minority racial governments. Although the historical process marks the extinction of racial discrimination it is to be regretted that there are Governments which are obstinately adhering to the opprobrious political system which they themselves have created, apartheid, and choose to oppose in vain the drive of civilization, thus prolonging sufferings and death. The United Nations must persist in its efforts to eradicate these encumbrances which delay the progress of mankind. For these reasons we have only praise for the diplomatic negotiations which are at present being carried out to that end.
116.	Last year this General Assembly adopted resolution 3432 (XXX) on the question of Belize. At that time El Salvador deplored the fact that the draft resolution sponsored, among others, by all the Central American States s was not accepted, since that was the document containing a formula for a balanced procedure, properly adapted to the legitimate interests of the parties directly concerned and respecting the rights of the population of Belize. Nevertheless we must look at things as they are at present and with a visionary spirit for the future. We must be fully aware that the territory and population of Belize are in the heart of Central America although looking toward the Caribbean. This particular area, formed by history and geography, instead of being a source of problems, frictions and conflicts, should be the link uniting the historical trends and cultures, making of Belize a centre for harmony and co-operation. We must therefore strive to find within the text of the resolution the basis for genuine negotiations without predetermined replies and acceptable to all the parties.
117.	Daily experience proves that resolutions adopted without the concurrence of the will of the countries concerned have no other meaning than counsel given by third parties, and therefore lack any possibility of being applied. This observation, deriving from the realities of the contemporary world, should be a fact to be taken into account in the solution of this problem. Hence, my country as an integral part of Central America, in solidarity with the claims of Guatemala, hopes that the negotiated solution will emerge as proof of the intelligence and goodwill of those who govern the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Guatemala, so that Belize may fulfill the function of an integrating bridge not only in Central America but also between that region and the Caribbean.
118.	El Salvador wishes through me to place on record once again its firm support for the cause of Panama, that is, its obtaining the exercise of complete sovereignty over its main economic geographical resource, the inter-oceanic canal. On the shoulders of the Central American republic weighs the onerous burden of a treaty signed in 1903 which ignored its inalienable rights. I am referring among other things to the inclusion of the perpetuity clause for the administration of the zone in favor of a dominant member, the United States of America. The clock of history is marking the hour when' Panama must be compensated for its injured interests. Indeed the present world has expressed its rejection of colonial enclaves and is therefore in favor of the praiseworthy effort of Panama to satisfy the legitimate claim to eliminate any clause which is counter to sovereignty over its entire territory.
119.	When the Security Council met in Panama in 1973 it was expected, as a result of the deliberations and broad support received by that country, that within a reasonable time negotiations with the United States Government would lead to the conclusion of an honorable agreement. Nevertheless, a standstill occurred. This year we have observed how a political electoral campaign we are all familiar with has unfavorably affected the negotiating process, causing a delay along the way to agreement. Declarations made have been viewed as a cloud which looms threateningly even over existing good relations in the hemisphere. El Salvador, as a country in solidarity with Panama, still hopes that the fresh winds of good sense will blow in the direction indicated by time and equity, so that shortly the treaty will be reviewed in terms which answer to the just aspirations of the Panamanian people.
120.	I now wish to refer to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, the fifth session  ? of which has just concluded in this city. A sixth session is scheduled for 1977 and it is expected that the seventh will be held in 1978. It will probably be the lengthiest conference of the century. Despite the time and efforts it has demanded and the progress achieved on a good number of critical questions the results are still uncertain because nobody knows definitely whether, within the coming years, there will be a generally accepted convention to regulate the use of the sea.
121.	In contrast to previous sessions, each of which was characterized by a tangible product, namely, the text reflecting the main trends, produced at the second session at Caracas,  the single negotiating text of the third session at Geneva  and the revised single negotiating text of the fourth session in New York,  all that was achieved on 17 September last was the setting of the date, venue and duration of the sixth session, that is to say, the minimum indispensable to keep the conference alive.
122.	A handful of highly conflicting questions is holding back progress in the Conference. In the Second and Third Committees there are subjects on which it is not possible to agree, but on other questions which were once as controversial as access to and from the sea for the land-locked countries the participants are nearing consensus. The radical conflict on the nature of the economic zone as part of the high seas or as a zone sui generis has much that is highly legalistic and that could be settled by giving ever more consideration to the rules governing use and exploitation, as a result of which the dangers envisaged by the maritime Powers in the establishment of a zone sui generis would disappear. The entire development of the law of the sea in the last years points of necessity in a single direction, namely, towards the economic zone as a third zone between the high seas and the traditional territorial sea with its own legal regime.
123.	Other issues are still outstanding and strongly disputed, particularly the outer limits of the continental shelf, the rights of land-locked States in the economic zones of neighboring States and the rules on scientific research in the economic zone. It is nevertheless difficult to imagine that these issues could prevent adoption of the convention on the law of the sea. On the contrary, positions are totally and absolutely polarized as regards the regime for exploration and exploitation of the international zone of the sea-bed which is dealt with by the First Committee. Owing to basic philosophical positions, the confrontation of groups on this subject threatens to disrupt the Conference, even though at the abstract level it is conceivable to reconcile the interests of the countries having technology with those of the countries which advocate inclusion in the convention of the principle of the common heritage of mankind which the General Assembly approved by an overwhelming majority in 1970 [resolution 2749 (XXV)].
124.	Positions which might be described, respectively, as single-minded and dualistic conflict as to the regime for the international zone of the sea-bed. The dualistic position, which is commonly identified as the parallel action, subject to objective rules, of a multinational enterprise controlled by the international community and of private companies, was the subject of discussion during the fifth session of the Conference, which produced certain general ideas, advanced to find a way out of the dead-lock through an indication of readiness to endow the multinational enterprise with capital and technology, so that it could operate with the same opportunities as private companies. It would be worth while considering how the scheme for these equal opportunities is conceived, so as to decide with a knowledge of the facts on the acceptability of these proposals. The interesting general proposal would have to be complemented with details so as to be the subject of scrupulous analysis. What should in no case be done is to take an a priori position on the basis of prejudice.
125.	We call on the participants in the Conference to adopt a really constructive attitude in regard to this vital and decisive issue, requesting some to specify more closely the financing operation and how the enterprise would be endowed with technology, and requesting others to with hold judgment and decision until we know the details of the proposal, so that they may put forward their criticisms, compromises or acceptance on that basis. They should abandon totally the attitude of rejecting the whole because some parts are inadequate and rather divide the whole into parts so that each could be subjected to scrutiny, accommodation and redrafting. If a constructive approach to this problem is lacking at the sixth session, the Conference might fail and, to conceal failure, decide on suspension for a few years. It is the keenest wish of my delegation that, to avoid this unwanted result, we strive to make considerable progress at the forthcoming session.
126.	Lastly, in reiterating the respect of El Salvador for the objective of universality to which our Organization aspires, we express our hope that in the not-too-distant future it will be joined by States which for some reason or another have not been able to be with us during this session.