1.  The delegation of Algeria is very pleased to see the Twenty-fifth session of the General Assembly held under the presidency of a person who has rendered great services to the international community and who deserves the great esteem in which all his colleagues hold him. I should like to stress the fact that you, Sir, represent a friendly country which, In this international forum, has shown sympathy and support for the struggle of the Algerian people to achieve independence.
2.	During the course of our reflections throughout these last few days, since the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, we remembered that on 27 September 1960 [873rd meeting] 10 years prior to the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, almost to the very hour, our General Assembly had the opportunity to hear a speech made by our brother, the President of the United Arab Republic. The Algerian delegation requested a few moments ago that the Secretary General be kind enough to accede to our request and to circulate to all members the full text of that speech delivered by President Gamal Abdel Nasser. I will confine myself to quoting a few extracts from that historic speech. These few extracts which I quote will emphasize the determination of our President, as expressed in Cairo, and proclaimed also by our delegation here, never to forget the teachings left by President Nasser.
3.	Exactly ten years before his death, President Nasser stated here:
"There is no problem which concerns our homeland, the United Arab Republic, or which concerns our nation, the Arab nation, or which relates to the two continents, Asia and Africa, through which the
frontiers of our country extend, or which relates to any of the world problems   I say that there is no such problem for whose solution we are not ready to accept the Charter of the United Nations and its principles, the resolutions of the United Nations and its recommendations for a just settlement, with the best of goodwill." [Ibid., para. 119.]
4.	President Nasser added:
"Four years ago the African continent witnessed the end of one era of colonialism, and today it is witnessing a new form of imperialism. The aggression on Suez was the end of unmasked imperialism and its graveyard. Today we find the Congo presenting us with masked imperialism, which does not shrink from exploiting the United Nations itself in order to realize its hidden designs and aims. The real meaning of Suez to liberation movements in Asia and Africa was that an era had gone forever, an era in which imperialist forces were able to possess and mobilize armies and launch fleets to strike deadly blows at the liberation movements. The Suez war has proved that the victim of aggression has its own armies and that freedom has its supporters everywhere in the world." [Ibid., para. 120.]
A/PV.1859
5.	President Nasser continued:
"In our part of the world, the Arab East, the United Nations has forgotten its Charter and disregarded its responsibilities towards the rights of the people of Palestine,
"Have the days and the years led to a solution of the problem? Have the people of Palestine forgotten all about their country, their land and their homes? Did the Arab nation forget the tragedy of the Arab people of Palestine, against whom imperialism conspired   with a mandate from the League of Nations   taking upon itself to promise to certain groups a country belonging to another people? Since when have the motherlands of peoples been the property of the imperialist, to dispose of arbitrarily and to give to others?
"Imperialism has its own logic. The logic of imperialism, as manifested in its crime against the people of Palestine, has been to break the geographical unity of the Arab world, on the one hand, and, on the other, to create for itself in the very heart of the Arab world a base from which to threaten the Arab peoples. I believe no stronger proof of this could be given than the conspiracy which led to the tripartite aggression against us in 1956.
"Have the peoples of the Arab nation accepted the geographic division imposed on them by imperialism?
"A phenomenon worthy of reflection is that the drive of Arab unity has extracted its great power from this aggression; in fact, we find that in its footsteps came the birth of the United Arab Republic.
"Have the people of Palestine accepted the loss of their motherland? Did the Arab nation accept that loss? It is certain that the determination of the Arab peoples to restore the Arab rights in Palestine has since this aggression become one of the major driving forces in the Arab East." [Ibid., paras. 129-134.]
6. In this hall we heard President Gamal Abdel Nasser declare:
"You all know that the United Arab Republic believes in the policy of nonalignment and adheres to it as a strict yardstick. I hardly need to repeat the story of the sacrifices made by our Arab nation to hold to the policy of nonalignment, animated by our conviction that it ensures its independence on the one hand, and is conducive to the preservation of lasting peace on the other.
"In spite of all pressure, we refuse to become tools in the cold war. We also spared no efforts to explain underlying principles of that policy, namely, that peace cannot prevail while the world is divided up into antagonistic parts or blocs with no link between them but trenches and barbed wire behind which lie the weapons of aggression and the arms of death and destruction. This policy is based on the belief that peace prevails only when there is more understanding among peoples and when fruitful contacts and creative interrelationship exist on the largest scale possible. The Bandung Conference of AfricanAsian peoples is one of the greatest landmarks on the road of our national struggle in defense of our principles." [Ibid., paras. 154 and 155.]
1. A few moments later, our lamented brother, Gamal Abdel Nasser, added:
"I hereby declare before you, in the name of the United Arab Republic and in expression of its thoughts and conscience, that we believe that the problem of peace and war should be shared by all peoples inasmuch as it determines their future and destiny. The big Powers do not alone have the right to speak about peace and war; it is mankind as a whole that has the final word, having obtained this right through the sacrifices of its different peoples for the sake of civilization and the promotion of its development, and its long yearning for security.
"Thus, when peace is at stake, we do take sides; ours is the side of peace. If we have any qualifications to attach to this definite position against war, it is that the peace we aspire to is that based on justice without discrimination.
8.	President Abdel Gamal Nasser continued his speech in these terms:
"There remains then the problem of the great drive towards freedom, particularly economic independence. We see, and you can see with us, those free and glorious drives going on in Africa, in Asia and in Latin America.
"We have but to observe this encouraging increase in the number of States Members of the United Nations. While only forty-eight nations participated in the first session of the General Assembly, we find almost a hundred nations represented here today. We do not doubt, as we see the remnants of imperialism retreating everywhere before the march of the peoples looking forward to liberty, that the scope of the United Nations will increase and strengthen and that the next few years will bring with them new flags representing new victories in the sphere of political freedom. We can, however, observe from now that this great expected development will not completely solve the problem of the drive for freedom; we might even say that, if the matter is not dealt with in a spirit of conscious appreciation, the problem of the drive for freedom will grow in dimension as a result of the struggle behind it and of the pull and clash of forces latent in it.
"Those peoples who have obtained their political freedom or who expect to gain it in the near future look forward to economic independence and are preparing to fight for it. These newly independent nations are firmly convinced that, if they do not obtain their economic independence, they will not find the sound basis upon which they can preserve their political freedom. Much of what goes on in Africa, Asia and Latin America today   the acute aspects of which may astonish many of us here   constitutes in fact some features of that drive towards economic liberation. The newly independent peoples are convinced that true freedom lies in reaching a higher standard of living for their sons. The newly independent peoples   and this I must state here frankly   are hastening their steps along the road to economic development, and they feel that they cannot afford to waste any time after a long period of lagging behind." [ Ibid., paras. 173175.]
9.	In that declaration that we, Algerians, who were on the threshold of the United Nations, heard in this hall, he continued:
"We believe also that the supremacy of the United Nations means the supremacy of principles and the triumph of law and justice over the dreams of conquest and domination. We believe that the spirit of peace based on justice provides the most favorable atmosphere for our country to promote its development and for paving the way for the fulfillment of its hopes for rebuilding our society on a new basis. You all know that a national revolutionary current sweeps our country today; or, in fact, our country, the United Arab Republic, is living three revolutions running side by side.
"First, a political revolution made itself felt in resisting imperialism in its various stages, from the time it was overt in the shape of occupying forces till the days when it hid itself behind military pacts, in which we saw nothing but an attempt at subjugating us to the policy of zones of influence.
"Second, a social revolution manifests itself in resisting feudalism and monopoly. In its devoted task for increased production with a view to raising the standard of living and affording equal opportunities to all citizens   in compliance with the implementation of which a ten-year plan to double the national income has started in both regions of the United Arab Republic   this revolution is but an aspect of the unwavering effort and the determination of our people to build their country.
"Third, an Arab revolution found expression in resisting artificial dissension and the material and moral obstacles set up by those who tried to rule our country by the well-known Machiavellian method of 'divide and rule'. We declare that we believe in the unity of our nation. The Arab nation was always characterized by the unity of language, and the unity of language is the unity of thought. The Arab nation was always characterized by the unity of history, and the unity of history is the unity of conscience. We cannot find another basis of nationalism stronger and more stable than this. It is not by pure hazard that the Arab nations which obtained their independence stipulated in the post independence constitution that their 'people are part of the Arab nation'. Moreover, it is not merely an emotional reaction that the Arab peoples sincerely believe that any aggression against one of them is an aggression against them all; and that there was no trial that faced the Arab nation without its becoming one strong front to meet it. The birth of the United Arab Republic is the biggest symbol of the faith of the Arab peoples in Arab nationalism and in Arab unity.
"We believe that conscious development which is based on the call for peace and which relies on setting examples through creative and positive work is our path to this unity, in which we have faith." [Ibid., paras. 184 - 188.]
10.	Algeria will participate in the Twenty-fifth anniversary session of our Organization and will do its share of the task of taking stock of the work of the last quarter of a century and our responsibilities in one of the most critical and dangerous international situations and will also make an effort to help restore to the United Nations its true dimensions and its moral authority. Therefore this statement will be limited to a few most important and fundamental points of great timeliness.
11.	Algeria in the last general debate [1784th meeting] stressed that the world was facing the problem of attempts at world hegemony, which find their murderous and brutal expression in the least developed continents, where imperialism   and United States imperialism in particular   is attacking peoples, revolutionary movements and ideologies of liberation.
The developing countries are the objects of imperialist covetousness, and it is their children that fall under the guns of the aggressors, who are the same in VietNam, Palestine, Africa and Latin America.
12.	The independence of the peoples, their economic development and their social progress automatically challenge imperialist, colonialist and neo-colonialist interests. It is in order to preserve these threatened interests that imperialism is stepping up this aggression against the peoples, the national liberation movements and progressive societies. The awakening of conscience with regard to this threat which looms over the developing countries and certain agreements between great Powers have provoked the birth and strengthening of nonalignment and explain the success of the Lusaka summit.
13.	We should of course record a relaxation of tension between the great Powers and the progress made in the search for solutions to European problems, but we are forced to note that this relaxation of tension between great Powers, between developed countries, is of benefit to the imperialists who are engaged in wars of extermination in IndoChina, the Middle East and Africa.
14.	Peaceful coexistence in its present conception has not put an end to the arms race, has not caused an evolution in the developed countries with regard to their economic relations with the developing countries and has not put an end to imperialist aggression and exploitation. This concept of peaceful coexistence assures the great Powers peace and permits war to be waged against the small countries.
15.	The best way to bring about peace is to fight those that threaten it, that is to say, the aggressors. It is by creating a united front of the peoples against all forms of hegemony, against domination, against exploitation of any kind, that we shall succeed in creating conditions of true peace and true security which will make it possible to have free economic development and social progress. This struggle is being waged by the peoples of Palestine and VietNam and has been waged for more than 20 years. This struggle is also the struggle of the peoples of South Africa, Rhodesia, Namibia, Guinea (Bissau), Angola and Mozambique. Algeria is unreservedly behind those peoples. We shall continue to provide them with our moral and material support. It is by strengthening the national liberation movement struggle throughout the world that we shall really be working for peace, justice and international security.
16.	The Palestinian people has taken its destiny into its own hands. More than 20 years of joint acts of aggression on the part of the imperialistZionist forces have not succeeded in eliminating the Palestine national fact, which is the dominating factor in the Middle East situation. This people exists and fights, but our Organization continues to ignore its existence and its fight.
It is today in the vanguard of the liberation struggles, and that is why imperialism has unleashed all its forces and strength against it. The initiators of what is known as the Rogers plan had as their principal object the elimination of Palestinian resistance. AmericanZionist imperialism has found in Jordan reactionary forces to carry out a dirty criminal task, the massacre of tens of thousands of Palestinians, old men, women and children. These massacres have been perpetrated under the cover of the military umbrellas of Washington and Tel Aviv and with considerable logistic support from the United States. Never has the cooperation and coordination of the imperialists, Zionists and Arab reactionaries been so clearcut and so flagrant as during the recent bloody events in Jordan.
17.	The Algerian revolution, faithful to its principles and its fundamental policies, has ceaselessly been behind all causes for liberty throughout the world. It unconditionally backs the Palestinian people and indeed supports all the Arab peoples struggling against the Zionist aggressor and occupier.
18.	The problem of the elimination of the consequences of the Israeli aggression of June 1967 is closely connected that of the restoration to the Palestinian people of its legitimate rights, principally its right to self-determination and territorial integrity.
19.	The United States interventionism in the Middle East and in the Mediterranean began with the installation in Palestine by force and terror of a European settler colony, constituting a base at the crossroads of three continents, with the object of controlling the natural resources of the region and fighting the Arab peoples' emancipation movement. Israel and the Sixth Fleet have an identical mission: that of subjugating, dominating and exploiting the Arab peoples.
20.	The Zionist-imperialist threat and its alliance with the Arab reactionaries in Jordan have strengthened the unity of the Arab nation, strengthened its will to fight and developed its capacity to resist.
21.	In VietNam the United States aggressors and their lackeys continue to be thwarted by the brave VietNamese people. The extension of the United States aggression to Cambodia has only served to strengthen the united front of the peoples of IndoChina. Algeria is behind these peoples and has recognized the Government of National Union presided over by Prince Norodom Sihanouk and considers that Government as the only representative of the Khmer people.
22.	The fighting nature of the VietNamese people has brought the aggressor to the negotiating table, but the interminable talks in Paris only bring into relief the lack of good faith on the part of the United States aggressors. The Foreign Minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South VietNam, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh, on 17 September last submitted an "initiative with a view to bringing about progress at the Paris Conference". That program of eight points is a serious, tangible and realistic contribution towards a peaceful solution of the South VietNam problem.
23.	The refusal of the United States Government to consider the recent proposals of the representatives of South VietNam demonstrates that the imperialists have not given up their policy of aggression against peoples. But the VietNamese people and all the people of IndoChina have sufficient strength to throw back the aggressor and impose peace, independence and unity in that part of the world.
24.	Also in Asia, the Korean people remains unanimous in its will for independence, territorial unity and progress. It carries the banner of the right of peoples to self-determination, social progress and economic development. We must help that people in its struggle and demand withdrawal of the foreign troops from Korean territory United States troops under the United Nations flag.
25.	Africa continues to be, through its natural resources and its enormous economic potential, a choice target for imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism and the most hideous expression of those policies, racism and apartheid.
26.	The fact that certain great Powers continue to provide arms to the colonialists and racists and to develop their economic relations with them   in spite of the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly will change nothing in the course of African history. This history is being forged by the hands of the freedom fighters and of the national liberation movements. The peoples subjected to colonialism and the victims of racism have taken up arms; and the gun is the dignity of today and the freedom of tomorrow.
27.	The question of the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations is one of those which will be decisive for the future of our Organization.
28.	Since our admission to the United Nations we have ceaselessly denounced the discriminatory, hostile and provocative policy pursued by certain governments towards the Chinese people and its legitimate Government. That policy has as its main objective an attempt to isolate the greatest nation in the world, a nation with tremendous revolutionary successes to its credit and one whose economic, political and social potential constitutes an essential contribution in the struggle of the peoples against imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism.
29.	This policy of quarantining the Chinese people and its legitimate Government has completely failed. The fraternal relations which exist between the People's Republic of China and the national liberation movements in Africa, Asia and Latin America are an example of solidarity in the common struggle. The diplomatic, economic and cultural relations of the People's Republic of China with an ever-growing number of States also constitute proof that the policy of quarantine has not succeeded.The growing influence in the world of revolutionary thought which inspires the Chinese people demonstrates the illusory, naive and futile nature of the policy of Governments which believe they can isolate the Chinese revolution and finally stifle it.
30.	What we have just said shows that it would be ridiculous to think that the Chinese people needs the United Nations to make progress in its struggle. Quite the contrary, it is the United Nations which needs the presence of the People's Republic of China if it wishes to survive. To survive, the Organization must bring its acts in to line with the principles enshrined in the Charter and it must reflect the international realities.
31.	The Preparatory Committee for the Second United Nations Development Decade set up by the General Assembly two years ago is on the point of concluding its work, and we must pay a tribute to it for the considerable work that it has done. Nevertheless, we cannot conceal the fact that the international agreement which has been brought about regarding development strategy is far from responding to the expectations of the less privileged nations and peoples. The slow pace of the achievements of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in implementing agreements relating to primary commodities, the need for the reorganization of international trade and the proper proportion to be allotted to the developing countries within the framework of the creation of new liquidity, only serves to stress most acutely the inadequacies of the commitments of the more developed countries.
32.	Algeria is resolutely devoted to a policy of development based principally upon its own resources and means, the preservation of its economic independence in harmony with its neighbors in the Magreb and Africa, and the development of economic and technical cooperation. Our economic plan expressed in our FourYear Plan is under way and falls within the framework of the development strategy defined by the Algiers Charter which emanated from the Conference of the seventy-seven  and the Lusaka Declaration.
33.	Our general debate, which is about to be concluded, has been marked by numerous references to the problem of the security of air transport, and there have been many judgments and assessments made which deserve comment. We would have liked the Assembly to be concerned primarily with breaches of the law and international conventions, which are committed by authorities which have signed the conventions and which claim to be Members of our Organization. The best contribution to a serious debate on the question of air transport security and safety would have been the condemnation of the Tel Aviv authorities responsible for the kidnapping of two Algerian nationals on 14 August last.
34.	The gloomy picture of the international situation which we have just painted should not cause us to overlook certain grounds for hope for a better future for the international community. One of the reasons is to be found in the results of the World Youth Assembly  which was organized here last summer under the auspices of our Organization. The texts which were published by the Congress indicate in what direction the world is going: the right direction.


36.	 May I say to the delegation of Malaysia that the Philippine delegation shares in its grief at the passing of one of its members, Ambassador Ramani, an able and distinguished diplomat. On behalf of my delegation I extend to Malaysia our heartfelt condolences.
37.	Permit me first of all to conform with tradition. I congratulate the Assembly for having wisely elected as President of this historic session a distinguished representative of the country which gave the United Nations its first SecretaryGeneral. To you, Mr. President, I offer my cordial felicitations and the assurance of the same unstinting cooperation which my delegation gave to your able predecessor, Mrs. Angie Brooks Randolph of Liberia.
38.	As we launch the Second United Nations Development Decade and confront the challenge of the 1970s, you have a tower of strength at your side in the person of SecretaryGeneral U Thant, a man of outstanding ability and incorruptible integrity.
39.	Now, permit me to break with tradition. The full text of my policy statement, which would have taken at least thirty minutes to deliver, has been distributed and will be circulated subsequently as an addendum to the verbatim record of this meeting.  What I shall now deliver is a ten-minute summary of that policy statement.
40.	The Secretariat has agreed to the following arrangements: that the full text of the statement to be inserted in the addendum of the record of these proceedings is not to exceed ten typewritten pages, single spaced, and that the reading time of the full text, if delivered, is not to exceed thirty minutes; and that in order that there shall be no abridgment of the right of reply, the full text of the statement must be circulated to all delegations twelve hours before delivery which we have done and on the day of delivery the full text will be again circulated to each delegation in the General Assembly. Again I repeat, the full text will be subsequently circulated as an addendum to the verbatim record of this meeting.
41.	I hope that this innovation will not only save time and expense but help make future general debates more relevant and more meaningful.
42.	Now for the position of the Philippine delegation on the various questions facing the General Assembly. My delegation urgently reiterates the Philippine proposal, first broached in 1955, that a fundamental review of the United Nations Charter be undertaken in accordance with Article 109.
43.	At the very least, we should decide during this twenty-fifth anniversary session to form a preparatory committee for the review of the Charter, with terms of reference covering the three main areas of constitutional changes which my delegation outlined to the Assembly last year [1760th meeting],
44.	A paramount aim should be so to strengthen the peacemaking capacity of the United Nations that it could defuse the threat of renewed war in the Middle East, mediate actively to put an honorable end to the war in VietNam, and play a central role in the crucial issue of disarmament and nuclear arms control which affects not only the security but the survival of mankind.
45.	Deeply concerned at the breakdown in law and order implicit in the hijacking of civilian aircraft, my delegation is cosponsoring a new agenda item to enable the Assembly to consider effective means of countering this new form of international piracy. Our proposal is motivated by humanitarian reasons and has no political or ideological motivations.
46.	We give our full support to the suggestion that all Member States should voluntarily accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Again we appeal to the Government of Malaysia, our good friends of Malaysia, to agree to have the Philippine aim to Sabah adjudicated by the Court. We have a high regard for the new Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak, and we hope he will cooperate in having this question settled once and for all in a manner worthy of our two countries' friendly relations and our membership in the United Nations.
47.	While hoping that our big neighbor, Communist China, will eventually merit membership in accordance with the Charter, we shall maintain our opposition, which is not permanent, to its admission so long as it shows no desire to join the United Nations and abide by its rules.
48.	We deplore the lag in the promotion of human rights and in the process of decolonization.
49.	We share the deepening concern over the pollution of our environment and protest the use of the Pacific Ocean for nuclear tests that could disturb its complex and delicate ecological balances.
50.	My delegation will support intensified United Nations action to extend assistance for family planning and population control to Governments which request such aid. We favor the establishment of a subregional population center in SouthEast Asia with international support.
51.	The fulfillment of youth's legitimate aspirations is of special interest to my delegation. We would welcome United Nations action for greater participation of youth in international affairs.
52.	We subscribe to the integrated, unified approach taking equal account of the economic and social factors in national development, and would like to see this concept fully reflected in the strategy and programs of the Second United Nations Development Decade. Insufficient attention to the social factor was one of the causes of the failure of the first Development Decade. We do not wish to see that mistake repeated.
53.	On the whole, my delegation finds the international development strategy drafted by the Preparatory Committee for the Second United Nations Development Decade [A 17982, para. 16] worthy of commendation and support. However, it is weakened by reservations on matters indispensable to the success of the Decade, such as the amount of resources to be transferred by the rich to the poor countries, target dates for easing onerous terms of aid, and effective measures to eliminate trade barriers and give developing countries wider access to markets in industrialized countries.
54.	I would appeal to the delegations concerned to withdraw these reservations as a token of that decisive commitment without which the Second Development Decade, like the first, would be doomed to failure. In my judgment, this is one failure the United Nations cannot afford. We have reached a fateful juncture in our affairs. The phrase "time is running out" is no longer a figure of speech, but the literal truth.
55.	I have described the 1970s as a dangerous decade because there is danger of international respect for human rights becoming unenforceable, of the poverty gap becoming unbridgeable, and of the nuclear arms race becoming uncontrollable.
56.	Consider the gravity of our predicament.
57.	In the matter of survival: with more devastating weapons of mass destruction being produced and no system of effective controls in sight, mankind is much closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation by accident, by miscalculation, by a lapse of intelligence or will, or by suicidal folly. Never in history has the survival of humanity hung on such a very thin thread.
58.	In the matter of living space: population pressure is reducing drastically our room for maneuver in solving economic and social problems within nations and in the world at large. It threatens to impose unbreakable strains on the capacity of our planet to sustain human life in reasonable order, decency and dignity.
59.	In the matter of bridging the poverty gap: this problem constitutes the most important longterm challenge to the United Nations.
60.	As President McNamara of the World Bank has pointed out very recently:
"Two thirds of mankind more than 2,000 million individuals remain entrapped in the grip of hunger and malnutrition; high illiteracy, inadequate education; shrinking opportunity; and corrosive poverty. The gap between the rich and poor nations is no longer a gap, it is a chasm. . .
"This appalling fact transcends in importance and gravity all other social and economic problems of this century. Much of world civilization for the future will be significantly influenced by how we manage this problem."
61.	He added population explosion to widespread poverty as another major factor in the grim equation of spiraling social unrest. He called attention to the social and political crisis which grows with each decade and threatens to round off this century with years of unrest and turbulence: a time of trouble during which the forces of historical change threaten to disintegrate our frail twentieth century society.
62.	This prophecy recalls our able Secretary General's warning that we have only ten years in which to subordinate our ancient quarrels and launch a global partnership to curb the arms race, improve the human environment, defuse the population explosion, and supply the required momentum to world development.
63.	It all adds up to a challenge of unprecedented magnitude to the United Nations and the world community. It is a challenge that could make or break our Organization. The United Nations will have to acquire the capacity to cope with the overriding problems of peace, international order and human survival or lapse into permanent ineptitude and insignificance,
64.	Last May a conference on human survival, held here in the United Nations, noted our dangerous drift towards chaos and disaster. The conferees refused to despair but only if the United Nations were to be permitted to develop its full potential in meeting common dangers and common needs.
65.	Full development of the United Nations that would indeed appear to be the only answer.
66.	It would mean giving the United Nations adequate peacekeeping powers, sufficient authority to direct a concerted international effort to preserve our life sustaining environment, and the means needed to implement a truly global development strategy. It would entail surrendering to the United Nations a larger measure of sovereignty than Member States have been willing to relinquish so far, and the acceptance by them of an allegiance to humanity superior to narrow racial or national loyalties.
67.	For, indeed, if the human race is to survive, the human interest must be placed above the national interest, and the natural and essential agency for advancing the human interest in this, our United Nations.
68.	It is admittedly a revolutionary concept but I ask: will anything less suffice? It is what our threatened world needs and what the world's troubled peoples, particularly the youth, are anxiously seeking and awaiting.
69.	They want a peaceful world in which they can have a future unclouded by the threat of nuclear extinction. They want a new international order firmly founded on justice and law. And they want progress, not only for a select few but for all the members of the human family. That is what is expected of us, of this United Nations, if it is to survive.


110.	 Mr. President, I should like first to say how glad I am to sit under you as President in this anniversary year. It is particularly appropriate, as we pass the quarter-century mark, that our President should be the representative of a State which has contributed so much to the United Nations and to the League of Nations before it; that he should have been a delegate at San Francisco; and that he should be one who has made so great a personal contribution to the analysis of that international law of which this Organization was intended to be the prime instrument.
111.	I should also like to say what a personal pleasure it is to me, after an absence of seven years from the United Nations, to find our SecretaryGeneral still at his post. Politicians come and go; the Secretary General remains. I am bound to say that that is the right way round.
112.	In what I have to say this morning, I start again where I left off seven years ago, talking about the rule of law.
113.	The commemorative session will be the right occasion for a general review, as we look back over our achievements and our failures since 1945. Two weeks ago I did not think that I would trouble this Assembly with an assessment, in view of the fact that my Prime Minister is coming here later on. But since then the attention of the world has been captured by a horrifying series of events.
114.	They began with a week of incidents which were properly described by our SecretaryGeneral as a "return to the law of the jungle". He was right. In the jungle there is fear; the law men know does not exist. In the same way, all people in the world have been frightened and lawful Governments have been almost helpless in the face of violence and threats of violence which are alien to the civilized world.
115.	If they had been isolated criminal acts, these events would not have deserved our attention here. But as it is, they have come as a portent to us a glimpse of the forces of lawlessness and anarchy that still exist a reminder of how very thin is the veneer of civilization on which we reply. These events therefore demand attention here in this General Assembly, above all, because they epitomize a danger which threatens the aim of every State, the aim of the United Nations and that is that law should rule both men and nations.
116.	This Organization was created to maintain the peace of the world by collective measures, and to provide for the peaceful settlement of disputes between States. The authors of the Charter of our United Nations did foresee one of the dangers ahead. That danger was the interference by force in the internal affairs of one country by another. But one development which the authors of the Charter did not anticipate was that the peace should be threatened by armed forces outside their Government's control. The anarchy produced by force in that guise can be just as wrecking to peace as direct aggression.
117.	When I last spoke to the Assembly, I felt optimistic. It seemed to me that the cold war might be drawing to an end. I recalled a television broadcast which I had made in Moscow at Mr. Gromyko's invitation to the people of the Soviet Union, when I said that a renunciation by the Soviet Government of the use of war and force to impose a political doctrine was the key which would open the way to genuine coexistence.
118.	Looking back over those seven years, we can note that there have been some very serious setbacks to that optimism, but nevertheless it seems partially to have been justified. The new willingness to negotiate which we had then begun to perceive has continued, and through negotiation some of the darkest of the clouds which used to menace us have started to lift.
If the United States and the Soviet Union can reach agreement on limitations to their nuclear arsenals, that will be a long step forward. I say that, even as a European on whom the missiles will still be concentrated. But we hope for the success of the strategic arms limitation talks. It will not free us from the recurring nightmare of global destruction. That possibility will remain as long as States have access to the ultimate weapons. But such an agreement could slow down the growth of the means of destruction, and so give new life to the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, which has up to now been almost totally frustrated. On its ability to achieve positive results much of the happiness and, it may be, the survival of man hangs.
119.	Other negotiations are taking place on issues which have threatened peace in Europe since 1945. There is the recent treaty between the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany", and the Federal Republic's negotiations with its other neighbors to the East. They hold the key to constructive coexistence in Europe.
120.	The test, of course, as always, is not in words but deeds, and in that area Berlin is still the key to real coexistence. If we cannot agree to take the humanitarian step of lowering the barriers between two halves of a city, what hope is there for two halves of the European continent to live in peace? Berlin therefore will be the touchstone of the will of the peoples of Europe to achieve detente between East and West, It was in Berlin that the ordeal of 1939 to 1945 ended for Europe; and it is in Berlin that Europe is still waiting for a release from the aftermath of war and the beginning of a peace which is real.
121.	No one should underestimate the importance of such a release. Europe cannot throw stones at others. It was in wars which spread from Europe over the whole world that this Organization and its predecessor were both conceived. But a new Western Europe is emerging now, and as Mr. Schumann said here last Friday [1842nd meeting, this Europe will inevitably be more outward-looking a more powerful center of economic growth carrying a fertilizing process far outside the borders of that particular continent. That is why our negotiations in Europe have a significance for every country represented here.
122.	We must note with honesty that all these negotiations are going on outside the framework of the United Nations. Nevertheless, their importance is fundamental to us here. When our predecessors at San Francisco framed the Charter, they based their hopes of peace on the collective determination of what were then the major Powers, and there are two ways in which these hopes have since been undermined.
123.	The first, which has already been mentioned by one or two speakers this morning, is that not all the major Powers are represented in the United Nations. This has made it undoubtedly more difficult for us to tackle effectively in this forum some of the most pressing and dangerous problems that trouble the world. I am thinking as have others, and as did Mr. Schumann of China. The Chinese are increasingly involved in those very situations around the world which engage our attention here.
124.	If the representatives of Peking were seated here their influence would be greatly felt. I cannot forecast what it would mean. They could well, by the rigidity of their political doctrine, make our tasks more difficult. But they have more than many to gain from expanding trade, from prosperity and from interdependence. They could add immensely if they chose, along with the rest of us, to real coexistence. Their intentions, in the opinion of the British Government, should be put to the proof in this assembly of nations.
125.	The second disappointment for the hopes of 1945 has, very simply, been that it has so seldom been possible for the major Powers to reach a collective view on any important issue of world politics. Until now, our collective postures have at best been negative. That is why the negotiations in Helsinki, in Vienna and in Berlin are so important for us here in the United Nations. Because if the 1960s saw the beginning of an era of negotiation, the 1970s could see at last the beginning of an era of collective action for the maintenance of peace collective action based on the common desire of the most powerful nations in the world to work together for political stability and for the settlement of disputes. That opportunity is there.
126.	The authors of the Charter assumed harmony between the leading Powers. But, of course, the ink was scarcely dry on the signatures of the Charter before that hope and trust were falsified. The lesson of the years since then is unmistakable, and it is that there can be no collective action without a collective aim and a common interest. If there does begin to emerge at last, out of all the negotiations now in progress, a common interest in peace and stability, it will transform our work in the next Twenty-five years, both in the Security Council and in the Assembly of this Organization, and that transformation would immediately be reflected in the relationship between countries in many parts of the world.
127.	There is one challenge, above all, which such determination would help us to meet. Provided a balance of strength a balance of terror, if you like is kept, the old-fashioned war of the Charter is a receding threat. States are less inclined today to pursue their political objectives through alliance and ultimatum, through mobilization and declared belligerency. To this extent, one of the ideals of San Francisco is being realized, even though this has been due in part and the admission is shameful in a civilized world at this time to the fearsome growth in the destructiveness of total war.
128.	Nevertheless, in many parts of the world today men are fighting. Victims are falling to the bullet, the shell and the grenade. All too often those victims are innocent civilian bystanders, and it is not much comfort to the widow or the orphan that no war has been declared. It is time for us in this Assembly squarely to face the fundamental, unacceptable dangers of condoning those who take the law into their own hands. We must call on those who have taken up arms to lay them down and once again to submit themselves to the rule of law.
129.	There is and it will be readily perceived by this Assembly and it has been touched upon by several speakers a cruel dilemma here. For force is so dreadful a weapon in modern terms that one has to add: "... lay down their arms, even though they claim to be carrying them in the name of justice".
130.	The Charter of the United Nations visualized this dilemma. Our predecessors insisted on the proclamation of human rights consistent with the dignity of man, of which the representatives of Gambia and Zambia both spoke just now. And it is undoubtedly our duty to do all we can by example to secure that countries practice social justice. There are today, and we have heard them mentioned, political systems where social injustice rules, and it is right that they should be exposed, whether it is suffering under communism, or suffering under apartheid, or suffering under any other of the creeds which do not square with the practices of true democracy.
131.	But the authors of the Charter perceived another and an equal truth; that if the nations tried to impose upon each other their own notions of justice and to do it by force, that would be the finish of international order. That is why an appeal to arms, except for defense against external aggression, was expressly forbidden under our rules. If that was right then, it is a hundred times more so now. For if the end can justify the means, then more and more groups of unknown men will take up arms; they will put themselves above and beyond the law and, what is more, they will put themselves above the legal Governments of countries represented here.
132.	Kidnapping and hijacking make that lesson plain and the nations must deal with them. In the case of the hijackers, the duty of individual Governments is clear. We should all ratify the Tokyo Convention  and support the new Convention at the forthcoming Hague Conference. We should all make hijacking a crime in our own countries, and allow it to be punished by any Government in whose territory a hijacked aircraft lands. If we could agree on these and other measures which may result from the international conference now to be held, perhaps this new and dreadful illegality could be brought under control. It is, however, a most vivid and contemporary example of how force used on a small scale can spread its repercussions far and wide, and when that happens in this modem world it is almost always the innocent who are the victims.
133.	But the dangers of the overspill of force go far beyond hijacking. This week we have an example before us of how people, who act sincerely in the name of justice as they see it and take to arms, can start a bloody widespread war beyond the control of legal Governments.
134.	After Twenty-years of intolerance and bloodshed in the Middle East, the hopes of coexistence in place of belligerency began to grow. We took a British initiative, and as a result of it we have now a Security Council resolution which sets out the essential terms of a settlement. A Special Representative for the Middle East has been appointed in whom we all have full confidence. In that forum, the four Powers in New York, we in Britain are ready to play a full part. Mr. Maurice Schumann last week [ibid] gave a most penetrating analysis of this work, which was started by his Government, and so I need not repeat what he said. The world began to breathe again when, on the United States initiative which the rest of us support, a ceasefire was agreed upon.
135.	But there has been a breakdown, which could be fatal. Violations of the conditions for an end to the fighting have been alleged. I am not judging that issue today, except to say this, that the minimum basis of trust has, for the moment, been destroyed and ways must be found to repair it. Otherwise we shall get back into the situation where we were a few weeks ago, with the danger of the Middle Eastern conflict always spreading to something much wider than a battle or confrontation between Israel and Egypt.
136.	But all this ambition for the greater peace and security of the area has been overlaid by the civil war in Jordan and it is a doubly tragic development. These refugees in whose interest this Organization has worked so hard now find themselves not only in conflict with the Government of a country which has given them refuge; they are also in declared and violent opposition to a settlement whose basic elements have been endorsed by the Security Council of the United Nations.
137.	The degree of desperation to which these people have been driven is, in some way, a measure of the failure of our Organization over the years to solve this problem in which it has been so deeply engaged. But the use of force to try and solve it has already left a deep scar on Arabia.
138.	The immediate priority must be to make an end to the tragic strife in Jordan and in that context we can welcome the apparent withdrawal of foreign intervention yesterday from Jordanian soil and to ensure humanitarian treatment for all those who have been wounded or made homeless by the conflict. We are relying on the Arab Governments to achieve these minimum objectives.
139.	The larger task, though, is still before us, and the events of the past two weeks have only added to its dimensions and complexity. The surest basis for any hope of settlement in the end must still be this; that all those concerned will support our efforts here in the United Nations to achieve and guarantee a peace that will bring security and justice to those concerned.
140.	It was that consensus which so recently seemed to be bringing a settlement within our reach; it is that consensus alone which can enable the United Nations to reach any major achievement; and it is that consensus alone which can resolve the tragic history of the last generation for all the people who live in that area of violence, intolerance and hate.
141. But there is another condition which is even more fundamental and which has also been underlined this month in Jordan. The truth is, and this must be understood by the legally established Governments of the world, whether we live in Europe, or Africa, or the Americas, or Asia, that force to achieve political ends can never pay, in the modern world, a dividend in terms of justice and peace.
142. Our theme for the next Twenty-five years is fundamentally the same as the last. It is to outlaw force; it is to sustain law. And because in recent weeks we have got somewhere near to looking into the abyss of what international anarchy can mean, we must give a new sense of urgency to our counsels in the United Nations and in this Assembly.


62.	  Mr. President, your election to the Presidency of this Assembly constitutes just recognition of your qualities as a skillful diplomat with a deep and profound knowledge of this Organization. Your election is also a well-earned tribute to your country, Norway, and exemplary democracy which faithfully complies with the Charter of the United Nations. For all those reasons my delegation is happy to join in the words of congratulation that have been spoken at the outset of the statements of all the speakers who preceded me at the rostrum.
63.	It is my honor to represent in this Assembly a nation which has turned the principles of the Charter of the United Nations into the fundamental rules of its international conduct. That is why I am able to affirm today, without any reservations whatsoever, that Costa Rica adheres to the principles of the sovereign equality of States, the free self-determination of peoples, the peaceful solution of disputes, respect for human rights, nonintervention, international cooperation in the solution of economic, social, cultural, scientific and humanitarian problems all of which have as their purpose the achievement of international peace and security.
64.	My delegation does not share the pessimistic view held by some concerning the achievements of the UnLed Nations during the quarter of a century that has elapsed since its foundation. Despite its limitations and failures, the Organization has managed to avoid the outbreak of generalized armed warfare, thus preserving the major part of mankind from the scourge of war which, as is said in the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, "twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind". This achievement in itself justifies the existence of the United Nations, but the precarious manner in which it has been attained demands increased efforts to enable our Organization to carry out its peacekeeping work more effectively.
65.	The United Nations has furnished a proper forum for the airing of problems among nations. Without this,
they would have passed unperceived until armed conflict gave them notoriety. It has thus created an international opinion which is vigilant and which in many cases has been strong enough to dissuade those who wish to maintain an unjust attitude.
66.	In the twenty-five years that have elapsed since its foundation the United . Nations has accelerated the process of decolonization and has strengthened in a form that has never been equaled before the right of peoples to self-determination.
67.	It has also implemented excellent programs of technical and educational assistance. It has promoted international cooperation in the economic field, although in this respect it has met with only very relative success. The studies carried out by the United Nations on problems of development, although they have not been utilized efficiently to close the growing gap between the poor and rich countries, have nevertheless highlighted the international causes of the poverty which afflicts two thirds of mankind. They have further stressed the need for the industrialized countries to cooperate in the development of the poor countries as the sole means of preserving their own prosperity.
68.	As is evident, although in these twenty-five years the scourge of generalized warfare has been avoided, there has never once been general, worldwide peace. Our Organization has been unable to solve the acute problems confronting certain nations in armed conflicts and even groups of nations among themselves. Violence continues to afflict large portions of mankind, for which justice does not prevail. Despite the United Nations, many peoples live deprived of their freedom.
69.	We must frankly admit that this impotence of the Organization to solve armed conflicts and avoid situations of injustice arises from the fact that many Member States mainly the most powerful ones have refused to restrict their sovereignty to the extent necessary to turn the United Nations into an efficient instrument for the maintenance of peace. Our Organization has, with respect to such conflicts, been reduced to serving as a mere center for the expression of theories and the forming of international opinion. This is not a negligible result but is, however, far from the fundamental goal of those who created the Organization and those who subsequently adhered to its principles.
70.	The hope to end the cruel war in VietNam is no more likely to be fulfilled this year than it was last year. This costly experience has shown that the conflict cannot be resolved by military means. Nevertheless not an iota of improvement has been achieved in the field of negotiations. The Paris talks have been resumed in an atmosphere that bodes no prospects of improvement.
71.	We must recognize that the United States Government has made positive attempts to create a climate more appropriate to negotiation. Not only was the bombing of North VietNam halted more than a year ago, but large contingents of troops have already been
withdrawn from South VietNam. But these gestures were not reciprocated by the other side, which has shown not the least will to negotiate. Those who set down prior conditions cannot negotiate because the acceptance of those prior conditions would signify the unilateral imposition of their views, which is a denial to negotiate.
72.	Viable peace proposals submitted by South VietNam and the United States have two main purposes: the withdrawal of all forces which are not South VietNamese and the holding of free elections, internationally controlled, in which all the citizens of South VietNam would participate, .to choose the Government which would assume power at the end of hostilities. These are reasonable and fair proposals worthy of being favorably viewed by those who allege that they are defending the self-determination of the South VietNamese people. But they will accept only the withdrawal of the allied forces from South VietNam and the overthrow of the duly-elected present Government of that country. The terrible result of this unyielding attitude of those who wish arbitrarily to impose their will at all costs is the prolongation of a cruel war destructive to both life and property.
73.	It is strange to note that those who urge South VietNam and its allies to make more concessions with a view to achieving progress in the Paris talks have never thought of requesting the Government of North VietNam or the Vietcong to do likewise. My Government hopes that the inflexible attitude of those who refuse to negotiate will change in the interest of world peace. Only thus will the South VietNamese people be enabled to decide its own fate, free from any foreign intervention and any domestic violence. This solution can be durable only if it has the support of international public opinion. And it is here that the United Nations can and must make its contribution to peace in that area of SouthEast Asia.
74.	The Middle East conflict continues to represent a very serious threat to world peace. No other local dispute or conflict is so heavily loaded with the danger of being converted into a world war. That is why the United Nations cannot overlook this problem; nor can it leave the solution in the hands of the big Powers. By every means possible our Organization must seek a way to solve the crisis which, during the last twenty- two years, has provoked three wars between Israel and the Arab States.
75.	The Government of Costa Rica shared the satisfaction expressed by the majority of Governments here when informed that the parties concerned accepted the United States proposal for a temporary ceasefire and the initiation of negotiations through the mediation of Mr. Ambassador Jarring; and, like most of the Governments represented here, that of Costa Rica regrets that it has not been possible to start these negotiations owing to the partial lack of compliance of one of the parties concerned with the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Nevertheless, my delegation entertains the hope that the violations will be rectified in order that negotiations may begin. These negotiations, led by Ambassador Jarring, must create a favorable climate so that the Arabs and Israelis could meet again as in 1949 at that time in order to negotiate an armistice, and now to negotiate a peace treaty.
76.	Direct negotiation has no substitute as a means of putting a final end to the hostilities between States and promoting a durable peace. But in order for these negotiations to be true negotiations, they cannot be subjected to prior conditions which imply definite concessions by one of the parties. Negotiations must be open and clear with a view to seeking a solution of all the causes of a conflict.
77.	The Arab Governments declared in 1949 that the armistice lines could not be interpreted as being political or territorial frontiers and that such frontiers should be settled by means of agreements in the transition towards peace. Since these agreements were never achieved, the conversations through Mr. Jarring cannot be subjected to the prior condition that Israel should withdraw its troops behind frontiers which have never truly existed.
78.	In order for Israel to be able to comply fully with Security Council resolution 242 (1967), which calls for the withdrawal of its occupation forces, it is necessary first of all for these frontiers to be fixed by means of a peace treaty. Israel has never refused to withdraw its troops to the 1967 ceasefire line, but on the basis of the painful experience of three wars and twenty-two years of constant warfare, logically, it is necessary for the withdrawal to take place to secure and stable frontiers which should be fully recognized by the belligerent parties in peace treaties. Costa Rica considers this position of Israel to be a fair one and thus openly supports it.
79.	I repeat that best way of fostering harmony in the Near East is, in the view of my Government, to achieve direct negotiations between Arabs and Israelis without any prior conditions, for the termination of a conflict which for more than two decades has soaked the biblical lands in blood. My Government believes that the United Nations should use the full weight of it influence, should dedicate itself fully, should sharpen its wits in order to achieve, as soon as possible the initiation of these direct negotiations.
80.	To this end it is necessary for the big Powers to abstain from participating in the conflict for the purpose of fostering their own political or strategic interests. The Near East is too explosive a field in which to play the game of spheres of influence. If the Arab Israeli conflict is isolated from the machinations of the great Powers to tip the balance of world peace in their favor it will be easier to get the parties to the conflict to sit at the conference table and put an end to mutual hostilities, and to attain a peace which will be the beginning of great cooperation, and even of certain forms of economic integration, among the peoples who live in the Near East.
81.	In this analysis of present armed conflicts I am able to announce with satisfaction that Central America has continued to take firm steps toward the consolidation of peace. Bilateral negotiations between Honduras and Salvador for the purpose of finding a definite solution to the painful armed conflict which took place had been interrupted by border incidents. It is difficult to negotiate when there are clashes between the parties negotiating. The Organization of American States, which had so successfully achieved a ceasefire last year, had not managed to get the parties to reach an agreement on the demilitarization of the border line which was necessary in order to avoid new incidents.
82.	Upon the initiative of the President of Costa Rica, Mr. Jose Figueres, taken on the very day on which he assumed the presidency of the State, the Central American foreign Ministers met in San Jose at the end of last May. From this meeting emerged an agreement between Salvador and Honduras, guaranteed by Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, for the establishment of a zone of peace and security all along the border line. Supervision of this zone is in the hands of Latin American military observers appointed by the OAS. Thanks to this San Jose Agreement, border incidents have ceased and bilateral negotiations have been resumed in order to seek solutions for a final peace.
83.	The solution of this conflict has enabled the five Ministers of Economic Affairs, and the five Foreign Ministers afterward, to hold meetings in Managua and Guatemala, where special procedures were approved in order to get under way once again the supervisory bodies of Central American integration. In informing this General Assembly of the success of peacekeeping tasks achieved in Central America, my delegation expresses the wish for a satisfactory and positive conclusion of the bilateral negotiations under way between Honduras and Salvador because my delegation is convinced that only these negotiations can lead to a definite peace. Our work in this case has been to create the conditions and give the necessary guarantees in order for the parties to be able to negotiate freely; but these, and only these parties can truly solve their own problems. Direct negotiations are a means of achieving the transformation of rhetoric and polemic forms of debate into a concrete, specific and detailed formulation of controversial questions.
84.	Our faith in direct negotiations is fostered by our experience in Central America, and it is this which has prompted us to urge the United Nations to dedicate itself fully to the purpose of having the parties to conflicts which have not been solved sit down together in direct negotiations without prior conditions. Any refusal to negotiate directly creates tension and suspicion while direct negotiation often creates a leeway for new ideas and new imaginative efforts which often provoke conciliatory formulas which did not exist at the outset of the conversations.
85.	Hijacking, which is increasing at an alarming rate, is a serious and disturbing factor as far as peace is concerned because these acts, which constitute offenses of piracy and which are morally, politically and legally unjustifiable, also constitute acts of aggression by the Governments which give asylum to the hijackers, and which are contrary to the interest of the nations affected by the hijacking. In a recent resolution [286 (1970)] the Security Council recommended to the Member States that they should take all relevant steps to avoid a repetition of acts of air piracy. My delegation is happy to support that resolution. Prior to this resolution Costa Rica had already taken the necessary steps in order to turn air hijacking to a new specific offence which is severely sanctioned in the Penal Code that has been recently promulgated.
86.	Nevertheless, my delegation feels that the best way of putting an end to acts of hijacking is to get the Governments that have given asylum to the hijackers to correct their behaviour and to agree to hand them over to the legal authorities of the States having jurisdiction over the hijacking case concerned. Without the aggressive complicity of the Governments giving asylum, acts of hijacking could not be so easily perpetrated because what encourages the hijackers to commit their crimes is the secure knowledge that they will go free, and even be treated like heroes of violence, instead of being treated like delinquents guilty of crimes against mankind.
87.	Unfortunately, it was a Government of a country of the American continent, that of Cuba, which began the criminal practice of giving asylum to hijackers. This Cuban policy, a consequence of that continent of its subversive activity against other Governments, was promptly emulated by other Governments with manifestations of violence against the airlines and the passengers of States with which they are in conflict. Thus, the prophets of violence found other means of protesting against the state of affairs which they did not like. If the Cuban Government had apprehended the first hijackers and as International Law requires, had placed them at the disposal of the tribunals of the countries which are empowered to deal with them, we would not today be witnessing with great surprise and horror
the increasing number of assaults on planes in flight.
88.	Giving asylum to hijackers, as I have already said, constitutes an act of aggression against the State which has jurisdiction over the hijacked plane. When asylum is given by a Government, as happened in the majority of cases, the State giving asylum should be subjected to the sanctions which the Security Council must impose on those who commit acts of aggression liable to threaten peace among nations. As long as this truth is not recognized with courage, as long as transgressing Governments are not required to abstain from granting asylum, hijacking will continue to endanger the security of all air travelers and the integrity of the order on which the international community depends.
89.	We are happy to point out here that Costa Rica, along with many other delegations, supported, the resolution which designated 1971 as the International Year for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination [2544 (XXIV)], We are thus reiterating our efforts of many years to try to eliminate one of the most flagrant violations of human rights. It is well known that Costa Rica has participated ever since its inception in the work of the Special Committee on the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa. We have collaborated there with the other members of that Committee in order to arrive at means which will lead to the successful achievement of the purposes for which it was created.
90.	However, we have already repeated here many times in many meetings that the flagrant violations of human rights do not occur only in the sphere of racial discrimination. That is why we wish to express our particular interest in an acceleration of the process necessary to render effective the postulates of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which have been so beautifully embodied in the international agreements on human rights. We regret that hitherto there has not been a sufficient number of ratifications of these optional instruments for the protection and the strengthening of human rights throughout the world. Nevertheless, we hope that soon a sufficient number of ratifications will be forthcoming. For this reason Costa Rica decided in 1965 to reopen a subject which had been discussed in the General Assembly many years before upon the request of Uruguay and France, concerning the creation of a body by means of a resolution of the Assembly which would be called upon to give impetus to the protection of human rights, a body which hitherto has not moved from the field of good intentions to that of achievements. Our interest in creating the office of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been evident ever since the subject was introduced in 1965. During the twenty- fourth session of the General Assembly the subject was at last studied in substance. In resolution 2595 (XXIV) seventy three delegations voted in favor of giving the highest priority to the continuation of the study of this question, which now appears as item 46 on the agenda of this session. My delegation would view it with the greatest of satisfaction if we were able to reach a solution of that question and if an office were to be created as a manifestation of the interest of the United Nations in the protection of all human rights. That is why we hope that resolution 2595 (XXIV) will not be just one more resolution, but that its decisions will be taken with all due seriousness and that it will be given priority so that the question may be duly examined in the Committee concerned.
91.	Nothing runs more counter to the fundamental goal of the United Nations, which is the maintenance of peace and international security, than the absurd arms race which, year after year, consumes more than $200,000 million. Thus, general and complete disarmament under international control is becoming an evermore urgent task although the "realists" of politics consider it merely Utopian.
92.	Costa Rica is proud to have unilaterally practiced complete and general disarmament since 1948. Since then we have not spent one cent on the maintenance of armed forces and we have entrusted our national defense against foreign aggression to existing international pacts and to the effectiveness of the regional and world organizations of which Costa Rica is a member. Our Constitution since 1949 proscribed the army as a permanent institution in our country. It is therefore not strange that my delegation should warmly support any measure tending towards a restriction in one way or another of the mad arms race.
93.	We understand the political reasons which prevent more efficient action in the field of disarmament. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela quite rightly described this state of affairs in the very excellent statement he made a few days ago. May I be allowed to quote some paragraphs of this admirable statement.
"We have already spoken of an international order based on the balance of power between the various blocs. The maintenance of this balance, precarious at best, requires the investment of gigantic sums of money for the acquisition of attack and defense systems which are increasingly complex and costly. The possession of the atomic bomb has been the point of departure in a constant arms race designed to end the balance of terror by some decisive discovery or by establishing the kind of material superiority which would have an unquestionable effect.
"With a very small percentage of the investments that are made for destruction, the fact of the earth could indeed be changed. However, the struggle for control of the world makes it impossible for the competitors to act in everyone's best interests ' [1841st meeting, paras. 102 and 103],
94.	Despite serious obstacles the Committee on Disarmament has worked untiringly in order to achieve at least collateral measures to decrease armaments. Very important measures have been achieved and are represented by treaties such as the Treaty on the partial prohibition of nuclear tests signed in 1963,  that which regulates the activities of States on the exploration and utilization of outer space signed in 1967 [resolution 2222 {XXI}], that which regulates the banning of nuclear weapons in Latin America (Tlatelolco Treaty), also signed in 1967, and the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons signed in 1968 [resolution 2373 (XXII)].
95.	We have subscribed fully to document A/7993 in which the inclusion of an item is requested in the provisional agenda of this twenty-fifth session, entitled "Status of the implementation of General Assembly resolution 2456 B (XXIII) concerning the signature and ratification of additional protocol II of the treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlateloco)". The purpose of this protocol is to commit the countries of Latin America to abstain from utilizing nuclear weapons on Latin American territory. Unfortunately, hitherto only the United Kingdom has adhered to the additional protocol II, thus showing its respect for the wish of our peoples to do away with nuclear weapons in this part of the globe. We are making an appeal to the other world Powers to follow the British example.
96.	As the representative of a poor country, I must perforce regret the failure of the efforts of the United Nations to achieve the goals set by the First United Nations Development Decade. At the very time when we are about to discuss the strategy for the Second Decade, my delegation wishes to repeat the view that only a substantial reduction of military expenditure can enable the great Powers to free sufficient resources for them to collaborate in the raising of the standard of living of the nations which are still underdeveloped. Although we realize that various industrialized countries have repeated their intention to dedicate 1 per cent of their gross national .product to the development of the less favored areas, since wealth and natural resources are so very much concentrated in the hands of those States that are also foremost in the arms race, it would be Utopian to believe in an improvement of general conditions, relying only on the goodwill of those who are less powerful.
97.	Efforts towards achieving the objectives of the Second Development Decade must be closely linked with an effort to accelerate disarmament. Only thus will energies be able to be channeled energies which are today dedicated to the preparation of war towards general prosperity which, in reducing tension, would also reduce armed conflicts and render the arms race less necessary.
98.	Thanks, to a great extent, to the studies of the United Nations, we know today that two thirds of, mankind lives without proper food, without decent housing conditions, without land, without property, without health, and we know that the only solution to this tragedy consists in increasing the national income of the poor countries. But in order to increase that national income it is necessary to raise the level of production, and that can be achieved only by perfecting the methods of producing wealth, which are, in other words, education of the population in order to improve its technical and administrative knowledge, and the improvement cf the means of production, which implies the acquiring of modern agricultural and industrial machinery and equipment.
99.	But the education of populations and the creation of modern agricultural and industrial equipment requires enormous capital investments. And that is why our underdeveloped countries are caught in this vicious circle. Investments are insufficient because the national income is scarce. National savings are scarce because income is so slight. And thus it is not possible to invest in productive equipment and trained staff. Therefore this vicious circle can be broken only by means of considerable contribution of additional resources coming from the outside. Thus, it is evident that it is necessary to obtain the cooperation of the more developed countries, whose accumulation of wealth is due, to a large extent, to the exploitation of the poor countries.
100.	Although there are many ways and means in which the rich countries may cooperate in the development of the poor countries, my Government jointly believes that the most efficient manner to strengthen the economy of the underdeveloped countries is by paying a good price for their export products and by removing restrictions which are obstacles to their trade. In the economy of nations just as in the economy of individuals, the best means of raising the standard of living is by increasing their income by means of a fair payment for the work of each and every one.
101.	For thousands of years man lived only in a world of scarcity because he had no other energy for the process of production than the force of muscle of man or beast. Thus, for thousands of years the human mind was modeled on the assumption of scarcity, on the need to save to the extent of being avaricious, on the need for man to exploit his fellow citizens.
102.	But the tremendous development of modern technology has put an end to that situation of scarcity. Machines are working today untiringly and unerringly creating abundance. Nevertheless, man is still attached o the old routine of the voracious appropriation of
the belongings of others.
103.	The big economic crisis in 1929 had as its main cause, the constant increase in industrial production, which did not run par with an increase in salaries nor an increase in the prices of agricultural commodities. The Keynesian formula with which the crisis of the capitalist world was solved raised and stabilized the prices of agricultural products and increased industrial salaries. The measures thus adopted enabled the developed countries to overcome their crisis and to enrich the whole nation, far from ruining the urban and industrial populations.
104.	Therefore, internally, the industrialized nations have been obliged to adopt a system of distribution of wealth which is adapted to the new system of mass production. Thus, modern industry could not subsist unless it constantly increased the level of consumption of its own peoples. However, it has not been able to rid itself of this prejudice in the international field.
105.	The rich countries have thus stabilized the prices of their products at levels which represent a decent standard of living for their workers. Agricultural products are not exempt from this production. Wheat and sugar, for example, produced by the industrialized countries have good systems of stabilization of prices at a level of development. Only the poor peoples are obliged to sell the product of their work at a price which they can obtain on the "free market". And that, to a great extent, is why they are poor.
106.	At the beginning of the Second Development Decade we feel that the time has now come for the industrialized nations, which have already broken down the barrier of greed within their own domestic economy, to decide to break down that barrier within the world economy.
107.	The underdeveloped nations constitute the proletariat of today's world, and agricultural and mineral exports constitute their salary. Only by raising that salary will the poor nations be able to acquire the surplus of the industrial products which the rich nations need to sell in ever greater quantities on our markets. If the contrary occurs, once again due to a lack of equity in international trade, there will be serious economic crises such as those which occurred in the past because of a lack of a proper and fair distribution of national income.
108.	In concluding his statement in the general debate [1841st meeting] the representative of Brazil made a very simple proposal, which nevertheless, implies an entire program of action. Minister Gibson suggested, no more and no less, that we should utilize our Organization and that we should implement the Charter. Costa Rica, which is a founding Member of the United Nations, supports the Brazilian proposal with the greatest of faith and confidence.