194.	While this United Nations General Assembly session is being held a number of conflicts have attracted the attention of the peoples of the world.
195.	An African poet once said that there is something ominous about silence. Today we cannot, and do not wish to, remain silent about the situation confronting the worthy people of Nicaragua, the legendary homeland of Augusto Cesar Sandino, who was called the glorious "General of Free Men". It was Sandino who once told the United States imperialists;
"Then come and kill us in our land; I await you at the head of my soldier patriots, and we do not care how many of you there are. But understand this: if that happens, our blood will stain the white dome of the famous White House, that den of criminal plans."
196.	Striving to attain political power, inspired by Sandino's example to open up new avenues to a different and better future, fighting from improvised barricades thrown up in the cities and from entrenched columns in the wild mountains, the Nicaraguan revolutionaries have pushed the dictator Somoza and his regime to the verge of collapse using hunting rifles, side arms and home-made bombs.
197.	The scientific analysis of social processes shows that when an idea becomes a part of mass consciousness it is transformed into a powerful material force and that when the people decide to throw off the yoke that oppresses them, nothing can stop them.
198.	Somoza has resorted to every type of repression in an effort to crush the popular uprising. He has trampled upon human rights, violated public liberties and enthroned barbarity and genocide, and has even used groups of mercenaries, among them Vietnamese and Cuban counterrevolutionaries recruited in a number of countries, particularly the United States and certain Central American States.
199.	This situation has created a real source of possible attacks by the Somoza regime against neighbouring States, as has already occurred with the bombing of Costa Rican territory, which has endangered peace throughout the area.
200.	Our Assembly should denounce the Somoza regime as a monster that has emerged under the generous shadow of the Yankee occupation and reject the credentials of the delegation from that dictator, who is repudiated by his people and by all progressive mankind; it should condemn the use of mercenary groups sent to crush the struggle of the Nicaraguan people, and condemn all military or economic assistance to the tyrannical regime in Managua.
201.	The Middle East is another focal point of crisis on the international scene. If we believe what the great press of the capitalist world says, we can assume that advances towards peace in the Middle East have been made, but if, instead, we look at what has happened in recent months we shall be forced to admit that the reality is quite different.
202.	At the last regular session of the General Assembly we stated that "the allies of Tel Aviv and other reactionaries seek by their diplomatic and military manoeuvres to ignore the rights of the Palestinian people .. .".  Those manoeuvres have been deviously expressed in the dubious results of the Camp David meetings, which pretend that the Arab States follow the downward path of unprincipled concessions to the enemy even to the point of betraying the Arab peoples-as the Arab States of the Front for Steadfastness, other Arab Governments and the Palestine Liberation Organization have charged.
203.	There is no acknowledgment of the fact that Israel, with the ever-present help of its allies, chiefly the United States, continues to occupy territory belonging to the Arab States of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. There is equally stubborn refusal to allow the Palestinian people to satisfy their most basic national rights. The fact that Israeli troops recently launched a new act of aggression by driving deep into Lebanon and occupying part of its territory for a time, fiercely repressing progressive forces and attacking the Palestinian refugee camps, is completely overlooked. That act of war took place at a time when every effort was being made to make the world believe that peace was at hand.
204.	The truth, which cannot be brushed aside by defeatist statements or agreements, is that, when Israel was faced with the undeniable existence of the Palestine nation and the determination of its representatives to struggle for their infringed rights, it chose to practise genocide against that people.
205.	The history of diplomacy has recognized peace by treaty. The history of the people will recognize peace by conscience. There is no peace of conscience when the principles of those who died fighting for a social ideal are betrayed. One does not have to be a prophet to know that accounts will be settled some day, and not exactly on the Day of Judgement.
206.	Representatives should ask themselves whether the Tel Aviv Government could take this action without the material and moral support of the United States Government.
207.	The struggle of the Arab peoples is important for all the countries of the world. It is not admissible for an aggressive, expansionist State to establish the borders it wants or deprive an entire nation of its legitimate rights by means of war.
208.	There will be no just and lasting peace in the Middle East, nor can the international community accept pseudo- solutions that do not respect the legitimate national rights of the people of Palestine, including the right to establish their own State and the right to self-determination; nor will there be real peace until the territories occupied in 1967 are returned unconditionally to the Arab States.
209.	Cuba pledges its firmest support to the cause of the Arab peoples and especially to the cause of the long-suffering Palestinian people, whose only legitimate representative is the Palestine Liberation Organization, as has been recognized by this Assembly, the movement of non-aligned countries, the League of Arab States, the OAU and especially the Palestinian people itself.
210.	Mr. President, before continuing, I should like, on behalf of the Cuban delegation, to congratulate you on your election as President of this session of the General Assembly. Colombia and Cuba are linked by a close fellowship of history and culture. The close relations that have always linked our fraternal peoples have been strengthened since you became Minister for Foreign Affairs of your country, and they are being extended daily to our mutual benefit. We are certain that in the weeks ahead you will skilfully guide the work of this Assembly and we pledge the support of the Cuban representatives in this task.
211.	The October Revolution, a social product emerging from the class struggle of contemporary society, marked the start of the genuine crisis of capitalism and opened the wellspring of the struggle of the colonial peoples against imperialism. The world has changed profoundly since then.
212.	The international balance of power today is nothing like that which existed in 1920, when the Soviets were alone, surrounded by a hostile world. The balance of power L not even comparable with that in the 1950s or at the beginning of the 1960s. Today, the struggle of the peoples, particularly in the socialist camp, headed by the Soviet Union, has inclined the balance towards the cause of peace, independence and progress. This change in the correlation of forces and this tendency that favours peace are evident within the United Nations itself in the community of interests between the socialist countries and the underdeveloped countries, which has made possible a fruitful period of major definition -and decision, particularly in the struggle against colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism and apartheid and for the establishment of a new international economic order.
213.	As a product of that world correlation and an immediate result of the long internal struggles and difficult battles for national liberation, new independent States have emerged, founded on principles of fraternal and disinterested support. But where are those peoples who have experienced the long darkness of colonial exploitation- without hospitals or doctors, without schools or teachers, without industrial development-and who are prisoners of the dependent relationships they have inherited to find that support?
214.	Only a social revolution that eliminates the internal structures blocking the productive forces, combined with unconditional outside support based on principles of justice and internationalist solidarity, can help those peoples to move towards a new, full life. Imperialism is not the natural ally of the peoples in their aim to achieve independent development. Its so-called assistance, generally in the form of loans, is one of the mechanisms it has created to pull its own economy out of a state of permanent structural crisis.
215.	Colonial and neo-colonial relations are the source of under-development, poverty and ignorance.
216.	Cuba urges that colonialism be ended once and for all through the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination and independence.
217.	We therefore energetically support the independence of the Saharan people and the people of Belize. The territorial integrity of the latter people is being threatened by the pro-imperialist regime in Guatemala, with the support of the transnational corporations.
218.	During the last two years the United States Government has pressured and threatened the Member States of this international Organization, demanding that the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples suspend its debate and any decision affecting the colonial case of Puerto Rico. Nevertheless, on 12 September, following two weeks of intensive work, that Committee approved a resolution calling upon the United States to transfer all power to the people of that territory so that they might exercise full sovereignty in freely determining their own future [see A/33/23/Rev.l, chap. I, para. 73]. The United States Government was completely isolated. Representatives of all the political forces in Puerto Rico attended the meetings of the Special Committee and not one of them failed to recognize the colonial status of that territory.
219.	Cuba will continue to uphold the pertinent decisions of the Conference of the non-aligned countries  and the mandate that stems from our history of struggle shared with the Puerto Rican people to support their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.
220.	The imperialist Powers and the reactionary Governments of other countries are creating new pacts which threaten the security of peaceful States that are engaged in the immense task of building happiness for their peoples.
221.	We refer first of all to the heroic people of Viet Nam, whose defeat of imperialist aggression in Indo-China was a decisive contribution to the struggle against colonialism and neo-colonialism. When the war was over the Vietnamese people dedicated themselves to carrying out President Ho Chi Minh's expressed will that a Viet Nam 10 times more beautiful should be built on the ruins left by the war, in which indiscriminate and criminally massive use had been made of all kinds of weapons except nuclear arms.. At the same time, the Vietnamese Government proceeded rapidly to the normalization of relations with all its neighbours, in an effort to bring peace, neutrality and progress to South-East Asia.
222.	However, the Chinese Government leadership, wishing to please its Western allies and leaving no doubts about its anti-progressive and anti-socialist militancy and its dreams of hegemony and expansion in Asia, is now threatening heroic Viet Nam. The Peking leadership is acting in flagrant alliance with United States imperialism and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO].
223.	In Latin America, the Chinese leadership's best friend is the Fascist junta of Pinochet. In Africa, it takes an active part in the aggression against Angola and expresses its solidarity with the threats levelled against the revolutions of Ethiopia and Yemen. In Asia, it seeks to impose its chauvinistic dictates on Viet Nam and other countries. Finally, it works actively against the extension of international detente, the halting of the arms race and the protection of the world from the threat of war.
224.	Cuba believes that the immoral policy of the new Chinese mandarins should be energetically rejected.
225.	We believe also that it is just and necessary for this Assembly to support the independence and territorial integrity of Namibia and Zimbabwe and we reiterate here that Cuba supports the legitimate representatives of those people, the Patriotic front and SWAPO and that, as President Fidel Castro stated in his speech at the International Conference of Solidarity with the Struggle of the African and Arab Peoples against Imperialism and Reaction,1 1 Cuba does not oppose any peaceful negotiation that would solve the problems of both cases, so long as such negotiation is just and is accepted by the legitimate representatives of those peoples and by the African States supporting them.
226.	Indeed, the very forces that have obliged the fighters of SWAPO and the Patriotic Front to resort to arms provide all kinds of assistance to the regimes of Smith and Vorster and benefit from the exploitation of the black peoples of southern Africa. It is precisely the determination of the patriots of those countries to keep on fighting until victory is won that has forced the racist regimes and their NATO allies to seek peaceful, negotiated solutions.
227.	It should be recalled that the United Nations recently published a list of companies that have violated the embargo declared against the racist regimes,  and it is highly significant that more than 500 of the 593 Western companies mentioned in the list are British and American. It is therefore absolutely necessary to remain vigilant concerning any attempt to evade the liberation aims of the fighters of the Patriotic Front and SWAPO by replacing the present white racists with another regime which would perpetuate the criminal exploitation to which those peoples are subjected and block the institution of regimes that
represent the majorities, the black peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe.
228.	We believe that the decisions this Assembly adopts should leave Pretoria and Salisbury in no doubt concerning the international community's determination to put an end to racism and colonialism in southern Africa. We support full independence and territorial integrity for Zimbabwe and Namibia. We urge that Pretoria be further isolated and we support the patriots confronting that regime.
229.	The recent decision of the South African regime announcing the implementation of its own plan for so-called independence for Namibia proves how strongly South Africa believes it can count on the support of its most important commercial partners and providers of arms and military and nuclear technology. In fact everything seems to indicate that the imperialists regard with veiled pleasure the fact that the authorities of Pretoria are trying to impose a neo-colonial regime upon Namibia.
230.	We consider that the moment has come for the Security Council to approve sanctions capable of bringing about the economic, military and political isolation of South Africa and for SWAPO to receive every assistance it requires in order to continue its armed struggle in favour of Namibia's independence, the only alternative left open for the Namibian patriots in view of the attitude of South Africa and the Western Powers.
231.	We also condemn the incursions by Rhodesia into the Republic of Mozambique, and we stress Cuba's support for the valiant people of Mozambique, who will not take a backward step, despite these acts of aggression. We believe that this Assembly should call upon all Member States to offer Mozambique and the other front-line States all necessary assistance to meet successfully the actions of the Pretoria and Salisbury regimes.
232.	Ws also alert this Assembly to the intentions of the forces of imperialism and reaction in regard to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, a strong bulwark of democracy, freedom and progress in the Arabian -peninsula. We send the Yemeni revolutionaries a warm message of identification and solidarity.
233.	We support the right to self-determination of the people of East Timor and Argentina's legitimate aspiration to recover the Malvinas Islands.
234.	We demand the complete, unconditional withdrawal of ail foreign troops remaining in Cyprus in flagrant violation of the sovereign rights of that country and we call for complete respect for its independence and territorial integrity.
235.	We call for the withdrawal of all foreign troops and materiel from South Korea and for the dissolution of the United Nations Command. We support the just demands of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea aimed at attaining those objectives..
236.	We salute the successes achieved by the people of Panama in their long, courageous and heroic struggle to obtain full sovereignty over all their territory.
237.	We reiterate our demand that foreign air, naval and military bases in Guam, the Philippines, the Indian Ocean, Malta, Cyprus, Panama, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo - to mention but a few-be dismantled. This would make a substantial contribution to the strengthening of international peace and security.
238.	We support the heroic struggle being waged by the people of Chile for their freedom and against the policy of unemployment, poverty, repression and surrender of the country's resources to the transnational companies that helped the Fascist junta seize power. We are confident that the Chilean people will emerge victorious over fascism.
239.	Much speculation has been voiced over the status of and prospects for our relations with the United States. Cuba can negotiate these relations, but never on the basis of abandoning any of our principles. The prerequisite for any negotiation must be that the United States lift its unjust and unilateral blockade of Cuba and end all its hostile acts • and attacks. We cannot have discussions on the basis of force and blackmail; it is not possible to conduct a dialogue with a dagger in the chest. We cannot say when such a discussion will be possible, but it is certain that the Cuban people's right to determine their own future in freedom and sovereignty, to take a specific position in international conflicts and to act in solidarity with the peoples struggling for freedom and independence can never be questioned; that our people will win their right to exercise sovereignty over all our territory; and that the Yankee troops that now illegally occupy a part of our island will have to withdraw.
240.	Part of the booty the United States obtained when it intervened in Cuba's war for independence from colonial domination was the territory that it usurped and that is occupied to this day by the naval base in Guantanamo. The military Government of occupation imposed upon the Cubans the concession of that part of our fatherland, in spite of the strong opposition of our people.
241.	Over 70 years have elapsed and the United States military presence still continues in the naval base of Guantanamo, a truly colonial enclave in our land. The Government and the people of Cuba strongly voice their demand for the restitution of the territory occupied by that base.
242.	This Assembly is meeting after an interval of a year in which the most aggressive forces of imperialism, supported by reactionaries of all types, have tried to prevent the strengthening of detente and push the world back to the days of the cold war, stepping up the arms race and blocking the progress to and consolidation of national independence by the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America and their struggle for economic and social development based on just and equal international relations.
243.	In the months since the thirty-second session a series of international conferences have also taken place, including three special sessions of the General Assembly, the seventh session of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, the World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, the United Nations Conference on Technical Co-operation among Developing
Countries and the Conference of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries.
244.	In analysing the international situation we cannot fail to refer to the critical situation at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea after haying held seven sessions. Its success or failure will determine whether a regime of law that will benefit world peace will prevail or whether there will be anarchy, with its unforeseeable consequences. This topic is, therefore, of vital interest to the developing countries; which, with the establishment of anew law of the sea, would make the first real gain in their just struggle for a new international economic order.
245.	Only through an international regime will the community of nations be able to prevent the unrestricted exploitation of those resources by the imperialist consortiums seriously harming the inland producers of minerals similar to those found in the sea-bed and guarantee that the benefits obtained from their exploitation will provide resources for the countries that are relatively less developed.
246.	Cuba wishes explicitly to state its firm support for the energetic protest formulated by the Group of 77 in the session of the Conference on the Law of the Sea that was concluded recently, expressing opposition to the bills being considered by the United States and other countries that will pave the way for the large consortia to exploit those resources unilaterally. At the same time it emphasizes the responsibility that weighs on all countries-especially the large capitalist Powers—to help to overcome the present deadlock in the Conference.
247.	If we can draw any conclusion from what has happened in the last few months, it is first of all that there is duplicity in the foreign policy of the imperialists, who use their diplomatic activities to hide attempts to maintain their neo-colonial rule where it still persists, supporting racist and expansionist reactionary regimes such as those of South Africa and Israel, and to maintain intact the system of international economic relations that favours the exploitation by their consortia of the riches of the so-called third-world countries.
248.	Suffice it to recall what happened while the tenth special session of the General Assembly, which was devoted to disarmament, was being held. While in this building the vast majority of the representatives of Member States sincerely and insistently tried to find solutions that would slow down the arms race and use the money thus saved to benefit all humanity, strengthening the international peace and security that all people seek, at the same time the NATO Heads of State met in Washington to adopt the most costly programme of military expenditure ever approved by that aggressive military pact. Where is the imperialists' real policy shown-in the New York disarmament negotiations or in the boost given the arms race in NATO?
249.	Moreover, it is important to emphasize that the relative success of the special session, which created conditions favourable for continuing efforts to achieve general and complete disarmament, the goal of all progressive forces, was a victory for the non-aligned countries which requested the special session, for the countries of the socialist community, which gave it their support and for all the other States which worked with dedication in the special session.
250.	Allow me to reiterate that Cuba strongly urges the attainment of that goal and that we support the prompt calling of a world disarmament conference and the conclusion of the negotiations to reach partial agreements on such matters as the elimination of chemical weapons, the prohibition of all nuclear weapon testing and a ban on the use of force in international relations. In that regard we salute the proposals presented by the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.
251.	Also while: the special session was being held many extremely aggressive, slanderous statements were made against Cuba for its fulfilment of its international obligations to help the peoples of Angola and Ethiopia. A whole campaign of lies was 6rchestrated to try to accuse Cuba of having participated in the events which took place in the Shaba Province in Zaire, but the truth prevailed and it was further proved that it had all been a means to justify intervention by NATO forces.
252.	On 14 September, President Fidel Castro said:
"The imperialists and their reactionary servants oppose Cuba's presence in Africa....
"We could answer them with the words of several African Heads of State, who have said that there are no Cubans in Africa who have not been asked to come by an independent State exercising its sovereignty to defend a just cause."
253.	Following the defeat of the attack made on the people of Angola by the racist regime of South Africa everything possible has been done to prevent the peoples of Africa and the Middle East from consolidating their independence, to hold back all demonstrations of solidarity with them and to try to divide them. Forces of intervention have even been sent, in an attempt to recolonize Africa, and all possibilities for military confrontation between the countries in the area have been enhanced.
254.	The enemies of the people seek to destroy the organizations established to strengthen their solidarity; an example is provided by the efforts made recently on the international level to divide, weaken and destroy the movement of non-aligned countries. We can state, however, that those efforts have failed; the members of the movement are now more united and their presence in the struggle is more active because they have reached basic solutions that respond to the true interests of the people in every one of the main conflicts on the international scene today.
255.	Clearly the imperialist forces have been unable to obtain a favourable balance. The revolutions of Angola and Ethiopia have been consolidated, the front-line countries maintain their unswerving support for the national liberation movements that are fighting against racism, and no force can deter the moral and material solidarity and aid given those peoples. The failure of all the manoeuvres to sabotage the last OAU Assembly of Heads of State and
Government and the Conference of the foreign ministers of non-aligned countries is evidence of a deep awareness that international solidarity is particularly significant in the current struggles of the African and Arab peoples.
256.	Four years ago at its sixth special session the General Assembly adopted a Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order [resolution 3201 (S-VI)], initiating a phase of intense negotiations in the economic field in which the developing countries felt confident that their minimum demands for obtaining access to economic development would be met. Without fear of being called pessimistic we can say that the results obtained since that Declaration was adopted have been frustrating. The situation of the non-oil-producing developing countries has become steadily worse. Foreign debts have risen, balance-of-payments problems have increased and purchasing. power and access to Western industrialized markets have declined.
257.	The developing countries have not obtained a single concession on any of the basic demands made to the developed countries that control economic relations in the developing world. Instead of a reduction in customs and trade barriers to provide entry to capitalist markets, there has been an increase. The current blockade of my country is perhaps a typical example of the kind of commercial discrimination that is employed; the prices of manufactured goods, of machinery and of agricultural and industrial products which the developing world imports in order to turn out finished goods, continue to rise and the prejudicial relationship between those prices and what the developing world is paid for the exploitation of its natural resources remains unaltered. The crisis of the monetary system —especially the crisis facing the United States dollar which is its base—has caused even greater damage to the economy of the under-developed world.
258.	Unfortunately, it seems that no serious effort is being made to change this situation. The recent failure of the committee of the whole created by the General Assembly by its resolution 32/174 demonstrates that it takes just one country blindly set on maintaining its privileges to block the mechanism established by the vote of the overwhelming majority of Member States of the United Nations.
259.	We believe that it is necessary to continue demanding discussion, debate and negotiation within the United Nations and that any attempt to find solutions outside this universal body will only constitute delaying tactics like those employed in Paris in the so-called North-South dialogue. We also believe that the developing world should continue to do everything possible to extend the ties of economic co-operation among the under-developed countries and between them and the industrialized countries that do not exploit the existing unjust and unequal international economic relations. Mechanisms such as the Latin American Economic System must continue to be supported as a step towards increasingly closer co-operation among our peoples.
260.	International bodies must facilitate this process of co-operation and act with initiative and boldness in doing so Cuba hopes, and will do everything possible to see to it, that progress is made during this session towards providing the committee of the whole, as a negotiating body, with the status and the authority to satisfy the just demands presented by the developing countries.
261.	My comrades and I come from a small island that is no more than a dot on the world map. Ours is not a rich country; it does not have any great energy resources. Before the revolution that triumphed in January 1959, it was known only for its rum, cigars and music. Today it is much more than that, because a country's worth is measured not in square kilometres and millions of inhabitants but rather by the morale of its people and these struggles.
262.	It is on that small island, placed like a key at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, that the Heads of State and Government of the members of the movement of non- aligned countries will meet next September. Cuba is making enthusiastic and careful preparations to welcome the representatives of the 86 States Members of the movement of non-aligned countries and to provide for all their needs at the sixth Conference.
263.	The upcoming summit Conference of non-aligned countries, the first to be held in Latin America, will help to strengthen the principles on which the movement was founded, and its aspirations to affirm the independence and sovereignty of the peoples and their right to independent development.
264.	Our President, Comrade Fidel Castro, said on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks:
"The world revolutionary movement has made tremendous progress in the present century. Its forces grow; its ranks increase; its experience is enriched. The betrayal by, and the insanity, weakness and blindness of, those whose vanity, arrogance, stupidity, petit bourgeois attitudes, chauvinism and opportunism kept them from following the luminous path of the Revolution will never hold back mankind's victorious march.
"Mankind will not return to the past; peace will be preserved; the people will march forward in progress, and nothing and no one can stop them."


83.	Mr. President, first of all may I, with infinite pleasure, offer you my warm congratulations and my best wishes for total success in connexion with your brilliant election to the post of President of the General Assembly. There is no doubt that in entrusting to you the highly important responsibility of directing the work of the thirty-third session, the General Assembly wanted to pay a tribute both to your eminent qualities as a statesman and seasoned diplomat, well versed in international affairs, and to the persevering efforts of your Government in favour of peace and international security and co-operation. I am particularly pleased since you are the head of the diplomatic corps of a country with which mine is honoured and pleased to maintain excellent relations of friendship and co-operation. I should like to assure you of the entire co-operation of the delegation of the Ivory Coast in the fulfilment of your mission.
84.	May I also associate myself with the homage paid to your predecessor, Mr. Lazar Mojsov, by expressing to him our great gratitude for the outstanding way in which he presided over the thirty-second regular session of the General Assembly and the three special sessions which followed.
85.	I should also once again like to give assurances of our total support for the efforts made by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, in favour of peace and progress in the world and of friendly co-operation between nations. Mr. Waldheim's high sense of duty and dedication to the cause of our Organization have always called forth the admiration and respect of the Government and people of the Ivory Coast.
86.	We wish to welcome with particular satisfaction the admission of Solomon Islands to the United Nations. In addressing to the representative of that new Member our most heartfelt congratulations and our wishes of welcome, I should like to assure him of our readiness to co-operate with him within the United Nations and to maintain with his country sincere relations of friendship and confident co-operation.
87.	In spit? of certain laudable efforts, particularly by our Organization, to promote peace, the international situation remains characterized by the persistence of certain hotbeds of tension and war, by the selfish behaviour of human beings and States, and the emergence of new crises.
88.	Africa, unfortunately, offers just such a spectacle. The harsh rivalry between the two blocs is one cause. The problems of decolonization and the aftermath of colonization itself are another.
89.	Although the western part of our continent is in a state of relative peace which can promote regional economic co-operation, the situation prevailing in other regions is, as far as we are concerned, a reason for major concern, not only because it sows dissension between friendly States whose proximity requires them to be co-operative and understanding but also because it plays into the hands of certain Powers which, while claiming to help Africa to settle its problems, are in fact trying to expand their zones of influence.
90.	These Powers justify their military intervention in Africa by the argument that the States concerned requested it, and by the claim that that request was based on the "inherent right of individual or collective self-defence" of any Member State subjected to armed aggression, as recognized by Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. That is entirely understandable, but what is much less so is that these same Powers reproach others for their intervention, although it is justified by much the same reasons.
91.	Africa wishes to have peace, because it cannot develop except in peace. Africa aspires to freedom, because it knows the value of freedom all too well. It aspires to genuine independence, because it wishes to be true to itself and be master of its own destiny in order, with the selfless assistance of its genuine friends, to exploit its immense riches in the manner best suited to its own interests and deepest aspirations, and to the creative genius of its sons.
92.	To those who claim to seek no advantage for themselves in Africa, we wish to renew our invitation to take part in the only valid battle on that continent: peaceful competition in the economic, technical, social and cultural fields to help Africa to emerge from the quagmire of under-development.
93.	Africa needs no foreign ideologies that would cause it to lose its personality; it has no use for cannon or other means of mass destruction which, after having sown death and desolation, would mortgage its development and its aspirations to well-being, peace and security.
94.	Given the division of the world into two blocs, the Ivory Coast has always felt that peace in Africa requires neutrality. Indeed, only absolute neutrality, which would protect Africa from foreign interference, will safeguard the independence and soul of that continent. The essential conditions for this are: domestic peace for each one of the African States, peace between African States, and peace between Africa and the rest of the world.
95.	Hence our understandable satisfaction at the results of the meeting between the Presidents of Gambia, Guinea,
Ivory Coast, Liberia, Senegal and Togo, held in Monrovia from 18 to 19 March 1978, which set its seal on the reconciliation between Guinea and Senegal, on the one hand, and Guinea and the Ivory Coast, on the other hand.
96.	The decisions that followed that summit meeting reflected our firm desire to strive, in the spirit of Monrovia, for the strengthening of fruitful brotherly relations between our two countries for the greatest good of our peoples.
97.	Hence also our understandable gratification at the recent reconciliation between Zaire and Angola, and at the happy prospects which it offers for the harmonious development of their relations and their co-operation. We ardently hope that it will be crowned by total reconciliation within each of the two countries.

98.	Against that background, one may also appreciate our satisfaction at the successes already achieved by the Government of Chad on the road to national reconciliation. We heartily encourage it to persevere in its efforts to resume the dialogue with its citizens who are still alienated from the Chad family, with a view to a reconciliation among all the citizens of Chad and the consolidation of national unity.
99.	We would very much have liked to be able to say as much of the other conflicts or disputes which still divide African countries. We can only venture to hope and to voice the wish that those conflicts or disputes will similarly find a rapid solution which will strengthen peace and security in Africa. The Ivory Coast, for its part, is quite ready to make its modest contribution to the pursuit of such a solution, if those countries deem it necessary and appropriate.
100.	The results of the Monrovia Summit Conference, the dialogue between Zaire and Angola, and between the Government of Chad and the opposition, are eloquent evidence of the fact that, when left to themselves, Africans will always rely on authentically African criteria for the peaceful settlement of the disputes that may from time to time set them against each other, and that it is pointless to try to divide them, because African brotherhood will always triumph in the long run and allow Africans to come together again.
101.	When all our hopes for a peaceful settlement of the Namibian problem appeared, well-founded, the South African Government has just unilaterally decided to hold elections in Namibia in December, arguing primarily that the measures contemplated by the Secretary-General for the implementation of the process of the Territory's accession to independence are not in accordance with the plan elaborated by the five Western Powers members of the Security Council.
102.	The arguments invoked by the South African Government in support of its decision are unacceptable. Indeed, as has been recognized by all the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the five Western Powers, the report of
the Secretary-General  is entirely in keeping with their plan. According to one of them, it contains an objective evaluation of the human and financial resources necessary for the implementation of that plan, for which we are pleased to renew our full support.
103.	The South African Government's decision, the unavowed purpose of which is to achieve an internal settlement of the Namibian question, appears to us to be dangerous. If put into effect, it would result in an escalation of violence and would lead to a great loss of human life in Namibia. Moreover, it would harm the cause it claims to serve, especially since the international community would not recognize a Power about which all that could be said is that it would have emerged from elections decided upon and organized unilaterally, outside United Nations framework, and excluding SWAPO militants and other Namibian nationalists.
104.	The Government of the Ivory Coast can only deplore that unexpected, disconcerting and unfortunate decision by the South African Government. In the face of such a decision, the temptation would seem to be great to resort to radical solutions, in particular to the sanctions provided for in Articles 41 and 42 of the United Nations Charter.
105.	The Government of the Ivory Coast believes that such measures would be inappropriate because there is still a chance for a peaceful settlement of the Namibian problem. We therefore urgently appeal to the five Western members of the Council to persuade the South African Government that the course which it initially chose in accepting their plan is the best, and that it must implement it fully so as to turn the page in the dispute which still pits South Africa against the international community.
106.	The clarifications made by the Secretary-General in submitting his report to the Security Council on 29 September,  and the support accorded him by the members of the Council, should lead South Africa to reconsider its position and to postpone its decision.
107.	We fervently hope that the Government of South Africa will turn back to the path of wisdom and reason, so that the hopes for Namibian independence aroused by the Security Council's adoption of the five-Power plan in its resolution 435 (1978) will materialize.
108.	In Rhodesia, after a considerable number of delays, the head of the illegal regime has finally acknowledged the principle of universal suffrage and accordingly has agreed to the accession of the majority of the Rhodesian population to power. But he has thought that he could attain that objective by what is commonly known as an internal settlement.
109.	That solution, which has excluded the nationalist forces living outside the country, in particular the Patriotic Front, from the process of accession to power is doomed to failure. The appeal for a cease-fire has been answered by an intensification of combat. The spectre of widespread civil war is hovering over the country, with everything that this implies in terms of loss of life, destruction of property, unspeakable suffering and horrible misery.
110.	It would therefore seem urgent to abandon the fiction represented by the so-called internal settlement in order to embark, without reservations or bitterness but resolutely and with tolerance, on the course which will lead to the genuine decolonization of Rhodesia through the peaceful and democratic transfer of power to the majority, and to concord and unity among all its inhabitants. In this respect, we are pleased at the British and American initiatives to convene a conference of all the parties to the, conflict in order to break the present deadlock and ensure Zimbabwe's rapid accession to independence.
111.	Peace and security in southern Africa are similarly threatened by the odious policy of apartheid and of racial discrimination prevailing in South Africa, in spite of its condemnation and the indignation it arouses among the international community.
112.	The Ivory Coast has constantly condemned that inhuman system without reservation or ambiguity. But we believe in the possibility of its elimination by peaceful means. Hence we shall continue trying to make the South African Government understand the grave danger posed by its apartheid policy to peace in Africa and to the neutrality of that continent. We shall also try to convince it of the need to engage in dialogue with the blacks of South Africa in order to overcome mutual distrust, promote mutual understanding and confidence between the different communities, bring about racial equality, and guarantee to all South Africans the same rights and obligations, as well as equal opportunities for social progress.
113.	In the case of the conflict brought about by the decolonization of the Comoros, we are pleased by the willingness expressed by the Comorian Government to solve the problem of Mayotte through dialogue with France and the people of Mayotte, and by the understanding shown in this respect by France. The normalization of relations between the two countries and the useful contacts that have been established are quite encouraging in this respect. We hope, therefore, that when this problem is examined the General Assembly will adopt a decision that will not jeopardize the chances of a peaceful settlement but will encourage a dialogue between the parties concerned with a view to settling of the dispute and make it possible for the Republic of the Comoros to recover its unity.
114.	The Government and people of the Ivory Coast, which have made of dialogue a genuine dogma, could not but applaud the historic and exceptionally courageous initiative taken by President Anwar El-Sadat last November. But we had no illusions about the difficulty of the task, especially since the positions of the parties to the conflict in the Middle East were so far apart and it was clear that all the problems of the region could not be removed on that single visit, as if by magic, from one day to the next. Direct negotiation between these parties, which was unthinkable yesterday, has become possible today.
115.	We wish to pay a particular tribute to the President of the United States of America, Mr. Jimmy Carter, for having helped in maintaining the dynamic of peace brought about by the initiative of the Egyptian Head of State and for having made possible the summit meetings at Camp David and the conclusion of the agreements that resulted there from.
116.	To be sure, those agreements are only a framework for peace that still has to be filled in and that leaves open or only touched upon some of the crucial questions. Some of the aspects of the Palestine question in particular which are at the heart of the conflict have not been resolved. But it appears to us that the Camp David agreements have created the necessary conditions for the continuance of the dialogue and for negotiations between the parties and have made it possible to hope for a just and lasting settlement of the tragic Middle East problem. In our opinion they are an important step along the difficult road that should lead to peace.

117.	Added to all those which preceded it, the Camp David meetings are striking proof that when the protagonists in a conflict, whoever they may be, meet and enter into dialogue the wall of mistrust and hatred crumbles, understanding and confidence are established and the conditions and hope for settlement of the dispute are created.
118.	That is why we wish to express the hope that all the parties concerned, including the PLO, will take part in the negotiation at some stage with a view to arriving ?t a global, just, equitable and lasting settlement of the conflict on the basis of the pertinent resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly which stipulate, inter alia: the withdrawal of Israel from Arab territories occupied since 1967 and the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including its right to a homeland, and the right of all the people of the region to live in peace within secure, recognized and guaranteed borders.
119.	The situation prevailing in Lebanon is closely linked to the Middle East conflict, and is very distressing indeed. The United Nations should not remain indifferent faced with such terrible massacres and destruction, which in recent days have acquired unprecedented dimensions. We deem it to be the absolute duty of the international community, in particular the great Powers and the Arab countries, to do everything in their power to stop that bloodshed and put an end to the suffering of the people of Lebanon, to help Lebanon to find peace and national unity and to ensure respect for its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. We believe that the General Assembly, through its President, should make an urgent appeal for the immediate cessation of hostilities.
120.	The prolongation of the Cyprus crisis likewise causes us concern. The foreign interference puts a brake on the attempt to settle this crisis. It is therefore desirable that an end be put to it and that, under the aegis of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a sincere dialogue should be begun between the two Cypriot communities so that on the basis of General Assembly resolution 3212 (XXIX) and Security Council resolution 365 (1974) a settlement may be found that will preserve the territorial integrity, independence and non-alignment of Cyprus and guarantee the harmonious coexistence of the two communities on the island.
121.. The Ivory Coast welcomes the results obtained at the tenth special session of the General Assembly, devoted to disarmament. The conclusions and recommendations of that session [resolution S-10/2], in particular those relating to the limitation of conventional weapons and nuclear disarmament, must be followed by concrete measures and rapidly implemented if we are not once again to disappoint the expectations of mankind.
122.	We consider, in this respect, as a realistic and important action the creation by the General Assembly at that session of new machinery to ensure the participation of all States in the negotiations on this vital question. We hope that that body will make it possible to make substantial progress on the way to general and complete disarmament, which is so strongly desired by the international community but which still remains a distant goal.
123.	That goal could be brought closer if everyone sincerely considered peace to be a fundamental and natural requirement of man. In order to be able t > disarm, it is necessary to desire peace. To desire peace is to renounce struggles for prestige, the thirst for hegemony, the arms race and the threat or use of force; it is to resort to peaceful means for the settlement of international disputes. This means that general and complete disarmament will only be possible as the result of a profound transformation of our mentalities and our concepts of relations among peoples and nations.
124.	Until that transformation takes place we shall see a constant growth in military expenditures throughout the world. Those expenditures, as is known, have now reached the astronomical figure of $400 billion per year. What waste that represents in the face of the wretchedness, the disease, the poverty, the famine and the ignorance of more than two thirds of the population of the globe, before the haggard eyes of so many thousands of famished children; and what irresponsibility!
125.	President Houphouet-Boigny has said, "Man has gone to the moon, but he still does not know how to make a tree or a bird-song".
126.	Is it not time for the achievements of science and technology, as well as enormous human and material resources, finally to be oriented towards life and progress rather than towards death and destruction?
127.	One is scandalized when one is not revolted to see the revenues of the inhabitants of the developed countries growing at a much more rapid pace than those of the citizens of the developing countries.
128.	Indeed, the change in the world economic system is typified by an alarming and asymmetrical contrast whereby the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer and getting even further bogged down in their wretchedness.
129.	This calls urgently for the establishment of the new international economic order, which has been spoken of at such great length but the implementation of which has not yet gone beyond the stage of good intentions.
130.	The Declaration and Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order adopted at the sixth special session of our Assembly in 1974 [resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI)J and the resolution on development and international economic co-operation adopted at the seventh special session in 1975 [resolution 3362(S-VI)] which laid down the principle of the restructuring of international economic relations have not been followed by any concrete measures that might have satisfied our aspirations and hopes.
131.	The Ivory Coast hopes that the thirty-third session will make it possible to resume the North-South dialogue at the level of the competent authorities and, in particular, that the Committee of the Whole will resume its work in tranquillity and play the role incumbent upon it.
132.	My country hopes in the year 1979 to see substantial progress or fundamental questions relating to trade in commodities, through the adoption of the Integrated Programme; to the indebtedness of the developing countries and financial aid that the developed countries can give them; to the transfer of technology and the multilateral trade negotiations; to technical co-operation among developing countries; and to the law of the sea.
133.	But this great work of restructuring the world economy must not make us overlook the special problems of the least well endowed countries. In this respect, special attention should be given to Africa, a continent that lags farthest behind economically and has enormous needs that it cannot satisfy by itself.
134.	The Ivory Coast hails with great hope and deep gratitude the proposal by the President of the French Republic, Mr. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, supported by other heads of State, concerning the creation of a development fund for Africa. We hope with all our heart that the other Members of our Organization, and particularly the most developed—whether of the East or West-will favourably consider this project, which answers the needs of Africa.
135.	Having as its objectives the prosperity and dignity of all men, the new international economic order is an indispensable condition for the effective enjoyment of human rights by all peoples.
136.	As President Houphouet Boigny has asked,
.. what is the use of speaking of equality among citizens and of fundamental freedoms to those who have only the freedom to die of hunger, or speaking of the freedom to work to those who find no work? "
The economic, social and cultural rights of man and of societies are inseparable from the civil and political rights of the individual. Development must be conceived of in an integral way. It is necessary to guarantee to all men decent living conditions and free access to education, work, information and culture.
137.	These are our positions with regard to the problems to which I have just referred. They give expression to Ivory Coast's devotion to peace and friendly co-operation with all countries, without exception, to the exclusion of none, with respect for their individual choices and the sovereign commitments of each, and its unshakeable will and determination to resort to dialogue for the settlement of all disputes. They are inspired by faith in human destiny and by a supreme goal—the happiness of man in peace, dignity, justice and liberty.


293.	My presence in this hall at the thirty-third session of the General Assembly of the United Nations is a further expression of the faith and confidence which the Government of the military junta which governs the destiny of Honduras possesses in respect of the lofty ideals which this Organization has set for itself since 1945 in order to promote better relations among men and real understanding between States engaged in the arduous task of achieving peace and taking positive measures to stimulate progress in all latitudes without mistrust, misgivings or discrimination because of creed, race or political system.
294.	In my capacity as Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Honduras may I extend to the representatives assembled here the most cordial and sincere greetings of the Government I represent and express our sincere wishes that this new day in the United Nations, despite the complexity of the subjects it has to deal with, will bring the best possible results and yield the best fruits.
295.	I wish most especially to offer my respectful greetings to Mr. Indalecio Lievano, the President of the General Assembly and for many years Minister for Foreign Affairs of Colombia. His outstanding qualities and personality are widely known and justly appreciated, and his presence here bears witness to the appreciation of his erudition and experience. The delegation of the Republic of Honduras congratulates Mr. Lievano and pledges its fullest cooperation in the discharge of his lofty responsibilities.
296.	Similarly, we wish to express our thanks to Mr. Lazar Mojsov of Yugoslavia and to praise his dynamic leadership. He presided with admirable competence and firmness not only at the thirty-second session but also at the eighth, ninth and tenth special sessions of the General Assembly concerning the stationing of peace-keeping forces in Lebanon, the question of Namibia and disarmament, respectively. We are all witness to the fact that his devotion and political vision helped to enhance the positive results achieved through his conduct of our deliberations.
297.	I am also happy to congratulate, on behalf of my Government and on my own behalf, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General, for his unremitting efforts in pursuit of peace, security and international co-operation. It is only fair, likewise, to express to Mr. Waldheim our warmest thanks for his report on the work of the Organization [A/33/1], which sets out in a simple and clear manner the details of all that was discussed and resolved in this Organization for the benefit of the international community last year.
298.	We wish to extend a cordial welcome to Solomon Islands on the occasion of its admission as the one hundred and fiftieth Member of our Organization.
299.	Fully aware of the paramount importance of the arms question, my country attended the tenth special session of the General Assembly, devoted to disarmament, which was held in the first half of this year.
300.	Disarmament and security are decisive factors for the establishment of peace, by virtue of the fact that the possession of a military arsenal by one State presupposes the obligation for another State or States to balance forces, not because they nurture any ulterior or secret intentions of committing aggression, but because of their fear of being attacked without warning, which would place them at a disadvantage as regards the defence of their territorial integrity and the safeguarding of their sovereignty. At the special session on disarmament31 the delegation of Honduras analysed this threatening situation, which by creating fears and misgivings among States compels them to start or speed up the arms race which, in a way, forms a threshold to the logical outbreak of war.
301.	We have stated and continue to demonstrate through deeds and not with slogans devoid of sincerity that Honduras has the proud stature of a pacifist nation which struggles to achieve the harmony of nations, is totally opposed to war and advocates the proper application of international law.
302.	It is painful to think that products of. man's intelligence and the astounding technology he has created
can be a constant danger to coexistence in the world unless a barrier of common sense is placed in the way of the warmongers.
303.	I believe it necessary to pose a number of questions with respect to disarmament and security. These subjects will be inexhaustible until such time as we can devise a formula that reconciles them in order to achieve, not a balance of forces, but the express and binding commitment to renounce force on the basis of new international mechanisms and to limit the arms race, which, as is only logical, consumes the capital of the powerful States and renders the poor countries poorer since the acquisition of modern offensive and defensive weapons represents a constant drain on national resources.
304.	During the special session of the General Assembly on disarmament the delegation of Honduras emphatically stated that we cannot continue to live in the situation of uncertainty and fears represented by the existence of armed peace, of a precarious peace. One false step from that dangerous threshold would plunge us into the holocaust so much feared by all but senselessly encouraged, no doubt involuntarily, by a few. We live the bitter reality that man can unleash massive explosions capable of annihilating the human species.
305.	In spite of this, this world body on repeated occasions has been the forum in which we have heard speakers who apparently have forgotten the purposes and principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations and which were conceived to bring peoples together, not to divide them . Those principles were laid down for a world society which, having fought in and witnessed the greatest war of all, aspires to a convergence of goals and action which would remove the suspicion, hostility and atavism that still regrettably turn men into wolves towards each other.
306.	Peace will be achieved and preserved only if all those of us who gather here are ready to adopt the international machinery that will serve as the unequivocal guarantee of the security of our peoples.
307.	The United Nations is called upon to play a special role Li disarmament matters; its participation must be active and vigorous, since otherwise it will be unable to fulfil the precepts enshrined in the San Francisco Charter.
308.	Our delegation to the special session devoted to disarmament supported in particular a Programme of Action whose final objective was to be general and complete disarmament under effective international control, so as to ensure man's survival by eliminating the danger of war and the holocaust of nuclear war. My Government believes that the adoption at that session of the Declaration and Programme of Action on Disarmament [resolution S-10/2, sects. II and III] constituted an important milestone in the ceaseless struggle of peaceful peoples to maintain and ensure peace in the world. In spite of the short-comings of the Final Document, we must emphasize the importance of "the negotiating machinery established therein. This machinery will allow for more representative participation in negotiations for a disarmament programme
as well as the exercise of greater influence to persuade the nuclear Powers to assume wider responsibilities.
309.	Honduras continues to nourish the hope that greater and more rapid results will be achieved in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States of America and the Soviet Union as well as in the negotiations for the reduction of forces in Europe by all the States directly concerned.
310.	My country attaches special significance to the historic and all-important Declaration of Ayacucho, subscribed to by eight sister Republics on our continent on 9 December 1974, which states:
"We undertake to promote and support the building of a[n.. .J order of international peace and co-operation and to create the conditions which will make possible the effective limitation of armaments and an end to their acquisition for offensive purposes, so that all possible resources may be devoted to the economic and social development of every country in Latin America."32
311.	On this occasion we reaffirm our unshakable readiness to participate in any conference designed to ensure the practical application as soon as possible through specific measures of the principles contained in that important Declaration, principles which were ratified in the Washington Declaration of 22 June 1978.
312.	Honduras attended the Latin American and Caribbean Preliminary Meeting on Conventional Weapons, held in Mexico City between 21 and 25 August last. On that occasion we took part in the meeting in the same spirit that led us to support the Declaration of Ayacucho.
313.	The Government of Honduras is convinced, moreover, that any disarmament measure should be accompanied by the maintenance of the levels of defence and security to which all States are legitimately entitled and that, in order to make progress towards the conclusion of a treaty on the limitation of conventional weapons, full account must be taken of the fact that it is necessary also to strengthen the procedures for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
314.	My Government shares the concern of other States Members of this Organization about the proliferation of nuclear technology, especially when it occurs in sensitive areas where, owing to the existing political problems, it could well give rise to armed conflicts of incalculable dimensions. Nevertheless, Honduras is aware of the fact that, in view of the paucity and eventual exhaustion of traditional energy resources, nuclear energy should be used for peaceful purposes. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the mechanisms likely to facilitate the peaceful use of that energy in conditions of security and open co-operation and in good faith on the part of the members of the international community.
315.	Honduras favours the continuation of special studies to define further the relationship that exists between the
reduction of military budgets and development, in particular in order to achieve the gradual but effective transfer of the resources released by disarmament measures to increased assistance for the promotion of the economic progress of the developing countries.
316.	My Government has been advocating the improvement of institutional and legal means available to States for application to situations which seriously threaten international peace and security and has vehemently insisted that the future of mankind depends on the conclusion of agreements which reconcile the various interests at play in the international community. Honduras professes its faith in continued negotiation and in compliance with the decisions of the international bodies of which it is a member, because it believes that the most important thing for a people is to live in peace and security and that, if efforts devoted to particular negotiations do not suffice to eliminate forever the spectre of war in relations between States, room must be made for the action of international bodies and institutions which might assist in the achievement of the desired goals of harmony and peaceful coexistence between nations.
317.	We are still experiencing difficulties in our attempts to provide the United Nations with sufficiently effective supporting instruments for the preservation and restoration of peace.
318.	In line with the pacifist spirit of the people and the Government of Honduras, to which I referred earlier, we share the view that United Nations peace-keeping forces are necessary and that in emergency situations we will encounter greater difficulties unless we universally accept the principle of the need to establish them and to share in financing them. For the sake of peace, we must reach an understanding facilitating the  rapid contribution of funds, resources and equipment, as well as the establishment of a contingency reserve or, at least, a preventive system to which we could resort rapidly, if necessary, for the maintenance or restoration of peace.
319.	Recent events in' the Republic of Nicaragua have aroused great concern among the people and the Government of Honduras. The geographical proximity of that country to our own, and the historic, cultural and human ties that bind us, as well as the economic links of Nicaragua with Honduras, have increased our concern over the distressing events generated by the political situation.
320.	Since the very first moment of the crisis the position of the Government of Honduras has been based on the most absolute respect for the principles and norms at present governing relations between States. We have maintained our unshakable determination not to intervene in the internal affairs of other States, to uphold the principle of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States as well as to provide our disinterested assistance to all those requesting humanitarian aid from the people and Government of Honduras.
321.	At the very beginning of the crisis we welcomed with interest Costa Rica's initiative on the understanding that an offer of friendly co-operation, to assist in resolving the Nicaraguan crisis through peaceful means did not violate
the principles that govern our international conduct, and that in so doing we would be contributing to the cause of peace and harmony in the Central American region.
322.	Subsequent events made it impossible for that initiative to crystallize, and we supported the convening of a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of States members-of the OAS, which we thought provided the best forum in which to resolve this type of situation in the light of the fact that the problem was extending to other States of the region. There was no possible course other than action by the continental body t. achieve those objectives that were then impossible at the Central American level.
323.	We attended that Meeting of Consultation prompted by a spirit of regional solidarity, and we endeavoured to ensure that the Seventeenth Meeting of Consultation of American Ministers for Foreign Affairs would produce decisions that would help to moderate the Nicaraguan conflict and its implications at the international level. We know that the resolution adopted by that body34 has not satisfied the whole of Central American public opinion, yet that was the view of the majority of members of the OAS, and we believe that it can help positively in the endeavours still being made to solve the problems besetting the area.
324.	The States of America as well as all States on earth must face the international reality that was created by States themselves. Especially in situations such as that prevailing in Nicaragua, some States would want to go further than the structure of the present-day international world permits. However, when the time comes for the adoption of decisions, and when we come to judge their effectiveness, we must face realities rather than desires.
325.	The Seventeenth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers for Foreign Affairs will remain open until we achieve a definitive solution of the situation that has arisen in the Central American area, and therefore at any time it may adopt new resolutions which, since they will fall within the juridical and institutional context of America, may make it possible to safeguard the values that underlie the system of co-operation and friendship we have struggled to establish in our America.
326.	Finally I wish to refer to the situation of the 8,000 Nicaraguan refugees Honduras has received in its territory in order to provide them with humanitarian assistance. I wish to express my gratitude for the rapid, effective assistance provided to the Honduran Red Cross by the United Nations and in particular its specialized bodies such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme, as well as those friendly Governments and intergovernmental and private institutions in other States.
327.	Last year, at the thirty-second regular session of the General Assembly, I stated that Honduras and El Salvador were about to initiate a mediation procedure that might lead to the restoration of peace and the relations of
friendship that should exist between our two peoples. I am happy to announce that both States are carrying out the written procedures envisaged in the mediation, a stage that should come to an end in January 1979. Following that, we shall for a period engage in direct oral negotiations that will be attended by the distinguished Peruvian jurist Mr. Jose Luis Bustamente Rivero, who. was appointed mediator in that conflict.
328.	On this occasion, as on previous occasions, Honduras is bending every effort to resolve fully and for ever those questions still outstanding between our. two States. We would have liked to make more rapid progress in our direct negotiations during the first stages of mediation, and although that has not been possible we trust that during the first half of next year we shall make resolute progress towards the achievement of agreements on those questions that are still in dispute.
329.	Honduras is profoundly concerned by the fact that the conflict between the two nations has been prolonged for so long. That is why we request the co-operation of all countries gathered here, especially the Latin American States, and ask them to assist in and recognize our efforts to overcome the existing situation, which undoubtedly hampers normal development of the relations that should exist between the members of the international community. May we also express our special gratitude to those sister Republics that at this rostrum have expressed their hope for the satisfactory conclusion of the procedure we have adopted.
330.	Honduras, a country that is a friend of Lebanon, cannot but again express its concern at the prolongation of the fratricidal struggle that is destroying a prosperous country and Seriously threatening the social and economic welfare of its inhabitants.
331.	Our country expresses its best wishes for the success of the initiative of President El-Sadat and now urges the Governments of Israel and Egypt to redouble their efforts and persevere in the quest for the course that will lead to the restoration of peace, while enabling other interested parties in the region to participate in the full settlement of the dispute that so seriously affects the security of the region and has been doing so for three decades.
332.	We followed with the closest attention the Camp David meetings and we hope that the resultant agreements may be extended, giving the Palestinian population the opportunity to express its will in keeping with its best interests. Honduras has always maintained that, however remote national positions may appear to be, no international conflict can remain unsolved indefinitely. This is a principle my country has unreservedly applied in its international relations, and it invites other Governments confronting international problems to do so also.
333.	We note with great disappointment that there has been no substantial progress in the negotiations between representatives of the two Cypriot communities and that the passage of time favours territorial division and undoubtedly gives advantages to those who use force.
334.	We wish to reiterate our support for the maintenance of the territorial integrity, independence and non-alignment of Cyprus as the best guarantee of peace in the region. We repudiate the use of force and trust that equitable solutions will be found in the interest of the populations involved.
335.	The lack of more rapid action in Rhodesia has led, with the passage of time, to a deterioration of the possibility of an agreed settlement, something the international community has so anxiously awaited. The so-called internal settlement, which from the beginning did not have sufficient political acceptance, appears to have created new difficulties, and we see the breaking-down of the negotiating structure that might have allowed us to expect more favourable results in respect of the establishment of a majority Government and the early independence of Zimbabwe.
336.	The recrudescence of indiscriminate military action and particular cruelty has also served the worst designs of the partisans of apartheid and the repression of the Rhodesian people.
337.	Honduras considers that the Security Council should consider this problem anew and seek the agreement of the parties concerned without interference by Powers outside the African continent and without weakening the effect of the economic sanctions imposed on the illegal regime.
338.	Despite the latest events, we believe that tie re are favourable prospects for the independence of Namibia. The acceptance by the parties of the so-called Western Powers' plan36 and their influence in the corresponding resolution of the Security Council, resolution 435 (1978), open the way for the holding of free elections guaranteed by the United Nations.
339.	We are very happy at the role played in this process of pacification by the General Assembly and recall in particular the debates of the ninth special session of the General Assembly and the adoption by it of a comprehensive resolution [resolution S-9/2J which supports the just and legitimate struggle of the people of Namibia for their independence, while establishing greater assistance for the Namibians. Honduras, from this the greatest world forum, expresses its solidarity with the just struggle of the people of Namibia.
340.	With respect to the outstanding dispute between Guatemala and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the Territory of Belize, I wish to express the unchanging position of my country in support of a negotiated settlement of the problem, in accordance with the procedures for the peaceful settlement of international disputes, and without side-stepping historic and juridical antecedents in which the rights of the Guatemalans are based, as well as the interests of the people of Belize, with which my country has maintained relations of true friendship and growing economic relations.
341.	The world economy in this past year has registered no marked improvement that enables us to be optimistic
with respect to the immediate future. We regret that the Tokyo round of multilateral trade negotiations within the framework of GATT should not have yielded the expected results. We are also concerned at the growing protectionist trends that we see in many sectors of the developed economies. For the countries of the third world, all of the foregoing makes it much more difficult for them to promote the task of economic and social development of their peoples. It is for this reason that we have supported the unpostponable establishment of the new international economic order which would promote the full development of the countries of the third world. This has become an even more urgent necessity in view of the recent evolution and future prospect of international monetary relations and the consequential increase in the cost of primary commodities, machinery and equipment for the developing countries.
342.	That new international order should be based on equity, the common interest of all and co-operation between all States, with full respect for their sovereignty. The survey that the member States of ECLA set forth in its resolution 372 (XVII) of May 19773 7 when assessing at the regional level the application of the International Development Strategy is still valid. That study tended, inter alia, to seek action to promote negotiations on commodities; obtain formulas to enable the developed countries to comply before 1980 with the undertaking to provide a minimum of 0.7 per cent of their gross national product as official aid to developing countries; the removal of obstacles to the expansion of important manufactures in Latin America; the creation of appropriate mechanisms to facilitate the transfer of technology in adequate conditions; and the effective participation of Latin America in the decision-making processes in the monetary, financial and commercial forums.
343.	Our Government is, moreover, extremely concerned at the standstill in the work of the Committee Established under General Assembly Resolution 32/174 and would urge developed countries to concur with the Group of 77, both in the reaffirmation of its mandate and in the supervision and promotion of negotiations that have begun in various forums. My country is ready to assist in such action. The world community asks of all Governments that they take realistic, beneficial. action to promote international cooperation and the economic and social development of the third world.
344.	The Government of the Republic of Honduras believes firmly in development as. the basis of peace and is making a series of efforts to consolidate a stage of economic growth and social welfare. Special mention should be made of a draft for a project for the Olancho Forestry Industrial Corporation, the Cajon hydroelectric project and the expansion of our port infrastructure. My country has every hope that those projects will decisively help to give new impetus to our economic development and to promote the social well-being of thousands of Hondurans.
345.	We must emphasize the valuable co-operation we have received in those plans from the Government and
people of Venezuela, which, together with other friendly countries and international institutions, are at present helping some countries which, like Honduras, are making every effort to promote their development and need external financial assistance. For that expression of genuine solidarity, I wish from this universal body to express our gratitude to the Government and the brotherly people of Venezuela.
346.	I cannot fail to mention the importance that Honduras attaches to co-operation between the countries of Central America, especially for the forms of economic integration laid down and based on the principle of the just distribution of costs and benefits. Under these premises, my country is ready to continue to participate widely in the restructuring of the Central American Common Market.
347.	The international policy of Honduras is based unequivocally on friendship with all peoples. In this connexion, we are interested in and ready to co-operate with all the developing countries.
348.	Co-operation between countries with similar problems should be increased, since together we can more effectively face up to the conditions of the international economy which today are so adverse to us.
349.	On the other hand, my Government attaches particular importance to the results of the United Nations Conference on Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries, held last month in Buenos Aires, and we sincerely hope and trust that both the industrialized Western countries and the planned-economy countries will give real effective and disinterested assistance for the programmes that were drawn up at that Conferences.
350.	We wish to emphasize that Honduras sincerely wants greater support to be given to UNICEF, convinced as we are that the best reserve for the noble purposes and ideals of each and every one of our nations lies fundamentally in the attention and care that we offer our children, while creating stimulus for solidarity and eliminating the scourge of malnutrition, illiteracy and physical abuse.
351.	The year 1979 has been declared the International Year of the Child, and my country would advocate an increase in national and international projects and programmes designed to solve the very serious and important problems confronting the world's children. We must unite our efforts so as to ensure protection of children within the priority tasks of this Organization.
352.	Honduras has the keenest interest in a more just order for the seas and oceans. Bearing in mind that in future years we shall have to resort more frequently to the sea as an important source of food-stuffs and mineral resources, the rational exploitation of the seas is an important objective of my Government.
353 On the other hand, while the results of the negotiations at the seventh session of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea were not spectacular, we believe that there are possibilities for a treaty of universal acceptance designed to favour the co-operative exploitation of the sea-bed and the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction, so as to avoid the unnecessary sources of conflict which would be inherent in unilateral actions such as those announced and which would finally only weaken the solidarity that should exist between nations and the solemn commitment assumed in this Assembly in the Declaration of Principles of 1970.
354.	Last September Honduras became the fourth State to deposit with the Secretary-General of the OAS the instrument of ratification of the American Convention on Human Rights. The entry into force of that Convention is to us a reason for great satisfaction and my Government will give its complete support and co-operation in the rapid establishment of the bodies advocated in that instrument. With such a procedure the Government of Honduras seeks to emphasize the importance it attaches to this subject.
355.	We are in favour of a detailed analysis of the situation of human rights in the world, bearing in mind the close relationship that exists between under-development and respect for human rights. This year we are commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and as we remember its adoption we think that any international action in this field should take into account the fact that there can be no possible respect for human rights if the present international economic relations remain unchanged. Our fulfilment of the most elementary duties in respect of human rights implies the ineluctable need to introduce substantial changes in the conditions at present governing the international economic system. United Nations action in this field should not be limited to the ascertainment of particular violations of human rights, for the most part motivated by political considerations. Hunger is as tragic as torture, and it is not the drama of human pain that establishes the feelings of a whole people or of an era. My country firmly believes that this problem should be tackled at its roots and here is a responsibility that the industrialized and the developing countries alike must share.
356.	We believe that the United Nations can play an important part, and for that reason we support the initiative of Costa Rica for the creation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, convinced as we are that such a machinery would be of particular importance for the promotion of and respect for human rights.
357.	My Government profoundly regrets that in the present circumstances the policy of apartheid should still exist. Such a practice is a denial of the noble principle of peoples concerning the dignity of man as enshrined in the San Francisco Charter. That is why the Government and people of Honduras strongly condemn discriminatory practices based on racial considerations. On this occasion we reiterate our full support for all international action designed to eliminate this unjust practice from the face of the earth.
358.	We firmly believe in the purposes and objectives of the United Nations and my Government considers that only through joint action at the political, social and economic
38 Declaration of Principles Governing the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof, beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction (resolution 2749 (XXV)).
levels shall we find the road to peace, to which we all aspire. We feel, moreover, that these lofty purposes will not be achieved if the developing countries maintain the attitude of mere spectators of the great problems afflicting mankind. We could be a decisive factor in all these world events if we abandoned, once and for all, our passive attitude and resolved to assume the role that history has bestowed on us. That change of attitude must be preceded by signs of effective co-operation and not by confrontation. The industrialized nations must join with us in a common and vigorous effort towards peace and development.