53.The English version of his statement was supplied by the delegation. *Mr. President, I should like, first of all, to take this opportunity to convey to you the congratulations of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany on your election to this high office. We see in you a man of distinction who, in his long and active involvement in the work of the United Nations, has shown exceptional qualities. We see in you the representative of one of the leading members of the non aligned movement, a country with which we have had good, longstanding relations.
54.	I should also like to express my country's gratitude to the President of the thirty-fifth session of the General As sembly, Mr. Riidiger von Wechmar. He discharged the du ties of his office with a sense of awareness of the new reality of global interdependence. In so doing he was able to count on the full approval and support of the Federal Republic of Germany.
55.	At the same, time, I wish to thank the Secretary General for his dedicated work over the past 12 months on behalf of the Organization, and thus also on behalf of peace.
56.	On behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, I extend a warm welcome to Vanuatu as a new Member of the United Nations.
57.	For a decade now, the world economy has been in a critical phase of readjustment: inflation, recession and unemployment in the industrialized countries, but, above all, stagnating indeed, declining per capita incomes in many developing countries. The want and distress of the poor in the third world are increasing. At the same time, the world population continues to grow rapidly: over the next 20 years it will increase from 4.5 billion to approximately 6.5 billion people. This means that food, clothing and housing, schools and jobs have to be provided for 2 billion people. That is equivalent to the population of 2,000 completely new cities, each with 1 million inhabitants. This shows that mankind as a whole is faced with great and global challenges.
58.	Yet and this is the disturbing part of it is not these problems that are the focal point of world politics and of world interests: the headlines of the international press tell us, rather, about an arms race and tensions between nations, about war, civil war and intervention. At a time when global interdependence and global cooperation have become a question of survival, the human race is in danger of once again pitting its strength against itself.
59.	Now, at a time when we ought to be concentrating our material as weK as our intellectual resources on the task of bringing the world economy out of its structural crisis, on development in the third world and on preserving the conditions of life on our planet, $500 billion is being wasted on arms. But our children and grandchildren will judge us solely by whether we have succeeded in setting me world on the road to peace, development and survival, or whether we have declined into confrontation, an arms race and, ultimately, catastrophe.
60.	We can preserve world peace and master the great challenges to mankind only if all countries act in accordance with principles that are commensurate with the provisions and the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations. This calls for renunciation of force, that is to say, renunciation of the use and threat of use of force, since conflicts must be settled by peaceful means; for no aspiration to domination over others, no interference in the internal affairs of other coun tries and respect for the right of self determination of all nations; for responsible action with an awareness of global interdependence, using moderation and restraint in pursuing one's own interests; for readiness for dialogue, negotiation and cooperation; for no aspiration to superiority, but rather a desire for balance at the lowest possible level of arma ments, adhering to an active policy of preserving peace through cooperation on issues of international security and, in particular, of arms control and disarmament; and, finally, for elimination of the NorthSouth confrontation as part of a policy of worldwide partnership and the safeguarding of peace.
61.	In the search for a solution to these global problems, very great importance attaches to the development of East West relations. At the beginning of the 1970s we all hoped that the efforts increasingly to reduce the differences between East and West and to expand cooperation would prove successful, and considerable progress in the development of East-West relations was indeed achieved in the first half of that decade. But of late the East-West confrontation has intensified yet again. It threatens to push the North South dialog to the periphery of world affairs once more. Indeed, the East-West confrontation threatens to spread to the South.
62.	That must not be allowed to happen. East and West must do everything possible to pull themselves back onto a course leading to stability in their relations and to cooperation. On no account must East and West allow the third world to become a theater for the continuation of their conflict. The countries of the South have problems enough and should not also be made the scene of the contest be tween East and West.
63.	Negotiations on arms control and disarmament with the aim of establishing a balance at the lowest possible level are more urgent than ever. There must not be another arms race.
64.	In the 1970s the Soviet Union made extraordinary efforts in all fields of armaments. They were not matched by comparable efforts on the part of the West; quite the contrary.
65.	The West has noted with great concern how the Soviet Union has not only increased its superiority as regards conventional forces but has at the same time stepped up its medium-range nuclear weapons and given them new quality, in particular with the SS20 missile and the "Backfire" bomber. Our concern about these developments can only be dispelled if the current and proposed East-West negotiations are successful. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany will contribute all it possibly can to the achievement of that aim.
66.	We hope that the meeting between Secretary of State Haig and Foreign Minister Gromyko will mark the beginning of a new, constructive phase in the dialog between the United States and the Soviet Union, which is of such importance for the whole world. The importance and weight of the United States and the Soviet Union give both countries a special responsibility for world peace. Dialog, negotiation and cooperation between East and West must 'be intensified and further developed. This also includes the continuation of the SALT process.
67.	We also hope that the meeting between the United States Secretary of State and the Soviet Foreign Minister will above all give a signal for the start of negotiations on medium-range nuclear weapons. We have advocated such negotiations for quite some time. We have been involved in the preparations for them with our allies, and we will continue to follow them in the future. We want medium-range nuclear missiles on both sides to be limited to equal ceilings at the lowest possible level, and the more the Soviet Union reduces its arms buildup, the lower that level can be. If that arms buildup is eliminated altogether, there will no longer be any need for the West to deploy medium-range weapons as envisaged.
68.	The Government and people of the Federal Republic of Germany long for nothing more dearly than a result of that kind, which to us would be the ideal result. But it is not only a question of nuclear weapons. In the Vienna Talks on Mutual Reduction of Forces, Armaments and Associated Measures in Central Europe, we are resolutely pursuing the aim of achieving a balance of forces in central Europe by means of mutual reductions, in order to improve military stability and to rid the peoples of central Europe of the fear of possible surprise attack.
69.	As a result of the Madrid review session of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, we want a conference or disarmament in Europe as a forum for agreement on concrete confidence building measures for the whole of Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals.
70.	It is not only East and West that have to tackle the task of arms control and disarmament. That task is universal and applies to all regions and to all countries.
71.	The United Nations already proclaimed the 1970s the United Nations Disarmament Decade, but we are all pain fully conscious of the scant success of our efforts to stop the worldwide arms spiral.
72.	My country has put forward as its contribution to the General Assembly's second special session devoted to disarmament, to be held in 1982, a draft comprehensive pro gramme or disarmament.4 Its purpose is to facilitate world wide disarmament negotiations, to describe the conceptual framework for such negotiations, to define the criteria and principles, and thus to carry out important preparatory work for concrete negotiations and results.
73.	1 wish to mention four principles in particular: balance, openness, verifiability and confidence building.
74.	Disarmament negotiations can only prove successful if they enhance the security of all concerned. Whoever seeks one sided "advantages in disarmament negotiations or tries to hold on to those already gained will create a deadlock. The aim must be balance at the lowest possible level. Superiority of one side causes instability and this in turn poses a threat to peace. Balance and parity constitute the recognized central principle of the SALT negotiations.
75.	But that principle must not be restricted to the SALT process. In their joint declaration of 6 May 1978, General Secretary Brezhnev and Federal Chancellor Schmidt said that "both sides deem it important that no one should seek military superiority and that they proceed on the assumption that approximate equality and parity suffice to safeguard defense".
76.	It is now necessary to ensure that in the disarmament negotiations between East and West this principle is translated into practical, concrete policies.
77.	Disarmament presupposes transparency of the force relationship. Each side must openly give information about its own force strengths and armaments. Anyone trying to evade this is sowing the seeds of mistrust and casting doubt upon his intentions. The United Nations has elaborated a standardized reporting system with a view to making military budgets comparable. My country, like some other Western and nonaligned countries, has submitted a report on its defense budget in line with that system. All other countries should follow that example.
78.	I repeat my proposal that the United Nations should set up two registers: first, one which records how much each industrial country spends per capita on armaments and how much it spends on development assistance; and secondly, another register which lists worldwide exports and imports of weapons. This would be an important first step. The international community cannot look on indifferently as military spending in East and West and in the third world continues to increase while development aid budgets stagnate.
79.	The obligations assumed in disarmament negotiations must be verifiable. The verification procedure must in each individual case be tailored to the treaty to which it is to apply. We can do some important preliminary work in that respect in the United Nations if we develop procedures and instruments of verification which have been internationally agreed upon and, where possible, also tried out in practice.
80.	Anyone who opposes on site inspections or refuses to accept verification in other forms will be open to the suspicion of wanting to hide something and deceive others; he will be destroying confidence rather than building it.
81.	The Geneva Committee on Disarmament is discussing a comprehensive prohibition of the manufacture and stock piling of chemical weapons. Here, too, the most difficult problem still to be solved is that of verification. We hope for an early agreement on the verifiable prohibition of chemical weapons.
82.	Real disarmament can be achieved only through mutual confidence among States. Concrete confidence building measures are therefore indispensable for successful dis armament. The Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, signed at Helsinki on 1 August 1975, makes provision for initial confidence building measures. The proposed conference on disarmament in Europe could be a new qualitative step in the process of confidence building. confidence building measures can al$oNbe conducive to stability and arms limitation in the third world. It was with that in mind that, during the thirty-fourth session, we launched an initiative with a view to giving a global dimension to efforts to achieve confidence building meas ures.
83.	We hope that the SecretaryGeneral's study now before us [At36/474 and Corr. 1] will generate effective impulses for concrete measures to speed up the confidence building process all over the world. We need a code of confidence building.
84.	Those four principles for disarmament negotiations balance, openness, verifiability and confidence building are four prerequisites for success. They can serve as four cornerstones for the construction of a comprehensive security partnership around the world.
85.	The foremost objective of my country's foreign policy is actively to safeguard peace. We want peace and freedom. But to us, peace means more than the mere avoidance of war. We want a world of cooperation based on partnership among nations.
86.	Together with other European democracies we have formed the European Community in order to shape our common future together. By developing the European Community into a European union, we shall be able to work even more effectively as a force for peace and progress in Europe and in the world.
87.	We have united with our European allies and the United States of America and Canada in the North Atlantic Alliance. That alliance rests on the common values of free dom, human dignity and self determination. Its sole pur pose is to preserve common security and safeguard peace. It derives its strength from the friendship and trust between Europeans and Americans.
88.	On the basis of the European Community and the North Atlantic Alliance we, the Federal Republic of Germany, have, by means of our Ostpolitik, made an important contribution to the stabilization of peace in Europe. We shall continue that realistic policy of dialog, of reducing tensions and of strengthening cooperation.
89.	The line that divides East and West also divides the German nation. Consequently, no one is more severely affected by any deterioration of the East-West relation ship than the Germans; no one has a more direct interest in improving East-West relations. There must be no re lapse into the cold war.
90.	The policy of the Federal Republic of Germany of concluding treaties with its neighbors in the East the Moscow Treaty, the Warsaw Treaty, the treaty with Czechoslovakia and the Basic Treaty with the German Democratic Republic are testimony to our longterm policy of cooperation and detente. We abide by those treaties. It is our wish that General Secretary Brezhnev's visit to Bonn in November will strengthen our bilateral relations and will favourably influence East-West relations as a whole.
91.	The developments in Poland are of particular importance for the situation in Europe and in the world. It is up to Poland alone to determine its path. We expect all other signatories of the Final Act of Helsinki, like ourselves, to refrain from any interference in the internal affairs of the Polish People's Republic.
92.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany reaffirms its conviction that the two German States bear special responsibility for peace in Europe. Never again must war originate on German soil, as stated by Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and Chairman of the German Democratic Republic State Council, Erich Honecker.
93.	Especially in the present difficult phase of East-West relations, the following must be axiomatic to both German' States: we must carefully preserve what we have achieved between us and what we have contributed to peace in Eu rope over the past decade; in our mutual relationship and in relations with all our neighbors we must exercise restraint and consideration; the GermanGerman relationship must never be an additional cause of strain on the East West relationship; we must continue the dialogue at all levels without any preconditions; it must be our common goal to achieve the largest measure of progress in implementing all parts of the Final Act of Helsinki,
94.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany intends to promote cooperation between the two German States, and we want to provide more opportunities for contacts between Germans on both sides. Those and other improvements which make life easier for the Germans in their mutual relationship are not only a dictate of humanity but are an indispensable contribution to peace and cooperation in Europe.
95.	Our aim is and will remain to work for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will recover its unity in free self determination. The wall which divides the Germans will not prove durable. The will of the people is not to preserve, still less to deepen, the division between them, but to remove it.
96.	The Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin has helped to calm the situation in and around Berlin. That must remain so. Each side must realize that the Agreement can produce a stabilizing effect on Berlin and favourably influence East-West relations only if all sides strictly observe and fully implement it.
97.	Another impressive testimony to United States solidarity with Berlin was the visit by the American Secretary of State Mr. Haig on 13 September 1981.
98.	As in our bilateral policy, we are also striving within the multilateral framework of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to improve East' West relations in Europe. The Final Act of Helsinki is a document which manifests the will for cooperation in Europe, and it should be consistently implemented by all signatories to make Europe a region of lasting peace based on respect for human rights.
99.	We are acutely aware how much still remains to be done in that respect. Together with om Western partners, we are making every effort to ensure that the follow-up to the Conference, in Madrid, will produce a final document which, in all fields covered by the Final Act, will bring progress for cooperation among the countries of Europe and make for better relations among their citizens.
100.	The process of the Conference on Security and Co operation in Europe must be continued. It is the great hope of many people, not only in Europe. The Madrid Conference must issue a concrete mandate for a conference on disarmament in Europe if it is to meet the need for security in Europe.
101.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany also wishes to contribute to peace and the peaceful settlement of conflicts outside Europe. The agenda for this session of the General Assembly includes items on four major international conflicts: the Middle East, southern Africa, Afghanistan and Kampuchea.
102.	At the previous meeting, the President of the European Community also spoke on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following.his statement, let me say that we have a vital interest of our own in lasting, comprehensive and equitable peace in the Middle East. Israel's right to live within secure and recognized boundaries is just as indispensable for such peace as is recognition of the right of self determination of the Palestinian people. The efforts to achieve a comprehensive, lasting and equitable peace settlement must be intensified. The starting point for this must be the renunciation of force by all sides.
103.	It is with a sense of concern for world peace and deep sympathy for the suffering of the people that we watch events in Lebanon. All efforts undertaken by the Lebanese Government to bring about national conciliation and to restore Lebanon's sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity have our full support.
104.	In the context of the initiative of the five Western States, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is emphatic that Namibia should at long last gain independence through free elections on the basis of Security Council .resolution 435 (1978). This must happen in 1982. The independence of Namibia must not be delayed any longer. We acknowledge the constructive contribu tions of the OAU towards a settlement of the Namibia question. The remnants of colonialism and racism in southern Africa must be eliminated.
105.	We condemn South Africa's intervention in An gola; the Republic of South Africa has taken a grave responsibility upon itself.
106.	My country stands side by side with the non aligned and Islamic countries in an effort to terminate the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and to achieve a political solution which will restore to that sorely tried people self determination and independence and reestablish Afghanistan's status as a genuinely nonaligned State. The European Council has proposed a conference on Afghanistan with the aim of achieving that goal in two phases. The continuing occupation of Afghanistan is a heavy strain on international relations.
107.	The Federal Republic of Germany actively sup ports the efforts of the international community, and especially the ASEAN countries, to restore the political in dependence and territorial integrity of Kampuchea.
108.	We are following with concern developments in Central America where, in El Salvador, and also else where, the use of force and bloodshed are on the in crease. The people of that region must be enabled to determine their own destiny free from direct or indirect intervention from outside.
109.	All democratic forces in those countries should act in awareness of their common responsibility and dissociate themselves from the forces of violence. Like the whole of the third world, like the whole of Latin America, Central America, too, must be kept out of the East West conflict. Political and social reforms must create a more equitable and stable order, and with it the conditions which will allow Central America to become a region of peace. The European Community can be a good partner to such a Central America.
110.	At its thirty-fifth session, the General Assembly included in its agenda a new item entitled "International cooperation to avert new flows of refugees". In resolution 35/124, it expressed the conviction that the refugee issue is no longer a humanitarian one only, but also affects world peace. As the resolution stated, the flows of hundreds of thousands, indeed millions, of refugees '"jeopardize the stability of entire regions and thus "endanger international peace and security".
111.	We, the Federal Republic of Germany, favour general guidelines for the conduct of States, as well as practical measures which will make it possible to prevent any fresh flows of refugees, and ws propose that this be discussed by an ad hoc committee.
112.	The General Assembly is commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Conference of Heads of State of Government of NonAligned Countries held at Belgrade in 1961. The nonaligned countries constitute a powerful movement in the world of today, but their goal has not yet been fully attained.
113.	Colonialism is almost everywhere a thing of the past, but the independence that has been gained by for mer colonies is threatened by attempts to dominate them in other ways. In 1979, in fact, the world witnessed an ideologically motivated attempt to make the nonaligned movement itself, as it was called, the "natural ally" of one of the two systems of the North. That attempt failed. It had to fail, because the wheel of history cannot be turned back. There is no longer any future in hegemonic aspirations, nor in interventions in the internal affairs of other countries, but they can still be a threat to peaceful relations between nations.
114.	With its model of a pluralistic world of nations who have chosen their own destiny, the nonaligned movement is a force_working for the cause of progress. It is at the same time a force working for the cause of peace and stability because today both these aims can be achieved only within an international order in which nations cooperate with one another in partnership and on the basis of free self determination and equality. The Federal Republic of Germany stands side by side with the nonaligned countries in the pursuit of this goal.
115.	The desire for independence also manifests itself in the regional groupings which are being formed and are growing in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
116^ After the European Community, there is now an other association, ASEAN, which has already developed extensively. A powerful influence for peace and liability in Asia emanates from that organization.
117.	Regional cooperation is also progressing elsewhere in the third world. Cooperation among the Gulf States, the groupings that have been formed in Latin America, and those already established or to be established in Africa, which were all molded into a grand design by the Conference of Lusaka, are proof of this. These groupings also provide small and medium-sized countries with an opportunity to shape their independence and their future
together.
118.	Together with the other members of the European Community, we promote this development towards plurality and partnership based on equality. Stable economic and social development in the third world is indispensable for lasting international peace;
119.	The common goal of the industrial and developing countries in the 1970s was to accelerate growth in the developing countries in the context of constant global economic growth, but it did not turn out that way. Today, at the beginning of the Third United Nations Development Decade, the growth of per capita incomes has stopped in many oil-importing countries of the third world. Indeed, real per capita incomes in most of the poorest countries are even declining. We view with concern this crisis of development.
120.	We also view with concern the fact that the North South dialog has lost momentum. In spite of the progress achieved in many individual areas, it is marking time on the major issues. That is why we look towards the forthcoming International Meeting on Cooperation and Development, to be held at Cancun. An important idea of the Brandt Commission becomes a reality. The great opportunity afforded by this unprecedented Cancun meeting must be seized. We want it to generate a new resolve to settle the urgent problems of the world econ omy and development by means of solidarity and global cooperation. Lastly, we want it to pave the way for the beginning at long last of global negotiations. We want to work for a global energy strategy which will create security among both producers and consumers. We want to work for a global food strategy in order to guarantee food security and thus eliminate hunger.
121.	The outcome of the twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, to be held in 1982, will be crucial. Its importance for the future of the North-South dialog Can hardly be overestimated because, as the SecretaryGeneral has emphasized, it is a question of whether we in the United Nations are capable of negotiating solutions for global problems which strike a fair balance between the elementary and basic interests of all nations and at the same time serve the world as a whole,
122.	A return to world economic growth and development calls, first and foremost, for energetic efforts on the part of all countries. The industrial countries must break the back of inflation and thus restore the basis for constant growth and the elimination of unemployment. The nations of the third world, on the other hand, must adopt development strategies that involve the masses of the poor in the growth process. Labor intensive agricultural production and industries, coupled with an effective population policy, must form the nucleus of development plans. But if they are to be successful, the efforts of the developing countries themselves need adequate support from outside. All countries in a position to do so should contribute their share. The Communist industrial countries must no longer shirk their duty to help the nations of the third world in a spirit of solidarity.
123.	The Federal Republic of Germany gives high priority cooperation in the field of development. This means, first, that in spite of our own economic difficulties we shall not relax our efforts to provide financial and technical assistance. Even our budget for 1982, which is one of self-restraint for our citizens, allows our development aid to grow at a greater rate than that of the budget as a whole. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany welcomes the programme of action adopted at the United Nations Conference en the Least Developed Countries, held recently in Paris, because these countries are the ones that depend most on official development aid.
124.	Secondly, we are still strongly in favor of markets in industrial countries being kept open and widened to take in the exports of developing countries. There must be no lapse into protectionism. We do not try to solve our problem of unemployment by erecting trade barriers, but by promoting structural change with the necessary supporting social measures. Only with free world trade can North and South advance.
125.	Thirdly, to many developing countries, exports of raw materials are still the main source of foreign exchange. These countries in particular are suffering as a result of the decline in the growth of the world economy, a situation which has lasted for several years now and which has checked demand for raw materials and caused prices to drop. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany attaches great importance to the problems confronting commodity-exporting developing countries. We have just decided to make a substantial voluntary contribution to the Second Account of the Common Fund for Commodities.
126.	Fourthly, the United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy has, for the first time, made energy issues a subject of negotiations within a global framework. We must continue along this path. The steep, abrupt increase in the price of energy has placed a heavy burden on the industrial countries. To the oil-importing developing countries, it has become a question of their very existence. We need partnership and cooperation between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC], industrial countries and oil-importing developing countries. This is the only way the world can come through the transition to the post-oil era intact. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany also advocates the establishment of a World Bank affiliate for energy which could help considerably to resolve the energy problems of the third world.
127.	We must not allow national egoism to gain the upper hand in the process of NorthSouth cooperation. We are called upon to play our part the industrial countries of the West and of the East and the developing countries. The NorthSouth problem is not merely the global social issue; it is a task of world peace which we shall have to accomplish if we want to ensure the survival of mankind.
128.	To the Federal Republic of Germany, respect for and protection of the dignity aild the rights of man are fundamental to all policies. Efforts to secure the exercise of human rights throughout the world are therefore one of the central elements of our participation in the work of the United Nations. We deem it the responsibility of the Organization to raise its voice whenever fundamental human rights are violated, irrespective of where and by whom.
129.	The United Nations has created procedures and institutions to foster respect for human rights all over the globe. These procedures are still relatively weak, but they are having a growing effect. It is important to continue this work with determination and to develop further the possibilities open to the United Nations for protecting human rights. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany continues to support the idea of an international court of human rights.
130.	We have rioted with satisfaction that our initiative regarding a convention on the ultimate abolition of the death penalty has met with a favorable response from many countries. The draft convention takes the form of a second optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This form should make for constructive discussion leading to progress in this field.
131.	The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is aware that other legal traditions, religious convictions and historical experiences have led many countries to take a different view of the death penalty. But no one can overlook the frequent abuses of the death penalty in the world of today and the growing incidence of executions without regard for the due process of law. Equally depressing is the fact that people are still subjected to torture. This makes the struggle to abolish the death penalty and torture more urgent than ever.
132.	Mankind has reached the highest point to date in its level of knowledge and in its capabilities. It can use that knowledge and those capabilities to resolve the problems vital to its survival, but it can also use them to destroy the earth's civilization and, perhaps, even the human species.
133.	Only if we act in awareness of our responsibility for the safeguarding of peace and respect for the dignity of man, and only if we act with the desire for global solidarity, will we find the way to a good future. This is the foremost task of the Organization. The Federal Republic of Germany reaffirms its trust in the United Nations.


69.	Permit me first of all to convey the congratulations of my Government to Mr. Kittani on his election as President of the General Assembly. That action is an appropriate honoring of his country and of his distinguished personal qualities. The Organization has placed its trust in a highly qualified person who, because, of his experience, is well aware of the delicate responsibilities of his high post.
70.	I also wish to express the congratulations of my Government to his illustrious predecessor, Mr. von Wechmar, who, by his actions during a particularly difficult time, amply justified the trust placed in him by the international community.
71.	Let me also take this opportunity to welcome me admission to the United Nations of two new States, Vanuatu and Belize. Colombia is pleased to note this new and important step in the process of decolonization, and offers its best wishes for the peace and prosperity of both new nations.
72.	The report on the work of the Organization presented to the Assembly by the SecretaryGeneral [A/36/1] is further proof of his intelligent approach to complex situations and serious conflicts; it provides much food for thought, including an objective description of the difficulties and challenges which place formidable obstacles in the path to world peace.
73.	This annual meeting of the General Assembly has been overshadowed by the tragic news of the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. He was a statesman who fought for world peace with exemplary courage and constancy. His death, which has moved all those working for harmony among peoples, was his legacy to that cause, to which we should all contribute with the same courage and with a similar will to sacrifice.
74.	In entrusting to Mr. Kittani the guidance of this body, conceived as a forum for peace, the Assembly
wished to indicate that discussion and dialog are the most effective means for resolving any conflicts that may arise between peoples of the world. War, that last hazardous and terrible recourse, leaves nothing in its wake but the grief of desolation and the always fearful danger of rancor. It is strange that, after so many and such long sufferings, the astonishing human intelligence has not been able to perceive such evident and tragic proof as that offered on every page of the book of history that there is no more fragile peace, no more precarious conquest, no less stable alliances, than those achieved amidst the roar of cannon and the sinister aegis of fire and sword. However, mankind, or at least a large part of it, continues to harbor its bloodstained illusions. As in barbarous times when private disputes were settled summarily by blows of the club, because there were no laws and none to apply them, no reason or justice which could prevail over force, and power was reduced to the naked exercise of violence, war continues to have a fatal attraction and fervent supporters. However, very little or nothing is resolved by those extremely costly and atrocious adventures, which inevitably begin as an exultant march from which, with no known exception, there returns a generation of young people, without any clear idea of what they were supposed to be doing on the battlefield, mutilated, angry and wasted, young people who would have better served their country and of course their own cause if they had been allowed to apply their strength and unbounded enthusiasm to less bloody undertakings.
75.	It was precisely to prevent nations from coming to blows after the first disagreement or the first conflict and from turning disputes that could be discussed and settled into a catastrophe that, after many setbacks and great effort, international law was established. It was simply a matter of transferring to international relations the same rational mechanism as that which in the domestic jurisdiction had deprived those prepared to strike first, deal a cowardly blow, or hit hardest, of the ability to impose their will on others. If something as elementary but also as difficult as this i.e. that it is up to the laws and the interpreters of the laws, the mediators and the courts, to decide who was right in the innumerable disputes among citizens without waiting for them all to come to blows to establish who was in the right could prevail, of course with some regrettable exceptions, within countries, why not try the same on the international level? In the final analysis, if the experiment has been successful not without a certain amount of inevitable coercion among uncivilized and ignorant people who fought over land, water, cattle, and the right to survive and even the right to believe, to have opinions and to persuade others of the virtues of their beliefs and opinions, why should this not ( be applied in relations among nations, which are supposedly ruled by men and women who are more enlightened, wiser, and more sensible and farsighted?
76.	For four centuries and even longer perhaps, jurists, theologians, statesmen and skilled diplomats, sophisticated or pragmatic, undertook the colossal task of convincing their peers throughout the world of the excellence of their project, and designing, and making acceptable to reluctant nationalism the institutions that would safeguard it. Its evolution was extremely slow, but the Very bestiality of war to which nations repeatedly resorted, attracted by profitable imperial trade, by simple vanity or
by suspicion, or because the diabolical rhetoric of some delirious demagogue had razed the last barriers separating insanity from good-judgment imposed the need to come to terms before fighting, of talking before the wagons bristling with weapons crossed borders, before soldiers killed each other, before whole populations were senselessly destroyed and before women and children, who were taking no part in the storms of war, paid their tragic dues of hunger, death, pestilence and ruin, in settlement of the account for some senseless quarrel.
77.	Without question, the Organization is the culmination of that long and arduous effort. As is stated in the Preamble to its Charter, it was created "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind". In a way, then, it is the tangible embodiment of that ecumenical humanitarian purpose: to avoid war and to convince nations that there are more civilized systems and certainly much more effective ones than those of general butchery in settling their pending affairs and even their grievances, which are generally the result of some other dispute for which no solution was found and which only brought out latent rancor:
78.	That being the case, it seems to me that there can be no more appropriate forum or more responsive audience than this one for reference to a subject of concern to my Government: the obvious crisis in international law.
79.	While throughout the long period of its creation great and even malicious departures from it were used with notorious cynicism to justify wars of aggression and greedy acts of conquest, today's international community is based on the acceptance of certain fundamental basic rules, without which the maintenance of international peace and security is impossible. They are not many or very complicated, but they suffice to prevent the planet from becoming a vast pile of debris, if they are respected and not placed through cowardice or perhaps through chronic confusion in the deceitful hands of those who adhere to them without conviction, perversely and with suspect reservations. Those rules include: the sovereign equality of all nations, large and small; the seif-determination of peoples; the prohibition of interference in affairs essentially within the internal jurisdiction of States; the duty to comply in good faith with obligations stemming from treaties and other sources of international law; the obligation to settle international disputes by peaceful means; and the prohibition of any form of attack on the integrity or political independence of any State. Those norms, to be sure, were in large part incorporated into the Charter of the United Nations on the initiative of the Latin American countries, which for many years lived under the threat of foreign interference, from the dreadful punitive expeditions organized by the great Powers to cancel sometimes insignificant debts to their nationals, to the old and scandalous international trickery aimed at distorting the will of peoples or at nullifying it by placing at the head of Governments cruel, venal and greedy men, as obliging towards foreigners as they are merciless towards their own fellow-citizens.
80.	The 51 original signatories of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the others which have joined the Organization in the course of its 35 years of existence, have willingly accepted those norms, and have solemnly pledged themselves not only to comply with them, bat also to create conditions in which justice, and respect among all the world's peoples, based firmly on those norms, may be reasonably expected to be maintained.
81.	Those principles and norms, along with international mores, judicial decisions and the doctrines of the most competent writers in the field, ate the essence of international law and govern the conduct of nations in their mutual relations* but they seem to have entered into a disquieting crisis, turning almost imperceptibly into a flexible catalog of amorphous solemnities, often used with unabashed cynicisnMo support the not always sound domestic objectives of some States and, on more occasions than we would like to admit, the blatant expansionism of others.
82.	The traditional procedures for the peaceful settlement of dispute such as good offices, conciliation, arbitration and judicial settlement, which are enshrined, after visible compliance with ritual formalities, in many bilateral or multilateral instruments, are in the process of becoming laughable dead letters with no use other than serving as rhetorical disguise for manifest ill will. Some States, when they sign international agreements, skilfully maneuver to present themselves to the international community as standard bearers of principles in which they do not believe, principles which, in their domestic policies, they do not apply, or disregard, and which they would not hesitate to violate if, for any reason, they did not meet the interests of the Government in power, or of the system, or of the political ideology they attempt to impose and consolidate.
83.	At times, they go to the extreme of using a change in regime as an argument of course, with no grounds in international law to support the denunciation of international territorial treaties, which are flawless and unassailable, and were agreed on years before and ratified in due form by the pertinent legislative powers. Faced with such serious evidence, one might say that we are going backwards to the uncertain and dangerous times when, with unheard of insolence and, of course, with distorted intentions, it was declared that treaties were nothing but meaningless pieces of paper.
84.	Law, in any of its manifestations, is based on an elemental principle of good faith: without good faith, it is impossible, to govern mutual relations. At the domestic level, the great social pact which establishes a very subtle but valuable line between anarchy and harmony, is guaranteed by the restraining power inherent in the pact itself. But good will is essential, the conviction that only by heeding the laws and the principles which inspire them is it possible to build a disciplined, harmonious, equitable and sound society. Without this deep conviction that the law is necessary and valuable, and of course perfectible, although it imposes limits and constraints, is restrictive and sometimes unpleasant, no community of free men can exist. But even were a community temporarily to survive the insuperable challenge of its own disorder, it would not be respected, and all other communities would be wary of making agreements with it or trusting in its statements, however sensible they might be. Thus, if there is no intentional subjection to rules of conduct which are the same for all* there is no society, no credibility which could support it, ana no pact, contract or agreement of any kind which could be understood as having any qualities beyond those of improbable expectations.
85.	In the international level, where this enforcement power does not exist, or exists vaguely and questionably, good faith, the sincere will to honor agreements, and not only formal adherence to them for the sake of appearances, can guarantee genuine lasting peace. Unfortunately, sufficient awareness of this unassailable fact does not always seem to exist. Furthermore, contrary to what one might logically expect, it is the weak countries, whose survival depends to a large extent on a strict body of norms which defend them against the arbitrary behavior of those stronger than they, that most frequently and lightly disregard them to attain casual advantages, not understanding that such behavior may then become a precedent to justify an illegal act against their own vital interests.
86.	Any devious interpretation of what should be a transparently clear explanation will turn against whoever makes it and set in motion his own downfall. To behave as though one believes that only what is in one's own interest is ethical exposes oneself to the calculated risk of leaving the fate of international harmony in the hands of the strongest or the least honest or a dangerous combination of the two.
87.	The thorough and enlightened discussions of many complex issues which have taken place over the years and which are taking place here now, will be meaningless unless we all seek to bring about an effective return to faithful compliance with international law. The independence and self-determination of peoples will be nothing but empty words devoid of content if real or veiled intervention and in some cases actions which openly violate international law by some countries in the internal affairs of others, shielded behind pretexts and artificial considerations, are yet part of a clear political design. We have reached such, extremes of complacent complicity and unpardonable leniency in the application of international norms that there are those who do not consider as flagrant intervention cases of economic, political and even military support for minority groups which at times violently challenge the legitimate existence of Governments that are supported by large majorities. Others, as if it were an insignificant matter, allege that the supply of arms and military training to extremist organizations or terrorist groups (which act in the broad area of subversion with the open and declared purpose of destabilizing democratically constituted Governments and imposing by force on other countries the systems and ideologies that exist in the countries that assist and finance) does not constitute intervention or damage the juridical structure, which was so difficult to build and which is now threatened with destruction by the indifference of those who should be the most concerned by its gradual disappearance.
88.	On the other hand, general and complete disarmament will continue to be not much more than an irrelevant item of academic discussion if, as could occur now, States do not have the opportunity of recourse to law to avert the risk of a real or imagined threat to the integrity and stability of their Governments. As long as the present alarming indifference exists regarding the fate of international law, there will always be justification for the acquisition of arms and for increasing the war potential. Even worse, it is possible that some who, for reasons of prestige or profit or with even less admissible motives, see a good opportunity to derive political or economic profit from a generalized arms race, are the same who promote such a state of affairs by advising their Governments that, instead of relying on the rules of treaties, they should resort to the insidious security of weapons to preserve the law, without actually having to fire those weapons.
89.	If the full rule of law were restored, as it should be, it would not be necessary to affirm, as, unfortunately it too often is nowadays, that the only purpose of the arms race is the routine replacement of equipment, the search for a rational balance with other Powers or the natural defense of the country, since the juridical mechanism would suffice to cause any attempted aggression to be rejected immediately or to be heavily punished by the international community. But as long as that is not the position, on the pretext of the demands of national or even collective defense, enormous amounts will continue to be spent on sophisticated weapons, thus diverting those resources from development projects and the improvement of the general wellbeing.
90.	If disregard of the norms of international law can bring about changes with unforeseeable consequences in the field of political relations, the same is true in the field of international economic relations. What is required there and perhaps with the same urgency is not only a substantive review but also the full restoration of the compulsory nature of international agreements and strict respect for their provisions.
91.	We have had seven years without practical results of the commitment to establish a new international economic order; five years without implementation of the Integrated program for Commodities; more than 15 years of sterility and despair in the implementation of the agreements in principle of the law of the sea; and more than two years to begin a modest cycle of global negotiations. Those are only some indications, in my view serious ones, of what may await mankind in the future if we do not counter weakness, reluctance, lack of responsibility and negligence with a firm decision to respect our agreements.
92.	I believe that we are passing the limits of credibility. Organizations such as this one and those associated with it, but not ensuring respect for agreements, run the risk of being replaced by structures which respond better to the aspirations of the international community. It is unnecessary to. state what a backward step it would be in the search for understanding among nations if that were to occur. But unfortunately that will be the case if decisions, agreements, rules and settlements are not strictly and promptly implemented or respected. What we are witnessing with increasing concern is a scandalous succession of acts which directly or indirectly infringe the norms which protect justice by means of the law in the field of international relations. Diplomatic prerogatives, which were formally agreed to or which have been accepted for centuries to facilitate normal communications among Governments, are brazenly violated: Juridical mandates are being disregarded and trampled underfoot, mandates which translate the principle of nonintervention proclaimed in conclusive terms by the General Assembly in its Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of their Independence and Sovereignty, adopted unanimously in 1965 [resolution 2131 (XX)]. There is open violation of the principle of nonaggression by means of armed attacks which are completely unjustified and which treacherously violate the provisions of Chapter VII cf the Charter. There is scandalous mockery of decisions of the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the world, the judicial body of the Organization, and of other international institutions. The obligation to resort to the procedures for the peaceful settlement of disputes provided for in Chapter VI of the Charter and in other multilateral and bilateral conventions is not respected. The duties relative to the protection of human rights proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and in agreements emerging from competent bodies of international organizations are ignored. Foreign territory is invaded unilaterally and with complete disregard of the most elementary legal principles. In practice, the principles of the equal rights of States and the self-determination of peoples are repudiated. Even in those fields; which most obviously call for the universal cooperation of nations, such cooperation is denied, although it would be beneficial to all if everybody contributed to the preparation of and respect for the relevant conventions.
93.	Let us think for a moment of the consequences of a possible final and total disruption of the legal norms on which is based the operation of international organizations, the continual activities of which guarantee the functioning of the various sectors of what could be termed international public administration. The disappearance of those bodies, the existence of which we have come to consider natural, would mean a world without postal services, telecommunications, international civil aviation, economic or financial cooperation among States, meteorological data from outside national boundaries, preventive measures against the spread of global epidemics, without the means of continuing, promoting and increasing world food production, without action or joint guidelines in the field of education or labor, without the possibility of maintaining scientific and cultural exchanges, without stimulus for the support and progress of maritime navigation, without cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, without a network of international intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations dealing with the most varied needs of peoples at the international level, without international commerce; in a word, without any trade at all, since the least trade presupposes the existence of rules governing it.
94.	Colombia, which prides itself above all on its respect for law, can therefore not ignore such an alarming situation. It is to the crisis in international law and the lack of interest shown in it that we attribute phenomena that have created tremendous tension and that will probably bring about untold calamities in the community of nations.
95.	The presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan and Kampuchea, despite the reiterated appeals made by the Organization to guarantee to those countries the right to self-determination, is nothing but one more example  and, of course, one of the most disquieting of the casual attitude of some nations to the civilized practice of
international law. If in the future somewhere else in the world another invasion occurs there is no doubt that a good part of the responsibility for that nefarious act will rest with those who seem unaware of the importance of the full application of international legal norms.
96.	Something similar could be said about one of the most offensive and abhorrent violations of the dignity of the human person racial discrimination. Colombia, which has traditionally been a member of the United Nations Council for Namibia,, has always rejected and continues vigorously to reject apartheid. It also considers that the fate of the Territory should be determined by its inhabitants, without the intervention or support of foreign Powers, In keeping with this position, it considers that the Government of South Africa has an inescapable obligation to bring about the independence of Namibia and not put obstacles in the way of its legitimate claim to self-government.
97.	My country is of course aware of the general concern at the situation in the Middle East which has been further complicated by the assassination of President Anwar El Sadat. We welcomed the dialog that made possible peace between Egypt and Israel and the agreements that were the happy result of that splendid gesture of conciliation and goodwill. That is why, as a contribution to peace in the Middle East, Colombia has decided to take part in the multinational force which will guarantee the demilitarization of the Sinai Peninsula. My country would like to see a similar climate prevail with regard to the definitive solution of the Palestinian problem, which certainly cannot be solved without the participation of the legitimate representatives of that people.
98.	In the continuous process of the legal codification of relations among States and between geography and man there is a field that is still subject to rules of law that are inadequate and reflect the unfairness of the relations of force which led to their adoption. I am referring to the regime which exists for outer space and the geostationary synchronous orbit.
99.	That orbit is a Scarce resource and should not be allocated on the basis of the excessive advantages that the unequal development of technology offers to a very small number of States. This points to the advisability of convening an international conference for the purpose of filling the gaps in the treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies [resolution 222 (XXI)] and elaborating a proper law of space, consistent, equitable and harmonious.
100.	Equatorial countries have already begun an international debate on the geostationary synchronous orbit, a debate that has shown the gaps in that Treaty and has enabled peoples of the third world to begin to see how a vital element of contemporary civilization, satellite communications, is becoming the object of a process of increased monopolization. That is why we must legally distinguish the geostationary synchronous orbit from the amorphous concept of outer space. In that essential task developing countries must promote an international, legal order which, responding to the legitimate rights of equatorial States, will regulate the use of the orbit bearing in mind the common interest of mankind.
101.	My country and other equatorial States would not find it at all satisfactory if, in the absence of the legal reforms that have been recommended, third world peoples 10 or 20 years hence, in order to free themselves from the subjection and inequality created in space, had to fight from a position of disadvantage and face serious faits accomplis, as is the case today in connection with the international economic order. By then it will nor be easy to achieve a new international legal order in space, just as it is now difficult to achieve a new international economic order.
102.	I belong to a country which believes more in the force of law than in the force of arms; which admires more the quiet labor of jurists than the clamor and arrogant ostentation of strong men; which has created a civilized society that respects the popular will and is peaceful and republican. All those Circumstances, together with the disquiet that we experience owing to the progressive deterioration of a true international legal order, have led me to put before the General Assembly a subject which may not have the same apparent topicality as others which have properly been dealt with here. But I would say that it is perhaps in the ostensible breach in international law that we may find the origin of our many present tribulations and of those that will undoubtedly follow if we do not act courageously to restore what we have left to fade and languish through our negligence, in our improvident hands.
103.	Were international law to disappear and were organizations such as this one, where dialog is still possible, to remain as another monument to the futility of our efforts to make reason prevail over unbridled force, humanity would have unwittingly entered into a new dark age. But if, on the contrary, we persevere in the worthwhile task of replacing the ferocious code of war by a judicious and thoughtful code of agreements, against all forecasts we shall have done more lasting work for peace than that resulting from the precarious and sombre balance of terror. If we are to coexist, as we must, at least as long as the planet tolerates us and provides for us, it will not be as the result of a sterile, inclement and ruinous play of mistrust, shock and contained violence. Let us seek, as so many before us, the best of the species, have done successfully, an intelligent framework of impersonal and abstract laws so that our strong aspiration to peace may not be frustrated by the merciless and fateful law of the jungle.


I am especially pleased to convey to you, Mr. President, the wannest congratulations of the Government of Chile on your election as President of this thirty- sixth session of the General Assembly. Your election constitutes a tribute to your brilliant diplomatic experience and recognized personal merits.
82.	I wish at the same time to express to your predecessor, Mr. Riidiger von Wechmar of the Federal Republic of Germany, our appreciation for the able and calm manner in which he presided over the last session, demonstrating his outstanding professional skill.
83.	We also wish to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General for his devoted and tireless efforts in the difficult task of advancing the work of the Organization in attaining its goal of peace.
84.	We extend a warm welcome to the Republic of Vanuatu, a nation in the Pacific Ocean and to which we therefore feel close ties of solidarity. We are also pleased to see Belize join the United Nations. Our ties with that State are even closer, because of its geographical location and our common interests. We feel certain that these new Members will enrich the Organization and contribute to it vitality and renewed strength.
85.	thirty-six years ago, in San Francisco, my country joined in the great task of laying the foundations of the Organization, designed to preserve international peace and security, the prerequisites for a just and lasting world order. Chile could not remain indifferent to the aspirations of an entire generation and its right to grow and develop in a climate of peace and mutual trust.
86.	The widespread crisis in which the world was engulfed at that time compelled the peoples to reaffirm their faith in the individual and prompted them to commit themselves to creating the necessary conditions for full human development. Hence, the Charter of the United Nations begins by reaffirming, among other things, the faith of the peoples in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the promotion of social progress and better standards of life "in larger freedom".
87.	Cognizant of this responsibility, the Government of Chile is exerting its efforts to achieve true order at home through the development of all the various spheres of national life.
88.	Towards that same end, Chile is striving to achieve the highest level of friendly relations with other nations, based on respect for the principles of sovereign rights of States and
self-determination of peoples.
89.	In 1981, Chile has been going through a highly significant stage in its history. Full of optimism and with renewed hope, we Chileans are today working towards the consolidation in our country of an authentically free society and of a modern infrastructure capable of ensuring effective social peace and a stable and sustained economic development.
90.	As I stated at the thirty-fifth session [17th meeting] from this rostrum, the Chilean people sovereignly and freely approved, on 11 September 1980, a new political constitution, a juridical instrument designed to permit the reinforcement of the foundations of a solid democracy, capable of surviving the threat stemming from totalitarian doctrines which seek to gain power by every means possible and which consequently lead to the destruction of the democratic system.
91.	The new fundamental charter of Chile entered into force on 11 March 1981, the date of the assumption of an eight-year term of office by the President of the Republic, General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.
92.	Thus, a new stage in the history of Chile has begun, demonstrating to the world my country's institutional progress. The Government has thus kept its promise to the people to establish a new political, economic and social institutional order which, along with eradicating the danger of a totalitarian menace, will allow the country to advance into the future in order and progress.
93.	The intrinsic dignity of man, his essential equality and his autonomy vis-a-vis the power of the State constitute permanent principles of my Government. The political, social and economic consequences of these principles have not only enabled the restoration of peaceful and harmonious life in Chile but have also the reinforcement of freedom and a spectacular economic revival.
94.	The task has not been easy, nor has it been free of sacrifices and hardship, inasmuch as the deep crisis which Chile suffered could only be overcome thanks to the greatest efforts on the part of its people and Government.
95.	In the socioeconomic field, the present policy has been directed essentially towards the achievement of three broad objectives: the attainment, within a free economic program, of a high and sustained level of economic growth; the strengthening of individual freedom in all its social aspects; and finally, the eradication Of extreme poverty and the subhuman conditions which afflicted almost a fourth of the Chilean population.
96.	With regard to economic growth, it should be pointed out that Chile's gross national product increased at an average annual rate of 7.2 per cent between 1976 and 19§0. This figure exceeds the percentage recorded for any other five- year period in the history of our country.
97.	This growth has encouraged the creative initiative of the private sector, which is an essential factor in development, with the State playing a subsidiary role, as it should by its very nature. This is demonstrated by the fact.that while in the early 1970s private investment represented only 25.3 per cent of total investment, in 1980 it accounted for 6*7.3 per cent.
98.	During the last five years the balance of payments has constantly been positive, thus allowing for the reserves in our monetary system to be increased from $400 million in 1973 to $4.7 billion in 1980.
99.	Our nontraditional exports increased during that same period by 800 per cent, thus substantially contributing to a reduction in our historical dependence on sales of copper abroad.
100.	Finally, discipline in public expenditure and the monetary policy adopted have enabled Chile to reduce its annual rate of inflation from 1,000 per cent in 1973 to approximately 12 per cent, the figure anticipated for this year.
101.	As I have stated, one of my Government's principal objectives is to defeat extreme poverty and misery. To summarize in figures social expenditure, that is, the allotment of Government resources to health, nutrition, housing and education, almost 50 per cent of the total public expenditure in the last few years has been applied to such programs. In 1981 public expenditure amounted to 53.6 per cent and had contributed, inter alia, to a significant reduction in the infant mortality rate.
102.	Finally, we have stepped up efforts to create new employment and this has resulted in a remarkable reduction of the unemployment rate, which in early 1976 had reached 19.8 per cent and has today been reduced to 8.4 per cent of the active population, despite the fact that the latter has far exceeded previous levels in Chile.
103.	In carrying out this task, some of the results of which we have pointed out, it was necessary to make an internal adjustment in order to transfer to the free price system the Orientation of decisions on investment, thus neutralizing the historical role of the State in making such decisions. This adjustment was met with difficulties and strong pressure from various quarters, both domestic and foreign, designed to disrupt its application. However, the great majority of the people supports my Government's economic program, as is evidenced by the approval by over 67 per cent of the people of the new political constitution which, among its provisions, consecrates the principles of freedom, justice, progress and national security which have inspired current social and economic policies.
104.	Our country is convinced that the application of policies of internal adjustment is always difficult, regardless of whatever government regime is in power. However, our experience reveals that if such policies are conducted coherently and without hesitation, positive results, along with the people's support, can always be expected.
105.	I have briefly analyzed some results of the social and economic process in our country because the adjustments made have enabled us to expand our development and to maintain a sustained increase in our contribution to much needed international cooperation.
106.	Indeed, Chile's foreign trade with an increasing number of countries with different economic systems today accounts for 43.7 per cent of its gross national product, which has turned our country into an attractive market for the international community, since the latter's imports from Chile will amount to $7 billion in 1981, an increase of 400 per cent in the last eight years.
107.	My Government believes that favorable conditions prevail in our country to contribute to promoting the economy of other States by ensuring employment and outlets for their respective domestic products. This reveals our increasing contribution to the necessary and desirable interdependence which should exist among economies at the international level and which is unfortunately being threatened by the resurgence of protectionism that can be seen in many countries. We believe that this protectionism can only aggravate the domestic problems of the countries which practice it, because they yield to pressure groups that have ceased to be competitive and thus impede one of the most equitable ways of transferring resources to developing countries, namely, international trade.
108.	In accordance with the provisions of our political constitution and in compliance with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, the Government of Chile has continued to exert its efforts to achieve the highest level of friendly relations with other nations, based on respect for the principles of equality, sovereignty, independence and nonintervention in internal affairs.
109.	In conformity with our historic vocation, priority is assigned in this regard to the special ties which link us with the American continent. Thus, the objectives pursued were not only aimed at strengthening our bilateral relations with neighboring countries and other nations of the region, but Chile has also pursued a continental consensus to unify our position with respect to the important matter of security and cooperation in the hemisphere, today threatened by the destabilizing force of SovietCuban expansion.
110.	In the neighboring area, the Government has continued to exert its efforts towards reaching a solution to our differences with Argentina in the south. Following a number of meetings in the course of which the parties submitted their respective positions to a mediator, the
Sovereign Pontiff called a meeting in Rome on 12 De	'
cember 1980 with the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Chile and Argentina and at a solemn ceremony submitted a proposal which he himself deemed to be just, equitable and honorable. While the terms of the proposal made by the Sovereign Pontiff did not frlly satisfy Chile's aspirations, my Government decided to accept it, in view of the involvement of the highest moral authority on earth, and it so informed the Holy Father on 25 December 1980.
111.	My country, by accepting the terms of the Pontiffs proposal once again demonstrated its trust in the Sovereign Pontiff's efforts towards peace and justice. This attitude also implied Chile's unwavering respect for the international commitments it has undertaken and its attachment to the principles of the peaceful settlement of disputes, deeply convinced, as we are, that such principles constitute the essential grounds for harmonious and peaceful coexistence among States.
112.	As a result of successful negotiations with the Government of Peru, our relations with that sister republic have been restored at the highest level, with the appointment of ambassadors at Lima and Santiago.
113.	The traditional friendship between Brazil and Chile was given renewed impetus on the occasion of the visit to our country by the President of Brazil, Mr. Jpao Baptista Figueiredo, towards the end of 1980, during which the heads of State of both Governments signed an important joint declaration and agreements on cooperation and other matters of mutual interest.
114.	We should also emphasize the excellent relations with Colombia, as shown by high-level official visits and the signing of cooperation agreements between our two countries.
115.	Our ties with Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela have also developed harmoniously as is demonstrated by our friendly relations with those sister countries.
116.	Following the conflict which broke out early this year between the Republics of Ecuador and Peru, we were asked to join with Argentina, Brazil and the United States of America as friendly countries and as guarantors of the PeruvianEcuadorian Protocol of Peace, Friendship and Frontiers, signed at Rio de Janeiro on 29 January 1942 to seek a just and speedy solution to the question. The action of the four countries referred to who acted at every stage by consensus made possible negotiations between the parties, which earned the recognition of the Presidents of Ecuador and Peru. We are proud to have contributed to restoring harmony between two brother countries with which we have traditional ties of friendship.
117.	Another significant landmark is the favorable development of our relations with the United States of America, as evidenced by the exchange of visits to our country and the United States by distinguished representatives of the Government, the armed forces, business and other sectors, which has revealed an ample convergence of views regarding bilateral, regional and international cooperation.
118.	We must point out our permanent interest in the situation in Central America and the Caribbean. Chile is opposed to foreign intervention in the internal affairs of those countries. We condemn subversion and terrorism as a means of penetration, and Chile cannot but regret, together with the great majority of the countries of our continent, the FrancoMexican declaration on El Salvador.4 Chile reiterates its belief that it is for the Salvadorean people alone to decide on their destiny in accordance with their full right to  self-determination.
119.	Our links with Western Europe have always been significant for Chilean foreign policy. Among the most favorable events of recent months have been the solution of the abnormal situation affecting our relations with Italy and the remarkable increase in commercial exchange with the great majority of countries in that region. As an example, it should be emphasized that trade with the Federal Republic of Germany reached a figure of $1 billion in 1980.
120.	We have promoted active diplomatic action in the Ear East, with the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations [ASEAN] and with those of the Pacific in general, and we have strengthened our ties with the People's Republic of China. Strong evidence of this is provided by the fruitful visit to Chile in April of this year by the ViceMinister of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr. Zhang Wenjin, and the signing of an important agreement last June. As a result of that same action, there has been a substantial increase in the value of trade with Japan, which this year will exceed $1.3 billion.
121.	We have also strengthened commercial and political ties with the countries of SouthEast Asia, and we have opened an embassy in Thailand, in addition to the embassies previously established in the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.
122.	As regards our policy of opening up towards the Pacific, we would point to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the island States of Kiribati and Nauru, as well as the growing participation by Chile in various forums dealing with matters of regional interest. In this connection, it is worth mentioning the offer made by our country, at a meeting of the Planning Committee of the South Pacific Commission, of an overall technical assistance program in the area.
123.	As regards our relations with the countries of the Middle East, besides the high level of our relations with many of them, we should point out as a significant event the establishment of new resident missions in lUnisia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
124.	Our ties with the African nations have been intensified more and more by the exchange of visits, by the establishment of mixed commissions, and by signing numerous agreements on technical, cultural and scientific assistance, as recently occurred with Zaire and Equatorial Guinea.
125.	In our relations with Africa we have not neglected cooperation on the tragic problem of refugees, not only by means of a small material contribution through UNHCR, but also by a proposal for technical assistance.
126.	My Government cannot omit the expression of its deep concern over the explosive international situation now affecting mankind. We have witnessed a confusion of values, in many instances contempt for human beings, deception of entire populations and disregard of various fundamental principles. And of late we have seen an increase in tension, which constitutes an undoubted threat to peace. This is the only way in which we can evaluate the military invasions, the outbreak of new conflicts, the use of subversion as a means of political and ideological penetration, the use of force in international relations, and the continuing increase in terrorism.
127.	On the pretext of ensuring peaceful coexistence the Soviet Union has sent its troops into Afghanistan and has used one of its satellites in SouthEast Asia, causing the oppression of an entire nation and one of the most tragic exoduses in history. It has used another of its allies first to penetrate, then to confuse and finally to act in Central America by means of subversion and terrorism. It has resorted to every means to create and encourage antagonisms in an effort to benefit its own cause. In addition, it has spread confusion and uncertainty by means of dialectics which destroy established values.
128.	Those of us who are convinced of the need for respect for the human person and for human dignity, who firmly believe in freedom of the individual and of nations, in independence, equality and
 self-determination for all peoples, must raise our voices and unite our efforts in order to prevent confusion and weakness allowing the indefinite and unjust progress of such imperialistic action. 'We believe that the time has come for all of us who identify with the authentic purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations to defend them frankly and openly, with the firmness that stems from conviction, by denouncing their violation wherever it occurs and by requesting and supporting application of the sanctions against transgressors which the Organization itself provides for.
129.	Therefore, we must openly denounce the case of Afghanistan, a country which was invaded by military force almost two years ago. Approximately 2,500,000 of its nationals have had to seek refuge in Pakistan, through that country's generosity and the contribution of the special fund for refugees from Afghanistan, which my country has supported.
130.	Another typical example of the use of force in international relations is the case of Kampuchea. Over 200,000 Vietnamese soldiers have attacked that country and are continually threatening its immediate neighbors. Chile condemns this outright aggression and fully supports the initiative of the ASEAN countries aimed at restoring peace and goodwill in SouthEast Asia after so many years of suffering.
131.	The tragedy in that part of the world is also evidenced by the millions of refugees who, in fragile boats, continue their search in other lands for the freedom of which they have been deprived. The United Nations should continue to give its full support to efforts to alleviate the terrible suffering of the IndoChinese refugees.
132.	Unfortunately, the use of force or the threat of use of force is not limited only to the aforementioned cases; it is also evident in Poland, with characteristics which remind us of other tragic interventions on the old continent. It is also found in the Middle East, in Africa and even in Latin America, where it is revealed in interventions and threats, especially in some Central American countries, such as El Salvador.
133.	My country notes this situation with special concern in regard to the Middle East, not only because it affects world peace but also because we feel very close to the peoples that live in that tormented region. Many of the children of those countries have become Chilean citizens, and we feel with them whenever peace is disrupted in those countries, with the terrible sequel of bloodshed and poverty.
134.	In particular, we have followed with deep concern the tragedy of the peoples of Lebanon, torn by bloody struggles which have devastated a once-prosperous nation. We hope that peace and calm will soon be restored in Lebanon and we support the peacemaking efforts of the United Nations, which have helped to mitigate the escalation of hostilities.
135.	Once again, we wish to reiterate that Chile believes that a realistic solution to the problem of the Middle East should be based on the withdrawal of Israel from all occupied Arab territories, on the acknowledgment of the right of all the States in that region including Israel, of course to live within secure and internationally recognized frontiers and on the full exercise of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to  self-determination in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and especially those of the Security Council.
136.	With regard to Namibia, the Government of Chile believes that the efforts of the international community, and especially of the United Nations, should continue in order to find a negotiated solution to this colonial issue. In this regard, Chile, as a member of the United Nations Council for Namibia, supports resolution 435 (1978) and others adopted by the Security Council.
137.	Likewise, we reaffirm our denunciation of the policy of apartheid, because it constitutes a violation not only of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations but also of the very foundations of respect for human rights, regardless of creed, race or nationality.
138.	Chile, as a peace-loving country, encourages and favors any initiatives which make possible the peaceful settlement of disputes. Therefore, with regard to Cyprus, we endorse the suggestion that has been put forward that the question be dealt with as events and negotiations develop.
139.	Similarly, we believe that the good offices of the Secretary-General to reach a solution on the issue of the unification of Korea through dialog between the North and the South will contribute to the general stability of that region.
140.	We have referred to the commitment of all of us who belong to the Organization not only to respect the human person as such but also to promote the establishment of conditions in which justice and respect for the obligations assumed by States may be preserved.
141.	Two items on the agenda refer specifically to these matters: terrorism, which constitutes one of the most cowardly and cruel attacks against human beings, and disarmament. Unless disarmament is negotiated in good faith the conditions of justice and peace which we are committed to establish will be difficult to achieve.
142.	We attach special importance to the problem of terrorism, the escalation of which constitutes a very serious threat to the internal peace of States and a flagrant breach of the most elementary human rights. We have, therefore, lent our firm support to all those internationally agreed upon measures which seek effectively to counteract this despicable and criminal method of political struggle.
143.	While the paramount obligation to put an end to this phenomenon rests with Governments, we believe that theire is an international responsibility on all States to prohibit the promotion or encouragement in their territories of terrorist activities in other regions, and to punish those who commit or back up such criminal acts.
144.	Another matter which is unquestionably topical is the subject of disarmament, which is dealt with by the General Assembly year after year. While we admit that some progress has been achieved to halt the arms race, we regret that results have been few so far. Our traditionally peace-loving country has always proclaimed, both on a regional and on a worldwide level, its firm adherence to the principles of total disarmament, which is the heartfelt aspiration of the international community.
145.	The Government of Chile believes that the internal effort required from the developing countries should be complemented by international cooperation. Therefore Chile is confident that in the near future the path will be traced towards the launching of the global negotiations, as they are called, which perhaps at this time constitute the only initiative towards the attainment of an adjustment in international economic relations.
146.	If those negotiations are really expected to represent a vigorous contribution to cooperation efforts, it is indispensable that they be launched in the framework of the Organization so as to receive the full backing of the whole international community. At the same time, it appears indispensable for the different groups engaged in this work to make a serious analysis in an effort to unify viewpoints regarding such problems as the program of work or those of an institutional nature which have so far paralyzed talks. This task requires not only a high degree of political will on the part of the developed countries, thus giving effect to their frequent statements in this regard, but also the necessary high principles, clarity of concepts and clear language on the part of the countries constituting the Group of 77, which should agree to a larger degree of realism in their demands.
147.	Meanwhile the efforts towards SouthSouth cooperation have been revived; they were initiated by the developing countries themselves. This constitutes a highly favorable factor, which found its most concrete expression in the High Level Conference OP Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries, held recently at Caracas, where a complete program for horizontal cooperation was drawn up. This task is strongly supported by Chile.
148.	In the area of scientific cooperation, we are witnesses of the progress being achieved year by year for the benefit of all mankind.
149.	As far as outer space is concerned, the extremely rapid development of technology in that sector compels us to establish with great urgency legal principles to govern all activity. This task is being performed by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, of which Chile is a member. However, further impetus should be given to this task in order to prevent space technology from being applied before the legal norms which should regulate its use, and clearly define responsibilities, are laid down. We hope that a study on the military use of outer space will now be initiated, either in that Committee itself or in the Committee on Disarmament, depending on the decision of the General Assembly. We believe that this is an urgent task which brooks no further delay.
150.	One of the major negotiations carried out under the auspices of the Organization is undoubtedly the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, both because of its great contribution to the progressive development of international law, as contemplated in the Charter, in regulating the use of more than two thirds of the planet, and because of its remarkable contribution to the work of international forums in general by perfecting an operative method of consensus among almost 160 participating States. It is a matter of satisfaction to the world, and especially to Chile, a law abiding maritime country, that next year the immense efforts that have been exerted will culminate in the adoption of a single convention of a universal nature enjoying the consensus of the international community. To that end, we call upon all States to step up their negotiating efforts and upon all the parties involved to so demonstrate the necessary flexibility with regard to the great objectives pursued, without altering the essence of the draft convention.
151.	A moment ago I mentioned the profound concern of the Government of Chile over the international situation at present facing mankind. It was also clearly stated that unfortunately the Organization had not responded fully to the efforts of those who created it in the hope of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war. As the Secretary-General warned us not long ago, we are closer than ever before to the danger of world confrontation [see AI36/1, sect. XIII].
152.	We believe that the time has come as in 1945  for Member States of the United Nations to renew their profession of faith in the authentic values of man and society. Only firm convictions and fortitude in the struggle to achieve a just international order can lead to the attainment of the supreme objective, peace. The Charter itself reveals to us that peace and security cannot be achieved unless there is effective international cooperation in solving economic, social, scientific and cultural problems.
153.	Chile realizes that States, both individually and collectively, should now back up with deeds their professions of profound and sincere willingness to use the United Nations as an instrument for authentic and active cooperation.
154.	In their magnitude and scope, the problems facing mankind today are largely international in nature. Therefore, their solution depends on the concerted efforts of all', large and small, to fulfill the noble task of creating a better world for our children and for generations to come.
155.	From this lofty rostrum Chile ratifies its decision to continue its unflagging struggle for the noble principles and ideals which gave birth to the United Nations in 1945.