At the outset allow me to congratulate you, Sir, on your unanimous election to the presidency of the Assembly at this session, during which, we are confident, we shall be able to achieve the goals we shall propose in this important forum.
Allow me also to avail myself of this opportunity to express our admiration of your predecessor, Mr. Jaime de Pinies, whose insight and judiciousness greatly helped us to surmount e. number of obstacles and made his mission successful.
We should also like to express our appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, for his efforts to find solutions to the many problems facing mankind. Mr. de Cuellar has shown great concern for the preservation of the fundamental principles of the United Nations notwithstanding the limited resources available and the adverse influence of certain Western Powers that are more interested in their own strategic interests than in joining forces to achieve international peace and security.
Every year in this same place the representatives of all the nations make a pledge of peace, disarmament, freedom and development, reflecting the determination of the great majority of nations to achieve those goals and thus strive for the survival of the human race.
Even given the strong will of the peace-loving countries, a paradoxical reality subsists: the world has never been as exposed as it is today to the threat of a nuclear war that could destroy its entire population.
In spite of united Nations General Assembly resolution 3093 (XXVIII), which prescribes a 10 per cent cut in the military budgets of the permanent members of the Security Council for the benefit of the developing countries, the arms race has not been halted, and it has now reached outer space. While certain countries spend huge amounts of money on their military programs, the majority of the developing countries face a critical economic situation that prevents them from achieving
social and economicdevelopment programs.
We feel that the international community should not remain passive. In the face of this situation, we call for intensified efforts on the part of all peace and freedom-loving countries to reverse the negative trend. Similarly, Angola welcomes the USSR's initiative unilaterally to extend the moratorium on nuclear testing and its recent proposal on the gradual banning and elimination of nuclear arms by the year 2000 and the creation of an international global security system. We also support unconditionally the proposal presented in May this year by the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs to the United Nations Secretary-General regarding the creation of an international organization for the peaceful use of outer space, and we urge all Member States of our Organization to join in this initiative, which undoubtedly would bring benefits to all countries, regardless of
their stage of development.
Angola is a sovereign independent country situated in Africa, in the southern
part of the continent. Since its independence 11 years ago, our country has actively followed a policy of non-alignment and peaceful coexistence. Our Constitution is very clear about our country's willingness to maintain diplomatic relations with all the countries of the world on the basis of mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries and of non-aggression and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States in accordance with the norms of international law governing relations between independent States.
Unfortunately it is in that subregion of the his lean continent that is found the abhorrent and obsolete apartheid system condemned by the vast majority of countries. That system continues to be a destabilizing factor for the countries of the region, particularly South Africa's neighboring countries, which are the victims of repeated violent aggression resulting from its arrogance and disregard of the resolutions of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of African unity.
In spite of its strong traditional inclination for peace, our people has not known a moment of peace since the very beginning of its independence, and our country is the victim of continuous armed aggression launched by South Africa from the illegally occupied Territory of Namibia.
The People's Republic of Angola continues to be faced with an undeclared war situation created by the South African racist regime, .which has forced the Angolan people to endure enormous sacrifices as a result of the train put on our country's financial, material and human resources, which seriously affected our economic and social development.
defenseless children, women and elderly people are among South Africa's favorite targets and the racist forces constantly blow up our bridges, railways and roads and destroy our hospitals and schools, not sparing our industrial installations.
Material damage caused to our country has been estimated at $12 billion. This figure does not include the money spent in youth mobilization and youth defense programs. The South African regular army, with the collaboration of South African trained UNITA puppet groups, has perpetrated numerous atrocities and is responsible for a large number of deaths.
The Angolan people, who, under the Portuguese colonial rule during^ the 14 years of its struggle for national liberation to regain its freedom and dignity, usurped for five centuries by Portuguese colonialism, had already borne many sacrifices and lost many of its best countrymen, has longed for peace for its newly independent country, so that it could build a strong nation through its natural resources and make use of the country's huge potential for the Angolan people.
The imperialist world has always tried to show the current situation in our country as a civil war, while in fact it is rather a foreign invasion of a United Nations Member State, whose territory was partly occupied by the racist SouthAfrican armed forces. That is why Angola continues to insist on the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the South African forces from its territory.
Racist South Africa uses the Namibian territory as a springboard for its attacks on Angola. The South African military bases in northern Namibia train the rebel and mercenary groups that infiltrate our territory. It is from those bases that the South African troops make incursions into our country and provide military support to the armed groups which operate in Angola under South African command.
South Africa's acts of aggression against Angola, encouraged by successive United States administrations, started soon after our country's independence. In 1975, the apartheid regime invaded our territory and occupied the south.
In the light of these facts and in conformity with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, the People's Republic of Angola requested help from friendly countries. The presence of Cuban troops in Angola has nothing to do with the independence of Namibia and consequently should not be seen as a threat to South Africa, which does not share any border with the People's Republic of Angola.
Conscious of the complexity of the international situation and desirous of seeing the impasse created by racist South Africa and the Reagan Administration resolved through United Nations implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978), the Government of the People's Republic of Angola presented, in a letter from President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos to Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, a negotiation package proposal, dated 17 November 1984.
The racist Pretoria regime responded to the well intentioned Angolan initiative with further violent attacks on the People's Republic of Angola. Their most recent acts of aggression were the attacks on the village of Xangongo and the commercial port of Namibe, with a significant number of Angolan casualties and heavy material damage.
In the last weeks, we have seen the concentration of over 10 South African army battalions along our southern border, a sufficient signal for us to anticipate a new major offensive against our country.
By trying to make implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) depend on the removal of the Cuban troops from Angola, the South African Government, along with the Reagan Administration, resorts to an excuse an old misleading pretext in order to impede Namibia's independence and transform that illegally occupied Territory into a springboard to keep destabilizing Angola with sustained acts of aggression.
We could not comment on the world economic crisis without mentioning the problems that are at its origin. Notwithstanding the efforts already made by the United Nations, certain developed countries still adopt policies that will not do much to help improve economic relations between developed and developing countries.
In fact, as far as monetary and financial matters are concerned, the problem lies with the inadequacy of structures that no longer meet the exigencies of the world's economic recovery as a result of the selfish policies pursued by certain developed countries, which consequently worsen the balance of payments and the external debt of the developing countries. It is therefore important that, without delay, we concentrate on the task of restructuring the current monetary and financial system in order to enable the developing countries to share in decision-making and take advantage of eventual benefits.
It is important to reflect on how far the negative changes of the world's monetary and financial system have exacerbated the external debt crisis of the underdeveloped countries, forcing them into default. Such changes have frustrated the development prospects of those countries, bringing about critical political and social repercussions.
While in the first: quarter of 1984 the combined foreign debt of the developing countries already reached $600 billion, today that debt is estimated at more than $900 billion, which is a discouraging factor that frustrates all optimistic hopes for development as long as the developing countries are compelled to spend larger debt repayments amounts than their revenues allow.
The International Monetary Fund is far from having achieved the objectives set forth in its by-laws and we feel, therefore, that there is a need in the monetary and financial areas for the creation of a mechanism for South-South co-operation at the regional level to alleviate and ultimately eliminate financial dependence on that institution.
One of the causes of the present world economic crisis is, no doubt, the recurrent violation by the developed countries of international trade principles, rules and regulations. The proliferation of discriminatory measures imposed by the developed countries in their trade with their developing counterparts, a growing protectionist attitude and other restrictive measures are responsible for the decrease in the revenue from the exports of the developing countries, which limit their opportunities to invest in other areas more beneficial to their development.
In this context, we wish to reiterate the need for all the underdeveloped countries to ratify the Integrated Program for Commodities contained in resolution 93 (IV) of the Fourth United Conference on Trade and Development, and ensure the entry into operation of the Common Fund as soon as possible.
The lack of human, material, financial and technological resources in some of the underdeveloped countries should provide a reason for strengthening and improving the co-operation between those countries, and it should provide strong motivation for contributing to the collective and individual autonomy of our countries and strengthening their power to negotiate with the developed countries.
In southern Africa, despite the aggressive acts of the racist regime of South Africa, co-operation within the framework of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference has made significant progress in several areas, as demonstrated by the adoption of a number of conclusions and resolutions adopted at the recent submit conference of Baads of State or Government held in Luanda from
18 to 22 August 1986.
We realize, however, that much remains to be done on the African continent,
where we have to live and to survive despite our major problems. The United Nations General Assembly's special session on Africa in May 1986, where a program of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development was adopted, constituted a positive step towards the adoption by the international community of measures to support the African countries in their struggle to emerge from the difficult situation in which they find themselves.
I have decided not to read out the entire text of try speech, but it will be distributed. However, I should like to take advantage of the last few minutes scheduled for my speech to comment briefly on what has already been said, especially the statement made about my country by the United states of America.
I have already presented the views of my country on the international situation with respect to southern Africa. Angola is a peace-loving country whose people liberated themselves in 1975 through their own arduous efforts and the militant solidarity of friendly countries, and other Members of our Organization, of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, and of the OAU, in accordance with their principles and the rules of international law. Angola will continue its solidarity with and its unselfish aid to those people still fighting against colonialism, neo-colonialism and imperialism. Its external policy is based on the principles of justice, equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of Member States.
I should like to take this opportunity to recall that Angola, as an independent and sovereign State, cannot accept the use of false and distorted representations of the real situation that exists in my country to justify attempts at interference and make false accusations against us of secret motives that my country has always rejected and fought against. My Government does not accept that type of policy, and I must reaffirm that in Angola, it is the Angolans themselves -and only they - who decide their own destiny.
The frequent declaration by the United States that Angola is governed by an
anti-people and repressive regime is simply a blatant falsehood and an act of
interference in the internal affairs of the Angolan Government. The truth of the
matter is that facts themselves give the lie to such statements and demonstrate the
true situation. The truth is that for over 10 years, Angola has suffered acts of
aggression committed by the racist regime of South Africa, as a result of the help
that regime has received from its allies - above all, the Government of the United States of America.
The presence of Cuban forces in our country is in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations, and the result of an invitation by our Government. Cuban Internationalist forces are helping our people to defend themselves from external pressure exerted by the racist regime of South Africa, and for that reason will remain on our soil until our Government decides to the contrary.
I would like to recall the words of Comrade President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, in his speech in Cape Verde on 22 December, when he said that the tension in southern Africa is tending towards a progressive aggravation because some of the Western Powers, instead of associating themselves with the efforts of the international community to allow Namibia to accede to independence on the basis of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) and to eliminate the apartheid system, which undoubtedly is solely responsible for the climate of destabilization, insecurity and conflict prevailing in that subregion, are seeking to protect their financial and economic interests, allying themselves with the white racist minority regime of South Africa.


 Please permit me to begin my remarks by expressing to you, on behalf of my Government and my delegation, our warmest congratulations, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly. This constitutes not only recognition of you as an individual, but also a demonstration of appreciation for your Government's prolific work in the United Nations.
I also wish to take advantage of this opportunity to reiterate our gratitude and felicitations to the outgoing President, Ambassador Jaime de Pinies, a person closely linked to Chile who brought a brilliant diplomatic career to a close as President of the world's most important forum.
I should also like to pay a tribute to Ambassador Javier Perez de Cuellar, who is completing five years at the head of this Organization, directing it during a particularly difficult period.
We have commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and have started on the fifth decade of the life of this Organization with growing uneasiness. The United Nations today is but a pale reflection of the Organization that emerged from the ashes of the Second World War, as an example of the international community has enlightened interest in giving concrete expression to mankind's hope for lasting peace. Today that institution, which gave rise to so many hopes, is experiencing not only a financial crisis but also one of confidence and destiny.
The responsibility for the financial crisis rests with the majority of Member States that do not make their contributions on time, with those that adopt the most extraordinary attitude of making selective payments, Favoring the programs that coincide with their political objectives, and with those that have assumed the illegal attitude of reducing their contributions unilaterally, in violation of the international obligations to which they had freely committed themselves.
In addition to this crisis, there is another, one which is far more serious. It arises from our peoples' loss of confidence in the system and in its ability to achieve the objectives for which it was created. Although it was created to be an instrument for assuring peace, the United Nations has instead become a forum of sterile confrontation. The Organization has thereby lost its ability to be a protagonist in international life and its ability to impose prudence in the conduct of States and to generate efficient initiatives for solving problems.
The lack of agreement to move forward in natters of great importance and the real stagnation into which we have been propelled by a lack of willingness to achieve consensus on vital matters have been accompanied by a tendency to indulge in resounding verbiage and rage signifying absolutely nothing. Thus we have a steady torrent of innocuous resolutions that have given rise to traditional stands that choke creativity and at the same time establish a doctrine under which the capacity for innovation, for acting on the inter national scene, simply does not exist. The successive efforts made to bring about change have not been sufficient to generate effective and necessary dialog capable of pulling the Organization out of its state of immobility. Immobility cannot be concealed by an excessive increase in the number of meetings or by the proliferation of documents which the meetings produce. Through inertia and lack of courage to check a senseless process that seems to be leading nowhere, it has foundered into a voracious calendar that only consumes time, money and hopes.
The impossibility of facing up to this reality, which is becoming more and more complex and dynamic, has led the United Nations to a position so far removed from reality that the world it reflects today is a fictitious one.
Despite these problems which disturb us, Chile has faith in the ideal of the United Nations, for the Organization must not only be an instrument for resolving international problems, but it must also express mankind's ideal: the possibility of living, developing and progressing in peace; of living in a world where countries rich and poor can work together in harmony to achieve those objectives.
Despite the failures, our faith is justified by the successes of the
United Nations that represent concrete expressions of that ideal, for example the
process of decolonization, which has peacefully brought almost 100 nations into the international community.
Then there is the priority treatment and definitive presence in today's world that the United Nations has brought to the search for development.
Throughout its existence the Organization and its specialized agencies have made substantial contributions to the economic development and political independence of nations.	/
While the world has become more independent, imposing a logic that no country
can avoid, and while the need for multilateral co-operation appears more evident,
we note that because the United Nations has become inoperative a tendency to seek
solutions beyond the framework of the Organization by consolidating parallel
mechanisms has become noticeable. This trend must be reversed in order to restore
the United Nations to its original competence. This will require political determination.
In the course of this session the General Assembly must pronounce itself on
the report on the administrative and financial situation of the Organization
prepared by the Group of Eighteen Intergovernmental Experts from various nations.
The report and the final treatment it is given by the General Assembly could
constitute the first step towards restoration of the United Nations to the position
it deserves as the principal protagonist on the worrisome international scene in the final years of this century.
There is no doubt that one of the most unstable situations in the world is that which persists in the Middle East. Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) contain the fundamental elements for the achievement of a lasting and stable peace in the region. At the same time, there can be no solution of
the problem without recognition of the right to free determination of the Palestinian people and its right to establish a sovereign State. It is necessary to reach just settlements that guarantee the peace and security of all States, including Israel's right to live within secure and internationally recognized borders. That is the only way in which the Middle East can cease to be a region in perpetual crisis.
The South African situation is cause for concern and uneasiness. At the root of the conflict is that Government's apartheid policy, which Chile has repeatedly rejected.
At the same time my Government supports the efforts of the international community, the Sscretary-General and the Security Council to obtain Namibian independence by peaceful means. One milestone in that process is Security Council resolution 435 (1978), which guarantees a realistic solution that assures the Namibian people of the right to free determination as well as territorial integrity
and national unity.
With regard to the Korean situation, we support the inter-Korean negotiations as a realistic and peaceful approach free from outside interference to achieving a harmonious solution of a situation that has dragged on for years. We recognize the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Korea in this respect. In line with its traditional defense of this Organization's principles of universality, my country maintains that the presence of both Koreas in the United Nations would contribute to bringing the parties closer together and achieving a negotiated
settlement.
We have noted with satisfaction the attitude that President Victor Paz Estenssoro of Bolivia has adopted towards my country. The Chilean Government hopes that the process of rapprochement we have initiated with Bolivia will be successful and produce concrete results and begin a period of effective co-operation between our countries.

We observe with indignation and sorrow the Soviet obstinacy in Afghanistan and in Kampuchea, causing death and desolation among nations eager for freedom and peace. The Soviet Union's invasion of those countries has been deservedly condemned by the international community because of its illegitimate and illegal violation of the principle of self-determination. The liberating impetus of their oppressed peoples is more powerful than any opposing armed force, as has been demonstrated by the fact that the resistance continues despite the brutal effort of the Kremlin to crush both countries.
The initiatives of the Secretary-General with regard to Afghanistan and of Prince Sihanouk with regard to Kampuchea deserve our determined support since they are the only realistic initiatives that have been undertaken to resolve those conflicts.
We are also horrified by the tragic circumstances affecting the Lebanese people, which has long been linked to Chile through close ties of friendship. The people of Chile are shocked by the continuous flow of reports of death, suffering and tragedy coming from Lebanon. Many Lebanese have made Chile their home, and therefore those reports affect us deeply. We voice our fervent hope that peace and tranquility will soon be restored in Lebanon so that its people can once again devote themselves to the tasks of reconstruction and development.
My Government has always been keenly interested in initiatives that might lead to international peace and security and has noted with great interest and approval Brazil's proposal that the South Atlantic be declared a zone of peace and co-operation. That initiative pursues important objectives in the areas of economic development, social welfare and peace which ought to be endorsed by the General Assembly.
It is necessary to maintain the priority of those general objectives and to shun external factors alien to general interests such as private interests or the positions of some countries that only serve to distort the objectives and generosity of the Brazilian proposal.
The acute world recession of recent years, which has had grave economic, political and social consequences for the developing world, has emphasized the effects of the crisis I mentioned earlier.
The developing countries have been obliged to adjust their economies, with painful political and social repercussions, and have had to bear the greater part of the cost of a situation for which the macroeconomic policies applied by the industrialized countries have been responsible, we have noted with consternation that while this heavy burden has been imposed upon us, the developed countries have liaited adjustments in their own economies, thereby incurring the greatest imbalances in contemporary history. This has only served to further aggravate the crisis.
We are convinced that the final solution of the crisis will be obtained only through an integrated and cons is tent approach to the urgent problems of development, trade and finance, including the very grave debt problem.
To achieve that objective the industrialized nations must make a fundamental change in their economic policies, recognize that they share responsibility for the existing problems, bring about conditions which would allow truly free international trade to prevail without the obstacles that today arbitrarily disrupt the exports of the developing world, and reverse the de-capitalization process Favoring the developed nations, a process which The Chilean people have been among those adversely affected in the Latin American region. However it is fair to recognize that they have known how to face the crisis with courage and abnegation, lb day we are firmly on the road to economic recovery; we are achieving significant growth and scrupulously complying with our financial commitments.
Chile has noted with great concern the serious deterioration in the observance of the principle of non-intervention, a legal principle essential to coexistence and the harmonious development of relations between States.
Chile has had to reject many instances of intervention in its affairs in recent years. Under the pretext of being concerned about human rights, attempts have been from outside to manage our political affairs, to establish procedures and plans that are not our own, and objections have been made to the path chosen and the rules laid down in our political constitution, adopted by the Chilean people themselves. Those who criticize the human rights situation in Chile ignore the obvious progress we have made in that regard; the decisions of the courts of justice have been objected to and challenged, and I believe that the only reason terrorist activities have not been applauded is that many other countries are suffering from the same scourge.
What is worse, and bitterly ironic, is that many of our critics and accusers do not know what true democracy is and what human rights are. They do not respect the right of other nations to govern and decide their own destiny, and it is their declared policy not to give their own peoples freedom and democracy.
The international community is appalled to see that some States have committed themselves to training, financing, supplying and sheltering terrorists. In doing so those responsible are not only blatantly violating the principle of non-intervention, but are also committing a genuine act of aggression, and making themselves accomplices in crimes against humanity.
That is why one of the matters that urgently demand concerted action by the international community is the unprecedented escalation of terrorism, which is today striking brutally at a large part of the world community, violating the basic norms of human rights.
We are fully aware that it is the inescapable responsibility of each Member State to combat this scourge, which is threatening both the internal peace of States and international peace. Therefore, we believe that all nations must share the international responsibility of co-ordinating efforts to pursue and punish, in accordance with their own laws, those who commit such criminal acts or lend their direct or indirect support.
Chile has been the victim of criminal acts of that kind for more than 15 years. They did not cease even when the Government of Popular Unity was in power, as the Communist Party, which formed part of it, proclaimed that its goal was to gain not only political power, but total power, and that to that end all means could be used.
Today my country is the victim of the same brazen aggression. Indeed, in early August, as we informed the Security Council at the time, our armed forces discovered in parts of northern and central Chile an enormous quantity of arms and military equipment that had been smuggled into the country, mainly by sea, in view of the long Chilean coastline.
That impressive arsenal - particularly impressive in relation to a small country such as Chile - includes, among the weapons found so far, 3,260 American-made M-16 automatic rifles; 214 Belgian-made light machine guns; 114 Russian-made Katyusha rocket launchers, of the same type as those now being used in Afghanistan; 170 TCW antitank rockets; almost 2 million rounds of ammunition for the weapons I have mentioned; 3,000 kilograms of high explosives; 2,000 hand grenades; 1,800 rocket-propelled bombs; and other weapons which it would take too long to list here. In summary, it amounts to more than 80 tons of armaments, worth more than $10 million. Since the original discoveries, other arms deposits have been found even in Chile's capital city, confirming the magnitude of the terrorist challenge we face.
We believe that a substantial portion of that arsenal has not yet been found and seized. That is the essential reason for the temporary emergency measures , which we have had to take throughout our territory.
My Government has formally requested international co-operation to determine the origin and source of those weapons. It should be noted that their destructive power, and the information we have gathered on how they were smuggled into the country, show that we are facing not only a terrorist operation, but one of a truly military character, planned and financed from outside Chile, with the deliberate aim of promoting violence, destruction and death, and plunging the whole country into civil war. Calculation of the number of victims that the use of all those arms could have led to clearly demonstrates the scale of the tragedy that has been successfully averted. Moreover, such an assault would have represented a massive violation of human rights.
We know who are behind all these actions; they have not tried to conceal their involvement. We believe that the international community cannot remain indifferent or passive when faced with this new type c* aggression, since what has been attempted against Chile today, if left unpunished, could lead to an irreversible disaster for the region as a whole.
Thus we must again accuse the Chilean Communist Party, which has time and again publicly declared its decision to conduct an armed struggle to definitively establish a totalitarian Government in Chile so that it could then assist other similar terrorist or guerrilla movements operating in our continent. The continuing campaign of calumny provided daily by Radio Moscow and other media for over 13 years is further proof of that statement.
In addition to these illegal and immoral actions, those responsible have had the audacity to claim that they have become the champions of international peace and freedom, while launching a campaign designed to sow doubts about the truth of the facts reported by Chile, in order to escape the onus of their actions or merely to hide the truth about the shocking discovery of that arsenal from the world.
This is the culmination of an infamous process, encouraged by the countries of the Soviet bloc, through which violence has been incited in Chile by a persistent campaign, both internal and external. The Western nations, and particularly those of Latin America, must note that those arms were not destined exclusively to weaken the present Government of Chile. The violence which is being attempted is part of the framework of a long-established criminal plot with the ultimate aim of undermining the essential values that inspire the Western nations.
As I have said, the illegal importation of a gigantic arsenal of Soviet arras into Chile was first noted in 1971, and at that time, too, the world was shocked. There is abundant reason for linking the process to which ray country is being subjected with actions that have caused disruption or harm in other countries. It is part of the network of international terrorism, which is also affecting other nations in our continent. Its aim is very clear: to prevent the consolidation of democracy in Latin America.
Those who seek that goal do not know how mistaken they are. All the democratic sectors in Chile, including the opposition, have condemned the illegal import of arms. But the most serious aspect of the discoveries is the confirmation that the purpose of introducing those arms was to provoke a civil war in Chile. For on 7 September this year the President of the Republic was the target of terrorist groups employing arms from the arsenal I have mentioned, in a heinous attack aimed at taking his life and creating national chaos. The toll in that tragic episode, the only one in the history of Chile involving a Chief of State, was five dead and nine seriously wounded.
Demonstrating criminal resolve and audacity, those concerned sought to assassinate the President and his escort, demonstrating that they knew no humanitarian or moral restraint. That is the belligerent terrorist logic
supported by international communism.
Despite those very grave events, the Chilean Government continues to dedicate itself to the process of democratic institutionalization, confident that the clandestine importation of arms, the attempt to assassinate a prominent person and the goal of revolution through subversion served only to unite all Chileans who are opposed to violence and are lovers of peace.
In denouncing this aggression before the United Nations, we solemnly reiterate our unwavering intention to return Chile to full democracy and my Government's commitment to pursue the process of institutionalization in accordance with the modalities set out in the 1980 Constitution which binds the Government and the governed alike.
It is quite easy to confine one's self exclusively to a critical analysis of the United Nations. We do not wish to remain at that stage nor is it our style. Chile, at this time, wishes to share with the other delegations some projections for the future.
We are convinced that there are what may be called areas of consensus, which require an in-depth study and represent a useful field for harmonizing the efforts of the Organization. If we direct the dynamism of the United Nations to those areas and leave aside those which are at a standstill, we can create a climate of greater confidence in the Organization.
My country wishes formally to propose that the United Nations concentrate or dedicate its preferential action to the areas of consensus. We have identified some aspects as being susceptible of generating agreements or leading to productive negotiations.
The first is the utilization of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Such a valuable instrument of development requires the more active involvement of the General Assembly of the United Nations which, without disregarding the important contribution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), provides the appropriate political and juridical framework so that all States may benefit increasingly from this technology.
The world cannot continue to merely observe in amazement the destructive effects and the distorted use of nuclear energy. On the contrary, we want to recover the positive elements and have that precious source of energy produce life instead of death.
Secondly, the structuring of regional disarmament mechanisms. In view of the standstill in the global disarmament negotiations, we feel that we should seek action in the field of regional disarmament. These mechanisms should contain instruments leading to the creation of a net protecting the countries, or, at least, reducing the dangers which the potential situations of conflict arising in various parts of the world today entail.
It is obvious that the generalization of a mechanism of this type would free resources for development. As far as ray country is concerned, the proposal is not an abstract one. On the contrary, it constitutes an important goal of its foreign policy. That is why, we immediately voiced our support for the declaration of President Alan Garcia of Peru regarding regional disarmament.
In addition, as a consequence of these principles, we initiated, earlier this year, a series of meetings between the High Commands of the armed forces of Chile and Peru in an effort to find a concrete formula which would permit reductions in arms expenditures.
We believe there are other regions in the world in which agreements or similar initiatives could and should be undertaken, conducive to diminishing the scourge of force and to actively promoting conditions Favorable to international peace, security and justice. In this, there is no doubt but that the United Nations can be catalyst and driving instrument for an initiative of this kind.
Thirdly, there is the use of outer space for exclusively peaceful purposes. The international community observes with growing interest the technological challenge stemming from the exploration and exploitation of outer space. Chile,
like the other developing nations, aspires to the benefits which may be derived
from a broad system of co-operation in the outer space area. Hence, it is
extremely important to start out on road landing to the adoption of an
international agreement that legislates on permitting access by all peoples to the distribution of the benefits of space technology. Outer space, the common heritage of mankind, is regarded by nations as a promising area since it would provide them with the means for protecting and developing their natural resources and for employing the most effective tools in their plans for economic and social growth.
Access to the distribution of the benefits of such activity also undoubtedly implies acknowledgment of the right of the Powers exploiting outer space to a commensurate compensation for their efforts and their scientific and technical research.
Fourthly, there are the problems related to environment. Many problems today affect humanity as a result of the depredation of its natural resources and the contamination of air, sea and land. This has created a political imperative which the General Assembly of the united Nations cannot ignore. A physically rarefied environment is a crime against the elementary norms of human quality required for life in dignity. Hence the importance of emphasizing the study of these subjects and of evaluating, for example, the problem of cross-boundary contamination and the deposit of waste in third countries, thereby creating dangerous and noxious situations.
Fifthly, we have the world's food problem. The international community has been stunned by the food crisis affecting some African countries and, in general, the development tragedy in that continent. Thus the international community is emotionally prepared to undertake an in-depth action to resolve the world's food problem, with emphasis on the problems of Africa.
This is a new subject for consensus which our efforts and our imagination should promote.
In short. Chile is firmly convinced that there are areas of consensus such as
those we have referred to and briefly described, and that the time has come to
begin a process of integrated and comprehensive negotiation, since there are common
denominators amongst them. Essentially, they can be the sources of eventual
international agreements and constitute a productive source for guiding the United
Nations along a technical path, free of ideological considerations.
In making these proposals, which must necessarily be refined and attuned to the political moment and the respective forums, we are motivated only by a sense of international public service, free of narrow dogmas and contingent sectarianism. The United Nations cannot continue to be the setting of sterile confrontations and of quarrels and disputes that erode its very credibility. It is particularly important to plan for the future and take realistic and pragmatic advantage of subjects susceptible of bringing nations together in their own lasting interests.
When Western Europe still suffered the after-effects of the Second World War, allied nations and their rivals in that conflagration modestly conceived, in a determined and imaginative manner, a route that had certain points of consensus. That effort kept growing and gradually became transformed in what is today the European Community, a major process in the history of co-operative relations among nations.
Today, when we again face the need of starting out on the road to the ideal of
the United Nations, let us consider the process of the European Community. The
option of the present hour is co-operation and understanding, or disintegration and confrontation.
My Government is convinced that the modest but resolute Method of finding points of consensus will enable us to take firm and realistic steps towards a more integrated, unified and peaceful word.


In this autumn of 1986, the community of nations is again facing serious problem* and momentous decisions that affect the destiny of our peoples.
We are threatened by embroilment in hostilities as well as by famine and misery. Dangers threaten international economic and financial co-operation. The dignity of man is being violated in a thousand ways. Wars are taking place in many parts of the world. In the Republic of South Africa there is a threat of civil war. Natural disasters are compounded by man-made disasters with far-reaching
effects that transcend national boundaries.
But we see hopeful signs also. In Europe co-operation across the ideological boundaries is developing into a strong force for the preservation of peace. Negotiations between West and East on confidence-building and disarmament are being conducted in unprecedented depth. Encouraging progress has been registered. New negotiations are being prepared. Throughout the world the hand of those who seek co-operation instead of confrontation is becoming stronger. More and more people realize that we have become a community in pursuit of survival. There is a prevailing awareness that the survival of mankind requires co-operative solutions -for the prevention of war, for the protection of our ecological basis, for the new technological developments, for the peaceful use of the sea-bed and the peaceful use of outer space, for the fight against famine and disease, for solutions to international economic problems, including that of indebtedness. The peoples of the world want their Governments to recognize these signs.
The quest for superiority and hegemony, the quest for unilateral advantages, the exploitation of political, military and economic power, the attempt to bring others to their knees, the attempt to force one's own social order on others: all these are outdated aspirations. Again and again they have dragged mankind into
catastrophe. The peoples of the world are no longer prepared to tolerate such policies.
My country, the Federal Republic of Germany, is on the side of progress, co-operation, human rights, self-determination and peace. We regard man, in his unalterable dignity, in his uniqueness and in his freedom, as the focus of all action. Those values are the cornerstone of the alliance between democratic
Europe, the United States and Canada.
The President of this session of the General Assembly himself comes from a country that has sought international co-operation time and again to overcome difficult economic problems. I wish him and the United Nations good fortune and success.
I should like thank Mr. Perez de Cuellar for his excellent work, his wise decisions and his sensible initiatives as Secretary-General of the united Nations.
The 12 States members of the European Community, on their way towards European union and a common foreign policy, are speaking here from a common position. As representative of the Chairman of the Community, Sir Geoffrey Howe has spoken for all of us. Going on from there, I shall outline the views of the Federal Republic of Germany, which has irrevocably committed its destiny to that of Europe and which
is a firmly established member of the Western Alliance.
Europe, so often torn by wars in the course of its history, a continent from which conquest, force and repression have spread to all parts of the world, today's Europe wishes to be a continent of peace and an example of good-neighborly relations. The peoples of the European Community - first and foremost the Germans and the French - have shown that it is possible to replace centuries-old rivalry and deadly conflict with friendship and to grow together into a union of equals.
However, Europe is more than the Community of the Twelve. After all, Europe does not end at the Elbe and Werra Rivers. Hence, in taking our decisions we never forget that there are also Germans and Europeans to the east of us. As a nation in the center of Europe, we consider it our historical duty as Germans to defuse and eventually surmount the antithesis between East and West. We should be bad Germans and bad Europeans were we to do otherwise. That is why, during the 1970s, we put relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and its eastern neighbors on a new contractual basis, a basis that remains an unshakable cornerstone of our policy. Conscious of the course of history, we seek steady development of German-Soviet co-operation, which is an essential prerequisite for a realistic policy of European detente.
We shall consistently pursue the process of German-Polish reconciliation, we seek a peaceful modus vivendi in the whole of Europe based on co-operation and mutual trust. An ever-more important role in this effort falls to the two German States by virtue of the 1972 Treaty cm the Basis of Relations. We Europeans must develop and design our European home, which comprises Europe in its entirety, as a place fit to live in. We must not continue to accept the enormous commitment of resources and energies to the conflict between West and East.
If today Europeans are becoming more fully aware of their common identity and seeking to live peacefully in their common home, the doors in that home must be opened much wider. This means that it must not be a capital offense to pass through those doors from one part of the home to the other, we must rid borders of their awesome and divisive character, thereby enabling States with varying social systems to pursue their common and complementary interests and their responsibility for their common future in peaceful competition, so that their peoples no longer live in fear of each other but can get to know one another. The Europeans must, through a gradual process of reducing conflict potential and of fostering co-operation, elevate their relations to new forms, what we seek is a peaceful order in Europe based on the equality of all and on equal entitlement to security.
We seek a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will regain its unity through free self-determination.
The defusing of the East-West antithesis depends greatly on the development of relations between the two super-Powers. For that reason, it is important that the second summit meeting between President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev should take place before the end of this year.
United States-Soviet nuclear and space negotiations must lead to positive results. The negotiating objective agreed upon by both parties in Geneva on 8 January 1985 to prevent an arms race in space and terminate it on earth has become an obligation towards all the peoples of the world. That obligation must be honored without reservation.
We attach particular importance to the negotiations on the American and Soviet intermediate-range missile systems. In recent months progress and rapprochement have been achieved in that field. We desire the global elimination of all American and Soviet land-based intermediate-range nuclear force of longer range. If that aim cannot be fulfilled in one step, we should like to see an interim result which leaves the lowest possible number of missiles cm both sides and sets equal ceilings on a global scale and for Europe.
We want the arms spiral finally to be reversed. We Germans will bring all our influence to bear to help negotiations to that end to an early result. We also desire drastic reductions in strategic nuclear potentials. The relationship between offensive and defensive weapons must be discussed in its proper context, as was agreed on 8 January 1985.
We consider it necessary that the provisions of the SALT II agreement continue to be observed and that the 1972 Treaty on the Limitation of An ti-Ball is tic Missile Systems be adhered to until the establishment of a new contractual basis.
Last weekend the 35 States participating in the Stockholm Conference on Confidence and Security Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe adopted a final document. That document is a signal of hope. The Conference derived from a Franco-German initiative. At the beginning of this year the joint appearance of the French and German Foreign Ministers injected a fresh impetus. Its success is a triumph for common sense, responsibility and sound judgment. The measures agreed upon will apply to the whole of Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals. They will make the military behavior of the participating States more calculable, thereby helping to reduce distrust. They can facilitate progress at the Vienna mutual and balanced force reduction negotiations and, above all, initiate negotiations on conventional stability in the area between the Atlantic and the Urals. There are also too many conventional arms in Europe, and there is an imbalance to our detriment.
The offer of negotiations made by the Halifax meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Foreign Ministers still stands. The Warsaw Pact has responded favorably. Action must be taken before this year is over. The aim of future negotiations must be to create a situation in which the size of the forces of both sides is determined solely by defensive requirements. On our side this is already the case. We must never forget that even a war waged with conventional arms alone would in today's Europe be a thousand times more horrific than the Second World War and would amount to multiple genocide in Europe.
Negotiations on the world-wide prohibition of chemical weapons have reached the stage at which it is possible for the community of nations as a whole to be freed from the scourge of chemical weapons. There is no longer any reason to delay an agreement.
In the important issue of a nuclear test ban, too, progress is possible. Stable and lasting peace requires co-operative structures in all areas. Apart from confidence-building and disarmament, this implies the establishment of an ordered system of political interaction as well as the broadest possible economic, technological, environmental and cultural co-operation. Peoples must have a part in exchanges and co-operation and be permitted to exercise the rights set forth in
the Helsinki Final Act.
We in Europe are endeavoring to bring about such a development within the framework of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, whose key elements are security and co-operation. The participation of the United States and Canada in that process corresponds to the reality of the security situation in Europe. The multilateral nature of the process gives all Europeans in Western, Eastern, neutral and non-aligned countries the opportunity to help build the Europe of the future, in which all States, irrespective of their social systems, will determine their own fate and their engagement in co-operation with their neighbors.
The follow-up meeting in Vienna to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, due to be opened at ministerial level in November, must point the way towards a peaceful order in Europe.
We seek a mandate for the continuation and expansion of the negotiations on confidence-building measures and disarmament in the whole of Europe on the basis of the encouraging results in Stockholm. We must take co-operative steps towards the establishment of more stable security structures in the conventional sphere.
In the field of economic co-operation, we seek greater transparency of markets, more exchanges and division of labor, and new forms of co-operation.
Everyone will benefit if the latest reactor-safety and environmental technology becomes accessible to all countries.Chernobyl was a warning signal.
Isolationism and trade wars are of no use to mankind; exchanges and co-operation are the way to accomplish common tasks, to increase the prosperity of all and to ward off dangers. Co-operative solutions to security issues will further extend the basis of trust, to the benefit of economic and technological co-operation.
We want human rights to be respected*, we seek more contacts and improved opportunities for human encounter, we seek even more youth exchanges, educational co-operation and progress in the field of information.
At this very moment there are real prospects of substantial progress, both in the relations and negotiations between the two super-Powers and in the multilateral process of detente, progress that will lead to a new end more lasting phase of fruitful relations between West and East. Tangible progress in Europe serves to promote development, security and stability throughout the world.
The European Community is already shouldering its responsibility for co-operation in the development of the third world. We do this without ambitions for political power and without wishing to impose our social model on others or to establish spheres of influence. We seek a world in which self-determination, social justice, human rights and fundamental freedoms are the paramount principles of interaction among all peoples.
International terrorism, the scourge of mankind, is directed against peaceful interaction among nations, the right to live and human dignity. It is the common task of the community of nations to fight this evil. The decisions of the General Assembly and the Security Council are an encouraging sign that awareness of this task is growing.
The continually worsening international refugee problem is a symptom of grave injustice in some parts of the world. The recommendations deriving from the discussion of the refugee initiative that I introduced in the General Assembly six years ago must lead to an improvement in international co-operation in this area. We hope that this session of the General Assembly will adopt by consensus the recommendations made by the Group of Experts.
Respect for the right of self-determination and respect for human rights are absolutely essential if peace is to be safeguarded. There is a direct path leading from the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the two covenants on human rights to the prohibition of torture. By adopting the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the community of nations has reaffirmed its desire to combat systematically this particularly abhorrent form of violation of human rights,. The next step should be the prevention of arbitrary executions. He shall continue to support the abolition of the death penalty.
Two years from now, in 1988, 40 years will have passed since the united Nations in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights took the vital pioneering step to embed human rights in international law. The United Nations needs institutions that will guarantee better protection of human rights. To this end, the appointment of a high commissioner for human rights is just as indispensable as the creation of a United Nations court of human rights. By such actions we could lend real significance to the year 1988. The persecuted and the suffering await a decisive and effective step on the part of the international community^
We roust not remain silent with regard to serious violations of human rights. If we find something intolerable, we have a duty to say so. Today this applies particularly to the inhumane and immoral system of apartheid, the systematic form of racial discrimination and segregation. The state of emergency in the Republic of South Africa has bred arbitrary and lawless action. An increasing death toll is the horrific outcome of a policy directed against people who wish only to live in their own country and to enjoy equal rights and freedom from discrimination. If the inhumane system of apartheid is not eliminated, the inevitable consequence will be even more violence, even more bloodshed and ultimately chaos and civil war.
Just as inhumanity cannot be reformed but only eliminated, apartheid is not
reformable and must therefore be abolished.
We demand the immediate initiation of dialog among the authentic representatives of all sections of the population and are preparing an initiative with that aim. We demand the immediate release of Nelson Mandela and all other political prisoners. We demand that the ban on the African National Congress and other political groups be lifted. We demand the termination of the state of emergency. The measures adopted by the European Community on 16 September 1986 lend emphasis to this political demand.
The internal tension generated by apartheid in South Africa reverberates through the entire region and is exacerbated by the South African policy of destabilizing its neighbors. This situation is further aggravated by the continuing illegal occupation of Namibia, whose people are denied their independence and their right of self-determination. The Federal Republic of Germany will not waver in its support for the earliest possible establishment of Namibian independence on the basis of Security Council resolution 435 (1978), as called for by the General Assembly at its fourteenth special session. There is no alternative to the United Nations proposed settlement as outlined in resolution 435 (1978).
The eighth summit conference of the non-aligned countries at Harare provided further evidence that genuine non-alignment is an important factor for peace and stability in inter national relations. We support the call addressed to the warring States of Iran and Iraq to put an end to the bloodshed in the Gulf region. We support the call made by the summit conference for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan and Cambodia. In Afghanistan, as in Cambodia, the right of peoples to self-determination must be realized.
In the same way, we advocate the right of the Palestinian people to exercise self-determination and to decide on their own future. This must come about within the framework of a peace settlement for the Middle East that guarantees all countries of the region, including Israel, safe and recognized boundaries and hence a secure existence as States.
We appeal to the regional groupings in all parts of the world to render their contribution to international stability.
We also need co-operative approaches to solve international economic problems and to align the international economic system with the needs of tomorrow. My country regards development co-operation between North and South as a central pillar of its policy in pursuit of peace. This is demonstrated by the rate at which our official aid has increased-, in 1985 its growth of 9 per cent far exceeded the growth of our gross national product. At the same time, our help is directed to areas where the need is greatest-, for that reason, the share of our aid devoted to Africa has been raised from 37 to 47 per cent. The Federal Government will also give its most vigorous support to the ProgramF of Action adopted at the special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the critical economic situation in Africa. We know that our world is facing a common fate, and we act accordingly. Our aim is a system of world-wide co-operation based on partnership and awareness of the interdependence of nations, in which private initiative and autonomous efforts have their place.
The first and elementary goal of development co-operation must be to free the world from hunger. To this and, we must enable farmers in all parts of the third world to produce enough food for themselves and for their domestic markets. In most of the developing countries rapid agricultural growth can prove to be a locomotive for national economies. All the aid devoted to rural development can bear fruit, however, only if the industrialized countries do not engage in ruinous competition with third-world food producers by subsidizing their own products. A stop must be put to the world-wide dumping of agricultural products.
We have managed so far to keep the problems of indebtedness under control by means of a co-operative strategy, but the crisis of indebtedness itself remains unresolved. It continues to pose a political challenge, but if it is to be overcome the international financial institutions, the governments of creditor countries and the private banks must play their part. Capital must at last begin to fl<w again from North to South instead of financing budgetary deficits in industrialized countries. It is of central importance that the private transfer of capital should be set in motion again. For this reason, the Federal Government has signed the Convention on the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, which can become an effective means of attaining that goal. However, the indebted countries must also act. They must create conditions which will restore the confidence of domestic as well as foreign investors in the future of their countries. Only thus can the flight of capital be halted.
Another crucial task is that of revitalizing the international free trade system. The Punta del Este agreement on the opening of a new round of trade liberalization is an encouraging sign. We must strengthen and develop the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). We must prime radically the proliferation of agreements on voluntary restrictions; we must thin out the jungle of agricultural subsidies*, we must modernize GATT, and that means gradually incorporating services and foreign investments into the GATT system.
In an increasingly close-woven international economy, economic policies can no longer exist in isolation. Each country must see and consider the effects of its own economic policy on other countries. Here, too, co-operation and solidarity are called for. The greater a country, the greater is its economic responsibility to the rest of the world.
To establish the world-wide co-operative structures that will enable us to master our common future, we need a comprehensive dialog between industrialized and developing countries. I therefore consider it urgently necessary that we should at last inject new life into the North-South dialog and that we should orient that dialog towards the major issues affecting the future, thereby making it a potent factor in international politics and economics. In 1975, which is already 11 years ago now, as we took the first steps towards a large-scale North-South dialog, our thinking was determined by the study drawn up by the Club of Rome on the limits to growth. Shortages of energy, raw materials and foodstuffs, limits on the tolerance of the environment, seemed to be the law that would determine the future of the world. But we are beginning to sense that sane thing completely different is taking places a new technological revolution, which is establishing new and wider horizons for growth. New forms of technology -space technology, information technology and gene technology - permit a new type of growth that conserves energy and raw materials and which protects, indeed heals, the environment. This departure from the industrial age into a new era is not by any means peculiar to the Western countries but is a world-wide phenomenon. The new forms of technology can also bring decisive benefits to the developing countries in particular.
The potential of gene technology is immense. Let us remember that in the sixties high-yield varieties of rice and wheat led to the green revolution. India, which had hitherto been an importer of grain, became self-sufficient and even began to export grain. The new varieties were produced in the traditional manner by cross-breeding. Gene technology now offers far quicker and more effective ways of cultivating "made-to-order" plants, which are resistant to disease, can withstand drought and cold, can grow in over-saline soil and are rich in protein, and plants which breathe in nitrogen from the air, thereby relieving farmers of the need to buy expensive fertilizers.
A second green revolution seems set to take place in the nineties, its effects far exceeding those of the first. Above all, it will include regions hitherto at a disadvantage and be of great importance to arid zones such as the Sahel. Major improvements can also be expected in livestock breeding. Then there are the opportunities that gene technology opens up for medicine. For example, it gives us reason to hope that we can develop vaccines against tropical diseases that are at present incurable.
Great and new though the opportunities deriving from these new forms of technology may be, the risks associated with them are equally great and new. Gene-technology in particular raises issues of immense importance, since it gives man unprecedented power to interfere with the hereditary genes of living creatures.
The accident in the Chernobyl reactor brought home to us overnight how the task of mastering safely the risks of high technology has become a common responsibility, one that welds the nations of the world into a community in pursuit of survival. In Vienna the special International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting on reactor safety has just begun. We hope that it will set negotiations in motion which will lead to universally binding safety standards and an international liability law. It is significant that that conference should take place under United Nations auspices, for the United Nations has become the indispensable forum for dealing with the issues that will determine our global future.
We must not, however, accept nuclear energy as the final answer to man's energy requirements? here, too, we must jointly seek new answers. The protection of the environment cannot today be guaranteed by an individual State when it relies on its own resources. Radioactivity, as we have seen, does not stop at national boundaries, nor do air and water pollution. It follows that environmental protection is no longer an affair to be dealt with by each individual State as it sees fit.
For thousands of years the inroads made by human technology into nature seemed so minimal that their overall impact could be disregarded. Nature appeared indestructible and inexhaustible. It is now realized, however, that technology has assumed dimensions that threaten to destroy the ecological balance of nature. We are living today with the shock of that discovery. Nothing is the same any more. International environmental policy has become a vital task. It is a safeguard for the future, a course of action dictated by our responsibility to future generations. In this field, we are confronted by fundamental tasks under the
heading of international domestic policy, a term which implies the need to act
together.
Those few references alone demonstrate the challenge facing all of us in this new technological revolution. What must be done - and here let me cite the Secretary-General's report to our Assembly - is;
"to manage safely, and to common advantage, the inventions of the human mind".
We need a North-South dialog that devotes itself to those new questions. It must be a dialog that takes as its starting point the immense structural upheaval currently taking place in the world and faces up to it in a courageous and forward-looking manner. What is needed is a global policy in which the problems of mankind are understood as tasks for mankind. Mankind, which has become a community in quest of survival, must recognize its responsibility to its contemporaries as well as to all future generations.
The United Nations is the forum where this policy must be discussed. This development must take place with due regard for the identity of all peoples, which have all made unique contributions to human history and to the civilizations of the world. Respect for others also entails respect for their cultural identity. Our international Organization must therefore promote a world-wide cultural dialog that sill prevent the submersion of native cultures by foreign influences and highlight the variety of cultural achievements for the benefit of all.
I have again stated the case for world-wide co-operation in a spirit of mutual confidence to resolve the major international issues facing us. To this end we need the United Nations as a sound international Organization, as the forum where openness prevails and as an indispensable negotiating framework. It draws its strength not least from its universality. That is why all peoples, including the Korean people, should be represented here. We must do everything possible to maintain the effectiveness of the United Nations. To this end, it is necessary for us, the Member States, to observe fully the obligations deriving from the Charter. It is also necessary for this session of the General Assembly to achieve positive results in its discussion of measures to increase the efficiency of the United Nations, based on the report of the 18 experts.
My Government supports the views outlined by the Secretary-General in his report on the role of the United Nations in international relations and the structural reforms needed to strengthen the Organization. My delegation welcomes the fact that the President has so clearly defined the operative objectives of the reform process. The United Nations needs reforms to remain strong and effective. For our part, we need a strong and effective United Nations so that through our co-operation here in the Organization the survival of mankind may be assured.


First of all, I wish to convey my greetings and congratulations to you. Sir, on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly. Your vast experience and proven diplomat skill assure us that you will guide our deliberations with intelligence and even-handedness.
I also wish to thank and congratulate Ambassador Jaime de Pinies for his endeavors during the fortieth session of the General Assembly.
Similarly, I wish to express my support and admiration for the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, whose report to the Assembly reveals not only his thorough knowledge of international problems but also his faith in multilateral solutions based on the principles of the United Nations.
As the head of State of Colombia, I come here to reaffirm my country's confidence in the role of the United Nations in this disturbing period of history and to urge that the serious problems of our region be duly dealt with. My country contributed effectively to the founding of the United Nations and of the inter-American system. Our legal tradition gives us authority to offer our good offices whenever required and also our firm support for the aspirations and hopes of the international community and its representative organizations.
As I had occasion to state quite recently, at the General Assembly of the Organization of American states, we have faith in the principles of coexistence regulated by law. Hence our concern about the deterioration of peaceful coexistence in Central America, and hence our readiness to continue with our good offices in the Contadora Group. We are motivated by an undeniable commitment to peace and the desire to avoid a generalization of the conflict situation in that area of our continent.
The influence and the prestige of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries will increase only to the extent that it acts dynamically and independently, serving the interests of developing countries, and to the extent that it serves as a democratic and positive link between conflicting Powers. Only thus will it contribute to world detente, to arras control, to the peaceful settlement of conflicts and to the building of an international economic order based on justice and respect for the right of every people to choose freely its own future.
One of the factors having the greatest effect on the prospects for progress in our developing countries is foreign debt. The statistics are overwhelming. Many countries suffer mass unemployment, in some cases more than 15 per cent of the labor force, as well as a generalized trend to recession, which is showing few signs of abatement - all this added to a worrisome decrease in international trade.
Yesterday, at the forty-first annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, I referred to the various aspects of the critical situation of indebtedness in several countries of our continent and to the prospects for overcoming the situation. I did the same in October 1985 in letters I addressed to Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, end Aldwin Clausen, President of the World Bank, with regards to the Assembly to be held in Seoul. I referred to the disquieting phenomenon of the flight of capital from Latin America, a region which, because of the problems of foreign debt has become a net exporter of capital and, in those letters, I analyzed the adjustment programs begun under the sponsorship of the IMF.
I also referred! to the need to avoid any form of protection ism on the part of the industrialized countries and to provide preferential access to their markets for the commodities, manufactures and services of the developing countries. The specialized agencies of the international system and the United Nations have very clear responsibilities at this time. We must stop the flow of resources from developing to industrialized countries.
Similarly, with all due considerations, there should be plans for adjustment programs and restructuring. The burden that this places on debtor countries should not be borne by the poorest classes of society, thus making an already explosive situation more difficult and untenable. In the case of Africa, even though its debt is moderate compared with that of Latin America, its economic capacity is extremely fragile and thus the situation is no less serious.
Terrorism and the drug traffic constitute crimes against mankind which put to the test the sturdiest defense mechanisms of our societies. In this forum we have heard condemnations of these crimes, and today, more than ever, when so many innocent lives have been lost in vandalistic attacks, we must denounce such crimes. On this occasion I join in the justified and outraged universal condemnation of these outbursts of barbarism.
Colombia is fighting a head-on battle against the production of, trading in and consumption of narcotic drugs. In this heroic struggle magistrates, judges and government officials have died, among then a sinister of justice; and members of the armed forces of the Republic, well-known journalists and ordinary men and women have also sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.
Although we have paid an extremely high and painful price, I wish to state in this Assembly that ray country will not waver in its struggle against such barbarous crimes. For this struggle to be successful it is essential that the countries with the highest levels of consumption of these degrading substances put into practice, as is finally being done, co-ordinated programs to penalize and discourage the consumption of and trade in drugs of this type. Here, as well as in other fields of our joint battle against terrorism, it is imperative to have understanding and co-ordination among all civilized nations. Colombia is ready to participate in agreements and action along these lines.
The enormity of the sums of money States devote to developing new technologies of annihilation and to manufacturing instruments of death and destruction makes even the strongest spirits fearful. The resources used up in this endeavor could well be devoted to alleviating the sufferings of mankind and speeding its development and progress.
Latin America, which seemed to be far removed from the risks of nuclear contamination, must now carefully examine what is happening elsewhere in the world, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and must exercise care in its own utilization of such energy.
Last year, the world reviewed with justified pride the achievements of the
United Nations. There had been 40 years of maintaining world peace and striving
towards development and international justice. More than 60 world leaders came
here on the occasion of that anniversary celebration to renew their confidence in the Organization.
We must now look ahead. We are less than 14 years away from the third millenium of our era. War and peace, development, human rights, the rational use of outer space and of the oceans, all these are matters for which the United Nations provides a natural forum for international discussion and for the attainment of effective compromises, through negotiations, in order to move forward.
But side by side with those international problems, there are others, seemingly domestic, that call for the solidarity of the international community. I refer to the increasing disparity between those who share in the benefits of civilization and those who are inexorably shut off from them.
The poor, the victims of discrimination, the unemployed, peasants who cannot produce what they need, children who perish daily because of hunger and disease that could, without too much effort, be cured, refugees. South African blacks: those are injustices, those are inequalities that become more intolerable with each day on a planet which - and this is true - is able to overcome them.
Alone, a way out of such situations cannot be found? together, we can create a better world. Mankind, if it wishes to do so, can alleviate hunger, poverty, disease and ignorance. The means exist. The technology exists. However, resolve is lacking.
If that were forthcoming, we would have a world Organization devoted to building a more just society, and that enhanced society would better serve the world Organization.
Hops must once again arise and inspire the actions of the international community. The Organization must adapt to the vision of the different world for which we hope, a world vastly different from the world of the founders at San Francisco. In order to do this, action is needed in at least four areas.
The United Nations must establish a limited list of priorities and promote and administer them with the best possible expertise and effectiveness.
The Secretary-General, who acts on behalf of the large, the medium-sized and the small States alike, must have the necessary instruments and support to carry out his delicate task to the full.
The peoples of the United Nations must have greater access to our deliberations and greater responsibility in program implementation.
The financial costs of the Organization, once its purposes have been restated, must be more generously borne by all Members, including the poorest. That is the only way in which we can prove our commitment.
So far we have managed to avoid another world conflagration. The awareness of poverty and inequality must lead to their elimination with the same vigor with which we have repudiated war. This is the ideal of our time: to wage war against injustice and inequality. If we make up our minds to do so, it will take us less than 40 years, and we will have consolidated the peace.
Today, I would ask the international community to reaffirm its commitment to the total eradication of poverty. Among the many threats confronting our world, none has been as constant as poverty. The so-called progress made over the 41 years of the United Nations can be measured in terms of the number of people who continue to live in utter poverty. In recent years that number has grown significantly, and today it includes one fourth of mankind. No other problem requires swifter or more urgent action. I shall return to this point in greater detail later in my statement. When I assumed the presidency of the Republic of Colombia last August? I invited several Heads of State and representatives of friendly Governments present in my country to join in an all-out battle against utter poverty, which is the root cause of so many political, social and economic ills.
At that time, I voiced some ideas that I should like to repeat here today. I
said:
"Extreme poverty cannot be accepted as the inevitable consequence of natural differences between men, nor can it be accepted as a characteristic of still-backward societies beset by want. I am convinced that for those who will in the future have the responsibility of governing, the major challenge will be to overcome the barrier poverty has set up before us." The maintenance of harmony and the achievement of peace have a special significance in each country, one that can be identified only with the constant and determined search for social justice. Yesterday, before the Assembly of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, I stated that problems of the developing countries are not only extremely serious but that they have become even worse because of the weaknesses of the present international economic situation.
Here, before this Assembly, I do not wish to conceal the fact that in my own country, Colombia, despite efforts to achieve development and the wellbeing of the people, we are at present confronting a tragic reality with regard to poverty. Of the population of Colombia, 25% - in other words, 6.5 million people - are living in abject poverty. Overt unemployment and underemployment affect more than one third of the economically active population.
Faced with that situation, ray Government has taken urgent measures. It has sent to Congress bills to introduce prompt and effective reforms in the structures of the agrarian and urban economies. It has ordered immediate action in programs for improving drinking water supplies, housing, health and nutrition, and it is preparing to implement an emergency employment plan aimed at drawing up a set of programs and projects for the elimination of what is classified as abject poverty.
I appeal to the countries of Latin America, and to the whole world, as well as to international organizations, to take united action against this degrading social scourge, and to that end we hope we can continue to enjoy the support of the United Nations Development program.
I therefore wish to ask the Secretary-General to convene the responsible officials of all the relevant agencies of the United Nations system to establish the bases of a program for immediate action against abject poverty, with the particular aim of submitting it to the Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean. Such action would help create the impetus and the means to enable us to build a new society in our countries in which everyone can be sure of a minimum level of well-being.
The results will come about more quickly and will be more substantial if that action goes hand in hand with an emergency financing program with the participation of the industrialized countries and the international agencies.
We know very well that the primary responsibility rests with each of our countries, and we have assumed that responsibility, calling for support and sacrifices from all social sectors, especially those at the higher income levels. But we are also aware that the situation we face makes it necessary to have the co-operation of the industrialized countries. This task is one of unknown dimensions and calls for united decision-making and efforts.
Colombia offers to host a meeting of all the countries of the region, the industrialized countries and the developing countries which may wish to make proposals and exchange information about useful experience in the great battle of our civilization against abject poverty.
I ask you, Mr. President, and all representatives to accept the gratitude and commitment of a Colombian, a South American, who hopes to see the whole continent a beacon of peace, well-being and freedom for the human race.