I should like to begin by congratulating Mr. Salim on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly, in which office, we are sure, he will act with the same skill as in the high offices he has held in his own country in the past.
280.	We are pleased also to extend our congratulations and thanks for a job well done to the outgoing President, Mr. Indalecio Lievano.
281.	We welcome the admission of Saint Lucia to the United Nations family and wish it well as a new Member of the Organization.
282.	The major historical crises that mark stages of transition and announce world-wide change in the progress of humanity and wide ranging transformations in every sphere do not come about in a day. It is true that change and exchange of every kind are following more closely upon each other's heels today. But the processes involved none the less, of necessity, cover a long period. Hence, in coming together again in this world body, we are basically facing the same major difficulties as last year. Therefore, it is hard not to repeat the same or similar ideas. This does not bother us, because our job is not to be original but rather to be firm and constant in identifying and showing the consistency of the thinking and action of Uruguay in international affairs.
283.	My country feels that the tremendous acceleration in every kind of exchange and the greater interdependency of peoples which gives the concept of mankind its real, concrete meaning and unity, with most important legal and political consequences, is such that today it is practically impossible for any people to live outside the international community, much less to develop and make progress, in isolation from the difficulties and problems of others.
284.	'' Splendid isolation'' is no longer a shield or even a possibility. Interdependence has ceased to be a choice and, consequently, solidarity has become an imperative, as we said last year.  It is an idea which we wish to reaffirm and one which we shall not tire of repeating. We are deeply convinced that it is from this undeniable fact, seen as part of contemporary history, that is derived the fundamental role of peoples and nations which, while having no large economic or technical resources, no material potential for imposing decisions by force, are none the less rich in cultural and legal values.
285.	Isolation is no longer a shield, we said. It seems clear, with no need for further demonstration, that not even the great Powers can allow themselves that luxury. To a great extent the future and peace of all peoples depend on their rivalry and antagonism or on their agreement and co-operation. But not even they have the option of a selfish turning inward, in indifference to the fate of the world. There will be no peace and no recovery for the international community as a whole unless the pressing problems of all its members, even the lesser among them, are resolved; unless there is a fair share for all in the riches of the world,
286.	'In today's world, which has already become or. may become one single immense economic, technical, cultural circuit because of a system of communications which is more and more closely knit, no one—and the small countries least of all—can feel safe from political, social, economic or military hurricanes if they take the easy option of isolation. Only through constantly strengthening and consolidating the international legal order, following the guidelines traced by the great changes taking place throughout the world—changes that have promoted population growth and the amazing technological devolution of our time—can the problems, obstacles and challenges we are facing be met. Our era has been marked by particularly striking developments and has made an axiom of Terence's aphorism: "I am a man, I count nothing human alien from me." Nothing human can now be alien to us, whether we like it or not. Solidarity is no longer a choice but an imperative. It involves not only peace, but the survival of the human race for which, in the atomic era, peace is a necessary prerequisite.
287.	In proclaiming these principles, my country is merely expressing once again its historical line of thought, the logical development of which leads us to maintain that the radical changes in the modem world determine a need for legal developments and the preparation of humanistic international law, based on solidarity.
288.	The world crisis which we are witnessing calls for a supreme effort of the imagination and will in order to find world-wide solutions.
289.	At the root of all contemporary problems lie the haphazard development of technology, the chaotic expansion of industry and the economy, the unequal and unfair distribution of the benefits of civilization among peoples, oversized urban agglomerations with their attendant tensions, and problems deriving from the lack of adjustment of a regulatory system that is still inadequate to meet the situation to a material reality that is slipping out of our grasp.
290.	Among the critical aspects, one problem such as energy, because of its magnitude and its special characteristics, gives the clearest illustration of these ideas, since on the one hand it is highly representative of the exhaustion of natural resources while, on the other, it is typically an economic problem with deep- rooted social and political connotations.
291.	We firmly believe that the key to overcoming the current crisis lies in successfully regulating our conduct through laws appropriate to the new requirements of the contemporary world, an adjustment that necessarily implies reconciliation between man and nature. That move can only be achieved through untiring efforts to establish a new international economic order, through dialogue and mutual respect, and the equitable participation of all peoples in the production and use of the earth's resources.
292.	As part of the world crisis we have mentioned, today habits of violence, hatred and cruelty are gradually gaining ground, becoming part of the political customs of all societies, both of those with a long tradition of institutional development and political maturity, and of those that recently emerged from the shadows of colonialism. This violence, this blind inhuman terrorism that usually prefers innocent victims, bears no relation to legitimate rebellion, which to some extent has promoted the institutional progress of peoples.
293.	Terrorism has emerged and prospered also in societies governed by democratic institutions, where there is respect for individual liberties, civil rights and civic guarantees. These societies are not without their defects, errors and limitations, but at the same time they do offer means and machinery for improvement. Meanwhile, in those societies where systematic terror has been used, where every trace of freedom and free will has been banished, where the totalitarian State has abolished every advance so hardly won over centuries of humanism, paradoxically and symptomatically this problem does not arise.
294.	In this tragedy, human rights are of necessity affected. It is very hard to defend institutions, the life and peace of citizens without violent situations arising which entail an incidental loss of law and abuses imputable to the more than natural failings of men and institutions.
295.	I am referring in general to our Western societies because it would be very easy to show that similar situations have arisen in all of them lasting varying lengths of time and proving serious to a greater or lesser degree. And I am referring more particularly to my own country, wickedly caught by subversive acts of aggression, while a most legal regime is in full force.
2%. My country cannot accept, because it would run counter to justice and law, that the defence of human rights should be systematically invoked against Governments of countries which have had to wage a hard and dearly-won battle against subversion and anarchy, while the trampling of those same rights or complete lack of them, as is the norm in other countries, is passed over in silence. These are calculated and censurable instances of discrimination which, in the final analysis, amount to active interference.
297.	At this thirty-fourth session of the General Assembly, as at previous ones, Uruguay reaffirms its respect for law, including human rights. My country wants to see these more genuinely enforced throughout the world until they are a fact of life, something which is an impossible dream for millions of people who are still held down by totalitarianism today.
298.	For this sentiment to be more than a mere expression of pious wishes, the international community will have to set up the proper legal machinery and impose concomitant attitudes in world public affairs so as to avoid the criminal practices which cast a shadow on the political struggle of our time, so that terrorism in all its pseudo-political forms can be fought. These are often confused with ordinary delinquency.
299.	Uruguay has been part of the Ad Hoc Committee on International Terrorism set up by the Assembly to find solutions by arbitration, and we are disappointed at that Committee's failure. My country will support all collective measures put forward to combat this modern scourge, since we trust that these will cover every aspect and modality, and will take into account its real criminal etiology and its international character. Similarly, I reiterate support for General Assembly resolution 31/103 and say yet again that we are ready to sign a convention against the taking of hostages in so far as this meets the basic principles underlying our international calling.
300.	We would like to see appropriate measures adopted to combat terrorism. We have submitted specific draft resolutions in this regard although we are aware of the difficulties of arriving at objective legal solutions. None the less it is to our satisfaction that two motions tabled by Uruguay have been adopted. One deals with the need for gathering sufficient statistical information about terrorist attacks at the world level, giving both the number and kind of victims and the material damage caused. The other is about the strengthening of measures to prevent access to various United Nations offices by terrorist elements. It is really regrettable that criminals should have the opportunity of hampering the process of drawing up international rules expressly designed to curb their crimes, with the tolerance of the very institution that seeks to condemn them and for which, in some instances, they serve as a source of information and advice.
301.	Another topic of particular interest to my country is disarmament, which is not only important in itself as a practical outcome of the fundamental purpose to maintain peace, but also because undeniably it has environmental and economic connotations. Paradoxically, of late, particularly in the years of the Disarmament Decade, the arms race has become more intense than ever before. Without stopping to count the cost of unconventional weapons, the mind-boggling total of the arms trade alone is sufficient to explain the growing lack of transfer of resources to the developing countries—a matter which we shall take up later.
302.	My country has neither the size, the pretensions or the resources of a great Power, but nevertheless feels rightfully concerned at this frenetic arms race. Not only because of the recurrence of local wars or of the threat to world peace involved in the arms race, but because of the anomalous fact that, while we are witnessing the growth of serious social problems in various parts of the world, and we see with regret that funds essential to protect the environment or to promote the harmonious development of peoples are not forthcoming, astronomical sums, a tiny part of which would be enough to resolve many of these problems, are wasted on stockpiling huge arsenals, the use of which would mean mass suicide for mankind.
303.	It is very saddening to see the great divide between reality and theory, between what is said and what is done. Disarmament is something which people have come apprehensively to regard as merely rhetorical. It is a game, a rarified dialectical diversion, and that is very serious.
304.	We should like to reaffirm here our desire, and our conviction of the need to approach this problem realistically and with serious intent, and that is what we should like to see done. Partial compromises can be tried, and there can be categorical denunciation of any form of biological warfare which destroys or poisons ecological systems or alters the climate.
305.	We are confident that those who have not already done so will soon accede to or ratify the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco). If the world cannot be rid of the atomic nightmare at a single stroke, at least regional agreements of this kind can help to achieve the same results through partial efforts and modest measures.
306.	With regard to the deterioration of the environment, and the need for conservation to ensure survival of life on this planet—something I have already mentioned in a general way—my country unreservedly endorses the report of the Governing Council of UNEP which will be examined in detail in the Second Committee. Particularly important are the resolutions on land policy of which the Uruguayan delegation was a sponsor in Nairobi at the seventh session of the Governing Council of UNEP—the resolution on tropical forest conservation and others directly relating to food production sources. My country, in any international gathering in which it has participated, has stressed the very highest priority and importance of a land policy which would ensure the conservation of existing land and the recovery, as far as possible, of land damaged by erosion due to bad farming methods and deforestation. The mere setting up of a World Food Council and a fund for the programme of action to eliminate hunger and malnutrition will have no substantial practical effect if the source of agricultural production deteriorates, as FAO has eloquently demonstrated.
307.	This year was proclaimed the International Year of the Child. Children are the most pure and most vulnerable part of humanity, more deserving of attention and concern because they are the future, the continuing link, our hope for the future. The physical and spiritual health of our children is the guarantee of salvation for mankind in the years to come. The world of today offers us little comfort if we look realistically at the situation of children. Of the great masses of people in the so-called developing world who live and eat badly, it is the children who will pay the highest price for the problems, the adults of tomorrow, who will bear the consequences of the shortages of today. It is all very well to proclaim this the International Year of the Child as a means of drawing attention to children's problems and the need to resolve them, but we would be sadly mistaken if we were to believe that we should thus have dealt with the matter and exhausted all possibility of action. The solutions found for the major problems of the contemporary world will determine the fate of children today and of the children of tomorrow. The building of a more just and equitable world economy, the legal regulation of a world of self-seeking individualism and violence, halting the race to destroy the environment—these are the things which will decide the fate of the children, to whom we have dedicated this year in a gesture which we should like to see as something more than the empty symbol of academic considerations. Children are not a different species whose problems have to be treated as a separate issue. By resolving the major problems of the day we will prepare a better world for them. In this spirit, Uruguay has acceded to the declaration of the International Year of the Child and is carrying out a broad-based campaign about it at the national level.
308.	Once again my delegation wishes to declare here its total rejection of apartheid as well as all forms of racism and racial discrimination, which we hold to be incompatible with the fundamental principles of our political and moral thinking. This position is not a new one, and it is not a stand we have taken suddenly. My country has forcefully maintained this view since the inception of the United Nations and the beginning of the process of decolonization.
309.	Faithful to its convictions, Uruguay is party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and was the first country to accept the authority thereby created to receive individual communications and complaints. Despite the fact that there is no problem of discrimination in our country, the Government recently submitted to the Legislative Commission studying the new penal code, soon to be approved, designed to prevent and punish any incitement to racism or any act of racial discrimination. Thus Uruguay, as a State party to the Convention, is taking steps to carry out the aforementioned international agreement.
310.	Besides the broad general matters that have a bearing on international policy, there are several practical problems that are of great significance in the sphere of principles or a serious threat to peace.
311.	One of the most long-lasting and thorny problems is that of the Middle East, or the question of Palestine. The passage of time, instead of bringing calm and solutions, has seen the problem become more acute since no solution has been found to the plight of the Palestinian people who are guests of other Arab nations or refugees supported by international charity.
312.	Uruguay has always maintained that any conflict must be resolved by means of dialogue and negotiation in the light of the principles of justice and healthy inter-national coexistence. It considers that Israel is already an irreversible fact and that it has a right to exist and to the recognition of just and secure boundaries. But, consistent with the principles that have always underpinned its legal thinking and political philosophy, it also reels that the Palestinian people have a right to self- determination, to a national territory and to statehood. Therefore it views with satisfaction the steps taken along these lines and warmly supports the efforts being made in the international arena to bring the parties closer to an understanding that would put an end to the deadlock so fraught with danger for the peace of the world. While my country welcomes as a positive Step forward the agreements that have been reached, it must still say with deep concern that that does not mean that finally there is peace in the region, because that is inconceivable without a complete and open-hearted agreement that will reconcile the parties on the basis of equality, mutual respect and recognition.
313.	The long suffering of Lebanon, a nation dear to us for many reasons, is clear proof that peace is not possible in that thorny and difficult area of the world unless the principles of justice are applied, and those still seem far from being unanimously accepted.
314.	We once again issue our country's appeal— which has been so favourably received in the past—and reaffirm the responsibility of the international community to find, within the United Nations, definitive practical solutions that will ensure the integrity of this people, which has such wonderful traditions and culture, and guarantee its right to live in peace.
315.	With reference to the elimination of the vestiges of the colonial past, my country cannot fail to reaffirm its unswerving policy of support for the self- determination of peoples.
316.	In the case of Namibia, my delegation feels that the people of this former colony must have the opportunity to attain independence through the exercise of self-determination—in other words, without outside pressure of any kind, in a climate of peace, with the guarantee of temporary administration by the United Nations, which would enable its citizens to decide on the political form they want and to elect their authorities.
317.	The work of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has now entered its final stage and is to end next year. We must prove those protracted and difficult negotiations worthwhile by adopting a convention that will give future generations a peaceful regime for the oceans based on equal legal protection of the legitimate interests of all States and the international community as a whole and on just and rational exploitation of the sea and its resources, on efficient and proper administration of the common heritage of mankind, and on an effective system for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
318.	Compromise formulas to resolve outstanding issues must be found in order to attain these fundamental goals.
319.	The recent eighth session of the Conference took a tremendously important step forward when it included in the first revision of the informal composite negotiating text a formula on the definition of the outer limit of the continental shelf that takes into account in a balanced way the various criteria advanced during the Conference. My delegation supported that formula in a spirit of compromise, and it will continue to make every effort to ensure that the other pending issues relating to the continental shelf may be resolved appropriately.
320.	However, we are concerned over certain attempts to weaken in practice the regime of consent by the coastal States for scientific research on the continental shelf. The delegation of Uruguay has declared its willingness to co-operate in negotiating formulas that would improve the text from a technical standpoint or offer better prospects for consensus. But that is not the aim of suggestions that mean breaking with the principle of consent for scientific research in areas under the jurisdiction of the coastal State or that destroy the logic of the system already included in the composite text after difficult negotiations.
321.	We naturally take a special interest in the work of the First Committee of the Conference concerning the sea-bed and ocean floor beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. In that Committee negotiations have come up against major obstacles at recent sessions when there has been a polarization of positions. However, we note with satisfaction the progress made with regard to the machinery of the Authority and the system for exploration and exploitation, and we hope that the progress that emerged at the last session on the transfer of technology and financial agreements—a matter of high priority—will be confirmed. We are also pleased by the effective steps taken in negotiations on the settlement of disputes concerning the sea-bed and on the final clauses.
322.	We once again reaffirm the continuing validity of the Declaration of Principles Governing the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof, beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction, contained in General Assembly resolution 2749 (XXV). All the States of the international community—the overwhelming majority explicitly, the others implicitly—have acceded to those principles, which now form part of international customary law.
323.	The principle that the sea-bed and ocean floor and the subsoil thereof beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and the resources therein constitute the common heritage of mankind is a binding rule of inter-national law. That principle, along with the complementary principles derived from that fundamental principle contained in General Assembly resolution 2749 (XXV), especially the international legal regime to govern the sea-bed, form an indivisible normative entity, one of the pillars of the new law of the sea and the basis of any rule or body of law governing the exploration of the area and the exploitation of its resources.
324.	Any legal regime, be it provisional or definitive, that applies to the area can therefore be established only with the consent of the international community, as it alone represents mankind. No State or small group of States can claim to replace the international community, because they would thus be taking upon themselves an authority they do not have. Therefore any unilateral legislation or measure or any kind of restricted treaty that had this as its purpose would be illegal because it would violate international law and make the State or States involved internationally liable.
325.	As we move towards the last stages of the negotiations, Uruguay wishes to reaffirm its intention to do all within its power to ensure a successful outcome so that we may fulfil the hopes of all the peoples and Governments of the world and open up horizons of fruitful and mutual co-operation regarding the sea that will decisively further the advance of civilization and the welfare of all mankind.
326.	Almost a year ago we noted in this Assembly Uruguay's special concern about the crisis in the inter-national economic situation during the last few years and its serious impact on the developing countries. One year has passed since then, and the hopes we had placed in the dialogue between the developing and developed countries, scheduled to be held in various bodies this year, have been disappointed once again. What meagre tangible results did emerge were due to the efforts of the developing countries themselves to lay the foundations for collective economic autonomy.
327.	Signs of recession, inflation and unemployment persist in the industrialized countries and these constitute the present economic crisis, which still shows indications of temporary shortages of certain raw materials, a growing shortage of energy resources, instability in exchange rates, serious imbalances in the balance of payments, a return to protectionism, and other phenomena, which reduce our hopes of overcoming the crisis and, in fact, aggravate it.
328.	We continue to see that a considerably larger proportion of available financial, scientific and technological resources is channelled into military and hostile activities, rather than into the quest for solutions to the basic problem facing mankind to ensure at least a minimum standard of living conditions for everyone.
329.	One cause of the present crisis is the refusal of many developed countries to carry out a logical process of industrial reorganization, which would make it possible to establish industries where they could enjoy comparative advantages and make efficient use of production facilities.
330.	In referring to this problem I cannot fail to mention the problem of energy—and to mention it indeed, with deep concern. This is the more so since, as I said one year ago in this Assembly, Uruguay has absolutely no oil and is one of the countries in Latin America whose oil imports account for a major share of its total imports. This distressing aspect of our economy prompted my country to take a realistic approach in dealing with this issue, and that is how we have dealt with it in all the international forums in which the issue has been considered directly or indirectly.
331.	We respect the inalienable right of all countries to defend their own products, particularly in the case of oil, which is a limited and non-renewable resource; but we are concerned about the oil supply. It is not difficult to see that the trade balance of those developing countries which have no oil always shows a constant and increasing deficit when the prices of their commodity exports are falling while the prices of all their imports, but mainly oil, are rising sharply, as has been happening again this year.
332.	That is why we feel that efforts to solve this serious aspect of the crisis should focus on the following points, which Uruguay has proposed in the relevant regional bodies. First, some machinery should be set up to ensure minimum supplies for developing countries that have no oil, so that they can meet their development targets. Secondly, balance sheets of energy deposits and reserves should be drawn up to provide us with full information about what energy is potentially available. And lastly, new alternative sources of energy should be investigated in a joint undertaking. This would require an increase in the flow of financial resources available for energy research.
333.	We hope that the forthcoming United Nations conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy will help to find ways of enabling countries such as our own to emerge gradually from this deep crisis.
334.	Finally, we have been alarmed at the attempts of the developed countries to include new concepts in the new international economic order, such as "basic needs", "graduated approach", "access to supplies", ‘’selectivity'', and so on, which we see as an attempt to neutralize the impact of the proposed structural measures and changes.
335.	We cannot fail to say at this session of the General Assembly how greatly disappointed we were upon our return from Manila in the middle of this year, after the fifth session of UNCTAD. The Latin American countries had worked very hard and enthusiastically in the co-ordination meetings held in Caracas from 15 to 19 January before the session under the auspices of the Latin American Economic System, at the regional level, and later at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 held in Arusha from 6 to 16 February. Through the Arusha programme for collective self- reliance, in which we placed so much hope, we wanted to start a genuine process of negotiation between developed and developing countries at the fifth session of UNCTAD. It proved almost impossible to achieve this desired and urgent focus of interest on the main issues facing the international community. Suffice it to recall that we came back from Manila with no resolution on the problem of interdependence despite all the attempts at the highest level to agree on such a resolution in the last few hours of the Conference, We also recall how weak a text was drafted, and with how much difficulty, on the short- and medium-term policy, and on action on protectionism. And there was no resolution on the conclusion of the multilateral trade negotiations of the GATT Tokyo round either. We were left with a feeling of frustration when we ended those negotiations by adopting rules and codes for international trade that basically met the interests of the developed countries and did not give due consideration to our own.
336.	I turn now to monetary and financial problems. Having started from the premise of the need for effective participation by developing countries in the organization and administration of a new international monetary system that would allocate to us sufficient resources to overcome the problems of imbalance in the balance of payments, we were finally compelled to settle for a text which was basically addressed to the countries in the Group of 77.
337.	As for the hopes placed in the work of the Integrated Programme for Commodities, which we adopted in resolution 93 (IV) at the fourth session of UNCTAD,  we are discouraged to see that the work is progressing so slowly, not only because of the complexity of the problems and uncertainty about the sources and means of financing, but also, unquestionably and primarily, of the lack of political will. The fact that no concrete results emerged from the negotiations is due to the stubborn refusal of the developed countries to take constructive positions on the basic objectives of the Programme. And so the negotiations to conclude stabilization agreements on commodities have made no significant progress. As for negotiations on the establishment of the Common Fund, although there has been some progress, people in our countries have been understandably alarmed by the modest contributions to the "second window", which is of particular importance in that it is intended to finance activities such as research and development, quantitative and qualitative improvement in production, sales promotion, marketing, distribution and diversification.
338.	This build-up of frustration in our dialogue with the developed countries has brought about in the Group of 77, as I said at the beginning of this section of my statement, a strategy of relying first and foremost on its own members in order to achieve development and establish a new economic order.
339.	This new form of co-operation among developing countries, which Uruguay has resolutely supported, does not, however, imply a move towards absolutism and in no way affects the need to introduce structural changes in the relations of interdependence between North and South. But it cannot be denied that our hopes are now set on the efforts we may make as developing countries to intensify co-operation within the third world and thus gain greater strength, while at the same time following up development in ways more suited to our needs. Hence our country followed very closely the work of the United Nations Conference on Technical Co-operation Among Developing Countries, held at Buenos Aires last year, and took an active part in the elaboration of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action together with the plan of action for economic cooperation among developing countries set forth at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 in Arusha.
340.	As we pointed out last year, the Committee of the Whole Established under General Assembly Resolution 32/174 must be strengthened so that it can serve as a forum for a large-scale consideration of international economic problems and thus give an impetus to negotiations going on in other economic bodies within the United Nations family.
341.	In this connexion, my delegation fully supports the initiative taken by the Group of 77 in submitting to the third session of that Committee a proposal to be considered at this Assembly's session concerning the need to hold world-level negotiations on international economic co-operation for development.
342.	Uruguay attaches particular importance to the problems of science and technology, but development can be achieved on a solid basis only if endogenous capabilities are enhanced in this area. Therefore, we have with the greatest of interest taken part in the work of the recent United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, at which the international community acknowledged the need to strengthen the scientific and technological capacity of the developing world.
343.	The agreements reached at that Conference, although they fall short of expectations, are a positive step forward in that they allow for greater co-ordination with regard to science and technology within the United Nations system, and thereby eliminate unnecessary duplication of effort. Countries also committed themselves to establishing a funding system with new resources.
344.	Before concluding, we should like to turn to the Secretary-General's report on the work of this Organization. In this report, an open-minded, punctilious and objective approach is taken with regard to the many subjects with which it deals. We appreciate that the arduous task that lies before the Secretariat, and we also appreciate the effective way it has given its attention to the difficult international issues falling within the purview of the Organization. We should therefore like to convey our thanks to the Secretary- General of the United Nations, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, and through him to the staff of the United Nations.
345.	In conclusion, I should like to express our un-swerving faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations that more than ever bind the efforts of the Organization to co-operate in achieving justice in the solution of international problems through law, in finally establishing peace as a consequence of justice and the triumph of freedom, without which, as one of our great jurists said, there can be no real law, no justice and no peace. These are spiritual values which, in the final analysis, condition the material and temporal world. That is why in the same line of thought we attach special significance to the address to be delivered by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, which will be inspired by a humanistic awareness, for it has an important part to play in the quest for just and peaceful solutions to the problems facing the world.
346.	We are therefore prepared to do our part as a Member of the United Nations to see that it is an effective instrument in the attainment of these lofty aims.


Three days after the entry into force of the new treaties on the Panama Canal , a milestone in the history of Latin America, the President of Panama, Mr. Aristides Royo, honoured me with the responsibility of addressing a very special message to the Assembly of the international community to express the serene satisfaction of the people of Panama in these moments and to say to the peoples of the world, represented by delegations here, that peace is necessary, that agreement is possible and that success is within the reach of all countries, even of the least powerful, when faith and the struggle of a people meet with response in international solidarity.
2.	We Panamanians wish to express our gratitude to all the people and countries that supported us because they believed in the justness of our claims and in the strength of their convictions, placing the ideal of justice uppermost among their values.
3.	This is the reason for my presence in the General Assembly of the United Nations which is, by a happy coincidence, presided over by a statesman of your stature, Mr. President, your well-known leadership at the head of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, reflected in your actions since the historic meetings of the Security Council in 1973 in the city of Panama,  has earned the lasting appreciation of the Government and people of Panama.
4.	We are happy that it is you, Sir, a friend of our region, who is the successor to the eminent Latin American statesman, Mr. Indalecio Lie'vano Aguirre, to whom we pay a well-deserved tribute for the excellent discharge of his responsibility as President of the thirty-third session of the General Assembly.
5.	This is a fitting time to offer to the world testimony of the achievements of Panama. That is why I wish to tell you of the significance which the Torrijos-Carter Treaties on the Panama Canal have for us, of how we managed to reach an agreement with the foremost Power in the world on this act of national liberation which the new treaties represent, and of the contribution my country made to the cause of peace in Latin America and in the world because of the recent entry into force of the Panama Canal Treaties.
6.	When, three days ago, the unjust Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty of 1903 was abrogated, the colonial en-clave known as the Panama Canal Zone disappeared and the Republic reassumed all its jurisdictional rights over it. This represents a milestone in the history of decolonization in the world.
7.	The new Panama Canal Treaties also signal in Latin America the end of an era characterized by the imposition of the North American doctrine of territorial proximity, whereby an attempt was made to justify the right to appropriate or control the natural resources and certain geographical features in the States in the region that could affect the domination of the major world maritime routes. That imperialist doctrine, today rejected by the international community, received its death blow with the entry into force of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
8.	From now on, we Panamanians will live in a country where there will be no laws, courts or police that are other than Panamanian, where only a single flag, the flag of Panama, will wave in its tropical skies and where a new sense of dignity will give us strength to undertake the vast task of building the prosperous and free future we deserve.
9.	These new Treaties, by granting us more intensive participation in decisions on our own main natural resource, the geographical feature of the isthmus of Panama, also represent a valuable instrument of national development. On the one hand, my country has new, extensive areas close to the inter-oceanic waterway which can be used for commercial, industrial and urban development and, likewise, the Ports of Balboa and Cristobal, the chief installations of their kind in Central America, and the Panama railway.
10.	Furthermore, Panama's share in the benefits of that Canal comes in the form of greater income from the transit of ships and, what is also very important, a closer association with the United States of America in the administration of the inter-oceanic waterway up to 31 December 1999, After that date my country will acquire full control over the Panama Canal.
11. We Panamanians are aware that the Panama Canal represents a landmark achievement in international communications and we consider that the new Treaties offer all users sufficient guarantees of permanency and efficiency in the inter-oceanic service.
12.	For my Government it is a matter of great satisfaction to announce before this Assembly that, with the entry into force of the new Treaties on the Canal, as of 1 October 1979, the Protocol regarding the permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal has been open for accession by all States of the world.
13.	On this occasion I must reiterate that one of the prime objectives of the international policy of Panama is the universalization of the regime of permanent neutrality of the inter-oceanic waterway through our territory. Panama wishes the Canal to remain safe and open for peaceful transit by the ships of all nations on terms of complete equality, so that there will be no discrimination against any State or its nationals and so that the Canal and, consequently, the isthmus of Panama, will not become the object of reprisals in any hostilities between other nations of the world.
14.	It would be unrealistic for my country to try to make the regime of permanent neutrality of the Panama Canal universal without taking into account the essential co-operation of the great Powers, in the East and in the West, and particularly of those that have mastered nuclear technology.
15.	In the opinion of the Panamanian Government, the regime of the Panama Canal, by reason of its universal character, will be subject to rules similar to those which international practice has established for the Suez and Kiel Canals and which will respect the jurisdiction of the Panamanian State over the inter-oceanic waterway, in accordance with the new agreements.
16.	We who come from a modern country with a long tradition of transit through the isthmus feel extremely responsible for the services which the Canal offers to promote economic development in the user countries and to facilitate closer relations between the peoples of the world. We were also very conscious of the need to find a peaceful method of solving the delicate international dispute which seriously threatened the movement of traffic through the Isthmus of Panama. The method chosen was that of negotiation, that of the dignified settlement of a long conflict thanks, first to the unswerving faith of our valiant people and, secondly, to the lucid and firm guidance of General Omar Torrijos Herrera, who initiated original and very effective diplomatic actions. We also owe it to the warm solidarity of the peoples of the world who believed in the justness of our cause.
17.	The victory of the nation of Panama was made possible by the firm will of our people, aware of the value of freedom, independence, sovereignty and national honour. Our people waited with patience and offered its martyrs. We are a people with profound faith in the anti-colonialist concepts as stated in the United Nations Charter, a noble people capable of creating the necessary conditions for eliminating the colonial enclave at the very heart of our country, which has been a permanent cause of conflict in relations between Panama and the United States and between the latter and Latin America.
18.	The careful cultivation of our national values, the strengthening of our own identity in our country, which is cosmopolitan, with an ancient tradition and a young population, were all essential in order to create the necessary unity among Panamanians, that communion between the men and women of Panama which, like the hardest rock, successfully resisted a formidable challenge: that of destroying, by the force of our ideas, the basis of an unjust and unbalanced relationship with the foremost Power of the world and, later, of building with it a modern relationship based on recognition of our sovereign rights, mutual respect and obedience to the idea of justice.
19.	All the energies of the Panamanian people were channelled by one leader, a man totally devoted to interpreting and defending the national cause, a soldier whose only weapons were the unflagging nationalism of our people, and a new and brilliant manner of promoting the cause of Panama in the international community. General Omar Torrijos Herrera, the leader of the Panamanians, had a blind faith in human nature, in its capacity for goodness and justice and for the lofty and grave responsibilities of leadership. As a simple man of Panama and as the representative of the aspirations of that dignified and long-suffering people, he addressed himself to other men, to the leaders of America and of the world, and, without ceremony, he offered an exact and true testimony of the situation of our country and of its aspirations.
20.	The reaction of the leaders and peoples of the world was unanimous. Omar Torrijos's pilgrimage throughout the world rapidly brought about the results hoped for. The leaders of Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as those of Latin America, supported us unreservedly. To them, the list of whose names fills whole pages in the annals of friendship and of our nation's dignity; we wish to express the deep and never-ending gratitude of Panama.
21.	In this present decade, and as a result of the work of the Government led by Omar Torrijos, the Security Council met on Latin American soil for the first time in its history to consider matters likely to endanger peace and security in Latin America. It was our privilege, Mr. President, to have your enlightened participation in your official capacity as Chairman of the Special Committee on decolonization. The demonstration of world support for the meeting of the Security Council in Panama, and the significant statements made there by Mr. Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General, led to an understanding in the light of which the United States Government made an attempt to revise its Latin American policies and reconsidered the one-sided attitude it had until then maintained with regard to the legitimate claims of Panama.
22.	General Torrijos' work had immense results in Latin America, not only for the cause of Panama, but also for that of the continent. The new Panamanian diplomacy, inspired and directed by him, brought about among the leaders of our region a necessary rapprochement, a strengthening of our Latin American consciousness, and offered to our continent a great, worthy and just cause, the cause of Panama, which perfectly symbolized the efforts and sufferings of Latin America and its rejection of an anachronistic and intolerable imperialism.
23.	The effects of the Panama Canal Treaties are the result of the will of two countries with great responsibilities to the international community. These agreements will serve to resolve a delicate situation which endangered world communications and the peace of the region.
24.	This contribution by my country to the strengthening of international solidarity is complemented by our position on the major political problems which are under review in the General Assembly, that is to say by our policy of non-alignment, which is based on Panama's firm support for the premises of the Declaration on decolonization,  the declaration on the permanent sovereignty of peoples, over their natural resources contained in the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order. Accordingly, nothing could please Panama more, now that the presidency of the General Assembly is in the hands of an eminent citizen of Africa, than to reiterate unreservedly our support for the aspirations of the peoples of Namibia, Zimbabwe and Azania and to reaffirm our solidarity with the front-line States and with the national liberation movements, the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO], the Patriotic Front and the African National Congress of South Africa.
25.	Next year's commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on decolonization, of which we were one of the sponsors, commits the United Nations to an intensification of its struggle against colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, apartheid and all forms of hegemony or foreign domination.
26.	We have offered much to other continents, and we are pleased and proud of this. But Panama's contribution to Latin America is exceptional. My country, because of its desire for universal brotherhood and because of the lessons learned through a hard history of struggle for national identity, has always had a special responsibility to promote the ideal of the unity and the integration of Latin America. It is not by chance that Bolivar, in his wisdom, decided that Panama was the most suitable place in which to gather the American nations in the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama in 1826 to lay the foundations for continental unity. Nor is it coincidence that the cause of Panama became the ideal which synthesized the Latin American peoples' aspirations for national liberation.
27.	On the threshold of the 1980s, we believe that another meeting, at all levels, of Latin American nations is fully justified. In the economic sphere, this would be fundamental to the attempt to establish a common Latin American front which, together with the efforts made in the Group of 77, would strengthen the position of our region in its participation in next year's special session of the General Assembly. At that meeting we shall evaluate the progress made in the various United Nations bodies towards the establishment of a new international economic order and a new international development strategy for the 1980s will be adopted.
28.	Many are the barriers which block the path of Latin American integration and the union to which all its peoples aspire so intensely. Yet we believe that the lesson of history is that all anachronisms will eventually disappear, as recently happened in heroic Nicaragua, that local conflicts will be resolved and that in the end the dream of the Great Liberator will come true and that, from the Rio Bravo to the Tierra del Fuego our countries will constitute a true, modern and effective community of nations.
29.	Our most decisive contribution is the example we have given to the world of the ability to solve, by peaceful means but with dignity, the most difficult problems in the hardest circumstances and conditions. In a world tormented by violence in all its forms, this is a precious example which should be appreciated and cultivated earnestly by all countries of the world.
30.	With the entry into force of the new Panama Canal Treaties, Panama and the United States will be able to enjoy a harmonious relationship after 76 years of misunderstandings and profound injustices. This new relationship must develop, grow in strength, and become, for the good of all the countries which use the inter- oceanic waterway, a notable example of friendship, international co-operation and mutual respect,
31.	I believe that I am conscience bound to recognize publicly that successive generations of Panamanians have been able to rely in their struggle on the election of Mr. Jimmy Carter to the presidency of the United States, a fact which made possible the signing, approval and ratification of the new Panama Canal Treaties and their recent implementation. It is only just to recognize his exceptional gifts as a statesman, his lofty conception of justice and his profound sense of history. He fought strenuously and with great courage against certain reactionary circles in his country to achieve a peaceful solution to the question of the Panama Canal. In this way President Carter has won a place of honour among history's great leaders of North America in his relations with Latin America.
32.	We are determined to fulfil all the commitments entered into in the Panama Canal Treaties. We are not easily deceived nor are we irresponsible towards our people or the world. We shall be vigilant to ensure that the United States of America also faithfully complies with the serious and solemn commitments into which it has entered with no distortion of the deep meaning of decolonization, justice and dignity.
33.	We have become stronger morally in our struggle and we face the future with confidence, always bearing in mind the famous saying that "he who cannot daily win freedom and life does not deserve them. Thus, we point out to all countries of the world that it is our will to protect and strengthen today's conquests to ensure for future generations of Panamanians and for all peoples on earth that the Panama Canal will be an instrument for union and a symbol of hope in the never-ending quest for peace and justice.


I wish at the outset to pay a tribute to the late President Agostinho Neto of the People's Republic of Angola, whose untimely death has robbed Africa and the world of an eminent statesman and a gallant freedom fighter. The late Dr. Neto and the MPLA Workers’ Party, which he led, had worked very closely with our party, the United National Independence Party, during the long struggle for the independence of Angola. The close co-operation between the two parties and Governments of Angola and Zambia continues to this day. The late Angolan leader was a selfless and tireless revolutionary who fought side by side with the rank and file of MPLA fighters. His approach should be an inspiration to us all. Indeed Dr. Neto was a man of principle who practised what he believed in. The party, Government and people of Zambia, who were represented at the funeral by His Excellency President Kaunda, join our brothers and sisters in mourning the loss of that truly great man.
322.	On behalf of the Zambian delegation, I wish to congratulate you, Sir, on your most deserved election to the high office of President of the General Assembly. Africa is proud of you. You are a distinguished son of that continent. You have established your place in international forums through diplomatic skill, humility, political candour and acumen. I need not refer here to the well-known brotherly relations between your country, the United Republic of Tanzania, and my own country, Zambia, and indeed to our efforts together with the other front-line States in the struggle for the liberation of our oppressed brothers and sisters in southern Africa.
323.	I also wish to take this opportunity to pay a deserved tribute to your predecessor, Indalecio Lievano, who presided over the thirty-third session of the General Assembly with dedication and competence.
324.	The Secretary-General of our Organization, Mr. Kurt Waldheim, has continued to carry out his functions with characteristic determination and diplomatic skill. My delegation wishes him well in his efforts aimed at bringing about understanding and peace among the nations of the world.
325.	Let me take this opportunity to welcome Saint Lucia, a fellow Commonwealth country, on its admission to membership in the United Nations. With the admission of its one hundred and fifty-second Member, the United Nations has moved closer to the realization of the goal of universality.
326.	Your presidency, Sir, has come on the threshold of a new era—the dawning of the 1980s. During the decade ending this year, the United Nations has continued to grapple with the manifold issues for which it was founded. Some of these were inherited by the United Nations at its inception, while others have been brought before it in recent years.
327.	Undoubtedly there has been significant progress in some areas, but a number of issues are being carried over into the agenda of the next decade. The challenge for the United Nations in that next decade is to bring success to the manifold issues which have been perennial issues on our agenda.
328.	In addressing the age-old problems there is a need for innovation and institutional adaptation, be it in the political, economic, social, cultural or humanitarian spheres. In the absence of the necessary will to act, only pessimism will prevail. Let us all resolve to make the next decade an era of greater co-operation and understanding in the search for solutions to problems afflicting mankind.
329.	This session of the General Assembly takes place barely three weeks after the historic Sixth Conference of the non-aligned countries, held in Havana. We can all be justly inspired by the proven determination of the non-aligned countries to continue making a positive and decisive contribution to the search for a new world order, based on principles of equity and justice. The declarations adopted by the non-aligned Conference accurately reflect the contemporary global situation. Zambia is proud to belong to the non-aligned movement, which we are convinced will remain a dynamic and indispensable force in international relations. The rapid increase in the membership of the movement is a reflection of a universal recognition of the validity of its principles and objectives.
330.	Mr President, in your opening statement you gave a clear message about the present economic situation facing the world. The world economic situation is still characterized by the prevalence of poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy for most of the developing countries on the one hand, and a sense of uncertainty in the developed world on the other. Furthermore, there is a trend towards increasing inequality which continues to characterize existing international economic relations. My delegation shares fully the sense of disappointment with the continuing deterioration of the international economic situation. A new chapter must be opened in transforming the unfinished major issues on the agenda of the new international economic order into reality.
331.	The international community is at the crossroads in the fields of development and international economic relations. It is evident that in spite of previous efforts, virtually every item on the agenda of economic relations is a problem area. These items include terms of trade, prices of primary or basic commodities, the flow of resources and debt-servicing, transactions in technology, the industrialization of developing countries, food and energy, a code of conduct for transnational corporations and the issue of collective self-reliance. In addition, high inflation, unemployment and high energy costs continue to menace our economies, thereby retarding development.
332.	The North-South dialogue, which began some five years ago, is hardly achieving any discernible results. So far, several major world conferences have been held with the sole objective of working out a more appropriate mechanism on which new international relations will be based. Regrettably, progress in this regard has been disappointing.
333.	We in Zambia realize that in order to achieve the goal of economic development we require collective effort. All nations have to contribute meaningfully if this common effort is to be achieved. The goal of eliminating poverty and other economic injustices is a moral issue which concerns all nations regardless of the history of the root-cause of the evils in question.
334.	Certain States such as the industrialized nations enjoy a dominant position in international trade, finance and industrial production. These countries have the obligation to be more forthcoming in negotiations on specific issues related to the new economic order.
335.	What I have stated should be the basis for negotiations, whether they are in the Committee of the Whole, UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development or in the Preparatory Committee for the New International Development Strategy. While some progress has been registered on such items as the Common Fund and the conversion of UNIDO into a specialized agency, it is regrettable that there is a stalemate on several issues in the North-South negotiations.
336.	For our part we accord high priority to those programmes and projects designed to achieve self- reliant development and to forge mutual co-operation with other developing countries in various fields of common interest, including the critical areas of trade, transport and communications.
337.	I wish to point out that our efforts to realize our economic potential are being hampered, inter alia, by adverse external forces. These include the war situation and conflict in southern Africa, our geographical position as a land-locked country and the decline in the relative prices of basic commodities in addition to the precarious world economic situation. The Secretary- General's report on assistance to Zambia, to be considered at this session, is a catalogue of our formidable challenges.
338.	The question of human rights is a matter to which we in Zambia have always attached great importance. We have not hesitated to make our voice heard where- ever and whenever there has been evidence of violations of human rights. This is in accord with our national philosophy of humanism, which stands for respect for the worth of man and the sanctity of human life. In this regard, we are gratified at the growing universal concern for human rights.
339.	Zambia continues to be seriously concerned at the situation in the Middle East. The situation in that volatile region is as serious as it is explosive. It has been established beyond any doubt that the obnoxious policy of settlements in occupied Arab territories is synonymous with colonization, imperialist aggrandizement and expansionism. Israel has no right whatsoever to occupy Arab lands on the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights.
340.	As we have always stated, the core of the Middle East conflict is the continued denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. That Palestinians are entitled both to a State of their own and to the full realization of self-determination and independence is an indisputable fact. It is indeed ironic that Jews, who were victims of the holocaust in Europe during the Second World War, should today be unleashing a holocaust against Palestinians. In addition, Israel is in league with the racist minority regimes of southern Africa and has emerged as one of the sources of military equipment for them, which they use in their oppression of the black majority and in committing acts of aggression against front-line States, including my own country, Zambia.
341.	In the interest of peace in the Middle East, Israel should withdraw forthwith from all the Arab lands which it has occupied by force since 1967. The seizure of foreign lands by force is not admissible in international law. Israel must co-operate with the United Nations in the implementation of the relevant resolutions of this Assembly and the Security Council which provide a realistic framework for bringing about a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Israel should also, as a matter of urgency, dismantle all the Jewish settlements which it has established on Arab lands.
342.	Furthermore, the situation in the Middle East cannot be resolved if the people of Palestine, through the PLO, their sole and legitimate representative, are excluded from any peace process. To do so would be to engage in self-deception.
343.	In May of this year all peace-loving countries were gratified by a trend towards positive developments in Cyprus. There was hope when we learned that the intercommunal talks, which were presided over by the United Nations Secretary-General, had resulted in a plan to deal with the problem. However, the lack of progress in resolving the outstanding issues has been a retrogressive step. In a situation of incessant conflict, lack of progress leads to deterioration. In the case of Cyprus, the deterioration of the already tense situation could have grave consequences for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island.
344.	Zambia urges the parties to the dispute to redouble their efforts to resolve the problem of Cyprus. The independence of Cyprus and its non-alignment should not be compromised. Moreover, the problem of Cyprus has implications which go far beyond the borders of that island. I wish to appeal for strict adherence to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of Cyprus.
345.	My Government is equally concerned at the developments in South-East Asia. The people of that region have been victims of wars of aggression for far too long. We have stated our wish that after decades of war the nations and peoples of South-East Asia should live in peace. As a result of fighting in the area, the toll of human lives and the extent of suffering have been astounding and they continue unabated. The international community has a duty to attend to the plight of human beings who have been displaced as a result of conflicts in that region and elsewhere.
346.	We express the hope that the countries of the region will dedicate their efforts to finding a just and durable solution to the problem. We also appeal to all States to refrain from exacerbating the conflict and uphold the principle of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other States, in the interest of peace and security in the region.
347.	With regard to Korea, I wish to reiterate my Government's strong support for the efforts towards the peaceful reunification of that peninsula. It is Zambia's view that all foreign troops should be withdrawn from South Korea, because their presence is not conducive to a search for a just and lasting settlement.
348.	My Government has continued to follow closely developments in connexion with Western Sahara. We have done our best to encourage the efforts of the Organization of African Unity to find a just settlement. We warmly congratulate the Government of Mauritania for the wise decision it has taken to renounce all claims to Western Sahara and to withdraw its military forces from the Territory. We maintain the view that the people of Western Sahara have the right to genuine self-determination and independence.
349.	In recent years the international community has directed its efforts at combating racism and other forms of prejudice which are inimical to the lives of the oppressed people and to the promotion of harmonious relations among them. It is for this reason that all forms of institutionalized racism and oppression that are epitomized in the South African policy of apartheid have been called a crime against humanity.
350.	All the principles of civilized conduct that are enshrined in the United Nations Charter and in the norms of international law are being violated daily in South Africa, Namibia and Rhodesia. The majority in those countries are being denied their basic rights. The root-cause of the problem is the continuing existence of racist white minority regimes.
351.	The ancestors of the present-day racist minority rulers settled in southern Africa by force of arms and deceit. They have ruled over the majority of African people through terrorism and violence. They continue to maintain their reign of terror in South Africa, Namibia and Rhodesia by force. While holding the African people in bondage, the racists and their fellow conspirators and supporters are pillaging and exploiting the abundant natural and human resources of the countries under their occupation.
352.	As a result the indigenous people are wallowing in abject poverty and degradation. Africans are used by southern African racist regimes as a source of cheap labour. The racist minority regimes are also concocting so-called internal settlements in the hope of using Africans as a front in the service of the white racists. This shows the stubborn determination of the racist regimes to perpetuate themselves in power at the expense of the black majority. This is repugnant and untenable. It is for that reason that the oppressed people are fighting to overthrow the system of oppression and to regain their' dignity and inalienable rights.
353.	The racist rulers, in addition to oppressing Africans inside the countries which they occupy, are also seeking to make southern Africa safe for racist oppression and exploitation by committing wanton and murderous acts of aggression against the front-line States of Angola, Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia.
354.	In these heinous attacks, the Rhodesian and South African forces have murdered innocent nationals of our countries. They have also killed thousands of refugees who have fled from tyranny and whom we allow to live in our countries on humanitarian grounds. Children, women and old men and the sick in refugee centres have been the victims of those sadistic and callous racist soldiers. It is even more tragic that these refugees are still being pursued under the pretext of self-defence or pre-emptive attacks on the part of the racists.
355.	By attacking the front-line States, the racist regimes are in fact violating our sovereignty and territorial integrity. Their attacks have been premeditated acts of unprovoked aggression. We are aware that their aim is to trigger an international war which would engulf the entire region.
356.	We have stated all along—and let me repeat this here—that apartheid-ruled South Africa is at the core of the problems of decolonizing Namibia and Rhodesia. There is no doubt that the maintenance of the apartheid system is a challenge both to the United Nations and to civilized mankind. Until the South African ruling clique agrees to live in the present rather than in the past, the oppressed people there will continue to fight for their inalienable rights. But South Africa continues to remain both intransigent and aggressive. The Pretoria regime is arming itself at an unprecedented pace in history.
357.	Regrettably, some States Members of our Organization continue to provide the Pretoria regime with arms and ammunition and to collaborate with it in the nuclear field. My delegation strongly condemns such collaboration, which is not only immoral but also contrary to numerous United Nations resolutions. We call upon all States to desist forthwith from any form of collaboration with the Pretoria regime since such collaboration is inimical to the welfare of the oppressed people and indeed encourages South Africa in its aggressive policies against sovereign, independent African States.
358.	Within South Africa itself, the Pretoria regime is widening and hatching even more obnoxious schemes for consolidating apartheid. In defiance of the international community, South Africa only last month granted bogus independence to the Venda Bantustan. This follows the pattern of so-called Bophuthatswana and Transkei. The independence of Bantustans exists only as a figment of the imagination of the Afrikaner rulers in Pretoria. To all sane people, these Bantustans remain an integral part of South African territory because South Africa is one and indivisible. As if the repression of the African were not repugnant enough, the Pretoria racists have also intensified their scheme of uprooting Africans from the lands which are designated as "white areas". There is a new war of eviction in South Africa. Internally, South Africa is also perfecting itself as a police state in which there is no rule of law.
359.	With the dawn of the 1980s, the international community must devise new strategies as to how to end apartheid. All concerted efforts must be made to end all forms of collaboration with the apartheid regime in the interest of peace. I wish to reaffirm Zambia's support for the struggle of the oppressed people of South Africa under the leadership of their national liberation movement. I urge this Assembly and the international community as a whole to demonstrate its abhorrence of the system of apartheid in South Africa through concrete forms of support for the liberation struggle. In this regard, it is urgent that we give effect to the numerous United Nations resolutions on apartheid. The situation in South Africa calls for concrete action rather than words.
360.	As we know, the Pretoria regime not only maintains a policy of apartheid in South Africa itself, but is also responsible for the crisis which emanates from its occupation and militarization of Namibia in utter defiance of the United Nations.
361.	The question of resolving the independence of Namibia is urgent. In the last two and a half years, there have been intensive and extensive negotiations and consultations which were aimed at bringing about a settlement in Namibia through free and fair elections under United Nations supervision and control. The efforts in this regard emanated from Security Council resolution 385 (1976), which resulted in a concrete proposal for the settlement of the Namibian question, Both the proposal and the report by the Secretary- General of the United Nations on its implementation were endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 435 (1978). Namibia would today be on the threshold of independence if the proposal based on the report of the Secretary-General had been implemented. Had it not been for the intransigence of South Africa, the United Nations Transition Assistance Group would today be at work in Namibia.
362.	The state of paralysis that now exists on the issue is due to the refusal by the South African regime to accept the report of the Secretary-General and to cooperate in its implementation. Once again, South Africa is intransigent and is seeking to defy the United Nations on Namibia as it has done for decades. Indeed, South Africa has acted deceitfully.
363.	What is equally disturbing is that South Africa is intent on confronting the international community with a situation of fait accompli by imposing its puppets of the so-called Democratic Turnhalle Alliance on Namibia. In this regard, South Africa has set up an illegal National Assembly.
364.	In its frantic attempts to impose a so-called internal settlement in Namibia, South Africa has intensified its brutal repression against members of SWAPO, who are harassed, detained, imprisoned and tortured on a continuing basis. Scores of SWAPO leaders have been jailed in an attempt to destroy it because of its steadfast opposition to the machinations of South Africa and the Pretoria regime.
365.	The significance of the diplomatic initiative of the last two and a half years is that it involved five major Western countries which have traditionally collaborated with South Africa. Those of us who repeatedly called upon the West to desist from their policies of collaboration with and support for South Africa welcomed this initiative as a positive and hopeful development. We fully co-operated with the five Western countries and the Secretary-General to ensure the success of the initiative. SWAPO, which is universally recognized as the sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people, was exemplary in its conduct during the lengthy period of the negotiations. SWAPO pursued the negotiations and made significant compromises in spite of repeated provocations by South Africa, such as the Kassinga massacre in Angola and several unilateral actions by the Pretoria regime, notably the appointment of the so-called Administrator- General, the registration of voters and the holding of sham elections in December of last year.
366.	In our view, the phase of negotiations is over. What remains is the implementation of the report of the Secretary-General. Those who have initiated the plan for the independence of Namibia have, above all, the responsibility to ensure its implementation. They have the duty to ensure South Africa's compliance. They have the responsibility to deliver South Africa. They have always advocated negotiations to resolve the problems of southern Africa. Now let them prove the efficacy of negotiations. They must make their approach work.
367.	We have never been against negotiations. The racist minority regimes of southern Africa have always frustrated negotiations. The challenge to the West now is either to get South Africa to co-operate in the implementation of their proposal or to join with the other members of the international community in ostracizing the Pretoria regime and compelling it to comply with the relevant United Nations resolutions.
368.	Let me also take this opportunity to stress the need for the international community to increase its material support for SWAPO, which is the only liberation movement in Namibia. The intransigence of the Pretoria regime surely leaves the people of Namibia, under the leadership of SWAPO, with no option but to intensify their armed struggle for national liberation. South Africa must not be allowed to destroy the people of Namibia and SWAPO. The vicious system of illegal South African occupation of Namibia must be eradicated. I wish, on this occasion, to reaffirm Zambia's full support for General Assembly resolution 33/206, which was adopted at the resumed thirty-third session in May of this year. If freedom cannot come to Namibia by peaceful means, it must come through the armed struggle of its people, supported by the international community in concrete and generous material terms.
369.	The fundamental problem of how to decolonize and transform Rhodesia into Zimbabwe is still with us. As each hour passes the deteriorating situation in Rhodesia brings more concern. The casualty rate in the war of independence is increasing by the hour. This is in addition to the scores of hundreds of Zimbabweans who have been murdered by Rhodesian forces in refugee centres in the neighbouring front-line States of Angola, Botswana, Mozambique and my own country, Zambia. Surely, if human life is still sacrosanct, if human suffering is to be mitigated and ameliorated, then the hour is at hand for resolving the Rhodesian problem.
370.	Rhodesia is Zimbabwe to be. Detractors of the cause of Zimbabwe have had the audacity to give a nickname or surname to Zimbabwe. But this is not the issue. What is at stake is how to bring legal independence under genuine majority rule to Zimbabwe. Present-day Rhodesia remains a British colony ruled by settlers who happen to be die-hard racists.
371.	Developments in Rhodesia since the last session of this Assembly have only worsened the situation. This was so because no meaningful attempts were made to resolve the root-cause of the problem of decolonizing Rhodesia. Debates shifted in the international forums, which focused mainly on irrelevant experiments, such as the so-called elections of April, which culminated in thrusting forward a black man as a front for the Salisbury racists. The fundamental structure of racist oppression was left intact.
372.	In spite of the political gimmicks of the Muzorewa-Smith regime, no Government in the world has accorded them any recognition. To be sure, Muzorewa and Smith did pander to the conservative lobbies of this world. But reason and wisdom still prevailed.
373.	Concerted efforts were also made to have sanctions against Rhodesia lifted unilaterally by some Western countries. This trick has also not paid off. Here again, we hope that reason will prevail to ensure that sanctions imposed by the Security Council against Rhodesia will be maintained until genuine independence is achieved.
374.	Mr. President, as the Assembly may be aware, the Rhodesian regime has persisted in committing acts of aggression against the front-line States. The Rhodesians have launched repeated, premeditated attacks and raids against us which have resulted in heavy casualties. Their crude tactics have been acts of outright provocation against us. They are in themselves acts of desperation by the white racists who know that they cannot and will not win the war, in spite of the overt and covert support they enjoy from imperialist forces as evidenced by the involvement in the Rhodesian army of thousands of mercenaries and, indeed, the continued acquisition by the rebel forces of large quantities of sophisticated military equipment.
375.	The people of Zimbabwe have remained un-daunted on their determination to overthrow the oppressive regime in their country. Thousands upon thousands of them have swelled the ranks of the liberation movement, the Patriotic Front. They are dealing heavy blows on the demoralized Rhodesian military forces on a daily basis. The impact of the war of liberation has sent thousands of whites fleeing from Rhodesia.
376.	Mr. President, the Commonwealth Heads of Government recognized the gravity of the Rhodesian situation at their recent meeting in Lusaka. Confronted with the realities of the situation, they felt motivated to do their utmost urgently to seek a negotiated settlement in Zimbabwe, the basis of which can only be the transfer of power to the people of Zimbabwe through genuine black majority rule and independence. Those who had advocated the lifting of sanctions against Southern Rhodesia and the recognition of the puppet regime realized that they were treading on dangerous ground. It dawned on them that such a course of action would not contribute at all to the solution of the Rhodesian problem. On the contrary, it would aggravate the situation, with serious consequences for international peace and security.
377.	The United Kingdom, the colonial Power in Southern Rhodesia, accepted at the Lusaka Conference the need to exercise its constitutional responsibility. In accordance with the Commonwealth agreement on Zimbabwe, a Constitutional Conference involving all sides in the Rhodesian conflict, including the Patriotic Front, is now in progress in London under the chairmanship of the British Foreign Secretary. It is the hope of all the Commonwealth Governments that the Conference will succeed. If it succeeds, Southern Rhodesia will be ushered into a new era which could see it emerge into a genuinely independent State of Zimbabwe, acceptable to the international community.
378.	The London Constitutional Conference could not have been possible without the effective armed struggle waged by the people of Zimbabwe under the leadership of the Patriotic Front. That Conference is unquestionably the direct product of the sacrifices of the Patriotic Front forces on the battlefield. It is the armed struggle that has generated and created the necessary conditions for the Conference to take place. What is now happening proves that armed struggle and negotiations are not mutually exclusive. If the Conference should fail, the war of liberation in Zimbabwe will be intensified by the Patriotic Front. I urge the international community not to relax its support for the Patriotic Front.
379.	In conclusion, I wish to reiterate Zambia's commitment to the noble goals for which this Organization was established. We believe that the United Nations offers a unique framework for addressing the multiple challenges of our time, as well as creating opportunities for the future.
380.	Let us move forward into the next decade with confidence. Let us proceed into a world that is safe and prosperous for all. Our generation should not fail future generations.