Mr. President, I offer you my most sincere congratulations on your election to preside over the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. I trust that your talent and ability, with the invaluable co-operation of the Secretary-General, will make possible the most successful completion of your high mission, to the benefit of international relations among Member States and of peace and universal co-operation.
89.	Guatemala participates in the deliberations of this General Assembly, which increasingly represents the legal international community, fully aware of its responsibilities and' duties and rights as a Member State and satisfied that we have carried out the indispensable duty to fulfill our historic mission both on the national level and internationally by Central American sub-regional, American regional and world-wide co-operation.
90.	My Government assumed power in 1970 as a result of an election held with the free participation of the four political parties that exist in my country. The popular election was won by the current President, General Arana Osorio, supported by the then opposition parties. His Government replaced the previous Government, which had also been the result of a free and democratic consultation with the people. The people of Guatemala have exercised their right to self-determination, selecting their Government through suffrage and thus strengthening our democratic and institutional vocation.
91.	My Government accepted the responsibility of encouraging serious and planned action at the highest national level to ensure the economic, social, cultural and all other types of development of the country without party discrimination. Our achievements are open for all to see, and all the problems confronted by the Country have been tackled systematically by the organs of the State to ensure their solution within the process of over-all and comprehensive development. That action, which is so necessary for progress, has faced certain setbacks which have hampered greater success.
92.	In fact, Guatemala, like so many democratic countries of the world, suffered from an intensive divisive campaign, inspired and supported from outside the country, which afflicted the country with waves of violence and subversion by extremists and clandestine factions. In its international coexistence, as far as the sovereignty and independence of other States is concerned Guatemala has respected and complied with its commitments; and, therefore, in return we insist that the same respect be shown to our own sovereignty and we reject any intervention in our domestic affairs. In order to carry out joint measures to control the danger represented by violence and subversion, which are spreading in the democratic countries, we have supported the American regional draft conventions to prevent and take sanctions against acts of terrorism, kidnapping and violence, although thus far the measures adopted have not been as efficacious as we have hoped, It is obvious that this situation threatens international peace and security and that this United Nations, whose primordial function is specifically to maintain international peace and security, should adopt measures leading to the elimination of an international conspiracy of this nature,
93.	Guatemala wishes to reassert its faith in the United Nations for its search for solutions to world problems through planned and channeled operations of international co-operation to ensure economic, social and cultural development, as well as to encourage the feeding of peoples, ensuring their health, social justice and equity in international relations. But we feel that much of this is lost if large areas of Member States are afflicted by the threat of international violence which endangers security and peace. We believe sincerely that it is possible to achieve an understanding that will safeguard the fundamental right of all to enjoy respect for their sovereignty.
94.	The Central American Republics celebrated this month the 150th anniversary of their political independence, which took place on 15 September 3821, L is known that these Republics set up the United Provinces of Central America in the form of a federation, Some years later each State decided to go it alone and seek its own destiny. From that time on, however, the feeling has been gaining ground that the five Central American Republics should come under one single nationality, because of their geographical propinquity, historical tradition, identity of human background and interests, common spiritual awareness and conscience.
95.	Perhaps a very important step towards political, social, economic and cultural integration was taken when the Organization of Central American States was established in 1951, First considered a subregional organization, permanently given to the search for adequate solutions to all problems common to the five countries, it would also encourage the union of our States through progress and peaceful co-operation.
96.	At the same time, during its fourth session, the Economic Commission for Latin America [ECLA] - a United Nations body-at the request of the Central American Governments created machinery which has fostered the irreversible process of the integration of Central America. No one can deny that the years of trial and the circumstances that have prevailed have shown positive results which have encouraged the economic, agricultural, industrial and commercial development of all Central America. Surely the eloquent statistics on production, export and diversification, which rose from $30 million in 1961 to $300 million in, 1971, speak for themselves. Thus they show that trade transactions have increased their rhythm even at times of conflict.
97.	The century in which we live presents us with a series of problems which call for a movement towards integration which has spread all over the world as an imperative for survival, and Central America considers that this integration is fundamental because of the stage of development in which we find ourselves, for it represents the best way of achieving economic independence. We believe that integration has to be re-established, and my Government has spared no effort in laying the groundwork which will confirm our faith and hopes in a common market for, and integration of, Latin America.
98.	On the strength of experience gathered in the application of the new community law, the Government of Guatemala this year proposed a draft convention for a Central American Community for consideration by the other four Governments.
99.	In this process of economic and political integration inspired by the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the independence of the Central American Republics, a meeting was held in the city of Guatemala from 13 to 15 September tills year of the legislative organs of those Republics, which then became the Central American Parliament, with a manifest interest shown in adopting decisions or resolutions which, objectively and basically, tend towards the achievement of the ideal of re-establishing the Central American Republic.
100.	The Central American Parliament adopted a number of resolutions at its first session and, among them, approved the draft convention of the Central American Community based on the principle that the States composing it shall retain their sovereignty and independence in directing their own affairs excepting those that fall within the purview of the Community, pursuant to the provisions of the convention itself.
101.	The Community will actively promote common interests. It should prevent any differences or conflicts among its members, but ii such differences or conflicts arise, it would assure their peaceful settlement within the framework of institutions established in the convention. The organs of the Community are the Executive Council, the Central American Congress and the Central American Court of Justice. The States members will forever renounce the use of force in the settlement of their differences and it will be their joint task to defend the community against any outside aggression and to co-operate in the maintenance of subregional and international peace and security. The Community will function under the postulate of Central American coexistence and respect for the dignity, worth, freedom and integrity of the human person, without any kind of discrimination. The convention will be open for adherence by the sister Republic of Panama.
102.	When approving this convention, the Central American Parliament gave great moral weight to it and has advised the respective Governments that they can count on the approval of the national legislative bodies when they decide to subscribe to the treaty, in accordance with the constitutional requirements. My Government strongly hopes that the other Governments will express their desire to formalize the convention of the Central American Community, which will revive our faith in, and the beneficial action of, integration into a unified nation of 18 million Latin Americans living in the very heart of the American continent.
103.	In another unanimous resolution, the Central American Parliament declared that, historically and geographically, the territory of Belice is an integral part of Guatemala and, therefore, of Central America, and that by the same token the future of that territory is of concern to the entire Central American community; and, in the exercise of the sovereignty with which that Parliament has been vested, it reiterated the support of all the peoples of Central America for the Guatemalan position with regard to Belice. Finally  the Parliament urged Governments to refuse to recognize any change in the juridical and political status of Belice until the claim has been settled.
104.	Guatemala has a very old dispute concerning the territory with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, for its part, has made every effort to come to an agreement peacefully settling the controversy and taking account of the undeniable grounds for its complaint and, at the same time, the basic interests of the population of Belice, a people of Central America.
105.	My Government wishes to state that we shall continue to seek an adequate and just solution that will satisfy all parties to this dispute; but we wish also to state that, although we are determined to assist the people of Belice in its struggle to get free itself of colonial domination, we shall oppose any change in the juridical or political status of the territory unless the problem of Guatemala's rights thereto is first completely resolved.
106.	Apart from the process of Central American integration, we also envisage one of Latin American integration, at least in the economic sphere.
107.	Important contacts have taken place among Latin American Governments on trade exchange and other economic, social and cultural aspects of life, contacts which might be termed the broadest basis for economic development, the groundwork for Latin American integration.
108.	In these undeniable steps towards development we see the resolve to go forward in our economies toward the achievement of greater national income, greater per capita income, and a better standard of living for our peoples.
109.	On the domestic level we have also achieved progress, broadening our infrastructure for the purpose of improving public services and adopting development plans aimed at improving the general economy of the country and, hence, the standard of living of the various sectors of the population.
110.	The Government of Guatemala is carefully following the progress of the Second United Nations Development Decade. Together with all those present from Latin America, we consider indispensable a reform in the international monetary system leading to machinery that will adequately reflect the concerns, the needs and the aspirations of the third world. With regard to such reform, some sort of link must be created between special rights of transfer of capital and additional financial assistance for development.
111.	In our view, for the entire process to be as affective as is hoped, and in the shortest possible time, the developing countries must carry out economic and social reforms aimed at raising the standard of living of their peoples; and for that reason I am glad to point out that my Government has adopted and is now implementing the Five Year Integral Development Plan; that it is continuing and intensifying agrarian reform; and that it has introduced institutional and fiscal changes intended to raise the standard of living of the Guatemalan people, However, the customs barriers of the developed countries and the low prices they pay for our raw-material products, because of their arbitrary character, have decidedly negative effects on our development. It is our hope that the third session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which is to be held in 1972 in Santiago de Chile, will take important decisions to eradicate these harmful practices and to alleviate the misery rampant throughout the world, as well as to reduce the enormous economic and social differences separating the peoples of the highly industrialized countries from the peoples of the developing nations.
112.	Internationally speaking, we are seeking fair terms of trade and the abolition of certain tariffs that, in some developed countries, weigh heavily on the importation of our raw-material products.
113.	In our view, the world must direct its efforts to the achievement of better living conditions for all peoples, and specifically for the economically weak areas. There are situations in different parts of the world where this need is very obvious. There are also just claims oil the part of the needy sectors which we must take into account in fixing our goals for economic improvement.
114.	In the field of international policy, with which the General Assembly will be dealing during this present session, with regard to the case of China, we wish once again to repeat our attachment to the principle of universality that was formally stated when the United Nations was created in 1945. We believe that honest and sincere participation by all States, great and small, will more effectively strengthen international peace and security to the benefit of all mankind.
115.	But we also believe that, while the admission of the People's Republic of China into the United Nations flows logically from a full application of the principle of universality, it must in no way be accomplished through the sacrifice of Nationalist China, the genuine and historical existence of which as an active Member for over 26 years cannot justifiably be disregarded. On these matters, my delegation will vote in logical accordance with these two facts.
116.	Because it is a complex problem, the question of the Middle East should be so handled that peace is maintained and the countries in conflict, through the peaceful means laid down in the Charter of the Organization, are enabled to find a just and lasting solution to the complex problem confronting them.
117.	In conclusion, the Government of Guatemala expresses its confidence in the United Nations Organization as the most effective instrument available to the international juridical community for making it possible for all mankind, in the sine qua non of peace and security, to enjoy a better future, and for each Member State to fulfill its own mission. As for Guatemala, our own aim is to develop within the democratic system, in which we firmly believe, to preserve political freedom, and to achieve in full the economic independence for which we are striving.


161.	Your election to this office, Mi. President, is a tribute to your distinguished self, a man of purpose and integrity; to your great country, a country to which mine is related by faith and heritage; and to the whole of the non-aligned family. The Sudan wishes you success in discharging your onerous task and steering this session of the Assembly to a happy completion of its agenda in the best tradition of your predecessor, Edvard Hambro of Norway, an erudite scholar and a finished diplomat.
162.	The Macedonians earned Plutarch's description: .. rude and uncivil", because, in his words, "they call a
spade a spade". All societies have their established sense of decency. A departure from the beaten track offends that sense. But tradition need not be preserved to the point of polite sterility. So, in departing from the beaten track in this general debate, I hope that I will not place myself in the category of the uncivic.
163.	Last year we came here to celebrate, in solemnity and dignity, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. Hie gathering was impressive. The deliberations were serious and dignified. The mood of the world was one of stock-taking and self-examination. The United Nations, to the world, was meant to achieve a new heaven and a new earth. It failed to do so. The imperatives of the new era were peace, freedom and progress. But in many parts of the world, our part of the world, peace is still remote, freedom denied, and progress unattainable.
164.	That session ended with a happy tone. The President of the General Assembly chose to call it a session "... of hope and of commitment to the ideals of the United Nations from all geographical groups, across political, philosophical and ideological boundaries" [1933rd meeting, para. 381].
165.	We have solemnly handed down to the world two historic documents that were painstakingly elaborated: the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)], and the Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations [resolution 2625 (XXV)]. A year has elapsed since those solemn declarations on peace and friendly relations and on development were adopted. It will be an indulgence in self-delusion if we say that the world today is better off because of adherence to them.
166.	On peace and friendly relations, satisfaction was expressed here, and by many a speaker, over recent achievements in the direction of peace. The satisfaction is indeed justifiable and we share it: satisfaction over achievements in Europe, in the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and its East European neighbors: the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin, signed at Berlin, on 3 September 1971, and the preparation for an all-European Conference; satisfaction over the glimpses of hope in Asia, discerned in the peace proposals of Hanoi, which might lead to a breakthrough, if. only foreign aggression abates. All those are hot-beds of trouble where nasty and brutish confrontation rages or its danger looms large.
167.	But m our effusive expressions of satisfaction, we failed to underline also the cardinal fact within our context here at the United Nations: the fact that in all those agreements, in all those cases, the United Nations remains on the periphery.
168.	In the field of development we outlined a Strategy based on certain trends of international trade and development and adopted it. We emphasized, individually and collectively our will and commitment to implement those policy measures.
169.	To us, in the developing world, who want to hurtle into the twentieth century, the task is impossible. United Nations statistics reveal to us grim facts: that only half of the children between 5 and 14 are at school, that 790 million people are illiterate, that 50 per cent of our labor force is under-utilized, that water supply is not available to 90 per cent of the people in our rural areas. My country, like many others in the third world, is suffering from these problems and deprivations.
170.	I wish to dwell on one of those problems, the development of water resources, a problem which has reached disastrous proportions in my country. The figures are alarming. Our statistics tell us that the minimum water requirement for man and animal is calculated at 240 million cubic meters. Under our present scheme of things, only 60 million cubic meters are available. With an annual population increase of 2.8 per cent and an annual animal increase of 6 per cent, the basic total amount required in 25 years would be 670 million cubic meters. Given our present resources and ability, we need 69 years to meet basic needs for humans and animals. But if we have to irrigate and develop our arable land of 200 million acres with our present capabilities, we would need 1,000 years.
171.	It is for this reason that my Government has launched a World Anti-Thirst Campaign, which was inaugurated in Khartoum on 20 February 1970 by Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia.
172.	International assistance came from many countries, and to all of them we express gratitude. However, I wish to single out three of them as examples of solidarity with the less privileged nations: Sweden, which has shown and continues to show an ever-increasing interest in this serious human problem, Yugoslavia and Nigeria.
173.	Going back to the world situation, grimmer statistics were also revealed: 7.2 per cent of the world's gross national product goes into military expenditure exactly the same amount that is spent for health and education in the whole world 5 per cent for education and 2 per cent for health.
174.	The world cannot, of course, be changed overnight. Efforts, both national and international, should not relent and solemn pledges should be respected. However, it has taken only a decision of one State to disrupt the operation of the international monetary system, which has had serious repercussions on the pattern of international trade, the flow of technical and financial assistance, the balance of payments and the development efforts of all States.
175.	Addressing this Assembly last year at the commemorative session [1859th meeting], we said that the United Nations remains on the periphery of events, be it in the field of peace-making or development. We said that, as long as the United Nations remains marginal in the great Powers' concept of foreign policy, the Organization will continue to be hindered from effectively discharging its basic responsibilities.
176.	The attitude of the major Powers, both within and without the Organization, continues to be the most important though not the only erosive factor. The self- imposed policeman-ship, the imperial outposts, the subversion of established Governments, the pre-eminence of national and strategic interests over international obligations, are all situations which are not concomitant with a world order.
177.	In so saying, it is our intention neither to deny nor to undermine the power of the major nations inherent in the Charter. All that we call for is the realization on their part that power has its own compulsions and that it has to be exercised alongside a correlative sense of responsibility. One of the great masters of power politics of this country in which we are meeting, Theodore Roosevelt, said in one of his better moments: "I believe in power; but I believe also that responsibility should go with it."
178.	And we smaller nations where do we stand in the face of all that? Should we allow the strategic and national interests of the major Powers to continue to actuate their policies to the detriment of world order, the interests of the rest of the world, and, sometimes, the norms of inter-national morality? Should we leave the destiny of our own peoples and continents to be determined by others? Should we allow ourselves to be passive pawns in an international game?
179.	The non-aligned group of which my country and yours, Mr. President, are founding members was created because of our concern with the right of all our peoples to freedom and independence, their right to a free choice of forms and ways of internal development, their right to sovereignty, their right to territorial integrity, and their refusal to mortgage their independence at any cost.
180.	The Conferences of Bandung, Belgrade, Cairo and Lusaka have asserted those principles. They have also marked our will to resist hegemony and designs to drag us into zones of influence and dubious alliances.
181.	Within the United Nations, the non-aligned group this year more than at any time before is asserting its role and its place. Our family has been enhanced by the participation of the first Latin American country, Chile, with its great tradition of liberty and independence. And it is only through the unrelenting efforts to put an end to hegemony made by the non-aligned nations, together with many of their friends of the third world which, for one reason or another, did not join our family, that a more balanced world order can be established. This effort must also take the form of completing the unfinished national revolution and I believe that there is more to nationalism than just a patriotic sense deriving from the possession of real estate.
182.	Politically, the unfinished revolution has to be achieved by aiding our brothers and sisters still fighting for the attainment of their independence and basic human rights. It has to be achieved by stimulating national integration, often disrupted by the maneuvers of some of the erstwhile colonial. Powers. It has to be achieved by the completion of the transfer of the real centers of decision from the "metropol" to the homeland.
183.	Culturally, the unfinished revolution has to be achieved by ending the alienation of our elite. It has to be achieved by acculturating our social and technical development. It has to be achieved through educating our illiterate masses. It is only through self-realization and the affirmation of cultural identity that we can contribute to the civilization of the universal. In many instances today we are only appendages, we are not an enriching complement.
184.	Economically, the unfinished revolution in the third world has to be achieved through the inculcation of the principles of self-help in our people and in our systems, in accelerating the process of economic co-operation and integration in our regions and subregions, in diverting all our energies into the main task of development, and in reinforcing and furthering the principles of the Charter of Algiers and the second session of UNCTAD at New Delhi.
185.	General Edgardo Mercado Jarrin, the Foreign Minister of Peru, had an important message to convey to us the other day when he said:
"	the true freedom of the peoples of the third world
can only be achieved when they are able to free themselves not only from the economic and political control of others, but also from the cultural and ideological control of the great centers of power..." [1947th meeting, para. 9],
and General Jarrin could not have been more apt when he added that the emergence of the third world is one of the great revolutionary conditions of the day, both at home and internationally. It is internationally where the new image has to be more clearly reflected and amplified.
186.	The polarization of the 1950s, within and without the United Nations, might well become a matter of the past on the admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. We have noted with satisfaction the positive, though hesitant, steps taken by the United States of America this year towards a normalization of relations with that great country. But we have followed with concern the efforts oi the United States in this Organization to introduce a new element that threatens to wreck all that Was hitherto achieved.
187.	As far as the Sudan is concerned, we wish to affirm that we shall fight every attempt through procedural maneuvers or constitutional artifice that would stop the People's Republic of China from joining our ranks here in this Organization. And we are determined to see to it that the question of the representation of China this year ; 1 cease to be unfinished business on the agenda of me General Assembly.
188.	To the third world the United Nations is essential. We do not want to erode its influence through actions that shake carefully established balances. But we do not want others, the major Powers, to corrode its influence, either through cynicism or through the undisciplined exercise of power. The late Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, addressing the General Assembly on the occasion of its fifteenth session, had this to say:
"The structure of the United Nations when it started was weighted in favor of Europe and the Americas. It did not seem to us to be fair to the countries of Asia and Africa, but we appreciated the difficulties of the situation and did not press for any changes. With the growth of the United Nations and with more countries coming into it, that structure today is still more unbalanced. Even so, we wish to proceed slowly and with agreement and not to press for any change which would involve an immediate amendment of the Charter and the raising of heated controversies. Unfortunately, we live in a split world which is constantly coming up against the basic assumptions of the United Nations. We have to bear with this and try to move ever more forward to that conception of full co-operation between nations. That co-operation does not and must not mean any domination of one country by another, any coercion or compulsion forcing any country to line up with another country. Each country has something to give and something to take from others. The moment coercion is exercised, that country's freedom is not only impaired but also its growth suffers." [882nd meeting, para. 111.]
189.	Eleven years have since passed, during which the United Nations has grown, but the problems of the world have grown even more. But actions on the part of the major Powers often the super Powers continue to derogate from the authority of the Organization. Such a derogation is seen in the exclusion of the Organization from major policy decisions. It is seen in actions detracting from the initiative of its Secretary-General, an initiative inherent in Article 99 of the Charter. It is seen in pretexts for tax evasion, resulting in impoverishing the Organization's coffers, be they pretexts of bilateral commitments or the inadmissibility of responsibility for past ills.
190.	This tragic financial situation cannot fail to have its political implications, as was aptly depicted by the Secretary-General in the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization:
"It would cause me deep personal sorrow and regret if my service as Secretary-General were to end on this note. Unfortunately the tragedy far transcends any personal aspect: what is at stake is the Organization, for which we have all held, and continue to hold, such high hopes despite the fact that its credit standing and reputation have already been seriously impaired by its financial plight[A/8401/Add.l, para. 122.]
191.	And in this connexion, I wish to place on record the complete trust and confidence the Sudan has in U Thant. I wish also to express our sincere hope that he will, despite what he has said in the past, enable this Organization to continue to draw from his inexhaustible reserve of sagacity and patience.
192.	I said that, where we in the United Nations are directly involved in peace-making, our credit side of the ledger is pitifully meager. I would like to refer specifically to two areas of conflict: Africa and the Middle East. And I am not doing this only because the problems in those areas are nearer home.
193.	In Africa, the unholy trinity of South Africa, Portugal and Rhodesia continues to persist in its crimes against humanity. This Assembly listened last year to the speech of President Julius Nyerere of the United Republic of Tanzania (1867th meeting]. It has listened this year [1938th meeting] to the moving appeal of President Moktar Ould Daddah of Mauritania. Both Presidents came here to mark the concern of Africa with this problem- President Nyerere came here to request that elementary justice to be done to fellow men. President Ould Daddah came here to appeal for a sacrifice, by the great Powers of the West, of short-term solidarity for a wider engagement in humanity.
194.	For three weeks five African Ministers, speaking on behalf of the Organization of African Unity-Mr. Makonnen of Ethiopia, Mr. Grimes of Liberia, Mr. Arikpo of Nigeria, Mr. Hassane of Chad, and myself have been here at the United Nations to deal with one episode of the southern African drama, the case of Namibia. And it is distressing to note that some people have given us the impression of being exhausted by what seems to be an interminable problem. The record of this Assembly's resolutions upholding the rule of law in South Africa, Rhodesia and Namibia is impressive. The constant urgings and advice of the Secretary-General often unheeded are gratifying. But it is regrettable that the only absentee from this honorable endeavor is the major law-enforcing organ of the United Nations, the Security Council. It is all the more regrettable that this inaction is generally prompted by considerations of strategic interests, inherited patterns of aid and trade, or, in some cases, the sheer reactionary lust of some private concerns which are powerful back home. Those who covet gold do not often sin by coveting honor.
195.	In coming here we intend neither to engage in a sterile debate nor to force unrealistic decisions. At the same time, we do not intend to pace the carpets of the Assembly halls awaiting futile resolutions. Africa is impatient, and its impatience is legitimate.
196.	In addressing themselves to us, some have chosen to urge moderation and dialog. But in a state of desperation all calls for moderation are meaningless. And those who listened to South Africas in the Security Council, exulting over its reactionary and racial policies, can well ask themselves how one can engage in dialog with that country. South Africa is persisting in upholding the most pernicious and obsolete concept of the social order. Portugal is determined to fight to the last NATO gun to maintain a decaying empire. Africa appeals for action on thi part of the United Nations, especially the Security Council. But Africa also wishes to tell the world that African land south of the Zambezi represents the front line of its struggle for freedom and justice and it is a struggle that Africa is determined to continue with unabated vigor.
197.	In the Middle East a combustible situation continues to exist, with all the imponderables of sudden eruption. I wish here to say that the term "Middle East" is euphemistic; the problem at issue is Israeli occupation of Arab territories and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people and the word is "people", not "refugees".
198.	The incurable optimists were telling us that happy tidings were coming from the direction of Tel Aviv. It was for that reason that we listened with interest the other day [1946th meeting] to Mr. Abba Eban, the Israeli Foreign Minister. But Mr. Eban came here with an eloquent speech to embellish an old theme. He tried tr' words and wit to paint a picture of a new world or reconciliation and dialog as evidenced by the European detente and normalization, as if Palestine were Upper Silesia. He also tried to chart what he described as a new road for peace. But Mr. Ebar's endeavor was and the words I am quoting are from The New York Times of 4 October 1971 "... an excursion into familiar byways" when stalled peace talks are desperately in need of new directions.
199.	The problem, as I said, is plain: aggressive occupation of the territories of Member States, which is condemned by all the world, including the United Nations. And occupation is occupation, and no stylist rhetoric can refine it.
200.	Restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and calls on international charity may eclipse the facts in the eyes of the half-educated but will never extinguish the reality.
201.	Even The New York Times was not impressed with Mr. Eban's vision of this problem. To the Times, Mr. Eban's statement on the Palestinian issue was "a detour leading nowhere as long as practically every country involved insists on treating the Palestinians merely as refugees and not as a nation stillborn, now already clamoring for life".
202.	Mr. Eban is understandably not happy that the whole world does not share his vision of the problem. He has therefore chosen to engage in a dangerous role of disdain for the Assembly and its decisions. To him, our decisions on the Arab-Israeli problem represent a pre-ordained triumph of automatic majorities. This was indeed his mood even before addressing us. Ths Christian Science Monitor tells us, in its 9 September issue, that Mr. Eban, before leaving Jerusalem, had this to say:
"If the Arab States decide that the earth is fiat and not round, they will immediately have some 50 votes in the United Nations to support such a decision."
But Mr. Eban knows more than anyone else that it was one of those so-called automatic majorities that gave birth to the State of Israel itself.
203.	Mr. Eban also reserved a certain measure of contempt for the Security Council, where, according to him, decisions are based on sentimental or ethnic predilections. The contemptuous and arrogant rejection by Israel of Security Council resolution 298 (1971) on Jerusalem is in consonance with this line of thinking. It would indeed be a sad world if decisions were to be taken in our Council on the basis of ethnic affinities or affiliation by pigmentation.
204.	Mr. Eban, perhaps conveniently, saw fit not to pose a simple question to himself: why is the majority of the world condemning Israel? -the majority of the world, including some of Israel's traditional friends. A victory that leaves the victor lonely is a desolate victory, particularly if we look at it within i broader historical context.
205.	The issues in the Middle East question are simple: withdrawal of foreign troops of occupation, and restoration of the inalienable rights of the people of Palestine.
206.	Mr. Eban has taken us on an excursion of wit, as far as metaphysical wit can fly. He does not answer the basic questions. The questions, as expounded in Ambassador Jarring's aide-memoir of 8 February 1971 [A/8541, annex I] are still open for an answer. Witty equivocation does not help; indeed, it can be an added stimulus to mistrust.
207.	Let me close by saying that, to us in the third world, the United Nations, despite all its imperfections, will continue to offer the unique possibility for enlightened international action. Despite disappointments, our hopes for a better world order, though idealistic, shall not dwindle. For, in the words of Chesterton, to say that a man is an idealist is merely to say that he is a man.


40.	  Mr. President, first of all, I should like to address to you my sincere congratulations, personally and on behalf of the
Moroccan delegation, upon your brilliant election to the Presidency of the twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Your important responsibilities in the Indonesian Government and your extensive experience, as well as the prestige which you enjoy through your unstinting work both in your own country and internationally in the interests of freedom, right and justice will enable you, we are sure, to carry out the delicate functions of the Presidency which the General Assembly has unanimously entrusted to you. We have no doubt that under your wise and enlightened direction our work will be conducted in the best conditions, which will enable us to attain fruitful results, To this end my delegation offers you its closest co-operation,
41.	I also take this opportunity of paying a particular tribute to your eminent predecessor, Mr. Edvard Hambro, who made a most valuable contribution to the work of the twenty-fifth anniversary session of the Assembly, which distinguished itself by an important contribution to the cause of peace and international co-operation.
42.	May I also be permitted, on behalf of my delegation, to express again the esteem and admiration we bear the Secretary-General for the sustained and positive efforts he has constantly deployed throughout his term of office for the respect and strengthening of our Organization, as well as for the maintenance of peace and tranquility throughout the world.
43.	My delegation is also deeply gratified at the entry into the United Nations of three new Members: Bahrain, Qatar and Bhutan. We offer them on this occasion our sincere congratulations and wish their peoples, now that they are free and independent, much happiness and prosperity. My delegation is convinced that these three countries will make their full contribution to the peaceful and constructive work of the United Nations family.
44.	During the session commemorating the founding of our Organization we adopted a number of fundamental recommendations whose essential purpose was peace, justice and progress. Today, we must ask ourselves whether during the past year we have really done everything necessary for the attainment of these objectives. One need not review all the activities of the Organization to conclude that the results obtained have unfortunately not been everywhere satisfactory, and it cannot be said that we have been wholly successful.
45.	Of course, we must not overlook some of the various steps along the road towards improved detente among the great Powers. We all have in our minds the recent Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin,  which opens great hopes for the final elimination of this hot spot on our globe.
46.	Similarly, we noted with the greatest satisfaction the advent of better days in the relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. We have seen in this the augury of a final normalization of relations between that great State and a number of States Members of the United Nations, so that the representatives of the
People's Republic of China may at last occupy its rightful place in this Assembly and in the Security Council as the sole representatives of that great people.
47.	Lastly, another step leads us to see the future in an optimistic light; I refer to the recent agreement in the field of strategic arms, which is an encouraging way of putting the brake on what seemed to be an uncontrollable race.
48.	These are perhaps only portents, but for our part we hope that this may indeed be the beginning of the final elimination of the aftermath of the grave crises we have lived with since the end of the Second World War.
49.	Nevertheless, despite these signs of detente, we cannot forget that in many parts of the world the international community still faces dramatic situations with no end in sight. The use of violence in international disputes is still too frequent. The arms race has not yet eased in a manner and to an extent commensurate with our hopes. There is also the illegal and unjust military occupation of the territories of others in defiance of the Charter of the United Nations and of all our Organization's appeals to reason. Then there is still the open war in Indo-China against the will of martyred peoples which wish above all to be able to settle their own affairs after the departure of all foreign troops, There is still colonialism in its most archaic or pernicious forms; finally, there is the poverty and suffering which underdevelopment and the incomprehension of the developed countries still impose upon the destitute peoples of the third world.
50.	Those are the disturbing aspects which we believe characterize our community today to which my delegation wishes to draw the attention of the Assembly by expressing its deepest misgivings and fears.
51.	The situation in the Middle East appears to us most alarming, fraught with threats to international peace and, above all, most dangerously deadlocked.
52.	It is not necessary today to go into the history of this drama, nor to trace the complex path this question has fallowed in the various organs of the United Nations. Suffice it to say that our Organization has at various times taken appropriate positions and outlined the wisest course for the rapid elimination of the causes of the conflict, thereby opening the way to just and humane solutions. These international initiatives were in accordance with the broadest consensus among the Members of this Organization.
53.	Nevertheless, we have seen Israel consistently defy the international will by refusing all co-operation with the competent organs of the United Nations, with the avowed purpose of illegally appropriating the fruits of its aggression of June 1967 anjl continuing to ignore the rights of the people of Palestine.
54.	Moreover, the Zionist leaders are taking new steps daily in the unlawful course they have set themselves, multiplying the acts of arrogance and provocation, both vis-a-vis the populations of the territories which they occupy and vis-a-vis the Arab world, of hundreds of millions of Moslems and Christians and of the whole
international community. All proposals for a peaceful solution, no matter how comprehensive, have been con-temptously rejected, for the purpose of maintaining the Israeli fait accompli, which is the manifestation of an unbridled expansionist appetite.
55.	I am in duty bound to draw the attention of this Assembly to the special fate of the city of Jerusalem, which not only continues to endure an endless foreign military occupation but also must face an out-and-out campaign to subvert human values and desecrate the Islamic and Christian Holy Places, with a view to a complete Judaization of the City,
56.	The summit conference of the Moslem Heads of State, held at Rabat in December 1969, and the subsequent Islamic conferences at Djedda and Karachi gave the world a clear idea of the depth of apprehension and anguish of 600 million Moslems faced with a criminal enterprise that offends their religious convictions and their dignity. There can be no question of their accepting in any context whatsoever any solution that does not restore to the Arab city of Jerusalem the status it enjoyed before the aggression of 1967.
57.	And then there is the people of Palestine, expelled several times from its land and its homes, wandering among refugee camps in indescribable misery, living on charity that is increasingly grudging and pushed into dangerous despair. When and how will so hateful an injustice be redressed? How and by what means will this people, plundered and thwarted, be able to return home and obtain just reparation from the harm done it for more than 20 years?
58.	It is for the entire international community to answer. It is for the Security Council and the great Powers to assume their responsibilities, to adopt the necessary measures and see that they are applied.
59.	Finally, there are the Arab territories occupied since the aggression of June 1967 despite efforts made both through the United Nations and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Gunnar Jarring, and through initiatives taken directly by a number of Member States, jointly or separately; despite the offers and numerous formulas for peaceful arrangements that have been proposed, not once has Israel agreed even in principle to the evacuation of the occupied territories. Not once has Israel announced its acceptance of the rule of the non-acquisition of territories through military conquest.
60.	Mr. Jarring's most recent proposals have gone unanswered, despite the clearly demonstrated goodwill of the Egyptian Arab Republic, which on that account enjoys the sympathy, consideration and esteem of the majority of States Members of the United Nations.
61.	Instead, we have seen Israel strengthen its hold on the occupied territories by carrying cut transfers of population and setting up improved military works in all the sectors, and this while devoting the bulk of its resources, and of the ample external aid it receives, to the acquisition of ever more sophisticated and deadly weaponry.
62.	We urgently appeal to the suppliers of Israel to refrain from supporting an aggressor that continues illegally to occupy  the territories of others by giving it the increased aid for which it constantly clamors and frequently obtains in the name of some alleged balance of forces that is largely favorable to it and which it in any case does not deserve so long as it has not returned the conquered regions.

63.	The withdrawal of their military support from Israel would not only accord with the principles of peace and justice to which we all subscribe but would in the final analysis be more effective than all the diplomatic activity that has been carried on in vain for more than four years.

64.	Some 10 years ago we thought that the colonial era was gone for ever and that the last vestiges of an epoch that did no honor to mankind were about to disappear, opening the way to cultural, technical and economic progress for hundreds of millions of human beings who had until then been excluded from the advancement of the world.
65.	Valiant Africa had emerged triumphant from this ordeal in a spectacular mass movement towards freedom and independence, and there was a powerful thrust towards co-operation, harmonization and unity in every field, both regionally and in the continent as a whole. In particular, the Organization of African Unity was created and continues to be the vehicle of our hopes and our determination to attain the objectives and the ideals of Africa, which are also those of the United Nations.
66.	But in a reflex of self-preservation and survival, colonialism has pulled itself together, and is still fighting stubbornly to defend itself in its last bastions. Our brothers of Mozambique, Angola and so-called Portuguese Guinea, in particular, have been waging a heroic struggle for years, with success, of course, which arouses our admiration-but also with sacrifices and suffering, which will long be their lot unless the international community goes to their n xue.
67.	Indeed, Portugal, which is pursuing a blind and costly policy, given the means available to that country, could nc>t so long continue to ignore the rights of the peoples it has enslaved if it did not enjoy the effective support of forces which in the name of defense are aiding the work of colonialism and continuous aggression in Africa.
68.	In Rhodesia, the Zimbabwe people is still subject to the law of the racist minority, and even the economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations, frequently by-passed as they are, have proven discouragingly ineffective. There again, our Organization, and the United Kingdom in particular, will have to use energetic measures of the only kind that will be understood by the unlawful regime of Ian Smith, which is based on violence and the fait accompli.
69.	We shall never tire of denouncing the discrimination and racial segregation practiced on our brothers in South Africa. No glimmer of hope has ever come from that part of our continent to suggest that there is even the beginning of any move to put an end to a policy unanimously rejected by the international community. On the contrary, the repression is growing harsher and the refusal to engage in dialog with the African majority is total. Moreover, the Pretoria Government is unlawfully extending its nefarious policies to Namibia, in defiance of our Organization and its decisions on the subject. There again, the indulgence and understanding-indeed, the co-operation and military support-enjoyed by South Africa from many countries enable it to continue with ease a course of action we have so often unanimously condemned.
70.	As for the Sahara under Spanish administration, I should like to recall that the General Assembly has repeatedly reaffirmed that the populations must be consulted by referendum as soon as possible so that they may freely decide their future. The Government of His Majesty the King considers that to be the most appropriate way of speeding up the decolonization of the region and thereby enabling the local populations, and the Governments concerned, including the Spanish Government, at last to go beyond a largely outmoded phase of their common history. We believe this anachronism must be eliminated as soon as possible so as to open wider still the road to more intelligent and more extensive co-operation with Spain, a country with which Morocco already has many common traditions and interests.
71.	Without an improvement in international relations and liberation from the increasing burden of armaments the world community cannot genuinely devote itself to economic and social development. My Government is profoundly convinced that without genuine general and complete disarmament and the consequent release of substantial resources and their transfer to development, this last field will always be beset by great problems. Without mentioning the recent monetary crisis and the extent of its unfortunate consequences, one need only glance at the international scene r.o note that the picture is far from reassuring: a great gap between industrialized and developing countries, exploding populations, deteriorating terms of trade, insufficiency and rigidity of financial, technical and scientific assistance.
72.	It is true that our Organization has attempted to react against this acceleration of underdevelopment and to set targets for a program of economic and social progress. Unfortunately, the efforts in this common enterprise have not met with the encouragement and support hoped for on the part of the affluent countries. However, despite the disappointments and doubts caused by the revision of commitments, our Organization took the occasion of its twenty-fifth anniversary solemnly to adopt the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)]. That Strategy, which has been called a charter for development, illustrates the awareness and resolve of the world community to achieve the objectives of the Second Decade.
73.	My Government, which has fully subscribed to all the options of the Strategy, can only hope that this awareness and resolve will be given practical effect without delay, and that all the commitments will be honored. We do not at all forget that it is first and foremost the developing countries themselves that bear the principal responsibility for ensuring their own development. But what we want and ask is that the efforts undertaken by those countries should not, as is unfortunately often the case, be continuously limited or set at naught by restrictive measures taken by the industrialized countries.
74.	On the eve of the third session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which is to take place in Santiago, Chile, in April and May 1972 and on the eve of other similar conferences, we repeat our appeal that all development problems should be studied and approached with the sole objective of relating them to the targets of the Strategy.
75.	Meanwhile-and here we have in mind the forthcoming conference in Lima the countries of the third world will have to get together and reach agreement first, so that they may make their voice heard and demand that their rights and interests be taken into consideration. It seems to as useful on this occasion to point to the example of the oil-producing countries whose solidarity won better terms for the sale of their products. It is certain that any move towards the conclusion of similar compromises in other fields will be likely to safeguard the interests of all.
76.	In any case, it remains our hope that it will be recognized and agreed that the job of development is an urgent and general one incumbent on all countries, whatever their situation or level of development. This, in our view, is the principal course to be followed if we wish to attain the gods of harmonious and generalized development throughout the international community.
77.	I should have liked to deal today with other important problems on our agenda, for example those concerning the sea-bed and the ocean floor, the environment, and outer space, but I shall leave that task to the members of my delegation who will be taking part in the work of the various Committees of the Assembly.
78.	It has been suggested that the world has passed from an era of confrontation into one of negotiation and decisive change. Wisdom and realism dictate that we continue to see the international community as it is, not as we would like to see it. Great efforts and great sacrifices are still required, and the contribution of all, large and small, is essential if we genuinely want decisive change.
79.	My delegation will, for its part, spare no effort in that direction, so that for all peoples of the world the United Nations Charter may have meaning and purpose,


48.	  May I first offer you, Sir, the fiM support and cooperation of the Canadian delegation in the performance of the great responsibility you have accepted as President of the General Assembly. Canada welcomes your presence In the Chair and offers Its good wishes to the people of Indonesia, whom you have served with such distinction In this Organization, It Is Indicative of the scope and variety of our Organization that the presidency should move from the representative of one of the northernmost countries of Europe to one of the southernmost countries of Asia without any disruption In our continuing work,
49.	I should like at this time to thank the previous President, Mr. Edvard Hambro, for the skill and judgment he showed as our presiding officer at the last session,
50.	It is a matter of deep regret in Canada that this should be the last session at which U Thant will occupy the Secretary General's chair, U Thant has carried out his heavy responsibilities and fulfilled  his arduous obligations with a serenity and steadfastness that have been an example to us all and have won the respect and admiration of all everywhere, 1 am sure his quiet and authoritative voice will continue to be heard In the councils of the nations, and on behalf of the people of Canada I wish him well In his future endeavors.
51.	This twenty-sixth session of the General Assembly opens a new quarter-century In the life of our Organization, and I suggest that It may mark a turning-point In our history, and the opportunity for a new beginning, if this Assembly moves promptly and effectively to seat the People's Republic of China In the seat of China, China Is a charter Member of this Organization and a permanent member of the Security Council, The only question before us, I suggest, is who should occupy to existing seat of China, The Canadian position is clear: the Government that has responsibility for the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people must now take its proper place here-the Government of the People's Republic of China. The searing of the Peking Government in this Assembly and in the Security Council will bring the effective Government of a quarter of mankind into our councils.
52.	Canada endorses the principle of universality of membership and looks forward to a time when the divided States, too, can be properly represented here. But principles must always be conditioned by facts, and before this ideal can be reached there are serious practical problems to be solved. There would be no particular advantage for the United Nations or for the divided States themselves were they to do no more than import their special problems and conflicts into the wider forum of this Organization.
53.	I have said that Canada endorses the principle of universality, and in the Canadian view there is an important principle involved. The communications explosion has annihilated time and distance, two factors that used to isolate problems in one part of the world from those in another and frequently contributed to the solution of such problems by allowing a breathing-space in which good judgment and common sense could be brought to bear. International problems can no longer be localized easily; every such problem is a world problem and involves the world community, which is, in effect, the United Nations. The simple theorem that universal problems call for universal solutions is almost a tautology. And universal solutions are likelier to be found by a body that is universally representative.
54.	1 should like to illustrate what I mean by touching briefly on four problem areas: armed conflicts, the physical environment, arms control and disarmament, and world trade;
55.	As we look around the world today we see armed conflict or the seeds of aimed conflict in many parts of the world, Those cases where international disputes involve Member nations, as for example the Middle East, fall clearly within the responsibility of the United Nations. Where conflicts are contained within a single State, established practice at least suggests that they do not so fall. This leaves with us a question which I will pose and discuss but to which Canada has no definitive answer to offer: at what point does an internal conflict affect so many nations to such an extent that it can no longer properly be accepted as a domestic matter?
56.	I sense a growing world concern that tragedies are unfolding and that nothing is being done about them by the world community as represented by the United Nations. The capacity of this Organization to resolve conflicts, whether domestic or international, is limited by two realities: the terms of the Charter and the will of the Member nations.
57.	I need hardly say that we do not here constitute a supranational authority. I do not believe that the world is ready for such an authority, for any kind of world government. Today, most of the nations of the world, older and newer equally, are preoccupied with internal problems. Certainly Canada is no exception. Canada is facing internal problems of both an economic and a political nature. Canada believes that domestic problems are best dealt with by domestic solutions, and others feel the same way. The question is: how can the international community best assist in a situation where an internal problem has got beyond the capacity of the Government concerned? The mere fact that the nations are preoccupied with internal problems and questions of sovereignty in the foreseeable future does not excuse us from making the best possible use of the instrument we have, the United Nations. The United Nations can and should move promptly and effectively, as it often has done, to ameliorate human suffering and protect, to the extent possible, the innocent non- combatants that often bear most of the suffering. This is a noble end in itself and can be a means toward the settlement of a conflict by creating a better and saner atmosphere.
58.	No move in the direction of universality can in itself offer any great hope for easier solutions to the problems that are troubling our world, but it could offer a strengthening of our Organization that should help us to come to grips with them.
59.	Turning to the second great universal problem, how to preserve a natural environment that will continue to support life on earth, the United Nations has recognized its global nature by setting up the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, to be held in Stockholm next year, with a distinguished Canadian public servant, Maurice Strong, as Secretary-General of that Conference.
60.	Canada has a special interest in environmental questions, if only because we occupy such a large part of the
earth's surface. Despite its vast extent and relatively small population, Canada has serious air- and water-pollution problems of its own. It also, inevitably, is a recipient of the pollution of others through the Great Lakes system and oil-spills on its coastlines, to name only two examples. This is why Canada is concerned about the inadequacy of existing international law relating to the preservation of the environment in general and the marine environment in particular.
61.	Canada is working toward the development of an adequate body of law in this field. At the national level, the Canadian Government has adopted laws for the protection of fisheries from the discharge or deposit of wastes, for the prevention of pollution disasters in Canada's territorial waters and fishing zones, and for the preservation of the delicate ecological balance of the Arctic. At the previous session of the General Assembly  and last month in a draft resolution submitted jointly with Norway to Subcommittee III of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction [AI8421, annex V, sect. II], Canada invited other States to take similar measures at the national level to prevent and control marine pollution as a move toward the development of effective international arrangements.
62.	Canada is working towards a multilateral treaty regime on safety of navigation and the prevention of pollution in Arctic waters, with other countries having special responsibilities in the Arctic regions.
63.	In a wider multilateral context, Canada is participating actively in the preparations for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the IMCO International Conference on Marine Pollution and the third conference on the law of the sea. These three conferences, taken together, present a unique opportunity for the development of a comprehensive system of international environmental law. As the first and widest-ranging of the three, the Stockholm Conference will be of particular importance in helping States to come to grips with the apparent conflict between environmental preservation on the one hand and economic development on the other.
64.	Canada is usually and properly classed as a developed nation, but it is still in the course of development, still importing capital and know-how, still engaged in building its industrial base. This makes Canadians aware of the conflict between the need to develop, essential to economic growth, and the need to preserve and, where necessary, to recapture a viable natural environment, essential to the survival of life.
65.	For this reason Canada has a special understanding of the dilemma seen by the developing nations, where the highest priority must be given to economic and social development as the means to achieve a standard of living that will offer dignity and opportunity to all their citizens, and where the preservation of the physical, environment, however desirable in itself, would-seem to come second. But I would suggest that this dilemma is wrongly posed.
66.	Technology has now reached a stage where the industrialization needed for economic development need not disturb the environment to an unacceptable extent. And it is by no means the rule that an ecologically sound industrial or other project must be more costly than one that is not. With far-sighted planning and careful attention to design and ecological considerations there need be little or no added cost. The pollution befouling the Great Lakes system largely results from wasted opportunities, from dumping into the water by-products that in themselves have value if properly recovered. The Canadian Government is working with the Governments of the United States and of the United States and Canadian provinces bordering on the Great lakes system to establish water-quality standards, achieve them in the shortest possible time and see to it that they are maintained.
67.	The discussions now going on between the various levels of the Governments in Canada and the United States will set into motion a program for the rehabilitation and preservation of the Great Lakes which will cost billions of dollars and call upon vast human and technological resources. These astronomical expenses would not have been incurred had we and our neighbors been able to foresee and forestall the damage we have done to the largest fresh-water system on earth.
68.	I urge my friends in the developing nations to balance the costs of anti-pollution measures against the cost, of pollution and the mindless waste of limited resources it so often represents. Everyone in this room is looking and working for the day when the prosperity now enjoyed by the few can be shared by all. Economic and social development is the route to prosperity. We should all take advantage of the fact that advances in technology mean that we can follow this route without poisoning the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil that gives us sustenance, without disturbing the ecological balance that supports all life.
69.	My third illustration of the universality of human problems is the whole field of arms control and disarmament. Canada firmly believes that, until the People's Republic of China is playing its part in our deliberations here and in the detailed studies and negotiations being carried on in the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, agreements in this important area will be at best incomplete and at worst ineffective. This is not to downgrade the excellent work that has already been done, as evidenced by such achievements as the Treaty on the NGn-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII), annex], the Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof [resolution 2660 (XXV), annexJ, and the current work on a biological weapons treaty, in all of which Canada has had an active and essential part to play. Nor does it make any less welcome the encouraging and fundamental negotiations now taking place between the United States and the Soviet Union to curtail the strategic arms race.
70.	Earlier this month in Geneva I had the privilege of addressing the Fourth International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. I took advantage of my being in Geneva to speak to the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament at its 536th meeting about a subject to which my country attaches the greatest importance; the need for a complete ban on nuclear testing, including underground testing. This Assembly will soon be seized of the special report on nuclear testing [A/8457- DC/234] by the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, and for this reason I should like to make again here some of the points I made in Geneva,
71.	Before a complete test-ban can be achieved, there are political and technical difficulties to be overcome. Canada is not alone in believing that these very difficulties call for s determined and speedy effort to reach a total ban on underground nuclear testing. There are steps which could be taken at once before international agreement is reached, steps we believe all Members of the United Nations would support. Those Governments which are conducting nuclear tests could limit both the size and the number of tests they are now carrying out, starting with the biggest, and announce such restraints publicly. This would represent no difficulty nor involve any complication.
72.	There is little time left to us to ensure that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons becomes fully effective. All the measures needed to make that Treaty viable should receive the highest priority, and the ending of all nuclear tests must come first. Many Governments are anxious to see all obstacles to the full implementation of the non-proliferation Treaty removed, before the precarious equilibrium among the nuclear weapons Powers is further disturbed whether by on-going scientific and technical developments or by the emergence of new nuclear Powers. Canada is at one with those Governments in their concern and in their determination.
73.	The continuation of nuclear weapons tests is at the root of the problem. The ending of all nuclear tests by all Governments in all environment is of the greatest possible importance for Canada and for the whole international community,
74.	The safety of all is the concern of all, For Canada there is, if possible, an additional concern. The detonation by the Soviet Union in the last few days of a large underground nuclear explosion and the possibility of a considerably larger test in our own neighborhood by the United States emphasize that the rate and the size of underground testing on the increase. Competitive testing must not be advanced by the nuclear Powers as a justification for maintaining the momentum of the arms race. The danger is that it will, and this brings home to us all the urgent need for a complete ban on nuclear testing.
75.	I turn finally to my fourth illustration of the universality of problems today. I suggest that there is no part of the world and no country that is unaffected by the difficulties now being experienced in the monetary and trading arrangements arising out of the chronic balance-of- payments deficit of the United States. Developing countries are well aware that problems among the fortunate few are of great importance to them. They are affected directly in two ways: by the adverse effect upon development assistance and by increased barriers to the trade that, in the long run, offers the best possibility of economic betterment for their peoples,
76.	Socialist economies are steadily increasing their trade with market economies, to the benefit of all. As exchanges in the fields of science and technology multiply, the economies of all the world's nations become more inter- dependent-a trend that should be welcomed, not only for the immediate benefit" it brings; but also as a proven means of reducing tensions.
77.	The truth is that all of us-rich or poor, developed and developing, with socialist or market economies-have an interest in minimizing obstacles to trade and in facilitating trade by the maintenance of a workable system of monetary exchanges. All of us suffer when trade is impeded by the setting up of new obstacles to its free flow or by instability in world monetary arrangements.
78.	Trade is more than a matter of dollars and cents, more than a struggle for economic advantage. It is the only means we have to create a world economy that will support all the world's inhabitants at a level that will enable us all to enjoy the social justice that is our birthright and to achieve fulfillment in peace and dignity. It is to that end that so much of the best work of the United Nations family has been directed in the past and it is this great goal which must continue to call forth all that is best in us for the future.


129.	 Mr. President, in this first intervention of the Spanish delegation, I wish to express to you my congratulations and those of my delegation on your having been elected President of the Assembly. The qualities which distinguish you are a guarantee that you will direct our deliberations successfully. Allow me also to take this opportunity of congratulating the new Members, Bhutan, Bahrain and Qatar, which have been incorporated into this Organization. This brings the number of Member States up to 130. We trust that the goal of universality, to which this Organization aspires, is on the way to becoming a reality.
130.	This twenty-sixth session represents or at least should represent the beginning of a new stage in the life of our Organization. The problems which concern it must therefore be tackled with our eyes chiefly set upon the future and with an eminently dynamic approach. If the past cannot be forgotten, its recollection should help us to eliminate those impediments which at one time limited the effectiveness of our Organization and the errors the repetition of which it would be hard to forgive.
131.	One fundamental problem which the United Nations must deal with from the outset of this new voyage consists in clarifying whether it responds constitutionally to the challenges of the present time.
132.	The constitutional problems of the United Nations oblige us to establish, first of all, whether the Organization is a true reflection of the international community as it is shaped today. In the second place, it is likewise necessary to determine whether the legal instrument by which it is governed answers present needs.
133.	The United Nations should today reflect, as it was supposed to in the past, the genuine composition of the international community, composed of all of its members. Any attempt to delay the universality of the United Nations would be prejudicial to the Organization, However, universality must not be achieved to the detriment of anyone, and should be attained in accordance with the aims and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
134.	For Spain, universalism is not merely a doctrine. In recent years Spain's foreign policy has been guided by its desire to improve and extend its relations everywhere in the conviction that international security demands sincere and active coexistence. Guided by this spirit, the Spanish Government has resumed its relations with countries having different political, social and economic systems, since it takes the view that coexistence implies the strictest respect for the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of each State.
135.	If the Organization is to be brought into line with present-day realities, the Charter, too, must be adapted. No change of the Charter must be made in respect of what is immutable, its aims and principles, but only in regard to what was the mere expression of a concrete social reality, which was subsequently translated into what we might describe as the "internal economy of the Organization". Study of the major subjects which demand reconsideration must begin, and I shall indicate some of them: the conversion of the Security Council into a more flexible and representative instrument, in which the void existing in it between the great Powers and the rest of the Member States should be filled; the Economic and Social Council must also be made more dynamic and brought into line with the needs of development; the quest for an effective system for the settlement of conflicts that respects both sovereignty and justice alike; and the organization of more suitable machinery for maintaining peace.
136.	I am convinced that the time has come now that more than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the end of the Second World War and inasmuch as the freezing of positions of the "cold war" has been superseded-to confront resolutely various centers of tension existing in the world and to establish the appropriate security systems. I shall refer to such widely differing questions as Central Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which, at the present time, have the common factor of involving permanent threats to international peace and security. At the same time, it is necessary to tackle the over-all problem of the armaments race and military expenditures.
137.	Owing to its geographical position, Spain is particularly interested in the strengthening of security in Europe and the Mediterranean.
138.	The situation in Central Europe, and its solution, suggest that it is possible to achieve a new system of European continental security; but without disregarding this fact, Spain has maintained a positive attitude towards the convocation of a European conference on security and co-operation.
139.	The signing of the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin last September seems to justify the hope that with suitable developments,, it may form a starting point towards a multilateral preparation of this conference. ' ,
140.	Together with this, we should seek to give the principles that must govern life in Europe an interpretation which is identical for all and accepted by all. Such a continental, balanced and just order would justify a reduction of forces and the kind of disarmament that would relieve Europeans of a permanent threat.
141.	This disarmament and reduction of forces should not be confined to Central Europe, but should also extend to the Mediterranean, in which there has been a recent increase of tension.
142.	At the present time total demilitarization and neutralization of the Mediterranean is unrealistic. But what is indeed an attainable objective is the stabilization of forces at their present level, with a view to their gradual and balanced reduction. For this purpose it is indispensable for the coastal States to concert iheir thoughts and deeds with a view to reaching decisions concerning the area. At the same time they should strive to increase regional co-operation in the economic, technological, social and cultural fields.
143.	May the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs be allowed, on behalf of Spaniards everywhere for no problem in my country ha:, ever elicited such a deep-seated and unanimous response-to set forth before this General Assembly our concerns and hopes in the question of Gibraltar.
144.	We are deeply concerned by the fact that still no solution has been reached. The view of this Organization is unequivocal and clear-cut: an end must be put to a colonial situation which seriously affects Spam's territorial integrity, while at the same time safeguarding the interests of the population of Gibraltar. Together with this, an end must also be put to an anachronistic situation which does nothing but obstruct the creation of a greater and more united Europe, to which common undertaking both the British and the Spanish people feel committed*
145.	It is our hope-and it would be a very serious matter to disappoint that hope that without further delays the United Kingdom will come to a realistic view which will cause the existing contacts to lead to genuine negotiations, so repeatedly requested at different General Assembly sessions. We believe that the shortest line to these negotiations is a straight line and not irregular tacking which sharply wound Spanish sensitivities and unnecessarily create an atmosphere of tension. Let us stop our quibbling once and for all; let us no longer use equivocal language and procrastination and let us work together in the quest for the goal towards which we are impelled by justice, the logic of our time and the resolutions of this Organization.
146.	The principles and relevant resolutions of the United Nations should also, and as a matter of great urgency, inspire the settlement of the gravest conflict that affects the Mediterranean area and world peace and security: the conflict in the Middle East.
147.	From this platform and in the Security Council Spain has often said that there is a need to solve this long and distressing conflict on the basis of Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and all the other relevant resolutions of the United Nations. My country now reiterates its conviction that the acquisition of territory by force is unacceptable and that there is a need duly to safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people.
148.	At the same time we hopefully welcome all advances in negotiations that may mean a step towards a just political settlement of this problem. A partial solution can only be considered as provisional pending an over-all solution, which, we hope, will be final.
149.	For obvious reasons, everything connected with Jerusalem deserves special attention.
150.	We are following matters pertaining to the Latin American countries with close and sympathetic attention.
151.	During the first six months of this year and in two successive stages I had the honor of officially visiting nine South American Spanish-speaking Republics and Brazil. 1 propose to add to those visits very shortly by touring the Central American nations and the Caribbean. The Spanish Government did not wish those visits merely to have rhetorical value; they were intended to study and promote various types of cultural, technical and economic co-operation which will be capable of building new bridges for mutual aid.
152.	We cannot disregard the internal stresses which Latin America is undergoing. In some cases that is due to the survival of antiquated social structures which the countries themselves are trying to remove; but at other times Latin-America has been the victim of unjust discrimination, a situation clearly reflected in the deterioration of the terms of economic trade which has devaluated raw materials and raised the cost of manufactured goods to the prejudice of Latin America.
153.	In this way and in other similar ways, it is undeniable that Latin America has frequently been attacked in the cultural field and even devastating^ plundered both is regards its spiritual values and its material wealth. Hence it is only natural for each nation to seek within itself the strength needed to assert its personality and promote the proper use of its resources. Spain is observing this process, which is similar to what is happening in its own country, with the sincere and profound understanding which is the mark of its unchangeable brotherhood with Latin America.
154.	We are still far from the ideal of general and complete disarmament under suitable international control, but it can be said that the Disarmament Decade is beginning auspiciously.
155.	It is desirable not to lose the momentum acquired, and the basic responsibility for this devolves upon the major Powers. Taking advantage of the relaxation of tension, which may now be seen for the first time in many years in their mutual relations, it is up to them to take the initiative in nuclear disarmament-the type of disarmament most eagerly desired by all mankind.
156.	Spain for its part resolutely supports the struggle against the arms race and is ready to participate.actively in negotiations leading to disarmament and especially in the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, which is an important subject to be dealt with by this Assembly.
157. We are all aware that the achievement of peace is not based solely on the settlement of international conflicts and the strengthening of security, but something more is needed, namely, conditions which, by making a dignified life possible for man, will render unnecessary his rebellion against injustice.
158.	The achievements of the United Nations in this field ultimately depend on what each one of its Members is prepared to do. Aware of this, Spain has not failed and indeed cannot fail to comply with its duties of co-operation.
159.	My country, which declared last year from this platform its complete adherence to the objectives of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade [resolution 2626 (XXV)], has already begun to put its principles into practice. The Spanish Government, when drafting the third development plan, which coincides with the beginning of the Second Development Decade, not only included its philosophy therein but also established an appropriate system of evaluating results and goals.
160.	As an inevitable consequence of our concept of economics in the service of mankind, the most important objectives to be attained in our third development plan are social improvements of all kinds, which my country desires to achieve for the Spanish people. These improvements concern education, housing, health assistance, social security, vocational training, and so on, which are all part of a program which the Spanish Government began many years ago.
161.	But besides national action there is need for suitable action at sectoral, regional and world levels. In those plans Spain would like to see machinery being used for the examination and evaluation of the objectives and measures of policy agreed upon in the Strategy.
162.	At the sectoral level-and I shall refer to one sector that is most significant, that of trade-the third session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which will be held next year at Santiago de Chile, will afford a propitious occasion for continuing consideration of these basic problems jointly.
163.	The fact that Santiago de Chile is to be the seat of the third session is particularly welcomed by my Government, it being the first time that so important a meeting will take place in a country of Hispanic stock which has been so brilliantly contributing to its work.
164.	At the regional level, we attach importance to the role of the regional economic commissions, without prejudice to the active co-operation which may be provided by the regional organizations not belonging to the United Nations system, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
165.	Finally, at the world level we regard as most interesting the proposals to revitalize the Economic and Social Council in conformity with the role assigned to it by Chapter IX of the Charter in economic, social, scientific and technical subjects.
166. Spain, a developing country which participated actively in the preparation of the Strategy, is again ready to give its assistance to this effort of collective responsibility on the part of the international community.
167.	A greater awareness and knowledge of the problems of development have bd to the conviction that science and technology are important driving forces behind it. In my address during the general debate last year [1867th meeting] I mentioned our special concern over various aspects cf this problem, especially the transfer of technological knowledge. I think there is an urgent need for an intergovernmental organ at the highest level to co-ordinate and provide momentum for the decisions of the Organization as a whole in this field,
168.	One phenomenon of our time is the movement for economic integration. But it is equally true that the division of labor and specialization are essential. Hence we must regret the contradiction into which strongly developed economies have fallen when, while renouncing and abandoning highly technical projects for which they are specially prepared, they erect, on the other hand, artificial barriers to protect sectors in which they are not so competitive. They thereby delay their own technical advancement and the development of other less-advanced countries.
169.	I cannot fail now to refer to a question of the greatest current interest: namely, the monetary crisis.
170.	The impact of the measures recently taken urgently brings out the need for international solidarity and for new forms of agreement. But such agreements must be entered into not exclusively from the standpoint of the interests of the great Powers, but only on the basis of broad co-operation taking into account the interests of all countries, since it does not seem fair that precisely the developing coun- tries-which have been wholly unconnected with the birth of the crisis should be the ones to suffer the most from its consequences.
171.	The reform of the international monetary system cannot bs put through behind their backs, nor should their specific problems be overlooked.
172.	Neither do I wish to omit a justified reference to one important aspect of United Nations action in this field of development. In a few months' time the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment will be meeting in Stockholm. Spain, which is in the full process of industrialization, wishes to avoid a confrontation between economic growth and the deterioration of the environment. We firmly believe that it is possible to combine economic and social development with the preservation of the ecological environment, and we are prepared to seek formulas for uniting them.
173 . I should also like to refer to a problem of increasing gravity which affects the physical, mental and moral health of peoples. I am speaking of the widespread consumption of narcotics causing general concern which the Spanish Government fully shares.
174. That anxiety is responsible for Spain's signing and ratifying international conventions on the subject. It also accounts for the legislative work of incorporating those agreements into our national code, and for busy police activity aimed not only at suppressing internal traffic, but at preventing the use of our territory for transit.
175.	However, that internal action needs to be supplemented by close and sincere international collaboration for the purpose of establishing universally more severe penalties aimed at the radical elimination of this the vilest form of human enslavement.
176.	My Government has accordingly taken note with satisfaction of the recent proposals in this matter, especially that of the President of the French Republic, and it trusts that 'those timely suggestions will attain the necessary universality without confining themselves to any particular geographical or political framework.
177.	An important point which is bound to draw our attention concerns the task of bringing marine law up to date-a task which is at present being carried out by the United Nations. The initial results of that work can be considered satisfactory. The debates in the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction have allowed a forthright exchange of views.
178.	Throughout history, the law of the sea has sought to satisfy and balance two great classes of interests: on the one hand, the economic interests of States in the use and exploitation of the sea, and, on the other, political and security interests.
179.	At the present time those two great classes of interests remain, but the new political, economic and technical realities have substantially modified their content and orientation.
180.	The process of socialization which has been noted in the whole of international law has had a direct impact upon the law of the sea and has deeply transformed a large sector of economic interests. The freedom of the seas, as regards liberty to use marine areas, still remains an essential necessity for all States, coastal or otherwise. But at the same time the needs arising from the economic and social development of peoples have become more urgent and vital.
181.	Thus the interests of the international community  and especially the interests of the developing States- require that we give a satisfactory legal response to three basic economic needs: in the first place, to the need for exploring and exploiting, in an exclusive manner, the resources of the continental shelf, while establishing a broad and uniform limit to that zone; secondly, to the need for coastal States to enjoy a number of preferential rights in regard to the conservation and exploitation of fishing resources over an area of the sea adjoining their coasts which shall be wide enough to satisfy their needs. Thirdly, we are bound to give an imaginative reply to the problems and needs of the "international zone of the sea-bed and ocean floor", already described as the "common heritage of mankind".
182.	In the second area of interests, which I have just indicated, the process is similar. Traditional political and strategic interests, in the face of the new realities, alter their content and orientation.
183.	The need for us to provide an adequate guarantee for the survival of the human race requires us, in the new law of the sea, to include legal rules and suitable technical procedures to prevent and eliminate pollution in all marine zones. Those rules, in the last resort, can only be a direct consequence of the fundamental right of the human being in respect to his environment, as a corollary of his right to life.
184.	In the second place, States have an inalienable right to security. Territorial waters have always constituted for coastal States not only a zone of economic protection but also an area to guarantee their national security.
185.	Traditionally, the legal regime of territorial waters has been built on the key notion of the "right of innocent passage", which strikes a fair balance between the general needs of international navigation and the powers that arise from the sovereignty of States in the marine area. That idea still retains its full value today in view of the new security needs of Spates, and it cannot be regarded as admissible that, because of the openly admitted strategic needs of a few Powers, anyone should seek to impose on coastal States certain alleged freedoms of navigation in, or flight over, straits forming part of the territorial waters of one or more States.
186.	And we consider it inadmissible also because those hypothetical freedoms, while unnecessary for the needs of peaceful navigation, would violate the national sovereignty of coastal States since they would seriously restrict those Stales' inalienable right of security, and briefly, because they would serve to promote the world-wide expansion of nuclear power, both marine and aerial. Nobody can doubt that they would increase tension and conflicts, thereby jeopardizing the United Nations objectives of peace and security.
187.	Finally, from this important rostrum, I wish to make an appeal in favor of those who have suffered the consequences of war and natural disasters, and particularly those who are the victims of a lack of understanding among nations and are forced to suffer the hardships and displacement imposed by those circumstances.
188.	In the coming days we shall be dealing with grave matters of transcendent importance. My delegation fervently hopes that, notwithstanding any antagonism which might arise in the course of debate, we may part united for the welfare of this Organization and the peace and security of the world.