Mr. President, I should like, first of all, to associate myself with you in conveying, on my own behalf and that of my delegation, our most profound condolences to the delegation of the Byelorussian SSR on the distressing loss it has just experienced in the death of Mr. Pyotr Masherov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia, a death that occurred on 4 October. We wish to extend to the delegation of the Byelorussian SSR our most profound sympathy.
4.	Mr. President, since I am speaking for the first time in this Assembly, I should first of all like to tell you how happy my delegation is at seeing you elected unanimously to a post of such prestige and delicate responsibilities as that of President of the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth session. You are the distinguished representative of a country which, through its energy and determination, has won the admiration and respect of the international community. But you are, above all, the representative of a friendly country, the Federal Republic of Germany, whose history has left its imprint on the destiny of my country, the United Republic of Cameroon.
5.	That historic encounter between our peoples has served, ever since Cameroon became independent, to enrich in particular the development and strengthening of multifaceted and mutually advantageous co-operation between our two countries, both bilaterally and multilaterally, and especially through our association in the Treaty of Rome through the Conventions of Yaoundé, of 1963 and 1969, and of Lome, of 1975 and 1979.
6.	I wish to assure you of my delegation's complete readiness and firm determination to give you every possible co-operation to enable you to discharge your important functions effectively. Your qualities as an experienced diplomat and your vast knowledge of the problems of the world strengthen our conviction that you will contribute decisively to the solution of the various urgent problems facing our Assembly.
7.	I should like also to take this occasion to pay a tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, for the patient authority and the distinction with which he conducted the proceedings of the Assembly over the last 12 months. We are grateful to him for having so worthily responded to the hopes placed in him by Africa and the international community.
8.	My delegation also takes this occasion to reaffirm our great satisfaction at the manner in which the Secretary- General has been discharging his important and delicate functions, and at his ceaseless efforts to enable the international community to solve the problems of the day in accordance with the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations.
9.	It is a pleasure for me to repeat here the congratulations of my country to Zimbabwe upon its accession to independence, after one of the most bitter and fierce liberation struggles in the history of decolonization, under the aegis of the Patriotic Front and with the support of the international community. Cameroon looks forward to co-operating with this new sister republic in the Organization of African Unity [OAU] and within the greater family of non-aligned nations, as well as in the United Nations itself.
10.	Finally, I wish to welcome the accession to independence of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and its admission to membership of our Organization as its one hundred and fifty-fourth Member State. In spite of the physical distance between our two countries, the historical and cultural heritage of our peoples makes us feel certain that we will enjoy friendly and fraternal co-operation.
11.	The work of the thirty-fifth session of the Assembly is taking place in an international situation which is in the grip of crises: a political crisis because of the resurgence of hegemonistic rivalries that give rise to the tension, instability and conflict that constantly beset the third world and seriously affect the spirit of detente; an economic crisis as a result of the collapse of the lopsided system established right after the Second World War, and of the reluctance of the affluent countries to embrace the concepts of a new, more just and more equitable international economic order and resolutely to commit themselves to its establishment as a way out of our present difficulties; a social, cultural crisis, a crisis of civilization, if ever there was one, because of the generalized uncertainty, fear, mistrust and poverty which are the inevitable outcome of the situation.
12.	In Africa, our primary concern and the least developed continent in spite of its vast natural and human resources and potential, the situation remains disturbing because of the persistence of apartheid and the instability engendered by various sources of tension, which are themselves in turn generated and revived by the effects of decolonization, by greed and by foreign interference.
13.	Against such a background, Zimbabwe's accession to independence was a breakthrough and a decisive stage in the process of the total liberation of our continent from all colonial oppression and racial discrimination. Unfortunately, however, the significance of that far-reaching event, as far as Namibia and the oppressed peoples of South Africa are concerned, does not seem to have been fully grasped by the Pretoria racist regime.
14.	In Namibia, indeed, the prospects remain confused. The hopes raised by the adoption of the United Nations plan to permit that international Territory to gain independence through free and democratic elections under United Nations supervision and control have constantly been thwarted by the negatively ambiguous attitude of the South African Government. Its considerable correspondence addressed to the Secretary-General, particularly its letter of 12 May last, which raised new, entirely fictitious, trumped-up difficulties in order to distract the attention of our Organization, is particularly enlightening in this regard. The recent setting up in Namibia of a so-called ministerial council, in our view, marks the beginning of the end of the process of an internal settlement, which we have ceaselessly, denounced and condemned.
15.	It is urgent, therefore, for the international community to do its utmost to thwart this cynical design. Those who have assumed responsibility for the conception and adoption of the United Nations plan for a peaceful settlement of the Namibian question must make use of the decisive assets they possess to prevail upon South Africa to co-operate with the Secretary-General in implementing the plan. The persistence of the Namibian problem, because of the dynamics of war and the instability caused thereby, and because of the interests of the Powers in the region, is a threat to international peace and security, in addition to eroding the authority and credibility of our Organization, which has thus far shown a certain laxity in the face of the bad faith and arrogance of the South African regime.
16.	In this regard, the position of my country, which has assumed important responsibilities in the United Nations Council for Namibia, is well known. It was recently recalled by the President of the United Republic of Cameroon, His Excellency Mr. Ahmadou Ahidjo. Cameroon supports the struggle of the Namibian people, represented by the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO], and its right to self-determination and independence in a united Namibia, including Walvis Bay. We reject any unilateral solution devised and imposed by South Africa; we support the practical arrangements for implementing the settlement plan accepted by the Security Council in its resolution 435 (1978). Finally, we are convinced of the need to bring to bear against South Africa the enforcement measures provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter to compel that country to co-operate with the United Nations.
17.	This same conviction determines our approach to the situation in South Africa itself, where the criminal policy of apartheid, in spite of certain superficial adjustments, continues to keep the overwhelming majority of the South African people in servitude, and receives encouragement through the passivity of certain Powers and the weight of foreign interests.
18.	The aggravation of tension and the violent incidents which are proliferating in that country attest to the resolution and determination of the oppressed people of South Africa to throw off the yoke of apartheid and recover their dignity. The international community must support this legitimate struggle by active assistance to the South African liberation movements and the actions proposed to this effect by the OAU and the United Nations.
19.	In its determination to work for the total liberation of the African continent from colonial domination and racial discrimination, Cameroon will continue to support, as it has in the past, the decisions of those two organizations and to provide aid and assistance to the liberation movements concerned.
20.	Apart from the explosive situation which persists in southern Africa, elsewhere on our continent the independence of several young States continues to be threatened by foreign interference, the persistence of fratricidal conflicts and the proliferation of sources of tension.
21.	My delegation vigorously reaffirms its view that in order to remedy this situation—with its resulting instability and waste of energy and resources—we should abide by the letter and spirit of the Charter and recognize and respect the inalienable right of every country freely to decide its own destiny.
22.	Cameroon, which has always worked for the strengthening of friendship and co-operation among peoples, will continue within the framework of its policy of peace, non- alignment and co-operation with all countries which respect its identity, independence, political options and social and economic policies, to provide support both within the United Nations and through the appropriate committees of the OAU to the search for an authentically African settlement of these conflicts.
2.3. Whether they stem from the process of decolonization or result from internal or inter-State conflicts, these crisis situations are accompanied by destruction, poverty and an increasing number of refugees and displaced persons, who in Africa alone number 5 million.
24.	The international community should give to the consideration of this problem all necessary attention, in the light of the efforts made by the host countries. It is fortunate that this item has been included in the agenda of this session.
25.	We are also pleased to note the consultations under way between the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Secretary-General of the OAU with a view to organizing an international pledging conference for refugees in Africa.
26.	The principles contained in our Charter, in particular non-interference in the internal affairs of States, the non-use of force or the threat of force, and the peaceful settlement of disputes, should guide us in our efforts to resolve the conflicts which are raging in various parts of the world.
27.	These principles must more than ever before govern the search for a just and lasting settlement of the conflict in the Middle East, where dangerous tension continues to develop.
28.	Of course, the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council fall within this framework; but the fact that all the interested parties have not complied with those resolutions with a view to their effective implementation, makes the prospect of world peace rather vague and distant.
29.	For its part, Cameroon is convinced that the settlement of the Palestinian question is the key to any peaceful, just and lasting solution of the Middle East problem. This means that the Palestinian people, under the aegis of its authentic representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO], should be able freely to exercise all its inalienable rights, including that to a homeland in Arab Palestine, and to participate on an equal footing with all other parties and at all levels in any process for the settlement of the conflict.
30.	A just and lasting peace in that part of the world necessarily entails the withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territories occupied by in since 1967 and recognition of the right of all States in the area, including Israel, to live in peace within internationally recognized borders. It is to be deplored in this regard that, in spite of the resolutions of our Organization and the pressure of world public opinion, Israel continues to strengthen its presence in the occupied Arab territories by multiplying its settlements and its recent decision to make Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital.
31.	We are pleased to note that the Security Council, in its resolution 478 (1980), adopted on 20 August last, declared that decision null and void and reaffirmed the international status of the Holy City.
32.	My Government has never underestimated the complexity of the Israeli-Arab conflict and the need to exercise patience in order to bring about a lasting settlement. We are also convinced that such a process could be accelerated if all the parties to the conflict showed the same spirit of accommodation and willingness to co-operate.
33.	It seems to us to be indispensable to reverse the present trend towards excessive militarization of that region and to promote there a new climate of detente and co-operation free from any outside intervention and hegemonistic rivalries.
34.	It is in this spirit that we appeal urgently for the preservation of the independence of Lebanon, its unity and its territorial integrity.
35.	In the same spirit, we appeal to Iran and Iraq to put an end to their hostilities, lay down their arms and agree to settle their dispute at the negotiating table. The interest of their peoples demands this. Peace and security in the region make it an urgent necessity.
36.	The aggravation of conflicts and the birth in Asia of new crises which continue to threaten international peace and security are of constant concern to us.
37.	Whether in Afghanistan or Kampuchea, respect for the cardinal principles of the Charter of the United Nations and those of the non-aligned movement, in particular the obligation on all States in their international relations to refrain from the use or the threat of force, to respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of States and not to interfere in the internal affairs of other States, remains the solid basis on which any action to normalize the situation should be founded.
38.	We hope that the efforts undertaken by the Secretary- General and certain States in the area will very soon make it possible for all the parties concerned to embark upon constructive dialogue with a view to a political solution which will take full account of the principles that I have just mentioned.
39.	The same applies to the delicate problem of the island of Cyprus, a founding member of the non-aligned movement, which has been subjected to external interference since 1974 and is now threatened with an explosive situation.
40.	Cameroon deplores the fact that the numerous resolutions adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly to enable the Cypriot population as a whole to exercise its right to full sovereignty and effective control over the whole territory of Cyprus and its natural resources should have remained dead letters.
41.	The resumption on 9 August last of intercommunal talks constitutes an encouraging move which should be strengthened by the mediation of the Secretary-General and especially by the declared will of the leaders of the two communities.
42.	Cameroon will continue to support any initiative designed to promote fraternal dialogue between the two parties concerned with a view to restoring peace on the island and guaranteeing the sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-alignment of Cyprus.
43.	Two years ago, at its tenth special session, devoted to problems of disarmament, the General Assembly attempted to stimulate the efforts of the international community by providing three essential guidelines for the attainment of the objective of general and complete disarmament.
44.	It decided, first, to support the initiatives taken by States at the regional level to expand and reinforce the concept of denuclearized zones; secondly, to encourage the search for ways and means to bring about the complete and effective prohibition of nuclear weapons of all kinds and the freezing and reduction of military expenditures, to the benefit of development aid; and, finally, to give all those measures maximum publicity throughout the world through international conferences and existing negotiating machinery and to strengthen them by security guarantees to the non-nuclear-weapon States, the conclusion of appropriate international conventions and the intensification of action designed to reduce international tension.
45.	We note that, unfortunately, not only has very little progress been achieved in attaining those objectives but, on the contrary, the deterioration of detente has considerably weakened the political determination of States, if it has not actually led them to a further escalation of the arms race. The continual increase in world military expenditures, which this year have been estimated at about $500 billion, is scandalous if one realizes that public assistance to development has been stagnating around $20 billion a year and is even tending to diminish. The constant proliferation of ever more sophisticated means of destruction poses a real threat to mankind, whose peace and security should rather be based on solidarity and co-operation among peoples.
46.	That is why Cameroon remains convinced that a binding agreement among the various military Powers, with a view to bringing about the total prohibition of nuclear tests and the limitation and destruction of stockpiles of all kinds of atomic and chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, could contribute significantly to the restoration of a climate of peace and confidence conducive to international solidarity and co-operation.
47.	We are ready to make our contribution, in the framework of negotiations and appropriate consultations, to any initiative which could promote the process of general and complete disarmament with a view to development.
48.	I have just set forth the views of my Government on the most important political aspects of the crisis of our time, which could at any moment plunge mankind into confrontations with unforeseeable consequences. But to those threats to international peace and security represented by more or less limited regional conflicts we should add those which stem from the persistence of injustice and inequality in international economic relations. Indeed, as is stressed by the Secretary-General in his excellent report on the work of the Organization, "peace is as much at stake in the discussions on economic questions as prosperity and a decent standard of living for all humanity".
49.	That axiom, with regard to the present economic crisis caused by the collapse of the economic order as a result of the Second World War, led us to define, at the sixth and seventh special sessions of the General Assembly, held in 1974 and 1975, the principles and objectives of a new international economic order which would be more just and more equitable because it would give all peoples equal opportunities for progress, well-being and prosperity.
50.	However, we cannot but note that that new international economic order is still embryonic, while the North- South dialogue seems to be moving towards a deadlock.
51.	The international economic situation during the decade which is ending still constitutes a source of grave concern. The world economy, as we have just been reminded by, inter alia, the reports of the World Bank and IMF, is getting steadily worse. In the developed countries signs of an economic revival are hardly perceptible, such is the persistence of recession, inflation, unemployment and deficits in the balance of payments. For the developing countries, there remains the spectre of poverty, disease, hunger and, indeed, total economic deprivation for 1 billion human beings. In our continent, which contains 20 of the 31 least developed countries, and particularly those in special categories whose poverty is such that they are below classification level, the situation is even more tragic. The annual per capita income of about $365 is the lowest in the world. The rate of growth over the last 20 years, taking all the countries together, has barely exceeded 4.8 per cent, while infantile mortality has reached a figure of 137 per 1,000 and almost half the active population is unemployed. With regard to health, the ratio is 1 doctor to 672 inhabitants in urban areas, as against 1 to 26,000 in rural areas.
52.	In this situation, which has been made even worse by natural calamities and disasters and aggravated by the rivalries of Powers in search of customers, raw materials and spheres of influence, the developing countries are condemned to the labour of Sisyphus, in a most insensitive international atmosphere.
53.	Little significant progress in international negotiations has been made in the course of the last decade. It is appropriate here to express our gratification at the remarkable results obtained by the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Indeed, by the end of the ninth session a compromise was reached on essential questions, particularly the functioning of the Sea-Bed Authority and also arrangements for the exploitation of the international zone. We wish to express the hope that the forthcoming convention on the law of the sea will not be frustrated by unilateral legislative measures. That compromise was possible thanks only to the presence of a genuine spirit of co-operation and a persistent political determination to transcend immediate and apparently contradictory interests so as to make a resolute commitment to the building of a world al last reconciled with itself as a result of its being free from injustice and exploitation, and having relations among peoples based on solidarity and co-operation.
54.	How, then, can we fail to regret that such considerations did not inspire all the participants in the eleventh special session, which concluded its work in September. At that session, devoted to development and international economic co-operation, the General Assembly did not succeed in making the decisive breakthrough towards the structural reforms which are indispensable for the achievement of the new international economic order. Some positive results, of course, made it possible to avoid total failure. We are thinking in particular of the resolutions on assistance to the least developed countries and also of the consensus reached on the text of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade. That Strategy, in which Cameroon would have liked to see the manifestation of a contract for harmonious international development based on solidarity and harmony, does, however, contain weaknesses and ambiguities. While it should, above all, have ensured the promotion of development in the developing countries, the Strategy touches on that fundamental objective only obliquely. Although it should have provided for much more binding commitments by Governments than those accepted in the former development strategies and should have included a precise time-table of objectives to be attained, the new Strategy contains measures of general policy which are so watered down that in the final analysis they amount to nothing more than vague promises to examine or to consider possibilities of action.
55.	Instead of being a strategy for speeding up the attainment of the new international economic order, it is directed rather at resolving the problem of development within the existing institutional framework. The reservations or interpretations which accompanied the consensus text make absolutely clear the determination of their authors to maintain at any cost the present imbalanced, ill-adapted and unjust order. Those weaknesses and ambiguities explain our concern about the results of the eleventh special session. We are all the more disappointed as it was not possible to agree on either organizational procedures or the agenda for global negotiations.
56.	This is the time to remind certain delegations which for various reasons were unable to associate themselves with the compromise reached on the subject that what is truly at stake here is the affirmation and recognition of the central role of the General Assembly in matters of international economic co-operation. We appeal to them urgently to adopt a more positive attitude so as to enable the international community to take advantage of this unique opportunity offered to us to define and orient—by means of a global, coherent and integrated approach—concrete action covering all the major sectors of the economy as well as important aspects of the international economic crisis.
57.	Global negotiations, by remedying weaknesses contained in the Strategy, could contribute to the process of negotiations provided for in the framework of the new Strategy with the object of reforming relations and existing machinery in the field of economic exchange between developing and developed countries.
58.	The various statements heard in the course of this general debate have given us grounds for hoping that the consultations that will be held during this session will make it possible to dispel misunderstandings, smooth out differences and achieve a consensus that will make possible the launching of global negotiations on the date initially scheduled.
59.	Persuaded that these global negotiations are necessary and that they can open up for international economic cooperation new prospects that will be commensurate with the requirements of the hour, Cameroon, like other developing countries, reaffirms its political readiness to engage in such consultations.
60.	For us, this is a serious challenge of history.
61.	Permit me to recall the words spoken by His Excellency President Ahmadou Ahidjo before this Assembly over a decade ago, words which remain more timely than ever:
"There is no doubt that mankind finds itself today at a decisive turning-point in its history. This places upon us a very heavy responsibility towards future generations. Our scientific progress may well have little meaning for them if we do not succeed in mastering the human problems with which our societies are confronted, if we fail to bequeath to those generations a world respectful of human dignity, conscious of its unity, and building its destiny in a brotherly dialogue, in peace and injustice, a world which they can possess in peaceful and prosperous security."


This being the first time that we have spoken from this rostrum, we wish to convey to this august Assembly the best wishes of the people of Benin and a message of peace from our leaders, the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin, and the President of the People's Republic of Benin, Comrade Mathieu Kerekou, and the Permanent Committee of the Revolutionary National Assembly and the National Executive Council.
190.	I wish also to join in the warm congratulations addressed to you, Sir, on your unanimous election as President of the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly. This is a tribute by the international community to your distinguished qualities as a diplomat and to your competence. We are convinced that with those qualifications you will conduct our difficult and important deliberations with great skill and calm. Your election is also a tribute to the Federal Republic of Germany. In the fight being waged throughout the world, your country is playing a most outstanding role, thanks to its active presence and remarkable contribution to the universal undertaking of detente, of peace and friendly co-operation among the peoples of the world. We in Benin welcome our relations of co-operation and friendship with the Federal Republic of Germany, at both the bilateral level and within the framework of the European Economic Community.
191.	We should also like to express to our brother Mr. Salim Ahmed Salim, that worthy son of Africa, the satisfaction, admiration and appreciation of our delegation for the remarkable manner in which he conducted the proceedings of the thirty-fourth session and for his courage at the sixth and seventh emergency special sessions and the eleventh special session of the General Assembly.
192.	The delegation of Benin would like finally to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General for his outstanding qualities and constant efforts in the service of the noble ideals of the Charter. We pledge to him our constant support and assistance in the overwhelming tasks that he has assumed in the service of the international community.
193.	Less than a year ago, in the face of the legitimate demands of the heroic people of Zimbabwe and as a result of their armed struggle, those who in the West had learned nothing from history tried in various ways—through blackmail, provocation and armed aggression against the frontline countries—to make it appear that the ultimate victory of the fighting forces of the Patriotic Front was impossible. We are pleased to pay a tribute here to the representatives of free and sovereign Zimbabwe who now stand by our side. Our brothers of Zimbabwe have proved the historical invincibility of the legitimate fight for national liberation.
194.	This is for all of us, but especially for those of us in Africa, a shining example of courage and conviction; it gives hope to our oppressed brothers in Namibia and South Africa. The people of Zimbabwe have preceded them on the path to freedom and justice. Imperialism will sooner or later learn the lessons of Zimbabwe's independence. They will perhaps prolong the untold suffering of our oppressed brothers in southern Africa, but the lessons to be learned from Zimbabwe's resistance will inspire further fights, result in more victories and lead to further solemn and historic celebrations in the General Assembly.
195.	We should also like to bid welcome at the thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly to the representatives of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We extend to them our congratulations and the expression of our fraternal solidarity.
196.	As so often in the past, the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth session is renewing its pledge, a vow it took more than a third of a century ago to rid the world of the scourges of war, injustice and hunger, and to build a world of peace, justice and prosperity for all; its vow to seek, thanks to the growing awareness of the peoples of the entire world and especially the oppressed and exploited peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, just solutions to the many problems that mankind is confronted with today.
197.	Since its revolution of 26 October 1972, our country, the People's Republic of Benin, has fought on all fronts, inside and outside the country, to ensure that from what are often mere pious wishes and from our often unimplemented resolutions, a better world will emerge. Today again, through us, the revolutionary people of Benin intends to participate actively in these efforts to bring about a better world by making its modest contribution to our debate.
198.	This thirty-fifth session of the General Assembly is being held at a time when the already disturbing international situation has become alarming and dangerous, essentially because of the global strategy adopted by the imperialist Powers as they try to defend their selfish interests in the world, the divisions they have created, the wars they have caused and the conflicts they have encouraged.
199.	In our countries we witness powerlessly the redeployment of the armed forces of aggression, the forces of destabilization and the forces of colonial re-conquest of the imperialist Powers. Former gunboat policies seem to have made a comeback, as has the quest for spheres of influence. But in Africa and the Middle East, in Asia and in Latin America, one hears an outcry, the outcry of the oppressed peoples of the world as they fight their oppressors, the outcry of the exploited against the exploiters, the outcry of those who have been starved. That, of course, disturbs the easy consciences of those who persist in going against the tide of history. It upsets them. And that is what fortifies our optimism and confirms our hopes and our unshakable conviction that the peoples of the world fighting for a just cause will triumph in the end.
200.	How can we fail to share the feelings of those who would like to see Namibia move towards genuine independence in keeping with a process similar to that followed by the valiant people of Zimbabwe? Although it is clear that that process is the only one that will point South Africa towards the least shameful way out of the hornets' nest of Namibia, South Africa will, we know, continue to defy the international community because its political short-sightedness is as great as its arrogance; and we know that, regardless of the turn of events in that area, South Africa's protectors, the Western Powers, will continue to plunder the resources of the country and will not fail to come to the assistance of South Africa by refusing to carry out the resolutions of the United Nations aimed al resolving the question of Namibia once and for all.
201.	No one is unaware that the implacable logic of trade, the quest for profits and good business, together with the need for strategic control of certain maritime Powers, are all reasons for the duplicity of the West and explain its diplomatic shenanigans.
202.	If one considers the nature, the origin and the size of me companies taking part in the mining of uranium in Rossing in violation of Decree Number 1 for the Protection of the National Resources of Namibia, enacted by the United Nations Council for Namibia on 27 September 1974, then certain positions suddenly become clear and the procrastination that has been observed can be explained in mercantile and strategic terms.
203.	That has left SWAPO and its fighters only one way out: armed struggle. That is the only way that will bring the Pretoria regime to heel, the only way that will force it to capitulate, as indeed, it forced its toadies in Salisbury to capitulate.
204.	At this decisive and ultimate phase in the struggle before the fins' outcome, we are convinced that our Organization has a primary role to play. It has no alternative but to stick to the commitments it has entered into vis-à-vis the Namibian people. As was affirmed at the conclusion of the historic International Conference in Solidarity with the Struggle of the People of Namibia, held in Paris in September last, it must continue to denounce the fraudulent constitutional or political manoeuvres by which South Africa tries to perpetuate its oppressive colonial system and to exploit the people and resources of Namibia. It must continue its refusal to recognize any political or administrative entity set up in Windhoek that does not result from free elections under the supervision and control of the United Nations. It must protect the territorial integrity of the country as an indivisible State, including the entire Walvis Bay area.
205.	The People's Republic of Angola and the front-line countries are experiencing the repeated criminal assaults of the aggressors and mercenaries in Pretoria, and our delegation expresses its complete fraternal solidarity with them. No amount of bombing, no amount of suffering blindly inflicted on innocent populations, no amount of material destruction will defeat our collective resolution in Africa and our inflexible determination to support the legitimate fight for the national liberation of the Namibian people under their sole legitimate representative, SWAPO.
206.	The victory in Zimbabwe is an inspiration to millions of human beings in South Africa, where elementary rights and dignity are being denied.
207.	In Sharpeville in 1960, in Soweto in 1976, children were killed by racist and Fascist bullets. Men were tortured and murdered. But they did not die in vain. Sharpeville and Soweto have become for everyone, for all those who cherish peace and justice, symbols to which the uprisings of recent months in various cities of South Africa have given a hitherto unequalled significance. But the supporters of the ignoble system of apartheid must sooner or later understand that the outcry of the demonstrators and strikers in Durban, the Cape and Johannesburg are sounding the death of that regime, which has beer, repudiated. They must agree that reforms made merely for show will never blunt the determination or lull the vigilance of those who have been exploited and oppressed. Legitimate aspirations to a democratic and just society can never be thwarted.
208.	What is striking today is that the womb that gave birth to the repulsive monster of fascism is still fertile. The present insane and tragic resurgence of fascism haunts the consciences of all in the world who cherish freedom and justice from Bologna to Munich and, last week, Paris. But the leaders of apartheid are heirs and undeniable accomplices of Nazi ideology. This elementary lesson in history should encourage us to be ever vigilant, ever more determined in the struggle against South African apartheid. We must expose the true face of that inhuman, unjust system, which serves to oppress our brothers in South Africa, and we must do so without hypocrisy. After having supplied it with a reactor, after having organized with South Africa a "nuclear axis" that is productive and profitable, some in Europe are now preparing secretly to sell it the radioactive fuel it needs. Is that generally known?
209.	Our Organization, which has called apartheids crime against mankind and which says that apartheid is a threat to international peace and security, must play its role in promoting the emancipation of the peoples of the world. Regrettably, it is a fact that the resolutions adopted at each and every session have, become of their futility, only provided South Africa with opportunities to flout the Organization. Its constant defiance of the Organization would not be so open or so brutal if the racists and Fascists in Pretoria did not enjoy the protection of certain foreign Powers.
210.	We have repeatedly, here and elsewhere, denounced and condemned their attitude, and there is no reason to hope today that they will abide by the obligations that flow from the application of the noble ideals of the Charter. In other words, all the measures that we shall continue to advocate against the racist Pretoria regime will produce no concrete effects unless more decisive enforcement action is taken against these imperialist Powers, and against their multinational corporations, whose economic activities contribute to shoring up that hatred regime.
211.	The Security Council's refusal to adopt economic sanctions against Pretoria and all the other measures envisaged in Chapter VII of the Charter—the only measures that can make Pretoria listen to reason—should prompt the international community to give all possible assistance to all the patriotic forces, particularly ANC, the national liberation movement which, like the Patriotic Front and SWAPO, has been waging its struggle for liberation in the field.
212.	But it must be added that if the Pretoria regime is succeeding in perfecting its weapons, in building up its arsenals, it is because it can skilfully get round the binding embargo on the supply of weapons which has been officially declared. It is doing so with the thinly disguised complicity of Western companies; this is confirmed in the report of 19 September 1980 or the Security Council Committee established by resolution 421 (1977)."
213.	The conclusions are clear; the recommendations are obvious and particularly simple for those who know that the recommendations concern them. Indeed, they have a threefold capability: political, economic and military; they have all the means of coercion to ensure that our resolutions are no longer treated with contempt and openly trampled under foot.
214.	Although the problems of southern Africa are in the forefront of the concerns of our continent, there are other problems that the imperialists have created through the application of their policy of exploitation, domination and division. Certain foreign Powers are indeed directly responsible for the tragedy now unfolding in Chad. The Lagos agreement of August 1979 and the decision taken by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU, at its seventeenth session, held in July, in Freetown, demonstrate—if it were still necessary to do so—that Africa has not only the will to solve its own problems itself, but also the wisdom and maturity necessary to do so. By providing for the deployment of a neutral African force as the prelude to a comprehensive and final settlement of this fratricidal conflict—orchestrated by remote control—Africa wished to avoid any internationalization of the problem, under the cover of which foreign interference, in its most criminal and subversive form, could continue.
215.	Wisdom, maturity and a sense of fairness were also at the basis of the decisions taken at Freetown in regard to Western Sahara, By reaffirming the rights of the Sahraoui people to self-determination and independence, the OAU has remained faithful to the letter and spirit of the many clear and unequivocal resolutions on the subject adopted both by the United Nations and by the non-aligned movement,
216.	POLISARIO is constantly winning military victories on the battlefield and, in addition, because of the recognition of the Sahraoui Arab Democratic Republic by the majority of African States, it has now won a particularly significant diplomatic victory. That is why the position of the People's Republic of Benin will remain unchanged so long as the present factors that explain that consistent position do not themselves change.
217.	The General Assembly, which for many sessions now has adopted a clear-cut stand on this question, will have no choice but to invite Morocco to comply with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the OAU and withdraw its troops forthwith from the territories it is illegally occupying, and thereby make possible the rapid application of the September 1980 decisions of the OAU Ad Hoc Committee on Western Sahara.
218.	This is the appropriate place for our delegation to express its gratification at the decision of the General Committee of the General Assembly to inscribe on the agenda of the thirty-fifth session the question of the Comorian island of Mayotte. We express the hope that the Assembly will finally take a just and equitable decision with a view to the decolonization of that island.
219.	It may have been thought in certain quarters—in defiance of all probabilities—that the Camp David agreements had some chance of promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. But it must be agreed today that those agreements, which were a real fool's bargain and nothing but an empty treasure chest, have solved nothing with regard to the substance of the problem of the essential claims of the Palestinian people.
220.	The Camp David agreements seem actually to have contributed to an exacerbation of the situation and to have enabled the Israeli authorities to assert their territorial claims with increased arrogance and determination. Thus, among the acts so characteristic of the Zionist Government's policy of fait accompli, there was the recent decision by the Knesset proclaiming the Holy City of Jerusalem as the indivisible and eternal capital of Israel; that decision inevitably aroused the greatest possible indignation, even among those who have endorsed, or approved by their silence, the Zionist authorities' policy of aggression.
221.	In those circumstances the People's Republic of Benin, faithful to its principles in questions of relations among peoples and States—principles that are, incidentally, none other than those proclaimed by the United Nations— cannot give its blessing to agreements from which the parties primarily concerned have been excluded, that is, the Palestinian people and their sole and authentic representative, the PLO. Today, when it is unanimously conceded that no lasting solution can be found in the Middle East without a just and equitable settlement of the Palestinian question, refusing to negotiate with the PLO means refusing peace.
222.	Furthermore, demagogically to make use of blackmail based on anti-Semitism in order to feed certain guilt complexes, cannot divert us from the fight against the Zionist impostor; it cannot possibly give us a guilty conscience. For nothing authorizes the Zionists to exact from the Palestinians the debt of blood, the debt of collective massacre and planned genocide, for which the Palestinians were not responsible and in which they played no part.
223.	Speaking from this rostrum on behalf of a country and a people which, no less than the Jews of the Diaspora, underwent racism and endured the most brutal colonial oppression, we feel fully and legitimately entitled to condemn the Zionist aggression and endeavours in the Middle East. Therefore, Benin, which broke off diplomatic relations with the Zionist entity, cannot but fully support Security Council resolution 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980 calling on States that had established diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw them from the Holy City,
224.	Turning now to Asia, which saw the birth and triumph of the great emancipating revolutions, we note that certain great sources of tension are still there, sources of tension that are maintained, fuelled and exacerbated by international imperialism and its accomplices. In Kampuchea, which has suffered for more than 30 years from intermittent warfare and colonialist and imperialist aggression, we firmly hope that peace will finally be restored, in the best interest of the Kampuchean people and in the interest of the other peoples of the region. That is why the People's Revolutionary Council of Kampuchea—for which we should like once again to express our support—must consolidate national reconciliation and continue to work for peace.
225.	Still in regard to Asia, we believe that the Iranian and Afghan revolutions, which have seriously shaken the positions of imperialism and feudalism, have opened up a process that will strengthen the unity and solidarity of the struggle of the peoples of the region.
226.	The heroic struggle of the people of Korea, a people that for more than 30 years now has lived in the hope of reunifying its divided country, will not be in vain either. But this legitimate aspiration, although shared on both sides of the 38th parallel, has in the southern part of the country been the subject of the most barbarous repression by the various dictatorial regimes which, from Park Chung Hee to the present Government, have had no other policy but to follow the bidding of international imperialism. It is high time for a final settlement of the Korean problem; it is high time for the United States to understand finally that the safeguarding of peace in that region requires them to reconcile themselves to the withdrawal of their troops and the replacement of the Armistice Agreement by a peace agreement.
227.	In spite of the conspiracy of silence by which some people would like to stifle and suppress it, the struggle of the Frente Revolucionaria de Timor Leste Independente [FRETILIN] in East Timor is being stepped up. We hail this resistance and struggle and consider that East Timor must be freed and its people must fully enjoy its right to self- determination.
228.	More than a year ago, the new Nicaragua, born of the heroism of the Sandinist fighters, enlarged and strengthened the domain of liberty and revolution in Latin America. The dream of freedom and patriotic grandeur of Bolivar and Jose Marti, which the invincible Cuban revolution made an historical fact more than 20 years ago, has once again become possible. But beside those free territories in Latin America Fascist violence continues to torture, massacre and exploit in El Salvador, Chile, Bolivia and elsewhere, pursuing the mad dream of stifling the impetuous struggle of peoples for freedom, justice and dignity. The People's Republic of Benin brings its support and the pledge of its militant and fraternal solidarity to all the heroic fighters of Latin America.
229.	In Cuba, the United States, on the strength of an unfair agreement, refuses to evacuate the Guantanamo base. Guantanamo must be returned to the Cuban Government and military provocations against the Cuban revolution and in the Caribbean must cease.
230.	Puerto Rico is still one of the Latin American countries that has never exercised its rights to self-determination and independence. Using juridical sophistry, the United States has always opposed the inclusion of this item on the agenda of the General Assembly. However, those subterfuges have not prevented the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples from adopting various resolutions on Puerto Rico and the Organization must call on the American Government to comply with them.
231.	The People's Republic of Benin gives its firm support to all actions initiated with the aim of making the Indian Ocean effectively a sea of peace. In that connection we support the concrete proposals put forward by the President of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar. We must, however, express our concern at the establishment in the Indian Ocean by the imperialist Powers of a whole complex of military bases and telecommunications, both mobile and fixed, the obvious goal of which is to pose serious threats to coastal countries that have gained their sovereignty and to peoples that are struggling for their liberation; to control militarily all the lines of communication; and to be able to use means of military pressure to support their political or economic manoeuvres with a view to perpetuating the plundering of the raw materials of the countries of the area. Thus the presence of imperialist military bases in the Mozambique channel, on Diego Garcia, on Reunion and elsewhere, the militarization and the increased nuclearisation of the Indian Ocean constitute a challenge to the decisions of the international community and a constant threat to the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the countries of the area.
232.	The situation in the Indian Ocean, where we see the growth of a formidable armada of international imperialism, makes it easier to perceive the profits and the calculations which the distressing Iraq-Iran conflict enables imperialism to make. For the flames of war between Iraq and Iran, the deaths and the immense sacrifices imposed upon those two fraternal peoples will in no way benefit the struggle of the Palestinian people or that of other peoples of the world against imperialist domination and intervention. For this suffice it to observe the cynicism of certain plans for intervention or suspect offers of mediation, whose sole goal and motivation is the logic of the stock market and the statistics of the energy needs of the West.
233.	The People's Republic of Benin therefore issues an appeal for peace and for the cessation of this fratricidal war and for the blind and murderous language of arms to give way to the language of revolutionary reason and the solidarity of struggle. Within the great family of the non-aligned, where both occupy such a distinguished place, Iraq and Iran, two great countries both friendly to Benin could settle their dispute with the fraternal assistance of the other members and the chairman of our great movement, on the basis of its fundamental principles.
234.	The evils and the problems that the peoples of the third world are confronting are not only political in nature. Economic problems help to hand them an extra measure of acuteness. We have therefore always desired true development that could restore dignity to these peoples and put an end to their domination by imperialism. The appeal that the third world continues to make to the rich nations for the establishment of a more just and more equitable economic order still has not been heeded in any real way.
235.	It is in order to attempt once again to seek the most appropriate ways and means of promoting this new order that we have just held in this very place a special session of the General Assembly on global economic negotiations. The delegation of the People's Republic of Benin, which has taken an active part in this work, has already made known the views of its Government on this important question. If we are to return to it, it will be to issue a few useful historical reminders.
236.	Indeed, during the course of the work of the sixth special session of the General Assembly, held in 1974, on economic problems, two resolutions were adopted on the basis of the claims of the developing countries, calling upon the international community, and particularly the industrialized countries and international institutions, to work to regularize trade in primary commodities through an integrated programme of which the Common Fund for the financing of buffer stocks would be the pivot; to open up world markets for the manufactured products of developing countries; to increase the volume of transferred resources from North to South; and to reform procedures providing for access to technology.
237.	It is distressing to have to note that six years after the adoption of those texts and in spite of the many negotiations organized between the North and the South under the auspices of the United Nations, there has been no appreciable improvement in the situation.
238.	Even worse, the major international conferences on the restructuring of relations between industrialized and developing countries have all failed. In particular the fifth session of UNCTAD in Manila from May-June 1979 and the Third General Conference of UNIDO in New Delhi from January-February 1980, served only to make even worse the scandalously unequal relations prevailing between producers of raw materials and industrialized countries. The reasons for that state of affairs are well known and we have only too often revealed them and condemned them.
239.	In spite of those condemnations and appeal for solidarity, the external debt of the underdeveloped countries is constantly growing, as indeed is the already wide gap between developing and industrialized countries.
240.	At their most recent meetings and in their preparatory documents, the World Bank and IMF have, through eloquent and even overwhelming statistics, made clear the tragic nature of that situation, of what is known as "absolute poverty" and of the threats of "negative growth" in the economy of many of our countries. The situation is only the more acute, and it is even more urgent to take concrete measures to spare mankind new crises and serious social explosions. The wager of peace and development will only be won in this way—-if we sincerely want justice and equality among nations, as well as the independence of the countries of the third world, to be effectively won and secured.
241.	The need to lay the basis and establish the principles for a new economic order in international life, in our view, is in keeping with the concerns of all of us about the future of the world, in the face of the real dangers presented by the vast means of destruction and of warfare, conventional and nuclear. Disarmament, accompanied by global detente, therefore is a universal issue which all States, whatever their size and whatever the size of their arsenals, must resolve to consider, in response to the mere instinct for survival and so that future generations will not have to mourn another Hiroshima and another Nagasaki, even more cruel and devastating. Furthermore, elementary arithmetic shows us how many social works, how many economic assistance projects, and how many cultural enterprises could be undertaken with the enormous financial means and technology now devoted to the manufacture and increased stockpiling of armaments of all kinds, if the folly of the arms race were ended and definitely banished from the history of society and man.
242.	Our country, the People's Republic of Benin, has, since 26 October 1972, decisively resumed the long history of its people's dignified struggle. Having embarked upon the revolutionary course of the anti-imperialist national liberation struggle, a few months ago it passed a new basic law and set up new institutions, thus entering the stage of constitutional revolutionary legitimacy, under the enlightened leadership of its vanguard Party, the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin. As a result of its courageous and bold policies and its determination for liberation, it has given rise to hatred, plots and subversion on the part of those former masters and new colonialists that have been unable to tolerate the sight of certain of their loyal chief agents being expelled from the centres of State power and from economic decision-making posts. That explains the military aggression committed by mercenaries against the People's Republic of Benin on Sunday 16 January 1977. Their defeat is well known and their paymasters have been denounced and clearly exposed. We cannot remain silent about their crimes and their misdeeds, because of their shameful failure must give birth to increased vigilance against the historical phenomenon of the use of imperialist and neo-colonial mercenaries. Thus, pursuant to Security Council resolution 419 (1977) relating to the aggression against the People's Republic of Benin, we have just submitted new proof, published recently by a French historical review. It is our most sincere wish that all States should do likewise whenever information or new material proof of the reality of aggression and the crimes of mercenaries comes into their possession. Such action is in keeping with the recommendations of the Security Council. Our country, a distressed witness and victim of those criminal endeavours at colonial reconquest, through its live testimony and its victorious resistance to aggression, wishes to make its modest contribution to the eradication of a scourge which has ceaselessly threatened our independence and jeopardized peace in the world.
243.	Our reference to the affair of armed imperialist aggression of 16 January 1977 remains legitimate; it is entirely in keeping with the principles and requirements of the Charter, which binds us and justifies our common endeavours for peace, friendship and co-operation. Our great comrade in arms, President Mathieu Kerekou stated in his appeal to all the fighting peoples in the world, at the International Conference on Mercenaries, held at Cotonou in January 1978, the following:
"International imperialism, after having enriched itself through black slavery, the slave trade in blacks, the wars of plunder and the colonial wars, is surviving and feeding itself today thanks to its cannon and other sophisticated military equipment, with the shameful design of restoring or installing in the countries of the third world colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, fascism and the plundering of our immense natural resources. That is why we must view mercenaries not only as an international scourge which curbs and impedes the liberation of people still under foreign domination, but also and above all as a real threat to the independence and sovereignty of our young States, In a word, mercenaries constitute a veritable threat to the security of States, to democracy and peace in the world."
244.	If detente is indivisible, the freedom of peoples and justice among nations also cannot be divided or confined to certain continents or certain parts of the world.
245.	Therefore let us see to it that our work and our resolutions arouse hope and contribute to the solution of the major issues of our time; because it is only resolute, decisive and collective action for peace and development that really deserves our energies and our efforts and indeed our sacrifices.
246.	Ready for the revolution.
247.	The struggle continues.


May I extend congratulations, on behalf of my country and myself, to Ambassador von Wechmar on his election to the presidency of the thirty- fifth session of the General Assembly. We have every confidence that he will carry out the tasks entrusted to him with appropriate diplomatic skills and objectivity.
296.	This session has convened in a year already heightened by the sixth and seventh emergency special sessions, devoted respectively to Afghanistan and the question of Palestine, and the eleventh special session, on the question of economic development. Those sessions have focused on some of the economic and political crises that beset this international community and they emphasize the role that the United Nations must play in any effort to maintain and preserve peace in order to attain economic benefits for the poor and exploited people of this world.
297.	We are particularly disturbed that the lessons of the 1960s and 1970s have not been learned. We are frequently faced with violations of the principles of territorial sovereignty, inviolability of diplomatic personnel and non-use of force in international relations. Those principles constitute prominent and notable corner-stones of international relations and law, to which the nations composing this international community continue to pay lip service while simultaneously flouting them with impunity. That is a sad commentary on the meaningfulness of international and diplomatic intercourse and the underlying values which are expected to provide a base of hope for our many destitute peoples.
298.	The challenges facing the United Nations at this session are innumerable and perhaps most precariously poised. Never has there been such centrifugal force upon the principles of the Charter of the United Nations since its signing at San Francisco on 26 June 1945. Perhaps we have reached the watershed: the point at which constraining interests almost make us ignore and forget the real objectives of this community of nations.
299.	There are many instances that appear to contradict the intent of the original founding fathers of the United Nations. For example, the ease with which States set up human rights standards only to compromise them on the alter of national and political interest; the reasons presented in convenient and different formats to justify intervention, which cannot be defended by logical, significant and acceptable argument; the use and misuse of the movement of persons to satisfy political interests, with little regard to the real issue in humanitarian and refugee terms; the problems that are created because the political interest negates the possibility of working out reasonable, logical and objective rules of procedure that will govern and reflect the existence of expanding interest groups within the Committees, the regional groups and the major organs of this Organization.
300.	What they conceived was never intended to be a dogmatic, stultified Organization, but a dynamic entity with the ability to grow, expand and modify, realistically meeting the constraining pressures that inevitably arise and reflecting them within its own combustion in a distinct, sensible and objective manner.
301.	While we must insulate succeeding generations from the scourge of war, while we recognise the reasons for the maintenance of international peace and security, while we strive to develop friendly relations among all nations based on mutual respect for the principle of equal rights and the self-determination of peoples, while we understand the necessity for co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character, the political will, as distinct from the political interest, to erect these pillars of our intercourse is not only weak but at times non-existent.
302.	We have arrived at a point where we must effectively decide to survey the facts confronting our society and determine whether we have inherited the parameters and attitudes for inaction, or whether we shall lift ourselves from the ground and demand a proper, justifiable and significant consideration of our situation and the means by which we may achieve a fair measure of progress. This is now the beginning of the end of compromise, a word that is not lost on those who remember 1939. It is the end of glossing over the niceties of language and intercourse, and the commencement of a looking forward to a serious, concentrated, political involvement of those that have—and I include the haves even among the developing world—in redressing the plight, and the circumstances of the plight, of those that have not.
303.	The questions of international security, territorial inviolability of States, non-interference in the internal affairs of States and the non-use of force as a means of solving disputes are vital not only to the existence of States, but to their functional progression. The only way in which a State, and in particular a small island State, can make appropriate economic advancement is by the creation of both the fact and the atmosphere of peace.
304.	To this end, the Government of Saint Lucia calls for a reaffirmation of the Declaration on the Strengthening of International Security which was adopted on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations in 1970 and which focuses attention on the indivisible link between international security and economic and social development.
305.	Within this same context, we fully support General Assembly resolution 2832 (XXVI), adopted on 16 December 1971, declaring the Indian Ocean a zone of peace. We are following the work of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean, and we look forward to the convening of the Conference on the Indian Ocean during 1981 at Colombo, and the implementation of that declaration.
306.	It is indeed a truism that security for the small State lies within the United Nations system. This is even more pertinent for the small island State. Saint Lucia is a small island State and, as such, is vitally concerned not only for its own security but for that of every peace-loving nation. Moreover, whenever there are groups of peace-loving States, particularly those of the developing world, it is of paramount importance that their area should not be visited by the panoply of warfare. The means exist for the insulation of those areas from the unsettling strife of the superpowers, which is not consonant with and detracts from the necessary environment for the economic development of those States.
307.	In this context, Saint Lucia believes in and will work assiduously for the realization of a zone of peace in the Caribbean. This concept has already received the approval of the Organization of American States [OAS] at its ninth general assembly at La Paz, Bolivia. What is now necessary is the implementation of the considerations that have been put forward in that resolution and continually reiterated by most member States of the OAS system. Yet we see nothing that we can perceive to be the measure of a dominant will to effect the movements towards a zone of peace. Perhaps it is time that our leaders reached out at the summit level and gave life to this important concept, which must not be still-born.
308.	Further, it is necessary that the States of our region and other States should observe the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco), of 1967. Saint Lucia is taking the necessary procedural steps to become a party to that Treaty. Similarly, Saint Lucia is intent on ensuring, through effective and appropriate measures, that the Caribbean basin does not become a depository for nuclear waste, which could seriously contaminate our environment and ecology, and will seek to obtain meaningful assurances from those nuclear States that have already set out to use the area in this way. It seems most retrograde that major maritime Powers should seek to use unsuspecting areas in this way simply because there is not the authority to refuse or the perspicacity to understand the inherent dangers.
309.	In keeping with this approach, we support the implementation of the Declaration on the Denuclearization of Africa, the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East and South Asia, and the prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons.
310.	It seems unnecessary to reiterate the plea for a diminution of expenditure on arms. We have to ask ourselves whether any plea for the cessation of mass production of the means of war is ever entertained. But we must not fall into the politics of despondency and therefore must seek to keep up the continuing exercise of the dialogue of the deaf. Over $500 billion has already been spent on military research and development this year, and there will be those who will argue that the safeguarding of democracy is based on military strength, and still others who will equally argue that the ideological battle can only be sustained from an armed base.
311.	Be that as it may, in the end it will be the social and economic growth that can be achieved that will determine which, if any, ideology remains to dominate this earth, if the logical conclusion of the armaments race is realized. Is it not rather strange when a State finds it difficult to grant $10 million for the economic development of a State but is prepared at a moment's notice to rush millions, unsolicited, to given areas simply because there is a supposed threat to its power balance? Or, alternatively, when the kind of strategic aid granted is inconsistent with and meaningless to the real needs or requests of the supposedly benefiting State?
312.	The purchase of an XM-1 tank costs approximately $1.5 million. We do not even have to consider whether it will work effectively for two hours at a time without major maintenance and the pertinent recurrent costs. Yet many aspects of economic, social and human development, at significantly less cost, if redirected from the armaments build-up, could be instrumental in lifting a section of a small State's economic growth to a reasonable take-off stage. Let the record show that Saint Lucia favours total world disarmament. However, in recognition of the fact that there has been no positive move on the part of any State to implement the disarmament strategy adopted at the tenth special session of the General Assembly—and as a consequence world disarmament at this time remains a myth, illusive and unattainable—Saint Lucia favours the concluding of an international convention to assure the non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.
313.	We are fully cognizant that a number of flash-points around the world, notably the Middle East, Namibia and Afghanistan, constitute grave dangers to mankind. It is imperative that acceptable and workable solutions be found, that States desist from furthering their power projections through a manipulation of these issues, and that the world community find the moral fortitude to confront the issues in an honest and objective manner.
314.	On the economic front, the new Lome II Agreement between the European Economic Community and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, presents a new vision for international co-operation. We, in a small island State, are thankful for the existence of STABEX which will assist us in overcoming the ravages of hurricane Allen in our banana sector. We expect that the architects of the Lome II Agreement and the appropriate United Nations agencies will consider similar formulas for our tourist and industrial sectors, for they are also extremely vulnerable to natural and human predators.
315.	We are most satisfied that the Tokyo round of negotiations, by far the most comprehensive held within the purview of GATT, reached an acceptable conclusion last year. While we welcome the establishment of the Common Fund within the framework of UNCTAD, and recent moves by IBRD and especially IMF in mitigating their fundamental policies for alleviating the chronic balance-of-payments problems of the developing countries, we in Saint Lucia remain concerned that many of the developed countries will fail to meet the requisite recommendations of the international development strategy, leading to a further deterioration of the structural integrity of the world economic situation and consequently to a largely vitiated and ineffectual round of global negotiations.
316.	It is pertinent that we should mention our increasing disappointment with the aid and assistance that is channelled to the small States from the developed States of the developing world. It is unfair only to point the finger in castigation of the aid policies of the developed world. While they must bear the brunt of the responsibility for our present economic morass, those of our developed brethren that have been fortunate enough, by way of resources, population or other pertinent factors, to show economic recovery and progress, should not turn aside and ignore our development needs. The same argument that they continue to address to the developed world can and must be addressed to them. Therefore they must show to the developed world, because they have an obligation to do so, that they can assist us in positive terms, even if their recovery and growth are not fully realized.
317.	This is the moral and responsible gesture that must come from these States, which in turn will underscore the feeble efforts of the developed world, which are not in keeping with the economic principles to which it pays lip- service. It is important that neo-colonialism not be evident in the approach of our more developed brethren; that there be no miniature power play that is nurtured through the granting of economic aid or energy agreements. We did not trade colonialism for neo-colonialism. Perhaps it may be relevant to re-emphasize and draw the attention of those States to the principles of the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States.
318.	We in Saint Lucia are most gratified by the work of the United Nations programmes. The allocation of resources approved by the Governing Council of UNDP last June represents a significant step in the right direction but we do not agree with the prima facie criteria used to separate the "developing" countries from those which are designated as "least developed among developing" countries. However, we do welcome the new global programme of action for "the least developed countries" which was adopted at the fifth session of UNCTAD, held at Manila last year.
319.	To belabour the issue, we cannot accept the superficial line which distinguishes the rather poor countries from the very poorest countries. As we all know, this designation is made on the basis of gross national product per capita. However, it is a known fact that per capita gross national product is a most unreliable index for gauging the extent, or even the level, of poverty which exists within a given country. Furthermore, at today's inflation rates, many of the modest increases in gross national product and gross domestic product in many developing countries represent not real growth but rather inflation rates. To accept gross national product per capita as the sole index of wealth or poverty is to say that there is only one truly poor country in the Western Hemisphere. I do not feel that we have to argue that this is not so.
320.	But the criteria must also be adapted in terms of a new dimension, that is, of the small island States. Only Maldives and Haiti fall into the category of "least developed among developing" States. But what about the 24 other Member States whose geography, geology and resources— human and financial—pose different considerations and a construction of factors that must be looked at anew and afresh? It is not only a case to be heard; it is a case to be met with adequate and proper provisions.
321.	We must acknowledge that the work of UNIDO, that of the World Food Conference and that of the International Fund for Agricultural Development stand to be acclaimed. We may mention particularly the work of UNEP and that of IMCO in fostering co-operation for the prevention of marine pollution, an issue of which we in Saint Lucia are seized at present. Further, we pay a special tribute to the work of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, specifically in terms of its assistance in the wake of hurricane Allen. But we must add that it may be timely to indicate that disaster adopts varied dimensions, according to the resilience of the involved community and the nature of the cataclysm. Though it is an evil that is as significant to the land mass as it is to the island State, it cannot be met in the same way in both instances. There is a need to look at the procedures for disbursing aid to the island States which are ravaged by hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, tidal waves and volcanic eruptions in a manner other than the accepted form that is now fashionable.
322.	We in the Eastern Caribbean are a proud, hard-working people who recognize that the paucity of our number and the reality of our territorial constraints combine to create, at best, a difficult situation wherein economies of scale cannot be readily realized. This difficult situation is compounded by our sheer vulnerability to every natural disaster that cares to visit our area. We are not alone in this regard. Our sister island States in the Pacific and Indian Oceans share our fears and apprehensions. This Assembly must address itself precisely to the nature of this new dimension in much the same way as it has dealt with the land-locked States and the most disadvantaged States.
323.	We do not wish to leave the impression that we view the events that marked the ending of the old decade and the point of departure of the new as allowing for only negative prognostications. The recent women's conference holds much promise for the eventual elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
324.	The independence of Zimbabwe and its subsequent admission to this Assembly are events which hold great promise for the future. We have heralded the admission of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to membership which sets a trend, not only for Namibia, but also for a number of island States such as Antigua, Saint Kitts, Montserrat and others, and marks the end of the decolonization period. However, we can no longer submit to the policy that it is sufficient to make peoples believe that independence has been achieved, disregarding the fact that they remain shackled by the bonds of colonialism or neo-colonialism. The struggle for self-determination does not end when the last colony has been released from its bondage. Colonialism is still alive in every State where minorities remain castigated and are denied their rights, where only the accident of geography and delineation of boundaries has created their position or where administrative niceties have engulfed their freedoms. We will watch the proceedings in these areas most assiduously.
325.	There have been five resolutions on Belize considered by the General Assembly since 1975. In view of the effort and time spent on this issue, Belize should have already been granted independence, it should have achieved United Nations membership and been well on the way to consolidating its achievements after independence. This Assembly should now be addressing the situation of post-independence Belize, not its pre-independence status. However, this is not the case and this Assembly must bear a fair proportion of the guilt for the omission of Belize from its ranks. The time has come for the cessation of words, of paper work and of inconsequential negotiations, and for a demand for the justice of Belize's proceeding immediately to independence and membership of our gathering, properly recorded. It is in this vein that we propose the submission of a resolution demanding, inter alia, that the metropolitan Power concerned convene with the shortest delay a constitutional conference with a mandate to set a date for Belize's independence before the end of 1981.
326.	Only if that meaningful act is introduced can we realistically state that this forum is committed to the principles that it has itself established and applied in other instances. The diplomatic virtues of negotiation are not always beneficial, or expected to be beneficial, to the parties concerned and involved.
327.	The recent session of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea indicates that a final convention may be at hand. It has been a long road, but one that manifestly indicates that the international will to regulate and the desire to recognize growth in law and order have been rewarded. We will attempt to have that convention consider and take account of the real problems for small island States. The concept of the small island State does not exist per se in the convention, largely because in 1958, when the existing conventions on the law of the sea were negotiated, there was not a single small island State in existence. Today there are some 34 independent island States; they deserve proper recognition in much the same way as archipelagic States and land-locked States. In looking at the development of the law of the sea, we are mindful that a great deal of work has been devoted to the avoidance and mitigation of the effect of pollution. Our vulnerability is extremely acute in this area. We welcome any plan to mitigate the consequences of pollution, any measure to obviate the possibilities of oil spills, any consideration that will enable us to reduce the incidence of such disaster in given areas that are vital to our economy.
328.	It is not responsible conduct for a State to look only at the omissions in behavioural terms of this community, without any introspection over the steps it has taken or will take in seeking to play a small but useful part in this world's problematic environment. Saint Lucia, bedevilled by hurricane Allen has applied itself to an approach to the calamity that recognizes an acceptance of its responsibility to the community at large. For my Government accepts that it has to live with natural disasters, and therefore the emphasis must be placed on a preventive policy in development, with an accent on preparedness and resilience to disasters of this kind. It is within this framework that my Government has approached the States Members of the United Nations to assist in the sectoral infrastructural development of our State.
329.	But we must not forget that what is tangible in our efforts is the values that we leave in the form of guidelines for generations yet unborn. This is the historical value of our existence as States in this international community. We were most happy when, in 1965, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples- and later, in 1969, recognized the contribution of youth in the promotion of world peace, justice, social and economic rights, especially in the projection of the goals embodied in the Charter of the United Nations.
330.	We eagerly look forward to 1985, the year designated as International Youth Year by the General Assembly with the aims of participation, development and peace. We have dedicated cur programmes in Saint Lucia to encouraging and developing an ethos of productivity for our youth and some countries have perceived and understood the nature of this thrust and have given assistance to that enterprise. The fruits of such productivity must accrue to the youth of our State. The legacy is theirs; the future lies beyond.
331.	Moreover, Saint Lucia recognizes that the individuality of approach to problems in our area is not readily rewarded with success. Therefore we have embraced and committed ourselves to the fullest integration in our region, by way of the West Indies Associated States, which association is at present being negotiated into the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, into the larger Caribbean Community entity and finally and futuristically within the complex Latin American entity that involves both the OAS and the Latin American Economic System. There is no ready and immediate satisfaction of geopolitical benefit within these communities. The roads are gradual, based on a necessary economic co-operation and co-ordination which are finally reflected in a strong political togetherness. It is an objective that we must all accept and towards the fruition of which we must all work.
332.	The movement towards the interdependence of regions in the largest framework possible is even more important than the recognition of the interdependence of States. We consider the exchanges among the OAS, the OAU, the Caribbean Community and the League of Arab States as evidence of the manifestation of the collective interest. The recent mini-summit Commonwealth Meeting of the Asian and Pacific Countries marks a direction in the search for regional identities. These are movements of hope, of unity, of realism. With these multilateral projections, the bilateral focus has a new meaning.
333.	Therefore, it is necessary, as we enter the 1980s, for the vision of this community of regions to be centred on a policy of adherence to principles, dedication and conviction. There is a need to extend beyond the realism of nation-State politics and to enter into the statesmanship of community relations. The universality that will soon be evident in this United Nations will cause a serious reconsideration in respect of the significance of the nation State in universal terms. This is our challenge; the arena is the circumstance of this world; the finality is the survival and growth or, alternatively, the destruction of our universe.