Colombia, 1969

16. I think it is a good omen that our deliberations

this year are presided over by such a distinguished

personality as Miss Angie Brooks. The affection and esteem

in which she has been generally held for years in the United

Nations are well deserved and, on this occasion, she

embodies many of the values which constitute the nucleus

of the Organization’s concern, not only as a woman but as a

representative of a small country and of a race whose

influence extends to several continents. Colombia rejoices

at her unanimous election to preside over this Assembly.

17. Nor can I fail to record with a profound feeling of

sorrow the disappearance from our midst of our last

President, Mr. Emilio Arenales, the representative of a Latin

American nation and of a generation destined to face the

challenge of our times with personalities of outstanding

character such as his.

18. Reference has been made here on numerous occasions

to the heroic feat of a human being setting foot on the

moon for the first time. There can be no doubt that this

constitutes a decisive landmark in the progress of mankind.

The very destiny of man and his place in history have been

placed in a new light. In the last ten years we have made the

most rapid progress of the species in many centuries. And

notwithstanding the fact that the astronaut, Armstrong,

when he planted his flag stated that he did so “for all

mankind“, as a generous act towards his rivals in the space

race and towards those who will never achieve a comparable

degree of development, how many considerations does this

event not give rise to?

19. As inconceivable as the sidereal distances covered are

to the general public, so also are the technological,

economic and social gaps which separate some inhabitants

of the earth from others. The prodigious conquest, which is

said to have been carried out in the name of all and which

in an egalitarian society of nations, with a universal

Organization, should have been carried out under a

common direction and with the support of all mankind, is

but the accomplishment of one super-Power, in which it

demonstrates its unquestionable superiority.

20. As we enter this new era, new responsibilities and new

obligations are entailed for each one of us. This has been

perceived intuitively by churches, empires and States,

which have been shaken to their foundations by present day

developments known as aggiornamiento, or “decolonization”

or the “thaw” and bow to the signs of the times.

21. In contrast to this change amid stability, where

technology, science, religions and political institutions also

adapt themselves to their new context, the United Nations

remains the same, governed by a Charter, namely the one

signed in San Francisco, which was drawn up twenty-five

years ago to operate for geopolitical conditions which have

now been surpassed.

22. A few days ago [1756th meeting] the Minister for

Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union reminded us here how

this Organization had been conceived by a coalition of

peace-loving countries which, despite ideological differences,

succeeded in restoring the rule of international

law, making themselves responsible for the maintenance of

order against the law-breakers of the Nazi-Fascist axis.

23. This was the distribution of forces taken into account

by the Charter and which today no longer exists. The

designation “enemy” States is an anachronism which

corresponds to the conditions prevailing in 1946. After the

years of alliance against totalitarianism and of competition

among the super-Powers, we are returning to that path from

which we should never have strayed, namely that international

order is not the task of any State in particular but is

the collective duty of the community.

24. The enormous responsibility of maintaining world

peace which the United States assumed for the first time in

history, as President Nixon reminded us here [1755th

meeting], is also a thing of the past. What was a dissident

opinion a few years ago has now become a commonplace.

All of us, all States, large and small; see in collective

security the true guarantee of world peace and no one

fosters any longer the illusion that it can be the gendarme

responsible for maintaining international order. The persistence

of many conflicts between small States can rightly

be attributed to interference by the great Powers, as was

stated here by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel,

when he said:

“For when the complex national interests and rivalries

of great Powers are superimposed on a regional tension,

the result is often not to reduce the tension but to

broaden its scope” [1757th meeting].

25. Therefore, despite the inevitable setbacks in a process

as complicated as the maintenance of peace, we can

contemplate the future with optimism on the twenty-fifth

anniversary of the Organization.

26. The very nature of nuclear weapons, which, when the

United Nations came into existence, were in the hands of a

single Power, has forced all the participants in the arms race

to change their outlook. Today, with the new distribution

of power in the world, it is more imperative than it was a

quarter of a century ago to achieve disarmament and

agreement through dialogue and negotiation in a spirit of

mutual respect. Furthermore, it is known that in the wars

of our times and for all the more reason in future wars

there are no absolute victors or vanquished, nor will there

be, but rather that victory, which is more difficult to

achieve than in other ages, imposes obligations on the

victors themselves; it is also a known fact that between

countries whose economic and technological development

is comparable only a very transitory military superiority

can be gained. The ever more strenuous efforts required to

establish an immense industrial and military complex, while

they may make possible feats such as the voyage to the

moon, must ultimately be regarded as a waste in the light of

the urgency of human needs, not only in the underdeveloped

areas, but also in the industrialized countries

themselves.

27. In this way we return, after many high hopes of global

strategy, to the concept which took shape with the

reconstruction of Europe and Japan, following the San

Francisco Conference, namely that peace rests equally on

strength of arms and on social stability based upon the

satisfaction of a minimum of needs which, for twentieth-century

man, is as important as his own particle of freedom

was for the man of previous centuries. Therefore, in 1946,

paraphrasing a great Latin American who said a century

ago: “Peace is respect for another’s rights”, we could then

say: “Peace is the satisfying of another’s hunger”, with the

prospect that large economic resources diverted from the

arms race would be channelled, at least in part, towards the

development of the least developed regions of the world,

giving bread, literacy and work to millions of human beings.

Article 26 of the Charter states the same thing when it

affirms:

“In order to promote the establishment and maintenance

of international peace and security with the least

diversion for armaments of the world’s human and

economic resources, the Security Council shall be responsible

for formulating... plans to be submitted to the

Members of the United Nations for the establishment of a

system for the regulation of armaments.”

28. What have we achieved in this respect? It is true that

significant progress has been made, particularly in regard to

the outlawing of chemical and bacteriological warfare, and

the results of the nuclear non-proliferation treaties, both

world-wide and regional, are encouraging in some respects;

but it is no less certain that we have lived for years on end

under the strategy of terror in search of a détente, of which

the words which we have heard here are harbingers, in that

they relate to renunciation of unilateral action, of spheres

of influence, of the Great Powers’ role of gendarme, in

order to return to the collective concept of the rule of law.

29. We see how little by little strategic concepts of the

period prior to modern intercontinental missiles, when the

range of armaments necessitated a policy of alliances

designed to secure launching bases, which today are an

anachronism, are being relegated to oblivion. The most

advanced types of rockets allow the super-Powers to take

charge of their own security without the need for partners,

and the large States can now boast of not having in their

continental appendices any “soft bellies” where they can be

hit.

30. We have before us, however, armed conflicts which

have remained unsolved for years, in the face of the

impotence of the United Nations and of the super-Powers

themselves. The cases of Viet-Nam and of the Middle East,

no less than civil or racial wars, are obvious examples. Here

in this very Assembly, we have witnessed the great paradox

that Viet-Nam, which is not on the agenda of the

twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, has been

the central theme of many speeches. In like manner, we

have seen how the Middle East conflict, on which there was

rare unanimity in Security Council resolution 242 (1967)

of 22 November 1967, has been delegated to the so-called

Big Four, with a last hope of reaching agreement, in view of

the failure of the regular organs of the Organization to

make their own resolutions effective. Colombia regrets this

state of affairs but understands it. It is better to seek, at

whatever cost, the re-establishment of peace through the

agreement of the great Powers than definitely to give up the

search. But does not this state of affairs indicate to us not

only the need to assess the results achieved by the

Organization in this quarter of a century but also the

desirability of its being restructured institutionally in some

respects?

31. No one would venture to deny the balance of

beneficial results that have been achieved by the United

Nations in its brief existence in the fields of culture, health,

nutrition, economics and peace itself. There have been

many conflicts of all kinds that the Organization, sometimes

discreetly and sometimes dramatically, has helped to

settle. Barely a month and a half ago the Organization of

American States, a regional organization which forms part

of the world system, ended an armed conflict between two

sister nations when events as serious as the occupation of

territories had already occurred. In the same way, over the

years, imminent or real threats to the peace have been

averted with honourable and satisfactory solutions for the

parties in dispute.

32. Nevertheless, Colombia considers that even though

this balance is so positive, in view of the new circumstances

of the present-day world, some reform to bring the Charter

up to date is imperative. For this purpose it intends to

request the holding of a General Conference, as provided

for in Article 109 of the Charter itself, trusting that

although this initiative comes from a small country, from

one of those countries which are generally assigned the role

of spectators and not of actors in this Assembly, the

experiences of the last twenty-five years may prove the

timeliness and appropriateness of such an institutional

readjustment.

33. My Government’s reasons are very clear, and I have

been very much pleased to see that they are shared by other

States. The balance of power in the present-day world is

not the same as it was in 1946. The Secretary-General,

U Thant, who is so objective and impartial and whose

opinions deserve all our respect, said at a press conference

that for some years to come the international scene will be

dominated by the nature of the relationship between

mainland China and the two super-Powers, and it is an

obvious fact that world peace cannot be organized while a

nation possessing the capacity for waging war on such a

scale as People’s China is excluded.

34. This was recognized in this very same hall some years

ago by His Holiness the Supreme Pontiff of Rome and,

more recently, by President Nixon when he stated that the

United States would have no objection to a request for

admission by People’s China if there was a willingness to

abide by the rules of the Organization. The question of the

admission of mainland China, if indeed it wishes to form

part of the Organization, cannot continue indefinitely to be

treated as a procedural question involving a decision as to

whether it is one of the so-called important questions

requiring a two-thirds majority or whether it is a simple

matter of credentials. What is at stake are the general

interests of peace, respect for. the right of self-determination

of the people of Taiwan, whom the Organization

could hardly exclude, and a number of other

questions relating to a general settlement of disputes on the

continent of Asia.

35. As more and more voices are heard calling for

universality in the United Nations, voices like that of the

President of Colombia, like those of 16 June 1969 in the

Security Council, and like those of many illustrious

personages who are calling for a study of the participation

of People’s China and other new countries, the conclusion

is reached that it is essential to stop evading the question

and face up to it, while simultaneously undertaking a

general consideration of the rules for the admission of new

States to the United Nations, and defining unequivocally

what, by general consensus, is meant by “a new State” in

the international community.

36. It is not possible, without a new and close examination

of the principles that allow of such events, to continue

indefinitely studying limitations with a view to conferring

on small States the status of associate members, because of

their small size, while at the same time failing to investigate

whether 700 million human beings in the Asian continent

would be interested in enjoying the benefits of the world

Organization and abiding by its rules. This is an unanswered

question which must be cleared up in order to decide upon

a course of action which is in harmony with the purposes of

the United Nations.

37. Equal importance should be attached to the reform of

the functions of the Security Council and of the Secretary-General

himself as far as his good offices for the purpose of

bringing about an understanding between the parties in

dispute are concerned. The persistent disregard of resolutions

against racial discrimination, of those which order a

return to the status quo ante or those whose purpose is to

protect the rights of minorities makes it imperative to

provide the Security Council with a force of its own, a

secular arm. Such a force, permanent in character and not

created to deal with a specific case, would replace the

occasional expeditions which, organized in the midst of

power conflicts and in the ebb and flow of momentary

interests, have the result that the financial and material

contributions of each State subsequently become a breeding-ground

of further difficulties for the proper functioning

of the Organization.

38. The will to strengthen world security cannot be

limited, as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has

requested, to calling for the withdrawal of troops from

occupied territories, which would be merely a solution for

transitory difficulties, properly speaking. It must be accompanied

by measures which, within the framework of

the Charter and the rules of procedure, invest the Security

Council with greater enforcement powers, such as the

creation of a permanent force, international in character, to

give effect to its resolutions, by force if necessary.

39. Naturally, the establishment of such a force would

have to be accompanied by a clear definition of what is

meant by aggression and by an unequivocal differentiation

between internal conflicts and international conflicts, over

which latter the United Nations has jurisdiction and in

which, without renouncing the concept of sovereignty, it is

possible to frustrate the already traditional gambit of

evading the Organization’s resolutions condemning discrimination

based on religion, race or nationality, by alleging

that the problems concerned are internal ones. In the same

range of ideas, the question of disarmament, now entrusted

to the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, should

be the principal item on the agenda of the General

Conference which Colombia intends to request.

40. When the studies for the Second United Nations

Development Decade are beginning, and in view of the

failure to reach the goals set for the First Decade, the

reduction of military expenditures, with the consequent

utilization of part of those resources to raise the living

standards of backward areas, becomes particularly relevant.

A number of countries have repeated, at this session, their

intention to devote 1 per cent of their gross national

product to the development of the less developed areas.

Yet, natural wealth and resources are concentrated to such

an extent in the hands of those States which are the leaders

in the armaments race that it would be utopian to think of

an improvement in general conditions, while relying solely

on the good intentions of the small States but without the

determined will of those States which to a greater degree

are contributing to the strangulation of the international

economy through military expenditures at an almost

exclusively national level. This economic process not only

consumes the money of the great Powers but determines

the whole gamut of contemporary problems as well: the

problems of poverty, of racial differences, of education, of

housing and employment, not only in the competing

countries themselves but also in those that could receive

greater attention were it not for the pernicious obsession

with armaments.

41. The complex processes involved in manufacturing

modern weapons also concentrate employment in only a

few centres of industrial and technological development in

the world. When battles were fought with arrows each State

found work for its inhabitants, whose job it was to sharpen

them. In the era of rockets and supersonic planes there are

few indeed, outside the industrialized countries, who can

participate in their production.

42. The Powers of Europe, America and Asia which were

exposed, during the great depression of the 1930s, to

massive unemployment among their workers, find a palliative

for this scourge in the employment brought about by

contemporary war industries and their related industries. In

this way, unemployment among men and women, which

mentally we associate with the last crisis of the industrial

world, has been transferred to the developing countries,

with its train of poverty and disorders, in proportions and

with characteristics never before recorded in the history of

mankind. It is essential that at this session of the Assembly,

at which the Second United Nations Development Decade

will be discussed, there should be a clear awareness of how

serious is the problem of unemployment in the rural and

semi-industrialized areas of the world.

43. Many of the world’s resources are lying idle, are

unexploited or are in process of disappearing because of

imbalances caused by mankind itself. It is incumbent on the

Assembly at the present and at forthcoming sessions to

make a thorough study of the exploitation of the resources

of the sea-bed, of the definition of the limits of territorial

waters by agreement between States, of the use of outer

space for peaceful purposes and of many other equally

important items which are on the agenda.

44. However, undoubtedly the most important item

before the Assembly, particularly for countries like

Colombia, must be the one relating to development. The

very notion of development implies the concept of making

the most of something that already exists, be it labour, the

resources of the sea-bed or the resources of the subsoil, but

which cannot be used for lack of means. Many factors —

indeed the same factors which, channeled on a vast scale

into the armaments race, have made possible the achievements

of the new era — are involved in the process of

development. Firstly, economic resources when they are

allocated on a vast scale to mobilize inert wealth and to

promote full employment assist nations in their so-called

“take-off” towards consumer societies. The application of

science and technology — in a word, education — plays a

similar role in both cases, whether it be to turn inventiveness

to the making of war material or to awaken societies

that have been sleeping in a centuries-old lethargy.

45. Therefore, the effort to make the objectives of the

Second United Nations Development Decade a reality must

combine the question of the reduction of armaments with

positive measures, in order to start diverting energies which

are today devoted to preparations for a hypothetical war

towards the benefits of a better distributed and more

widely enjoyed world prosperity, and, first and foremost,

to face the problem of unemployment which, either openly

or in disguised form, afflicts the under-developed regions.

Will not this then be the real challenge of our times, in the

Second United Nations Development Decade?

46. Our countries do not aspire, however, to receive from

alien hands the benefits of progress. We only want to

change in the framework within which other countries

achieved it in the past. We only seek access to world

markets on a non-discriminatory and non-reciprocal basis.

A greater participation of our continent in the world

market would be tantamount to setting out on the road to

development with a resolute step. But, as my Government

has stated repeatedly, for this to occur there must be

established a reciprocity between the backward and the

developed regions going beyond the supply of raw materials

subject to ruthless competition both from the older

producers and from the manufacturers of artificial substitutes.

A division of labour similar to that which occurs

naturally in large countries, leaving industries requiring a

large volume of manpower in areas where this is plentiful,

and large concentrations of capital in areas where this is to

be found, should also take place on a world-wide scale.

47. Thus, with wider horizons for world trade, with the

abandonment of imperial or post-colonial preferences, the

semi-industrialized countries would be able to have access

to the large markets, with indisputable benefits to the

consumers themselves. This is why we attach such great

importance to the task of trade liberalization which the

United Nations is promoting for the Second Development

Decade.

48. We seek less power for States and more welfare for the

individual, a larger trade flow and less interchange of strong

words and missiles among nations. Optimistically we believe

that, given the will to change existing conditions, we shall

be able to forge ahead. To the great States we say: Create

the: conditions, give us the tools, and we, by our own

efforts, will carry out the task of freeing two thirds of the

human race from hunger, ignorance, disease and unemployment.