Ecuador, 1969

1. Madam President, on behalf of the Government

of Ecuador and on my own behalf, allow me to

convey to you a very cordial welcome and warm congratulations

on your election to preside over the General

Assembly of the United Nations. This choice reflects a

recognition of the merit of the people of Liberia and is also

a tribute to you personally.

2. We are proud that it should be a woman who is guiding

our deliberations. Your courtesy, intelligence and feminine

intuition are factors that will help us to find new directions

in the continuous search for truth and the attainment of

satisfactory solutions in which we are engaged in the world

Organization.

3. I should also like to take this opportunity to state that

the Government of Ecuador recalls the death of Mr. Emilio

Arenales, the distinguished President of the twenty-third

session of the General Assembly, and mourns it as the loss

of one of the most outstanding personalities of Latin

American diplomacy.

4. With respect to the subjects that will be of primary

concern to the Assembly at the current session, the

Government of Ecuador has well-defined views and clear

policies, all of which derive from its behaviour as a

peace-loving State, always desirous of strengthening its ties

with the other countries of the continent and with all the

other countries of the world.

5. The Government of Ecuador believes that if this year’s

discussions are to achieve any result, all representatives

must seek to strengthen the world Organization, to recognize

the broad powers of the Assembly laid down in the

Charter, to attribute to the Security Council as a matter of

right and priority the use of coercive means, to give

unreserved support to general and complete disarmament, a

process that will start in men’s hearts and minds and take

practical form in the field of international relations. In this

connexion, my Government and I myself believe that all

types of testing of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons

should cease and that the use of chemical and biological

weapons should be banned immediately. We believe that

the world is speaking out ever more insistently in condemnation

of colonialism and neo-colonialism, rejecting racial

segregation, repudiating religious struggles and seeking

measures of universal scope to promote human understanding.

6. But all the ideas which I have just expressed and which

will serve as a basis for my own statement would remain

incomplete if I did not affirm publicly and emphatically

that in the economic field the less developed countries have

not received a satisfactory or equitable answer to the

representations which they have made to the industrialized

nations. While it must be recognized that some of these

nations have made an effort to comply with some very

elementary minimum requirements laid down by conferences

on economic matters, such efforts are only isolated

exceptions which confirm the tone of gloom and scepticism

with which the representatives of the poor countries rightly

approach world affairs.

7. In May of this year, the Latin American countries

decided to define their position on vital international

economic problems which have a strong influence on their

development process. The document known as the Consensus

of Viña del Mar clearly sets out the thinking of this

region on international financial and technical co-operation,

foreign trade, the role of foreign investment, and social and

technological development.

8. The Latin American position defined in that document

should not raise the question of whether or not it contains

a complaint or an accusation concerning the unsatisfactory

results we have derived from the First United Nations

Development Decade. It goes much further and expresses

the vigorous and praiseworthy desire to overcome the

obstacles to our development. Among such obstacles are

those arising from the acute shortcomings that have been

observed in international co-operation and in the structure

of trade, which tend to aggravate the unjust situations that

now exist and prevent the satisfaction of our peoples’

legitimate aspirations to enjoy economic freedom, which is

undoubtedly one of the principal human rights.

9. We shall begin the Second United Nations Development

Decade in a rather gloomy setting, with a clearly negative

response regarding the effectiveness of the instruments put

to the test in the First Development Decade, but with great

faith in the capabilities and efforts of our peoples — an

essential element of our development. We hope that those

efforts will be supplemented in the next Decade by an

effective reform of world trade which will offer fair

treatment to the developing countries, with international

co-operation on a larger scale and on better terms than

those which have heretofore prevailed. We believe that this

will be achieved through full compliance with the basic

principles laid down in the historic document of Viña del Mar.

10. If we want the Second Development Decade to

achieve satisfactory results and bring us closer to the

objectives of the international community, we must begin

this decade of change in attitudes and procedures with a

firm policy aimed at reforming structures. We must endorse

and apply the principle that the profit motive of enterprises

and individuals cannot take precedence over national

interests or the right of developing countries to accelerate

their progress. The widening of economic and human

relations with the developed countries, whatever their

economic or political systems, does not and cannot signify

acceptance of their political systems or a desire to adopt

them. This implies, as a consequence, strict respect for, and

non-interference in matters which it is for each State alone

to settle, free from foreign intervention or pressure.

11. There are signs on the horizon of healthy intentions to

revise policies and attitudes and to find practical and

effective solutions. That is why we believe that the world

Organization, at this session of the General Assembly and in

all its other activities, should adopt effective measures that

would lead to improvements in the situation in developing

countries, at least in order to mitigate the contrast between

the poverty, malnutrition and violence which exist side by

side with fantastic space achievements and undreamed of

technological advances.

12. With regard to the main problems that have disturbed

world peace, Ecuador maintains that nuclear wars should be

considered an abomination and that the use of weapons of

tremendous destructive potential constitutes a crime not

only against the peoples who are the victims of that

violence, but against all mankind. I venture to affirm clearly

and categorically that the persistence of wars and problems

of human misunderstanding, such as those in Viet-Nam and

in the western region of Nigeria, have a direct impact on all

developing countries; because peace is indivisible and

because such bloodshed involves a wasting and squandering

of resources which could certainly much better serve the

purposes of peace.

13. Along those same lines and in that same spirit,

Ecuador will again express, in the discussions of this

Assembly, its utter condemnation of those who prevent the

self-determination of peoples and attempt to interfere in

the domestic affairs of other States. I shall not dwell on this

question now because the arguments are well known to the

whole world, since the position of Ecuador in this regard

has never been subject to a shadow of doubt.

14. This subject brings us directly to the question of

human rights. I wish to pay a tribute to previous sessions of

the General Assembly, at which this world Organization

co-ordinated and stimulated the formulation and application

of progressive legislation in this field.

15. In my country and in the other nations of Latin

America, there is fortunately no atmosphere of religious

intolerance reflected in public demonstrations. I mention

this social fact in order to invite other regions of the world,

through understanding and a calm analysis of problems to

outlaw fratricidal wars, which would only result in a

reversion to the darkest eras of human history.

16. At this session, I shall place particular stress on the

draft declaration referred to in General Assembly resolution

2181 (XXI) on principles on international law concerning

friendly relations and co-operation among States. The

delegation of Ecuador attaches the greatest importance to

this item. As we all know, the draft does not constitute an

end in itself, but should rather be viewed as the first step

towards the codification of the principles of the Charter.

This task must necessarily also embrace the progressive

development of the principles of international law, so that

co-operation may be provided with a legal basis and a-

standard governing mutual relations that will eliminate

weaknesses of principle and age-old inequities.

17. Present socio-economic processes in any region of the

world cannot be viewed except on the basis of common

standards of justice in a genuine spirit of understanding.

The process of Latin American integration, the latest

notable advance in which is represented by the Andean

subregional group, serves as a magnificent example, and in

this connexion I bring evidence of the spirit of co-operation

and an offer on the part of my Government and the people

of Ecuador. All integration programmes will in fact

collapse, if on passing from one country to another, they

encounter, on the frontier lines, the sensitivity and resentment

which are the inevitable sequel of past injustices.

18. As unquestionable evidence of a spirit of goodwill and

a genuine belief in integration, the President of the

Republic of Ecuador, an idealist who has devoted some of

his most noteworthy studies to international subjects,

invited our neighbour, Peru, to take steps towards an

honourable compromise that would end once and for all

our age-old dispute, a dispute that has impeded the joint

development of important frontier regions. Ecuador, which

prides itself on not being a country engaged in the arms

race, but rather one that has traditionally upheld peace and

law, in offering this new possibility, has done so, of course,

on two basic conditions: first, that any compromise should

take account of claims rooted in history and should give the

discoverer and colonizer credit for the fruits of his

discovery and colonization; secondly, that any formula

agreed upon should meet the requirement of mutual

dignity, so that the results may not be regarded as an

imposition by force, but rather as a recognition of pages of

history written with human blood and sacrifice and based

upon national objectives and recognition of the characteristics

of a people that cannot renounce what its

forefathers so unselfishly achieved.

19. In doing this, Ecuador is trying to set an example, and

I say this in clear and unmistakable terms. It wants to see

the economic resources of the developing countries devoted

to dealing basically with the nutritional, health, educational

and infrastructural needs of those countries’ societies.

Ecuador condemns a policy of arming in all countries, but

we believe that in the case of the less-developed countries

this condemnation should be twice as severe.

20. This invitation to hold a dialogue is and always has

been an unchanging line of conduct for my country

throughout its history and under all of its Governments.

Our most recent demonstration of this can be found in our

negotiations, honoured by the very valuable company of

Peru and Chile, with the United States on practical

procedures and conservation standards for the protection of

the marine resources adjacent to our coasts. I take the

liberty of inviting the other countries of America and of the

world as a whole to follow carefully the deliberations of the

four-Power talks which are being held in stages in Buenos

Aires, deliberations in which we hope to prove, for our

part, that the search for practical solutions and harmony

among nations is possible even though they may hold

different and inalterable juridical and political views.

21. My statement would not be complete without a

reference to a great step forward taken by mankind in the

legal domain, a truly significant achievement in this new

year in the life of the world Organization, and one that I

certainly should mention: the Vienna Convention on the

Law of Treaties, signed at Vienna on 23 May 1969.

22. The Government of Ecuador attached the greatest

importance to that Conference. The Convention, which

required great efforts over a long period of time, entailed a

difficult and complicated process of drafting designed to

harmonize the different juridical and political positions of

the various countries represented at the two phases of the

Conference. The balanced result reflected in the Convention

was achieved after much laborious work.

23. The Vienna Convention contains principles that are

fundamental, particularly for the weaker and smaller

nations. The bulk of part V of the Convention, as was

recognized by the International Law Commission, consists

of rules for the progressive development of that law, de lege

ferenda, but its principal importance lies in its having

incorporated into the body of the Convention rules of law

that constitute lex lata. It is important that the countries

that went to Vienna recognized, accepted and incorporated

into the Convention the principle that “a treaty is void if its

conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force

in violation of the principles of international law embodied

in the Charter of the United Nations”. My Government also

considers essential the acceptance of the principle that “a

treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts

with a pre-emptory norm of general international law”.

24. The important instrument adopted at Vienna contains

progressive rules of international law and brings together

and codifies pre-existing rules such as the rule that disputes

concerning treaties should, like any other international

dispute, be settled by peaceful means and in accordance

with the principles of justice and international law. There

are Other rules which emphasize the principles of international

law embodied in the Charter of the United

Nations, such as the prohibition of the threat or use of

force it: international relations, the principles of equal

rights and self-determination of peoples, the sovereign

equality and independence of all States, non-interference in

the domestic affairs of other States, universal respect for

the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all and the

effective exercise of these freedoms. It is with true

satisfaction that I mention these principles and rules which

have been consistently proclaimed by Ecuador throughout

its history and have formed the basis of its international

policy.

25. I cannot fail to mention a fact which has aroused

concern among many States, including Ecuador, and which

constitutes a serious threat to the safety of human life,

personal tranquillity and the normal development of airline

operations throughout the world. I am referring to the

hijacking or unlawful seizure of aircraft, which has been

happening day after day. In the incident involving two

Ecuadorian aircraft, which took place on the sixth of this

month, a mechanic was seriously injured by the hijackers

and the co-pilot of one of the planes died when the aircraft

were forced, while in Ecuadorian airspace, to change course

towards Cuba.

26. My Government considers that the situation resulting

from this wave of criminal activity should be studied so

that appropriate measures can be adopted in a binding

instrument of universal scope, under the auspices of the

United Nations. News reports from Montreal, which

appeared in my country on last 25 September, bring out

the fact that the Legal Committee of the International Civil

Aviation Organization is at present engaged in drafting a

treaty on the extradition of persons committing the

aforementioned crimes. My Government duly appreciates

that work but considers that, in any event, part of the

efforts of this twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly

of the United Nations should be devoted to solving this

serious international problem, and to this end I invite all

Member States to give their valuable co-operation in the

study of this question, which should be included in the

agenda of this session of the General Assembly.

27. It is also necessary to give serious consideration to the

desirability of going beyond the procedural provisions of

the Tokyo Convention, which was also signed under the

auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization,

because it is now essential to reach a substantive agreement

on the definition of the crime of hijacking - or the illegal

seizure of an aircraft in order to standardize legislation on

this subject and thus succeed in putting an end to this series

of criminal acts, under a system of severe penalties for

those responsible for such acts. Positive action by the

United Nations in that direction would be welcomed by all

countries in the world because the continuing impunity of

the perpetrators of such crimes cannot be allowed to

become a guarantee of the unrestricted repetition of their

punishable acts.

28. Finally, I must refer to the recent conflict between

two sister countries of Latin America, Honduras and El

Salvador. Fortunately, a satisfactory solution to this problem

was found within the Organization of American States.

I mention this question in order to stress the importance of

the system of peaceful settlement of disputes, both at the

regional level and within the United Nations. My country,

Ecuador, has been constantly urging the need to strengthen

and improve the machinery for the settlement of disputes

and to avoid them by eliminating the sources of injustice

that gave rise to them. “And since the law is not a

purely normative science“ — I am quoting the words of

Dr. Velasco Ibarra, my country’s President — “We must

begin with concrete and objective social factors, and the

law must seek a balance between these concrete and

objective factors.”

29. Madam President, I do not wish to conclude this

statement without once again reaffirming my country’s

faith in the United Nations, its confidence in our distinguished

Secretary-General and the certainty that your

personal ability, together with the resolute collaboration of

representatives, will ensure the utmost success in our

endeavours for the good of mankind at the present session

of the General Assembly.