Equatorial Guinea, 1969

204. Madam President, it is both an

honour and a privilege for me to be able to convey to you,

on behalf of my Government, my delegation and on my

own personal behalf, our sincere congratulations on your

election to preside over this Assembly, in particular because

you are a woman and an African.

205. I should not like to continue my statement without

pausing, to pay a tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Emilio

Arenales, who with his tact and ability was able to guide

the last session of the General Assembly to a successful

conclusion. We should like to express our deepest condolences

to the delegation of Guatemala, a Latin country to

which we consider ourselves linked by common cultural ties

inherited from Spain.

206. On behalf of my Government, I must also congratulate

and thank the Secretary: General of the Organization in

particular, and the United Nations in general, for the

prompt and immediate attention and assistance which he

gave my country during our brief period of national crisis

early this year by sending his personal representative and a

deputy. I also wish to pay a tribute to various experts of

the Organization who are working so conscientiously in

their various fields in my country.

207. I repeat that I wish, on behalf of my Government, to

thank the organization for all the assistance that has been

and is still being given to us through the dispatch of experts

to advise us on the process of our national development.

208. Only 12 days from now we shall be celebrating the

first anniversary of our independence, which we were able

to obtain peacefully from Spain, as was reported in the

world press. Four months after obtaining our national

independence, for obvious reasons, my country went

through a short period of public disturbances, a situation

which, owing to the political talent of my President and his.

Government and the complete co-operation of the Guinean

people, was immediately brought under control. I prefer to

make no reference to the exaggerated sensationalism

expressed in certain sectors of the world press concerning

the events which, as I have said, occurred in my country

earlier this year.

209. I am pleased to report that in May this year, the

Government of Spain and the Government of Equatorial

Guinea met in the city of Bata to discuss bilaterally and on

an equal footing the common interests which result from

our long coexistence, a process which culminated in the

signing of a number of political, economic, trade and other

agreements. A legal expert of this Organization and some

members of the Organization of African Unity were present

in June when a Guinean-Spanish meeting was held in Santa

Isabel, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, to proceed with

the first phase of the cultural agreements. I had the

privilege of participating in that meeting, which I venture to

describe as a complete success. It remains to be mentioned

that at the present time our relations with Spain are

excellent, as can be confirmed by the Spanish delegation at

this Assembly.

210. In respect of finance, my country has decided to

remain in the “peseta zone” and it is our wish that, with

the establishment of a National Bank, a dream that has

already been realized, it will be possible for the Guinean

peseta to circulate as from midnight on 12 October 1969.

To that end, I was accredited by my Government to the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

and the International Monetary Fund in Washington to deal

with all matters that concern Guinea in those international

bodies and that might lead to the realization of our

aspirations. I have to report that yesterday I went to

Washington for the conclusion of the matters concerning

our membership, the circulation of our currency, etc.

211. I should like to report that in this respect Spain has

duly fulfilled its promise to facilitate my country’s admission

to such international financial institutions as the

International Monetary Fund and the International Bank

for Reconstruction and Development. Membership in those

institutions constitutes a very useful element in strengthening

the new national currency and monetary system of the

Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

212. My country is totally dedicated to the urgent and

necessary task of economic, industrial, cultural, and

agricultural development, as well as to development in the field of

public health, and we invite private capital, from whatever

source it may come, to make investments in Guinea; we

will, of course, guarantee its investments. We extend the

same invitation to all Governments, provided that, in

compliance with any bilateral agreements that may be

concluded, the sovereignty of the Republic of Equatorial

Guinea is respected.

213. Needless to say, we maintain very good relations with

our neighbouring countries; in order to strengthen such

relations, in July of this year we appointed Ambassadors to

Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria and, of course, to Spain. For

financial reasons, we have not gone beyond appointing an

ambassador to Madrid in view of our close relations of

coexistence with Spain, leaving to a subsequent stage the

consideration of the establishment of further embassies in

the other countries with which we maintain diplomatic relations.

214. I have great pleasure in stating that my country is a

peace-loving one. This has been demonstrated by our entry,

almost simultaneous with our attainment of national

independence, into this great world Organization, thus

joining those who profess the same ideals.

215. My country is working with all the means at its

disposal for the liberation and unity of the African

continent, as our membership in the Organization of

African Unity attests. My country has proclaimed. itself to

be non-aligned with either East or West, and abhors all

forms of violence. It is deeply sorrowed by the sad civil war

in Nigeria, a neighbouring and friendly country, because, as

is well known, the relief flights to that area take off from

Fernando Po, thus creating for Equatorial Guinea a delicate

problem involving political and humanitarian considerations.

216. The long sad war in Viet-Nam and the daily

intensification of the Middle East conflict are sources of

great concern to my Government and we sincerely hope

that those who are directly affected by those regrettable

circumstances will, with the unstinted assistance of all of us

and through their own efforts and understanding, be able to

come together in the near future in order to solve the

situation, not on the battlefield but at the conference table

so as to bring about a peaceful settlement of those disputes.

217. My country is opposed to all colonialist countries

that ignore the world-wide appeal of this Organization, as

well as that of the Organization of African Unity, for the

total and immediate decolonization and the independence

of all colonial peoples. The same applies to human rights

for all peoples. I refer in this regard to the situation now

prevailing in South Africa, Rhodesia, Angola and Mozambique,

as well as in Namibia and Guinea (Bissau).