Trinidad and Tobago, 1982

1. Mr. President, may I, on behalf of the

delegation of Trinidad and Tobago, congratulate

you on your unanimous election to the office of

President of the thirty-seventh session of the

General Assembly. My delegation is confident that

your considerable experience and skill will

con¬tribute significantly to the successful

outcome of the Assembly's work. You are the proud

representative of a country with which Trinidad

and Tobago enjoys the most cordial relations. I

would also like to pay a tribute to the outgoing

President, Mr. Ismat Kittani of Iraq, for his

very commendable performance over the past year,

as President not only of the thirty-sixth session

but also of the second special session on

disarmament and the emergency special sessions.

2. Twenty years ago, Trinidad and Tobago, a

small newly independent developing country,

joined the Organization. We, like many others,

were attracted by the system of collective

security enshrined in the Charter of the United

Nations. It was this which impelled us to seek

entry to the United Nations imme¬diately upon our

achievement of independence. We had neither the

desire nor the means to embark upon any

large-scale expenditure for arms or sophisticated

weapons of war in order to make ourselves

inde¬pendently secure. Even those who have

embarked upon such a course delude themselves

into believing that they can be secure.

3. Today Trinidad and Tobago views with

consider¬able concern the widening gap between

the purposes and principles of the Charter and

the increasing law¬lessness in the world

community. This lawlessness is characterized by

utter and distressing disregard for human life

and suffering and little respect for the dignity

of man. History will surely indict the United

Nations and its Member States for their chronic

inaction in the face of such lawlessness. The

Security Council has failed to fulfill its

primary responsibility for the maintenance of

peace and security and to act in accordance with

the purposes and principles of the Charter. Loss

of confidence in the United Nations system brings

the world closer to the brink of disaster as

nations seek to impose their will on others by

force and to ignore decisions of the world body

aimed at peacefully resolving international

conflicts.

63

4. The refusal of Member States to renounce

the use of force as an instrument of national

policy and the refusal to respect the territorial

integrity and inde¬pendence of States and to seek

the peaceful settlement of disputes have given

rise to a growing number of crises which threaten

to engulf us all in a conflagra¬tion of

unprecedented horror and destruction. The

Secretary-General, whose skilful and untiring

efforts in the cause of peace this past year must

not go unrecorded, has warned that this trend

must be reversed before once again we bring upon

ourselves a global catastrophe and find ourselves

without institu¬tions effective enough to prevent

it . But will his warning be heeded? How can it

be, when in the quest for a so-called balance of

power nations continue to increase their nuclear

arsenals? How can it be, when nations resort to

arms and refuse to limit and reduce their weapons

of mass destruction- weapons which threaten

civilization itself?

5. During the past year a number of old

conflicts have continued to fester and pose

obstacles to peace. Several new conflicts have

arisen which endanger international peace and

security. From the South Atlantic to South-East

Asia, from Western Sahara to the Middle East and

from Africa to Central America, situations of

intense conflict have brought disaster and untold

suffering to millions of people.

6. A few days ago the world was witness to

the most inhuman event in the Palestinian refugee

camps of west Beirut. The entry into that part of

the city of the Israel Defense Forces for the

alleged purpose of preventing further bloodshed

was the signal for permitting the unleashing of a

reign of primeval terror which has resulted in

the slaughter in cold blood of hundreds of

unarmed civilians—women, children and the

elderly—in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

Revulsion at this barbarous act has echoed around

the world. It is testimony to the enormity of the

crime perpetrated by those who connived in its

commission. We would dishonor the memory of the

victims of this massacre and betray the people of

Lebanon, if we did not provide at this time

adequate and effective measures to heal their

wounds, promote their unity and restore their

national sovereignty. At the very least, we

demand the total and unconditional with¬drawal of

Israeli forces from Lebanese territory. The

tragedy of Lebanon is inextricably bound up with

the problem of the Palestinian people. Trinidad

and Tobago reiterates its firm conviction that

there cannot be and there will not be a lasting

peace in the Middle East until the rights of the

Palestinian people are recognized and respected

and until the Palestinian people themselves have

been allowed to exercise their right to

self-determination.

7. The mounting toll of refugees and

displaced persons fleeing political strife and

economic disorder attest to the increasing

inhumanity pervading our world today. These

conflict situations invariably affect people. It

is the mass of the people who suffer when the

mechanisms contained in the Charter for the

peaceful settlement of disputes fail or are

ignored, as we see with increasing frequency. The

fragile econo¬mies of developing countries and

the development aspirations of whole generations

of people are jeopar¬dized by actual conflict or

by the profligate expenditure involved in

preparing for conflict. International tension and

great-Power rivalry are perhaps the principal

cause of the deflection of the world's resources

from their correct use—the advancement of the

well-being of all mankind.

8. Nowhere is this inhumanity more sickening

than in South Africa, where the apartheid regime

of South Africa continues to defy international

world opinion in its brutal repression and

oppression of its black majority. The persistent

attempts to establish Bantustans, the detention

and banning of African leaders, and the death of

freedom fighters and trade union leaders while in

detention, serve only to confirm the need for

more stringent action by the United Nations to

compel South Africa to comply with its decisions

not only with respect to conditions in South

Africa itself but also with respect to Namibia,

which it con¬tinues to occupy illegally.

9. We must once more condemn the obstinacy

of Pretoria in impeding the achievement of

inde¬pendence by Namibia. We must condemn that

regime for its persistent use of Namibian

territory for armed attacks on neighbouring

States. We rebuke that racist regime for its

attempt to set up a puppet Government in Namibia.

Above all, we rebuke it for its ruthless

exploitation of Namibia's natural and human

resources .without any real benefit accruing to

the indigenous population. It is time for the

full implementation of Security Council

resolution 435 (1978), which sets the sole

framework for the independence of Namibia. It is

time to put a stop to the dilatory tactics

employed by Pretoria over the past four years to

deprive the people of Namibia of their peremptory

right to self- determination and independence.

10. We cannot equivocate in our support for

the Namibian people in their struggle to free

themselves from the oppressive colonial yoke.

Trinidad and Tobago's continuing commitment to

the process of decolonization has been

demonstrated by the leader¬ship role it has taken

in the Special Committee on the Situation with

regard to the Implementation of the Declaration

on the Granting of Independence to Colonial

Countries and Peoples. The Territories still to

be decolonized, many of them small in size and

limited in resources, are of particular concern

to Trinidad and Tobago since several of them form

part of our own Caribbean region. Some of these

Terri¬tories remain in a state of virtual

economic depen¬dency. In these circumstances it

is very difficult for them to exercise freely

their right to self-determination. The colonial

Power therefore has a duty to devote the necessary

resources to preparing these Territories for

independence. There is ample evidence to show

that when the colonial Power wishes to do so it

can.

11. If the political picture of the world

which I have painted is one beset with problems,

the economic one is no less troubled. I do not

think that there is now any doubt that today we

are experiencing the worst down-turn in the world

economy since the 1930s. What is perhaps even

more chilling is that there is little confidence

in the prospect of global economic recovery in

the short term and even less in the international

monetary and financial system. Unemployment, one

of the scourges of humanity, has reached

unimaginable proportions. We in the developing

world have lived with unemployment for decades.

Levels of unemploy-ment of 18 per cent and 20 per

cent were seen by some economists as normal for

developing countries, while for developed

countries 2.5 to 3 per cent was considered the

norm.

12. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is

deeply concerned about the growing levels of

unem¬ployment in developed as well as developing

coun¬tries. It is concerned not only because of

the human suffering involved but also because the

monetarist prescriptions of certain major

countries and financial institutions for dealing

with the general economic situation are such that

they exacerbate the problem. The high interest

rates associated with monetarist policies have

added considerably to the already over¬grown debt

problem of the developing countries and resulted

in unpredictable flights of capital.

13. Recent events have reaffirmed, if that

were neces¬sary, just how interdependent the

world has become. In the industrialized countries

large deficits, tight monetary policies and high

levels of inflation have resulted in high and

volatile interest rates and a decline in

industrial output, which in turn have affected

the earnings of developing countries. At the same

time the developing countries have faced a marked

decline in the level of official development

assistance, dete¬riorating terms of trade, and

higher prices for imports, including food, and

renewed protectionist policies on the part of the

developed countries. Constrained by these

conditions, developing countries are unable to

pay for their imports and service their debts.

Indeed, so severe are these constraints that most

developing countries are experiencing negative

rates of growth.

14. For the Caribbean the past year has been

partic¬ularly difficult. Not only did the

recession continue to decrease the demand for

tourism, the primary source of foreign exchange

for many countries, but the major exports—sugar,

petroleum, bauxite/alumina and bananas—also faced

softening or declining markets. For countries

which have already been experiencing negative

growth rates the net result has been that the

economies of these countries are tottering on the

brink of bankruptcy. In order to achieve growth

rates of 3 to 5 per cent per annum over the next

five years, the countries of the Caribbean

Community will face an external resource gap of

over $US 3 billion. They will need the support of

the multilateral financial institutions if this

gap is to be bridged. We therefore, view with

some concern the decision of the World Bank to

adopt a variable interest rate policy and to

introduce a front-end lending fee which will make

project financing much more difficult and

painful. Without lower and more stable interest

rates, initiatives designed to encourage

investment in the Caribbean will not be

meaningful.

15. Trinidad and Tobago believes that there

is an urgent need for a significant increase in

the level of World Bank lending. A minimum

increase at the rate of 5 per cent m real terms

is necessary if the Bank is to meet the

requirements of developing countries.

16. With regard to the International Monetary

Fund [IMF], Trinidad and Tobago supports the call

for a substantial increase in and a

redistribution of quotas so as to give developing

countries generally and economic groupings and

regions a greater say in the operation of IMF.

17. Trinidad and Tobago is disappointed that no

consensus has been reached on the allocation of

special drawing rights during the present basic

period and that as yet, despite the repeated

pleas of the developing countries, a direct link

between special drawing rights and development

finance has not been established.

18. Trinidad and Tobago has sought, within

its own modest means, to contribute to the

economic progress of the countries in the

Caribbean community by making funds available to

them through the Caribbean Development Bank and

other regional financial insti¬tutions, as well

as through our own programmes for technical

co-operation and assistance. Over the past five

years, Trinidad and Tobago has contributed $.5

billion in balance-of-payments support, loans on

soft terms, and grants and project assistance to

mem¬bers of the Caribbean Community. Even in

these trying times Trinidad and Tobago maintains

its commitment to assist its partners in CARICOM.

We hope that other countries, particularly the

better endowed ones in our hemisphere, will make

good their promises of concrete support for the

countries of the Caribbean. In six months it may

be too late. We hope, however, that when such

assistance is given, it will not have a divisive

effect on the region and encourage alienation

from principles cherished by all Caribbean

peoples.

19. Trinidad and Tobago sees in the present

situation a clear and accurate demonstration of

the need for systematic transformation and more

balanced global management of the international

economy. We believe that the credibility,

efficacy and relevance of the existing

institutional structure and its theoretical and

philosophical underpinnings have been called into

question. That has rendered the call for the new

international economic order more relevant than

ever.

20. It is a matter of concern to us that

efforts to launch the global round of

negotiations on international economic

co-operation for development have not met with

great success during the past year. No agreement

has been reached so far between the Group of 77

and the industrialized countries on procedure,

agenda and time-frame for the launching of

negotiations to tackle the problems of the world

economy simultaneously in a coherent and

integrated manner. Instead, developing countries

see, with mounting frustration, their in¬terests

bypassed or ignored in the GATT negotiations and

in deliberations at the World Bank and IMF.

21. To the developing countries here

assembled, I launch an appeal to move swiftly to

implement the action program for economic

co-operation among developing countries adopted

by the Group of 77 at the High-Level Conference

on Economic Co-operation among Developing

Countries at Caracas in May 1981. Not until our

efforts to change our focus and to reorient our

patterns of economic collaboration bear fruit

shall we see a more positive response from the

developed community.

22. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has

noted with satisfaction that after 14 years of

protracted dialogue and negotiation, the United

Nations has finally adopted the Convention on the

Law of the Sea. After much hard work,

co-operative effort and give and take, a package

deal was reached on 30 April 1982.

23. I must place on record the disappointment

of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago that one

of the major contributors to that package deal

has chosen to opt out of the painstakingly

negotiated settlement. The decision of that major

contributor to turn its back on a system which

would make for a stable order in ocean space is

to be regretted. It remains our hope that all

States will sign and ratify the Convention to

make it universally acceptable.

24. Perhaps it is not inappropriate that I

voice the cumulative disappointment of all

peoples at the failure to halt the arms race and

to reduce armaments of mass destruction. The

thousands who have marched in the streets of many

cities of the world in order to draw attention to

the existing situation and to signify their deep

fear of the consequences to themselves and future

generations of the arms race and nuclear

catastrophe have sent a clear message that the

world community cannot afford to ignore. Allow me

once again to voice the concern of peoples

everywhere for the urgent adoption of measures to

alleviate, if not to solve, the current economic

crisis, and to remove the hovering specter of

depression.

25. In conclusion, I should like to urge the

great powers not to import into the Caribbean

their rivalries, conflicts and tensions. Of our

neighbors in the hemisphere, we ask at all costs

that they settle their disputes by peaceful

means. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago, as

it has done before, stands ready to assist in

finding peaceful and amicable solu¬tions to

disputes which threaten to disturb the peace in

the Caribbean, and to retard the just aspirations

of Caribbean peoples for peace, security and

economic well-being.