São Tomé and Príncipe, 1982

The delegation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

cannot remain silent in the Assembly regarding its profound concern

at the grave problems beclouding the &ea of international relations,

which by their very gravity are imperilling the security of the world

and threatening peace and solidarity among nations.

197. Today more than ever before the peoples of the world want to

live in dignity and freedom, but they are threatened. They are the

victims of barbarous aggression, intolerable interference and covert

blackmail by those whose vocation and nature it is to sow grief,

pain, suffering, terror, poverty and destruction wherever people are

proclaiming their right to self-determination, wherever people are

fighting and dying for freedom.

198. We cannot fail at such a time to be conscious of the heroism

of the Palestinian people, the courage and determination of the

Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] and its brave fighters, who,

in the face of a deluge of fire and steel, have taught Zionism and

its allies a masterly lesson in popular resistance.

199. It is almost unbelievable that so much horror and barbarism

should have b en committed at the threshold of the twenty-first

century by an imposter State protected by guilty accomplices, a State

which has now reached the last stages of paranoia. These atrocities

demonstrate clearly to responsible mankind the dangers which lie in

wait for it and which can only be dispelled by a greater

determination in our

common defence of the ideals and cardinal principles cherished by the

peoples of the world and by forging a network of unbroken solidarity.

200. The plot aimed at exterminating the Palestinian people must be

denounced, condemned and resisted, vigorously and with determination,

by the international community. The appalling pictures of the

holocaust in west Beirut and the most recent massacres in the

Palestinian refugee camps have stirred the conscience of the millions

of men and women who have identified with the Palestinian cause and

firmly refuse to take refuge in blindness and amnesia in the face of

the most monstrous crimes in the history of the struggle of peoples

for self-determination and independence.

201. What crime is it that Zionism and the imperialist forces hold

against the Palestinian people and the PLO? The Palestinian people

has quite rightly proclaimed its right to a homeland, to the

establishment of the State of its .choice and to the recovery of its

territories occupied by force. What is that people to do, that people

robbed of its land for 35 years, condemned to exile and murder, other

than fight for' the recognition of its inalienable rights, which

others affect to ignore.

202. Israeli barbarism in Lebanon, the occupation by the Zionist

forces of part of the territory of that sovereign State, a Member of

the Organization, and the' systematic use of the right of veto by the

United States to prevent any unanimous condemnation of these criminal

acts and the application of sanctions under the Charter lead us to

the conclusion that law and international practice governing

relations between States are being scornfully disregarded by some in

order the better to preserve their unnatural alliances.

203. Sao Tome and Principe supports the Palestinian people and the

PLO, its sole representative, because we also cherish honour, dignity

and national independence as high values which no one will ever

succeed in destroying.

204. The invasion of Lebanon and the occupation by force of the

Arab territories by Zionist troops lead us to mention the invasion of

the People's Republic of Angola and the occupation of parts of its

territory by the racist and terrorist troops of the apartheid regime,

which is another shameful phenomenon of contemporary life. Those

actions illustrate the identity and the complementary nature of the

views and actions of Tel Aviv and Pretoria.

205. To link the independence of Namibia, under the aegis of SWAPO,

with the withdrawal of the inter-nationalist Cuban forces from

Angolan territory is intolerable interference inthe affairs of a

sovereign State, a Member of the United Nations. Furthermore, no one

can claim to be unaware of the reasons which led the Angolan

Government to appeal for the solidarity of friendly countries the

better to defend the sovereignty and integrity of its territory, so

seriously threatened by the massive presence of terrorist racist

South African troops. Those troops are illegally occupying part of

the territory of the People's Republic of Angola and once again the

international community seems to be acquiescing in a situation where

inter-national rules are being flagrantly violated. This passivity is

of the greatest possible benefit to South Africa, which is able with

total impunity to massacre the innocent civilians, destroy

socio-economic infrastructures and maintain its illegal occupation.

206. In spite of the existence of a recognized political and

juridical framework for conducting the negotiations on the

independence of Namibia in accordance with Security Council

resolution 435 (1978), those negotiations are at a standstill and all

possible pre-texts, even the most threadbare, are being presented as

pre-conditions for any settlement of the Namibian problem. Certain

Western countries which have economic and strategic interests in

Namibia want to prevent that Territory from becoming truly

independent and the Namibian people, represented by SWAPO, its sole

and legitimate representative, from being able to live in peace,

freedom and dignity .

207. In South Africa, in Western Sahara, in East Timor and in

Puerto Rico, heroic struggles are being waged by their peoples to put

an end to apartheid illegal occupation, colonialism and foreign

oppression.

208. The presence of foreign troops is preventing the peoples of

Cyprus and Korea from realizing their legitimate aspirations.

209. The delegation of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and

Principe wishes to reaffirm from this rostrum its unswerving support

for and Its active solidarity with the people of East Timor and

express the hope that the statements of the administering Power on

the subject of the decolonization of East Timor will lead to recourse

being had to the machinery provided under the Charter to permit the

Maubere people to express its views freely on its own future.

210. Our delegation also wishes to express its militant support for

the peoples of Western Sahara, Puerto Rico, Cyprus and Korea in their

struggle to preserve their national sovereignty, self-determination,

independence, national unity and peaceful reunification.

211. A vast plot by the imperialist and reactionary forces is

threatening the peoples and Governments of Africa, Latin America,

Asia and elsewhere. An infernal

machine is being unleashed against us in order to destabilize regimes

freely chosen by our peoples and all possible means are being

used-the creation of puppet movements and armed gangs, the

dispatching of mercenaries, the establishment of military bases, the

persistent refusal to make the necessary changes in the structure and

machinery of international economic relations, the stopping of

investment credits, aid blackmail, and so on. These actions have one

purpose in common: to safeguard the economic and strategic

neo-colonialist and imperialist interests in the region.

212. Furthermore, armed border conflicts are being fanned into flame

and fuelled among the developing countries to weaken our human and

material resources and prevent our using our strength and solidarity

in true programme of national reconstruction.

213. In this vast plot, international and regional organizations

are not spared. Those bodies are threatened with paralysis and may

very we)), in this context, cease functioning. It is as if the forces

of

evil want to prevent the peoples of the third world from gaining

access to credible forums where they can denounce and condemn the

plots, the manoeuvres and the massacres and diminish the historic

role of those bodies, that is, to defend the struggle for

emancipation of the peoples of the world against every kind of

exploitation and discrimination.

214. It is because the United Nations, the OAU and the non-aligned

movement have remained faithful to their original vocation that

serious threats are posed to their future and their capacity to take

just and courageous decisions enabling responsible mankind to

undertake commitments of solidarity and jointly to meet the challenge.

215. In this context the task of the new Secretary-Charter, they are

offered only resolutions which remain General are not an easy one. A

son of the third world, renowned for his qualities and his

experience, General is not an easy one. A son of the third world,

renowned for his qualities and his experience, he will through his

enlightened leadership enable the United Nations to succeed in

defending international order, justice, peace and the progress of the

peoples of the world so that the Organization can continue to deserve

the confidence of all peoples and in particular of the peoples whose

human dignity has been diminished. The United Nations, in particular

at the sessions of the General Assembly, must not become a kind of

confessional, where we all find ourselves under the spell of words

and exorcise the evil spirits, thus relieving our conscience, because

in sanctioning the practice of the use of words without accompanying

action the Organization is likely to become the graveyard of the

hopes of the peoples.

216. Our delegation is among those that whole-the many complex

political problems on the agenda of heartedly endorse the idea that

the United Nations the General Assembly for the establishment of a

new international order in which dignity, freedom, wellbeing, peace

and progress can become a reality and not a mirage for mankind.

217. The delegation of Sao Tome and Principe wishes to assure the

Secretary-General that the people and Government of the Democratic

Republic of Sao Tome and Principe will make a constructive

contribution to the performance of this honourable task.