YouSaid · the spoken record

VALDES

lines on the record: 193
first: 1965-09-24
most recent: 1969-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

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“My delegation considers it essential that a study should be made of the security needs of the countries of Latin America as a whole, their legal and political obligations and their internal constitutional and institutional requirements. For this reason we urge that this point should be given consideration and that a specialized preparatory meeting, exclusively Latin American, should be convened, with general approval, to consider these problems one by one, keeping in view solely the interests of the Latin American region. 32.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The rapid development of countries like my own, or indeed the majority of the international community, makes it necessary for all possible national and international resources to be available for that purpose. Consequently, our concern for non-proliferation cannot make us overlook the importance of the measures of conventional disarmament, which is closely connected with the releasing of resources for economic development. 30. At the Meeting of American Chiefs of State held at Punte del Este in April 1967, the subject of the limitation of expenditure on armaments was expressly considered in connexion with the discussion of ways and means of overcoming the present economic situation in Latin America. At that same Meeting the Chilean delegation put forward the idea of abandoning certain types of military devices, within that framework. 31.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“In fact, the Powers in question, by proposing by themselves alone the solution of a problem that is of such serious consequence to the small countries, have shown clearly the vast abyss existing between the power of decision and the influence of some as compared with the power and influence of others. 28. In the picture I have drawn, it is imperative that real progress should be made in the conversations of the great nuclear Powers on the practical means for their own disarmament, since the renunciation by the small States of any attempt to develop their own nuclear weapons will be of no avail unless it is accompanied by the nuclear disarmament of all States without exception. Yet we see no progress being made in that direction. 29.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“A few weeks ago, the two greatest Powers, showing a promising ability to co-ordinate their policies, submitted a joint draft treaty oil the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. The world cannot but welcome this effort to decrease the possibilities of nuclear destruction. 27. Nevertheless, I must refer here to a fact that is precisely in line with the phenomenon already described of the horizontal separation of the great Powers, above, and the rest of the world seeking development, below, that has replaced the vertical division brought about by the cold war.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“At this point I must mention the armaments problem. Up to a few decades ago armaments represented only a fraction of a country's activities and were simply the power it kept in reserve for any military emergency. Today the production of armaments absorbs such a large share of the resources available for scientific and technological research that it prejudices and distorts all the economic activity of the great nations and, by a strange paradox, it mobilizes the greatest effort in the use of natural resources and of intelligence that mankind has ever made throughout history. It is tragic to realize that while Pope Paul VI, the highest moral authority in the world, has said that "development is the new name for peace", the production of armaments has today become the greatest expression of development. 26.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Economic, technological and military development has brought about relationships of common interests and balance among the great Powers which have robbed the previous ideological differences of their meaning. The more rapid rate of development attained by the countries that do not belong to the blocs, as also their political self-government, have been a strong inducement in that process. 24. This has given rise to ways of thinking and to forces which, realizing the danger of division, build bridges in the matter of thought, ideologies, religion and economic development, creating such fruitful relations that today we are witnessing increasing co-operation among nations that ten years ago seemed to be hostile and aggressive. And thus it would seem, to our great joy, that peace among the great Powers has been preserved. 25.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Side by side with the United Nations a system of blocs has been built up which divides the world into two centres, each of which has strengthened its defences with political, ideological and military instruments. The vertical separation of the two was prejudicial to a large number of small States, while the introduction of political, ideological or economic alternatives, such as those expressed by the so-called non-aligned countries or third world, did not substantially change this polarization on a world scale. This has seriously affected the work of the United Nations. The Organization has, however, helped to prevent these two blocs attacking each other. 23. In the last few years this cold war has decreased in intensity.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“As a last confirmation of this picture, I would draw attention to the stagnation at Geneva in the task of interpreting the principles of the Charter, It is paradoxical that twenty years ago the world experienced a feeling of relief at seeing general agreement reached on fundamental rules and principles, and yet today there is no real agreement on the meaning of those rules and principles. 22. It would not be fair, however, to blame the United Nations for the failures and frustrations to which we have drawn attention. They are due not so much to what goes on within the Organization as to the policy of power that is developing outside it.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“We have followed the Secretary-General’s personal intervention with sympathetic Interest; but its results have highlighted the utter inability of the Organization, as such, to assume responsibility for this problem. There is no doubt that one of the causes of this situation lies in the fact that the United Nations still falls short of universality and that many important actors in the drama are absent, vacillating between a Messianic role and chaos, isolated and menacing. 21.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“One wonders whether a process of moral corruption is not taking place when mankind grows accustomed to the daily sight, year in, year out, in the press and on television, of battles, bombings and death as if they were scenes from history having no connexion with morality, law, or life as we know it. 19. It is indeed a cruel paradox that, faced with the most serious problem threatening world peace, the United Nations has been unable to play any significant role. The question is not even on the General Assembly’s agenda, A political, not a military solution is what is needed in this war, and it must necessarily take account of the principles in whose name this political Assembly is meeting; I refer mainly to the principles of non-intervention and self-determination. 20.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“In line with the principles involved, which we fully support, Chile considers that there is room for a further approach which could bring about an effective formula for a stable and definitive solution to the Middle East problem. 18. There are at present very few problems as serious as the Viet-Nam conflict. There is no denying that its presence hover over these debates, and in the last few years we have all expressed our opinions on the matter. Today we once more express our distress at finding the struggle still going on with no end in sight.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“The report was approved and the Committee was requested to continue its examination of the problem, bearing in mind the proposals submitted by Ireland and Canada, which Chile co-sponsored. Let us be honest: those proposals were thus politely buried. 16. In consequence of all this, the great Powers have regained their former absolute control over questions relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, and the General Assembly has been denied its erstwhile ability to act in this matter. This same General Assembly whose authority in matters of peace has been undermined was convened in special emergency session to deal with the Middle East question, now aggravated by the recent conflict. 17. Latin America made a serious attempt to secure peace.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Thus at a time when by an overwhelming majority the International community had withdrawn its confidence from the former mandatory Power, South Africa, this occurred to strengthen the position of the latter and encourage it to continue for many years its mockery of the United Nations. 15. At the same special session the General Assembly examined a report of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations, a vitally important topic if the Organization is to be provided with the means of intervening effectively in conflicts calculated to endanger international peace and security. Despite all attempts to reach at any rate a minimum agreement, nothing concrete was achieved.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“Two special sessions have been held this year to deal with matters of vital importance for international peace. In none of the three items discussed during those sessions was any progress made; delegations which made valiant efforts to achieve practical results were left with a mere vague feeling of confusion and disappointment. 14. The question of South West Africa was discussed at the fifth special session, on the basis of a report from the Ad Hoc Committee for South West Africa recommending direct administration of the Territory by the United Nations. The recommendation was approved but it is obvious that it will be ineffective because, for different reasons, all the permanent members of the Security Council abstained.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“11. I have great pleasure in congratulating the President on his election to preside over this twenty-second regular session of the General Assembly. I feel it is a step in the right direction that these debates should be conducted by a member of a socialist country; it highlights the fact that the Organization embraces all ideologies and political systems and is serving peace and international co-operation in the widest sense. 12. It is also a pleasant duty for me to express the Chilean delegation’s appreciation of Mr. Pazhwak of Afghanistan who worked so indefatigably and so patiently in the cause of peace as President of the last regular session and of the two special sessions held this year. 13. This new regular session of the General Assembly opens in a difficult atmosphere.”
1967-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 22 (1967)
“We are meeting to create the wide markets necessary to give our economic development the impetus and circumstances required by human activity in this century and at this moment. "Why are we meeting? We are meeting because we want to see the emergence within our nations of a creative common effort in the sphere of knowledge, which today more than ever before is the great human adventure. But if this adventure is to be possible, it requires — as the poet said — that we should put our shoulders to the wheel to repel the forces of darkness." 89. This noble enterprise, destined to serve the cause of the liberty and dignity of the American, requires that there should be peace in the world. That peace we must build here and now.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We are creating conditions such that the frontiers will serve not to isolate us, but to create neighbourhood units which will enrich economic, cultural and political unity in the variety of communities wishing to live in peace and liberty among themselves and with the rest of the world. 87. A month ago, five Latin American Governments, meeting at Bogota, offered for the consideration of the other nations of the continent a set of concrete ideas for speeding the process of our unification, which they considered to be essential to the development of our peoples. 88. On that occasion, the President of Chile said: "Divided peoples, instead of growing, diminish; they are no longer the creators of history, but rather pawns designed to carry out decisions adopted by others without their presence or their consent. Why are we meeting?”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We seek an alliance for the harmonious economic, social and cultural development of the continent, not a closed alliance but one open to the participation of all the world and especially of Europe, in order that the true ideals of justice and freedom may become a reality in Latin America. 85. We have faith in Latin America because it has been a continent in which prominence has been given not to the individual but to the race, in which men originating from all parts of the world have united in the face of adversity, in which there is discrimination of colour and shape with regard to the arts and landscapes, but never with regard to human beings. 86. There is a growing movement in Latin America to rise above the concept of an archaic nationalism through the integration of our peoples.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“I make a fervent appeal for the co-operation of all countries to prevent the involvement of Latin America in the nuclear race. I do so because we have faith in that continent, which has other tasks to fulfil. We have faith in its possibilities of becoming a home for man, where neither hatred, nor lust for power, nor the instruments of violence will prevail. We trust we shall make progress in that direction through the united efforts of the sister nations of the continent and the loyal and effective co-operation of the large nations. We are pledged to make a co-operative effort within our hemisphere proportionate to our vast human and geographic resources and with true participation on the part of all the peoples concerned in the decisions to be made and the benefits to be derived.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Chile undertakes without reservations to work towards this end and acknowledges the action taken by the nuclear Powers which has enabled some progress to be made in that direction. We hope that we shall soon be able to sign a treaty banishing this peril from our continent. 83. The denuclearization of Latin America will make it possible to denuclearize a large area of the Pacific, an area into which the national interests of other countries of the region extend, including those of Japan, the only country to suffer the cruel experience of nuclear weapons. Thus, a universal declaration of a nuclear-free zone, covering Latin America and the Pacific, would be a contribution to non-proliferation and to the denuclearization of the world, and an example of positive action for peace. 84.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“To commit a large proportion of their revenue to the acquisition of increasingly costly war materials must certainly weaken their development efforts and means entering into a senseless rivalry that can only aggravate the major problems of the world. 81. Let us all meditate on the enormous responsibilities of a world in which, merely by refraining from producing weapons of mass destruction, we could put into effect eight or nine Marshall Plans every year. The great Powers should use their strength, and the responsibility which it gives them to promote regional agreements on the limitation of armaments, in Latin America for instance, and use their efforts for disarmament by devoting the resources so released to development aid. 82. We earnestly hope that Latin America will soon become a nuclear-free zone.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“The best proof of goodwill on the part of the great Powers and of a real intention to disarm would be to initiate a rapid process of arms reduction and to devote a considerable part of the resources released to increasing aid to the developing countries. 79. The approximate figures show that the total expenditure of the industrialized countries for destructive purposes amounts to over $120,000 million. These same countries grant only $11,000 million, mainly on a reimbursable basis, to eliminate want in the developing countries. About 10 per cent! This is a most tangible proof that the developed world still believes that security can be built on arms and not on justice, a false and foolish belief. 80. The developing countries also have their responsibility for the reduction of armaments.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Closely linked with this is the principle of the universality of the United Nations, which conditions its real ability to act in areas crucial for world peace and which can affect its own survival. The road is certainly not an easy one, but we are convinced that merely negative attitudes will only increase tension in a world that cannot live in peace if attempts are made to divide it ideologically. 77. We shall not find security in ideological or geographical isolation. We can achieve it if we recognize the essential equality of all men, their right to culture, welfare and modern technology and their duty to submit to a world authority serving the masses of mankind. 78. But a beginning should be made by action in this direction.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Chile is prepared to make its contribution, within the limits of its capacities, to the creation of a world peace force, since peace is the responsibility of all peoples. Peace is indivisible. If it is endangered in one region, the whole world is threatened. For that reason we accept the necessity of establishing a peace force, solely under the control of the United Nations. 75. In this Assembly, which opened in a gloomy atmosphere, we have listened to proposals for seeking a definite solution to the war in Viet-Nam. So serious is the situation that the replies to these proposals cannot be evasive or simply qualified statements of intentions. 76.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In our opinion, all countries are under an obligation towards the United Nations and world peace to place at the disposal of this Organization the material and human resources necessary to ensure the effective protection of the principles of the Charter. 73. We are convinced that we, the small nations, can make an important contribution to the cause of the United Nations and of peace. We represent a large part of the world's population and we have no material interests involved. At the last session of the Assembly, we gave proof of what we are capable of doing when working together, by obtaining almost unanimous approval for a resolution on nonintervention. We hope that, on this occasion and in the future, we may continue to work together constructively, sharing a common inspiration and a common goal. 74.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We all know that the problem of disarmament transcends the problem of stockpiling armaments and that its solution requires an over-all picture of the United Nations. 71. In the first place, we are convinced that the problem of peace-keeping operations should be dealt with immediately, quite apart from disarmament negotiations. Aggression and the arms race are consequences of international political disorganization. The establishment and strengthening of peacekeeping machinery is the best guarantee that power will never again be wrongly used and will demonstrate the willingness of all countries to reduce their own armed forces. 72.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In so far as the United Nations constitutes a genuine political community and all nations participate in its decisions, we shall build solid foundations for the equality and the participation of all mankind in economic, social and political activities. 69. We believe that that is the road that the new history must take, and we must follow it resolutely. As His Holiness Pope Paul VI said here a year ago: "... it is easy to affirm that it is towards that new history, a peaceful, a truly and fully human history, as promised by God to men of goodwill, that we must resolutely set out. The roads are already well marked out for you; the first is that of disarmament." [1347th meeting, para. 36.] 70.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“This is true both on the national and the international plane. 67. In our country, we are carrying out a revolution the essential basis of which is the transfer of political power from the small oligarchies to the large popular masses. This transfer is the only solid foundation for economic change. The participation of the people in wealth and in the benefits of culture will be definitive only in so far as the people are able to participate freely and democratically in power and in the making of political decisions. 68. In our view, the problem on the international level expresses itself in similar terms.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Here the five or six most powerful nations should come together, leaving aside their particular ideologies, to study and decide upon their participation in changing the process of the developing world. That world already shows distinctive features. There is a real awareness of its problems and the decision to carry out the domestic efforts required; it is a world that is leaving behind its religious differences in so far as they constitute a dividing factor; it is a world which is becoming racially integrated and which is prompted by the urgent necessity to achieve higher technical and cultural levels. 66. Our insistence on the economic work of the United Nations should not cause us to forget that the foundation of equality of opportunity is true, genuine, real political equality.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We resolutely support the Secretary-General's view that it is the duty of the Organization not only to preserve peace but also to create it. In the process of creating peace, the problem of development seems to us to have first priority. This Organization has devoted much study to it, has set up many Commissions and has given it a forum of great potential value in the Trade and Development Board, So far there have been no agreements but we must recognize that there has been some progress. It is now possible to establish what the developing nations need, in certain decisive sectors at least. What is lacking? Only a decision by the industrialized nations to state how willing they are to meet the development needs of the Third World. 65. What is lacking is a political decision.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“During many sessions of the Assembly, the Council and other activities of the United Nations, we have concentrated our efforts on obtaining machinery for economic aid, on establishing new principles of international trade or on analysing the conditions of the world economy. We have carried out important work in these fields, but we must recognize that its slow progress as compared with what was predicted, depends on political decisions which will have to be adopted by this Organization. The United Nations was conceived as an essentially political institution, and the activity of small countries within it should be aimed at achieving effective political equality and rights in all its Councils, Assemblies and Commissions. 64.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“It is also an expensive, and potentially disastrous, anachronism. Patriotism, national pride or ideological convictions can and must take new and more creative forms than the old concepts of political domination or material power. This is a challenge to statesmanship and political genius in all regions of the world. The basic ideas and machinery are all there — they await the national policies and actions which will put life and strength into them." 63. What are the conditions which will make it possible to strengthen the United Nations? In our opinion, the first and most fundamental is to consolidate it as a base for the construction of a sound and democratic political organization. This is not the case at present. Moreover, it can be said that we smaller countries are to blame for this.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We also agree with the Secretary-General when he said: "Let me reiterate, therefore, that we must work towards a new world order in which aggressive nationalism or expansionism are banished, as a means of promoting or protecting national interests, where extremism is no longer necessary to support a different point of view, and where diversity can be preserved without resort to prejudice and hatred." 62. Lastly, we are in agreement with the Secretary- General's statement that: "The greatest obstacle to the realization of the principles of the Charter is the inescapable fact that power politics still operate, both overtly and covertly, in international relations. The concept of power politics, whether as the Instrument of nationalism or of ideological extremism, is the natural enemy of international order as envisaged in the Charter.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“60. We fully agree with the Secretary-General's statement at his admirable lecture at the University of Chile, that; "The future of the United Nations, therefore, rests to a considerable degree with the small nations — with their sense of responsibility, their independence and objectivity, their dedication to the principles of the Charter and, above all, their collective determination to help attenuate and bring an end to the dangerous tensions which have affected international relations so adversely during the last twenty years." 61.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“The second aspect is his attitude towards the problem of South East Asia, which is the sore tooth of the contemporary world and which, with the entry of mainland China on to the world's stage, represents the greatest challenge to our generation. The fate, the very survival, of our civilization depends on how we deal with this problem. We are aware that the Secretary-General knows and feels these problems as his own. His proposals and his personal intervention in these problems should be fully supported by the great Powers and by all the Members of the United Nations. 59. For this reason, we express the earnest hope that the reasons which prompted his decision not to accept re-election will be overcome. For this same reason, we wish to express our agreement with the main line of action he has taken on these problems on various occasions.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Support for U Thant personally is unanimous. What we wish to stress is our full endorsement of his ideas about the international community and the specific proposals he has made for solving its immediate problems, with particular regard to two aspects: first, the recognition of the need to establish justice in the system of economic relations between nations, not only as a prerequisite for development, but also as an essential condition for peace. The creation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was a substantial step forward in this direction, since it has given us a high-grade instrument for world-wide negotiations. In this connexion that eminent Latin American, Dr. Radi Prebisch, stands out for the tireless efficiency with which he has organized and directed this valuable instrument.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“A few weeks ago, we in Chile had the high honour of receiving a visit from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant, who came to inaugurate the new building of the Economic Commission for Latin America. 57. On that occasion the Chilean Government took advantage of the opportunity offered by this personal contact with U Thant to assure him that it was entirely in favour of his continuing to hold the office of Secretary-General of the United Nations; considering as it did that he had succeeded in conferring on his office its present prestige and importance and that he had acted with consistent intelligence, decision and resolution. This assurance was spontaneously supported by the Chilean people, who gave the Secretary-General an enthusiastic welcome in the streets as he passed by. 58.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In doing so, I confess I have in mind Goethe's dictum that man dreams only that he may not cease to see. 55. If we can make the United Nations stronger by causing it to assume greater obligations, then we shall succeed in transforming the uneasy truce of the present day into the permanent peace which so many of us hope for. If we invest the Organization with indisputable moral authority and make it the authentic spokesman for the conscience of mankind, we shall be able to resist the irresponsible exercise of power which endangers world peace. Lamennais said that, where there are strong and weak, rich and poor, liberty enslaves and only the law can give freedom, and those words have never been truer than now in international affairs. 56.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We can see the possibility of this happening and we can see the danger involved. That is why it is urgently necessary to reach agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and we consider this to be the most important of the steps that can be taken immediately in connexion with general disarmament. 53. Despite the circumstances in which we live, I wish once again to reaffirm our faith in the United Nations as the most reliable instrument for international co-operation. In a world characterized by political disorganization and by anarchy in international affairs, this Organization is mankind's only hope of an international community based on peace and progress. 54. Perhaps all that I shall have achieved in addressing this Assembly will have been to bear witness — too ingenuously maybe — to my faith in peace.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“People who oppose the application of me principle of self- determination, despise negotiation and believe only to achieving a settlement by force of arms, are doing exactly what the colonialists did during the past 150 years. Colonialism was a gift to mankind from the Western world, whose nations exploited the wealth of overseas territories in order to secure their own advancement. 52. The next thing will be trade in nuclear weapons. Who is to prevent it? Is not the expansion of the scale of operations the driving force in business? If the arms trade is based on self-interest and profit and not on the moral law, why should it not be possible in the future, after some indecision, for atomic weapons also to become an article of trade in a market which is kept in existence by terror, jealousy and, of course, the desire for vast profits?”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“That attitude is common to all countries which profit from the present situation, irrespective of ideology. 50. Spurred on by this process, countries that until a short time ago were colonies now want to colonize other nations, either in fact or by introducing their ideas. Like the colonialists of the past, they are not prepared to accept the law and negotiation at the conference table as the foundation of success. This Messianic approach arises from their frustration; the totalitarian identification of national ideals with a single man results from the effort to retrieve a lost cultural identity, while building up a scale of values on an arbitrary basis. 51. The irresponsible use of their strength by some great Powers has had ready Imitators.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“What does decide the destiny of the world is the contest between the forces of complacency and material wellbeing and the forces of extreme want, which can see no way out except rebellion. For this reason world peace is in danger wherever the majority are losing hope. 49. The destiny of the world depends on the contest between neo-colonialist concepts in international relations, which survive through sheer inertia, and the determination of the developing nations to rise above the present structures of world economy and achieve progress within their own cultural traditions. Powerful nations are not prepared to sacrifice their privileged position in the system of international trade, which they themselves organized. Nor are they prepared to permit any major changes in international financial systems.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Unfortunately, some time will elapse before there is again a united Germany, born of self- determination and occupying its rightful place in this Organization. 47. Reasons — some of them very Cogent — can always be given for not finding a solution for these problems. It is a race against time, yet progress will be deliberately slow and cautious so that minor interests may be satisfied, petty susceptibilities left unwounded and the impression given that the urgent problems are those of an individual Power, never those of mankind as a whole. 48. We all know — though apparently some have forgotten — that what decides the destiny of the world nowadays Is not the competition between the capitalist and the socialist productive systems, for they will both arrive at the same end without a struggle.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Without a universal law, it will be very difficult if not impossible to prevent nations from invoking the right to possess this weapon in defence of their own integrity and independence, when others are stockpiling it and holding it ready for use. That is why nations have been announcing their entry into the "club" of those possessing this destructive power with violent atomic tests, all of which endanger our peoples. 44. So we shall have to wait for some time before moral indignation is translated into a general agreement to prohibit the manufacture, possession and use of nuclear weapons. 45. Moreover, everything seems to confirm the assumption that mainland China, in the Messianic spirit characteristic of isolated countries, will continue to arm its people, both materially and psychologically. 46.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In the countries of all the great Powers voices will be raised by those who place prestige, power or profits before everything else. 42. The Treaty of Moscow, which we signed, forbids nuclear tests which could endanger life on this planet. The parties have acted in accordance with their obligations under this Treaty. But they did not undertake not to use atomic bombs against each other or against third parties, or to stop manufacturing or stockpiling these bombs. This is the crux of the problem, since, so long as some countries have this power, the experts say that it will only be a matter of three years and $30 million before many other countries have atomic bombs. 43. This race cannot be halted unless armaments of this type are destroyed.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“We live in a world where more than 1,200 million human beings are completely illiterate and some 400 million families lack decent housing. Yet, at the same time, $150,000 million are spent annually on armaments and more than 100 million skilled men are employed in manufacturing weapons and in preparing for war. These are facts which we cannot alter: responsibility for doing so lies with the four or five countries which in fact hold the power of decision in the world. 41. Representatives of nations, numbering many millions of people, may agree with what I have said, but, although we all maintain that we are ready to abandon the armaments race, any progress in that direction, if progress there is, will be slow and cautious.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“Revolution may be defined as direct action to give effect to a resolute will for change in the interests of the people; but, If while we talk about introducing changes for the better in the process of human development, and, at the same time, thousands of millions are being spent on armaments which in turn sow mistrust by constantly upsetting the balance between neighbouring countries, if oligarchies of various flavours are supported and hatred and violence fomented among other peoples, then we are magnifying still further a contradiction which in the end will destroy all possibility of living in peace. 40. Poverty, when it is born of injustice and of inconsistency between the principles preached and actual practice, is not only more frustrating, it is also more explosive.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“The attainment of the objectives of this revolution is in jeopardy because, throughout the world, justice, freedom, truth and peace are themselves in jeopardy, because no country, least of all a small country, can build its future in a universe of violence, and because efforts are being made to transform our countries into battlefields for ideologies which prevail elsewhere and have no relevance to our circumstances. In short, our revolution is in jeopardy because the very meaning of the word "revolution" has been distorted.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“And yet, we have the right to ask ourselves: can it really be, in a world where peace, freedom and justice are values predicated by all, that technology, economic wealth and the incubus of colonialism should count for more and have greater force than moral law, which demands that it be recognized as a sacred and immutable principle in international relations that political communities, because of their inherent dignity, are equal to one another? 38. I come from a small country of 9 million inhabitants. Chile does not attack anyone and has no wish to arm itself to do so. Its ambition is to live in peace and friendly co-operation with all peoples regardless of their regime or system of government. Chile is carrying out a revolution among its people so that justice, freedom, truth and peace may reign in our community. 39.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)
“In short, in the case of these and many other problems, what we say is not heeded; when it is heeded it is soon forgotten; and what is remembered is not applied by those with the capacity and obligation to do so. 37. The concentration of technological progress and financial resources in a few countries and colonialism, both past and present, provide an explanation of the situation which we have just described.”
1966-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 21 (1966)