YouSaid · the spoken record

Usher

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS USHER

lines on the record: 146
first: 1966-09-24
most recent: 1974-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

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“If it rejects that, it thus rejects any prospect of having any future in Africa. 100. The Ivory Coast's policy is to contribute to creating an atmosphere that would make it possible for the administering Power to get a better insight into the realities of today's Africa, an Africa aspiring to its own identity. 101. In Viet-Nam, the situation seems to be frozen. Men, women and children by the thousands are falling victims to the principles of those who are supposed to guide their destinies. The main victims are the masses of the dead, the wounded, the mutilated, and the families in mourning. The principal victors are the armaments industries of the various countries supplying arms.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Those Territories will be independent. It is simply a matter of the inexorable course of history and the unshakable and invincible will of their peoples, a will manifested in the actions of the nationalists. 98. In order to preserve its African image, like other former colonial Powers Portugal has no alternative but a fruitful dialog with the nationalists. If it refuses and persists in propagating the fiction of "Portuguese overseas provinces", it will know the solitude of those who sow death and then undergo irreparable disaster on our continent. 99. We have asserted from this very rostrum that Portugal's future in Africa is tied to its recognition of the right of all Africans to independence. The problem is simple and has one solution the independence of these Territories in friendship with the former colonial Power.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“At the meetings of the Security Council in Addis Ababa the African group insisted that the administering Power should convene a constitutional conference to lay the bases for a settlement of the situation and a transfer of power to the majority. 96. We consider that, after the veto "cast by the United Kingdom at the Security Council's 1666th meeting, the General Assembly should deal with this item at this session and exert pressure upon that Government to take the measures necessary to remedy the illegal and dangerous situation prevailing in the Territory bearing in mind the wishes of the vast majority of the people of Zimbabwe. 97. As for the African Territories under Portuguese domination, their destinies are dear. The colonial war being waged against them is only a distressing phase. The Portuguese army is fighting the inevitable.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Let us be patient, let us exhaust all the possibilities offered by this approach before any rupture takes place. What is at stake for Africa is of the most vital importance. 94. In southern Africa the situation therefore remains extremely disturbing. The majority of the people of Zimbabwe has rejected the Douglas-Home/Ian Smith agreement of November 1971, and hence no progress has been achieved. The illegal regime profited from an easing of sanctions and noted with satisfaction the official lifting of the embargo on certain strategic supplies. Here again we are faced with a situation which is only too familiar, that of the ineffectiveness of sanctions, which are never applied because they are thwarted by the narrow, selfish interests of States. 95.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The success of this undertaking, which would finally afford us a glimpse of the dawning of an era of fraternity and understanding among black and white Africans, depends upon the abandonment of the idea of the partition of Namibia into small nations, which simply should be thought of as one of the minor and outmoded stratagems of the colonial power of yesterday. 93. The mission of the Secretary-General constitutes, in this context, the test of the goodwill of the Government of South Africa. We therefore await with interest the report of the Secretary-General, and we presume that the South African Government is undoubtedly aware of the grave consequences of a failure of this mission. For our part, let us display the greatest goodwill.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Since 1963 the Ivory Coast has been advocating this in the Special Political Committee. My country believes that this earth, where man has given his life for other men, his brothers, is not doomed to hatred, war and carnage, but that, on the contrary, its destiny is to become a place of reconciliation, peace, love and fraternity. 91. Security Council resolution 309 (1972), charged the Secretary-General with a mission to contact with South Africa. This contact, the dialog for which the Ivory Coast cherishes a veritable passion through loyalty to the cause of its struggling brothers of southern Africa, which it knows to be just, constitutes a new approach in the search for a solution to the problem of Namibia. 92.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“We believe that we must seek to determine the causes of our failure in order to bear them in mind when advocating more realistic approaches to the problems of this region, whose essential elements are the occupied territories, the refugees and the state of belligerence. Solutions are possible if we make up our minds to rid ourselves of our prejudices, if we bridle our passions and if we place above our own interests those of the peoples concerned. The memorandum of the 10 African statesmen, prepared to contribute to the solution of the problem and based upon the principles I have just mentioned, has been totally disregarded, and we can only regret this. 90. We are particularly saddened by this tragic situation. We think that peace is possible by a recourse to dialog.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“But the reality is painful; it is no piece of fiction. We are plunged into a tragic atmosphere resulting from a refusal to undertake dialog. And thus the time has come when the disappearance of hope leaves us nothing more than shattered dreams and impotent resentments. Yes, indeed, the time has come when men, feeling themselves abandoned, isolated, betrayed and hunted, have no further recourse but irrational violence. 89. We must recognize that in this tragedy the conduct of the United Nations has been far from being exemplary. Now, things happen quickly and politics tolerates only success. Are we to continue to display such an extreme of impotence? We do not think so.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“On the world chess-board the Middle East has become an important piece in the fluctuating, equivocal and doubtful policy' of the Member States, in particular the great Powers. The extremes of yesterday no longer exist, but the situation remains dangerous and explosive. For more than 20 years, at each of our sessions, the parties to this conflict have been vetting and scrutinizing our slightest gestures and every word we utter. Our Assembly is finally awake to the mass of innocent deaths resulting from acts of violence and repression, which are tragic episodes in a strategic war which reminds us if there is any need of this-of the existence and the persistence of a kind of slow-motion war. Our reaction is then to vote for one more resolution, with the easy conscience of a good craftsman doing a good job.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“In his message to the nation on 7 August last, the Head of State of the Ivory Coast, President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, stated: "One of these hopes and you are aware, my dear friends, how much I cherish it-is that of seeing dialog, something which the Ivory Coast has always indefatigably championed, becoming finally the uncontested and general rule in our world, so that in order to prevent and to resolve conflicts of all kinds, hate, fanaticism and blind violence can give way to a spirit of co-operation which would be sincere and very widely shared." But Heaven knows the extent to which fanaticism and violence have given us, and alas are still giving us, distressing examples of their pernicious effects. 88.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The results achieved demonstrate once again that the policy of dialog, which engenders tolerance and understanding- understanding which facilitates coexistence, the last stage of the process of exchange which is a true golden rule for a world which wishes to survive-remains the most effective, the most humane and the most reasonable method of resolving differences. 87.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“Similarly, the ratification of the Soviet-German and Polish-German agreements, the moves towards rapprochement between the two Koreas and the striking manifestation of reconciliation and solidarity which marked the ninth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU in Rabat, show that a climate of international detente is reigning. 86. This climate of detente, which our Secretary-General quite rightly has described as "a historical development of the highest importance" [A/8701/Add.l, p. 1], has been made possible because responsible men, like President Nixon and President Bhutto, Chancellor Brandt and distinguished Heads of State of Africa and Asia, have chosen, without inhibition, to have recourse to dialog in order to resolve delicate situations which seemed insoluble.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“The last eight months have been marked by intensive activity in the most widely varied fields. If we cannot but deplore the absence of positive results, both in terms of development and in peace in regions of conflict, we are obliged to recognize, however, that a new wind has been blowing on the international political scene. 85. The journeys of President Nixon to the People's Republic of China, of President Bhutto to Simla, of Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka to Peking and of Chancellor Brandt to Moscow and East Germany are the most marked features of the change which has occurred in international relations.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“I am happy, Sir, to express to you the warm congratulations of the Ivory Coast delegation upon your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its twenty-seventh session. 82. At the same time I take great pleasure in expressing our gratitude to the outgoing President, Mr. Adam Malik, who presided with the authority and competence we all recognize here over the deliberations of the previous session of the General Assembly. 83. I should also like to take this opportunity to repeat to Mr. Kurt Waldheim our warm congratulations on his appointment to the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations. I should like to assure him that in the performance of his important and delicate task he can always count on the support and understanding of the Government of the Ivory Coast. 84.”
1972-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 27 (1972)
“This transformation can be achieved only by means of education: the education of the third world in mastering technology and science, the education of the "haves" to give them a realistic view of underdevelopment so that their main concern will not be "get rich and have no other worries". 126. The work for peace is for each of us an effort at understanding one another. It is a labor of every day, of every instant in all circumstances. Peace is in the hands of men where it is as little secure as a crystal vase in the hands of a child.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The Ivory Coast believes that henceforth we should move towards a polycentric world economy, with several strategic poles, so that the economies of our young countries will not depend on a single pole of attraction, the decisions of which might dash all our hopes. The present financial crisis which threatens the world gives us this redoubtable example. 125. "The new name of peace", said His Holiness Pope Paul VI, "is development". Thus the problem of peace cannot be solved by philanthropy; it must be solved by a mental transformation leading to an equitable structural organization for international trade.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The fluctuation of currencies and, as a consequence, the ensuing uncertainty in the value of the exchange reserves which have been painfully accumulated by the developing countries can but jeopardize and disturb all the Programs and plans for the economic development of the disinherited countries. It is therefore a matter of urgency to set up a new international monetary system which will final}/ take into account the interests of the developing countries. 123. The rules of the game have so far been defined by the developed countries among themselves. We, the developing countries, because we are realistic, do not claim to challenge their preponderant role, but we do hope that, since we ourselves observe those rules, they will not change them, or, if they do, we should not have to suffer the consequences. 124.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Yet we must recognize that the recent crisis in the international monetary system gives cause for the developing countries to despair. They bear no responsibility for the present crisis and yet they suffer the rebound effects of an incoherent management of the international payments system by the developed countries. The present trends toward protectionism and withdrawal which is the pattern in the trade policy of the wealthy countries cannot f"" to be detrimental to the hopes of the developing countries for an expansion of international trade. 122.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Finally, trade in agricultural goods between low-income countries is often hindered because wealthy countries give their farmers assistance in kind or export subsidies. It follows that a serious effort has to be made by the developing countries to institute multilateral payment agreements and regional arrangements among themselves in order to intensify trade. 121. In reviewing these difficulties and these obstacles to the implementation of the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade, which was adopted at the last session of the General Assembly [resolution 2626 (XXV)], we can but feel overwhelmed at the volume of effort, work and goodwill which must still be amassed to achieve our goal, even though we retain our full confidence in the solidarity, the good sense and wisdom of the world community.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Unfortunately, the barriers to this increase in trade are many and often cannot be overcome by developing countries alone without international aid or contributions. Transport and communications between these countries are often inferior to those which link them to the wealthy countries; the quasi-monopoly or the preponderance of foreign shipping companies which service those poor countries places them at the mercy of any freight rates policy which is unilaterally decided in the wealthy countries. The financial institutions, the payments systems and the sales organization have been devised, often for historical reasons, more in terms of trade with the developed countries; products manufactured in the developing countries are often competitive with one another instead of being c complementary.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“119. Moreover, serious import barriers subsist in the advanced countries for these processed or semi-processed commodities. Unfortunately, we observe that the developed countries often still follow a rather pronounced protectionist policy: import duties, surcharges, quotas or subsidies for national producers whereas in fact the only real solution that will enable the developing countries to improve their situation and to ensure their economic growth would be to export more of their manufactured or semi-finished goods to the wealthy countries. 120. Expansion of international trade should not be sought solely between the rich and low-income countries; trade between the developing countries should also increase.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Hence the importance of expanded trade, economic co-operation and regional integration as elements of an international development strategy. But the deficiencies and barriers to maximizing international trade are still many and very difficult to surmount. 117. The share of the developing countries in world exports, which was 27 per cent in 1953, fell to 18 per cent in 1969; it even fell from 52 per cent to 42 per cent for primary products, which represents the main part of their exports. These figures reveal the weakness of the structure of exports in the developing countries, which are too dependent on commodity goods. 118. But the organization of markets for commodities and international agreements will not enable producing countries to derive enough income from their products to ensure the accelerated rate of development they need.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The problem of peace is also tied to the redistribution of wealth. Redistribution does not mean that the "haves" would have to distribute their goods, but to seek a balance between income we derive from our raw materials and the price we pay for manufactured goods. It has long been thought that the solution to the underdevelopment of the countries of the third world lay in aid given by the rich countries to the poor ones. 116. The disappointing United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 1964 did nevertheless make it possible for us to see that this conception was cramped, that trade was the primary instrument for the poor countries to accede to general prosperity, and that therefore the development possibilities for the third world were governed by the evolution of the general framework of world trade.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“There are no nuances in positions taken, and that would lead us to believe that there is a greater interest in the question than in the solution. If the Organization were to take the decision to expel the Republic of China, it would not emerge morally greater. The Ivory Coast will always be objective whenever this question is debated. Quite obviously, any proposal to expel the Republic of China from the United Nations should continue to be considered an important question. 114. As for the Viet-Nam war, its extension to the entire peninsula is to be deplored and its continuation is not warranted. It would be desirable to encourage the participants in the tragedy to pursue their negotiations in a spirit of sincerity. 115. The peoples of the third world hunger and thirst for economic justice.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The Chinese question is governed by two facts: the national fact, which is reflected in the feeling of each Chinese Government that it is the legitimate representative of China; and the international fact, which, without daring to be definite, leads the other countries of the world, at the whim of world political events, to recognize either de jure the Republic of China, or de facto, the People's Republic of China, and vice-versa. 113. But the Sino-American ping-pong games have launched the United States "bomb", and it was logical to discover in its fall-out the specific form of the international fact of two Chinas. Nobody doubts that this solution would win many votes if both were likely to accept a compromise formula. But in fact positions are irreducible and a compromise non-existent. The problem stands in its entirety.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It advocates evacuation from the' occupied territories and the recognition of Israel's right to exist. 111. In truth peace will not be made up of either rights or claims, but more simply of mutual concessions. Without them, there is neither negotiation nor dialog, and therefore no peace. There is no conflict which does not lend itself to a peaceful solution unless minds are closed to every suggestion. Be that as it may, in the end solutions which were initially rejected indignantly are found to be plausible and acceptable. The cease-fire must become permanent and every recourse must be set in motion so as to find arrangements for the reopening of the Suez Canal. 112.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“On both sides, it seems that, finally, they wish to free themselves from the politics of doom and embark on the very difficult course of negotiations yes, difficult because intransigence confronts intransigence. 110. The Jarring mission, whose noble efforts have been appreciated by both sides, with which his prestige remains intact, may be called upon to pursue his task. Those countries which are friendly with both the Arab States and Israel must assist both parties to adopt an attitude favorable to a dialog, on the basis of mutual understanding, which in turn is born of mutual good faith. The basis for the discussions exists: Security Council resolution 242 (1967). The terms were carefully weighted both in the preamble and in the operative part.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The single-mindedness of Africans in regard to the objective elimination of apartheid stands intact. Only the methods may very after 10 years of no success. 109. The situation in the Middle East is a permanent danger for world security. At the fifth emergency special session of this Assembly, I said that the political instability within certain States of the area, the bloody events and the grave disturbances which periodically have broken out in that part of the world, have as their cause, directly or indirectly, the problem of Palestine. We must recognize that the picture is sombre. Yet, I would wish to believe that, today, a ray of hope has lifted some of the shadows from that picture.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“We must give proof of being serious and realistic in every field, whether it is a matter of our own affairs, of our struggle against those who persist in wanting to scorn Africa, or whether it is a matter of our relations with our African brothers and the methods used to try to reach unity. What does this consist of? It is to refuse uselessly sentimental and chivalrous attitudes in this century of realism; to reject demagoguery and vain improvisations; it means admitting that words and skills count but little when facts are faced; it is to propose reasonable solutions, that is to say, solutions that one can and wants to apply; it means remaining faithful to principles, but at the same time being able to exercise the necessary flexibility to ensure their triumph." 108.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“That is why, in acting against the current of a collective delirium, we affirm that it would be an illusory satisfaction to try to liberate our brothers through war. Our warlike attitude runs the risk of setting off a deadly chain of events, triggered by blind external forces and by our just fury, and would lead our beloved Africa which has already suffered so much to the hecatomb desired by some. Thus the well-understood interests of our continent compel us to risk peace rather than war. 107. In this connexion President Felix Houphet-Boigny said the following in March 1968 before the Tunisian Parliament: "We must once and for all renounce the idea of harnessing our plough to the clouds.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Those contacts between whites certainly do not speed up the solution of the problem; whereas, in the opinion of the Ivory Coast, contact between blacks and whites would in itself constitute a crack in the wall of apartheid. Our black brothers, South Africans, also need to circulate, to know the black citizens of the independent countries of Africa -their habits, their customs, their way of life-and their relations with the whites who have remained in those countries in friendship, or who have been liberally welcomed after independence. Finally, it is no mere chance that harmonious relations between whites and blacks in America have been developed increasingly since 1960, the period of independence of African States and their mass arrival in the United States. 106.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The Ivory Coast reaffirms its conviction that contacts, the creation of conditions necessary for a dialog, can, without hampering or discouraging the struggle of the victims, bring about changes through evolution. 105. Diplomatic isolation has also failed. None of the Powers in question has broken relations with South Africa. While South African Airways does not transit our countries, the other airlines and the shipping companies which go to South Africa come to our ports and airports; at the same time the South Africans of Dutch, German, British and other descent maintain contacts with their cousins in Europe and other continents, despite our resolutions.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“There are therefore differences in motivation which enable us to believe that it will be possible, through technology, frequent contacts and the influence of communications, to disseminate among the vast majority of white and black citizens of that country the ideals of an egalitarian and brotherly society, to strengthen standards and the social and human values of our time, and thus bring about a peaceful evolution towards a multiracial society. 104. It is true that the thinking and training of some do not predispose them to such a conception. But it is arbitrary to group all attitudes in the struggle under the single world "violence".”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Our effort, apparently active, is in fact passive; and we are among those who become exasperated and find it more and more difficult to support it. The Ivory Coast has no great merit in making this affirmation, because we are simply stating a truth known to all. What we denounce is that no one wishes to draw the consequences of this blocking in the United Nations. 103. Three elements command that, while maintaining moral pressure on South Africa, we study new methods of approach. The big businessmen, grouped around large financial institutions which invest even in certain African countries, are liberal; while the racism of the old, who grew up after the Boer war, is pathological, the young are inspired only by the fear of revenge from the blacks.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The International Monetary Fund has just purchased, gold from South Africa in the amount of $137.55 million so as to enable States to use the special drawing rights to acquire currencies. All these realities mean that, far from suffering from the decisions taken, economic expansion continues and South Africa increases its income by 6 per cent, which reveals how uncertain are the methods advocated. Thus the possibility for an internal revolution is based on nothing; what is more, within the context of the present world, it seems impossible, if not inconceivable for us, to set up a joint force to fight South Africa, Beside the' victims, machine-guns in hand. 102. Our support can only be verbal, laden with affection, in a romantic way, bewitching for our peoples, but not in accord with the realities of the situation.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“As a general rule, the 10 great Powers which provide South Africa with three quarters of its imports and purchase two thirds of its exports will, like almost all the other Powers, not only not make the necessary effort to impose sanctions but will never make such an effort. The reduction of gold and other mineral deposits, whose expansion is so useful to the world economic structure and the structure of their economies, would cause a crisis in international liquidity, so that each one, given the complexities of economic laws, plays a subtle game of self- satisfaction which consists in voting in favor of a resolution first and then being deceptive about its implementation. Who would dare to propose abandonment of the gold standard for any currency, let alone the dollar?”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Every year South Africa is condemned because of the system it practices, appeals are made and then sanctions are imposed upon it for non-compliance with those appeals. The United Nations will not fail in its task; this year again it will adopt resolutions of condemnation and sanctions. As long as those sanctions remain at the level of the General Assembly, votes will be cast in favor with no opposition -excepting Portugal and South Africa. The sympathies for the victims are many, convictions are unanimously reiterated. Any attempt to have the Security Council endorse resolutions under Articles 39, 41 and 42 of the Charter so that they will become binding decisions has suffered from the veto of the great Powers-the fourth veto of the United Kingdom and the first veto of the United States since the creation of the United Nations. 101.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Africa, because of its sociological and ethnic pluralism and the need to devote itself to a harmonious development on the economic, cultural, scientific and social levels, must safeguard itself against bloc rivalry. It can only do so if vigilance brings about an internal and external conduct which excludes hated, even vengeance in the most tragic cases, and establishes a will for dialog and a permanent policy of negotiation. 99. Indeed, to think of our struggle against apartheid since 10 years ago is to take the measure of the evolution of that phenomenon and of the conduct of the world, of which Africa is an integral part. The ethics and philosophy of our decisions have tended toward an economic and diplomatic boycott of South Africa, in order to halt its economic expansion, isolate it and compel it to surrender. 100.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The great Western Powers will not accept an invasion of South Africa by African armies. The armed power of South Africa is such that one cannot foresee how long a war would last. Our armies would be fighting on several fronts. Our continent would be reduced to a vast field of ruins where hunger and epidemics would cause millions upon millions of dead. Our youth, our hope for tomorrow, would be sacrificed and, without winning the war, we would lose a precious peace. 97. A similar^ conceived masked war was implanted in the Middle East and has enabled the great Powers to project their problems there and the profound impetus of their quarrels and to issue proxy invitations to our brothers in that region of the world to fight against one another. 98.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It is therefore incumbent on those who are not immediately involved in this tragedy to endeavor to analyze these events, to dissect the components, to interpret them, to seek solutions so that those mainly responsible, namely, colonialism and racist government, will discover the morality of freedom, of equality, rather than to encourage by deeds and words the terrible logic of violence which leads opponents to greater reciprocal violence. 96. There are so many divergences in assessing the methods of approach because the categorical judgments that we arrive at do not take into account the essential elements of reality, that is to say, do not place the problem in its true context: the situation of Africa with regard to peace or war. Obviously the use of force will be abhorrent.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“My country and its Government have no intention of either becoming resigned to the perpetuation of the system of apartheid, or of seeing extinguished in the ashes of resignation the flame of legitimate indignation of black Africans in South Africa. True, they insistently extol the dynamic ideal of non-violence, but fully understand that, through the accumulation of deceptions, the threshold of tolerance is broken and brings violence in its wakes driving some to fight or to accept death in order to satisfy their fundamental aspirations to freedom and dignity. But that is only a distress solution for a distress situation. 95.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“only a dialog which can prevent the disastrous consequences of structural violence within each of our African countries, including South Africa. 93. In response to those who claim that we want to negotiate on the backs of our unhappy brothers in South Africa, the Ivory Coast rejects, not with scorn but with indignation, these fallacious accusations. Indeed, we repeat that it is only a dialog which can prevent an armed struggle between our States, including South Africa, and which is able to contribute to the establishment of an atmosphere which will promote or facilitate the indispensable dialog among the citizens of South Africa, 94.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Despite the malicious insinuations of some of its friends and despite the accusations of being a traitor to Africa hurled against it by some of its brother countries whose regimes give the outside world a distorted picture of African humanism, the Ivory Coast not only denies these oppressive regimes, which are a shame to Africa, the right to inveigh against its positions but also asserts with firm conviction that only through dialog can an armed clash between our States and the disastrous consequences of structural violence within each of them be averted. 92. To those who recommend a dialog between whites and blacks in South Africa, the Ivory Coast expresses its complete agreement because we reaffirm that it if?”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“It prevents us from perceiving the essence: the tragic march of Africa towards an ideological division, with the misfortune of seeing superimposed upon it a political-religious division. 90. The Ivory Coast is against every kind of violence. Violence means armed struggle, war-mongering verbalism, but also structural violence, which causes the oppression of man, which prevents him from being free and acceding to human progress. 91.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“All the other countries which were under the Mandate of the League of Nations have acceded to independence. Consequently, it is the duty of South Africa, a Member of the United Nations, to comply with that interpretation. This referendum must be not on a choice between administration by South Africa or by the United Nations, but on accession to independence. And Namibia must accede to independence in its territorial integrity as entrusted by the League of Nations to Great Britain and by the latter to South Africa. 89. I now come to the problem of apartheid. This is so painful a question as to appear as a veritable mental epidemic; it blocks our judgments and out critical faculties and makes us impervious to reasonable solutions.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“But why should our Organization not discuss with South Africa, which is a State Member of our Organization, the purpose of that referendum within the framework of self-determination as defined in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples [resolution 1514 (XV}] and how the referendum would be carried out? The referendum would be preceded by amnesty for political prisoners and with freedom of action for political parties so as to enable the entire population of Namibia to decide, in the presence of neutral observers and by means of universal suffrage, its future status? 88. Indeed, the Namibians must enjoy the right to self-determination. That was the purpose of the Mandate; current international law confirms it.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“The advisory opinion of the Court cannot be binding unless we declare that we accept it; South Africa will certainly not make such a declaration. And we run the risk that for a long time to come we shall continue to administer Namibia from New York. The United Nations is not prepared to raise troops for the purpose of protecting and escorting the United Nations Council for Namibia to that Territory to govern it. 87. In the final analysis, in the Ivory Coast we come back to our only weapon, dialog. The South African Government proposed a referendum which the Court quite rightly rejected because the problem is a political one and rests with political authorities.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Today, as never before, Portugal faces its future. We must assist Portugal and, like the Arab States in regard to France when the Algerians were courageously fighting against France, we must not be content with Platonic resolutions but must establish contacts with Portugal with the purpose of starting and accelerating the inevitable process of negotiation between the latter and the fighters so as to shorten the suffering of our brothers and preserve, between Portugal and its former colonies, the relations imbued with friendship which exist between the countries that have acceded to independence and their former metropolises. 86. In regard to Namibia, the International Court of Justice pronounced a clear-cut Judgment. But, alas, our institutions, like every human endeavor, are imperfect.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“Decolonization is an inevitable event. its rate can only be more or less accelerated. Portugal must turn to the future with serenity and lucidity. Portugal wanted assimilation, and that ideal, far from being condemnable, could well be the link that will in due course bind the new African States to the former metropolis. Because, in fact, there is no acceptable course today other than self-determination and independence. We have stated this in the past from this rostrum and we affirm it again: it is not too late. Portugal can still play the role which history expects; it can free itself from the system which holds it in bondage; it can lead die Territories which it maintains under its domination to independence and enjoy the friendship and the recognition of people who will then be greatly indebted to it.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)
“We hope that Rhodesia will not be added to the ranks-we hope that Great Britain, with its experience, will manage to spare Africa the situation which exists in Palestine and in Cyprus and the fate reserved for the Indian Union. The Ivory Coast is a country of dialog, and dialog requires faith. The Rhodesian question is the responsibility of Great Britain, the British Government has stated. We shall continue to place our confidence in it to safeguard the interests of 4 million Africans which it colonized. But our regional organization-as well as the Security Council should maintain its relations with Great Britain so as to establish contact with it in order to be informed of the course of the negotiations. 85. As for Portugal, it lives a legal fiction and we hope that it will participate fully in destroying the myth.”
1971-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 26 (1971)