YouSaid · the spoken record

Cañas

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS CAÑAS

lines on the record: 33
first: 1956-09-24
most recent: 1957-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“The past provides us with an example, and that example should also be given by the great Powers. As for the future, we are building it in this very hall, and in the task of building the hands of all the workers are needed.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“18. But I fear I am wearying this Assembly by speculating on a dreary prospect. The legal equality of States may be what lawyers call a legal fiction, but there are many legal fictions here, and we live by them. The equality of the votes of the permanent members in the Security Council is one of them and I cite it as an example. Sometimes the results of the voting in this hall may not please us, but reason and truth ultimately prevail. We do not need a logarithmic weighing of every vote to ensure the triumph of a good cause. Those of us whose hands are clean will always raise them, in overwhelming numbers, to condemn what should be condemned, irrespective of the differences between us on questions of lesser importance. 19. We, the small countries, come here with the past as our example and our hope in the future.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“And if the time should come - and I hope it never does - when anyone claims that the vote of any one representative should be given greater numerical weight than that of any other representative, I am sure that those countries among us which are not economically or militarily powerful, but which can boast a clean record of service in the cause of the United Nations and adherence to the letter of the lofty principles of its Charter, never having violated it either as Members of this Assembly or within the limits of our own territories - and we are not so few - would demand of world opinion that those factors should also be weighted, and not merely the brute force used at times against the principles of coexistence to which we subscribed at San Francisco, and which we reaffirmed in good faith during the final meetings of the eleventh session of this Assembly.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“We should bear in mind that of all the organs of the United Nations, the one which has not fulfilled the hopes cherished by the peoples of the world in 1945 is the one in which all the votes do not have the same weight. It is not explained how such a system of weighted voting would be established, whether on the basis of seniority or material wealth or military power, or perhaps on the basis of spiritual wealth, which cannot be measured; whether greater weight would be given to countries with larger populations or larger armies, or to those like my own where the power of governments traditionally is derived from the freely expressed wishes of the people. 17. The weight of a vote in this Assembly is a moral question.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“But we cannot halt the course of history, although there are always those who urge us to build a dike against change. 15. It comes as a shock to find one of the most venerable and respected figures in the world joining in that chorus and calling upon us to abandon the system of voting in this Assembly and to replace it by a system of weighted voting in which the raised hands of some delegations would count and weigh more than those of others. There are few countries in which it has not at some time or another been suggested, in scarcely veiled aristocratic tones, that the votes of some citizens are worth more than those of their humbler fellows. Generally, such ideas do not prosper, but in the few cases in which they have prevailed, the result has been the dictatorship of one class, party, man or race. 16.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Such a document would be more formal than the London agreement and would bring it up to date and into line with the present membership of the United Nations. 14. The present composition of the United Nations is the best proof that the world is changing and that we must adapt our ways of thinking to these changing times and circumstances. It is natural that there should be concern in some quarters because the increase in the membership of this world Assembly is depriving the original members of certain prerogatives, possibly of some influence, perhaps of guarantees regarding the outcome of its deliberations. We are living in uncertain times, times in which problems are not always settled as we would wish, or by the methods used in the not so distant past.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Accordingly, we would consider it deplorable if a vote in favour of those proposals were made conditional on concessions or even political considerations entirely extraneous to the problem we are trying to resolve; the equitable representation of the various geographical areas in the basic organs of the United Nations. 13. In recent years, many anomalies have arisen in connexion with geographical representation and the definition of the various geographical areas. We believe that it would be useful to consider, in conjunction with the question of increasing the membership of the Councils, the possibility of drafting a formal document clearly defining the geographical areas which are to be represented, with a list of the States in the different areas and the number of seats to be assigned to each area.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The advantage of having troops to act as observers or to be prepared for action on short notice has been dramatically illustrated, and Costa Rica will support any proposals to that end. 12. Once again our agenda includes the proposal put forward by the Latin American countries and Spain for a revision of the Charter with a view to increasing the number of non-permanent members of the Security Council and the number of seats on the Economic and Social Council. We believe that the substantial increase in the membership of the United Nations in recent years warrants a change in the number of elective seats on the two Councils and in other subsidiary organs. The proposed change is a matter of form; its sole purpose is to bring the provisions of the Charter into line with reality of the United Nations.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The many problems created by Israel’s offensive against Egypt and the participation of the United Kingdom and France in simultaneous military operations have gradually become less acute. Perhaps the day is not far distant when we shall achieve a true coexistence of races and nations, of religions and peoples in that troubled area. 11. The United Nations Emergency Force has been a notable factor in restoring calm in the area, and the world is indebted to the countries which have provided troops for that Force for their selfless and substantial contribution to world peace. In my delegation’s view, we should give careful consideration to the argument that this Force, or a similar one, should become a permanent United Nations police force.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“During the ninth session, we saw how the Soviet Union gradually withdrew its categorical objections to the bold "atoms for peace" plan, and the representatives of the small nations sometimes felt, with understandable vanity, that the weight of their number and their sincerity might have induced it to adopt the constructive attitude towards that question which it ultimately did adopt and of which we are already seeing the effects. We hope the Soviet Union will take a similar course this year in the case of disarmament. 10. The months of relative peace on the borders between Israel and its neighbours have shown the effectiveness of the General Assembly’s resolutions on the Middle East, on which we spent so much effort at our last session.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“All that the small countries can do is to offer their disinterested co-operation and their devoted efforts in the search for an effective solution to this question. Perhaps during this session, we shall witness the result of the common efforts of all Member States, and the encouraging response to the appeal of the small nations that the proposals on disarmament should not be rejected arbitrarily or out of hand, but should be discussed and negotiated until the last drop of patience has been exhausted. 9.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“We are encouraged in that hope by the fact that none of the great Powers involved considers the time spent in negotiation wasted, that each is preparing to discuss the question in this Assembly, apparently with fresh enthusiasm, and that none of them has closed the door to the possibility of a new understanding. Moreover, we must recognize that the text of the proposals rejected in London is in itself a substantial step forward. There have been times in the last eleven years when the very existence of such proposals would have seemed fantastic, the pipe-dream of political visionaries. Perhaps it is not too much to hope that in future - and not in the remote future, but in the near and foreseeable future - the Soviet Union will become convinced of the good faith and honesty of the Western proposals. 8.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The long months of discussion in London did not produce the result for which the peoples of the world had hoped. One by one, all the proposals put forward were rejected, and it is a bitter blow that the Soviet Union did not consider it in its interests to accept the final proposals, which constituted a serious and honest contribution to the settlement of the problem. The tone in which they were rejected by the Soviet Union may lend force to the views of the pessimists who argue that the Soviet Union has no interest in the achievement of any real progress towards disarmament. Nevertheless, here in the United Nations, it is our duty to profess our faith by setting aside our pessimism and continuing to hope against hope that intransigent positions will be modified and that effective progress will be made in the matter of disarmament 7.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“When we suspended the work of the eleventh session in March of this year, there was an atmosphere of optimism in the United Nations. The Assembly had shown its effectiveness by achieving a reasonably satisfactory solution of the Middle East situation, which three months earlier had been so threatening and difficult; it had demonstrated practical wisdom by adopting compromise resolutions on the thorny questions of Algeria [resolution 1012 (XI)] and Cyprus [resolution 1013 (XI)], on which debate had been expected to be bitter and turbulent. Moreover, the circumstances in which the resolution [1011 (XI)] on disarmament had been adopted gave promise of a clear and final agreement of the great Powers on that question. 6. Unfortunately, the optimism inspired by the latter resolution was of short duration.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“On behalf of the Government of Costa Rica, I should like to extend a warm welcome to the two new Member States, Ghana and the Federation of Malaya, the latest products of the remarkable movement for independence of the peoples of Asia and Africa and of the progressive and constructive policy of the United Kingdom. 4. My Government is also happy to express its gratification at the reappointment of Mr. Hammarskjold as Secretary-General of the United Nations. We are proud of having voted for him on the two occasions when he was appointed to that high office, and we are grateful to him for having placed his ability, devotion, tact and generosity in the service of the United Nations. We can and we do expect a great deal from his work and his zeal. 5.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“I should like first to congratulate the President on his election and the Assembly on having placed him in that high office. For me, it will be a particular privilege to work under his leadership, for my long and fruitful association with him has been a stimulating experience in the past and will, I am sure, continue to be so in the future. 2. I also consider it my duty to comment on the high- minded action of Mr. Charles Malik, whom we all have known for years as one of the figures who, by strength of character alone, has enhanced the prestige of the United Nations. 3.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“It is only fitting, therefore, that we should take advantage of our participation in the general debate to express our tribute to and our gratitude for that programme, and to the men who direct and administer it for the benefit of our various peoples. 224. An Organization capable of performing such services must not perish. We are meeting here for the eleventh time, in fulfilment of the purpose, first set forth in 1945 and reiterated each succeeding year with increasing determination, not to let it fail, but to outvote all our efforts to strengthening and enhancing it. 225. It is in such a spirit of dedication, work, faith and hope that Costa Rica has come to this Assembly.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“The recently organized Instituto de Vivienda y Urbanismo [Institute of Housing and Town Planning] received in its initial stage effective assistance from an expert sent by the Technical Assistance Administration. And in housing and town planning as well as in municipal administration, civil aviation, teacher training and secondary education, we have had the benefit of scholarships that have enabled officials to take specialized training. 222. Vocational training, health, agriculture, nutrition, fisheries, animal husbandry and agricultural statistics are some of the activities or spheres in which the people of Costa Rica have received encouragement, assistance or advice under the various technical assistance programmes. 223.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“The Centro Latinoamericano de Entrenamiento para Estadistica Agricola [Latin American Centre for Training in Agricultural Statistics] had its headquarters in my country, where also the Escuela Superior de Administracion Publica de la America Central [Higher School of Public Administration of Central America] is conducted, and the beneficial results in the technical training of public officials from the five countries of Central America are already apparent. 220. Costa Rica has also received assistance in child welfare and chemical research. Aid was given to the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad in carrying out preliminary studies for the erection of two hydroelectric plants. 221.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“By placing all their determination and good will behind the Organization, they have the prospect of deriving immeasurable advantages from it. Those advantages, however, are incompatible with the existence of conflicts. 218. The benefits to which I refer include the technical assistance programme, of which my country has been one of the principal beneficiaries. The Technical Assistance Administration has allocated a sum of $588,000 for programmes that are being carried out in my country, but that amount is in reality much greater if we add to it the value of other intangible services made available to us. One hundred and seventeen citizens of Costa Rica have been granted scholarships under the Programme, while fifty-nine experts have co-operated with Costa Rican authorities in carrying out projects. 219.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“This Assembly must urgently devote itself to a careful scrutiny of every possible formula until we succeed in establishing peace in those regions, so that the magnanimous peoples of the Near East, under the guarantee and auspices of this Assembly, may again devote themselves to working in peace for their progress and happiness. Let there be an end to warlike adventures in that traditional and ancient land and, through the efforts of the United Nations, let us see the hands of seven nations stretched out in friendly co-operation instead of seven fists raised in threat. 217. Small nations like my own, which wield little influence and play only a modest role in the chess game of global politics, cannot but think with fear of any possible weakening in this Organization.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“We cannot but feel deep apprehension as we hear voices in Asia Minor still proclaiming that Israel must be obliterated from the face of the earth. This is tantamount to declaring war against a State created by this Assembly. But no stroke of the Assembly’s pen could now erase the moving and impressive achievements, the progress and development of the people of Israel in that inhospitable land. The incredible efforts which have gone into this experiment in cooperative and democratic living, and the incredible results achieved, inspired one of my country’s outstanding statesmen to describe Israel as “the world of the twenty-first century”. 216. It is therefore urgent that peace be achieved. The existence of a progressive and democratic State in the land of Palestine, already a juridical and tangible fact, must be accepted.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“Thus, we came here to deplore the violation of the armistice. We could not, however, overlook the fact that the country which was now a victim of military action had for many years threatened the territorial integrity of the State that had undertaken the action. 214. We said, and we repeat today, that our most sacred duty is to ensure lasting peace in those lands. We must not forget that Israel is the child of the United Nations, engendered by the Organization in an act of justice many centuries overdue. The obligations of parents do not end when the child is born. The United Nations has the ineluctable moral obligation to watch over the welfare and tranquillity of the State it created, because the progress and success of that State will be a measure of the progress and success of this Organization. 215.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“Their compliance has earned them the respect of the entire world. Our Emergency Force is gradually accomplishing its assigned mission. But we cannot afford to relax until we have eliminated the causes of tension. We must not be satisfied with a fragile tranquillity, but must bind ourselves to bring about a real peace in that part of the world. 212. During the debate on the conflagration which threatened to spread from Egypt to the rest of the world, we said [563rd meeting] that Costa Rica had been unable to join the group of nations proclaiming Israel an aggressor, because it had taken action — in violation of an armistice, it is true — against a State which for eight years had been waging declared war against Israel. There was, to be sure, a suspension of hostilities, but peace had not been established. 213.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“These were not actions we have been accustomed to expect from nations that are the champions of the principles which are the very essence of our desires. We came here as their friends to show them, by our votes, that we held them to be mistaken in this matter and that we sided with the United States which — at a truly outstanding moment in its history — was resolutely assuming the leadership of the world and telling its allies and friends, in behalf of principles to which we all subscribe, that this time we were not with them because the methods they were using conflicted with those set forth in the Charter of the United Nations. 211. The conflagration in the Near East has been brought under control. The cease-fire ordered by the General Assembly has been obeyed by the nations concerned, as a respectful gesture to the Assembly’s opinion.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“Despite all this, the situation in Hungary allows us some hope, however faint and fearful, because it shows that the aspirations for freedom and independence cannot be destroyed. Moreover, the action of the United Nations in connexion with the events in the Near East encourages the optimism of those of us who believe, officially and personally, that this Organization, in simple words, is the hope of the world. 210. For the small countries, such as mine, which in the conduct of their domestic affairs aspire to follow the example of the nations we call the Western democracies, it was in great sorrow that we were compelled to sit here in judgement on the deeds of France and the United Kingdom.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“How could it have summoned them, considering that the action of the Soviet troops had begun while that government was not yet in office? Or did it summon them before it was in office, when it was merely an entelechy in the minds of those who were planning to impose it? 207. It is obvious to any student of the situation that the action of the Soviet armies was not the work of the present Hungarian Government but, on the other hand, that that Government is the creature of the Soviet armies. 208. Every aggression tends to change conditions in the State attacked. But we would be foolish if, after the aggression had been completed and its purposes achieved, we were to accept the explanations and justifications offered by those who are the beneficiaries of the new state of affairs and of the aggression. 209.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“We said further that the prohibition referred to in paragraph 7 of Article 2 of the Charter could not be invoked with regard to a matter in which two sovereignties were concerned or involved, since it had been included in the constitution of the Organization only for cases relating to a single sovereignty. 206. Here in the United Nations we heard the message, so full of anguish, of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Mr. Nagy, appealing for the aid of the United Nations because the Soviet army was being hurled against his country. Later we learned that, thanks to the efforts of that army, there was another government in Hungary, and it is that new government — so we are expected to believe — that summoned the Soviet troops.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“We must pay a humble and devoted tribute to the people of Hungary and speak of them with respect and reverence. There may have been peoples that equalled the Hungarians in valour, but there has been none to surpass them. We must bend all our energies and devote our minds to solving this problem. 204. Certain delegations having a special interest in the matter have told us here that this question is closed to us because it falls within the domestic jurisdiction of a Member State. We have also been told that if the Soviet army came into Hungary with fire and sword, it did so at the invitation of that country’s Government. 205. During the emergency special session, we said [569th meeting] that since two countries were concerned in this matter, it could no longer be considered a question of domestic jurisdiction.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“There are reasons why we should begin this new stage of our recurrent labours in a spirit of optimism. Although our intervention has not yet been sufficient to restore the freedom and rights of the people of Hungary, we can at least say that our action successfully localized the conflict that broke out in the Near East, and that at one point seemed close to involving us in a war of incalculable and suicidal proportions. 202. Those two matters continue to overshadow our work. For this year, we would have preferred a General Assembly devoted to a friendly study of the many economic, social and juridical difficulties confronting the world, God, however, willed it otherwise; that we should gather here beneath the ominous shadow of those two great problems which confronted the United Nations at the beginning of November. 203.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“In this hall we have just held two emergency special sessions, the first in the history of the Organization. It is as if, in a few fatal weeks of horror, the internal pressures had suddenly burst all the safety valves, allowing conflicts to erupt simultaneously. 200. It was then that mankind turned its eyes towards the United Nations, the world Organization which it sometimes criticizes, of which the incredulous at times make a jest, which is often dismissed sceptically as impotent to satisfy the aspirations of every heart, yet, as we see, without which we cannot live. 201. We must examine our consciences thoroughly before we decide if the United Nations has done this time what we expected of it. Even if the results have not been as fully satisfactory as had been hoped, we shall not be discouraged.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“It is our fate to be both spectators and chief actors in an age of turmoil. Whether we like it or not, we are living in a world undergoing transformation before the astonished gaze of humanity, as it seeks to comprehend and assimilate this veritable revolution of uncommon proportions which has taken place in the world since the glorious day marking the end of the frightful nightmare of the Second World War. 198. This earth is still the scene of bloodshed and tyranny. We live in a world half slave and half free, and of each of the continents constituting the globe we can still say that it is but half free and half slave. Tyranny and bloodshed, oppression and misery, the cruel struggle for freedom and the cruel repression of liberty are not the exclusive heritage of any region. 199.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)
“The delegation of Costa Rica is most gratified at the election of Prince Wan Waithayakon as President of the General Assembly, and welcomes the opportunity to work under his guidance. We. have already received confirmation of that judiciousness and wisdom to which we have looked forward when we took part in the election, that was an act of unanimity as well as a unique and well deserved vote of confidence. My delegation also wishes to extend a cordial welcome to the new Member States that are present for the first time at this meeting of the nations and will give lustre to our debates with new ideas and new points of view. 197. We are gathered here while the world around us is in a state of convulsion and feverish commotion, the like of which we have perhaps not seen since this Organization first convened the nations of the world in 1945.”
1956-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 11 (1956)