YouSaid · the spoken record

CASTRO

lines on the record: 272
first: 1960-09-24
most recent: 1979-09-24
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

“wealth is still concentrated in the hands of a few powers whose wasteful economies are maintained by the exploitation of the labour as well as the transfer and plunder of the natural and other resources of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other regions of the world." 6. Among the problems to be debated at the present session of the General Assembly, peace is the first concern. The search for peace also constitutes an aspiration of the movement of non-aligned countries and has been the subject of the attention of the Sixth Conference. But for our countries, peace is indivisible. We want a peace that will equally benefit the large and the small, the strong and the weak, a peace that will embrace all regions of the world and reach all its citizens. 7.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“We are associated in our determination to change the present system of international relations, based as it is on injustice, inequality and oppression. In international politics, we act as an independent world factor. Meeting in Havana, the non-aligned movement has just reaffirmed its principles and confirmed its objectives. 5. The non-aligned countries stress the fact that it is imperative to do away with the enormous inequality that separates the developed from the developing countries. We are struggling to eradicate the poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy from which hundreds of millions of human beings still suffer. We aspire to a new world order, one based on justice, equity and peace, one that will replace the unjust and unequal system that prevails today in which, as proclaimed in Havana: "...”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“I have not come to speak about Cuba, I have not come to denounce in this Assembly the attacks to which our small but worthy country has been subjected for 20 years. Nor have I come to wound with unnecessary adjectives the powerful neighbour in his own house. 3. We have been charged by the Sixth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries to present to the United Nations the results of its deliberations' and the positions to be derived therefrom. 4. We are 95 countries from all the continents, representing the overwhelming majority of mankind. We are linked by our determination to defend the co-operation among our countries, to ensure free national and social development, sovereignty, security, equality and self- determination.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Some people wanted to know what the line of the Revolutionary Government of Cuba was. Well then, there you have our line.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“In short, the national general assembly of the Cuban people condemns the exploitation of man by man and the exploitation of under-developed countries by imperialist capital. "Consequently, the national general assembly of the Cuban people proclaims before America, and proclaims here before the world, the right of the peasants to the land; the right of the workers to the fruits of their labour; the right of children to education; the right of the sick to medical care and hospitalization; the right of young people to work; the right of students to free vocational training and scientific education; the right of Negroes and Indians to full human dignity; the right of women to civil, social and political equality; the right of the elderly to security in their old age; the right of intellectuals, artists and scientists to fight through their works for a better world; the right of States to nationalize imperialist monopolies, thus rescuing the national wealth and resources; the right of countries to trade freely with all the peoples of the world; the right of nations to their complete sovereignty; the right of peoples to convert their military fortresses into schools and to arm their workers (because in this we have to be arms-conscious and to arm our people to defence against imperialist attacks), their peasants, their students, their intellectuals, Negroes, Indians, women, young people, old people, all the oppressed and exploited, so that they may themselves defend their rights and their destinies." 234.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“"The national general assembly of the Cuban people condemns large-scale landowning as a source of poverty for the peasant and a backward and inhuman system of agricultural production; it condemns starvation wages and the iniquitous exploitation of human labour by illegitimate and privileged interests; it condemns illiteracy, the lack of teachers, schools, doctors and hospitals; the lack of assistance to the aged in the American countries; it condemns discrimination against the Negro and the Indian; it condemns the inequality and the exploitation of women; it condemns political and military oligarchies which keep our peoples in poverty, impede their democratic development and the full exercise of their sovereignty; it condemns concessions of our countries’ natural resources to foreign monopolies as a policy sacrificing and betraying the peoples’ interests; it condemns Governments which turn a deaf ear to the demands of their people so that they may obey orders from abroad; it condemns the systematic deception of the peoples by mass communication media which serve the interests of the oligarchies and the policy of imperialist oppression; it condemns the news monopoly held by monopolist agencies, which are instruments of monopolist trusts and agents of such interests; it condemns' repressive laws which prevent the workers, the peasants, the students and the intellectuals, the great majorities in each country, from forming associations and fighting for their social and patriotic demands; it condemns the imperialist monopolies and enterprises which continually plunder our wealth, exploit our workers and peasants, bleed our economies and keep them backward , and subordinate Latin American politics to their designs and interests.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Whoever doubts it may go and count them at the next mass meeting or general assembly that we hold in Cuba, assured that they are going to see the spectacle of a fervent and informed people, which they rarely had the opportunity of seeing, and which is seen only when a people is ardently defending its most sacred interests. 233. At that assembly, which was convened in response to the Declaration of Costa Rica, these principles were proclaimed, in consultation with the people and by the acclamation of the people, as the principles of the Cuban revolution.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We proclaim the right of the peoples to integrity and nationality; those who plot against nationalism know that nationalism means that the people want to regain their own property, their wealth, their natural resources. In short, we are for all the noble aspirations of all the peoples. That is our position. We are and always shall be for everything just; against colonialism, exploitation, monopolies, militarism, the arms race, and warmongering. We shall always be against those things. That will be our position. 232. To conclude, in performing what we regard as our duty, I quote to this Assembly the essential part of the Havana Declaration. The Havana Declaration was the Cuban people’s answer to the Declaration of San José, Costa Rica. Not ten, nor 100, nor 100,000, but more than 1 million Cubans gathered together.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I say this in no spirit of demagogy, but with the sincere admiration that we feel for those who once succeeded in freeing their people from colonial status and who did not fight in order that their country might today be the ally of all the reactionaries, the gangsters, the big landowners, the monopolists, the exploiters, the militarists, the fascists in the world, that is to say, the ally of the "most retrograde and reactionary forces, but rather in order that their country might always be the champion of noble and just ideals. We know well what will be said about us, today, tomorrow and always, to deceive the American people. But it does not matter. We are doing our duty by stating our views in this historic Assembly. 231.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We cannot be enemies of the American people, because we have seen United States nationals like Carleton Beals or Waldo Frank, and others, famous and distinguished intellectuals shed tears at the thought of the mistakes that are being made, at the breach of hospitality towards us; there are many Americans, the most humane, the most progressive, and the most esteemed writers, in whom I see the nobility of this country’s early leaders, the Washingtons, the Jeffersons and the Lincolns.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We believe that these problems are not properly explained to the American people. But the American people need only imagine how uneasy it would be if the Soviet Union began to establish a ring of atomic bases in Cuba, Mexico or Canada. The population would not feel secure or calm. World opinion, including American opinion, must be taught to see the other side of a question; to look at problems from the other person’s point of view. The under-developed peoples should not always be represented as aggressors; revolutionaries should not be presented as aggressors, as enemies of the American people.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The United States Government forgets the millions of Jews murdered in European concentration camps by the Nazis, who are today regaining their influence in the German army. It forgets the Frenchmen who were killed in their heroic struggle against the occupation; it forgets the American soldiers who died on Omaha Beach, on the Siegfried Line, in the Ruhr, on the Rhine or on the Asian fronts. The United States Government cannot be for the integrity and sovereignty of nations. Why? Because it must curtail the sovereignty of nations in order to keep its military bases, and each base is a dagger thrust into sovereignty; each base is a limitation on sovereignty. Therefore it has to be against the sovereignty of nations, because it must constantly limit sovereignty in order to maintain its policy of encircling the Soviet Union with bases. 230.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It cannot be on the side of the peasants who want land, because it is allied to the big landowners. It cannot be on the side of the workers who are demanding better living conditions in all parts of the world, because it is allied to the monopolies. It cannot be on the side of the colonies which want their freedom, because it is allied to the colonizers. That is to say, it is for Franco, for the colonization of Algeria, for the colonization of the Congo; it is for the maintenance of its privileges and interests in the Panama Canal, for colonialism throughout the world. It is for German militarism and for the resurgence of German militarism. It is for Japanese militarism and for the resurgence of Japanese militarism. 229.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Our problem, which we have set forth here, is a part of the problems of the world. Those who attack us today are those who are helping to attack others in other parts of the world. The United States Government cannot be on the side of the Algerian people; it cannot be on the side of the Algerian people because it is allied to the metropolitan country, France. It cannot be on the side of the Congolese people, because it is allied to Belgium. It cannot be on the side of the Spanish people, because it is allied to Spain. It cannot be on the side of the Puerto Rican people, whose nationality it has been destroying for fifty years. It cannot be on the side of the Panamanians, who claim the Canal. It cannot support the ascendancy of the civil power in Latin America, Germany or Japan.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“I must say that we have come here free from prejudices, to analyse problems objectively, without fear of what people will think and without fear of the consequences of our position. We have been honest, we have been frank without being Francoist, because we do not want to be a party to injustice being committed against a great number of Spanish men and women, still imprisoned in Spain after more than twenty years, who fought together with the Americans of the Lincoln Brigade, as the companions of those same Americans who were there to honour the name of that great patriot. 228. In conclusion, we are going to place our trust in reason and in the decency of all. We wish to sum up our ideas about which there should be no doubt, concerning some aspects of these world problems.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“That is an absurd and unlawful state of affairs from any point of views, and constitutes the reason why the United States Government does not want the question of the People’s Republic of China to be discussed. 226. We want to put it on record here that this is our position and that we support discussion of this item and the seating by the United Nations General Assembly of the legitimate representatives of the Chinese people, namely, the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China. 227. I understand quite well that it is somewhat difficult for anybody here to free himself from the stereotyped concepts by which the representatives of nations are usually judged.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“What Government is the true representative of this nation, which is the largest in the world? Plainly, the Government of the People’s Republic of China. And there another regime is maintained, in the midst of a civil war which was interrupted by the interference of the United States Seventh Fleet. Here it is appropriate to ask by what right the navy of an extra-continental country (and it is worth repeating this here, when so much is being said about extra-continental interference) intervened in a domestic affair of China. It would be interesting to have an explantion. The sole purpose of this interference was to maintain a group of supporters in that place and to prevent the total liberation of the territory.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“While American soldiers were falling on Guam or Guadalcanal or Okinawa, or one of the many other islands of the Pacific, men were also fighting on the Chinese mainland against the same enemy, and these same men are denied even the right to discuss their entry into the United Nations. Although soldiers of the Spanish Blue Division fought in the Soviet Union in defence of fascism, the People’s Republic of China is denied the right to have its case discussed here, in the United Nations. And yet the regime that was born of German nazism and Italian fascism and which took power with the support of Hitler’s guns and aircraft and of Mussolini’s "blackshirts" was magnanimously admitted to membership of the United Nations. 225. China contains one-quarter of the world’s population.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is simply an absurdity; it is ridiculous that this problem is never even discussed. 221. How long are we going to continue this melancholy business of never discussing this problem, when we have here representatives of Franco, for instance? 222. Will the President allow me to express my opinion most respectfully on this point without offence to anybody? 224. We wish to make some comments about the origin of the United Nations. The United Nations arose after the struggle against fascism, after tens of millions of men had died on the battlefields. From that struggle, which cost so many lives, this Organization emerged as a symbol of hope. Nevertheless, extraordinary paradoxes exist.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“And this, naturally, was the problem of the People’s Republic of China. 219. Other delegations have already spoken about this matter. We wish to say that the fact that this problem has never been discussed is in reality, a denial of the "raison d’être" and of the essential nature of the United Nations. Why has it never been discussed? Because the United States Government wants it so? Why is the United Nations Assembly going to renounce its right to discuss this problem? 220. Many countries have joined the United Nations in recent years. To oppose discussion of the right to representation here of the People’s Republic of China, that is, of 99 per cent of the inhabitants of a country of more than 600 million, is to deny the reality of history, of the facts and of life itself.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We must open the eyes of the world and show it who are the ones who trade in the future of mankind, in the danger of war, particularly when the war may be so frightful that it leaves no hope of freedom or deliverance. 217. We small and under-developed countries urge the whole Assembly and especially the other small and under-developed nations, to devote themselves to this task and to have this problem discussed here, because afterwards we should never forgive ourselves for the consequences if, through our neglect or lack of firmness and energy on this basic issue, the world became involved once again in the dangers of war. 218. There remains one point, which, according to what we have read in some newspapers, was one of the points the Cuban delegation was going to raise.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We promised to speak frankly, and there is no other way of telling the truth. The colonialists, therefore, are against disarmament. Using the weapon of world public opinion, we must fight to force disarmament on them as we must force them to respect the right of peoples to economic and political liberation. 216. The monopolies are against disarmament, because, apart from the fact that they defend their interests with arms, the arms race has always been good business for them. For example, everybody knows that the great monopolies in this country doubled their capital as a result of the Second World War. Like vultures, the monopolies feed on the corpses which are the harvest of war; and war is a business. Those who trade in war, those who enrich themselves by war, must be unmasked.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Those who are interested in being armed to the teeth are those who Want to keep colonies, those who want to maintain their monopolies, those who want to retain control of the oil of the Middle East, the natural resources of Latin America, of Asia, of Africa, and who require military strength to protect their interests. And as everyone knows, these territories were occupied and colonized on the strength of the law of force; by virtue of the law of force millions of men were enslaved, and it is force which sustains such exploitation in the world. Therefore, those most concerned that there should be no disarmament are those interested in maintaining military strength in order to retain control of natural resources, the wealth of the peoples and cheap labour in under-developed countries. 215.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“And, above all, if we, the under-developed countries, want to have a chance of progress, if we want to have a chance' of seeing our peoples enjoying a higher level of living, let us fight for peace, let us fight for disarmament; with a fifth of what the world spends on armaments , we could promote the development of all the under-developed countries at a rate of growth of 10 per cent per annum. With a fifth of the resources which countries spend on armaments, we could surely raise the peoples’ level of living. 214. Now, what are the obstacles to disarmament? Who is interested in being armed?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“And it is for this reason that we meet here as representatives of the world, or of a part of the world, since this Assembly is not yet complete; it will not be complete until the People's Republic of China is represented here. Until then, one-quarter of the world's population is absent. But we who are here, have the duty to speak frankly and not to evade the issue. We must all discuss it; this problem is too serious to be overlooked. It is more important than economic aid and all other obligations, because this is the obligation to preserve the life of mankind. We must all discuss and speak about this problem, and we must fight to establish peace, or at least to unmask the militarists and warmongers. 213.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The representative of the Soviet Union has spoken frankly — I say tills objectively — and I urge that these proposals be considered and that everybody put their cards on the table. Above all, this is not merely a question of representatives, this is a matter of public opinion. The warmongers and militarists must be exposed and condemned by world public opinion. This is not a problem for minorities only: it concerns the world. The warmongers and militarists must be unmasked, and this is the task of public opinion. This problem must be discussed not only in the General Assembly but before the entire world, before the great assembly of the whole world, because in the event of a war not the leaders only but also hundreds of millions of completely innocent persons will be exterminated. 212.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Why does the United States delegation not wish to discuss this problem here in the Assembly? Have we no judgement? Have we no right to discuss the problem? Must a special commission be convened? Why not adopt the most democratic method? In other words, let the General Assembly, all the representatives, discuss the disarmament problem here, and let everyone lay his cards on the table so that it will become apparent who wants disarmament and who does not; who wants to play at war and who does not, and who it is who is betraying the aspirations of mankind, for mankind must never be dragged into a holocaust by sordid and self-seeking interests. 210. Our peoples must be saved from this holocaust, so that everything created by human knowledge and intelligence will not be used to destroy mankind itself. 211.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The history of the world has taught us the tragic lesson that arms races always lead to war; at the same time, never has the responsibility been greater, for never has war signified so vast a holocaust for mankind, What did the representative of the Soviet Union say about this problem, which is of so much concern to mankind because mankind's very existence is at stake? He made a proposal for general and complete disarmament. What more can be asked? If more can be asked, let us ask it; if we can ask for more safeguards, let us do so; but the proposal could not be clearer or better defined, and at this stage of history, it cannot be rejected without assuming the responsibility involved in the danger of war and of war itself. 209. Why should this problem not come before the General Assembly?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Really, it would be worthwhile for the citizens of this country, who are so influenced by false propaganda, to compare objectively the statements of the President of the United States [868th meeting] and of the Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, [869th meeting], so that they could see which speech contains genuine anxiety over the world's problems; so that they could see which one spoke clearly and sincerely and so that they could see who really wants disarmament and who is against it and why. The Soviet proposal could not be clearer. Nothing could be added to the Soviet explanation. Why should there be any reservations when no one has ever before spoken so clearly of so tremendous a problem? 208.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Let the West make' up a little for what it has made Africa suffer, by preserving it from the danger of atomic war and declaring it a free zone as far as this peril is concerned. Let no atomic bases be established there! Even if we can do nothing else, let this continent at least remain a sanctuary where human life may be preserved! We support this proposal warmly. 207. On the question of disarmament, we wholeheartedly support the Soviet proposal [A/4505], and we are not ashamed to do so. We regard it as a correct, specific, well-defined and clear proposal. We have carefully studied the speech made here by President Eisenhower — he made no real reference to disarmament, to the development of the under-developed countries or to the colonial problem.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“If Africa is reborn — that Africa which we are beginning to know today, not the Africa pictured on the map or in novels and Hollywood films, not the Africa of semi-naked tribesmen armed with spears, ready to run away at the first clash with the white hero, that white hero who became more heroic the more African natives he killed, but the Africa we see represented here by leaders like Kwame Nkrumah and Sékou Touré, the Africa of Nasser’s Arab world, the true Africa, the oppressed continent, the exploited continent, the continent which was the birthplace of millions of slaves, this Africa whose past is so full of anguish. To this Africa we have a duty: we must save it from the danger of destruction. 206. Let the other countries make some recompense!”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“In reply, we shall be asked about the value of the investments and our reply will be to inquire as to the value of the profits from those investments; the profits which have been extracted from the colonized and under-developed peoples for decades, if not for centuries. 204. There is also a proposal made by the President of the Republic of Ghana, in his speech to the General Assembly [869th meeting], which we should like to support: the proposal that Africa should be cleared of military bases and thus of nuclear weapon bases; in other words the proposal to free Africa from the perils of atomic war. Something has already been done in regard to Antarctica. As we go forward on the path to disarmament, why should we not also go forward towards freeing certain parts of the world from the danger of nuclear war? 205.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We should like to draw attention here to another right: a right which was proclaimed by the Cuban people at a mass meeting quite recently; the right of the under-developed countries to nationalize their natural resources and the investments of the monopolies in their respective countries without compensation; in other words, we advocate the nationalization of natural resoures and foreign investments in the underdeveloped countries, and indeed if industrialized countries wish to do the same thing, we shall not oppose them. 202. If countries are to be truly free in political matters, they must be truly free in economic matters and we must lend them assistance. 203.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Similarly, we are on the side of those peoples who wish to be free, not only politically — for it is very easy to acquire a flag, a coat of arms, a national anthem and a colour on the map — but also economically free, for there is one truth which we should all recognize as being of primary importance, namely, that there can be no political independence unless there is economic independence; that political independence without economic independence is an illusion; we therefore support their aspiration to be free politically and economically. Freedom does not consist in the possession of a flag, and a coat of arms and representation in the United Nations. 201.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Yet the United Nations is doing nothing. We were in such a hurry to go into the Congo and we are so unenthusiastic about going into Algeria! If the Algerian Government, which is a Government, for it represents millions of fighting Algerians, were to request the United Nations to send forces there also, should, we go with the same enthusiasm? I hope that we should go with the same enthusiasm, but with a very different purpose, that is to say, for the purpose of defending the interests of the colony and not of the colonizers. 200. We are, therefore, on the side of the Algerian people, as we are on the side of the remaining colonial peoples in Africa and on the side of the Negroes against whom discrimination is exercised in the Union of South Africa.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Let us turn the question upside down: suppose Algeria was the metropolitan country and it was to declare that part of Europe was an integral part of its territory? Such reasoning is far-fetched and devoid of all meaning. Algeria belongs to Africa as France belongs to Europe. This African people has been fighting a heroic battle against the metropolitan country for many years. 199. Perhaps even while we are calmly talking here, the machine-guns and bombs of the Government or the French Army are attacking Algerian villages and hamlets. Men may well be dying, in a struggle in which it is perfectly clear where the right lies, a struggle that could be ended without disregarding the interests of that minority which is being used as an excuse for denying nine-tenths of the population of Algeria their right to independence.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“But if this reconciliation does not take place, reason and right should attach themselves to the man who not only has the support of the people and of Parliament, but also has stood out against the interests of the monopolies and stood by his people. 198. As regards the problem of Algeria, we are, I need hardly say, 100 per cent on the side of the right of the people of Algeria to independence. It is ridiculous — like so many ridiculous things in the world which have been artificially created by vested interests — to claim that Algeria is part of France. Similar claims have been made by other countries in an attempt to keep their colonies in other days. This so-called "integration" has failed throughout history.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“This is reported by Time Magazine, defender of the monopolies. In other words, the hand of the colonial interests has been plain and obvious in the Congo, and our view is, consequently, that a mistake has been made, that colonialist interests have been favoured and that all the facts indicate that the people of the Congo, and right in the Congo, are on the side of the only leader who remained there defending his country’s interests, namely, Lumumba, 197. If, despite this state of affairs and the mysterious "third man" who has sprung up in the Congo to oppose not only the lawful interests of the Congolese people but also the legitimate authorities of the Congo, the African and Asian countries succeed in reconciling these lawful authorities in defence of the Congo’s interests, so much the better.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“No, it is reported by a magazine which is one of the monopolies’ most fervent supporters and as such could never be against the monopolies. It could not be pro-Lumumba because it is against him, and it is pro-Mobutu. Nevertheless, it explains who he is, how he sprang up, how he went to work, and finally in its latest issue. Time magazine says that Mobutu became a frequent visitor to the United States Embassy and had long talks with officials there. One afternoon last week, Mobutu conferred with officers at Camp Leopold and won their vociferous support. That night he went to Radio Congo — the same Radio Congo that Lumumba had not been allowed to use — and abruptly announced that the Army was assuming power. All this after frequent visits to and lengthy conversations with, officials of the United States Embassy.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“In the first place, they failed to act against the intervening forces, the purpose for which they had been summoned. They waited long enough for the first disagreement to arise there. When that was not enough, they allowed time and opportunity for the second dissension to arise. Lastly, during the occupation of the radio stations and airfields they made it possible for the so-called "third man" to come forward — we are already only too familiar with the deliverers who arise in such circumstances. In 1934, one of these deliverers sprang up in our country, and his name was Fulgencio Batista. In the Congo, his name is Mobutu. In Cuba, our deliverer visited the United States Embassy every day and apparently the same thing is happening in the Congo. Is this just our allegation?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“We would like to say here and now that the Cuban delegation is not in favour of these emergency forces as long as all the peoples of the world cannot feel sure that these forces are not to be placed at the service of colonialism and imperialism; particularly when any of them may at any time be the victim of the use of these forces against the rights of our peoples. 195. Herein lie a number of problems which have already been referred to by the various delegations. Simply for reasons of time, I should like merely to place on record Cuba’s views on the question of the Congo. 196. In view of our anti-colonialist position and our opposition to the exploitation of the under-developed countries, we naturally condemn the form taken by the intervention of the United Nations forces in the Congo.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“52 and 53.] In other words, he proposes that those countries in which there are United States bases and which receive United States assistance should receive further assistance for the formation of these emergency forces. 193. President Eisenhower added: "To assist the Secretary-General’s efforts, the United States is prepared to earmark also substantial air and sea transport facilities on a standby basis, to help move contingents requested by the United Nations in any future emergency." [868th meeting, para. 53.] 194. That is, he offers United States ships and planes for these emergency forces.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The President of the United States went onto say: "The Secretary-General has now suggested that Members should maintain a readiness to meet possible future requests from the United Nations for contributions to such forces. All countries represented here should respond to this need by earmarking national contingents which could take part in United Nations forces in case of need. The time to do it is now — at this Assembly. "I assure countries which now receive assistance from the United States that we favour use of that assistance to help them maintain such contingents in the state of readiness suggested by the Secretary-General." [Ibid, paras.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“In other words, after considering the developing areas in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, he advocates the promotion of peaceful change and proposes that United Nations observers or forces should be used to assist it. Yet, the United States came into the world by means of a revolution against its colonizers. The right of the peoples to free themselves by revolution from colonialism or any form of oppression was recognized in the Declaration of Independence adopted at Philadelphia, on 4 July 1776, but today, the Government of the United States advocates the use of United Nations forces to prevent revolutionary changes. 192.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“A country which exploits the peoples of Latin America or any other part of the world allies itself with the exploitation of the other nations of the world. 190. There was one point which alarmed us very greatly in the speech made by the President of the United States when he said: "In the developing areas, we must seek to promote peaceful change, as well as to assist economic and social progress. To do this — to assist peaceful change — the international community must be able to manifest its presence in emergencies through United Nations observers or forces. I should like to see Member countries take positive action on the suggestions in the Secretary-General’s report looking to the creation of a qualified staff within the Secretariat to assist him in meeting future needs for United Nations forces." [868th meeting, para. 50.] 191.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Colonies will disappear; the exploitation of the nations by the monopolies will disappear and then mankind will have made a real step forward along the path of progress. Until this step is taken, until this stage is reached, the world must live constantly under the threat of being involved in some crisis, in an atomic conflagration. Why? Because certain parties are interested in maintaining this despoilment; because certain parties are interested in maintaining exploitation. 189. We have spoken here of the case of Cuba, Our case has taught us a great deal through the problems which we have had with our imperialism; that is to say, the imperialism which is directed against us. In the last resort, however, all imperialisms are alike and all are allied.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Khrushchev’s speech [169th meeting] which particularly attracted our attention because of its intrinsic importance: this was when he said that the Soviet Union had no colonies nor any investments in any country. What a wonderful world it would be, this world of ours now threatened with disaster, if all the representatives of all the nations could say the same: ”Our country has no colonies nor any investments in any foreign country.” 188. Why beat about the bush? This is the crux; this is the crux of the question of peace and war, of the arms race or disarmament. From man’s earliest days, wars have broken out for one fundamental reason: the desire of one side to rob the other of its wealth. When this philosophy of despoilment disappears, the philosophy of war will have disappeared.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“If a person from outer space who had not read either Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, or the cables of the United Press or the Associated Press, or other monopolistic publications, were to arrive in this Assembly and ask how the world was divided, and then see on the map of the world that the world’s wealth was divided between the monopolies of four or five countries, he would say at once, ”the world is badly divided, the world is being exploited”. Here in this Assembly, where the under-developed countries are in the great majority, he might say that most of the countries represented are exploited and have been exploited for a long time: the form taken by the exploitation has varied, but they have consistently been exploited. That would be the verdict. 187. There was a statement in Mr.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Instances of the nature of these difficulties are provided by the surprise attack upon Egypt, and the surprise invasion of the Congo. 185. Have the colonialists and imperialists ever lacked excuses for an invasion? Never; they have always been able to find some excuse to their hand. Which are the colonialist countries? Which are the imperialist countries? It is not just four or five countries, but four or five groups of monopolies which possess the world’s wealth. 186.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The same thing takes place, for instance, in the Philippines. It is the same in Africa. 183. The world is divided among monopolistic interests — who would dare deny this historic truth? The monopolistic interests do not want to see the peoples develop; what they want is to exploit the peoples’ natural resources and exploit the peoples themselves, and the sooner they can recover or amortize their original investment, the better. 184. The difficulties which the people of Cuba have had with the imperialist Government of the United States are the same difficulties as Saudi Arabia, or Iran or Iraq, would encounter if they nationalized their oil. The same difficulties were encountered by Egypt when it, quite rightly, nationalized the Suez Canal; the same difficulties were encountered by Indonesia when it wished to become independent.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)