YouSaid · the spoken record

DE LEQUERICA

lines on the record: 332
first: 1957-09-24
most recent: 1962-09-24
sittings or episodes: 6
sources: un-general-debate

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“Moreover, I hope that the Arab States most directly concerned in the matter, together with their peoples, would support an agreement the adoption of which would earn for them the grateful sympathy of untold numbers of Christians. 81. At a time when relations between peoples were governed by a different spirit the problem of the Holy Places gave rise to interminable disputes provoked by idealism. No one expects that example to be followed nowadays. Ours is a peaceful crusade in which we seek protection and spiritual independence for the Holy Land. The clash of swords and the chanting of epics on the warlike march to the Jerusalem of the Middle Ages have given way to more peaceful, more lawful but no less idealistic means of solution.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“On 4 April 1950 the Trusteeship Council approved the Statute for the City of Jerusalem which it had drafted in accordance with the resolutions mentioned. However, the Statute was not accepted by the Governments which occupied the city and was not adopted by the General Assembly. 80. I ask the Assembly which has been giving so much of its time to the problems of the Near East, inspired by the spirit of conciliation that emerged from our most valuable third emergency special session, whether the time has not come to give effect to those resolutions after adapting them to present requirements. I do not believe that the representatives of Israel would have any particular objection.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The General Assembly adopted another resolution on 9 December 1949 [resolution 303 (IV)] in which it said that the principles underlying its previous resolutions, in particular the 1947 resolution, represented a just and equitable settlement of the question. It restated its intention that Jerusalem should be placed under a permanent international régime, which should envisage appropriate guarantees for the protection of the Holy Places, both within and outside Jerusalem. In that resolution the Trusteeship Council was requested to complete the preparation of the Statute of Jerusalem, introducing therein amendments in the direction of its greater democratization and excluding the by then inapplicable provisions.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“" The legal status of the city of Jerusalem was subsequently laid down in a draft Statute consisting of forty-three articles. 78. In another resolution adopted on 11 December 1948 [resolution 194 (III)] the Assembly resolved that the Holy Places — including Nazareth — religious buildings and sites in Palestine should be protected and free access to them assured, in accordance with existing rights and historical practice, and that arrangements to that end should be under effective United Nations supervision. It further resolved that, in view of its association with three world religions, the Jerusalem area should be accorded special treatment and should be placed under effective United Nations control by establishing a permanent international régime for the area. 79.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Included in the resolution [181 (II)] was a partition plan for the territory of Palestine which would have remained divided into an Arab State and a Jewish State, the city of Jerusalem to be established as a corpus separatum placed under a special international regime to be administered by the United Nations raid, on its behalf, by the Trusteeship Council. 77. The bases for the elaboration of a future statute of the city of Jerusalem were laid down in that plan, which stated as one of the special objectives of the Administering Authority "(a) To protect and to preserve the unique spiritual and religious interests located in the city of the three great monotheistic faiths throughout the world, Christian, Jewish and Moslem; to this end to ensure that order and peace, and especially religious peace, reign in Jerusalem.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“I refer to the independence of the Holy Places, particularly Jerusalem, the cradle of Christianity and the Holy City for three religions. 75. The United Nations has dealt with this matter before and has adopted resolutions, unfortunately as yet unimplemented, which could have set the conscience of Christianity at rest and allowed the Moslems and Jews to live as good neighbours. That is what everyone wants and it would have been a significant step forward. 76. In November 1947 the General Assembly took certain decisions on the basis of the report of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Sir Claude Corea, the representative of Ceylon, has earned the particular gratitude of Christians precisely because he is not one of them, for having stated this in the noble words which I shall now repeat: "In fact, to the Christian world at any rate, ‘good neighbourly relations’ may indeed be a stronger expression. That expression, which implies love of neighbour, is the rock on which Christendom is built... What is needed always, and certainly is most imperative in times of crisis, is the translation of the same belief, expressed in different words, to the facts of life..." [764th meeting, para. 29.] 74. These considerations prompt me to put to the Assembly a specific religious problem of primary concern to the souls of countless believers. I think that everyone, whatever his faith, will wish to contribute to its solution.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The tolerance we must show causes us, unwittingly perhaps, to lose sight of the decisive influence on practical, contemporary problems of faith in God and the communication of a higher eschatological order, the driving force of hundreds of millions of people represented here. Some speakers have indeed alluded to this, although diffidence prevents them from stressing too strongly this major bulwark of the free world. There is no greater virtue than the religious faith of the people and their traditional, hereditary loyalty to religion. However, the over-all picture will escape us unless, I repeat, we view religion in all its forms, not merely In its individual and concentrated aspects, but as a great, wholesome influence on customs, an everlasting lesson in proper conduct and the supreme moral guide.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“In a word we are men of peace, members of a family of nations, who display our Spanish tradition- so well-known to the scholar — with a sense of pride and satisfaction in the past, that does not preclude a continuing and lively interest in the world of today. We too wish to take our place side by side with those other peace-loving peoples who are alarmed by the threat of war and are groping for peaceful solutions. 73. As we long for this, our thoughts turn to the religious side of our civilization. The deep sense of tolerance and a scrupulous concern to avoid offence lead us all too often in our meetings to lose sight of that cardinal element in the history of mankind whose fate we are debating.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“We live in Europe, without quarrels or rancour, despite the painful fact that a portion of our land is under colonial occupation, a situation which we hope will be remedied as a matter of right, as, we are sure, do all those who have - felt and experienced it. We live in Europe, aware of our Hispanic characteristics which have taken root on both shores of the Atlantic, aware too of the part played by the Latin genius. Yet we do so without forgetting that we are part of Europe as a whole in which other great peoples — the Germanic, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian — have played their part. Despite their many disagreements in the past, these peoples are now brothers, Europeans, just as in the days when from Upsala to Salamanca scholars spoke a common language and meditated on eternal problems in a common spirit and with a common purpose. 72.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“That is why we speak to them so freely and frankly, with warm recollections of Muza and Tarik, so that all of us, forgetting the disagreeable past and basing ourselves on that which unites us — the creation of a magnificent culture-may move forward together free of common dangers. 71. I make no attempt to conceal the basic fact that we are Spaniards, Europeans, part of the continent of Europe, whose culture, transplanted to America, the other western continent, is now in fact the heritage of both. They share this priceless treasure and we cherish our share of it for we also laboured to achieve it.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“It is good news for the American countries of Spanish origin, for the Philippines, for ancient continental Spain, on whose behalf I have the honour to address you and, I venture to suggest, for the United States as well, 70. I have described to you on a number of earlier occasions — and further opportunities to remind you of it will not be lacking - how, after passing through a phase of quarrels followed by one of neighbourly relations, we also feel ourselves to be close to the people of the Arab world with whom we have much in common, both as regards traits of character and points of view, whose problems we are in a position to understand, and whose just claims before cur world Assembly elicit our sympathy.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“I quote the following passage: "One might describe the Philippines as a Latin American country that has been torn away from the Americas and been swept off to the opposite side of the Pacific by some legendary tidal wave or fabulous hurricane. But the Philippines are unique in having a North American as well as a Spanish chapter in their history — unique and also lucky, because Spain and the United States are complementary to one another as representatives of different elements in the Western Christian civilization." It is fortunate that Spain and the United States have left their traces in the Philippines for, according to the great historian, the two countries complement each other. We have long suspected it but the fact that Toynbee says so is significant.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“And not in two continents only, for during the last few days as I have listened to the splendid Spanish spoken in the United Nations by the distinguished representative of the Philippines, I have been reminded of the fact that our civilization also penetrated to the continent of Oceania where it has taken root among people who shine brightly in the galaxy of nations which form our complex world and to whom Spain has left a legacy of spiritual wealth that has been preserved and enriched for the benefit of mankind. Only a few days ago I read in Toynbee's recently published East to West the great English historian's impressions of Manila, "mercurial" Manila, as he calls it.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“We remember that these Latins do not speak Latin but Spanish or Portuguese, great languages which although derived, as we must in all humility recognize, from the vulgar Latin spoken by the common people of the great Roman Empire, have now become highly developed instruments of culture and bonds of brotherhood between our peoples in two separate continents. 69.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“When we hear the word "Latin-Americans" we feel that the name of the Iberian peninsula has a strong and unassailable claim — which is reflected in customs and even the popular press — to describe this vigorous new world. These Latins whose historical credentials are so strong and beyond dispute are the original and oldest Americans with prior claim to the use of that great name. The question is merely one of terminology. It is not important and may, as I have said, be one concerning which we are inclined to split hairs. But when people talk about the Latins of America we tend not to think of Latium.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“We have often felt that Spain' s greatest public "business" — using the word in the sense in which it was employed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in speaking of the supreme task, that of salvation — since the discovery of the American continent has perhaps been the emancipation of America. The generous individual and free policies of the separate States into which it is divided are at once in unison and varying, concordant and reflecting many shades of opinion, with a flexibility and impact difficult to attain by more conservative means. In the world today they may clearly be seen working for peace and for the highest ideals of freedom and wisdom upon which the future of mankind may be built. 68. We Spaniards are sometimes inclined to be touchy about names.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“In One of the finest speeches delivered during the present debate Mr. Florit, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, speaking a magnificent Spanish worthy of Cervantes and Sarmiento, said: "And at the same time we are heirs to a civilization the vitality and spiritual wealth of which has made possible the great adventure which mankind is living today." [751st meeting, para. 6.] 66. While we shall continue to be part of that civilization, our brotherly sentiments will not interfere with the natural processes of expansion and growth of the peoples of America or with their continental unity. As our own Ortega y Gasset said, American man began, from the moment the continent was discovered, to develop a personality distinct from that of his brothers in the Peninsula. 67.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“This identity of essential objectives in international affairs also extends to the great Brazilian nation by the very fact of its discovery and of our close ties with Portugal, our sister State on the Iberian peninsula. Spain is not linked to the Ibero-American countries by any pact, specific agreement or protocol. But it would be a mistake to imagine that the existence of this bloc of Central and South American States, in itself a fact of overwhelming importance, would not, in this age of shrinking distances, have a decisive impact, both now and in the future, on the thirty million Spaniards of Europe. It would indeed be the strangest of miracles and supreme proof of insensibility and spiritual decadence if Spain were not to follow their march through history and the contemporary political scene with deep and brotherly affection.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“But, as you all know, Spain is not isolated from the currents of world events and the ways of life of other peoples. The fact that today we have no colonial problem does not mean that our existence is confined to the limits of the Iberian peninsula. 65. Strong, well-defined ties bind us to other peoples and even to whole continents. If we consider our place m the world we cannot, however hard we may try, fail to recognize our kinship with the nearly twenty nations of America whose origins are clearly Spanish and with whom we have in common a language, a religion, a thousand spiritual reactions and ways of life and probably a great many objectives in international affairs. I refer to Central and South America, including the America whose roots are Portuguese.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“It is as though we were to resurrect the frightening creatures so cherished by map makers before the time of the great Spanish and Portuguese navigators. 63. Fortunately our histories are very much intermingled. Geographical situation exercises an inevitable influence, but there are also — and it is to the credit of human nature that this is so — the creations of the mind, of labour, of sacrifice over the centuries. It is not enough to talk in terms of longitude or latitude; one must also remember all that has been accomplished by men within the areas they denote. The continents and their names, in themselves, merely vaguely imply the rights of nations. 64. As I said earlier, Spain for historical reasons played but a small part in the colonialism of recent times, whose liquidation we are now witnessing.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“It would be a grave error if the nations which have re-emerged into international life, in their understandable eagerness to regain the time politically lost to them while they were under foreign rule, and in order to assert their individuality speedily and violently, were to ignore the lessons of the past and, in their turn, act with unjust violence, forgetful of historical and legal situations created by the nations over the years. Our colleague from Portugal dealt brilliantly with this aspect of the problem [761st meeting]. It is not enough to collect continents, draw boundary lines and colour the map to suit one's fancy in order to satisfy a somewhat childish desire for territorial aggrandizement and to cut a brilliant figure in the statistics and the atlases.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The peoples of the colonizing Powers also suffered myriad hardships because they lived under an economic order that was less soundly conceived and did not follow the precepts of morality, but which has now been in large measure corrected toy the observance of better principles and higher standards. 61. The problems of the so-called ruling peoples -or of the mass of the ruling peoples — were not problems of colour or geographical latitude, but, in large measure and to an extent that varied with circumstances, problems of conscience, raised in their countries. The remedy to colonial excesses and the unfair social position of the colonizing peoples came with time. The process is still not completed, but it is under way and we must trust that the outcome will be to the advantage of all parties concerned. 62.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“It is a matter primarily of habit and custom, not, as is often thought, of pride and the desire to rule and to annex weaker nations. It takes an effort to change a way of life and recognize new phenomena which we could not have imagined possible. But they occur and, despite everything, become facts of life and are accepted without rancour and in a spirit of conciliation. 60. Let the new or resurrected nations not think that the ruling classes of the world during the final period of modern colonialism were much easier on the peoples of their own countries. In an excellent speech [758th meeting] the representative of Italy gave a penetrating analysis of the social mission of wealth, so different from its role in past times, when wealth served merely to satisfy personal appetites.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Some of them are not new because they represented great civilizations, although they were isolated and held in subjection and thus were unable for centuries to express their culture freely or to play a part in political life. They are in large part resurrected nations and it has been our good fortune to witness their resurrection. Happily, they have been resurrected, reborn, and as in all births, their emergence is fraught with illusion and expectation. 58. For those who once held the advantage this phenomenon has, of course, brought difficulties. I repeat that Spain is not really affected; it has been through that period. 59. We would not be human if such change did not evoke a reaction in the international community.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“If we consider the matter impartially and calmly, we will see that, although those countries have legitimate and important grievances, they acquired a culture, language, health, and commercial ability as a result of their contact with the colonizing nations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, an experience which was not always pleasant, but in the long run proved fruitful and effective. I can say this with impartiality, because although Spain was once a very active expansionist power, it played no role or only a very small role in the colonial expansion of modern times. 57. Let us face the facts. All those people have been welcome and are welcome among us.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“They were carrying out a mission, for mixed motives, and often with a certain creative heroism. Human beings according to our Christian interpretation, since the Fall — have not distinguished themselves by gentleness and consideration in the course of their history. The white glove has rarely been their hallmark. 56. But everything was not black in the period of colonization which ended 1900. Great material progress, the creation of tremendous wealth, the raising of the standard of life of many people were evidence of the better side of human nature, and in men's struggle against poverty, helped not only materially, but spiritually, to improve those areas which have now become part of the international community.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“I am not trying to blacken the name of those who, in 1900, in another guise, so to speak, and with other means, occupied — at least in the eyes of those who reluctantly submitted to their rule — positions similar to those which might have been held by Genghis Khan or Tamerlane, or the Conquerors of Byzantium, or — to mix dates and times — of those who crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and invaded Spain under the leadership of Muza and Tarik. 55. Some of the great nations represented here, with great influence in our deliberations, were simply colonies in 1900 and even much later. The point is obvious, but necessary for purposes of illustration. Those who held them in subjection were not — I hasten to say, any more than those to whom I referred earlier — motivated by malicious or evil intentions.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“I speak as a Spaniard with a history of eight centuries of Afro-Asian domination, followed by a friendly merging of cultures in many ways, and today a common heritage in many respects, Now all we remember of that Afro-Asian domination are the monuments of beauty and the friendship it left, Throughout the Middle Ages and up to the beginning of modern times, Eastern Europe and parts of Southern Europe were also overrun by powerful masses from Asia and Africa, and memories of their invasion remain.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Whole continents, such as Africa and Asia and a large part of Central and South America, experienced the effects — and they are not very pleasant to report — of the system which then prevailed. 54. The world had not always been so divided. In their day the great peoples of Asia and Africa had been invaders and conquerors. Because this is a time oi reconciliation and, one might say, of rehabilitation, we cannot whitewash those who later bowed to the superior might of others. That is one of the most elementary lessons of history.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Perhaps the broadest and most all-pervasive of the questions is that implicit in the entry of Asian and African nations, whose people are usually of a different colour from Europeans, to the international community. If we take 1900 as a typical year and compare the world then with the world today, we cannot but be impressed by the diplomatic monopoly that existed: at that time, there were three, four or five ruling voices and the other countries followed their lead, and if they did not do so willingly, measures of coercion were applied on occasion to bring them to their senses. That was not true only of the African and Asian peoples who now have most to complain of. The rest of us were treated in much the same way.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“The military power of those seated in this Assembly is not what will count; what will count in the development of world events are the words, concerns and anxieties expressed in this most crucial period of history. It has been said again and again, and it cannot be said too often, that the United Nations makes an immense contribution to the cause of world peace and understanding among peoples. 52. Here, the clash of ideas, the expression of authoritative opinions — which in former times were buried in the silence of diplomatic discretion and reduced to a few controlling voices — marks a great step forward, both moral and political, in the history of man. From every corner of the earth ideas, questions and answers to the problems of the moment are brought to this forum. 53. Those problems are serious ones.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“These elections of distinguished men to preside over the United Nations give us a better idea of the world and the men who represent it, and bring us closer together at the highest level by giving us an opportunity to appreciate the best qualities of all men as they demonstrate their ability, with equal cultural backgrounds, to assume the highest responsibilities with honour and with the respect of all mankind. 51. It is our turn to speak in this debate after most delegations, whose arguments and views we have followed with keen interest, have already taken the floor. We have not heard the representatives of the powerful nations only, but those of all countries, and we must attach great value to their general views.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“I wish also to bid farewell to Sir Leslie Munro, the distinguished President of our twelfth session, with whom I had the honour to serve as an officer of the Assembly. In addition to his experience as a professor, newspaperman and political figure, he also has a broad culture and an unequalled fund of knowledge of the political problems and thinking of all countries. Moreover, he has a delightful bonhomie and impressive personal charm. He has left a lasting impression, which it is a pleasure to recall in bidding him farewell. 50.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“48. The fact that we have been friends since our days as Ambassadors in Washington does not detract from the sincerity of my tribute to the President elected by this Assembly. He combines the political experience, mastery of procedure and personal prestige so essential to that office with the vision of a man of high culture and philosophical training, without which the equipment of a statesman is often incomplete. Mr. Malik has all those special qualities and we are particularly gratified by his election and confident that he will carry out his task successfully. 49. Nor do I wish to overlook the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sudan, Mr. Mahgoub, who received the votes of a good many Members of this Assembly and who may rest assured of the sympathy and admiration of all.”
1958-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 13 (1958)
“Who knows but that this same peaceful and objective voice of the Head of the Roman Church may one day be heard in our midst, at the request not only of Christians but of other noble and impartial representatives of the world's conscience acting in accordance with the law of God. 56. Our delegation, convinced of the paramount importance of our work, will follow with redoubled attention the discussions of the Assembly, and, with an open mind and in accordance with its historical traditions and present conditions, will participate in these exchanges of views, which could and should bring about so much alleviation of human suffering.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Without even referring to a future when the United Nations will have physical strength at its disposal — on idea which Spain greatly favours — we need only consider its great vitality, its moral influence and its power to arrest evil. 55. It is said of a late and almost forgotten statesman that when the influence of His Holiness the Pope was mentioned, he asked how many divisions the Pope had at his disposal. Yet even without divisions history is made, crimes are prevented and justice is done. The moral influence of the Pope — on another, transcendental, level — is a good example by which to appraise the possibilities of the United Nations and encourage its work.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“What some people sarcastically term market-place diplomacy today represents mankind’s greatest hope for peace. 54. It is not necessary for every problem to be completely solved — although the United Nations is doing much in this respect — in order to achieve this goal of understanding, enlightenment and human contact which is the essence of true diplomacy. Simply by bringing together in one hall, for the first time in history, men from all parts of the world, speaking with equal dignity and independence, the United Nations has realized the dream of the greatest minds which sought to improve the condition of mankind.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Cañas, of Costa Rica, Spain associated itself with the countries of Central and South America in requesting that these changes should be made at a suitable time. 53. These proposals should be examined carefully as a means of promoting a broader measure of agreement between the peoples represented here by making effective amendments and not as a means of provoking further disputes. Yet even in its present form, the United Nations is an instrument of peace which may, without exaggeration, be described as marvellous. There must be very few who, even when their words are printed and circulated, still harbour a nostalgic yearning for the old diplomatic methods, for after all, with all their claims to wisdom, prudence and selection, they have produced nothing but heartbreaking catastrophes during the last fifty years.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“It is implicit in what I have said, and before concluding it will be well for me to make it quite explicit, that we are firmly resolved to co-operate Whole-heartedly in the work of the United Nations and in the concerted efforts it is making lo achieve these objectives. We are already doing so by participating in all the projects that have been approved so far, and the Secretariat files contain information submitted by Spain that may be useful in pursuing this important and noble task. 52. Throughout my statement I have referred to the political means of overcoming the dangers we face. I have left until last one of the most important of these means: the United Nations. Certain changes may be needed in our Organization and, as has been pointed out by Mr. Trujillo, of Ecuador, and Mr.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“It is clear that a new spirit is alive in Europe and that we too feel its call. 50. The same reasons, which are even more compelling in the case of the Iberian peninsula, have prompted our country to examine, in co-operation with Portugal, a country to which we feel so closely linked by bonds of friendship, policy and common objectives, the co-ordination of our respective production and consumption systems. We hope that what is now a natural thing for us and the result of earlier contacts will one day form the basis for relations between our country and other countries, inspired by the same principles of rationalizing production and consumption with a view to promoting welfare and raising levels of living. 51.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Spain rejects the old and discredited dilemma of unlimited freedom or socialism. The path followed by Spain at the present stage of its development is the middle course, based on well-known Christian teachings. 49. Spain is of course following with keen interest the encouraging efforts made to achieve greater integration and co-ordination between the old national European economies. It is doing so not only for economic but also for political reasons, since it will tighten the bonds that link the members of the European community. Certain problems inevitably arise therefrom, and the complete integration of Spain into this economic structure will present difficulties in the way of adapting our economy to the proposed system, which may already be regarded as in operation.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Spain remains faithful to these two principles, and as its national life is an open book and people from all countries come to Spain and exploit its resources, there is no need for me to enlarge upon the subject here in the General Assembly. 47. Our political philosophy does not accept the elimination of individual initiative; it endorses the idea of saving and the desire to pass on savings as a heritage; all these things lie at the basis of its economic structure. Only where individual initiative has failed does the State intervene, often in association with individuals, to fill the gap, but in every case it does so with the declared intention of handing over to private enterprise, as soon as possible, the noble national task of increasing the nation's wealth and turning it to good use. 48.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“The efforts of the entire nation have been concentrated on raising the levels of living of whole provinces to that of the more advanced provinces as a matter of national importance and based on a new conception of our economy. At the same time, great efforts are being made to promote industrialization, and United States assistance, which Spain received later and in much smaller quantities than the other European countries, is playing its part in increasing our national wealth. Our country is sincerely grateful for this assistance. 46. The principles of free enterprise and individual initiative have been scrupulously observed.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“There are, however, certain weak spots and defects in its agricultural and industrial development, which my Government is taking energetic steps to remedy in order to bring about a general improvement. A great deal of progress has been made along these lines, and Spain is developing a sense of solidarity concerning the country’s interests, as a result of which sacrifice is evenly distributed and those who are well off are asked to co-operate in efforts to improve the lot of the others. Social reforms which only a few years ago would have been no more than dreams have already been put into effect, as in the more developed countries of the world, and are heartening achievements.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Only the exaltation of principles and their general acceptance can bring better days to our poor world. 44. This does not mean that the task of improving economic conditions should be abandoned. On the contrary, unless the peoples' levels of living are raised, ill-will and disputes will continue to cause unrest. Hence the need for generous and sound measures, which will bear fruit in the long run, to develop the under-developed countries. This matter has been eloquently discussed by many representatives of the Latin American countries, which shows that our race is both idealistic and practical and encourages me to continue along these lines. 45. Spain is not really an under-developed country in the strict sense of the term.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“A world of this kind could resist the temptation to destroy itself by using means which are as yet limited to the great Powers but which, as I pointed out before, will later be available to small countries as well. After all, for men of our faith, human nature, although bearing the stigma of original sin, can count on sufficient means of grace, determination and expiation to redeem itself. Crime is not man’s temptation. On the contrary, it is repugnant to our nature and it would indeed be a crime to unleash unlimited violence that could destroy the world. 43. Some might regard this as a mere dream and vague idealism. I cannot really speak with authority on the subject of fissionable materials. Yet perhaps these moral thoughts and aims are more practical than dry pragmatism.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“We are not obliged to accept as dogmatic revelations announced from a burning bush what are merely the domestic political preferences of influential countries. 41. What we desire is a world in which armaments can be reduced, but in which effective vigilance is maintained against any possible Trojan horse; a world of mutual understanding and agreement; a world in which Germany is no longer divided, in which Jerusalem can be international and the Arab countries: come to a lasting agreement with their neighbours, righting the wrongs of recent eventful years; a world in which ideological propaganda directed at other countries is brought to an end and in which the identity of the great moral and religious principles of all peoples becomes more apparent. 42.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“Side by side with the dogmatism of international communism, there still exist powerful pressure groups, determined to tell the world how it should govern itself, insolently trying to impose principles designed to regulate the lives of others in accordance with their own tastes, paying no attention to the requirements and historical experience of individual peoples or to the different political philosophies to which the widely different nations of the world have adjusted their political systems over the centuries. These spiritual dictatorships, with their constant insolence, poison relations between peoples and are particularly untimely at present. We must be on our guard against these too.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)
“If we fail to put an end to the violations of international law that still persist in the old world, and if we maintain the injustice among us that breed resentment, how are we to inspire respect in others? The most noble words uttered by Europeans will sound hollow so long as flagrant injustice exists in Europe itself. 39. One last thing that is required of the peoples united in the common cause of defending civilization is mutual respect for the customs of each one. Mr. Sapena Pastor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, put the matter clearly and soberly when he said [681st meeting]: "Each State has its own problems which it must solve in its own way". 40.”
1957-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 12 (1957)