YouSaid · the spoken record

PÉTER

lines on the record: 428
first: 1961-09-24
most recent: 1973-09-24
sittings or episodes: 11
sources: un-general-debate

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“In the present situation, following the Moscow Treaty, there are two particular issues for which special services may be rendered by this session of the General Assembly. 104. In the course of the general debate the Government of the Soviet Union proposed [1208th meeting] that the Eighteen-nation Committee should be convened at the highest level, with Heads of State or Government participating, in the first quarter or in the first half of next year, for the purpose of taking further steps to work out agreements on disarmament issues on the basis of the results obtained so far through United Nations discussions and direct talks. Several of the States members of the Eighteen-nation Committee on Disarmament have already expressed their readiness to accept the proposal of the Soviet Union.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“At a time when the direct negotiations come to a standstill, discussions in United Nations bodies ought to be directed toward getting the negotiations started again. At such a time as the present when direct negotiations are going on, the interdependence between such negotiations and United Nations debates becomes obvious. The very fact that the negotiations continue —not to mention their results— may create an encouraging atmosphere for discussions in the organs of the United Nations, and those discussions, in turn, may stimulate and inspire new proposals and new agreements through direct negotiations. So it may be said that debates in the United Nations are not at all out of place while direct negotiations are being conducted; its tasks are even more important and its work may be even more effective. 103.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Even in the present situation the Eighteen-nation Committee could be more helpful and efficient if all its members concentrated upon the proposals put forward with a view to narrowing the gaps between the opposing stands. 102. At a time when, fortunately, enough, direct negotiations of the thermonuclear Powers are in process, the question arises in the minds of many representatives: in what sense could the General Assembly itself and the Eighteen-nation Committee or any other body of this Organization make any useful contribution to the efforts to stop the armament race and promote disarmament negotiations? The discussions in the organs of the United Nations are no less important at a time of direct negotiations than at the time of any sort of stalemate in those negotiations.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“A representative of a State member of the Eighteen-nation Committee on Disarmament, speaking in this debate, regretted the fact that the limited test ban treaty had not been drafted and signed at the negotiating table of the Eighteen-nation Committee, In reality, there is another fact to regret: it is that a chair is vacant at that table. The world is anxious to bring the full membership of the Committee to that table. The General Assembly certainly will not give up the hope that the time will come when representatives of all the States members of the Committee will share the responsibility involved in its activity. Delegations to this session of the General Assembly would promote the cause of real international co-operation for peaceful co-existence if they gave expression to their concern in that respect.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Just as the entire process of decolonization has helped to create an atmosphere beneficial to high-level negotiations, so the United Nations by promoting the completion of decolonization will offer new possibilities for approaching the problems of disarmament in an even more effective way. 101. When direct negotiations between the great Powers are going on in search of further possibilities for reaching new agreements, is there any action at all left to the United Nations that could contribute to the success of direct negotiations?”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Those who cherish such illusions are tempted to undertake the defence of their own political ideas in those territories, even by force of arms. 99. Representatives of nations in that region could help to bring things back to the basis of the Geneva agreements and armistice treaties they themselves worked out in concert with the great Powers. If the United Nations, upon the initiative of Asian countries, could expedite the immediate application of earlier realistic agreements, then the peaceful way to the unification of Viet-Nam and Korea would be open. Then the notorious so-called First Lady, Madame Nhu, would stop boasting about her coming here with the intention of lecturing the United States on political morality. 100.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“It will be somewhat more difficult to discern what the United Nations will really be able to do to bring the situation in South Viet-Nam closer to a quick and lasting solution. I submit that Asian countries with a firm determination could be helpful in elaborating a realistic plan of action, just as the summit conference of African States promoted universal understanding for the unsettled issues of African nations. In South Viet-Nam, just as in South Korea and in certain other parts of the Far East, the situation continues to be complicated and even dangerous because some Western quarters are under the illusion that the frontiers of one or another Western State run somewhere between North and South Viet-Nam or between North and South Korea.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The representative of Hungary in the eleven-nation Special Committee on the Policies of apartheid of the Government of the Republic of South Africa acted, in common with other members of the Committee, in the spirit of earlier United Nations resolutions and of the appeal of the Summit Conference of Addis Ababa. And my Government has adopted all the measures called for in the resolutions of the United Nations and the Addis Ababa Conference. 97. The appeal of Addis Ababa, together with those of the United Nations Committees dealing with colonial and apartheid issues, will give this session sufficient guidance for action in a more effective way to help African nations in remoulding the full figure of Africa's hopes and destiny. 98.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“At the same meeting they called upon the great Powers, in particular the Soviet Union and the United States of America, to put forth their best endeavours in the interest of general and complete disarmament and to take preparatory measures to this end. They declared their determination to undertake negotiations aimed at ending military occupation on the African continent, and eliminating military bases and nuclear tests on African territory. 96. My Government gave heed to the appeal of the Addis Ababa Summit Conference regarding South Africa and Angola.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The Conference of Heads of African States and Governments set an example to all international gatherings of how to deal with real issues of the present time. 95. After declaring the imperious and urgent necessity of intensifying their efforts to accelerate the unconditional achievement of national independence for all African territories still under foreign domination, they invited the Powers concerned to take concrete steps for the sake of decolonization. As for themselves, they established a special fund to help liberation movements and a special committee to organize the assistance given by African States to liberation movements.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“Regional groupings and organizations are not always only for themselves and they are not always meant only to receive guiding ideas from the United Nations; they may exist for all of us and they may even offer guidance to larger communities. This is exactly the case with the Addis Ababa Conference, When it dealt with remoulding —as a Ghanaian poet put it— "the full figure of Africa's hopes and destiny” after formulating the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, it passed resolutions on concrete steps and measures in the field of disarmament and decolonization. The participants were aware of the fact that the struggle for disarmament would promote decolonization, and that in the same way the struggle for decolonization would encourage actions and negotiation for disarmament. 94.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The eighteenth session of the General Assembly, with its unprecedented atmosphere of mutual understanding, will contribute to the perpetuation of this atmosphere if, through careful deliberations, it helps to find new ways and means of completing the process of decolonization before the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations. 92. Anticolonialist forces are strong enough to accomplish their work even without this Organization; but if the United Nations should fail to justify the hopes and expectations of the anticolonialist movements, that would be harmful to the Organization and to international relations in general. 93. My Government has paid great attention to the historic Summit Conference of Independent African States, held at Addis Ababa in May 1963.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The effects of the process of decolonization have led to a "détente", but now there is a growing danger that the atmosphere of "détente" may be used against the further progress of decolonization, Voices to this effect have already been heard in this debate. Efforts towards further realistic steps to consolidate peaceful coexistence should not be used as a pretext for opposing anticolonialist movements and prolonging colonial domination. "Détente" and decolonization are not antagonists, in fact they are linked to each other. The implementation of United Nations declarations and resolutions on the liquidation of the colonial system will promote international relaxation; it will eliminate the causes of international tensions.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“If it is so —and it surely is— the main explanation of this happy development is to be found in the activities of the new Member States. Their overwhelming proportion in the membership of the United Nations gives them special power and responsibility in determining the agenda of the sessions as well as in helping the Organization to keep to its real task of securing international peace, liquidating colonial rule, and promoting social development all over the world. 90. My Government is conscious of the improvement of the political atmosphere in the United Nations and of the beneficial activity of the new Member States. 91.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“At a rather sudden turning point, the growth in the membership of this Organization, due to the process of decolonization, set a new trend in disarmament proposals. The growth in membership and the breakthrough of those proposals proceeded side by side, almost like a single process. A fresh breeze swept into the deliberations of the United Nations, Old cold war issues faded away. Representatives who had been active in the anti-colonialist struggles detested and opposed the artificiality of the cold war debates and called for a new outlook on the world, firmly intent upon securing a good foundation for the development of the liberated nations. 89. We were told in this hall the other day that two or three years ago the outlook for this Organization was rather bad, but that today its prospects are much better.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“What is contained in the partial nuclear test ban treaty, in connexion with the proposal for general and complete disarmament under strict international control, has its own history in the series of sessions of the General Assembly. The road has been long and sometimes rather rough. The records show that there have been meetings during which the representative of an atomic Power even ridiculed any idea of the harmfulness of radio-active fall-out resulting from nuclear experiments. It is also on the record that a host of arguments were brought up against general and complete disarmament of any sort, and some delegates went out of their way to prove that wars were organic parts of human nature. 88.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“They think in reality that there is no alternative, for present and future generations, to a thermonuclear catastrophe on a world-wide scale. 86. To accustom our contemporaries to the conditions of the thermo-nuclear age is not an easy task. It took a long time, and the time of several sessions was wasted on lengthy debates, to arrive at the level of the realistic views prevailing today. A new factor has presented itself in the United Nations —the presence of newly independent nations. And their participation in this Organization has changed the destiny of many agenda items —one would even say, the destiny of this very Organization. 87. The process of decolonization has had a rather specific effect upon the life of this Organization, especially with respect to its approach to the problems of disarmament.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The new atmosphere in this Assembly has sprung from this world situation, and it is working for such a vision in our minds. 85. There exist, of course, anachronistic views that are hard to change. There are imperialistic quarters in whose view colonial exploitation may be maintained or world domination restored by force of arms, by a thermo-nuclear armaments race. There are obsolete views on the opposite side as well, to the effect that as long as imperialists exist wars cannot be eliminated from the history of mankind. However active the representatives of such views may be here and there, they cannot gain much support, for they are not able to present any realistic programme for carrying out their aims, except by taking the risk of thermo-nuclear holocaust.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The Western Powers representing the capitalist system with its ideas may elaborate —if they wish— the ways and means of reversing the trend of history and restoring capitalism where it has already lost ground or introducing it where it has never existed, but in doing so they have to forego any attempt to resort to war. In the same way, moved by our conviction regarding the world-wide realization of a new society, that of socialism and communism with an amazing development of humanity, we wish to arrive at this new stage in the history of man through peaceful competition. In the present world situation, peoples and governments, for all the differences in their ideologies, have to live with a vision of peaceful development, of a world without wars.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The most direct factor in bringing about the present relaxation in international tension is the common awareness of the two thermo-nuclear Powers that under the shadow of the dangers of thermo-nuclear war their common task is to promote international cooperation against all sorts of war dangers, cold or hot, because any cold-war tension may lead to a hot war, and any hot war, however local in character, may lead to a thermo-nuclear conflagration. 83. Whatever the ideological or political system on the basis of which we participate in international negotiations, we have to recognize that in the age of thermonuclear weapons wars have lost whatever sense they might have had as a means of settling international disputes. Wars, even as ultima ratio, have no sense at all since the arrival of the thermo-nuclear age. 84.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“The first message on a communications system unprecedented in all history —and I want to mention, incidentally, that part of the installations were made in the German Democratic Republic— did not serve anything but a technical purpose: to test the accuracy and reliability of the teletype and code systems. 81. This really peculiar example illustrates how the two thermo-nuclear Powers most competent to judge the dangers and consequences of a thermo-nuclear holocaust have made it clear that in this extraordinary situation extraordinary measures are needed, and at the same time that caution and careful circumspection are by no means less necessary at each step taken on the common road opened by common measures. 82.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“I will try to find answers to these questions by using as an illustration a rather peculiar recent incident which was the result of a common effort of Moscow and Washington. The emergency communications system established between the two capitals is doubtless unprecedented in history, being commensurate with the thermonuclear age. One would have expected the first message sent through the so-called "hot line" to be a solemn and even dramatic one, worthy of being remembered by generations to come. Instead, it went from Washington to Moscow in the following terms: "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog's back." And from Moscow to Washington just a few letters and some numerals were transmitted.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“In the new and rather favourable climate of this eighteenth session of the General Assembly three questions come to one's mind: 77. First, is this so-called armistice in the cold war just a temporary mood, one which will soon pass, or are there in the background any permanent factors that have prompted a lessening of general tensions? 78. Secondly, what should be done so that this period of "détente" might continue? In all probability, everything depends on what use will be made of the pause in the cold war. 79. Thirdly, then, what step could next be taken to widen the scope of agreements that would not only prolong but even deepen mutual understanding and international co-operation? 80.”
1963-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 18 (1963)
“We strive to create a still more intimate relationship with the countries with which we already have friendly ties; we want to have friendly relations with the countries with which these relations are now normal or correct, and we seek to establish normal relations with the countries with which our relations are, for the time being, unsatisfactory or even bad," The present session of the General Assembly may help my delegation a great deal to realize these highly constructive goals, 131. In conclusion, Mr. President, I wish to extend to you and to your colleagues the best wishes of my delegation, wishing you much satisfaction in helping this Assembly to strengthen real international cooperation for the preservation of peace and security in the world.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Here in this hall there are many representatives who have a great deal of experience in governmental affairs. They understand me when I say that results like those witnessed today in Hungary cannot be achieved without the full participation and support of the great masses of the people. We are preparing at present for a new Congress of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. It will summarize the achievements made so far and it will consult the whole nation about the steps of further development; so that even better news may be spread about Hungary in the future. As to international affairs, the directives for the preparation of the Congress point out; "The foreign policy of the Hungarian people is guided by the principle of peaceful coexistence.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In this respect it will be helpful when the Secretariat and all the principal organs of the United Nations are reorganized so as to reflect more precisely the existing three types of States having special historical backgrounds and different systems of their own. 130. The improvement of the activity of this Organization has been reflected in a certain measure in the way the attempted cold-war attack against Hungary was met here. If particular political links had not bound some delegations to act against their own conviction, the picture would be more favourable. Beyond the new composition of this Assembly, the main source of the change for the better lies certainly in the growing effects of the factual life of Hungary winch counteracts previous allegations fomented against us.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The longer the United States manoeuvres prevent China from being represented here, the greater the damage which the position of the United States delegation in this Organization will have to suffer. 129. The growing universality of this Organization has improved its work in many respects indeed. But on the main issue of peace and war, the opening of the road to general and complete disarmament, it has remained ineffective so far. If common efforts fail to help this Organization to get out of this deadlock, the fate of the League of Nations will be shared by the United Nations. I should like to express the hope of my delegation that the powerful will of nations for consolidating peace and security will help this Organization make at least some progress.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Within only a few hours the General Assembly will welcome in this hall the delegation of the great Algerian people, and in our hearts we will pay tribute to the heroes who sacrificed so much for great human ideals during so many years of fighting for freedom and independence. We are looking forward with warm expectation to the arrival of the delegation of Uganda as well. 128. The universality of this Organization is being completed step by step in a rather quick development. The most scandalous defectiveness of this process is the absence of the delegation of the People's Republic of China. We have no right to speak and to act as a world Organization as long as China is not represented here.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The question of West Irian has had a long history in this Organization. The debates on that issue ended every year with proposals which did not win the necessary majority. The present composition of the United Nations, with the presence of so many newly independent nations, has made it possible in an indirect way for a negotiated settlement to be brought about. In the present atmosphere there has been no open opposition in this hall to the solution of the just cause of Indonesia. 126. A further gain for United Nations activities will be the presence of the newest Members: Rwanda, Burundi, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica. To their delegations I extend in this spirit the good wishes of my delegation. 127.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The United Nations in a certain measure has recently shown improvement towards creating a general atmosphere and international contacts favourable to peaceful coexistence. One of the main reasons for this favourable trend certainly is to be found in the changing composition of this Organization. The participation of representatives of newly independent nations in the work of the United Nations has contributed a great deal to eliminating artificial cold-war issues and to paying more attention to real issues that confront us as crucial problems endangering international peace and the living conditions of people. One only has to compare previous sessions, where so many of the new Members were not yet represented, with the present session, and the contrast becomes self-evident. I cite only one instance.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The more concrete and realistic solutions that are proposed by competent Powers for peaceful negotiations on crucial issues, the greater will be the mutual confidence which is so necessary for constructive international co-operation. It would improve the present situation if peaceable and concrete proposals were submitted by those quarters which were rather reluctant to accept the stubborn facts of peaceful coexistence and whose imagination has so far concentrated almost exclusively on warlike measures. One should expect that even the present session of the General Assembly will witness such a comforting change. The time has come when the world would like to know whether the Western Powers have any programme of their own for a peaceable world, under the principles of peaceful coexistence. 125.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Only a basic reappraisal of the Western proposals could convince us that the Western Powers have departed from their views regarding control of armaments and moved towards general and complete disarmament under effective international control. 123. My delegation would like to hope that the new initiatives of the Soviet Union introduced at this session in order to narrow the gap between opposing views will open new and hopeful possibilities for fruitful negotiations on general and complete disarmament. The fact that many delegations welcomed the proposals of the eight neutral Powers for the cessation of all nuclear weapon tests gives rise to the hope that under the effect of sound arguments the Western Powers will accept those proposals as a basis for an early agreement. 124.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In whatever form they make new proposals, these overtly or covertly include their attempts to legalize intelligence activities and to have a free hand to continue experimenting with nuclear weapons, at least in underground tests. I cite only one instance: in their most recent programme submitted at the Conference of the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, they introduced the principle of percentage for abolishing certain types of armament. But in order to ascertain what 30 per cent of a certain type of armament means, it would be necessary to count the whole existing stockpiles of weapons in advance. As a result of such a disarmament system, legalized spy activity would precede any step of disarmament.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“A most recent indication of this is the official statement of the United States regarding its readiness to use nuclear weapons first in Europe for safeguarding its alleged interests. The successors of those responsible for the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki do not need to convince the world of their readiness to use nuclear weapons first. Tremendous and shameful experiences make us aware of this readiness without any new statement made to this effect by United States officials. They would be ready to do this if they were not afraid of terrible retaliation. Therefore, the Soviet proposal against propaganda for preventive nuclear war [A/5232] is wholly justified. 122. The Western Powers have not shown as yet their readiness to accept more than the mere expression "general and complete disarmament".”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“On the question of Germany and West Berlin, the German Democratic Republic, together with the Soviet Union and other socialist States, proposed a reasonable and realistic settlement to do away with the glowing vestiges of the Second World War in Europe. There is no realistic counter-proposal from the West as yet. Nobody could take as a counterproposal what some Western policy-makers keep repeating about the continued presence, and standing firm, of Western occupation troops in West Berlin. 120. Let us suppose the impossible, that their proposal would be accepted. What would happen then? Would they like to stay there for ever? What would they be there for? They never say. The Western Powers have no peaceable programme for this question at all. One would suppose that their attention is wholly absorbed by military preparations. 121.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In general, the readiness of the Western Powers to adhere to the principles of peaceful coexistence would be more explicit if they offered reasonable proposals for the solution of burning problems, either upon their own initiative or in answer to proposals made by other Governments. 119. In Central Europe, Poland, together with other socialist States, proposed the establishment of an atom-free zone. No constructive answer has come from the West as yet. The Warsaw Treaty Organization offered the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Powers a non-aggression pact. There has been no counter-proposal as yet. One is obliged to conclude that the NATO Powers have no programme for peace at all.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The report reads as follows: "The State Department's Press Officer Lincoln White said: 'I have checked this out, and I am told these allegations are completely without foundation'." He checked this out. At any rate the State Department has a careful Press Officer. One could congratulate him on his exactitude. 116. Yes, the old times are passing away, and a bright future of new relations may open between States living under different conditions in this hemisphere. 117. The new relations of good neighbourliness proclaimed by the United Nations Charter require peaceable negotiations and constructive proposals from the parties concerned in controversial issues. Cuba has offered its constructive proposals. What its powerful neighbour offers in return, however, does not inspire any hope so far. 118.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Even in this hemisphere the old-fashioned relations between States, based upon exploitation of the weak by the strong, are vanishing. But the remains of the past are still vigorous. The United States Department of State a few days ago gave an astonishing indication of it — an astonishing indication indeed. It referred to the assassination of Rafael Trujillo. A former member of the Government of the Dominican Republic, Arturo Espaillat, was arrested in Canada and given a deportation order. On 19 September last he said in Canada that the United States had been behind the assassination of Trujillo. On the next day, 20 September, according to news agency reports, the State Department categorically denied this charge. And in what manner?”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Just as in Europe the so-called metropolitan countries with long colonial traditions have to realize that their former colonies have been liberated for ever and will never again become possessions of their old masters, so this hemisphere must also realize that Cuba will never again pass under the exploiting power of United States monopolies. 114. An essentially new relationship is open to development, and our best hope is that it will be wholly realized. As has been proposed several times by the Cuban Government, the United States should resume its diplomatic relations with Cuba and start coexistence and co-operation on negotiated terms in the spirit of the United Nations Charter. States with differing economic systems may and should live together as good neighbours. 115.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“In the present circumstances, projects of invasion, murder, killing and assassination, possibilities of direct military intervention, formation of special contingents of Cuban citizens in the United States Army and reprisals against countries maintaining trade relations with the valiant people of Cuba are everyday topics of all sorts of official declarations. A study of the origin of the United States problem with regard to Cuba bears out the most astonishing fact that United States policy-makers seem to forget entirely how American monopolies exploited large masses of the Cuban people through long generations. Those times are gone for ever.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The records of the United Nations show that at the time of the abortive invasion in April 1961 the United States delegation tried to prove, with every possible argument, that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion and was not responsible for the criminal adventure. Since that time official statements have made it clear that the invasion plan received the highest approval of the United States Administration and that even the United States Air Force was ordered to protect the invaders, except that the orders came too late. 113.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“This obsession helped paralyze his government; its vast administrative structure lay dead or was dying though still swollen with American aid funds on which the venal feed." 111. So speaks an American witness about the experiences of his own ordeal in South Viet-Nam. The friendship of some Western policy-makers towards these venal individuals prevents the Viet-Namese people from benefiting from the implementation of the Geneva agreements of 1954, that is to say, from the reunification of Viet-Nam. 112. The case of Cuba illustrates even more vividly how hopeless it is for the time being to expect correctly negotiated agreements from the United States.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“High and low, government officials, professors, army officers and students condemned it and yearned for a change — a coup d’état which would rid them of Diem before the Communists crushed him. But America's absolute support of Diem precluded such a change. From the very beginning — when he seized power in 1954 — we had been his chief prop. He has inherited a puppet administration and a puppet army, tainted with treason in the eyes of most Vietnamese because the French created them to bolster up Bao Dai. One by one, Diem subdued all dissident elements. Now alienated from a hostile population, he could rely only on servile lackeys and his relatives — notably his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and his brother's feared and hated wife. Trusting no one, Diem was consumed with fear of disloyalty.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“It became clear even to some people in the United States, both private persons and officials, who had spent some time there in one or another capacity. From among the many witnesses I quote only one, but readers of the American Press may find many similar descriptions. 110. Last year a political scientist on leave from the United States spent a year in Viet-Nam and lectured as guest professor at the University of Saigon. After his return he made public his experiences there under the heading: "Terror in Viet-Nam — An American's ordeal at the hands of our 'friends'". That article was published in a New York periodical. He summarized his experiences in the following terms: "In that entire year I never heard a single Vietnamese voice raised in defense of the Diem regime.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“We all remember what the origin of the Laotian crisis was more than two years ago. The lawful Government of Laos proclaimed a policy of neutrality. In reply to it the United States introduced all sorts of countermeasures in and around Laos, creating a danger of local and international conflagration. When the failure of this policy became obvious, as a result of high-level negotiations the Western Powers also agreed to the strict neutrality of Laos, beneficial to the Laotian people and to the whole region of South-East Asia. And what happened? Even the American Press made it clear that the United States agreed to the neutrality of Laos in order to free its military strength for further intervention in South Viet-Nam. What was the result of this concentration of forces in South Viet-Nam?”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“The sad and regrettable experiences regarding this double-faced policy pursued in a narrow section of interstate relations throw light upon a more general and more important aspect of the problem of working out the basic principles of peaceful co-operation between nations coexisting in different social systems and with different historical backgrounds. In order to create the atmosphere of mutual confidence necessary for fruitful co-operation, all sorts of double dealing have to be eliminated, and consistent adherence to the principles of coexistence has to prevail. The lack of consistency on the part of some Western policy-makers at many a critical stage endangers fruitful progress in several respects. 108. To make this clear in concrete facts, I have only to recall some recent and current international problems. 109.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“Thereupon word came from United States sources saying that the Secretary-General, in spite of his overburdened schedule, would come to Hungary before the session if we were willing to comply with certain United States demands. We have invited the Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations, and no third party has anything to do with this invitation. As to the United States, we have made it clear, and I do so once again, that we are ready to facilitate their getting out of the impasse — to use their own words — regarding our official relations; but under pressure and on unjustifiable preconditions there is no possibility of negotiating. We are in no hurry. Time is working for us. 107.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“United States officials both in Washington and in Budapest were in constant contact with Hungarian officials to find ways and means of developing mutual relations. They made the impression that they were doing their best to convince us that they did not wish to interfere in the domestic affairs of Hungary. 106. Then suddenly the picture changed. It was common knowledge that, upon my invitation, the Secretary-General of the United Nations intended to pay a visit to Hungary at a time agreeable to both parties. I have to state that the Secretary-General made entirely clear his position of principle, and he never laid down any condition for his proposed visit. Upon his initiative we agreed that the visit should take place not before this session, but some time later at a mutually agreeable date.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“However, if anybody knows how the so-called question of Hungary has been repeatedly proposed by the United States, he will see that this is a vicious circle, and how vicious a circle it is. 105. The Permanent Representative of the United States, after the intervention of the Soviet delegation in this general debate, came out with these words; "The sober seventeenth session has ended on the fourth day.,." [1127th meeting, para. 164]. He must know much better than anybody else that in a certain sense of the word the sober seventeenth session had ended long before it started. On 18 August the United States delegation tabled its proposal regarding the so-called question of Hungary. And against what background?”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)
“I quote only one single sentence of it: "Though we have made progress in our relations with Poland, we have been held thus far to a minimum of contact in such countries as Czechoslovakia, while in Hungary the impasse in our relations over the Hungarian problem in the United Nations has retarded the development of any effective programme of contact with or through the Government". 104. On the basis of this statement, one would rightly think that the United States wishes to develop an effective programme of contact with the Government of Hungary. In reality, a certain measure of development has taken place in recent months. On the basis of this statement, one would also think that the United States Government has a feeling that it is in an impasse which it would like to break.”
1962-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 17 (1962)