YouSaid · the spoken record

Illueca

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS ILLUECA

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172

first

1960-09-24

most recent

1982-09-24

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3

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un-general-debate

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1. “The 1936 General Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation modified or annulled some of the clauses of the 1903 Convention which were particularly offensive to the Panamanians' sense of independence, and thus raised relations between the two countries to a dignified level. Again, the compensation agreement of 1942 and the 1955 Treaty of Mutual Understanding and Co-operation — the latter drawn up thanks to the good will of President Eisenhower — represented, in certain ways, important contributions to better coexistence between Panama and the United States, and will have, in the future, to serve as a basis for a fundamental agreement between the two countries, constituting a full settlement of the problems to which the Convention of 1903 gave rise. 16.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

2. “After a long struggle, the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, against a background of facts and hopes, created conditions which have undoubtedly helped, and will in the future help, towards the solution of the problems to which the special relations between the two countries give rise. With the good-neighbour policy pursued by the second Roosevelt, who brought cordiality to inter-American relations, the first steps were taken towards eradicating in the Caribbean area certain practices which bore the odious mark of the colonialism that had prevailed at the beginning of the century.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

3. “Likewise it could not be vital to the United States that the Government of Panama should cease collecting taxes in respect of activities unconnected with the operation of the Canal, or other revenues due to Panama; or that the Panamanian Government should in other fields be prevented, to the detriment of its fiscal interests and the economic well-being of the nation, from performing functions which are no less proper to that Government in the ports at either end of the Canal than in other areas of the country. Finally, it could not be a vital matter to the United States to see the Republic of Panama, a sovereign nation, deprived of the various benefits to which it is entitled by virtue of its geographical position and of the operation of the Panama Canal. 15. The prosecution of Panama's claims is certainly a dramatic story.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

4. “It could in no way be a matter of life and death for the United States, with its vast economic power, to establish commercial or industrial undertakings in the zone adjacent to the Canal, to the detriment of Panamanian commerce and industry. In no way could it be vital to North American democracy to show favouritism to American workers in the Canal Zone while giving inferior treatment to Panamanian workers.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

5. “Goethals, the illustrious American engineer who completed the construction of the Panama Canal, stated bluntly in his book on the Canal project that, under the Convention with Panama, the United States had only a right of way for a canal. 14. Despite such categorical statements, consequences were drawn from the articles of the Convention of 1903 that impaired Panamanian interests and distorted the original purpose of that instrument. What was of vital interest to the United States, to Panama and to mankind generally was that the route should be opened up so as to allow ships to pass between the two great oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific — that and nothing more.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

6. “Taft, later President of the United States, that there was not the slightest intention of establishing an independent colony in the centre of the State of Panama, let alone of interfering with the affairs and prosperity of the people of Panama. Mr. Elihu Root, attending the Third International Conference of American States held at Rio de Janeiro in 1906 as Secretary of State, said formally, in an endeavour to allay suspicion and remove misunderstandings that had arisen during the previous year: "We [of the United States] wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves". Mr. George W.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

7. “During the negotiations which led up to the Isthmian Canal Convention of 1903, the United States Government issued an official statement to the effect that it disclaimed any intention to increase its own territory at the expense of any of the sister Republics of Central and South America and desired, on the contrary, to strengthen the power of the Republics of the continent and to promote, develop and preserve their prosperity and independence. President Theodore Roosevelt, during whose administration the Isthmian Canal Convention was signed, declared in an official letter to his Secretary of War, William H.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

8. “One will, one belief, one aim — this is what has guided and united all Panamanians, men and women, young mid old, governing and governed, in their endeavour to place on a footing of equality and justice the relations between their country and the United States of America based on the construction of the Canal. 12. As regards Panamanian sovereignty over the Canal Zone, Panama's position has never varied. "The strip of land known as the Panama Canal Zone", as Mr. Ricardo J. Alfaro put it, "has been neither purchased nor conquered nor annexed by, now ceded nor rented to, the United States, nor has its sovereignty been transferred by Panama to the United States. This, incidentally, has been corroborated by distinguished United States citizens in official or private opinions and statements. Let me quote a few of them. 13.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

9. “Nevertheless, the 1903 Convention, being the product of a particular period in the history of international relations — a period of ideas, tendencies, and procedures for the most part, fortunately now no longer current in the affairs of nations — contained provisions of the most serious import for our Republic's independent life. Hence, from the very day of its signature, generations of Panamanians have been fighting not only to eliminate such interpretations and applications of the Convention's provisions as they found unacceptable, but also to secure the amendment or suppression of those of the provisions which offended the national feelings of Panamanians or imposed an unduly heavy burden on the Republic.”

   1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

10. “Of our own accord we joined with New Granada, Ecuador and Venezuela in what was then called Greater Colombia, and we remained united with the nation which grew out of the former vice royalty of Santa F6 until the dawn of the present century. In 1903 we became an independent republic, which was promptly recognized by the United States of America, and our infant nation negotiated with the United States Government the Convention which made possible the construction of the inter-oceanic canal. We have nothing to conceal in regard to these historical facts, for every nation's history demonstrates that a country never rejects any help favourable to its aspirations towards independence.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

11. “These are a few general ideas on the role which, in my delegation's view, the smaller Powers should play if their participation in the Organization's activities Is to be fruitful for themselves and in keeping with the paramount interests of all peoples of the world. 11. With the permission of the Assembly, dedicated to the task of harmonizing the efforts of the nations of the world to achieve the common purposes set forth in the Charter, I should like now to refer to a question intimately bound up with the history, the present and the future of my country, the Republic of Panama. We emerged as an independent country in company with the group of Spanish-American peoples which shook off the Spanish yoke during the revolutionary period between 1810 and. 1824.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

12. “If the smaller nations can come to an agreement and adopt a policy, not of passive neutrality, but of active mediation designed to put an end to a situation fraught with dangers and alarming prospects, the moral force they muster will be overwhelming. But this implies, first and foremost, that side by side with the political independence now won by many nations there must be independence of thought and action, which will keep them free not so much from economic and political colonialism — now rapidly disappearing — as from ideological and spiritual subjugation and colonialism, whose slender, cunning web can enmesh us without our realizing it. 10.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

13. “It is, after all, not enough to repeat what we all know — namely that nuclear war is not only a monstrous crime against mankind, but is utter folly, since, whoever is foolhardy enough to start it, with the first clash the antagonists would both lie bleeding and prostrate, and any victory there might be would bear bitter fruit that none would wish to taste. It is not enough to know this and to repeat it over and over again, for, as we plainly see, this does not-put an end to the tension and wrangling which keep the world on tenterhooks and prevent the systematic use of its resources for the task of ridding mankind of its age-old handicaps. 9.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

14. “If all these nations can agree that it is in their best interests to establish and consolidate a kind of peace free from the suspicions and rivalries of the so-called great Powers, if they all adopt as their rule of conduct within and without this Organization the principle of not allowing themselves to be used as a pretext or a battleground in any cold war manoeuvring, there can be no doubt that the present rival blocs of Powers will soon find ways and means of settling their differences in a peaceful manner, and universal disarm ament will enter upon a stage of real achievement. 8.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

15. “But in referring to small nations, we should point out that the word “small” merely conveys the notion of size, which prevents us from appreciating the quality of the work achieved by these countries within our Organization, In the aggregate, the so-called small nations total hundred of millions of people, and in a number of instances their destinies are ruled by-men who in respect of intelligence, culture and high moral standards are among the most outstanding personalities of today.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

16. “The reason I feel this is because the rift between East and West casts an ominous shadow over the life of these small nations, as indeed of mankind as a whole, besetting with obstacles and uncertainties the path followed by the smaller nations in their efforts to solve knotty problems of social and economic development which will enable vast numbers of people to enjoy their fundamental rights and obtain the things they need for a free and worthy life. 7. The smaller nations have a very significant role to play in the creative tasks of the United Nations.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

17. “It also agreed to recommend that continued efforts for general and complete disarmament under effective international control should be made, and it recommended that the General Assembly give "earnest consideration" to the problem, reaffirming at the same time the "continuing and ultimate responsibility of the United Nations in the field of disarmament". Thus I feel that I am not overstating the case if I say that the primary function of the Smaller States in this Organization, side by side with their endeavours to secure the best possible safeguards for their own independence and development, is to make themselves a real force for mediation and agreement between the Eastern and Western Power blocs.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

18. “Abundant examples show that the smaller nations are a factor making for conciliation and mutual understanding in regard to the disputes between the great Powers. 6. I should like merely to mention the recent meeting of the United Nations Disarmament Commission, which came about, through the determination and astuteness of its Chairman, Mr. Luis Padilla Nervo, the Head of the Mexican delegation. He has earned the gratitude of all of us, inasmuch as, despite resistance at the outset from the Eastern countries, he succeeded in obtaining the agreement of both sides on a number of points. As we know, the Commission agreed [70th meeting] — and agreed unanimously — that the breakdown of the disarmament negotiations in the Ten-Nation Committee at Geneva was to be regretted.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

19. “The advent of sixteen new Members to the United Nations is of the utmost importance for the Organization, since it brings nearer the time when this will be an Assembly of all mankind and emphasizes the increasing weight of the smaller States in the Organization’s deliberations. To whatever part of the world they belong, these small States are united by a unanimous desire for peace with justice, and my delegation is therefore confident that in joining the United Nations they will not add to the causes of dissension and conflict, but will rather collaborate in preventing the disputes between the great Powers from degenerating into a new armed conflict that might well bring with it the extinction of the human race.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

20. “These youthful nations come to join in the debates and decisions of the General Assembly at a decidedly awkward juncture in international politics. The cancellation of the Summit Conference which had awakened high hopes of bringing to an end, once and for all, the long, senseless and dangerous period of the cold war, and the consequent interruption of the talks in the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament at Geneva are unhappy events that not only stand in the way of an era of international peace and security but also place an ominous question-mark against the whole future of mankind. 5.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

21. “The first, Sir, is your election as President of the General Assembly — a well-deserved tribute to the small but energetic country you represent and to the outstanding personal qualities you have so often demonstrated in your work with the various organs of the United Nations. 4. The second fact is the admission to the United Nations of fourteen new States — indeed, from this afternoon, sixteen, with the mission of the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Senegal, which to the satisfaction of all of us are to become part of the Assembly this very afternoon. The creation of these new States comes as a climax to the vigorous and untiring efforts made by their peoples in their determination to live their lives as free and independent communities.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)

22. “May I say first of all that my delegation greatly appreciated the election of Panama to one of the vice-presidencies allotted to Latin America at this session of the General Assembly. I should also like to express once again to the Secretary-General our confidence and gratitude in respect of the work he is doing in the interests of mankind and of the United Nations ideals. 2. The delegation of the Republic of Panama would like to point to two facts which it considers most significant and gratifying, as the fifteenth session goes into its second week of deliberations. 3.”

    1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)