YouSaid · the spoken record

Mercado Jarrin

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS MERCADO JARRIN

lines on the record: 171
first: 1969-09-24
most recent: 1971-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

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

“They are sovereign, because they come from an independent State, a Member of this world Organization; they are legal because they are based on custom and legal provisions which have been in force since the days of the Incas and on laws which govern Peru today within a system similar to that of the majority of States; and they are necessary, because they are indispensable if we are to forge ahead and really overcome our national under-development. 59. Such a strong position notwithstanding, the Peruvian ordinance offers the widest guarantees under which, in defence of its interests, any firm may have recourse either to the administrative authorities or to the courts of the land.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“In these circumstances, what is most incumbent upon any great industrialized nation, and in general upon all those enjoying the benefits of exploiting the world’s riches, is, as a basic duty, to co-operate unconditionally with those countries which, by their own free decision and assuming inevitable risks, undertake the historical task of trying to expedite their progress and carry through a profound and rational structural change. 58. The decrees promulgated by the Peruvian Government in reclaiming the nation’s oil, which constitutes its main energy resource, are, therefore, sovereign decisions, both legal and necessary.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This was the situation to which Peru, juridically and in full exercise of its sovereignty, has put an end. Our decision is supported by international obligations derived from the Charter of the United Nations itself, and repeatedly acknowledged in this Assembly, not only concerning the recognition of the right of every State to administer and exploit its own natural resources, but also forbidding other States to interfere in such administration. 57. The international order repudiates all forms of intervention. When the latter takes the form of economic pressure or sanctions, it becomes a form of aggression that is all the more unethical and unjust when directed against a people that is peacefully endeavouring to overcome the obstacles to its own under-development.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“By this act in strict conformity with existing laws that, in the past, had not been enforced through fear of international pressure, a long-standing claim for justice was redressed, and a need for legitimate reparation was met, while at the same time a clear and conclusive response was given to one of the vital economic needs of the country, a need that the Government was determined to satisfy. 56. The Peruvian position in this case involved decisions inherent in the full exercise of State sovereignty, but this exercise was not arbitrary. On the contrary, it confined itself strictly to classic Peruvian law which, in accordance with the tenets of almost all nations of the world, condemns usurpation and monopolies—especially in the case of mineral resources, which belong to the whole people.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Revolutionary transformation, which is the very essence of the new Peruvian policy, has taken the shape of acts to reform the organic and essential features of the country. 55. The first of these acts was not strictly a reform, but rather the exercise of national sovereignty in confrontation with a foreign oil company which, through its own economic power and the protection accorded to it, had for many years enjoyed a position of singular privilege, contrary to our law.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We are nationalists and revolutionaries: we seek Peruvian solutions to the problems and needs of Peru. 53. We are struggling to consolidate our sovereignty, to defend our legitimate interests and to enable our people to achieve better standards of life, in keeping with the dignity of the human person. We are firmly convinced that this struggle will strengthen a national awareness that will allow us to lay the foundations of a truly free and independent society, one ready to achieve its objectives by its own efforts, free from the shackles of conformity or foreign dependence; a society in which man is both the beginning and the end, the cause and the effect of our action, for there would be no sense in advocating revolutionary change unless it were for the direct and full advantage of Peruvian citizens. 54.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Our nationalism represents an intention to achieve the effective social cohesion of the country, an effort to bolster political unity, to strengthen the economy and to complete our independence. It finds sustenance in the moral and spiritual resources of our people, in all that is positive in our collective characteristics and in the imperative need to preserve and strengthen them. We aim at social and economic development but without sacrificing our truly national traditions and institutions. 52. Therefore, to those who often ask us about the nature of the process or, without asking, try to identify us with political movements in other countries, we must clearly explain that we are pursuing a Peruvian policy, free from foreign trammels and orientations.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We believe that the first duty of the State is to ensure the sovereignty and development of the nation, but that the final goal is man, not one group, one sector or one class. 50. The keystones of our revolutionary ideal are independence and structural transformation, and these two concepts constitute an emotional binomial through which development becomes the most perfect synonym of social peace. We aim for development not as a mere instrument of prosperity, improvement or modernization of the present social order, since that might lead us to industrial capitalism, but as an instrument to eliminate inequalities and social injustice and to establish a new democratic system with no room for privileges based on class or on political, economic or religious factors. 51.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We are changing the face and the traditional structure of Peru; but we are doing so by creating, not importing solutions, by proclaiming the right, the responsibility and the duty to decide, by and for ourselves, the direction and the means of this beneficial change. Peru will never again be the country it was prior to the revolution. Of what we were and of our past, we shall preserve whatever will be of help in the building of our future. But we shall abandon—indeed we are already doing so—all that is useless dead weight in the salvage operation to make our country a new and better country for ail Peruvians. 49. While we are nationalists, we are also humanists, because we are imbued with a profound social feeling.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is against these that the revolution is directed, because we are convinced that so long as they continue to exist, our people will continue to be the victims of exploitation and ignorance, because we have seen that both these factors lead to the concentration of power in the hands of small privileged groups, while other vast sectors remain on the fringe of society and, finally, because we know full well that so long as we remain under-developed and dependent, we shall never be masters of our own destiny as a free and fully sovereign nation. 48. Thus the essential features of our revolution can be summed up in two words: what is taking place in Peru is a nationalist revolution. The status quo is being shaken to its very roots.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is obvious, in the light of this situation, of which I have drawn only the merest outline, that radical changes and urgent reforms were needed to transform the structure of Peruvian society. 47. This was the aim of the revolution, to clear for our people the way to true social justice, and we are carrying our revolution through in order to shatter forever the traditional patterns of a basically unjust social and economic system. We are fighting to complete the independence of our country and to free it from its situation as an under-developed country. Under-development and dependence, which is its corollary, have been the dominant features of the structure of Peru’s economy.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“During the century and a half of republican life that followed, the disparity between the wealthy few and the mass of the population remained unchanged, when it did not actually increase. Apart from the cases of a few exceptionally able or ambitious men, power, great estates and businesses were all retained effortlessly in the hands of the dominant group, while employees, workers and especially the peasants lived in dismal circumstances and with little or no hope of improvement, due to the economic and cultural limitations imposed upon them by the society of that time. 46. The passage from a stratified structure of closed social groups to one of more mobile components was thus clearly impossible until the last decade.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“From the outset, it has obeyed an exclusively independent conception, which seeks to draw from the reality of Peru itself the inspiration and the drive which will weld together the efforts of an entire country in one creative undertaking and help to forge a truly just and truly free social order. 44. The Conquistadors, who arrived over 400 years ago in what is now Peru, tried to transplant the forms of an old society into a new world that was already peopled by an extraordinarily gifted indigenous population. Three centuries later, political independence had still not brought about any fundamental change in the economic, social and cultural structure that had been established during colonial days. 45.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is to this endeavour that all Governments and peoples are dedicated, both those that have attained a high standard of living and those still subsisting in sub-human conditions, because the difference between them is not the result of chance, nor of the intrinsic superiority of some and inferiority of others, but of a series of circumstances in which social factors—wherein exploitation and abuse have not been unknown—have played a part. 43. The Peruvian revolution, which began scarcely 11 months ago, was born as a response to the deepest needs of our people.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Today, as yesterday, the challenge and crucial task of our generation must still be that of achieving peace, security and the welfare of all nations, so that we may eradicate the causes of tension and conflict, of hegemony and dependence, of rivalry and hatred, and be able to live together in a more just and worthy order, in which freedom, equality and fraternity will no longer be mere slogans of frustrated ideals, but facts that all human beings can experience. 42.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We all followed it enthusiastically and joined, either publicly privately, in the satisfaction of the United States Government and people at the success of an undertaking which, apart from its own great merits, has also strengthened the faith of humanity in the achievement of new conquests as yet undreamed of. 40. I must confess, however, that we are less optimistic about the problems still besetting us on our own planet, among countries separated by much shorter distances, but much deeper divergencies—I would even say sometimes by abysses—when we compare the wealth, progress and happiness of some with the wretchedness, backwardness and anxiety of the rest. 41.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Most ordinary people view with scepticism, if not exasperation, the repetition of speeches that no one listens to, lyrical but unimplemented resolutions on peace, the independence of States, human rights and international co-operation, while men are dying on the battlefield, countries still labour under colonial régimes or under pressure from more powerful nations, all sorts of practices flourish that violate the dignity of persons and the aspirations of peoples, and selfishness and injustice continue to hold sway in economic relations between the various nations. 39. The exploit that scarcely two months ago carried the first men to alight on the moon is undoubtedly the greatest triumph of science and technology of our time.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“On behalf of the Revolutionary Government of Peru, I bring the message and the hopes of a people earnestly engaged in the achievement of integration and brotherhood, regarded as the only just and desirable basis for peace and general well-being. 37. I have not come to this Assembly merely as a formality but to speak to you with absolute frankness about what is being thought and done in my country with regard to both national and universal problems which not only interest us but also affect us. I must begin by saying that at home we feel a deep sense of disappointment—and at the same time a clear awareness of our responsibilities as a Government—at the lack of any international concerted effort to put an end to the confrontations and sufferings which still afflict the majority of the world’s peoples. 38.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Morse, whose unstinting devotion to the service of that organization has deservedly received the unanimous acknowledgement of workers, employers and Governments. 35. I also wish to express the satisfaction of the Government and the delegation of Peru at the recent admission of new Member States to the United Nations. With that step the legitimate aspirations of their peoples have reached their culmination. At the same time, we are drawing ever closer to the full implementation of the principle of the universality of the Organization and widening the possibilities of strengthening it with the contribution of new initiatives to achieve international co-operation and solidarity. 36.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“It is, indeed, a source of satisfaction that a lady of your worth has been elected to discharge so high an office, and we are confident that you will bring to it all the impartiality, judgement and tact vouchsafed by your past accomplishments. 33. At the same time, I feel it is incumbent upon me to make particular reference to the activities of our Secretary-General, U Thant, who has striven valiantly and indefatigably to solve the difficult and complex problems submitted to him. 34. This is also a suitable occasion for expressing our congratulations to the International Labour Organisation, which is now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in the search for social justice, and to its Director, Mr. David A.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“31. Let my first words pay a well-deserved tribute to the memory of Mr. Emilio Arenales, who presided with wisdom and dedication over the work of the twenty-third session of the United Nations General Assembly, and whose untimely death has deprived us of his enlightened counsel in the work of international understanding entrusted to him by the community of nations. At the same time, I wish to express our appreciation of the honour conferred on Dr. Luis Alvarado of completing the duties of the Presidency. 32. And now on behalf of my Government, and personally as well, Madam President, I am happy to offer you our sincerest congratulations on your election as President of this Assembly.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)