YouSaid · the spoken record

Gheorghiu-Dej

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS GHEORGHIU-DEJ

lines on the record: 80
first: 1960-09-24
most recent: 1960-09-24
sittings or episodes: 1
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

“No fairy tales about the colonialists’ "civilizing mission" can conceal the startling fact that after more than a century of such a "mission" undertaken by the Belgian Colonialists in the Congo, only fourteen Congolese with university degrees, and not one Single physician, officer or trained administrative cadre, existed in the country at the moment of its independence. 43. The Romanian people strongly demands the final and immediate abolition of this horrible system which makes everyone who feels human shudder for shame.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“But all these riches are in the hands of big foreign corporations which are squeezing fabulous profits from their exploitation and from cheap African labour. Even official statistics show that the rate of profit of American direct investments in Africa between 1947 and 1954 amounted to 33 per cent of the invested capital; that is to say that during a record three-year period the invested capital is fully amortized. 41. The consequence, as United Nations statistics indicate, is that the per caput income in such countries as Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika is respectively twenty-four, thirty-two and forty times lower than in the United States and approximately fourteen and sixteen times lower than in the United Kingdom and France. 42.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The bloody war in Algeria, the punitive expeditions in Kenya, the dark regime of terror and violence in Angola and Mozambique, the denial of the most elementary human rights of the native population in South Africa, the aerial bombardment of the population in Oman — all these show the methods to which the colonialists resort in order to stifle the just struggle of brave and heroic peoples for their liberation. 40. The colonizers displayed remarkable efficiency in plundering the colonial countries. It is well known that the African soil and subsoil hide tremendous wealth, from huge deposits of diamonds, uranium and other minerals of all sorts to immense areas of land favourable to the most diversified cultivation.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is high time that in the conflict between the enslaved peoples and the colonial Powers the United Nations should take its side, resolutely and without any reservation, with the enslaved peoples. 38. Colonialism is synonymous with extreme national and social oppression; it evokes the image of tens of millions of people sold as slaves, locked up in reservations and concentration camps, decimated by hunger and disease, kept in the darkness of ignorance. Colonialism means the arbitrary splitting of large territories, the abusive maintenance of many States outside international life, the creation of dangerous hotbeds of disturbance and conflict on the international plane. 39.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It should be granted in such circumstances as would contribute to the strengthening of the political and economic independence of those countries and to the upsurge of their productive forces so as to enable them to meet increasingly the material and cultural requirements of their peoples. 36. We live in a world with tremendous wealth, with modern technological facilities capable of ensuring higher standards of living for the entire population of our planet. A substantial reduction of military expenditures would open new avenues for making use, to an ever larger extent, of these huge possibilities. 37. The attainment of the aims of the United Nations is inextricably linked to the fulfilment of the aspirations of all peoples to freedom and independence, to the definite and radical abolition of colonial rule in all its forms.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The actual solution of that problem would be to foster industrialization in the less developed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, to modernize their agriculture, to improve the conditions of the populations, to expand the system of public education and health protection. This is an enterprise so great that only the allocation of the huge financial resources that could become available as a result of disarmament would cover the needs. It is, of course, imperative that such aid should be free of any political strings and of any interference in the domestic affairs of the recipient countries.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“What is more, the statistics of the United Nations show that the per caput national income of these countries, instead of increasing, has continued to decline. The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America noted in its economic survey for 1959 that, during that year, the Latin American economies were beset by a further deterioration in the terms of trade and a decline in their per caput agricultural output for domestic consumption, both basic factors which impeded the campaign to check inflation. It is made clear that the downward trend has been going on since 1956. 35.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is our hope that these proposals will facilitate the adoption of appropriate decisions meant to further the cause of disarmament. 33. I should like to join a number of previous speakers in stressing one more aspect of the question of disarmament, namely its relation to the question of economic assistance to the under-developed countries. The sad economic, social and cultural backwardness of quite a number of countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America constitutes one of the sharpest contradictions of the contemporary world. This is the result of imperialist domination, of monopolistic looting, of the colonial rule that oppressed these countries for centuries. 34. Although in the last year the question of aid for the less developed countries has been widely debated the situation continues to be critical.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The Soviet proposals for the organization of effective international control over general and complete disarmament amply prove that the Soviet Union and the other socialist States are interested to the highest degree in seeing the implementation of disarmament scrupulously observed. Hence, the discussion on control has been moved out of the realm of abstract speculation into a specific, businesslike and fruitful debate, which is the best method of taking a controversial issue out of a deadlock. 32. The Romanian delegation considers that the "basic provisions of a treaty on general and complete disarmament" submitted by the USSR offers to the General Assembly a solid basis for a constructive examination of the question of disarmament at the present session.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“After all, anybody could argue that the signed treaty covers only the first stage and nothing more. It is obvious that this is not at all in keeping with the resolution on general and complete disarmament which was unanimously adopted at the fourteenth session of the General Assembly. 30. I come now to the question of control. The Western Powers, while turning this question into a subject of fancy speculation, actually avoided submitting any. serious proposal in this respect. In fact, the only concrete and comprehensive plan for the detailed and systematic organization of effective international control over disarmament was put forward by the Soviet Union. That plan covers the control of disarmament starting with the first day, going through all the stages until the end of the process of general and complete disarmament. 31.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is necessary to point out that the United States plan provides for the negotiating parties to conclude a treaty only for the first stage, whereas for the second and third stages a draft would have to be worked out to be submitted to a world conference on disarmament. This means, however, that the signatory States would have no guarantee whatever as to what might happen after the completion of the first stage, since no treaty will bind them to implement all necessary measures until the attainment of the final goal — general and complete disarmament. In these circumstances, nothing can prevent one State or another from feeling free to act at will after the completion of the first stage, after all the military information has been collected.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The level of 2.5 million men in the armed forces for the United States and the Soviet Union, provided for in the first stage, has no significance at all, since the armed forces of both States are below that level already. 29. Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that the United States proposals were to be implemented. What would be the result? The control organization would be constituted; various technical teams would begin their activities and studies; the controllers and the inspectors would begin to travel; and meanwhile, — and this surely goes for a long period of time — the arms race would continue unrestrictedly and in full swing.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Precisely this essential element, operating from the first moment, is designed to put an end to the armaments race and to reverse the present tide, turning it towards the reduction and the destruction of armaments, the reduction and liquidation of the armed forces. 28. What would be the situation-in this respect if the United States proposals were to be implemented? A careful study of those proposals, including that of 27 June 1960 [DC/154], clearly shows that from the first stage, which has no time-limit, the United States proposal provides only a series of measures regarding control and inspection, technical studies, the storage of armaments in depots situated in the territories of the respective States, but no actual measure whatever to cut armed forces or to destroy armaments.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“27. The essential element of the treaty submitted by the Soviet Union is that from its very entry into force it provides for the elimination of all means of delivering nuclear weapons; the reduction of armed forces, especially of those of the United States of America and the Soviet Union, to the level of 1.7 million soldiers; the liquidation of foreign bases; the prohibition of the launching of rockets for military purposes; the obligation not to transmit to other States nuclear bombs or information for their manufacture; and the corresponding reduction of military expenditures.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The signing of a treaty on general and complete disarmament, providing for the disbanding of all armed forces, for the prohibition of their rebuilding, the prohibition and destruction of all stockpiles of weapons and the cessation of the manufacture of all kinds of armaments, including atomic, hydrogen, chemical, biological, bacteriological and any other weapons of mass destruction, the liquidation of all means of delivering weapons of mass destruction to their targets , the liquidation of all kinds of foreign military bases, the abolition of conscription, military service, military training, war ministries and general staffs, as well as the cessation or discontinuance of budgetary allocations for military purposes — all these measures would not only bring the arms race to an immediate halt but would also make any effort to build up armaments illegal and senseless.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It follows that the General Assembly should accept those disarmament proposals whose implementation may have as a result an immediate halt of the insane arms race. At the same time, it should consider as unsatisfactory and inadequate those proposals which, if adopted, would allow the arms race to continue unhindered. 25. It is the view of the Romanian Government that one of the greatest merits of the Soviet proposals for disarmament lies precisely in the fact that their implementation would immediately put a brake on the race and would reverse the tide towards the reduction of arms and armed forces, towards their eventual elimination. 26.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“To judge the sincerity and effectiveness of the plans or proposals for disarmament before the Assembly, a safe criterion should be and remains the impact their implementation Would have on the arms race. 22. On that score, the attitude of the United States is expressed in various statements by American leaders and generals to the effect that the United States must gain by all means a position of strength. This attitude is a leitmotiv which is reiterated time and again in all these statements. In practice, this attitude has, been translated by a further intensification of the armaments race. 23. Is it not clear that, should the course followed by the United States be maintained in the future, any constructive and positive approach to disarmament would become difficult, if not impossible. 24.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Thus, it became clear that the Western Powers conceived these negotiations as a screen to cover up the arms race. There had to be an end to such a manoeuvre meant to mislead public opinion, which was following these negotiations in the hope that they would conduce to positive and concrete results. 19. We believe that the impasse in the disarmament negotiations which was due to the position of the Western Powers can and should be overcome, and this is precisely the task of the General Assembly. 20. It is the opinion of the Romanian delegation that the basic provisions of a treaty on general and complete disarmament [A/4505] submitted to this session by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, offers a solid basis for a constructive approach to the problem and gives the General Assembly the possibility to find the way out of this deadlock. 21.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“But, in spite of the resolution on that subject [1378i (XIV)] and in spite of the efforts made by the socialist States in the Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament to engage the negotiations on a constructive path, the representatives of the Western Powers adopted a negative attitude, considering impossible the continuation of the negotiations. The repeated endeavours of the USSR and of the other socialist States to meet half-way the Western position were treated by the United States representatives and their allies with a refusal to negotiate and to work out an agreement on general and complete disarmament. They engaged in obstructionist tactics which showed in fact their unwillingness to proceed to the fulfilment of the task assigned by the resolution of the General Assembly. 18.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Is it utopian to draw the conclusion from this, the only logical and sensible conclusion, that the safest method to avoid such a disaster is the radical and complete destruction of the very means that could produce it? Is it more realistic to continue the insane armaments race, to pile up more and more bombs, one of which is enough to destroy a city of the biggest size? Is it more realistic to keep a permanent airborne alert of hundreds of American and English bombers carrying nuclear weapons and to send them on patrol missions, when one single bomber of that type could produce disaster through negligence or an irresponsible act or miscalculation? 17. General and complete disarmament, unanimously approved by the General Assembly, has become a must, an urgent and necessary task which requires a solution.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“First of all, I deem it necessary to reaffirm from this rostrum that although we do not underestimate the obstacles and difficulties to be found on the way towards general and complete disarmament we think that they can be overcome provided the Western Powers shall display a realism and lucidity. 16. Voices are heard in the West to the effect that general disarmament would be "utopian" or "a chimera", as one of the previous speakers told the Assembly. Is it utopian courageously to analyse the dangerous situation mankind finds itself in as a result of existing Stockpiles of atomic and hydrogen weapons with the capability of destroying human civilization?”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“By the same token, it is inconceivable in the case of such a conflagration that any people, belligerent or not, would avoid its fatal consequences. It follows that the liquidation of the means for unleashing and waging war has become a problem directly concerning all States. 13. The General Assembly is therefore the most appropriate forum for working out, with the contribution of all States, the ways and means for the attainment of the common, goal — general and complete disarmament. 14. The Romanian Government, as a member of the Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament, has examined this problem with the greatest attention. I shall briefly present to the Assembly the conclusions we have reached. 15.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The Soviet Union’s proposal for achieving general and complete disarmament corresponds to the noble endeavour of mankind to inaugurate in the development of human society a new era in which wars would forever be eliminated and relegated to the past and the people would make full use of the resources of our planet and of their own energy to build up a world in which backwardness, poverty and hunger would be eradicated for good, while peaceful relations, fruitful co-operation and friendship among countries and peoples would flourish. 12. It is impossible nowadays for a State, irrespective of its location and economic military power, to plunge mankind into an armed conflict without suffering the consequences itself.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“To be able to live up to its great historic mission, that is, to save mankind from the cataclysm of destructive war, the United Nations must become a truly universal nation upon which all States and people can rely, a just and impartial arbiter, an organ which by its very composition and structure would be true to the great principles inscribed in the Charter. 10. The importance the Romanian Government attaches to the present session of the General Assembly derives, first of all, from the fact that the Assembly is called upon to discuss the most important and central question of contemporary international life — the question of disarmament. It is the solution of this question which may, in the last analysis, decide whether mankind will undergo the endless sufferings of a nuclear war or will be saved from them. 11.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“It is inadmissible that in a question as important as the rights of the Chinese people, an international organization such as the United Nations should be subordinated to the interests of one State or group of States. The fact that the United Nations was deprived of the contribution of one of the great Powers, the Peopled Republic of China, that the great Chinese people is systematically prevented from occupying its legitimate place in the United Nations, is one of the most serious blows to the prestige of this Organization, to its effectiveness in the fulfilment of the tasks entrusted to it by the Charter. 9.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Romania, like other socialist States, considers that the more faithfully this Organization reflects the picture of the contemporary world, the greater will be its prestige and effectiveness. We have been guided and continue to be guided by the concept that respect for the Charter is a vital prerequisite for the United Nations and that sooner or later more and more States will reach the conclusion that the interests of peace make it imperative that the principles of the Charter shall not be sacrificed for the sake of narrow interests and expediency. 8. We cannot fail to note that the attitude of the United States Government and its allies regarding the recognition of the rights of China and the admission of the Mongolian Peopled Republic to the United Nations is guided by interests and calculations alien to the Charter.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The uneasiness generated in the West by the increase in the number of African States in the United Nations reflects the state of mind of that group of States which are afraid of losing their dominant position in the United Nations. However, such a concept has nothing in common with the principles of the United Nations and even less with the task for which it was created: the safeguarding of international peace and security. 7. The United Nations Charter was elaborated to serve the interests of all States and contains the principles which are to underlie their common action for the maintenance of peace and security, the development of friendly relations among nations and the achievement of international co-operation.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“The beginning of the session was highlighted by an act of great significance: the admission among us of the new African States and the Republic of Cyprus which recently won their independence. On behalf of the Romanian people and Government, I wholeheartedly welcome the new independent States, and I express to them our deep sentiments of solidarity with the just struggle of peoples for freedom and national independence. The emergence of new States and the forward movement which it generates is one of the affluents of the large and powerful stream of social forces that determines in our days the direction of historical development. 6. The increase in membership brings the United Nations closer to the day when it will become a truly universal organization and contributes to the strengthening of its authority and effectiveness.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Another factor that underscores the special significance of this session is the participation in its work of a number of Heads of States and Governments. This participation is inspired by a sense of high responsibility for the fate of humanity and for the prospects of peace and good understanding among peoples. The valuable initiative taken to this end by the Head of the Soviet Government enjoyed a wide response despite the reservations which it encountered on the part of some Governments. 4. I venture to express the hope that favourable conditions have thus been created for a thorough consideration of the main questions on the agenda and for their actual solution. 5.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)
“Permit me first to reaffirm from this high rostrum the special significance which the Romanian people and their Government attach to the United Nations as the Organization whose principal aim is to ensure the development of multilateral co-operation among peoples and States, to save mankind, from the calamities of war and constantly to consolidate peace, 2. The debates in the General Assembly, from the very beginning of "the present session, have aroused a wide echo all over the world. The reason is, first of all, that the present session is, called upon to discuss the burning issues, of international life, the solution of which may have a profound impact on the whole evolution of the contemporary world. I have in mind chiefly the question of the abolition of the colonial system and the achievement of general and complete disarmament. 3.”
1960-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 15 (1960)