YouSaid · the spoken record

Guerrero

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS GUERRERO

lines on the record: 167
first: 1968-09-24
most recent: 1970-09-24
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

“Occasional incidents, regrettable actions by frontier guards do not constitute aggression, but they become armed aggression when, owing to their frequency and scope and the manifest absence of any desire to prevent them on the part of the central authority, they are the expression of an unlawful and deliberate harassment of a neighbour. 114. The definition of aggression will be a factor making for security in international relations, and it will not only make it easier for the competent organs of the United Nations to determine in each case whether a breach of the peace exists, but will also help to guide the conduct of the regional organizations and of each State individually.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The principle of national sovereignty does not preclude the performance — and the demand for performance, if need be — of the obligations of sovereign States, one of which is respect for resident aliens. 113. Another case should be recalled in connexion with aggression, a case famous in the annals of the League of Nations, in which it was contended that frontier incidents cannot be regarded as aggression. This contention has not been generally accepted, and it needs elaboration and qualification if it is to serve its purpose and to be correctly applied.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The principle of national sovereignty is not absolute and cannot be used as a pretext for establishing enclaves in which excesses against the nationals of a particular country are a matter of daily occurrence. A State is entitled to defend its nationals residing abroad, and any attack on these nationals by reason of their nationality is an attack on the rights of the State to which those nationals belong and aggression against it. 112. International principles and rules of law are inter- dependent and dovetail and interlock; their co-ordination is the key to a flexible and harmonious international order propitious to peace and co-operation.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“One form of aggression is the commission of acts of overt hostility against the nationals of a particular country solely by reason of their nationality. Such aggression is armed aggression when the agents of the authorities or crowds incited or tolerated by those authorities resort to violence for the purposes of physical destruction or the creation of an atmosphere of terror that drives the group subjected to it to mass flight from territory where it had settled. Armed incursion into a territory prompted by this form of aggression and reasonably restricted to putting an end to the aggression constitutes an exercise of the right of self-defence that cannot be declined, waived or negotiated. 111.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Anything else is the mere language of international courtesy speeches which toy with the convictions and rights of the people and ultimately achieve nothing, because reality is not created by talking, still less by thinking about it. 110. A definition of aggression is urgently needed, and here the work done by the Special Committee set up by the General Assembly under resolution 2330 (XXII) of 18 December 1967 is most important. The Committee’s records show the deep differences which divide the international community on this subject, but the conclusion nevertheless can be drawn that, according to the dominant view, aggression assumes the most varied forms and consists both of armed aggression and aggression of other types which may inflict irreparable economic and moral damage.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Unless the international community and the inter-American community ensure respect for human rights, solemnly proclaimed and guaranteed in specific cases, they will devalue their political capital for the maintenance of international peace and security. Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Charter of the United Nations uses the following words: “... to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.“ Peace must be established and achieved as the result of a definite policy of equitable coexistence.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The international community and the regional communities will have no moral authority whatever to complain in specific cases unless they ensure the performance of international obligations and the safeguarding of human rights — the declared foundations of peaceful coexistence and international co-operation. 109. Despite claims to the contrary in official statements, the protection of human rights has not received the substantive and resolute support of a solid majority of national policies, and it must be borne in mind that it is the conjunction of national policies that makes up the policy of the international organizations. The protection of human rights is still embryonic and contains a large element of romantic intent, with a plentiful admixture of hypocrisy and political expediency wrapped in the tinsel of fine phrases.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“The international community must realize that the prospect of violence increases in proportion to the lack of rapid means for settling disputes and, as in earlier times, when there is no place for reason, recourse is had to blackmail, propaganda that distorts facts and figures and the flouting of solemnly convenanted obligations. Such practices are no longer consistent with what appears to be the prevailing trend in contemporary society. The United Nations and the regional systems cannot, without serious risk, continue to be completely lax in the matter of compliance with legally constituted obligations and of respect for and protection of fundamental human rights.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“This Convention reflects the antagonistic and competitive forces in the contemporary international community, but it has succeeded in codifying general practice and has achieved some important legal advances, since it has opened up new and valuable paths in certain directions. At the Vienna Conference El Salvador maintained that it was essential to adopt a convention which provided for effective means of ensuring compliance with international obligations and preventing their evasion, because international organizations move so slowly that they intervene only when problems have become acute and beyond control, and they are so heavily influenced by a militant policy that States can cold-bloodedly calculate that a large measure of non-compliance will have no consequences. 108.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Formulation of the legal principles of the regime for the sea-bed calls for an unlimited capacity for negotiation and a genuine desire to reconcile interests. This is a delicate matter and must be tackled with great care, because if the technology of exploitation continues to progress and the international community delays too long in establishing the regime for this area, it may find itself faced with many accomplished facts which will engender interests likely to oppose a general agreement on the subject. 107. The year 1969 saw a significant advance in international law with the culmination of eighteen years of work by the International Law Commission in the negotiation and signing of the Convention on the Law of Treaties at Vienna.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“United Nations activities with regard to outer space, natural resources and in particular the exploration, exploitation and use of the sea-bed and its natural resources for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of mankind will place the United Nations in the forefront of the promotion of new broad programmes of international co-operation. The representative of El Salvador served as Chairman of the Legal Sub-Committee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction, and El Salvador has done and is prepared to do its utmost to ensure that the United Nations establishes a régime for the sea-bed which truly reflects the unanimously agreed aim, namely, that the resources of this great reserve shall be used for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of mankind.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Its machinery, however, operates in such a way that agreement among five great States is required for decisions in important political matters to be effective, the effectiveness of decisions depending on whether or not they meet this requirement of agreement. We do not wish to discuss at this point whether this structure is appropriate or inappropriate for fulfilling the purposes of the Charter, but simply to re-emphasize a decisive aspect of the Organization’s internal machinery which accounts for its difficulties in every major political issue. 106.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Other items, though of long standing, are of great current interest and warrant the Assembly’s full attention, such as the problem of the Middle East. Others are new and affect the future of the Organization, which, in political matters, is apparently developing into a forum for the expression of opinion with little practical effect, while in technological, scientific, social and legal matters, it is moving into fields of potential benefit to all countries. This development is to no one’s credit or discredit, for it is due to the forces at work in recent years and primarily to the way in which the Charter was conceived, its key provision being the presumed agreement of five great Powers.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“We never thought then that his untimely death would plunge this Assembly into mourning. We wish to place on record once again our admiration for his outstanding accomplishments in inter-American and world political affairs. 104. This year the General Assembly has a fairly heavy agenda and will probably have difficulty in completing its consideration in the period of barely three months that is available. Some of the items have been included year after year and the relevant arguments have been exhausted and positions have crystallized; nothing will come of considering them, for they no longer rouse any passion, since charges and counter-charges have been repeated so often that even the opposing parties are no longer moved by them. 105.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“102. Madam President, it is with real satisfaction that I take the floor in the general debate under your Presidency, for you represent a friendly country, Liberia, and you have been elected to your office by the international community after years of devoted and effective work in the United Nations. Your personal and intellectual abilities have earned you the respect of all the States which have concerted their activities through the United Nations and you have upheld the tradition of Liberia as a standard-bearer in this continuous search for new methods of international co-operation and the reaffirmation of civilized principles and rules of community life. 103. It is barely a year since we welcomed Mr. Emilio Arenales, the Foreign Minister of Guatemala, as President of the twenty-third session of the General Assembly.”
1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)
“Speaking to God, his creator, he offered a prayer which began: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace". I invite all representatives of all nations to join me in that same prayer: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace".”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“A general evaluation of an institution is the ideal way to determine, from experience and in the light of new circumstances, what should be supported and developed and what needs to be readjusted and expanded, provided that that evaluation is carried out in accordance with principles which the international community has recognized and is obliged to put into effect. It is not the principles which are in crisis, but rather the means to implement them. 97. Mr. President, in your inaugural address you emphasized the role which the hope for a better world plays in people’s lives. This Assembly has the duty to nurture their hope in the United Nations with concrete achievements. 98. Today, 4 October, is devoted to a great representative of mankind, Saint Francis of Assisi, whose prayer for peace has come down to us through the centuries.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Such an evaluation could lead to a thorough analysis of present circumstances, which of course are no longer exactly what they were in the memorable days when the San Francisco Charter was signed. It is not because we are a small State but rather because of our devotion to our cultural values that we declare our support for the international régime of peace, equality and justice which has been winning wider acceptance, though not without frequent difficulties and set-backs, over many years.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“El Salvador feels that after more than twenty years of existence our Organization should reassess its programmes and the means it has employed to carry them out, guided by the fundamental objective of giving effect to the Charter. It would be inopportune to consider a further revision of the Charter; however, it would be fitting to devise executive means of putting it into effect which might lead to results commensurate with internationally-accepted objectives. At the private level, the twentieth anniversary of the United Nations was an occasion for men from all continents to meet in seminars and colloquia to share their experiences and common intellectual concern and to ponder the role of the Organization in the immediate future.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The Conference on the Law of Treaties, held at Vienna, the work on the definition of aggression and consideration of the legal principles concerning friendly relations and co-operation among States, are important stages in the great task facing the United Nations. We should earnestly study the definition of aggression and overt or subtle forms of economic aggression. The time has come, with more than fifty years of experience behind us, to re-examine the means of ensuring the peaceful settlement of disputes, the original lines of which were drawn in respect of contractual law at the memorable peace conferences held at The Hague early this century. 96.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It is well known that diplomatic asylum has become a traditional institution on the American continent. El Salvador has made the defence of diplomatic asylum — a humane institution which mitigates the consequences of political instability and has protected persons of all creeds and positions — a fundamental point of its foreign policy. For that reason we regret that certain friendly countries, which deserve our full respect, have renounced the relevant conventions. 95. The activities of the United Nations aimed at perfecting contractual international law and means for the peaceful settlement of disputes deserve our warmest support.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It would be the highlight of the International Year for Human Rights if the General Assembly agreed to appoint a High Commissioner for Human Rights, as was proposed at the previous session. El Salvador favours the appointment of such a Commissioner, but hopes that the necessary steps will be taken to give him a concrete task to perform; for the valuable methodical programme in which the United Nations has been engaged in the field since its establishment would be undermined rather than strengthened if the appointment proved merely to be an attractive promise. Consideration of the Commissioner’s functions and of the means he would be given to carry them out must go hand in hand with the establishment of that new post. 94. My Government views with concern any event which weakens agreements governing international or regional coexistence.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“No new institutions would have to be set up or existing ones replaced; rather, a global policy for development could be devised and eventually implemented through established channels. From that unified policy there would emerge formulae applicable to the various fields of international activity. 92. The year 1968 was designated by General Assembly resolution 1961(XVIII) as the International Year for Human Rights. The important work of the Teheran Conferences in that area is particularly noteworthy. The Teheran declaration, which is contained in the Final Act of the Conference, is a document of high quality which will guide international and national activity in the field of human rights. The General Assembly would do well to follow up the proposals of the Teheran Conference on human rights in case of armed conflict. 93.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“One might consider whether it would be appropriate to define the general question of development as such, and, rather than break it down into its various aspects, view it as a whole, considering its broad social, economic, scientific and technological ramifications within present and predictable guidelines and regulations governing the international community. It has become a cliché to observe that every national undertaking is backed by a supporting activity. In recent years national policies have become centred on development, as a result in some instances simply of methodical study and in others of actual programme implementation; a similar procedure could well be followed at the international level.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The report indicates that development problems are being re-examined with a view to giving priority to social aspects; for the object is not merely to record high figures for production, gross national income or favourable balances of payments, but rather to ensure that those economic advantages really benefit the peoples concerned in the form of educational and welfare services and insurance against the vicissitudes of life, and that they receive real wages and benefits which constitute the material requirements for the enjoyment of culture. The economy is not an end in itself; rather it is at the service of mankind; thus the social aspects of economic development are coming to the front. 91.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We cannot fail to point out that our country is in a truly difficult position and that important currents of opinion are beginning to suggest that friendly countries — although unwittingly and in good faith — are guilty of implicit economic aggression against El Salvador. 90. In connexion with new ideas which are gaining ground with respect to development, it is very significant that the General Assembly, in its resolution 2215(XXI) of 19 December 1966, requested a report on the world social situation with particular reference to the first half of the United Nations Development Decade.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It has been known since ancient times that wise justice lies not in arithmetical but in proportional equality, applied in the light of circumstances peculiar to the parties. Thus, we are not inventing anything or discovering a new world; we are simply anxious to ensure that we are treated justly at the international level in accordance with our particular territorial, demographic and economic position; we are asking that careful thought be given to practical and responsible international treatment. That has been and will continue to be our position at the coffee meetings, the trade conferences and all other United Nations forums. 89. El! Salvador wishes to reaffirm its intention to accept a sacrifice quota proportionate to that borne by other countries.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“My Government is particularly pleased to take note of the document entitled “A general agreement on commodity arrangements", submitted by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in which it is proposed that when provisions for controlling the growth of production are adopted they “should take into account, as far as possible, differences in costs of production of the commodity in question in the countries concerned, and differences in the costs of transferring resources to other lines of production”. We consider it of the utmost importance that this principle should be incorporated in commodity policy, as that would take into account the real burden of each commodity in the economy of each country, instead of applying the same yardstick to all producer countries.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“With the adoption of the Agreement it was granted an export quota much lower than its actual output and was requested to accept sacrifices far beyond its capacity, with the result that it is now forced to retain a coffee surplus beyond its economic capacity to absorb. That sacrifice is relatively greater than those requested of countries with more diversified economies and greater potential in terms of territory and population. El Salvador should have been asked to accept a sacrifice of 10 per cent; but a much greater sacrifice was imposed that does not correspond to its real productive capacity or to the relative importance of coffee in its economy. 88. Certain principles are gaining ground and, if properly applied, could bring a greater measure of justice to international relations.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“They act as a parachute to slow the decline of prices, or to keep them at a certain level by stocking. They do not, however, solve the wider problem of trade, because the goods and services of the industrialized countries constantly grow more expensive and the developing countries can purchase less with their exports and have to cover the deficit by borrowing. The international approach to development has thus far been inadequate, and the less-developed countries find themselves in a closed circle in which they scurry back and forth and end up where they started. 87. El Salvador is a party to the International Coffee Agreement.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“In that connexion we have taken note of the work done by the Trade and Development Board and the two United Nations Conferences on Trade and Development. 86. When a relative decline in the export prices of the developing countries occurs, international financing improves the balance-of-payments situation but jeopardizes it in the long run. It stimulates the economy and maintains the level of employment, but cannot reverse the trend which, from the standpoint of development, separates the zones into which our contemporary international society is divided. International trade agreements are certainly necessary, and El Salvador accedes to them though aware of their weakness — for instance the International Coffee Agreement negotiated within the United Nations system.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“We shall be told that this can be achieved only by countries which are already developed; that the capacity to finance development can even be considered one of the most significant indications of development — even more than per capita income, a figure which actually says nothing—and that the developing countries must therefore resign themselves to an increasing debt. That debt, however, has limits which seem to constitute an iron law, since it reaches a saturation point and, apart from its economic consequences, exerts a psychologically depressive effect on a people. 85. We believe that it is necessary to re-examine the debt policy and to insist on a review of international trade policy.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Many countries are experiencing serious economic problems this year because of the constant decline in the prices, or because of the overproduction, of their exports, and the constant increase in the prices of the exports of the industrialized countries. International financing has attempted to compensate for this growing imbalance; however, it is a temporary measure, useful and necessary at certain times, but by no means a permanent method of supporting development. 84. Relations within a community based on equality should be so organized that each country, or each region associated in common markets, free trade zones or economic unions, finances its development out of its own sources of production.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Development has taken on a new character in recent years because it has ceased to be a purely national problem and has become a definite objective of the international community. All peoples of the world are playing their part in the process, and all States are accepting their share of the responsibility. Interpreted generously, the statistics may show some achievements; but over and beyond those achievements the most important accomplishment of the past few years has been the acceptance of development as a problem for which all members of the international community bear a collective responsibility. 83.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It would appear that in the world of the coming decades, in addition to States, socially and economically integrated regions also will co-exist, established to take advantage of an economy of scale and to have at their disposal the vast territorial areas and the large populations required by science and technology. My Government therefore favours increased international assistance to areas undergoing integration. 82. We have noted that the Second United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held at New Delhi in 1968, achieved only very partial results which, had they been attained fully, would have paved the way for definite progress towards multilaterally recognized and supported objectives.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Besides establishing these zones of economic association, co-operation will extend to areas supporting the economy in the form of educational, financial and political ties. 81. The United Nations is an association of States. At present, some States — at least those which, for reasons of size or population or because they are technologically backward, have not the means to take advantage of the opportunities of science and technology — are establishing co-operation centres to stimulate their development. We feel that the United Nations should make every effort to encourage and assist those centres.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Technological and scientific dependence is an imminent reality for a large part of the world, and the compelling attraction of the great industrial cordon of the northern hemisphere is reflected not only in the purely economic sphere but also in the attraction of the most talented and productive individuals to areas offering better material living conditions and opportunities for them to exercise their talents. 80. El Salvador has embarked energetically on a policy of economic association with its Central American neighbours which has yielded significant results; and we shall shortly extend our ties to the rest of Latin American countries as a means of establishing local development centres large enough to meet the requirements of modern life.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Generally speaking, the results obtained in the struggle against illiteracy, malnutrition, unemployment and the subsistence economy are meagre, for they are far below the quantitative and qualitative levels required in this era of rapid change and increasing technological and scientific impact. 79. Although there are prospects for a better-regulated international community than the one we know today, we must not underestimate the possibility that the world may become divided over the years into two fixed categories of advanced and backward countries.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“If an appropriate means is not examined for utilizing the sea-bed for the agreed purposes, the tangible and imminent possibility of restructuring development programmes will become just one more factor which will widen the relative gap between the technologically-advanced and the developing countries; and the absorptive capacity of the great industrial cordon of the northern hemisphere will quickly remove it even further, in terms of development, from the rest of the countries of the world. 78. An equal record cannot be compiled with respect to development in all parts of the world during the past year; however, a good many countries were unable, for many reasons, to fulfil the programmes they had mapped out for themselves.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“Indeed, if the ocean depths are exploited in the same way as the biological resources of surface and medium-depth waters are exploited the technologically-advanced countries would have the advantage and the developing countries would derive nothing from their right to equal access to the sea-bed, since they lack the technical and financial means to take advantage of that right. The United Nations could devise a system for the development of those resources which would ensure that they were used for the benefit of mankind.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“El Salvador places great emphasis on the international programme for the development of the ocean floor and is keenly interested in it because we feel that it can bring about a profound change in international assistance for development and alter present trends in the assistance system, in which the commendable efforts of international organizations and bilateral and multilateral assistance programmes have thus far been unable to effect the desired changes. 77. As I have said, El Salvador has the greatest interest in ensuring that the United Nations should organize the exploitation and development of the sea-bed. Still, without detriment to the support the programme deserves, we cannot of course hide our feeling that it gives rise to some concern.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“That Committee, composed of thirty-five States, including El Salvador, has submitted an important report [A/7230] to the General Assembly. It would appear fitting that the United Nations should include among its long-term activities a study of the development of the sea-bed, and eventually that it should take part in that development, for the benefit of all the peoples of the world. If we acknowledge that there is a large part of the sea-bed which is not subject to the sovereignty of States and which constitutes a reserve of natural resources, there is a real and imminent possibility that its development may be financed in large part by States themselves and that the existing system of international assistance may be modified.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“My Government also hopes that South-West Africa, or Namibia, will be able to attain the political status its people desire, that the decisions of the General Assembly concerning the expiry of the mandate which the defunct League of Nations granted to South Africa will be fulfilled, and that as a result the other United Nations resolutions and recommendations concerning Namibia will be implemented. 76. At its twenty-second session the. General Assembly opened a new chapter in international co-operation when it decided to establish an ad hoc Committee to Study the Peaceful Uses of the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction [resolution 2340 (XXII)], for the benefit of mankind.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“World public opinion has been aroused by the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and we hope that that reaction will have some effect on the course of events. 74. My Government notes the progress of the inexorable process that is putting an end to colonial rule, which a few decades ago held much of mankind in bondage. We maintain our traditional policy in support of decolonization and condemn foreign intervention and overt or covert protectorates, as well as discrimination of all kinds. 75. My Government supports the measures which the security Council has adopted with respect to Southern Rhodesia and hopes that it will demonstrate strong determination to ensure compliance with its resolutions and that the States Members of the United Nations will honour the formal commitment they have undertaken in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The defence of non-intervention is the defence of medium- and small-sized countries, and therefore in defending Czechoslovakia’s right to determine its own political destiny, we are defending the right and the interest of all medium- and small-sized States, without distinction of political régime or geographical location. The line of defence of the principle of non-intervention extends through all continents and all periods in history, and at times has extended through the American continent; but in August of this year that line of defence ran through Prague. 73. We maintain that the Security Council is competent to examine situations such as that which developed in Czechoslovakia. The action taken by the Council is in keeping with the provisions of the Charter and had the support of many Members of the United Nations.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The doctrine of blocs, if officially recognized, would change the structural foundations of the United Nations, would alter most profoundly the principle of international coexistence, and would place medium- and small-sized States, deprived of legal defence, at the mercy of the great Powers’ interpretation of their spheres of influence. The principle of non-intervention is as important today as it was in 1928 when, at the Sixth International Conference of American States, the Foreign Minister of El Salvador, Mr. José Gustavo Guerrero, defended it at a time when Latin America was going through one of the most critical periods in its history with respect to relations within the continent.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“It was claimed that the United Nations was not competent to deal with the matter because it was a domestic problem within the meaning of Article 2(7) of the Charter, which states that “Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State". Domestic problems were interpreted not as those affecting States, but rather as those affecting blocs or groups of States with somewhat similar régimes or which belong to economic associations. United Nations membership refers to States, and therefore the domestic affairs referred to in the above-mentioned paragraph of the Charter are the domestic affairs of each State, and not of groups of States, no matter how close the ties between them may be.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“according to persons who have studied it thoroughly, among them representatives of the belligerents, cannot be ended by a military but only by a political solution, and the only way to reach a political solution is through negotiation. We hope that the conflagration in South-East Asia will have abated by the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly, for the good of the people involved and for the tranquillity of those who look on in fear that it may spread. 72. My Government is distressed by the fact that the principle of non-intervention was violated in recent months with the occupation of Czechoslovakia. We are concerned not only by the fact itself, but also by the theory behind it.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“For those reasons my Government feels that it would be worth while to study the principles and rules of humanity, how they operate and what their limitations are, within the system of international principles and regulations. 71. My Government takes an interest in all the problems facing the international community and still feels the concern it expressed in the general debate during the twenty-second session of the Assembly about the war in Viet-Nam. Of course we are gratified to see a new development: the fact that the conflicting countries have at last come to the conference table in Paris. Although the negotiations may be long and difficult, the existence of the conference table does open a door, although a very narrow one for the moment, for a way out of the conflict. The conflict.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)
“The international community is in a quandary because of its humane interest in the consequences of the conflict, the lack of broadly-recognized and accepted channels to express that interest, and the need scrupulously to respect the principle of non-intervention. If to this dilemma we add the lack of any attempt to devise an organic method of co-ordinating the principles of international coexistence, we see that there will be no appropriate legal recourse when other situations similar to that civil war arise. It is known that international rules have evolved in the heat of urgent situations which have revealed the inadequacies of existing rules.”
1968-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 23 (1968)