YouSaid · the spoken record

Fitouri

lines on the record: 64
first: 1978-09-24
most recent: 1979-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“It is feared that such tensions in these areas will lead to explosions threatening world peace and security. The United Nations can, through the good intentions which we hope all its Member States will show, force these minorities, however strong they may be, to return to the correct path in the interests of the international community and their own interests. 160. We wish the General Assembly every success in imposing peaceful solutions to all the problems facing the international community through international consensus.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Any consolidation of the unity of these non-aligned countries will be of benefit to the international community as a whole. 159. We hope that the General Assembly under your supervision, Mr. President, will pave the way for adequate and durable solutions to the most important problems before us, particularly since there is obvious international concern about problems such as the Middle East and the south of the African continent. This is affirmed clearly by the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Security Council on these topics. The only obstacle that has prevented the return of peace to those two areas, in spite of the recognition by all of their strategic importance, is the intransigence of some groups of people whose feelings and actions are dominated by racial supremacy and hatred.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“The last Conference of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Havana, although it did not achieve all the aspirations and hopes pinned on it, nevertheless reached just and durable solutions to the most important topics of interest to the international community. We refer to its resolutions on the Middle East, the southern part of the continent of Africa, disarmament and international economic relations, The Tunisian delegation is sure that at this session the General Assembly will take into consideration all the positive elements to which we have referred and which represent an important contribution by the non-aligned countries. This movement will remain, in spite of all the transient storms, because it represents a balance in a world divided around the two major Powers.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“This Committee has not yet carried out the task entrusted to it in the best possible manner, for reasons beyond its control, but it has at least drawn up a frame of action, which we must carry out. A working group was also able to examine the problems of the Department of Public Information attached to the United Nations. That Committee was set up as a result of recognition by the international community of the need to establish a new world information system. Therefore we should affirm the need for the Committee to continue its work and we should renew our trust in it, strengthen its mission and open it to all Member countries. We hope that the General Assembly will unanimously adopt a resolution on that topic. 158.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“We believe that an important stage has been begun in this regard and we hope that the hesitation which the advanced countries have shown will be abandoned after serious examination of the real possibilities that such an initiative provides to activate such negotiations and to give them a new impetus in which the interests of all can be taken into consideration. Thus, the new development decade which the United Nations is about to enter may become one of economic upsurge for all developing countries and one of harmony in international economic relations. 157. The problem of information was also a topic of concern as a result of the Committee that was set up last year to review the policies of the United Nations and its activities in this field.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“We are satisfied with the initiative that was adopted by the Sixth Conference of Heads of State of Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Havana, which called for the holding of negotiations between the North and the South, and also the practical proposals which the Group of 77 formally presented at the last meeting of the Committee of the Whole. That Committee affirmed the importance of this initiative and submitted a draft resolution to the General Assembly to give them the priority commensurate with their importance and to examine them during the current session in order to adopt a resolution thereon. 156.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“This process, which culminated in Helsinki, and was discussed again in Belgrade and in Malta, and which will also be dealt with soon in Madrid, contains the seeds of a new relationship based on security and co-operation and the search for complementarity rather than antagonism. 154. However, there is still a long way to go before we can establish an atmosphere of real trust and draw up a charter among the littoral States of the Mediterranean Sea for a unified policy in the fields of investment, energy, the marketing of products, employment and maritime law, in addition to full cultural co-operation. Such a model of international relations will be the best example and will ensure the security of the area and the prosperity of its people. This is not a fairy-tale desire, remote from reality or difficult to achieve. 155.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“In order to ensure that such comprehensive negotiations have every chance to succeed, we consider that it is necessary that they take place within the framework of the United Nations with the full and complete participation of all countries concerned. It is, above all, necessary that all countries should display real political will, in particular the developed countries, which have so far adopted a reserved and negative attitude towards many of the attempts to give full scope to the North-South dialogue. 152. Acting in its geographical context, Tunisia believes that the States bordering on the Mediterranean constitute a group that is united by a common destiny and that, therefore, it is most important for them to work towards a policy of security aimed particularly at turning that interior sea into a peaceful lake. 153.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“While it may be easy to refute that allegation with regard to the effect of the price of petroleum on the current economic crisis and on inflation, we feel that it would be better to affirm that it is time to adopt a new approach to the North-South dialogue, a comprehensive one which would permit viable negotiations on the most important obstacles in the way of one or the other party, including those relating to the field of energy, and allow us to reach acceptable solutions, always bearing keenly in mind the problems of the developing countries, especially since these have become increasingly acute. 151.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“To our repeated appeals for a serious examination of these difficulties, the developed countries have often responded by stressing their own problems which, they allege, are the result of the price of energy imposed by the oil-producing developing countries. 150.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“For us, a developing country, these difficulties consist in an absence of a transfer of resources from developed countries, in the refusal of these countries to allow some of their industries to develop in our countries, in the lack of access to technology and technological information, in the fact that our industrial and agricultural products are prevented from entering the markets of the developed countries and in the instability of the prices of our essential products. 148. We should also like to play our full part as responsible and sovereign States in the process of decision-making on world economic problems, in particular those relating to the international monetary system and the rules governing world trade. 149.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“All these examples confirm that the dialogue continues, but that its continuance is the result solely of the efforts exerted by the Group of 77, assisted by a small number of developed countries which share their faith and determination. These examples also indicate that the dialogue faces difficulties which have become well known and are identified. These are related to the basic aspects of the new international economic order that we are all trying to establish. 147.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“The United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, recently held in Vienna, achieved an agreement by all parties on some important issues, in particular those relating to procedural matters and to the financing of the Programme of Action, and we acknowledge those good results with satisfaction, However, there are other essential problems, such as that of the transfer of technology, which have not found a satisfactory solution, and have been referred to other negotiating forums. 146. These are examples that we have drawn from the many meetings and conferences that were held during the past year to activate development and international co-operation.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“We still remember the failure of the fifth session of UNCTAD, held at Manila some months ago, to find acceptable solutions for the major problems on its agenda. 144. The Committee of the Whole Established under General Assembly Resolution 32/174, Following three sessions held in New York, has adopted some recommendations concerning the transfer of resources and agricultural development in the developing countries. However, these recommendations, though encouraging in some ways, are still clearly insufficient. In addition, the refusal of the major developed countries to help the Committee of the Whole to achieve any success regarding the question of industrialization has been another source of concern and disappointment. 145.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Since the convening of the sixth special session of the General Assembly in 1974, the third world has intensified its efforts to this end, proposing clear and reasonable objectives, according to new principles recognized by the General Assembly as being necessary if a meaningful content is to be given to the concept of interdependence. 142. Since that date, many developed countries have undergone an undoubted evolution; they no longer consider the establishment of a new international economic order a threat to their economies or their economic and social systems. However, those countries with the greatest economic influence still continue to oppose any change. 143. This opposition has resulted in the failure of most of the attempts at making the dialogue between the North and the South succeed.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“L40, No measure imposed by circumstances, and adopted by the developed countries under the pressure of present events, even at the highest levels, will be sufficient to bring the long-term solutions the world needs, The real solution still lies in a fundamental restructuring of world economic relations, in line with the objectives and principles of the new international economic order, which would at the same time take into account the legitimate interests of a(l the parties concerned. especially the developing countries. 141, The third world, for its part, has spared no effort to see that this restructuring is carried out within the framework of an open and constructive dialogue.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“The advanced countries continue to be troubled by their problems, which have now become common matters, such as the slackening of the growth rate, unemployment, and the persistence of sky-rocketing inflation, with all the resulting consequences for the economies of developing countries. 139. The third world has often tried to call the attention of the developed countries to the real reasons for the crisis: the fact that the developed countries, which are unable to control their internal imbalances, refuse to recognize that such imbalances are, above all, the symptom of a defective adjustment of their economic structures and of a basic imbalance in international economic relations.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Generally speaking, faced with the deteriorating situation in the southern part of the African continent, and with such negative developments, the international community and the United Nations have the duty to affirm their solidarity with the peoples of the area with a view to strengthening the heroic struggle those peoples continue to wage under the leadership of their respective national liberation movements and to enabling them to realize their legitimate aspirations to freedom, dignity and sovereignty. 137. Our concern for and attention to international economic affairs are not less serious than those we pay to political matters. In this field, too, the present outlook does not leave much room for optimism. The current year has not yet witnessed any noticeable improvement in the international economic situation. 138.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“In Namibia, the settlement that was arranged under the supervision of the United Nations, with a view to putting to an end the illegal administration of that Territory by South Africa and enabling the Namibian people to achieve independence, is at an impasse as a result of the changing manoeuvres of the Government of Pretoria, whose delays and hesitations unmask its true intentions. It is regrettable that the five Western countries do not seem eager to impose the settlement plans, though they were its initiators. However, the decisive contribution the Security Council ought to bring to the solution of this problem should not divert anyone from the urgent obligation to support the resistance of the Namibian people and its heroic liberation movement, SWAPO. 136.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“By accepting the London assignments, the leaders of the Patriotic Front have once more affirmed their will to settle the problem by the most peaceful means. It is now for the United Kingdom Government to live up to the responsibilities vested in it as the Administering Authority. 134. The United Nations cannot proclaim the termination of the British Mandate over Zimbabwe until that country is given the real attributes of national sovereignty according to international law and in line with the legitimate aspirations of its people, 135.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“We believe that these manoeuvres seriously impede the normal process of decolonization and the assumption of power by the black majority. The so-called legitimacy, to which the colonialist system has often tried to give credit by bestowing the seal of legitimacy on worthless attempts, cannot be misleading when the repressive war continues to be so cruelly waged against the people of Zimbabwe, together with aggressive actions against neighbouring countries. 133. After long hesitation, and as a result of the pressures put upon it by the African and Asian countries of the Commonwealth, the United Kingdom Government, it seems, has now decided to recognize the Patriotic Front, as the sole party qualified to discuss the future of Zimbabwe and the fate of its people.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“In South Africa, the Pretoria Government is reinforcing its policy of oppression and exploitation, with its racist laws, and is trying to extend its apartheid policies to Namibia, which it continues to occupy illegally. Supported by its relations with certain countries and by the secret assistance it continually receives, it is increasing its military and nuclear potential and planning a long-term strategy, by launching a so-called southern community with a view to making its domination of the region irreversible and killing the aspiration of the people to dignity and freedom. 132. In Zimbabwe, Ian Smith continues with his manoeuvres in order to maintain illegal power and the privileges of the white minority through an alleged internal settlement, a biracial, fake Government and sham elections.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“While we witness in the south a type of virulent and hard-to-beat colonialism that is alien to our age, and where racism, and its most hideous manifestation, apartheid, are imposed with unprecedented violence and persistence, the African continent is shaken from north to south and from east to west by the tremor of instability and tension which dangerously threatens its security and world peace. 130. The numerous conflicts among African nations offer favourable ground for external intervention. Unfortunately, Africa, already the victim of rivalries stirred up by foreign interests, has become the arena where foreign influence and greed abound. 131.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Still dragging the heavy heritage of the colonial era, entangled sometimes in serious problems issuing from the chaos of the post-colonial period, it has not always succeeded in overcoming the major handicaps which hampered its stability and its development, with a view to severing once and for all the bonds of external dependence. Those bonds have become stronger over the years and throughout the successive crises, aggravating the fragility and the vulnerability of the African States. 129.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Following the defeat of 1967, the President of the Republic of Tunisia repeated his condemnation of the confusion that was prevailing and that tended to make of the Palestinian problem a marginal issue. 127. Events and developments that followed the signing of the Camp David agreements have proved once again that any endeavour for peace in the Middle East which did not tackle the core of the problem, that is the recognition of the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and of the right of that people to self-determination and to live in sovereignty and dignity within an independent State— was doomed to failure because it ignored the reality and true nature of the facts. 128. Speaking of avoiding crisis, tension and aggression, I should say that Africa has not been more fortunate in this respect.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“What may be the result of a negotiation in which the possibility of contact with the official representatives of the Palestinian people is denied and repressed? And, finally, how effective can such a negotiation be if it is applied to the outer shell with no heed to the core of the dispute, which is, above all, an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 124. Tunisia believes that this initiative was an error resulting from a confusion and an erroneous analysis. 125. As early as 1965, President Habib Bourguiba, in an historic speech delivered in Jericho before Palestinians, drew attention to the core of the Palestinian issue and to the necessity of a settlement on the basis of a return to international legitimacy and the recognition of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to their homeland and to independence. 126.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“So those who had believed that the Camp David agreements might be a potential starting-point for the progressive restoration of peace have been compelled to face the reality and retreat from the illusion they harboured. Indeed, the obvious position taken by the Government of Tel Aviv and the clear statements made by official Israeli authorities leave no doubt as to their intention to pursue and reinforce their aggressive policy against the neighbouring Arab States and their total denial of the rights of the Palestinian people to exist and exercise its sovereignty. 123. In fact, I have several unavoidable questions in mind. To what extent can we trust such an unequal negotiation in which one party offers to disarm, whereas the other party strongly persists in its preparation for war?”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Obviously, the behaviour of Israeli leaders, whether in the occupied territories, in the south of Lebanon or in other areas, aims at nothing less than breaking the determination of the Palestinian people to exist, and thus annihilating it morally and physically. 121. The injustice imposed on the Palestinian people has been perpetrated for over 30 years now, giving rise to wars, bloodshed and continued conflicts and problems in a particularly sensitive spot of the world which, because of its strategic position and economic resources, may become the starting-point of a world explosion, the consequences of which can hardly be measured. 122. In response to this intransigent defiance, the latest initiatives taken and the partial treaties which followed are but a ridiculous and superficial answer to the question.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Israeli leaders have given their unjust ambitions free rein and do not even trouble anymore to camouflage their deliberate intentions, overtly declaring that they are entitled to claim sovereignty over the West Bank and deciding that the Holy City of Jerusalem will remain the "Eternal Capital of the State of Israel". Thus the whole world can see that Israel is asking for much more than its right to exist. In addition to the fact that it can conceive of its existence only in the denial of that of others, it claims in fact and in particular the alleged right to continue to carry out its Zionist strategy of total and systematic occupation and expansion according to a plan that was prepared a long time ago. 120.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Though the Arab countries have affirmed their desire for peace and have exerted every effort to that end, Israel continues, without fear, to carry out its policy which is based on occupation, aggression and expansion, without any heed to right and justice and the resolutions of the United Nations. In addition to its acts of aggression and repression against the Palestinian people, and to the measures that Israel takes to entrench its roots in Palestine and to Judaize Jerusalem, it continues also, in spite of general reprobation, to set up settlements in the occupied territories prior to their total annexation by means of a tested method, that of the fait accompli. 119.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General, who, with constant enthusiasm and great intelligence, has restored to the United Nations its natural role in dealing with international causes and managing them. 117. However much we try to have hope we cannot consider that the international situation justifies even the most cautious optimism. In fact, the major problems that we face, far from finding a solution, are becoming more complicated because of unfavourable developments which have diverted them from, rather than drawn them closer to, their correct solution. 118. This is the case in the Middle East where tension has been maximized, threatening international peace and security more and more directly and continually.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“This is not surprising, because he, like his great country, has always been in the vanguard of those who have served the cause of these peoples inside and outside Africa and, in particular, the cause of the Palestinian people. I would like to assure him that the delegation of Tunisia will exert every effort and make every fraternal endeavour to assist him in carrying out the great tasks that he will assume during this session. 115. Allow me also to express my appreciation to his great predecessor, Mr. Indalecio Lievano Aguirre, who presided over the work of the previous session with great dedication and efficiency. 116. It is with great pleasure that we reiterate out-expression of appreciation and thanks to Mr.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“The delegation of Tunisia is happy at Mr. Salim's election as President of the thirty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly. We feel sure that his wide experience and high efficiency are the best guarantee for the success of the work of the current session of the Assembly, which is meeting at a time when international relations are passing through critical circumstances. We are also sure that he, as one of the great sons of the African continent will contribute to solving the problems that face the international community in general and the peoples and countries which are still suffering under the yoke of colonial hegemony and foreign occupation, in particular.”
1979-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 34 (1979)
“Is it too much to ask of them to keep their promises in southern Africa, to apply their resolutions in the Middle East and to translate into reality their professions of faith with regard to interdependence by condescending to hold a dialogue and to negotiate with the peoples of the third world? 115. Let us hope that this session will be an opportunity for all of us resolutely to undertake not to allow blind, narrow interests to blind us to our true common interests, namely peace, peace everywhere, in a necessarily interdependent world of growing solidarity.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“That effort will make it possible to embark in more favourable conditions upon a definition of equitable and balanced co-operation among developed countries: the new Order in information is all the more necessary because it is a corollary of the New International Economic Order, and an instrument of a new humanism. 113. The situation in the world does not encourage optimism However, this Organization, whether it be the Security Council or the General Assembly, has laid down with respect to each problem the outlines of a peaceful and just solution. That is true of the Middle East, of Namibia, of international economic relations and many other problems. 114. Will it be too much to ask those who possess the means of translating the intentions of the international community into concrete realities to do their duty?”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The concept of freedom of information, which we basically support, is thus so distorted as actually to serve as an additional factor of domination which perpetuates relations based on inequality and injustice. The free circulation of information must not be reduced to the freedom to receive that information; it must also include the ability to produce the information and to pass it on. 111. That objective is connected with the determination of the third-world countries to rely upon themselves first and foremost to promote their own means of information, while remaining open to support from outside, and to give an authentic expression to their own problems, their aspirations and their values. 112.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The diffusion and dissemination of information and knowledge has become an essential pre-condition of progress and the flourishing of all organized society. 108. In the circumstances, we must undertake a far- reaching reform of the distribution circuits and the content of information so as to make the developing countries actually producers and partners in the whole process instead of just being consumers. 109. These third-world countries essentially receive information conceived, prepared and distributed by other countries. They suffer from the effects of a de facto monopoly of the information media by the industrialized countries. 110.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“In the developed countries, most of the media present the New International Economic Order as a threat to the well-being of industrialized societies and often claim that the crisis of the developed world stems primarily from the claims and demands of the developing counties. That is one aspect, but an important aspect, of world imbalance which serves to accentuate the cleavage between the developed and the developing countries. 107. By its very essence, information plays a vital role in international relations as a way of bringing knowledge and understanding from one nation to another. Furthermore, the headlong progress of technology makes the media today increasingly influential and gives it an ever-growing audience.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Beyond matters of procedure, the debate on this point will illustrate more fundamentally the reality of commitments undertaken vis-à-vis the New International Economic Order itself and the will of all the partners to make a sincere and determined contribution to this project, which will affect the security and welfare of all nations and which Tunisia considers, for its part, as one of the fundamental reforms of our time. 105. One of the best ways to bring about this New International Economic Order is certainly to inform international opinion faithfully, carefully and accurately about the reality of the claims of the third world, and the spirit of co-operation and interdependence that underlie it. How can we trust the mass media today to transmit this message of justice and solidarity? 106.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The dialogue we look for would be a framework for negotiations best suited for the purpose, and devoted essentially to the promotion of the New International Economic Order, in the strictest sense of the term. In order to promote this dialogue our Assembly must be able to play a central role. More than ever before the United Nations needs an effective instrument bringing together all Member States and having a clear-cut and unquestioned mandate. The dialogue if it is to succeed cannot continue to take place disparately or within technical structures seemingly indifferent to the evolution of international relations. 104. It is the task of this session of the General Assembly to give content and a framework to the North-South dialogue, which will thus be able to develop in harmony and security rather than in confusion and confrontation.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The Committee of the Whole set up last year by the General Assembly to supervise and co-ordinate the various aspects of that dialogue immediately came up against the conflicting multiplicity of interpretations as to the nature of its mandate, to such an extent that it was prevented from taking any action. That makes it absolutely clear that divergences relate fundamentally to the sense and purport of the dialogue itself. 103 For Tunisia, and we think for the developing countries as a whole which form the membership of the Group of 77—which did us the honour this year of entrusting its presidency to us-the dialogue is not a forum simply for the use of theoreticians, or a battleground for confrontation and polemics, nor is it a subterfuge to maintain, however flimsily the status quo in international economic relations.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The third world for its part cannot resign itself indefinitely to playing a passive role in world industrial production. As the developing countries proceed to modernize their economies, they must be able to play a more active world role without being exposed to artificial obstacles. The New International Economic Order, established to serve the general interest, had as its central theme that of permitting the developing countries to take their proper place within the world economy, to contribute to the general growth and to benefit from it appropriately. The North-South dialogue was to have provided the outlines for, and to have embarked upon, the process of reform likely to trigger off this process. 102. The dialogue has rarely gone beyond the stage of analyses, general declarations and statements of intent.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Permit me to repeat here that any policy which today ignores the interests, needs, and economic potential of the third world, not only serves to perpetuate injustice but actually stems from selfishness which can only aggravate general economic insecurity. 69. In this regard, analyses in various quarters corroborate each other. In his address to the World Bark and the IMF just two weeks ago, Mr. Robert McNamara denounced with remarkable candour the absence of any coherent global policy, as well as the illusory and perilous refuge of protectionism and the dangers of the excessive indebtedness of the developing countries. His commitment and his conviction deserve commendation from this rostrum because he was speaking, with the utmost clarity and was bold enough to place the responsibility squarely where it belongs. 70.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Those developing countries with "an intermediate income" which have succeeded, at the cost of many sacrifices, in maintaining a reasonable balance of payments, could not really maintain this effort much longer. They were forced into massive indebtedness towards the private capital markets, on the most difficult conditions and terms, while the supply of public assistance had dried up almost completely. 68. Are we to wait until the crisis assumes catastrophic dimensions before we begin once again to take action and to do so together? Of course, conferences at the highest levels among the major developed countries are being held one after another and decisions are taken or envisaged in an attempt to arrive at co-ordinated policies.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“This shilly-shallying, so ill adapted to the actual dimensions of the problems, of course only granted a short-lived respite, which was immediately threatened because, in the face of problems of world dimensions, such as monetary instability and the slowing down of the growth rate, it served only to delay the inevitable. 67. The consequences of this situation affect even more severely the economies of the developing countries, which are not able to act decisively. In the face of the protectionism which is affecting more and more seriously the most dynamic sectors of their fledgling industries, and the tumbling of the export prices of primary commodities, the developing countries have been suffering from an even more marked deterioration of the terms of trade and a consequent worsening of the deficit in their trade balances.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The general awareness of the scope of the crisis and our incapacity to overcome it in isolation won round the last remaining sceptics to a recognition of the need to work towards the establishment of a new international economic order. 66. But the countries that were strongest economically quickly acquired a safeguard mechanism, which, though limited and fragile, was a misguided diversion of energies that should have been devoted to the major dialogues and broad and global solutions called for by the vast majority of the developing countries.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Today, the world is staggered by the sight of the combined effects of all these phenomena. 65. It would appear that the international community is overlooking global and long-term solutions. It is confining itself to attempting to blunt, as best it can, the worst effects of the crises. Indeed, the grave monetary crises which in 1971 culminated in the suspension of the convertibility of the dollar and which gradually came to extend to the whole of the Western economy, made it an imperative necessity to bring to bear concerted action at the world level. The momentum thus generated helped to strengthen the notion of interdependence and entailed an intensification of international negotiations.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“The murder of Steven Biko will remain for ever the symbol of what has now become, from Sharpeville to Soweto, an authentic nationalist struggle. 63. We are convinced that the resistance of the last outposts of racism is doomed to failure. However, the persistence of the struggle is delaying even further the development of the African continent by diverting its resources, by destroying its best elements, and by sacrificing its youth. 64. Every year the General Assembly examines the international economic situation, and every year it sees that the problems facing the world, and in particular the third world, are becoming more numerous and more complex. We consider in turn such subjects as monetary instability, inflation, the slowing down of the rate of growth.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“This reversal makes it even more incumbent upon us to safeguard the opportunity for a peaceful outcome and to associate SWAPO, as closely as possible, with the efforts of our Organization and the Western Powers, which have already been launched, for Namibia to be able to become independent on schedule, within the framework of its unity and territorial integrity. 62. In South Africa itself, a heroic struggle is being waged by the black people and its youth against the apartheid regime. Neither intimidation nor the most brutal repression will be able to crush this struggle, which is none the less extremely arduous and murderous, in a country where a white minority, with feelings of racial superiority, have no inhibitions in the way they treat the nationalists.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)
“Any new initiative should therefore be accompanied by the most serious guarantees if we do not want despair and violence finally to prevail over a peaceful settlement, which remains the preferred approach of the African peoples. For their part, SWAPO in Namibia, and the Patriotic Front in Zimbabwe, have shown the measure of their realism and moderation in an attempt to find democratic and humane solutions. 61. The authorities of Pretoria have just rejected the settlement plan of the United Nations for Namibia.”
1978-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 33 (1978)