UN Human Rights Treaties

United Nations
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
THIRTY-SIXTH SESSION Official Records
CONTENTS
Page Agenda item 9: General debate (continued): Speech by Commander Ortega Saavedra, Co-ordinator of the Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction
of the Republic of Nicaragua 597
Speech by Mr. Al-Obeidi (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) 603
Speech by Mr. Yambaia (Central African Republic) 607
President: Mr. Ismat T. KITTANI (Iraq).
AGENDA ITEM 9 General debate (continued)
1. The PRESIDENT: (interpretation from Arabic): This morning the General Assembly will hear a statement by Commander Ortega Saavedra, Co-ordinator of the Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction of the Republic of Nicaragua.
2. On behalf of the General Assembly, I have the honor to welcome him and to invite him to address the Assembly.
3. Commander ORTEGA SAAVEDRA (imerrpretation from Spanish): The death of the President of Egypt, Anwar El Sadat, is another tragic event that again brings to the forefront the urgent need to contribute to the quest for a real solution to the Middle East question which once and for all will put an end to the violence that besets the brother peoples of the Arab world.
4. Mankind is living through a crucial moment in its history as a result of the great tensions that today more than ever threaten peace. Nicaragua has deemed it timely and necessary to bring to the Assembly, inter alia, a number of specific proposals which could contribute to the cause of peace in the world.
5. We are today the bearers of a specific proposal in our search for a rational way out of the profound crisis affecting the Central American area, the most critical point of which is El Salvador. This is the main reason for our presence in the Assembly, where we are certain we shall meet with the favorable reception warranted by the serious circumstances of the moment.
6. We are the bearers of a specific proposal which could assist Central America in its struggle for peace, at the
very moment when that peace is disrupted by the escalation of the arms race in the world, with thousands of millions of dollars being invested in the production and em-

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NSW YORK
placement of medium-range missiles, rockets, neutron bombs, and so on; at the very moment when the progress achieved on strategic arms limitations agreements, SALT II, is being seriously jeopardized by the hegemonistic policy of the present United States Government.
7. We are the bearers of a specific proposal which could assist Central America in its struggle for peace, at a time when the racist regime of South Africa is invading Angola, promoting destabilizing actions in Zambia, invading the southern part of Mozambique and training mercenaries to invade Zimbabwe, all with the support of the present United States Government; at a time when Libya is the victim of provocations arising from United States policy which have even led to two aircraft of the Libyan Air Force being shot down over its own territorial space in the Gulf of Sidra.
8. We are the bearers of a specific proposal by which Central America could contribute to the cause of peace, at a time when the Government of Israel, with the full support of the United States, is carrying out acts of terrorism against the Palestinian people and against the Lebanese people, murdering hundreds, as well as bombing the Tamuz nuclear research centre in Iraq.
9. We are the bearers of a specific proposal which in Central America could contribute to the cause of peace, at a time when there is an increase in spying flights by United States aircraft in the airspace of the People's Democratic Republic of Korea and the economic blockade and political and military threats against Cuba, and the occupation of Guantanamo, continue; at a time when the people of Grenada is harassed and attacked, at a time when the implementation of the treaties concerning the Panama Canal Zone,1 for which General Omar Torrijos fought and died, is placed in jeopardy; at a time when resolutions of the United Nations concerning the independence of Namibia are flouted.

10. We bring a specific proposal which could assist Central America in its struggle for peace, at a time when the enemies of peace brandish philosophical concepts to justify their warlike nature, while at the same time perpetrating acts of aggression.
11. That is why today we also wish to contribute to the cause of peace by condemning the South African regime, expressing our solidarity with the peoples attacked by that regime, expressing our solidarity with the patriots of the South West Africa People's Organization [SWAPO] as the sole legitimate representatives of Namibia; supporting the front-line States; expressing our support and solidarity with Libya and with the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO], the sole representative of the Palestinian people;

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with the people and Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; with the people and Government of Grenada; with the courageous, united and strong people and Government of revolutionary Cuba; with the struggle of the POLISARIO Front,2 with the resolution adopted on 20 August 1981 by the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, wherein the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence is reaffirmed [A/36/23, chap. I, para. 87]; with the people and Government of Panama; with the people and Government of heroic Viet Nam, while repudiating the policy of punishment and the threat and use of force against that people; with the coastal States of the Indian Ocean which are continuing their struggle to have that area declared a zone of peace and to obtain the consequential withdrawal of the different military fleets moving in the area. We also appeal to the fraternal peoples and Governments of Iran and Iraq to seek a solution in the spirit of the non-aligned movement to the differences or claims that may exist between those two States.
12. Finally, may we once again expresiour solidarity with the people and Government of Cyprus, with the people of Chile, with the people of Uruguay and with the heroic people of Guatemala.
13. May we also hail as a victory for peace the independence of the people of Belize and its membership in the Organization.
14. We bring a specific proposal which in Central America could strengthen the efforts for peace which we are today obliged to make throughout the world, at a time when that peace is also threatened by restrictive economic-measures which make their full weight felt in the third world countries, historically exploited by the developed countries.
15. The latest decisions on the subject made public by the Government of the United States are clear proof of what we have just stated. The Secretary of the Treasury of the present United States Administration said the Government intends to limit loans and credits to developing countries through IMF and the World Bank; and President Reagan himself, at the annual meeting of the Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank, confirmed that decision, saying that for the poor countries the only magic formula is that of the free market, a "magic formula" which has served only to make our countries poorer.
16. Despite the efforts made by the third world countries to restructure their foreign debt and, by means of great sacrifices, to pay the servicing costs, the economic horizon is now so bleak that it compels us to serious reflection. Unless formulas in keeping with the economic realities of our countries are devised, there will be no way out except to cancel the whole of the external debt and its servicing costs, or the time will come when by common agreement we, the poor countries of the world, will have to say that we are not going to pay because we cannot pay, because we have nothing to pay with. We cannot forget that in external debt servicing alone the developing

countries must pay with blood and sweat more than $40 billion a year, without the least possibility of finding a solution to their economic problems. On the contrary, the position is becoming more and more serious.
17. Who can overlook the fact that the price of products that we export declines all the time while the costs of production of those products increase because the spare parts, machinery, equipment and so on become dearer each day?
18. In 1977 our countries had to produce 338 quintals of cotton, 1,394 quintals of sugar or 98 quintals of coffee to buy one tractor. Four years later, in 1981, we must produce 476 quintals of cotton—an increase of 41 per cent—to buy one tractor; or 2,143 quintals of sugar—an increase of 54 per cent or more; or 248 quintals of coffee—an increase of 145 per cent. That is because the wealthy countries lend us money on hard terms, sell more expensively each day, but buy each day at a lower price.
19. As a result of these unfair international terms of trade and of the profound injustices engendered by exploitation, a dramatic social, economic and political crisis today shakes Central America. That crisis stems from the depths of the misery of 20 million Central American men and women.
20. In 1979 one in two 15-year-old Central Americans was illiterate. One out of eight children died before the age of one. Three out of every 10 Central Americans looking for employment did not find it. Twelve million people lived without proper housing. For every dollar obtained by a poor Central American a rich man received $48. According to recent studies by ECLA, 8.5 million Central Americans live in conditions of extreme poverty.
21. It is there, in the old reality of the exploitation of the Central American countries and in the injustice with which the developed world treats our peoples, that we must seek the causes of the political and social unrest that is today shaking Central America—not in the Nicaraguan revolution, which is the first great historic attempt in Central America to eliminate the roots of the crisis.
22. The "accusation" leveled at the Sandinista People's Revolution that it is the cause of rebellion in Central America lays bare the hypocrisy of those who are truly responsible for the dramatic Central American situation. The beginning of any solution to the crisis in the region lies in recognizing that that crisis is the product of the exploitation to which the Central American countries have been subjected and in developing a set of measures in keeping with that reality.
23. Between 1973 and 1980 Central America's external debt quintupled, and by the end of 1981 it will reach the unprecedented figure of $7 billion. That debt today represents 140 per cent of our exports, when barely three years ago it amounted to 80 per cent. It is an increasing burden placed on the shoulders of Central American workers, because the payment of interest to creditors means that each year a larger proportion of the region's exports must be earmarked for it. The high rates of interest, which obey the fiscal and monetary policy of the United States,

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punish those who have less and reward those who have more. So long as this situation is not corrected, there can be no solution to the Central American crisis.
24. To solve its own crisis the United States is applying a policy consisting in raising to unbelievable heights the cost of financial resources obtained by our countries. This logically leads to the export of the United States crisis to the poor countries. This year alone $1.2 billion have drained out of Central America and found highly rewarded refuge in the developed countries.
25. In the past three years alone the Central American countries have lost $1,235 million, transferred to the developed countries, the United States in particular, because of the deterioration in the purchasing power of their exports. As long as this situation is not reversed, how can our countries develop, how can that crisis be solved? That deterioration in the terms of trade is a veritable tax on our exports levied by the developed countries. Those countries must therefore provide finance to compensate for that deterioration.
26. In two years—1979 and 1980—the Central American countries lost international reserves amounting to $1,181 million. Where, then, are our countries to find the necessary resources to finance investments to promote development? What is required is a massive flow of concessional resources to finance our strategic energy, transport, infrastructure and industrial and agricultural production projects.
27. We claim justice as countries that have been impoverished by centuries of exploitation and by those unjust international economic relations, but the United States closes its ears. The forthcoming International Meeting on Co-operation and Development, to be held at Cancun, has already begun to be affected by the refusal of the United States to deal with items that would truly make it possible to deal with the explosive situation in the economic order of the world today, and by its denying Cuba—which at present occupies the presidency of the non-aligned movement—in a manner that we can only describe as infantile, the right to participate in that meeting.
28. But Nicaragua is convinced that countries like Mexico, France, Austria, the United Republic of Tanzania, Algeria, India and others will be the standard-bearers and spokesmen in our demands for a new international economic order.
29. We said that we were bringing from our region specific proposals which could contribute to the cause of peace. We have explained that the fundamental causes of the crisis affecting our area are economic and that they have been brought about by the unjust relations existing in the present economic order and by the over-exploitation to which our peoples have been and are subjected by exploiting minorities which serve like eunuchs the interests of international exploitation. If we understand this, we shall also understand why there was a revolution, in Nicaragua and why there is a revolutionary war in El Salvador and another in Guatemala. If we want to find a serious answer to the situation in Central America, we

shall have to stop invoking the specter of the East-West conflict, which is used by those who try to reject any change in the region.
30. We cannot forget or ignore the fact that all this picture of brutal economic exploitation has been defended throughout our history by aggressive United States policy.
31. After the United States war of independence the model of a federal democracy based on ideals of freedom which inspired the struggles of Washington and Jefferson was also the model for the leaders of the independence struggles of Latin America; and in Central America the concept of a liberal federal State headed by General Francisco Morazan was the offspring of those principles of the American Revolution.
32. But that dream was to die very soon. The emergence of the Monroe Doctrine, "America for the Americans", was to represent the aggressive will of Yankee expansionism on the continent, and from 1840 onwards our peoples were no longer to benefit from the influence of those ideals of democracy and freedom but rather to suffer interference, threats, the imposition of treaties contradictory to the sovereignty of our countries, provocation of war among neighbouring States, blackmail with the presence of the United States fleet in our territorial waters, military interventions, the landing of Marines and the imposition of corrupt Governments and one sided economic treaties. More than 784 acts hostile to the right of our countries to sovereignty have occurred on our continent since that time, and more than 100 of them since 1960.
33. Why were our countries insulted, invaded and humiliated on more than 200 occasions from 1840 to 1917? Under what pretexts, since at the time there was not a single socialist State in the world and the Tsar ruled over all the Russia’s? Treaties and loans were imposed on us, we were invaded, we were given the status of protectorates under that same thesis of American national security, which was first called the Monroe Doctrine, then manifest destiny, later the big stick, later dollar diplomacy.
34. The expansion of frontiers, secure maritime routes, military bases in the Caribbean, bought Governments and docile Governments—these were manifestations of a liberal ideal which had become barefaced expansionism.
35. How can we explain the numerous acts of aggression and interference and the landings that occurred between 1917 and 1954 in Latin America, when there was still no Cuban revolution and Cuba could not be accused of "interference"—accusations that were to be reserved for the future?
36. The United States did not take over Cuba and Puerto Rico in 1898 and impose the Piatt amendment to save Caribbean territories from the influence of the Soviet Union, since the latter was not yet in existence.
37. The United States did not land Marines in Veracruz, Haiti and Nicaragua, nor did it from 1903 onwards arm the most formidable naval force ever seen in Caribbean waters in order to resolve the East-West conflict to its

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own benefit. It was simply defending the interests of its territorial expansionism, the interests of its financiers and its bankers, of those business tycoons who were beginning to beset Latin America.
38. Today, 7 October 1981, the United States is beginning near the sovereign territory of Nicaragua showy military maneuvers called "Falcon Vista", with the participation of its own naval, land and air transport forces together with military contingents from Honduras. At this time, as in 1855 when the freebooter William Walker landed on our shores at the head of a troop of southern mercenaries, our country is threatened by aggression on a scale higher than we have known so far. At this time, as in 1912 when our homeland was invaded by Marines and defended by the patriots led by General Benjamin Zeled6n, a national hero, dangers of further invasions of Nicaragua, whether direct or indirect are growing. At this time, as happened in 1927 when we were invaded by the Marines, against whom the army, headed by General Sandino, defended our national sovereignty for six long years of struggle, there are new threats from the present United States Administration. At this time it is necessary to remember the history of aggression against Central American countries throughout more than a century.
39. 1855: the William Walker freebooters landed in Nicaragua with die purpose of annexing the whole of Central America to me southern states of the United States. Walker proclaimed himself President and restored slavery in Nicaragua. That same year, the colonels in active service, Kidneys and Fabens, proclaimed the "independence" of San Juan del Norte, a sovereign territory of Nicaragua. 1856: Through the Dallas-Clarendon Treaty, the United States "ceded" to England the Territory of Belize, which did not belong to it. 1860: The United States intervened for the first time in Panama, under the pretext of restoring order. 1867: The United States affirmed its "ownership" of Nicaragua through the Dickinson-Ayon Treaty, which gave it the right to build the inter-oceanic canal. 1896: United States miutary forces landed in Nicaragua, at the port of Corinto. 1899: More United States military forces landed on our territory, in San Juan del Norte and Blue-fields. 1900: The United States imposed on Nicaragua and Costa Rica the Hay-Corea and Hay-Calvo Treaties to acquire control over the canal route through the Central American isthmus. 1901: the Marines landed is the Panama isthmus. 1903: The Marines landed in Puerto Cone's, Honduras. 1904: The Marines landed in Ancon and other points in Panama. That was the year when Theodore Roosevelt elaborated the "Roosevelt corollary"—or, rather, the big-stick policy. 1905: A further landing of Marines in Puerto Cortds, Honduras. 1909: The United States intervened in Nicaragua to overthrow the Government of General Jose" Santos Zelaya through the infamous "Knox note". 1910: The Marines landed in Corinto, Nicaragua, and attacked our shores until they succeeded in imposing their own oligarchic Government. 1911: The United States again landed its Marines in Corinto, Nicaragua, imposed presidents in Honduras and Nicaragua and compelled Costa Rica and Nicaragua to accept onerous debt consolidations and new loans. 1912: The Marines landed yet again in Honduras, and the United States began its military occupation of Nicaragua which was to last until 1925. 1914: The United States imposed on Nicaragua the

shameful Chamorro-Bryan Treaty, which reduced our sovereign homeland. 1918: The Marines landed in Col6n and Chiriquí, Panama. 1919: The Marines occupied Honduran ports to intervene in the electoral process. 1920: The Marines landed in Guatemala on the pretext of safeguarding die life of North American citizens and protecting the legation. 1921: The Marines occupied the region of La Chorrera, Panama. 1924: The Marines landed in Honduras and occupied Tegucigalpa and other cities of the country. 1925: The Marines landed in Honduras and Panama, in boom cases to break workers' strikes. 1926: After leaving the country for a very few months, the Marines returned to occupy Nicaragua. That military occupation was to last until 1933, when the Yankee troops were compelled to withdraw in the face of the heroic resistance of the army, the Defender of National Sovereignty, headed by Sandino. 1930: The North American fruit companies promoted frontier Wars and military uprisings, imposed presidents and undermined the national sovereignty of Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. 1954: The United States, through the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], overthrew the Government of General Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. 1961: The United States military mission directed a coup against a civilian-military junta of a nationalistic character in El Salvador. 1964: United States troops in the Panama Canal Zone attacked a nationalist demonstration and murdered 30 Panamanians. 1972: The United States signed with Colombia the Saccio-Vazquez Carrizozo Treaty, which was harmful to the interests of Nicaragua's sovereignty. In mat same year United States forces were taken from the Panama Canal Zone to Managua to safeguard the stability of the Somoza regime after me earthquake that destroyed the city. Early in the 1960s me United States also launched me abortive invasion of Cuba. 1978: The United States attempted to impose a mediation policy in Nicaragua to preserve the system and prevent me triumph of the people's Sandinista movement. 1979: The United States Secretary of State, at me Seventeenth Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Organization of American States, requested military intervention in Nicaragua to frustrate the Sandinista people's success. American helicopters landed in Costa Rica, in accordance with a plan to interfere in our war of liberation. 1981: The United States sent military advisers, military helicopters and war materiel to El Salvador and Honduras. It cut loans to our country for development and for the purchase of food by $81.1 million. It allowed the training of former Somoza guards in military camps in the state of Florida. It ratified the Saccio-Vaz-quez Carrizosa Treaty as an act of provocation against Nicaragua. And it began with Honduras- the "

Vista" military manoeuvres.
40. Two days ago Colonel Samuel Dickens, an American officer and a member of the Council of the Inter-American Defense Board, stated on arrival in Tegucigalpa mat the "Falcon Vista" military maneuvers were but a sample and mat the United States was ready to give its support to Honduras in a war against Nicaragua and to attack the people and the Revolutionary Government of Nicaragua. His lack of respect did not stop there. He also attacked the Government or Honduras because it proclaimed that it was neutral vis-d-vis neighbors like Nicaragua and a guerrilla war such as mat in El Salvador, He also attacked the Governments of Mexico and France. All

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this accompanied the arrival in Puerto Cortes on the Atlantic coast of Honduras of the United States amphibian vessel U.S.S. Fort Snelling with 500 Marines, three patrol boats, a tug-boat and military materiel. There also arrived at the same time at San Pedro de Sula, Honduras, two observation aircraft of the United States Air Force coming from the Panama Canal Zone.
41. What can we call all this?
42. The United States continues to try to use Central American territory—as it did in the 1960s to attack Cuba—now to attack Nicaragua.
43. Acts of aggression, interference, pressure and blackmail have never ceased. Respect for the sovereignty of our countries has never been obtained from the United States. The expansionist thinking of the last century, the gunboat treaties, the big-stick policy, have emerged again.
44. Is this the kind of history that will repeat itself in Central America?
45. Our peoples are ready to respond as Sandino did to any attempt at direct or indirect aggression, either in Nicaragua or in El Salvador. We all know that the threat of invasion is directed first and foremost against those two peoples.
46. Will that interventionist policy continue to be imposed on the will of the people of the United States?
47. Will the policy of sustaining, arming and defending in Central America such criminal regimes as those of Carias, UNICCO, Hernandez, Martinez and Somoza continue to be imposed? It would appear so, according to the nostalgic words of a representative of the United States who, when passing through Peru, affirmed that she would prefer Somoza in power in Nicaragua rather than the Sandinistas.
48. How far will economic aggression, hand in hand with military aggression, against Nicaragua go? Will the policy of interventionism in Central America again be imposed with impunity? Will the United States continue to promote a wrong-headed policy in Central America, leading to an explosive regional crisis that will make worse an already difficult international situation?
49. We wish to state yet again our firm position on this question. We want peace, but not at the cost of freedom. We do not want war, but if war is waged against us we shall resist with a people's war. We believe that although the picture is sombre and the outlook threatening, there is still time to stop the warmongers.
50. Central America demands changes. The revolutionaries and the Central American patriots are promoting those changes, and the Central American peoples are ready to bring them about. The just war being waged by the heroic people of El Salvador demands a true solution, one that cannot be obtained through elections based on bloodshed, one that cannot be obtained through paramilitary groups, one that cannot be obtained through ever greater intervention by the United States, one that cannot be obtained through genocide.

51. It is for those reasons that, in our quest above all for a stabilizing solution in the area, the Sandinist Government of Nicaragua applauds the declaration made by Mexico and France on 28 August3 concerning the search for a political solution in El Salvador through dialogue between the belligerents.
52. We also welcome the resolution on the situation regarding human rights in El Salvador and the possible ways and means of achieving a political solution, adopted at the 68th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, which met at Havana from 15 to 23 September 1981 [see A/36/584, annex]; the proposed resolution on Central America and the Caribbean put forward by the Socialist International, meeting at Paris in September; and the final declaration of the meeting of intellectuals for the sovereignty of the peoples of our America, held at Havana from 4 to 8 September, which also relates to the struggle of the Salvadorian people.
53. We said that we were the bearers of a specific proposal to assist Central America in its struggle for peace in the world. That is why today we fulfill the duty demanded of us by historic circumstances and inform you, Mr. President, and the representatives in the Assembly of the nations of the earth of the proposals conveyed to us by the Salvadorian patriots.
54. But first we should like to say that there is among us, accompanying the delegation of Nicaragua, the President of the Democratic Revolutionary Front of El Salvador and member of the Joint Political Commission of the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation and of the Revolutionary Democratic Front, comrade Guillermo Manuel Ungo.
55. The proposals are dated 4 October 1981 and addressed to Commander of the Revolution Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Co-ordinator of the Junta Government of National Reconstruction of Nicaragua. They are as follows:
"The Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation and the Revolutionary Democratic Front authorize you to convey to the thirty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly and to the peoples of the world our proposals concerned with possible peace talks aimed at solving the crisis at present afflicting our country.
"The following is the text of our proposals:
" 'The Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation and the Democratic Revolutionary Front address the international community and peoples of the world because they consider the United Nations to be the expression of the principles of peace, justice and equality among States and peoples and therefore the appropriate forum in which to express the aspirations of the people of El Salvador and its representative organizations, the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation and the Revolutionary Democratic Front.
" 'May we first of all express our gratitude for the many expressions of solidarity with the struggle of

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our people which we have received from Governments, as well as from organizations and political, social and religious personalities, throughout our struggle. We wish especially to express our gratitude to the Governments and peoples of Mexico and France for their solidarity, for they have recognized our organizations as representative political forces. May we also express our thanks for the comments and proposals of most of the countries of the international community in support of a political solution.
" 'If today our people, directed by the Farabundo Marti Front and the Revolutionary Democratic Front, are involved in armed struggle it is because regimes of oppression and repression have closed the peaceful channels for change, leaving to the people as the sole legitimate alternative in its quest for liberation the recourse to armed struggle, the exercise of the universal and constitutional right to resort to rebellion against unlawful and bloodthirsty authority.
" 'Our way is therefore a just and necessary war to build peace and bring about equality among all Salvadorians.
" 'However, what we want is peace, and to achieve it we are proposing a political solution the objectives of which would be the end of me war and the establishment of a new economic and political order that will ensure for all Salvadorians the enjoyment of their rights as citizens and a life worthy of human beings.
" 'All this supports our express will to open a dialogue with the civilian and military representatives to be designated by the Junta through a process of peace talks.
" 'We intend to base those peace talks, which reaffirm our commitment to seek and implement a political solution, on the following general principles:
" '1. They will be carried out between delegates appointed by the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation and the Revolutionary Democratic Front and representatives of the Government Junta of El Salvador.
" '2. They will be conducted in the presence of Governments which, as witnesses, will contribute to the solution of the dispute.
" '3. They will be comprehensive in nature, encompassing the fundamental aspects of the conflict on the basis of an agenda to be drawn up by both sides.
" '4. The people of El Salvador must be informed of every development.
" '5. The talks will be opened without either of the two parties establishing prior conditions.
" 'In an effort to ensure a basis that will bring about a political solution, the Farabundo Marti Front

and the Revolutionary Democratic Front express the will to discuss the following points:
" '(a) The definition of a new political, economic and juridical order which will make possible and encourage the full democratic participation of the various political, social and economic sectors, especially the marginal ones. Elections will be an important element of the mechanism of participation and representation of the population.
" '(b) The restructuring of the armed forces on the base of the officers and men of the present army who are not responsible for crimes of genocide against the people and the integration of the officers and men of the Farabundo Marti Front.
" 'Our Fronts regard elections as a valid and necessary instrument for the expression of the will of the people, providing there are the necessary conditions and a climate that will enable our citizens freely to express their will. In El Salvador at present the electoral process does not fill those requirements, since the repressive apparatus of the regime which murders trade union and political leaders and activists, persecutes the progressive elements of the church and is daily responsible for the physical elimination of dozens of citizens remains intact. Similarly, martial law and press censorship are still in force, and there has been an increase in the war against the people with the aid of weapons and advisers sent by the Government of the United States.
" 'A political solution is necessary for our people, for the stability of the region, for peace and security among nations. This means that Governments must scrupulously respect the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other peoples. That is why we are directly addressing the Government of the United States and asking it to cease its military intervention in El Salvador, since that intervention runs counter to the interests of the Salvadorian and American peoples and endangers peace and security in Central America.
" 'Our proposal meets the calls for justice in accordance with the purest principles of international law and the interests of the nations and peoples of the world in the quest for a peaceful settlement of the causes of hotbeds of tension. In their efforts the Salvadorian people express their confidence in the understanding, participation and support of the international community in the achievement of their right to peace, freedom and independence.' "
The document is signed by the Unified Revolutionary Direction of the Farabundo Marti Front for National Libera-tion and the Executive Committee of the Revolutionary Democratic Front.
56. We are convinced that this appeal for justice, this appeal for peace, will be recognized by all those Governments that are truly concerned with the fundamental rights of mankind. In the name of the dead, in the name of the tortured, in the name of the illiterate, in the name

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of the hungry, in the name of the exploited, let this initiative not be in vain; let the forces of reason and love, the forces of peace, triumph once again over the irrational forces.
57. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Arabic): On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank Commander Ortega Saavedra, Co-ordinator of the Junta of the Government of National Reconstruction of the Republic of Nicaragua, for the important statement he has just made.
58. Mr. AL-OBEIDI (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (interpretation from Arabic): Sir, we take pride in your election to the presidency of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly, particularly since you belong to our Arab homeland and Arab nation, a nation that has contributed to the development of human civilization and is still fighting fascism and Zionism because of its awareness of the dangers those political movements pose to humanity and progress.
59. I take this opportunity also to commend the efforts of your predecessor, Mr. Rudiger von Wechmar, the repre-sentative of the Federal Republic of Germany, during whose presidency the General Assembly engaged in such intensive activities and carried out such difficult work.
60. I also have the pleasure of commending the efforts being made by the Secretary-General to strengthen the role of the Organization in promoting peace and security in our turbulent world. My delegation wishes also to extend congratulations to Belize and the Republic of Vanuatu on their accession to independence and to welcome them to the United Nations.
61. My country is aware of the threats to international peace and security, and the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya shares with the countries of the third world and the non-aligned movement their concern over the de-terioration of the situation in the world. At the same time, however, my country realizes that the causes of that deter-ioration lie in the policies pursued by the big Powers.
62. The United States under President Reagan's Administration plays the major role in destabilizing peace and security in die world and has reverted to die cold war and the scramble for spheres of influence. Clear evidence of this is the letter sent recently by the American President to the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, in which he underlined the legitimate interests of the super-Powers and his readiness for mutual respect of those interests.
63. This course of American policy clearly illustrates the nature of die American Administration, which is seeking to partition the world into spheres of influence. The refusal of the United States to ratify the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and its production of the neutron bomb, which has for its target the human race, are only two of the many' pieces of evidence of the United States premeditated aggressive intentions, which are fully in keeping with its ambitious designs for hegemony over: the resources of peoples and which constitute a flagran. threat to international peace and security.
64. The goal of the United States today is to militarize the world and to divide it into two factions, drawing one

of them into its imperialist reactionary camp and compelling the other, which includes basically the neutral countries, to join either its camp or the communist camp. In its campaign to force the non-aligned countries to relinquish their non-alignment, the United States pursues various policies, the most prominent of which is that of economic blockade, as is the case with Nicaragua and Cuba, or mat of direct aggression. Probably everyone has followed the news of its aggression in die Gulf of Sidra in Libyan territory, where American planes operating from an aircraft carrier violated Libyan airspace and committed die well-known act of aggression of 19 August 1981.
65. American statements have revealed that the aggression was premeditated and had been approved at a meeting of the United States National Security Council. This reveals also mat the American forces sent to the Gulf of Sidra were not on routine man oeuvres, as American officials have claimed, for routine maneuvers have never been given this aura in the United States.
66. The Reagan Administration's allegation concerning the extension by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of its territorial waters to 200 miles is a blatant lie, because we are committed to die internationally recognized 12-mile limit. As for die Gulf of Sidra, it is an integral part of Libyan territory. My country will support any international agreement mat can be reached at the third United Nations Conference on the Law of Hire Sea. That Conference has not come to a conclusion yet because of die position taken by the United States itself. Whatever me differences on die demarcation of territorial waters, we call upon the international Organization and peace-loving peoples to stand up against die American acts of aggression and not allow die United States to bestow upon itself die role of a policeman who imposes his will upon others.
67. The United States aims at pressuring the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya into abandoning its non-alignment and joining die other camp. The delegation of my country calls upon the international community, in particular the non-aligned movement, to confront those pressures with all means available so that my country may not be compelled to ally itself with die friend mat aids it in resisting this premeditated American aggression.
68. American aggression against me non-aligned countries has reached a point mat reveals me terrorist nature of the American Administration, and mere are other recent examples of this. The physical liquidation of die African leader Patrice Lumumba by American intelligence services is evidence of the hatred harbored by die United States towards everyone who is nationalist and progressive in Africa. The United States plot against the progressive Government of Chile and die assassination of its leader, Salvador Aliened, confirm die hypocrisy of die American Administration in its claim to democracy. Allude had come to power through democratic elections, in which he was supported by die people of Chile and all sincere people in Latin America and in the world.
69. The latest act of terrorism on die part of the new American Administration, which has been revealed by die
American press and confirmed by some officials, is die existence of a plot to assassinate die leader of die First of
September Revolution, Colonel Muammar Al-Qadhafi.

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70. That plot confirms that physical liquidation and terrorism have become one of the pillars of United States policy in resolving its disputes with everyone who does not follow in its footsteps or obey its will.
71. My country resists and condemns the terrorist policy of the United States, and we therefore condemn the bacteriological war it is waging against the friendly people of the Republic of Cuba. We also condemn the terrorism practiced by the United States against Nicaragua and Grenada through using grain supplies, loans and economic pressure as weapons to subjugate the struggling peoples of those countries. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya also condemns the support by the United States for the Fascist regimes in Latin America against the will of their peoples „ as is the case with El Salvador. We declare our solidarity with the people of El Salvador in their struggle against imperialism and fascism.
72. For all those reasons we believe the United States is no longer fit to serve as host to the United Nations. The least we can ask of the international community is that it should transfer the Organization's Headquarters to a country that respects the Organization and pursues its goals.
73. The struggle of the Namibian people and their right to independence bring the United Nations face to face with its responsibilities. On the one hand, we find that the international community has acknowledged the right of that friendly African people to freedom and independence, and on the other hand we witness the racist regime, backed by the United States and some Western nations, impeding the will and the resolutions of the international Organization under the pretext of ensuring the rights of the racist minority.
74. That adamant position on the part of the racist regime in South Africa and of the United States makes lis wonder what steps could be taken by the non-aligned movement and its friends to ensure mat the people of Namibia, under the leadership of SWAPO, gain their freedom and independence.
75. The independence of the people of Namibia can be achieved only through adherence to the following principles.
76. First, there is the support for the armed struggle of the people of Namibia, bearing in mind the fact that the liberty of a people is not granted but has to be won, especially within the framework of the Organization where the right to use the veto plays a major part in protecting the interests of imperialist, Fascist and racist countries.
77. Second is the reaffirmation of the inalienable rights of the people of Namibia to self-determination, freedom and national independence in a unified Namibia, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV).
78. The third principle is emphasis on the fact that SWAPO, as the sole legitimate representative of the people of Namibia struggling for the independence of that Territory, is a main party to the dispute.
79. Fourthly, there must be decisive and speedy implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) on

the United Nations plan for the independence of Namibia. The implementation of that plan should ensure the full independence of Namibia and the sovereignty of its people under the leadership of SWAPO over all their lands, including Walvis Bay and all the islands off the Namibian coast.
80. Fifth is the imposition on the racist regime of South Africa of the sanctions provided for in the resolution adopted at the eighth emergency special session of the General Assembly [see resolution ES-8/2], in order to compel that racist regime to pull its administration out of Namibia and thus speed up Namibia's independence.
81. The practices of the racist regime of South Africa are sustained by the backing which it receives from the American Administration and some Western countries. That continuous support has enabled the racist minority to monopolize the power, wealth and weapons in the country and to control the destiny of the indigenous population of South Africa. That situation constitutes a flagrant disregard for human rights and a challenge to the conscience of humanity. The international community should therefore assume responsibility for putting an end to these crimes.
82. My country will continue to support the struggle of the peoples of Namibia and South Africa for freedom and self-determination. The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya also stands by Angola and the other front-line States in their resistance to the barbaric aggression perpetrated against mem by the racist regime of Pretoria.
83. The situation and racist practices in southern Africa are the same as those achieved by the Zionist entity in the Arab land. The international community is now aware of that similarity and of the close ties which exist between the Zionist entity and the South African regime.
84. The Palestinian cause has become one of the permanent problems that the United Nations has to deal with, as it represents a new form of colonialism. The occupation of Arab Palestine by the Zionist entity constitutes a new form of racist and expansionist colonialism, which has expelled the people of Palestine from their homeland and extended that entity's occupation to the territories of some Arab countries adjacent to Palestine. Thus, under the pretext of safeguarding so-called Israeli security, the new colonialism is posing a threat to the security and peace of the entire Arab world.
85. The General Assembly has repeatedly confirmed its commitment to the rights of the Palestinian people and has recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians. Moreover, the majority of the members of the Security Council have acknowledged the rights of the Palestinian people and condemned the continual acts of aggression perpetrated by the racist Zionist entity against the Palestinians. However, in spite of that international endorsement of the Palestinian cause, we still find countries which support aggression and oppose the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and refuse to look upon the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
86. Thus, on the one hand we see the United States providing the Zionist entity with weapons of mass de-

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struction, enabling that entity to strike at the Palestinians everywhere, not sparing them even in their refugee camps, which are themselves a hateful result of the Zionist occupation declared illegal by the international community. On the other hand, we see the United States using its right of veto whenever there is a draft resolution before the Security Council in favour of the Palestinian cause or condemning the repeated acts of aggression perpetrated by the racist regime against Arab lands.
87. Furthermore, the extent of United States disregard for the international community is most clearly shown by its complicity with the Egyptian regime and the Zionist entity in order to impose solutions of the Middle East problem through the Camp David agreements.
88. The Camp David agreements have ignored the efforts exerted by the United Nations and have pushed the Middle East problem out of the framework of the United Nations. Besides, the parties to those agreements have deliberately sought to eliminate the role of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Moreover, those agreements have freed the Zionists to strike at the Arab nations. That is best evidenced in its repeated acts of aggression against Lebanese cities and villages and the Palestinian camps, as well as its destruction of the Iraqi nuclear reactor, under the watchful eyes of the AWACS planes stationed in a part of the Arab world.
89. The latest example of the American Administration's flouting of the international community is the strategic al-liance which it has formed with the Zionist entity. Such an alliance can only be interpreted as an advanced stage in a long-term plan of aggression and terrorism carried out by a super-Power which, as a permanent member of the Security Council, is supposed, by virtue of its position, to assume the major responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, instead of conniving with a terrorist racist entity which aspires to carry out the theory propounding Zionist occupation of the entire area.
90. The American Administration's submission to Zionist pressures happens even at the highest-level policymaking bodies, at the expense of the vital interests of the American people. This submissiveness has the inevitable result of placing not only the Arab homeland but all the countries in the region in a state of direct confrontation with the United States, which persists in defying the will of these peoples.
91. This pernicious alliance destroys completely the chances of success of any international initiative to reestablish peace in the region. Therefore, it is incumbent on the international community to discharge its responsibilities by denouncing and opposing this alliance and to. put an end to imperialist Zionist adventurism.
92. Those who believe in the role of the Organization cannot help asking themselves: Of what use-are its resolutions? Why should the United States and the Zionist entity ignore them? In order to remedy this regrettable situation, the United Nations must not content itself with issuing resolutions condemning the Zionist entity, for such condemnation is no longer adequate. The United

Nations has to move forward and impose those sanctions provided for in the Charter, including the expulsion of the Zionist entity, since the presence of a Member which regularly violates its principles and its Charter renders the Organization less effective.
93. The United Nations has an essential responsibility and a principal role in the field of disarmament, and we expect it to shoulder its responsibility in this regard. In spite of the efforts which it has hitherto exerted and which have resulted in a number of treaties banning nuclear tests and nuclear arms proliferation, and in the convening in 1978 of the tenth special session of the Assembly, on disarmament, the final objective, that of general and complete disarmament, still eludes it and will continue to do so as long as international relations are not based on equity but on persecution, oppression and the threat to use force.
94. The responsibility for maintaining security and peace is shared by all nations, but we believe that the greatest responsibility should fall on the major nuclear Powers and other countries which are engaged in the arms race. Disarmament should be achieved in accordance with the priorities stated in the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the Assembly [resolution S-10/2].
95. In this respect, the delegation of my country condemns the decision by the United States to produce the neutron bomb and to deploy nuclear missiles in Europe, which will result in an accelerated escalation of the arms race and jeopardize international security and peace.
96. The human race is today faced with many areas of tension which threaten international peace and security. In regard to northern Africa, the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has been following the issue of Western Sahara since the Sahraouian people started fighting colonialism. My country has already welcomed the initiative of Morocco, which has agreed to the holding of a referendum on the question and has supported the decision adopted at the latest session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity, held at Nairobi in August, on organizing this referendum [see A/36/534, annex II, resolution Algiers. 103 (XVIII)]. We hope that the referendum will take place in favorable circumstances so as to enable the Sahraouian people to express its desire and decide its own destiny.
97. We see that on the Asian continent the situation in Afghanistan is a source of worry. It has become obvious that the imperialist camp, under the leadership of the United States, is trying to exploit this situation in its struggle against the Soviet Union. This emphasizes the fact that the United States has no intention of accepting a peaceful solution of this issue. We in the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya reiterate our insistence that Afghanistan remain neutral, and we express our opinion that the international repercussions of the Afghan issue should be remedied and that the acts of aggression against Afghanistan should cease, so as to enable the friendly Government of Afghanistan, acting on it own, to re-establish peace and security in the country.
98. As for the-Korean issue, my delegation reaffirms its support for the unity of the Korean people and praises the

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peaceful efforts carried out thus far, especially if these efforts result in a non-aligned unified Korea uninvolved in any international conflict.
99. Bearing in mind militant imperialism and in conformity with the principles of the non-aligned movement,
and in an effort to promote co-operation among the countries of that movement, my country signed, in Aden on
19 August 1981, a treaty of co-operation and friendship with both Ethiopia and the People's Democratic Republic
of Yemen. This treaty aims at promoting the economic potential of its signatories and consolidating the political
co-operation among them so that they can maintain their neutrality and non-alignment.
100. The deterioration of the world economy and the symptoms of this deterioration that we witness in inflation, unemployment and economic stagnation can be attributed to the economic order that has prevailed since the Second World War.
101. It is clear that the major shortcoming of the current economic order is that it was established without the par-ticipation of the developing nations whose economy constitutes a major portion of the components of the world economy. Furthermore, the current economic order favors the interests of the developed industrial nations, which has prompted these nations, headed by the United States, to obstruct any serious step toward the establishment of a new international economic order. Though the General Assembly has defined the features of the new international economic order in its sixth and eleventh special sessions, and though more than a year has elapsed since the convening of the eleventh special session, a small group of capitalist countries still wrangles over a starting date for the global negotiations on development and international co-operation, in order to serve their own interest and in accordance with their conditions.
102. Economic co-operation among developing nations is a primary and necessary component for achieving a new international economic order, as well as one of its main objectives. Economic co-operation among developing nations cannot replace the North-South dialogue; it is complementary to it. Economic co-operation among developing nations has achieved tremendous progress during the past few years, particularly since the conferences at Arusha and Mexico and the High-level Conference on Economic Co-operation among Developing Countries, held last May at Caracas, which adopted a comprehensive, ambitious programme for economic co-operation among developing nations [A/36/333 and Corr.1, annex]. This programme will be a significant factor in achieving collective self-reliance and economic development of developing nations. The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jam-ahiriya, as a developing nation, whole-heartedly supports economic co-operation among developing nations and seeks the achievement of its objectives through the aid it provides to other developing nations, either bilaterally by establishing joint companies and banks, or in the form of the assistance provided by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or through trade and the exchange of experts or information in the scientific and technological fields.

103. Pursuant to its concern for social and humanitarian causes and inspired by the lofty ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya proposed during the thirty-first session of the General Assembly that the year 1981 be designated the International Year of Disabled Persons, with the theme "Rill Participation and Equality".
104. As we celebrate this International Year of Disabled Persons, and as we endeavour to implement its theme, we are delighted to commend the sincere response to all the plans—national, regional and international—to help accomplish the objectives of the International Year. It is a true indication of the importance bestowed by the international community upon more than 500 million disabled persons. We appeal to the international community to consider this Year as a starting point in meeting the concerns of disabled persons in the long term.
105. The Advisory Committee for the International Year of Disabled Persons, over which my country is honoured to preside, played a positive part in the activities relevant to the objectives of the International Year. Moreover, the long-term world plan of action, which the Advisory Committee will complete next year, will be of special importance in implementing the future policy of the international community in caring for disabled persons and promoting their participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their society equally with their fellow citizens.
106. We take this opportunity also to emphasize the importance of the World Symposium of Experts on Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries and Technical Assistance in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation, which is scheduled to be held at Vienna from 12 to 23 October 1981. We hope that this Symposium will have positive results leading to laying the foundations for technical collaboration in this humanitarian cause, thus contributing towards the realization of the objectives set out for the International Year of Disabled Persons.
107. Among the activities undertaken by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya at the national level was the convening last May of the National Conference on Disabled Persons living in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to consider the programmes that would best assist them. Subsequently, Bill No. 3 for the year 1981 was promulgated, which is considered a progressive law in the field of preventing disability and of rehabilitation. At the international level, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya organized ah international symposium recently, from 27 September to 4 October, the theme of which was "Full Participation and Integration". A great number of countries and international organizations, governmental and non-governmental, participated.
108. Although it is now more than 35 years since the Second World War ended, its economic and social effects are still felt in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and other countries. In addition to the total and direct destruction inflicted on the cities and villages of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya during the war itself, my country still suffers from the remnants of this destructive war because of the minefields planted by the belligerent forces, which cover vast areas of our territory. Thousands of innocent victims

109. among the Libyan people have been killed or mutilated as a result of the mines, which have sown death and destruction across Libyan territory. Barely a day passes without a mine explosion causing the death or mutilation of an innocent citizen whose contribution to the process of economic and social transformation is so desperately needed. The belligerent countries which were immediately responsible for the minefields know very well what is happening. Those countries, moreover, have not yet carried out their international obligations, foremost of which is to provide the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya with the maps, information and other necessary data which would help in solving this problem.
110. 109. Although this problem has been before the international community for some time, and despite the adoption of numerous resolutions, the latest being General Assembly resolution 35/71, which provides for compensating the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the material and human losses arising from this problem, no noticeable progress has been made, because the countries involved have not honored their obligations.
111. 110. We demand that these countries and the whole international community take the necessary measures to solve this problem and stop the bloodshed among innocent victims.
112. 111. With regard to the Charter of the United Nations and strengthening the role of the Organization, the great majority of nations have noticed in the past few years that the decline in the role of the United Nations in general, and the Security Council in particular, is primarily the result of the existence of the privilege entailed in the right of veto. The misuse of this privilege by some of the great Powers hampers the attempts of the United Nations to find peaceful and just solutions to world problems. The United States used this privilege during the voting on the draft resolution before the Security Council condemning South Africa's racist regime for its aggression last month against the People's Republic of Angola. It is clear that the right of veto has been used on issues of concern to the national security of some States that are permanent members of the Security Council without regard for the objective with which they justified their enjoyment of this right—the protection of world peace and the maintenance of the balance of power.
113. 112. The time has come to look thoroughly into the role of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization [General Assembly resolution 3499 (XXX)]. During the seven years since it was established as the Ad Hoc Committee on the Charter of the United Nations [resolution 3349 (XXIX)], it has failed to accomplish the task entrusted to it. We are now faced with the option of either seeking an alternative to this Committee or reorienting its work in the right direction so that it will have specific objectives,’ including a re-examination of the rule which requires consensus of the permanent members of the Security Council, taking into consideration the following: the principle of equality among nations, maintenance of international peace and security as a responsibility shared by all Member States, the strengthening of the role of the Security Council in preserving international peace

and security and an increase in the number of members of the Security Council to reflect the new forces mat have emerged in the international arena.
113. The right of veto in its present form is one of the spoils of war, as it was exclusively appropriated by the victorious nations in the Second World War. The establishment of the United Nations as an international organ-ization embracing the entire international community should have been geopolitical reason enough to make the right of veto a balancing element among groups and continents. However, the continuing monopoly of the right of veto in the prevailing manner will prompt us to question the effectiveness of the United Nations and its resolutions.
114. In conclusion, on behalf of the delegation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, I wish to express our sincere hope that the Organization will be successful in promoting good relations among peoples and achieving prosperity, as well as international peace and security.
115. Mr. YAMBALA (Central African Republic) {interpretation from French): It was with shock that we learned yesterday of the heinous and brutal death of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Mankind as a whole must feel in the very depth of its soul and heart this great and irreparable loss. Africa has lost one of its great political figures. Sadat was a man of history, and history has claimed him. The delegation of the Central African Republic wishes to associate itself with the feelings that have been expressed in these sad circumstances and to offer its n:ost heartfelt condolences to the delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
116. I should like at the outset of my statement before this gathering of persons bearing immense responsibilities for the destiny of mankind to transmit the wishes for full success and signal achievement addressed to it by General of the Army Andre Kolingba, President of the Military Committee for National Reconstruction and Head of State, who has full confidence and great faith in the future of the United Nations.
117. It is a message of peace and hope that he sends through this political gathering to the whole of the inter-national community, so that tomorrow's horizon may be clearer, more serene, more peaceful and more promising for the total fulfillment of all peoples in freedom, justice and independence. It is a message of peace and hope en-compassing the concerns of mankind, with which the Assembly is dealing for the purpose of finding, in the spirit of consultation and of resolve typical of it, timely solutions to the conflicts and tension which threaten the stability of our world.
118. In keeping with custom and tradition, I should like now to express the pound satisfaction of the Central African Republic at seeing a great and worthy son of the Republic of Iraq presiding over the present meetings of the General Assembly.
119. Mr. President, your efforts and your personal action to ensure that our debates will proceed with tolerance and in harmony are a valuable and encouraging contribution to the success of this session.

General Assembly—Thirty-sixth Session—Plenary Meetings

120. The Republic of Iraq and the Central African Republic are maintaining relations woven and strengthened through their membership in the group of States that were formerly oppressed and, therefore, are present at all the struggles for political, cultural and economic emancipation.
121. Hence the Central African Republic for its part remains convinced that this session will provide another op-portunity to demonstrate the vitality and the depth of that will to collaborate and to co-operate that have always been the hallmark of the friendship and fraternity between the two countries.
122. I should also like to express to Mr. Ruddier von Watchman, the outgoing President, our total satisfaction with the competence and effectiveness- with which he guided the work of previous sessions.
123. I wish also to take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the Secretary-General for his dedication to the service of the United Nations.
124. Finally, I wish to affirm here the constant readiness of the Central African Republic to establish the conditions of beneficial co-operation with Vanuatu and Belize, whose admission to the United Nations, which we warmly welcome, increases the Organization'' ability to deal with the various problems confronting it.
125. As I have just emphasized, the theme of the message which the Central African Republic wishes to transmit to the General Assembly is a triptych the three panels of which are freedom, security and development.
126. Freedom, security and development are three es-sen*** concepts for us because they inspire all political actiea based on nobility and generosity; three concepts which today are acquiring by their relevance a special character and by their gravity a singular tone.
127. Freedom is an expression whose depth, nobility and grandeur are mingled and frequently confused in mythology. It has inspired and continues to inspire every reappraisal of an economic and socio-political order. It sets its indelible seal on many of our mottoes, constitutions and coats-of-arms. It is to be found at the beginning and at the end of all our actions.
128. And yet, how fragile it remains in our hearts and how precarious in our spirits, greatened and violated by our actions! Subtle confiscation of political and economic power, violence, terrorism, moral poverty—all are constants which daily infringe the freedom of those who are powerless in the face of the uncertainties of a disorganized, conditioned and mechanized world.
129. Deriving all profit possible from an international order fundamentally in their favour, the rich are skillfully channeling their disorders and aggressiveness towards others abroad.
130. Threatened and violated at home, our freedom is daily the object of manipulation, constraint and domination. Our poverty, which is maintained by legend, is the

convenient support for legitimizing the constant violation of our freedom, which is always supervised, always pre-carious. In the name of a world stability established without us and against us, we are daily the victims of blackmail, destabilization, aggression and annexation.
131. In Africa, in Asia and in Latin America, none of our lands, none of our waters, none of our skies, is sheltered from threat or from force.
132. Angola, Lebanon, Cyprus, Korea, Afghanistan, Democratic Kampuchea are so many sad and tragic examples of the human conscience trampled on and violated by dangerous external interference with no other justification than the aggressive resurgence of ideological propensities to subjugation and moral, political, economic or racial domination.
133. Our unswerving attachment to the freedom we have won at the price of great sacrifices, and the scrupulous preservation of our diversities but also of our complementarities, demand of us more insistently than ever not to yield to bargaining and intimidation. Nevertheless, this conviction must not give the impression of the defence of a refuge, of an illusory retreat into ourselves.
134. We sincerely and profoundly believe in international solidarity and in the virtues essential for world dialogue, on the one and only condition that there is strict respect for our respective values and our identities. A dialogue that ignores this pre-condition is synonymous with domination; it destroys understanding, sows distrust, produces confrontation and engenders war.
135. This freedom we seek for our independent States is something we claim even more insistently for the peoples of Namibia, East Timor and all those that in sweat and blood accept martyrdom for the liberation of their homelands. Our freedom will have real value and genuine significance only when it is extended and amplified by that of the peoples still under colonial or racist domination.
136. In the same context, we most earnestly call for a speedy solution to the problems of Western Sahara, May-otte and the conflict between Iran and Iraq. Upon our capacity to solve those crises by dialogue, and within appropriate regional or international institutions, depend our strength and credibility in all negotiations that we conduct for our survival and our collective security.
137. Security is another panel of the triptych which has always underlain all action, peaceful or, otherwise, inspired the founding States of the United Nations at San Francisco, and today remains the primary concern of all our States. And yet many great clouds are still darkening the sky of security and peace.
138. Aggressive and unbridled rivalry in the world leadership is no longer held in check by the precarious but highly salutary balance -of peace and security. The growing control of the seas and oceans for strategic purposes, allied to an unprecedented proliferation of military bases, the increase in expenditure resulting from the dangerous refining of die concept of balance of power, the impasse in international negotiations on disarmament and on the rational use of the common resources of mankind, the brutal recourse to violence and the unacceptable inter-

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ference in the internal affairs of weak States—these are some of the dangers that must be averted as we approach the dawn of the new century.
139. The delegation of the Central African Republic considers that Democratic Kampuchea and Korea are, among others, two obvious cases of a most alarming situation which endangers international peace and security.
140. It is therefore essential for any. satisfactory settlement to be based on the withdrawal of all foreign forces from those countries, the preservation and restoration of their sovereignty and territorial integrity and the determination of their destiny solely in accordance with the will of their peoples.
141. It is hardly necessary to point also to the grave threats to international peace and security in southern Africa, Cyprus, Lebanon and Afghanistan. To ignore these situations would be a capitulation by the universal conscience which we represent and to turn aside from it would be to risk a holocaust mat would spare none.
142. Far be it from us to plunge into excessive pessimism and fatalism. We profoundly believe in the moral capacity of man and in his striking ability to look back into his past in order to exercise more control over his future. That is how to measure the progress, Uneven but amazing, which mankind continues to achieve.
143. I should like now to deal with the third panel of the triptych, which concerns development. Since the sixth special session of the General Assembly, in 1974, the international community has been growing more aware of the phenomenon of the economic interdependence of States and their common destiny.
144. The collapse of the present monetary system, inflation, and the energy and food crises have in these past few years highlighted the reality of this interdependence and have led to the convening of numerous conferences whose purpose was to install a new framework for economic relations based on the principles of equity and the sovereignty of all States.
145. To be sure, the international community has taken action-oriented decisions intended to trigger the process of correcting existing injustices, reducing the growing gap between developed and developing countries and facilitating the economic and social advancement of the latter. But even today, at the beginning of the Third United Nations Development Decade, we see that unfortunately very little has been done, because of the selfishness and lack of political will of most of the industrialized countries.
146. Thus, various uncertainties continue to loom over the economy of the countries of the third world: the instability of the international monetary system constantly and seriously disrupts their balance of payments and constantly puts their exports at a disadvantage on the world market, while their import prices are increasing disproportionately. In addition there are obstacles of all kinds imposed by various protectionist measures.
147. The absence of financial means and the insufficiency of the real transfer of resources and technology

further increase the dependence of developing countries and teir debt-servicing costs. Today this situation has deteriorated to an extent that calls for the immediate implementation of the decisions already adopted to remedy the inequalities of the present economic system.
148. The Central African Republic accordingly welcomes die adoption last year by the General Assembly of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade [resolution 35/56], and the adoption of die Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries4 by the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which was held at Paris from 1 to 14 September 1981. The Government of the Central African Republic wishes to appeal to the conscience of the rich countries to implement fully the important measures decided on as a result of those meetings.
149. Yet I cannot conceal my country's concern at the delay in the launching of the global negotiations which should, in principle, have started last January but which have not, as a result of continuing differences on questions of procedure and timetable. Nevertheless, I hope mat the forthcoming International Meeting on Co-operation and Development, at Cancun, will produce a useful compromise capable of satisfying all the parties concerned in the North-South dialogue.
150. The Central African Republic, for its part, will make its contribution to all the noble battles for equality, social justice and development.
151. And now, before concluding my statement, I should like to draw the General Assembly's attention to the situation prevailing in my country, two years after the fall of the empire and the restoration of the Republic.
152. Since the historic date of I September last, the Central African people, still suffering in body and spirit from the nightmare of 14 long years of a vile and wretched dictatorship, has called on its army to shape a new destiny which is more in keeping with its basic concerns. It could no longer remain silent and accept politicians who for two years had left the country bogged down in a serious economic, social and political crisis, in anarchy and disorder, with inevitable inclinations to de-stabilization. Nor could it any longer agree to shed its blood once more in face of the total incompetence of the last decaying regime, and the stupidity and irresponsibility of the various political parties.
153. That was why, in response to an urgent and distressed appeal, the Army, which was the sole remaining guarantor of the nation's vital interests, took power without any bloodshed. Invested with this mission for a limited period, the Army suspended the Constitution of 2 February 1981 and the activities of all the political parties and undertook a vigorous programme of national reconciliation, made essential by the dangers and tensions that were tearing our country apart and that contained all the. seeds of an inevitable civil war. The improvement thus undertaken is designed to produce a new framework for a genuine democratic society where freely accepted consultation will ever remain the ideal of all Central African citizens.

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General Assembly—Thirty-sixth Session—Plenary Meetings

154. Deeply aware that nothing lasting can be done without freedom, security and peace, the Military Committee for National Rehabilitation, set up by General of the Army Kolingba, has likewise proclaimed its faith in the principles and ideals of the United Nations, in the OAU, in the non-alignment movement and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
155. That is why it has undertaken to respect all international obligations entered into earlier, thereby showing its permanent readiness to pursue and deepen the relations of friendship and co-operation with all the States which love peace and justice, with due regard for its national sovereignty. It sees therein the essential conditions which could contribute to the rehabilitation and rapid development of the Central African Republic.
156. As members are aware, the reign of the dictator Bookcase, which was characterized by irrational exploita-tion, a systematic plundering of our natural resources and an anarchic management of public property, plunged the country into an unprecedented economic and financial crisis. Thus production as a whole has fallen by about 50 per cent as compared with 1971.
157. The transport and communications networks have deteriorated completely for lack of maintenance, thereby bringing about, especially in the case of the road networks, the paralysis of collection and marketing systems for agricultural products.
158. With regard to the financial situation, poor management caused by uncontrolled withdrawals and unpro-ductive expenditures has led to a budgetary deficit of more than $46 million, out of a budget of $108 million, while the cumulative debt now amounts to $248 million.
159. The social and educational sectors have not been spared. Together with the constant depreciation in pur-chasing power and the continuous impoverishment of the population there has been a total degradation of the health and educational services and infrastructure, which were already inadequate, thereby leading to an increase in'dis-ease, a rise in the rate of drop-outs and a growing deficiency in the training of technicians.
160. Although a biennial plan for economic and social improvement for 1980-1981 was established by the pre-vious regime, the situation has scarcely changed. Indeed, it has deteriorated as a result of the inadequacy of financial means and the failure to carry out the programme set up.
161. That is why the primary task assigned to the Military Committee for National Reconstruction is the reorder-ing of the economy, with the following principal objectives: the improvement of public finances, agricultural and pastoral development to ensure food self-sufficiency and the necessary income for the rural population, the reconstruction of the road network to ensure permanent communication between the provinces and between the provinces and the capital and the rehabilitation and establishment of educational and health institutions.
162. It goes without saying that, to enable the Military Committee to carry out this minimum emergency pro-

gramme, and taking into account the dire situation which I have just described, external assistance is essential. Ac-cordingly, I should like to address an appeal from this rostrum to the international community in general, and to friendly co entries in particular, for financial and technical assistance, so that the Central African Republic may be able to achieve its priority goals.
163. It is in this context also that I think it very useful to recall resolution 35/87 of 5 December 1980, in which
the General Assembly:
"Urgently appeals to all Member States, the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system and international economic and financial institutions to contribute generously, through bilateral or multilateral channels, to the reconstruction, rehabilitation and development of the Central African Republic".
164. The Military Committee strongly hopes that the international programme of financial, technical and material assistance advocated in that resolution will be established as soon as possible.
165. Lastly, I should like to thank all the States Members of the United Nations and international organizations which have already made their contribution to the implementation of that resolution.
166. The irony of fate is such that my country, which is classified among the least advanced countries of the world, is moreover also land-locked and thereby is confronted wim enormous difficulties. But fate has also made it a land of the future, thanks to its great economic potential, the greater part of which is as yet untapped. It is for this reason that the Central African Republic is opening its doors to all investors and urges them to come in large numbers to exploit the enormous possibilities which it offers to them.
167. Thirty-six years after San Francisco, we must reflect on the future of the Organization and define the new course which the Member States must follow in order to correct the errors of the past. Our hope is to establish a new world, a world of peace, free from all anxiety and all threats of war. It is a hope as well as faith in die future of mankind, which must convince the strong as well as the weak, the rich as well as the poor, of the indissoluble nature of the common destiny of man.
The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m.
NOTES
1 See The Department of State Bulletin, vol. LXXVII, No. 19999
(Washington, D.C.r U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), pp.
483-496.
2 Frente Popular para la Liberation de Saguia el-Hamra y de Rfo de
Oro.
3 See Official Records of the Security Council, Thirty-sixth Year, Sup
plceement for July, August and September 1981, document S/14659.

See Report of the United Nations Conference on the Least Devel
oped Countries (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.82.I.8), part
one, sect. A.