Heads of state or government.

• Position: Addresses at the opening of the thirty-ninth General Assembly of the United Nations

Raul R. Alfonsin, of Argentina: "We are witnessing today the extent to which strategic purposes tend almost exclusively to define relations betwen States." Bystanders and actors appear to follow two kinds of logic: the logic of peace, based on ethical arguments, and the logic of the arms race, based on threats. "The worrying thing is that those who hold to one logic do not listen to and hear those who hold to the other."

The world cannot oscillate between peace and a devastating nuclear war; countries must work together to influence present and future events. In a declaration ratified on 22 May, Argentina joined the Heads of State or Government of Greece, India, Mexico, Tanzania and Sweden in expressing the conviction that there must not be another world war and that the advance towards "global suicide" must be halted.

It is not only the arms race that endangers peace. Peace and security today are seriously affected by the enormous disparities between the rich countries and the developing ones. The need for a more equitable international order is not just ethical but also practical: "an unjust world is today more than ever before an unstable and insecure world". It must be realized that the destiny of the developing countries directly affects the industrialized world. The international community as a whole and the developed countries in particular must show their willingness to listen to the economic and political proposals formulated by the States which represent two thirds of mankind.

The world economic order is increasingly becoming an exclusively financial order. But a "world in which politics is replaced by arsenals and economy by finance is simply a world in danger". Latin America's foreign debt crisis affects the creditor as well as debtor countries. To restore rationality to the financial order, North-South dialogue is a necessity.

What Argentina can present to the international community are "words of peace translated into peaceful actions". In that context, it has taken steps, within the framework of mediation by Pope John Paul II, to end a century-old conflict with its neighbour, Chile. And it is committed to seeking restitution of the Malvinas Islands only through peaceful means. Unfortunately, judging from recent bilateral contacts which culminated in a meeting at Berne under the auspices of Switzerland and Brazil, Argentina has been left with nothing but the United Kingdom's clearly stated intention to postpone negotiations on the question.

Thomas Sankara, President of the National Council of the Revolution of Burkina Faso: "We refuse simple survival. We want to ease pressures, to free our countryside from medieval stagnation or regression. We want to democratize our society ... We swear that in future in Burkina Faso nothing will be done without the participation of the people of Burkina Faso themselves ... There shall be no more attacks on our honour and dignity."

The indignation of the people is easily transformed into rebellion and revolution in the face of "the crumbs tossed to them in the ignominious form of some aid", to which humiliating conditions are sometimes attached. The new international order can be achieved "only if we manage to do away with the old order, which completely ignores us; only if we insist on the place which is ours in the political organization of the world".

The folly of those who, "by a quirk of fate, rule the world" makes it imperative for the Non-Aligned Countries to consider as one of the permanent goals of their struggle the achievement of disarmament, which is an essential condition of development.

The quest for peace involves the strict application of the right of countries to independence. In the Middle East, Israel should realize that the conditions for its own tranquility are not to be found in military strength financed from outside. "Israel must begin to learn to be a nation among other nations, one among many." Burkina Faso declares its solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Burkina Faso welcomes the decision to withdraw foreign troops from Chad. It condemns the treatment of the people of Western Sahara by Morocco, which has been using "delaying tactics to postpone the day of reckoning that will in any event be force upon it by the will of the Sahraoui people". As to the question of Mayotte and Malagasy, the facts are clear: Mayotte belongs to the Comoros, and the islands of the Malagasy arechipelago belong to Madagascar.

The "unbelievable insolence" of South Africa, which has erected terrorism into a State system designed physically to liquidate the black majority of that country, is one of the most serious concerns of the world today. Secure in the knowledge that it will obtain the "complicity" of the big Powers and the "criminal collaboration" of some leaders of African countries, the white minority simply ignores the feelings of people all over the world who oppose apartheid. Burkina Faso demands that throughout the world the campaign to free Nelson Mandela be intensified.

The United Nations remains "the ideal forum for our demands", the place where the "legitimacy of countries which have no voice" is recognized. The Organization should be strengthened and provided with the means to take action. It should be helped in breaking the "many deadlocks which have been carefully preserved by the great Powers". Burkina Faso proposes that the structures of the United Nations be reviewed and revised to put an end to "the scandal of the right of veto". The absence of Africa from the club of those who have the veto is an injustice which must be ended.

Prince Samdech Norodom Sihanouk, President of Democratic Kampuchea: The Government and people of Kampuchea "offer heartfelt thanks to all the countries that have given shelter to Khmer refugees", especially Thailand, which has shown exemplary compassion and solidarity.

"This year, our liberation struggle has scored new successes in the battlefield." Vietnam thought it had found a solution to its set-backs by installing Vietnamese "peasant soldiers" on the best lands of Kampuchea. Foreign observers have reported that the process of colonization of Cambodia has reached an alarming degree.

Some people still repeat "the propaganda themes of the Vietnamese" that the Phnom Penh regime is desired and supported by all the Khmer people. For international public opinion to judge the validity of that statement, Democratic Kampuchea repeats the proposal that, after withdrawal of Vietnamese forces, general elections in which all parties and political groupings could freely participate be organized under United Nations supervision. It is clear that for the time being, Viet Nam and its allies reject any political solution to the problem of Kampuchea. The Hanoi proposal for unconditional talks between the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEA) countries and the Indochinese States seeks "to bury the five relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly on Kampuchea" and to recognize the Vietnamese fait accompli. The intensification of the struggle and the increasing support by the international community will soon, it is hoped, make Viet Nam participate in the International Conference on Kampuchea.

"Thus far, the Vietnamese have left us no alternative but to fight them. We sincerely hope that they will soon realize the need to negotiate with the legitimate representatives of the people of Kampuchea and understand that there would be no humiliation involved in establishing between our two peoples relations based on justice, wisdom and equity."

Democratic Kampuchea reiterates its solidarity with Laos and supports the proposals for the reunification of Korea. It also supports the Afghan people in their struggle against the Soviet invasion and the Palestinian people in efforts to recover its legitimate national rights.

Kampuchea welcomes the establishment of a Government of National Union in Lebanon and urges Iraq and Iran to end the escalation of the war between them.

Jose Napoleon Duarte, President of El Salvador: "Peace undoubtedly is the greatest yearning of all men ... I too come before the Assembly to speak of peace. But I shall not refer to the dangers ... of the unbridled arms race ... I shall not speak of nuclear confrontation ... I should like to speak about the peace of Nicaragua, of the guerrillas and Contadora and make an appeal to reason and fraternity which we deserve in Central America. I want us to ... reconcile our differences."

A grave situation faces Central America. Imbalances in the international economic system and trade, excessive protectionism, unemployment, external indebtedness and other factors affect the region's weak economic structures. El Salvador supports an open regional dialogue to permit the countries of the region to determine their own destiny by consensus.

"We Central Americans must not become the tools in a struggle of the interests and ideologies of foreign Powers and certainly not the mere instruments of those Powers, thus denying our own nationalism and characteristics and frustrating the aspirations of our peoples and their right to live in peace and freedom."

The Contadora process is the only available course. El Salvador appreciates the Group's proposals to find a peaceful way to resolve regional conflict. But any agreement for peace and co-operation in the region must guarantee strict application of the 21 points that have already been accepted by all parties. It must also ensure appropriate verification measures and an end to the presence of foreign military advisers and aid. It must entail a commitment not to support or continue assistance to terrorist activity against El Salvador's Government.

"Terrorist violence has become an end in itself, which proves that its objective is no longer liberation, and certainly not democracy."

The "profound process of change" begun in El Salvador in 1979 has been consolidated. Two rounds of presidential elections...