The Ninth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Serving as Organ of Consultation in Application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance,
Having seen the report of the Investigating Committee designated on December 3,1963, by the Council of the Organization of American States, acting provisionally as Organ of Consultation, and
That the said report establishes among its conclusions that "the Republic of Venezuela has been the target of a series of actions sponsored and directed by the Government of Cuba, openly intended to subvert Venezuelan institutions and to overthrow the democratic Government of Venezuela through terrorism, sabotage, assault, and guerrilla warfare," and
That the aforementioned acts, like all acts of intervention and aggression, conflict with the principles and aims of the inter-American system,
1. To declare that the acts verified by the Investigating Committee constitute an aggression and an intervention on the part of the Government of Cuba in the internal affairs of Venezuela, which affects all of the member states.
2. To condemn emphatically the present Government of Cuba for its acts of aggression and of intervention against the territorial inviolability, the sovereignty, and the political independence of Venezuela.
3. To apply, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 6 and 8 of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the following measures:
a. That the governments of the American States not maintain diplomatic or consular relations with the Government of Cuba;
b. That the governments of the American states suspend all their trade, whether direct or indirect, with Cuba, except in foodstuffs, medicines, and medical equipment that may be sent to Cuba for humanitarian reasons; and
c. That the governments of the American states suspend all sea transportation between their countries and Cuba except for such transportation as may be necessary for reasons of a humanitarian nature.
4. To authorize the Council of the Organization of American States, by an affirmative vote of two thirds of its members, to discontinue the measures adopted in the present resolution at such time as the Government of Cuba shall have ceased to constitute a danger to the peace and security of the hemisphere.
5. To warn the Government of Cuba that if it should persist in carrying out acts that possess characteristics of aggression and intervention against one or more of the member states of the Organization, the member states shall preserve their essential rights as sovereign states by the use of self-defense in either individual or collective form, which could go so far as resort to armed force, until such time as the Organ of Consultation takes measures to guarantee the peace and security of the hemisphere.
6. To urge those states not members of the Organization of American States that are animated by the same ideals as the inter-American system to examine the possibility of effectively demonstrating their solidarity in achieving the purpose of this resolution.
7. To instruct the Secretary General of the Organization of American States to transmit to the United Nations Security Council the text of the present resolution, in accordance with the provisions of Article 54 of the United Nations Charter.
The preamble to the Charter of the Organization of American States declares that, "the historic mission of America is to over to man a land of liberty, and a favorable environment for the development of his personality and the realization of his just aspirations"; and that "the true significance of American solidarity and good neighborliness can only mean the consolidation on this continent, within the framework of democratic institutions, of a system of individual liberty and social justice based on respect for the essential rights of man";
The Charter of the Organization declares that the solidarity of the American states and the high purposes toward which it is dedicated demand that the political organization of these states be based on the effective exercise of representative democracy;
The Charter also proclaims "the fundamental rights of the individual" and reaffirms that the "education of peoples should be directed toward justice, freedom, and peace";
The Declaration of Santiago, Chile, adopted by the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and signed by the present Cuban Government, proclaimed that the faith of peoples of America in the effective exercise of representative democracy is the best vehicle for the promotion of their social and political progress (Resolution XCV of the Tenth Inter-American Conference), while well-planned and intensive development of the economies of the American countries and improvement in the standard of living of their peoples represent the best and firmest foundation on which the practical exercise of democracy and the stabilization of their institutions can be established;
The Ninth International Conference of American States condemned "the methods of every system tending to suppress political and civil rights and liberties, and in particular the action of international communism or any other totalitarian doctrine"
The present Government of Cuba, identifying itself with the principles of Marxist-Leninist ideology, has established a political, economic, and social system alien to the democratic and Christian traditions of the America family of nations and contrary to the principles of juridical organization upon which rests the security and peaceful harmonious relations of the peoples of the hemisphere, and
The exclusion of the present Government of Cuba from participation in the inter-American system, by virtue of the provisions of Resolution VI of the Eighth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, by no means signifies any intention to deny the Cuban people their rightful place in the community of American peoples;
The Ninth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Serving as Organ of Consultation in Application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance,
That the free peoples of the Americas are convinced that the Inter-American system offers to the Cuban people unequaled conditions for the realization of their ideals of peace, liberty, and social and economic progress;
That the peoples belonging to the inter-American system are in complete sympathy with the Cuban people in all their sufferings, in the face of the total loss of their liberty both in the spiritual domain and in the social and economic field, the denial of their most elementary human rights, the burden of their persecutions, and the destruction of a legal system that was open to improvement and that offered the possibility of stability; and
That, within this spirit of solidarity, the free peoples of America cannot and must not remain indifferent to or uninterested in the fate of the noble Cuban people, which is oppressed by a dictatorship that renounces the Christian and democratic traditions of the American peoples; and in consequence
1. Its profound concern for the fate of the brother people of Cuba.
2. Its deepest hope that the Cuban people, strengthened by confidence in the solidarity with them of the other American peoples and governments, will be able, by their own endeavor, very soon to liberate themselves from the tyranny of the communist regime that oppresses them and to establish in that country a government freely elected by the will of the people that will assure respect for fundamental human rights.
3. Its firm conviction that the emphatic condemnation of the policy of the present Cuban Government of aggression and intervention against Venezuela will be taken by the people of Cuba as a renewed stimulus for its hope there will come to prevail in that country a climate of freedom that will offer to man in Cuba a favorable environment for the development of his personality and the realization of his just aspirations.
The objectives of liberty and democracy that inspire the inter-American system, threatened as they are by communist subversion, cannot be fully attained if the peoples of the states that compose it lack adequate and sufficient means for bringing about vigorous social progress and better standards of living;
The persistence of a situation in which the world is divided into areas of poverty and plenty is a serious obstacle to any possibility that may present itself in the American hemisphere for achieving an economically more just society;
Harmonious and decisive action is indispensable, in both the regional and the international spheres, to combat the causes of economic underdevelopment and social backwardness, since prosperity and world peace based on the freedom of man cannot be achieved unless all the American countries attain equality in the economic and social field;
In particular, the continued existence of such a state of underdevelopment and poverty among large sectors of mankind, which becomes more acute in spite of the world increase in wealth and the advance of science and technology from which these sectors cannot derive full benefit, encourages the subversive action of international communism;
The countries of Latin America expressed their aspirations in the Charter of Alta Gracia and declared their determined intention to work together to build a better world in which there will be a more equitable distribution of income
The Conference on Trade and Development held recently in Geneva, provided a forum for a full discussion of the problems of international economics and established the basis for adequate solutions to problems arising in the fields of raw materials, manufactured products, and international financing; and
The instruments adopted at the two aforementioned meetings supplement and perfect those signed at the Special Meeting of the Inter-American Economic and Social Council held at Punts del Este in August 1961, and especially, the Charter of Punta del Este,
The Ninth Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs Serving as Organ of Consultation in Application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance,
That the aims of unity and peace with liberty and democracy pursued in the struggle against international communism which threatens the stability of the institutions of the inter-American system and of the countries that compose it, must be achieved by eliminating those obstacles that hinder social progress and economic development, and
1. To reaffirm the determined will of their peoples to work in the regional and international spheres. for the achievement of the objectives expressed in the Charter of Alta Gracia and at the Conference on Trade and Development, which are in line with the aims and purposes of the Alliance for Progress.
2. To request the Inter-American Economic and Social Council to continue the necessary studies in order to find adequate solutions to the problems involved.
The Delegation of Chile abstained from voting on paragraphs 1 and 2 of the operative part of Resolution I, because of its doubts regarding the legality of the use of the term "aggresion" in describing the acts. It voted negatively on paragraph 3, because it is firmly convinced that the measures agreed to are not appropriate to the particular case that has brought about the application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance. It also voted against paragraph 5, because it believes that there are discrepancies between the provisions of that paragraph and those of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and of Article 3 of the Rio Treaty. With reference to its abstention on paragraph 6, its attitude is consistent with the attitude taken with respect to the measures called for in paragraph 3.
The Delegation of Chile abstained from voting on the Declaration to the People of Cuba since, although agreeing with its basic content, it maintains relations with the Republic of Cuba and since it believes precisely in the principle of nonintervention it has deemed it preferable not to give positive support to this resolution.
The Delegation of Mexico wishes to make it a matter of record in the Final Act, that the Government of Mexico:
1. Is convinced that the measures provided for in the third paragraph of the operative part of Resolution I, which the Delegation of Mexico voted against, lack foundation, inasmuch as the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance does not envisage, in any part, the application of such measures in situations of the kind and nature dealt with by this Meeting of Consultation.
2. Makes a specific reservation to the fifth paragraph of the operative part of the same resolution since it endeavors to extend, in such a way as to be incompatible with the provisions of Articles 3 and 10 of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, the right to individual or collective self-defense.
3. Reiterates without reservations its "will to cooperate permanently in the fulfillment of the principles and purposes of a policy of peace," to which "is essentially related" the "obligation of mutual assistance and common defense of the American Republics," in accordance with the provisions of paragraph five of the Preamble of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance.
(1) Adopted by a vote of 15 to 4 (Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay). Venezuela was not eligible to vote. Back
NOTE.-Other resolutions were also adopted at this conference.
(2) Adopted by a vote of 16 to 0, with 3 abstentions (Bolivia, Chile, Mexico). Back
(3) Adopted by a vote of 19 to 0. Back
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Source: Inter-American relations; collection of documents, legislation, descriptions of inter-American organizations, and other material pertaining to inter-American affairs. Compiled by Barry Sklar and Virginia M. Hagen Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1972 |