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BHS/edd 48 (Mr. Alarcon de Quesada, Cuba) strategic interests of a great Power which considers itself the master of the Middle East - for those reasons, my delegation cannot support this draft resolution.

The President: I thank the representative of Cuba for his kind words addressed to me.

Mr. Peñalosa (Colombia) (interpretation from Spanish): Since the earliest days of the creation of the United Nations, States have expressed their concern for the defence of life, liberty and independence and the preservation of human values from the use of force; they have recognized the need to maintain international peace and security and to establish an organization based upon the principle of the sovereign equality of peace-loving States. It was in that spirit of peace that the United Nations was founded, and it is that abiding spirit which has brought us here today.

Nevertheless, more than four decades have passed since that time, and the world has witnessed many instances of international conflicts, occupation and military confrontation, resulting in millions of deaths and incalculable material damage, which we were unable to prevent or resolve. On various occasions the Security Council expressed its condemnation but was unable to impose sanctions upon those responsible for the violation of the principles which we ourselves had formulated and respect, or upon those who refused to comply with the decisions of this Council.

In such situations the so-called veto power has prevailed, for reasons of a political nature. Had this not been the case, we could have created solid precedents which might have prevented the recurrence of the type of situation we are dealing with today. Colombia has, since the founding of the United Nations, pointed out the harm caused by the exercise of that discriminatory veto power, and we wish to take this opportunity to urge respect for and compliance with the