South African History Online

Oviedo, Spain, 31 October 1992

Your Majesty The Queen,
Your Royal Highness The Prince of Asturias,
Your excellencies,
The President of the Prince of Asturias Foundation,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a single and notable honour for me to receive from your Royal Highness,
Don Felipe, Prince of Asturias, the Prize for International Co-operation, named
after you. This is my third visit to Spain and each has been an occasion for joy
and celebration.

In July the world rejoiced with you when Spain hosted the Olympic Games, a
spectacular gathering of the world at peace with itself. The ceremonies showed
to the world that Spain can unite the old and the new and forge a common
identity out of its richness of diverse regions, culture and civilisation.

The world needs peace so that the proud claims in the Charter of the United
Nations can be renewed and refashioned to meet the challenges of the future. We
must all support the review of the role of the United Nations now being
undertaken so that a democratic and stronger United Nations can fulfil the hopes
of humanity.

The new international order must not become a cloak for the naked
self-interest of powerful states but must be based on solidarity and
international law.

During our long years of imprisonment on Robben Island, our real contact with
the international community was through the principles of international law and
the forums of the United Nations. We were sustained by the support of the
international community who, even during the height of the Cold War, by their
consensus, united in the rejection of apartheid. It is our great challenge to
develop new areas of consensus to consolidate the developments of our era.

The principle of decolonisation and the acceptance of the rights of all
nations to belong to and participate equally in the life of the world community
must not be debased so as to oppress other peoples.

Further, the acceptance of universally applicable standards of human rights,
the enjoyment of which is the right of all human beings must now be strengthened
by collective measures under the auspices of the Security Council to avert gross
violations of human rights and the crime of all crimes, genocide.

Finally, the international community must, as an urgent priority, establish
mechanisms to ensure that the finite resources of our planet are not
dissipated.

Africa's heritage of beneficial, cultural, political and social relations
with the peoples of other continents is a proud and creative achievement of a
human-centred sensibility. We still endeavour to emulate its values. In
particular, our relations with Spain, dating back to ancient times, compel us to
speculate - what Euro-African culture would have been had Hannibal's elephants
reached Rome.

The situation in many parts of the African continent can only be described as
calamitous. The spectre of famine, starvation, violence and diseases, such as
AIDS, is stalking at a time when science and modern technology are reaching the
heights of accomplishment. The international community responds with various
forms of aid. We welcome and need this solidarity, with the injunction that what
our continent needs, above all, is development, to promote and realise our human
potential at its fullest.

The path of peace and justice also depends on the renewal of the North-South
debate and the strengthening of international structures of co-operation.

South Africa is preparing to take its rightful place in the international
community, no longer as an international pariah but as a country which is about
to grasp the challenge of non- racialism and democracy. We must therefore pay
our tribute to the international community for its contribution to the struggle
against racism and apartheid and, especially, for the sacrifices made by many
countries in Africa. Without such solidarity, we would not be walking the last
mile to freedom.

A free South Africa must forever remove the spectre of force in its relations
with other states.

The policy of a free South Africa will therefore contribute to the
democratisation of international political and economic relations. In a changing
world, we will support the proposal to declare Africa as a Nuclear-free Zone and
the Indian Ocean as a Sea of Peace.

Most importantly, we will play a full and dynamic role in regional and
international organisations to help overcome the ravages of apartheid and the
destabilisation of our neighbours and to build a world where all are cherished
equally. I ask Spain to join in this exciting and bold task.

It gives me great pleasure to accept this prestigious and important
award.

Thank you.

Issued by:

African National Congress
Office of the President
51 Plein
Street
Johannesburg 2001
P.0. Box 61884
Marshalltown 2107
Tel: (011)
330-7273/7052
Fax: (011) 333-773