Abstract
Controversy still surrounds the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 12 December, 1974 with the overwhelming affirmative votes of the developing countries, supported by the countries with planned economies, the industrialized capitalist countries either opposing or abstaining. The idea of economic rights and duties was first mooted by the President of Mexico, Luis Echeverria Alvarez, at the UNCTAD meeting m Santiago, Chile, on 19 April, 1972. Subsequently, the series of international meetings that were held to prepare a draft brought out the fundamental divergencies between the viewpoints of the industrialized capitalist northwest and the rest of the world. This paper analyzes one of those meetings, the one held at Quito, Ecuador, in March 1973 under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America. It then goes on to examine some historical considerations that shed light on the viewpoint of the Latin American spokespersons in global councils.
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