Editorial Note
On October 6, the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras requested that the question of admitting new members to the United Nations be put on the agenda of the Sixth Session of [Page 737] the United Nations General Assembly which was scheduled to meet in Paris beginning November 6. The three governments were particularly interested in the admission of Italy because of its racial and cultural links with Central America and its similarity of political and social viewpoints. At the 342d plenary meeting of the General Assembly on November 13, this request was referred to the First Committee (Political and Security) where the whole question of the principle of universality of membership and the use of the veto to deny it was discussed during January 1952.
At the same time, the Fourth Committee (Trusteeship) was dealing with the question of Italy’s need to be a member of the Trusteeship Council since it was responsible for administering the Trust Territory of Somaliland. For documentation concerning the disposition of the former Italian colonies, see volume V, pages 1237 ff. For documentation on the question of Italy’s admission to the United Nations, see volume II, pages 286 ff.