Choices for 1984; at the opening of his year-end press conference at United Nations Headquarters on 21 December, 1983, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar reviewed major problems facing the world in 1984.

We are coming to the close of a turbulent year, marked by much violence and tragedy. The deterioration in international relations has caused widespread forebodings about the prospects of peace, stability and development. However, this does not justify an attitude of resignation. At previous critical junctures in history, an uncontrolled drift in human affairs led to wars which, however destructive, did not threaten existence itself. At the present fateful stage, it can bring disaster to progress and civilization on earth.

One of the most dangerous developments of the past year has been the impairment of communications between the major Powers. This has negatively affected the potential of our Organization in all its aspects and my personal endeavours to serve the cause of peace. The trend needs to be arrested before its effects become irreparable.

This is a time to try and recover a sense of priorities in the tasks of peace. The exercise of statesmanship in one crucial area of international relations can have a transforming effect on other areas as well.

The over-arching problem of all, of course, is the one created by the remorseless build-up of nuclear weapons. The USSR and the United States owe it to themselves and to the entire human race to find ways of resuming in all earnestness their efforts to achieve an agreement on the limitation and reduction of both intermediate-range and strategic nuclear weapons. It is most essential to check unbridled competition in nuclear arms and create the climate for further negotiations.

The vicious circle of violence and reprisal in the Middle East, and in Lebanon in particular, needs to be ended urgently. There is a palpable necessity to get to the roots of the problem and, with the participation of all concerned, to institute a negotiating process in order to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement. Only such a settlement can bring coexistence and peace to this vital part of the world and avert a conflict which might be far more fundamental and destructive than what the region has suffered so far.

The self-determination of Namibia is a foremost concern of the United Nations, engaging my deep personal commitment. The independence of the Territory, already delayed too long, should not be postponed for reasons unrelated to the implementation of the United Nations plan.

In Cyprus, the search for a political settlement sustained a setback when, on 15 November, the Turkish Cypriot community issued a unilateral declaration of independence. The Security Council has pronounced itself on the need to redress the situation, and it must be assumed that its call for the cooperation of the parties with my peace-keeping and peace-making efforts will be fully heeded.

A complex, unstable situation prevails in Central America with multiple factors, including the social and the economic, accounting for its dangerous character. Certain recent developments provide ground for hope for an improvement of this situation. However, advantage needs to be taken of the opportunities that are beginning to emerge.

The serious impact of several other problems is evident on international affairs--the unrelenting and evastating Iran-Iraq war, the situation relating to Afghanistan, and Kampuchea. The heavy toll in human life and suffering that has already been exacted, and the ramifications that these conflicts have on relations between States, make it essential to seek solutions to them with renewed courage and vision. All lend emphasis to the great imperative in face of humanity's present predicament. We need to pause and reflect on the dangers that are looming ahead. We need to approach international problems in a spirit not of achieving victories which can only be pyrrhic but of recreating the sense of interdependence and common benefit that alone can assure a lasting peace.

We are constantly faced with the infringements and violations of human rights, often on a massive scale. Atrocities are being perpetrated in various parts of the world. In addition, poverty continues to deprive large masses of humanity of their dignity and their rights.

The serious and continuing crisis in the world economy is most acutely felt in the third world. This can jeopardize not only the welfare of a major segment of the human race but also peace itself. The situation in many countries in Africa furnishes the most poignant reminder of the need for immediate, remedial action.

Recently, some intensive informal consultations have taken place on ways and means of ensuring that the economic recovery will encompass the developing countries. The effort to lay the ground for more specific negotiations needs to be pursued resolutely in the coming months.

1984 can be a year of mounting and deepening dangers or it can be a year of renewal and hope. We must approach it with our hearts and minds concentrated on the latter possibility. Though current developments are ominous, let us not forget that the urge towards peace among the peoples of the world is by no means weaker or less intense and articulate than the impulses leading to destruction and conflict. A response to this urge by the world's leadership can renew a sense of purpose and direction in international affairs. For this, ther is no alternative to the long, arduous pursuit of peace and world order based on the principles of the United Nations Charter.