Lives on Hyphens: The Transformative Influence of Chilean and Cuban Delegates on Economic and Social Rights Within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Kristina Arriaga is president of the advisory firm Intrinsic and a former vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. This post is excerpted from an article in the December 2023 special issue of The Review of Faith & International Affairs commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The two special interests that have tried hardest to influence the Declaration are the Catholic Church and the Communist Party—the former with considerably more success than the latter!
—John P. Humphrey’s diary, 22 November 1948, Paris
The reality of the world situation is that there exist certain concentrations of power, U.S.A., U.S.S.R. . . . But in the United Nations, the representatives of Cuba and Chile . . . play a role that sometimes equals that of the great powers.
—John P. Humphrey’s diary, 24 November 1948, Paris