Cuba

Yesterday was exactly the fiftieth anniversary of the first speech of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz in this Hall, with that memorable sentence that if the philosophy of plunder disappears, then the philosophy of war will have disappeared (see A/PV.872). 10-55122 46 Sixty million people had to die in the Second World War so that the leaders of the time could create the United Nations with the aim of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Today, the children and grandchildren of that generation realize that the human race is faced with the threat of extinction. Within a few decades, the degradation of living conditions on the planet will be irreversible. The same could happen in a few hours if only a small part of the nuclear arsenal were to be used. Those who met in San Francisco to draft the Charter of the United Nations could not have imagined the threat now posed by global warming or the nuclear winter. While we deliberate here, as Comrade Fidel has warned, powerful and influential forces in the United States and Israel are paving the way to launch a military attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran. For its part, the Security Council, possibly under the illusion of preventing that, is going ahead with applying sanctions against that country, which, together with the unilateral sanctions illegally imposed by a group of States, seek to strangle the Iranian economy. The recent and politically biased report issued by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency has contributed to increasing the tensions and has provided a pretext for military escalation. Should that aggression in fact materialize, it would be a crime against the Iranian people and an assault against peace and international law that could ignite a conflict that will certainly turn nuclear. The toll would be millions of lives and the impact on the environment, the economy and world stability incalculable. Who could assert otherwise, and on the basis of what guarantees? How could it be argued that the present course of events is distancing the planet from war in the Middle East? The threat is too serious to trust in the capacity of the Security Council, where the main actor responsible for the crisis has relied on its ability to impose its designs. The wars against Iraq and Afghanistan demonstrate that we cannot entrust one or a few Governments with the authority to decide when all diplomatic steps to prevent a war have been exhausted, when the use of force becomes unavoidable, and when the death of hundreds of thousands or millions of people and the destabilization of a large area of the planet — or all these things together — are inevitable. Sanctions, sieges and conflict are not the way to preserve international peace and security. On the contrary, dialogue, negotiation and adherence to the principle of the sovereign equality of States are the only way to avoid war. Cuba commends and encourages the efforts of all those countries, such as China, Russia, Brazil and Turkey, that strive to find peaceful solutions, and calls on the international community to support such initiatives. It is the duty of this General Assembly to officially support those efforts. The United Nations must be radically reformed and the powers of this General Assembly restored. The Security Council must be recreated. It must be reiterated that the Secretary-General and all senior officials of the international agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, answer to all Member States, as set out in clear mandates adopted in accordance with the Charter and the rules of procedure. The serious threat posed by nuclear weapons will be solved only with their total elimination and prohibition. The manipulation surrounding non-proliferation — based on double standards and political interest, the existence of a club of the privileged and the denial to the countries of the South of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy — must stop. We urge the United States, the main nuclear Power, to stop opposing the negotiation of binding agreements that could rid us once and for all of this threat within a set time frame. Given the great lethal power and the ongoing development of conventional weapons, we will also have to fight for complete and general disarmament. In order to move ahead on those tasks, the Non-Aligned Movement submitted a proposal that has gone unheeded. The proposal envisages a plan of action that includes the establishment of nuclear- weapon-free zones. It is urgent to establish such a zone in the Middle East, where Israel is the only country that opposes it. Success in this effort would contribute significantly to dispelling the threats of conflict and nuclear proliferation and to achieving lasting peace in that region. The floods that have affected Pakistan, Central America and many other countries in the most diverse latitudes, as well as the droughts and extreme temperatures that have devastated Russia, are a tragic reminder of the threats of a climate out of balance. In 47 10-55122 the face of such a serious threat, no selfish interests or narrow political agendas that prevent the adoption of concrete and binding agreements at the next Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change should prevail. The developed countries, which bear the greatest responsibility for global warming, should accept more ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and refrain from destroying the framework established by the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol. It would be very irresponsible of the Governments of the industrialized countries to ignore the legitimate claims of the non-governmental organizations and social movements that were brutally suppressed in Copenhagen and later met in Cochabamba barely five months ago to defend Mother Earth, or to again seek to deceive public opinion by blaming the emerging economies. We call for the full support of the international community for Venezuela in its struggle. The victory in yesterday’s parliamentary elections demonstrates the broad majority support of the people for President Chávez and the Bolivarian revolution, which have suffered North American interference and the scorn and disinformation campaigns of the oligarchic groups and media empires. Now that the television cameras have left Haiti, we call for the pledges of international assistance to be honoured. The noble Haitian people need resources for reconstruction and, above all, for development. The United States Government is aware of Cuba’s readiness to coexist in a climate of peace, respect and sovereign equality, which we have expressly conveyed through official channels and which I reiterate here on behalf of President Raúl Castro. I am convinced that the development of relations based on international law and the purposes and principles of the United Nations would enable Cuba and the United States to address many of their differences and to resolve others. It would help to create an atmosphere conducive to trying to solve the problems of our region and, at the same time, provide significant support to the interests of our respective peoples. The agenda for dialogue and bilateral cooperation initiatives submitted to President Obama’s Administration on 14 July 2009, which I publicly announced in this Hall exactly a year ago (see A/64/PV.11), have yet to receive a response. The North American Government has shown no willingness to address essential matters on the bilateral agenda, so the official talks that have been held without great progress have been limited to specific issues. Contrary to expectations, even within the United States itself, its Government does not seem willing to amend even the most irrational and universally rejected aspects of its policy against Cuba. The main element in our bilateral relations is the economic, commercial and financial blockade that the United States Government imposes against my country directly and through the extraterritorial application of its laws. The blockade has been the subject of 18 resolutions that, with the almost unanimous support of Member States, have consistently called for its end. However, in the past two years, there has been no change in the policy of blockade and subversion against Cuba, even though all know that the President of that country is vested with sufficient authority to make real change and enjoys the broad majority support of the North American people in that respect. For United States citizens or foreigners residing in that country, travelling to Cuba remains illegal. It is impossible to sell Cuban products or products containing Cuban components or technology to the United States. With very limited exceptions, Cuba is forbidden to acquire, here or in any other country, any product containing a fraction of American input or technology. Financial transactions in United States dollars, whether linked to Cuba or not, can be either confiscated or frozen and the banks involved may be fined. Fines worth several millions are imposed on United States and foreign companies for violating the venal blockade laws. In addition, and in open contradiction of international norms, Cuba’s broadcasting space continues to be violated and radio and television broadcasts continue to be used for subversive purposes, while millions in federal funds are used to foment political instability in my country. Part of Cuba’s territory has been seized by the United States, which has imposed a military base in Guantánamo that has become a centre of torture beyond the jurisdiction of international humanitarian law. United States immigration policy towards Cuba, based on the Cuban Adjustment Act, is a politically motivated exception that encourages illegal migration and costs human lives. Cuba’s inclusion on the United 10-55122 48 States’ spurious list of countries that sponsor international terrorism is deeply immoral. Our demand, and the universal appeal concerning it, is well known. The five Cuban anti-terrorists who have been incarcerated in the United States for 12 years as political prisoners must be immediately released. Setting them free would be an act of justice that would enable President Obama to show his true commitment to combating terrorism in our own hemisphere. The President of the United States still has the opportunity to make a historical rectification of an utterly futile 50-year genocidal policy left over from the cold war. It would be an act of resolve that could only encourage the support of those who elected him for change and of the community of nations that votes for it every year. Whatever the circumstances, the Cuban revolution will unyieldingly and tenaciously pursue the sovereign path chosen by our people and shall not cease in its endeavours, based on the precepts of Martí and Fidel, to overcome all injustice.