Cuban FM speech at UN General Assembly‏

The Argentinean sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, which our country
fervently supports, and the lifting of the blockade against Cuba, were the focus
of a declaration that showed that the American Homeland envisaged by Bolivar
– “Our America”, as was envisaged by Marti-, had entered a new epoch, the
century of its final independence.

A few months before, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
(CELAC) had been founded, precisely in Caracas. “No other institutional event
in our hemisphere in the course of the last century has been as transcendental”,
wrote the Leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz.

We know that CELAC is still to express itself in facts, so that our peoples can
“march in close ranks, as the silver in the roots of the Andes”. But Latin
America and the Caribbean have definitely changed, and they are bent on
making a greater contribution to the “equilibrium of the world.”

However, the threats, dangers and obstacles should not be underestimated.
The US policy towards our region, whether under Democrat or Republican
governments, is essentially the same. The promises made by the current
President back in 2009 were not fulfilled. The voracity for our wealth; the
imposition of models, cultures, ideas and the interference in our internal affairs
have never ceased.

Even though there are some who speak about the “intelligent powers” and new
and fabulous technologies are used, the security approach and military
deployment prevail, rather than a democratic and mutually beneficial relation
between equal and sovereign States.

In the circumstances of a global economic crisis, the depletion of resources and
a new distribution of the world, NATO continues to perceive our region as a
Euro-Atlantic periphery, where it is possible to intervene to secure interests,
even if they are illegitimate.

The imminent elections in the sister nation of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela will be decisive for the common destiny of our region. We would like
to express to the Venezuelan people and its leader, President Chavez, our full
solidarity in the face of the destabilizing attempts that loom in the horizon.

The governing powers in the United States will make a very serious mistake of
unpredictable consequences if they attempt to reverse by force the social
achievements attained by our peoples.

In a discreet and modest way, Cuba has always contributed to the achievement
of peace in Colombia; it gave its all-out support to the confidential exploratory
talks that were held during the year in Havana, and it will continue to do so as a
guarantor and venue of the upcoming process of dialogue between the
Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

“Our America” will continue to be mutilated as long as Puerto Rico, a Latin
American and Caribbean nation, is not independent, a cause that we fully
support.

Mr. President:

Today’s world is in no way similar to the one that was envisaged by those who
drafted the United Nations Charter, over the ashes left by the Second World
War, when they determined to save our generations from the scourge of war,
protect the fundamental rights of human beings and equality among all nations,
Jarge and small; promote justice, dignity and social progress.

Right now, the overthrowing of governments through the use of force and
violence is being blatantly encouraged; the “change of regime” is being imposed
from Washington and other NATO member countries’ capitals, and conquest
wars are being waged for the control of natural resources and strategically
important areas.

The US and some European governments have decided to overthrow the
Syrian government, for which they have armed, financed and trained opposition
groups. They have even resorted to the use of mercenaries.

Due mainly to the firm opposition by Russia and China, it has been impossible
to manipulate the Security Council to impose the interventionist formula applied
in recent warmongering adventures.

Cuba reaffirms the right of the Syrian people to the full exercise of selfdetermination
and sovereignty without any interference or foreign intervention of
any sort. For that, violence, massacres and the terrorist actions that have taken
a high toll on innocent lives must cease. The traffic in arms and money to help
the insurgent groups as well as the shameful manipulation of reality by the
media must also come to an end.

It is the duty of the General Assembly to make use of its faculties to promote a
peaceful solution to the current situation that is ruining that Arab country and
prevent a foreign military aggression which will have serious consequences for
the entire Middle East region.

The General Assembly should act with resolve and recognize the Palestinian
State as a full member of the United Nations Organization, with the boundaries
established prior to 1967 and with East Jerusalem as its capital; and it should
do so now, with or without the consent of the Security Council; with or without
the United States veto; with or without new peace negotiations.

Mr. President:

The global economic crisis that turns out to be particularly harsh in Europe
today, reflects the inability of the governments and institutions to solve a
problem that calls for a reconsideration of the basics of the current international
economic relations system that is only useful for pillaging the underdeveloped
countries.

The harsh consequences of the crisis in the developed world and the failed
policies adopted so far in the attempt to stop it continue to be borne by the
workers, the increasing number of unemployed, the immigrants and the poor,
whose protest movements are being brutally repressed.

The predictions of a new spiral in the prices of foodstuffs as a result of the
draught that affects much of North America, threatens to turn the world’s food
insecurity into an ever more critical situation.

Environmental destruction has also worsened; the loss of biodiversity and the
natural balance of ecosystems is accelerating, while the worsening of the
irrational production and consumption patterns, the marginalization of more than
a half of the world’s population and the absence of global measures to stop the
advance of climate change presuppose an ever-growing risk to the physical
integrity of entire nations, particularly the small Island States.

In the face of these colossal challenges, we could ask ourselves if there is
anything that could ever justify the fact that, twenty years after the end of the
so-called “Cold War” the military budget has almost doubled to reach the
astronomical figure of 1.74 trillion dollars. President Rael Castro Ruz posed the
following questions: “What enemies will these weapons be used against? Will
they be used to eliminate the masses of poor people who can no longer cope
with their poverty, or to halt the unstoppable migrations of survivors?

Under these circumstances, it is urgent to save the United Nations Organization
while subjecting it to a profound reform to put it at the service of all the equally
sovereign States, and removing it from the arbitrariness and double standards
of a handful of industrialized and powerful countries.

International Law and the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter should be
resolutely enforced; the key role of the General Assembly should be restored
and a democratic, transparent and truly representative Security Council should
be re-launched.

The Summit of the Non-Aligned Countries was successfully held in Tehran and
reaffirmed the Movement’s positions in defense of peace, independence and
sovereign equality of States; justice; the right to development; the sovereignty
over natural resources; general and complete disarmament, particularly nuclear
disarmament; and reaffirmed the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
We have committed our full support to the Presidency of the Movement.

Mr. President:

On July 31 last, the US State Department included Cuba again in a unilateral
and arbitrary list of States that sponsor international terrorism.

The true purpose pursued with the inclusion of Cuba in that spurious list is to
fabricate pretexts to increase the persecution of Cuba’s financial transactions
and justify the blockade policy which has caused invaluable human and
economic damages that are worth one trillion dollars, estimated according to the
present value of gold.

The United States do not have the slightest moral or political authority to judge
Cuba.

It is known that the US government has resorted to state terrorism as a weapon
of its policy against Cuba, which has caused the death of 3 478 and maimed 2
099 of our compatriots, and at the same time it harbors tens of terrorists, some
of whom are living in freedom in that country, while maintaining a long-lasting
and inhumane incarceration and a cruel and arbitrary retention of the five
Cuban anti-terrorists in its territory.

Cuba strongly rejects the use of such a sensitive issue like terrorism to pursue
political goals and calls for the United States to stop lying and put an end to this
shameful exercise which is an outrage against the Cuban people and the
international community and a discredit to the cause of the struggle against
terrorism.

We reiterate to the United States, on the days prior to its elections, our
irrevocable vocation for peace and our interest to move on to the normalization
of relations through dialogue, on an equal footing and with absolute respect for
our independence.

With absolute certainty, our people, come what may, “with all and for the
wellbeing of all”, will continue advancing down the path they have already
chosen until we “conquer all justice”.