Cuba, 2007

Never before have the real dangers awaiting the human

species become so evident; never before have the

violations of international law become so evident, as

they increasingly jeopardize international peace and

security; never before have inequality and exclusion

become so evident, as they impact over two thirds of

the population on our planet.

Putting an end to wastefulness and to the

unbridled consumerism fostered by the large

corporations and the power groups of a handful of

developed countries which throw money away at the

cost of poverty and the perpetuation of

underdevelopment in a vast periphery of poor countries

where billions of people scramble to make a living

has become a key factor for the survival of mankind.

The high-level meeting of this General Assembly held

only two days ago emphasized the danger posed by the

accelerated global warming that is already affecting us

and by its effect on climate change. Action must be

taken and quickly. The developed countries have the

moral duty and the historic responsibility to set the

example and spearhead the effort.

On the other hand, several of our countries,

always from the South, continue to fall prey to

unacceptable acts of aggression by the ever-powerful,

which are essentially driven by the insatiable hunger

for strategic resources. The wars of conquest and the

proclamation and implementation of doctrines based on

pre-emptive wars which do not exclude the use of

nuclear weapons, even against non-nuclear States

and the repeated use of pretexts such as the alleged war

on terror, the supposed promotion of democracy or

so-called regime change in countries that are

unilaterally labelled as rogue States are today the

greatest and most serious threat to peace and security

in the world.

Aggression and illegal occupation of countries,

military intervention contrary to international law and

the purposes and principles enshrined in the United

Nations Charter, the bombing of civilians and torture

continue to be daily practices. Under the false litany of

freedom and democracy, an attempt is made to justify

the pillaging of the natural resources in the third world

and to control zones of increasing geo-strategic

importance. That and no other is the imperial

domination plan that the mightiest military superpower

ever to exist intends to impose through blood and fire.

Far from behaving in international relations

according to the principles of solidarity, social and

international justice, equality and development for all,

there is no hesitation at all in employing the practices

of certifying countries, of imposing unilateral

blockades and of threatening through aggression,

blackmail and coercion. If a small country defends its

right to independence, it is accused of being a rogue

State; if a Power launches an attack against a country,

it is said that it liberates them; a fighter against foreign

aggression is a terrorist; an attacking soldier is a

freedom fighter. That is the media war, the twisting of

truths, the tyranny of monolithic thinking in a

globalized world.

Instead of moving towards general and complete

disarmament including nuclear disarmament, which

has been an ongoing demand of the Movement of

Non-Aligned Countries for decades what we see is

the promotion of the arms race and the squandering of

wealth on new weapons and arms systems that deplete

the resources that the world needs to mitigate the

effects of climate change and address the very serious

problems stemming from poverty and marginalization.

An attempt is made to prevent, in a politicized

and selective fashion, the implementation of the

principle already proclaimed in the

Non-Proliferation Treaty that nations have the right

to the development of nuclear energy for peaceful

purposes. Some countries are threatened with war and

destruction while the aggressive ally is permitted to

have hundreds of nuclear devices and is constantly

helped to modernize them.

How much longer will it take and how many new

victims will have to die before the hawks of war

understand that weapons are useless in resolving the

critical problems of humankind? On a day like today, it

is worth recalling the words uttered by President Fidel

Castro in this General Assembly in October 1979:

“Let us say farewell to arms, and let us in a

civilized manner dedicate ourselves to the most

pressing problems of our times. This is the

responsibility, this is the most sacred duty of the

statesmen of all the world. Moreover, this is the

basic premise for human survival.

There has been no progress to date towards

fulfilling the Millennium Goals and the decisions of

the major United Nations conferences held over the

past decade. Poverty has not decreased. Inequality

among and within countries is on the rise. Drinking

water is not accessible to 1.1 billion people; 2.6 billion

lack health services; over 800 million are illiterate and

115 million children do not attend primary school; 850

million starve every day. One per cent of the world’s

richest people own 40 per cent of the wealth, while 50

per cent of the world’s population has barely

1 per cent. All this is happening in a world that spends

a trillion dollars on weapons and another trillion on

advertising.

The nearly 1 billion people living in developed

countries consume approximately half of all the energy,

while 2 billion poor people are still not acquainted with

electricity. Is that the world that they want us to

accept? Is that, by any chance, the future that we

should settle for? Are we entitled or not to fight to

change that state of things? Should we or should we

not fight to make a better world possible?

Why are such colossal resources squandered on

the killing industry and not used to save lives? Why are

schools not built instead of nuclear submarines, and

hospitals instead of “smart” bombs? Why are vaccines

not produced instead of armoured vehicles, and more

food instead of more fighter jets? Why is there no

momentum given to research to fight AIDS, malaria

and tuberculosis instead of promoting the manufacture

of anti-missile shields? Why is there no war waged

against poverty instead of against the poor?

Despite the fact that only $150 billion is needed

to meet the Millennium Goals, we hear the hypocritical

assertion that there is no source from which to obtain

the necessary financial resources. That is a lie. There is

money in abundance; what is lacking is the political

will, ethics and the real commitment of those who have

to make a choice.

If they really want money to appear, let the

commitment of setting aside 0.7 per cent of gross

national product as official development assistance be

met once and for all. That would require $141 billion

over and above the current amounts. At the height of

deceit, the donor countries are now auditing the

cancellations of a debt that they know they will not be

able to collect in order to artificially inflate their

contributions. Let the foreign debt, which our countries

have already paid more than once, be cancelled. That

would make it possible to set aside for development the

over $400 billion currently used to service a debt that

does not cease to grow.

Let the Doha Round for development come to an

end and let the $300 billion in agricultural subsidies for

the developed countries be removed. That would make

it possible to earmark that money to fight rural poverty

and food insecurity and to ensure fair prices for the

export products of the underdeveloped countries.

Let our right to development be recognized. Let

our right to have access to markets, patents and

technologies be guaranteed, for those are now the

exclusive monopoly of the powerful. Let our countries

be helped in training professionals and scientists and

let the brain drain stop.

The non-aligned countries need no alms; we need

and demand justice. Let our rights to cultural diversity

be respected, as well as our right to the preservation of

our heritage, our symbols and our idiosyncrasies. That

was the unanimous demand made in Tehran by the

non-aligned countries at our ministerial meeting on

human rights and cultural diversity.

The non-aligned countries want a more

democratic and transparent United Nations in which

the General Assembly, its most representative and

democratic body, can truly implement the powers

vested in it. We need a United Nations with a reformed

Security Council, acting in conformity with the

mandate granted to it by the Organization’s Charter

without infringing on the functions and prerogatives of

other organs of the system. There must be a Security

Council with an expanded membership in line with the

current composition of the United Nations, where the

underdeveloped countries are the majority. There must

be a Security Council with a radical modification to its

working methods in order to allow transparency and

the access of all Member States to its deliberations.

We need a Human Rights Council that prevents

the repetition of the serious mistakes made by the

former Commission on Human Rights. The Council

should enshrine in its practices the principle that

human rights are universal, indivisible and

interdependent. It should put an end to selectivity and

double standards. The non-aligned countries will

firmly oppose the devilish schemes of some mighty

quarters that, frustrated as they are at failing to achieve

their goals, are now attempting to reopen and call into

question the agreement reached in the hard and

difficult process of institution-building in the Council.

The non-aligned countries will not give up on

defence of the precepts that underlie our movement.

Among the nations, we will foster relations of

friendship based on respect for the principles of

sovereignty, equality of rights and the self-

determination of peoples.

We will continue to defend the right of the grief-

stricken and heroic people of Palestine to have their

own State, with East Jerusalem as its capital. We will

continue to condemn the genocide committed against

it. We will continue to proclaim the right of the people

of Puerto Rico to sovereignty and to independence. The

non-aligned countries account for nearly two thirds of

the membership of the United Nations. Our demands

will not be forgotten or our interests ignored.

This was supposed to be the end of my statement

as Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement. However, the

shameless and gross behaviour of the United States

President in this Hall yesterday morning now forces me

to utter a few remarks on Cuba’s behalf.

With foul language and an arrogant tone,

President Bush insulted and threatened some 10

countries. He gave orders in a firm and authoritarian

fashion to the General Assembly, and with an

officiousness never before seen in this Hall he dished

out terms and judgments on a score of countries. It was

an embarrassing show the delirium tremens of the

world’s policeman, the intoxication of imperial power

imbued with the mediocrity and cynicism of those who

threaten to launch wars in which they know their lives

are not at stake.

The President of the United States has no right to

pass judgment on any other sovereign nation on this

planet. Having powerful nuclear weapons offers no

right whatsoever to tread upon the rights of the peoples

of the other 191 countries that are represented here.

And the determination and courage of peoples should

not be underestimated when it comes to defending their

rights. After all, what prevails is not the power of

cannons but the fairness of the ideas for which you are

fighting. The warmongering and menacing President

should have already learned this by now: sovereign

equality of States, not regime change; respect for

sovereignty, not unilateral certifications of good

behaviour; respect for international law, not illegal

blockades and wars.

President Bush talked about democracy, but we

all know that he is lying. He came into office through

fraud and deceit. We would have been spared his

presence yesterday and would have listened to

President Albert Gore talking about climate change and

the risks to our species. We also recall how he brazenly

supported the coup d’état against the President and the

constitution of Venezuela.

He talked about peace, but we know that he is

lying. We remember well when he threatened 60 or

more countries, which he called “dark corners of the

world, saying that he would wipe them off the face of

the Earth with pre-emptive surprise attacks. Bush is a

strange warrior who, from the rearguard, sends the

young people of his country to kill and to die

thousands of kilometres away.

He talked about human rights, but we know that

he is lying. He is responsible for the death of 600,000

civilians in Iraq; he authorized tortures at the

Guantánamo naval base and at Abu Ghraib; and he is

an accessory to the kidnapping and disappearance of

people, as well as to the secret flights and the

clandestine prisons.

He talked about the fight against terrorism, but

we know that he is lying. He has ensured complete

impunity for the most abominable terrorist groups

which, from Miami, have perpetrated horrendous

crimes against the Cuban people. President Bush

attacked the new Human Rights Council. He is

bleeding from his wound; he is grunting his

helplessness. He is haunted by the shamefulness that,

during his term in office, the United States cannot even

look forward to being a member because elections are

through secret ballot. Cuba, on the other hand, was

elected as a founding member of the Council with more

than two thirds of the votes.

He talked about cooperation, development and

prosperity for the rest of the world, but we all know

that he is lying. He has been the most selfish and

reckless politician we have ever seen. In a world that

this year will bear witness to the death of 10 million

children under the age of five through preventable

diseases, his self-seeking and empty proposals of

yesterday are but a sick joke.

President Bush has no moral authority or

credibility to judge anyone. He should be held

accountable to the world for his crimes. There is a limit

to both arrogance and hypocrisy. There is a limit to lies

and blackmail. Cuba rejects and condemns every one

of the mendacious words uttered yesterday by the

President of the United States.

Cuba appreciates the solidarity it has received

from the General Assembly in its struggle against the

blockade and the aggression that it has been forced to

endure for nearly five decades. In particular, I thank

the President of Nicaragua, Comrade Daniel Ortega,

who is here in the Hall, for his kind words yesterday,

and I thank all those who have spoken out for the rights

and justice for the Cuban people. Cuba thanks all those

who have supported its tenacious fight against

terrorism and have raised their voice in favour of the

release of five Cuban anti-terrorism fighters unjustly

imprisoned in the United States.

Cuba will fight, along with all other members of

the Non-Aligned Movement, in order to achieve a more

just and democratic international order, in which our

peoples can exercise their right to peace and

development. We may be accused of being dreamers,

but we are fighting with the conviction that today’s

dreams will be tomorrow’s realities. We are fighting

and we will not stop fighting with the conviction

that even when there are individuals without decorum,

there are always others who have in themselves the

decorum of many and who bear within themselves an

entire nations, as well as human dignity.