Cuba, 2012

Never before have Latin America and the Caribbean

expressed themselves with such strength and unity as

they did at the Summit of the Americas, held last April

in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Once again, Cuba

was excluded at the insistence of the United States.

Argentine 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 demonstrated that the American homeland

envisaged by Bolivar — our America as envisaged by Marti — has entered a new era: the century of its

ultimate independence.

Some months prior, the Community of Latin

American and Caribbean States (CELAC) held its

inaugural summit meeting in Caracas. No other

institutional entity in our hemisphere in the course of

the last century is of such major importance, wrote

the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz,

about CELAC. We know that CELAC still has not yet

reached its full development, so that our peoples can

go forward in ranks as compact as the veins of silver

in the roots of the Andes. But Latin America and the

Caribbean have definitively changed, and they are

prepared to make a greater contribution to the world

order. However, the threats, dangers and obstacles

should not be underestimated.

The policy of the United States with regard to

our region, under both Democratic and Republican

Administrations, has been essentially the same. The

promises made by the current President in 2009 have

gone unfulfilled. Tireless efforts have been made to

control our wealth, to impose their models, culture and

ideas, and to interfere in our internal affairs. Despite

talk of “intelligent power” and the use of fabulous new

technology, the focus remains on security and military

deployment, rather than on democratic and mutually

beneficial relations between equal, sovereign States.

In the circumstances of a global economic crisis,

the depletion of resources and the shifting balances in

the world, NATO continues to perceive our region as

a mere periphery of the Euro-Atlantic area, in which

it might intervene to protect its interests, however

illegitimate.

The upcoming elections in the sister nation of the

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will be decisive

for the shared destiny of our region. We would like

to express to the Venezuelan people and their leader,

President Chávez Frías, our full solidarity in the face of

the looming attempts at destabilization. The governing

powers in the United States would be making a very

serious mistake of untold consequences if they were

to attempt to reverse by force the social achievements

attained by our peoples.

Cuba has continuously contributed to peace in

Colombia, with discretion and modesty. We fully

supported the confidential exploratory talks held

throughout this year in Havana, and we will continue to

do so as a guarantor and host of the upcoming process of dialogue between the Colombian Government and

the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Our America will remain mutilated as long as

Puerto Rico, a Latin American and Caribbean nation,

lacks its independence — a cause that we fully support.

Today’s world is in no way similar to the one

that was envisioned by those who drafted the United

Nations Charter, over the ashes left by the Second

World War, when they expressed their determination to

save our generations from the scourge of war; protect

the fundamental rights of human beings and equality

among all nations, large and small; and promote justice,

dignity and social progress. Today, the overthrow of

Governments through the use of force and violence is

being blatantly encouraged. Regime change is being

imposed from Washington and other NATO capitals,

and wars of conquest are being waged for the control

of natural resources and areas of strategic importance.

The Governments of the United States and some

European countries have decided to overthrow the

Syrian Government. To that end, they have armed,

financed and trained opposition groups, and turned to

the use of mercenaries.

Owing mainly to the firm opposition of Russia

and China, it has not been possible to manipulate the

Security Council into imposing the interventionist

formula that has been applied in the context of recent

bellicose ventures.

Cuba reaffirms the right of the Syrian people to

the full exercise of its right to self-determination and

sovereignty without interference or foreign intervention

of any sort. The violence, massacres and terrorist acts,

which have taken a high toll in innocent lives, must

cease. The trafficking in arms and money f lows that

helps fund 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

the means at its disposal to promote a peaceful solution

to the current situation, which is destroying that Arab

country, and prevent foreign military aggression, which

would 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, within the borders 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 a United States veto;

and with or without new peace negotiations.

The global economic crisis, which is having a

particularly strong impact on Europe, reflects the

inability of Governments and institutions to solve a

problem that requires a rethinking of the basic tenets of

the current system of international economic relations,

which serves only to pillage underdeveloped countries.

The harsh consequences of the crisis in the

developed world and the failed policies adopted so far

in an attempt to stop it continue to be borne by workers,

the increasing number of unemployed, immigrants and

the poor, whose protest movements are being brutally

repressed. The predicted increase in food prices as a

result of the drought that is affecting much of North

America threatens to exacerbate global food insecurity.

Environmental destruction is also worsening.

The loss of biodiversity and of the natural balance

of ecosystems is accelerating; and the growing

irrationality of production and consumption patterns,

the marginalization of more than half of the world’s

population and the lack of comprehensive measures to

halt climate change pose an ever-increasing risk to the

physical integrity of entire nations, particularly small

island States.

In the face of those colossal challenges, we wonder

if anything could ever justify the fact that, 20 years

after the end of the so-called Cold War, military budgets

have almost doubled, reaching the astronomical figure

of $1.74 trillion. As President Raúl Castro Ruz asked,

against what enemies will those weapons be used? Will

they be used to eliminate the masses of poor people

who can no longer tolerate their poverty, or to halt the

unstoppable migrations of survivors?

Under these circumstances, it is urgent to save the

United Nations and subject it to deep-seated reform, so

as to put it at the service of all, equally sovereign States

and free it from the arbitrariness and double standards

of a handful of industrialized and powerful countries.

International law and the purposes and principles of

the Charter of the United Nations 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 relaunched.

The Summit of Non-Aligned Countries was

successfully held in Tehran and reaffirmed the Movement’s positions in defence of peace, independence

and the sovereign equality of States; justice; the right

to development; sovereignty over natural resources;

general and complete disarmament, particularly

nuclear disarmament; and the right to the peaceful use

of nuclear energy. We have pledged our full support to

the chairmanship of the Movement.

On July 31, the State Department of the United

States included Cuba once again on its unilateral,

arbitrary list of States that sponsor international

terrorism. The true motive behind the inclusion of Cuba

on that spurious list is to fabricate pretexts to increase

the persecution of Cuba with respect to its financial

transactions and justify the policy of blockade, which

has caused immense human and economic harm

totalling $1 trillion, based on the current value of gold.

The United States does not have the slightest moral

or political authority to judge Cuba.It is well known

that the United States Government has resorted to State

terrorism as a weapon in its policy against Cuba, which

has caused the deaths of 3,478 of our compatriots and

injured another 2,099. It is also harbouring dozens

of terrorists, some of whom live in freedom in that

country, and continues with the prolonged, inhumane

imprisonment and cruel and arbitrary retention on its

territory of the five Cuban anti-terrorists.

Cuba strongly rejects the use of so sensitive an issue

as terrorism to pursue political goals and calls for the

United States Government to stop lying and put an end

to this shameful exercise, which is an outrage against

the Cuban people, the North American victims and the

international community and discredits the cause of the

struggle against terrorism.

We reiterate to the United States, on the eve of

the elections in that country, our irrevocable yearning

for peace and our interest in moving towards the

normalization of bilateral 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 well-being of all, will continue

on the path they have already chosen until they have

achieved full justice.