STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. FELIPE PةREZ ROQUE, MINISTER OF FOREIGN
AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE 59TH SESSION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY. NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004.
Mr. President:
Every year at the United Nations we go through the same ritual. We
attend the general debate knowing beforehand that the clamor for
justice and peace by our underdeveloped countries will be ignored
once again. However, we persist. We know that we are right. We know
that one day we will accomplish social justice and development. We
also know that such assets will not be given away to us. We know
that the peoples will have to seize them from those who deny us
justice today, because they underpin their wealth and arrogance on
the disdain for our grief. But it will not be always like this. We
say so today with more conviction than ever before.
Having said this and knowing - as we do - that some powerful ones,
just a few, present here will be chagrined, and also knowing that
they are shared by many, Cuba will now tell some truths:
First: After the aggression on Iraq, there is no United Nations
Organization, understood as a useful and diverse forum, based on the
respect for the rights of all and also with guarantees for the small
States.
It is living through the worst moment of its already forthcoming 60
years. It pales, it pants, it feigns, but it does not work.
Who handcuffed the United Nations named by President Roosevelt?
President Bush.
Second: US troops will have to be withdrawn from Iraq.
After the life of over 1,000 American youths was uselessly
sacrificed to serve the spurious interests of a clique of cronies
and buddies, and following the death of more than 12,000 Iraqis, it
is clear that the only way out for the occupying power faced with a
revolting people is to recognize the impossibility of subduing them
and to withdraw. In spite of the imperial monopoly over information,
the peoples always get to the truth. Someday, those responsible and
their accomplices will have to deal with the consequences of their
actions in the face of History and their own peoples.
Third: For the time being, there will be no valid, real and useful
reform to the United Nations.
It would take the superpower, which inherited the immense
prerogative of governing an order conceived for a bipolar world, to
relinquish its privileges. And it will not do so.
Since now, we know that the anachronistic privilege of the veto will
remain; that the Security Council will not be democratized as it
should or expanded to include Third World countries; that the
General Assembly will continue to stand ignored and that at the
United Nations there will be more actions driven by the interests
imposed by the superpower and its allies. We, as non-aligned
countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United
Nations Charter - because, otherwise, it will be redrafted with the
deletion of every trace of principles such as the sovereign equality
of States, non-intervention and the non-use or the threat to use
force.
Fourth: The powerful collude to divide us.
The over 130 underdeveloped countries must build a common front for
the defense of the sacred interests of our peoples, of our right to
development and peace. Let us revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement.
Let us strengthen the G-77.
Fifth: The modest objectives of the Millennium Declaration will not
be accomplished. We will reach the fifth anniversary of the Summit
in a worse situation.
. We endeavored to halve by 2015 the 1.276 billion human
beings in abject poverty that existed in 1990. There had to be a
yearly reduction of 46 million poor people. However, excluding
China, between 1990 and 2000 extreme poverty rose by 28 million
people. Impoverishment does not decline, it grows.
. We wanted to halve by 2015 the 842 million starving people
recorded in the world. There had to be a yearly reduction of 28
million. However, there has barely been a reduction of 2.1 million
hungry people per year. At this rate, the goal would be attained by
2215, two hundred years after what was envisaged - and only if our
species survives the destruction of its environment.
. We proclaimed the aspiration to achieve universal primary
education by 2015. However, more than 120 million children, 1 in
every 5 in that school age, do not attend primary school. According
to UNICEF, at the current rate the goal will be accomplished after
2100.
. We endeavored to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in
children under five years of age. The reduction is symbolic: out of
86 children who died per 1,000 live births in 1998, now the figure
is 82. Every year, 11 million children continue to die of diseases
that can be prevented or cured, whose parents will rightfully wonder
what our meetings are for.
. We said that we would pay attention to Africa's special
needs. However, very little has been done. African nations do not
need foreign advice or models, but financial resources and access to
both markets and technologies. Assisting Africa would not be an act
of charity, but an act of justice; it would be tantamount to
settling the historical debt resulting from centuries of
exploitation and pillage.
. We undertook to put a halt to and start reverting the AIDS
pandemic by 2015. However, in 2003 it claimed nearly 3 million
lives. At this rate, by 2015 some 36 million people will have died
of this cause.
Sixth: Creditor countries and the international financial agencies
will not seek a just and lasting solution to the foreign debt.
They prefer to keep us in debt; that is, vulnerable. Therefore, even
though we have paid off US$ 4.1 trillion in debt service over the
last 13 years, our debt increased from US$ 1.4 trillion to US$ 2.6
trillion. It means that we have paid three times what we owed and
now our debt is twice as much.
Seventh: We, as underdeveloped countries, are the ones that finance
the squandering and the opulence of developed countries.
While in 2003 they gave us US$ 68.400 billion in ODA, we delivered
to them US$ 436 billion as payment for the foreign debt. Who is
helping who?
Eighth: The fight against terrorism can only be won through
cooperation among all nations and with respect for International
Law, and not through massive bombings or pre-emptive wars
against "dark corners of the world."
Hypocrisy and double standards must cease. Sheltering three Cuban-
born terrorists in the United States is an act of complicity to
terrorism. Punishing five Cuban youths who were fighting terrorism,
and punishing their families, is a crime.
Ninth: General and complete disarmament, including nuclear
disarmament, is impossible today. It is the responsibility of a
group of developed countries that are the ones that most sell and
buy weapons.
However, we must continue to strive for it. We must demand that the
over US$ 900 billion set aside every year for military expenditures
be used on development; and
Tenth: The financial resources to guarantee the sustainable
development for all the peoples on the planet are available, but
what is lacking is the political will of those who rule the world.
A development tax of merely 0.1% on international financial
transactions would generate resources amounting to almost US$ 400
billion per annum.
The cancellation of the foreign debt incurred by underdeveloped
countries would allow these to have available for their development
no less than US$ 436 billion on a yearly basis - money which is
currently used to pay off the debt.
If developed countries complied with their commitment to set aside
0.7% of their Gross National Product as ODA, their contribution
would increase from the current US$ 68.400 billion to US$ 160
billion per annum.
Finally, Excellencies, I want to clearly express Cuba's profound
conviction that the 6.4 billion human beings on this planet - who
have equal rights according to the United Nations Charter - urgently
need a new order in which the world is not left in suspense, as is
the case now, awaiting the outcome of the elections in a new Rome in
which only half the voters will participate and nearly US$ 1.5
billion will be spent.
There is no discouragement in our words, I must say so clearly. We
are optimistic because we are revolutionaries. We have faith in the
struggle of the peoples and we are certain that we will accomplish a
new world order based on the respect for the rights of all; an order
based on solidarity, justice and peace, resulting from the best of
universal culture and not from mediocrity or gross force.
About Cuba, which cannot be detoured from its course by blockades,
threats, hurricanes, droughts or human or natural force, I will not
say anything.
Next 28 October, for the 13th time, this General Assembly will
debate and vote on a resolution about the blockade imposed against
the Cuban people. Once again, morality and principles will defeat
arrogance and force.
I would like to conclude by recalling the words spoken right here 25
years ago by President Fidel Castro:
"The noise of weapons, of the menacing language, of the haughtiness
on the international scene must cease. Enough of the illusion that
the problems of the world can be solved by nuclear weapons. Bombs
may kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant, but bombs cannot
kill hunger, disease and ignorance. Nor can bombs kill the righteous
rebellion of the people."
Thank you very much.
AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA, AT THE 59TH SESSION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY. NEW YORK, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004.
Mr. President:
Every year at the United Nations we go through the same ritual. We
attend the general debate knowing beforehand that the clamor for
justice and peace by our underdeveloped countries will be ignored
once again. However, we persist. We know that we are right. We know
that one day we will accomplish social justice and development. We
also know that such assets will not be given away to us. We know
that the peoples will have to seize them from those who deny us
justice today, because they underpin their wealth and arrogance on
the disdain for our grief. But it will not be always like this. We
say so today with more conviction than ever before.
Having said this and knowing - as we do - that some powerful ones,
just a few, present here will be chagrined, and also knowing that
they are shared by many, Cuba will now tell some truths:
First: After the aggression on Iraq, there is no United Nations
Organization, understood as a useful and diverse forum, based on the
respect for the rights of all and also with guarantees for the small
States.
It is living through the worst moment of its already forthcoming 60
years. It pales, it pants, it feigns, but it does not work.
Who handcuffed the United Nations named by President Roosevelt?
President Bush.
Second: US troops will have to be withdrawn from Iraq.
After the life of over 1,000 American youths was uselessly
sacrificed to serve the spurious interests of a clique of cronies
and buddies, and following the death of more than 12,000 Iraqis, it
is clear that the only way out for the occupying power faced with a
revolting people is to recognize the impossibility of subduing them
and to withdraw. In spite of the imperial monopoly over information,
the peoples always get to the truth. Someday, those responsible and
their accomplices will have to deal with the consequences of their
actions in the face of History and their own peoples.
Third: For the time being, there will be no valid, real and useful
reform to the United Nations.
It would take the superpower, which inherited the immense
prerogative of governing an order conceived for a bipolar world, to
relinquish its privileges. And it will not do so.
Since now, we know that the anachronistic privilege of the veto will
remain; that the Security Council will not be democratized as it
should or expanded to include Third World countries; that the
General Assembly will continue to stand ignored and that at the
United Nations there will be more actions driven by the interests
imposed by the superpower and its allies. We, as non-aligned
countries, will have to entrench ourselves in defending the United
Nations Charter - because, otherwise, it will be redrafted with the
deletion of every trace of principles such as the sovereign equality
of States, non-intervention and the non-use or the threat to use
force.
Fourth: The powerful collude to divide us.
The over 130 underdeveloped countries must build a common front for
the defense of the sacred interests of our peoples, of our right to
development and peace. Let us revitalize the Non-Aligned Movement.
Let us strengthen the G-77.
Fifth: The modest objectives of the Millennium Declaration will not
be accomplished. We will reach the fifth anniversary of the Summit
in a worse situation.
. We endeavored to halve by 2015 the 1.276 billion human
beings in abject poverty that existed in 1990. There had to be a
yearly reduction of 46 million poor people. However, excluding
China, between 1990 and 2000 extreme poverty rose by 28 million
people. Impoverishment does not decline, it grows.
. We wanted to halve by 2015 the 842 million starving people
recorded in the world. There had to be a yearly reduction of 28
million. However, there has barely been a reduction of 2.1 million
hungry people per year. At this rate, the goal would be attained by
2215, two hundred years after what was envisaged - and only if our
species survives the destruction of its environment.
. We proclaimed the aspiration to achieve universal primary
education by 2015. However, more than 120 million children, 1 in
every 5 in that school age, do not attend primary school. According
to UNICEF, at the current rate the goal will be accomplished after
2100.
. We endeavored to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate in
children under five years of age. The reduction is symbolic: out of
86 children who died per 1,000 live births in 1998, now the figure
is 82. Every year, 11 million children continue to die of diseases
that can be prevented or cured, whose parents will rightfully wonder
what our meetings are for.
. We said that we would pay attention to Africa's special
needs. However, very little has been done. African nations do not
need foreign advice or models, but financial resources and access to
both markets and technologies. Assisting Africa would not be an act
of charity, but an act of justice; it would be tantamount to
settling the historical debt resulting from centuries of
exploitation and pillage.
. We undertook to put a halt to and start reverting the AIDS
pandemic by 2015. However, in 2003 it claimed nearly 3 million
lives. At this rate, by 2015 some 36 million people will have died
of this cause.
Sixth: Creditor countries and the international financial agencies
will not seek a just and lasting solution to the foreign debt.
They prefer to keep us in debt; that is, vulnerable. Therefore, even
though we have paid off US$ 4.1 trillion in debt service over the
last 13 years, our debt increased from US$ 1.4 trillion to US$ 2.6
trillion. It means that we have paid three times what we owed and
now our debt is twice as much.
Seventh: We, as underdeveloped countries, are the ones that finance
the squandering and the opulence of developed countries.
While in 2003 they gave us US$ 68.400 billion in ODA, we delivered
to them US$ 436 billion as payment for the foreign debt. Who is
helping who?
Eighth: The fight against terrorism can only be won through
cooperation among all nations and with respect for International
Law, and not through massive bombings or pre-emptive wars
against "dark corners of the world."
Hypocrisy and double standards must cease. Sheltering three Cuban-
born terrorists in the United States is an act of complicity to
terrorism. Punishing five Cuban youths who were fighting terrorism,
and punishing their families, is a crime.
Ninth: General and complete disarmament, including nuclear
disarmament, is impossible today. It is the responsibility of a
group of developed countries that are the ones that most sell and
buy weapons.
However, we must continue to strive for it. We must demand that the
over US$ 900 billion set aside every year for military expenditures
be used on development; and
Tenth: The financial resources to guarantee the sustainable
development for all the peoples on the planet are available, but
what is lacking is the political will of those who rule the world.
A development tax of merely 0.1% on international financial
transactions would generate resources amounting to almost US$ 400
billion per annum.
The cancellation of the foreign debt incurred by underdeveloped
countries would allow these to have available for their development
no less than US$ 436 billion on a yearly basis - money which is
currently used to pay off the debt.
If developed countries complied with their commitment to set aside
0.7% of their Gross National Product as ODA, their contribution
would increase from the current US$ 68.400 billion to US$ 160
billion per annum.
Finally, Excellencies, I want to clearly express Cuba's profound
conviction that the 6.4 billion human beings on this planet - who
have equal rights according to the United Nations Charter - urgently
need a new order in which the world is not left in suspense, as is
the case now, awaiting the outcome of the elections in a new Rome in
which only half the voters will participate and nearly US$ 1.5
billion will be spent.
There is no discouragement in our words, I must say so clearly. We
are optimistic because we are revolutionaries. We have faith in the
struggle of the peoples and we are certain that we will accomplish a
new world order based on the respect for the rights of all; an order
based on solidarity, justice and peace, resulting from the best of
universal culture and not from mediocrity or gross force.
About Cuba, which cannot be detoured from its course by blockades,
threats, hurricanes, droughts or human or natural force, I will not
say anything.
Next 28 October, for the 13th time, this General Assembly will
debate and vote on a resolution about the blockade imposed against
the Cuban people. Once again, morality and principles will defeat
arrogance and force.
I would like to conclude by recalling the words spoken right here 25
years ago by President Fidel Castro:
"The noise of weapons, of the menacing language, of the haughtiness
on the international scene must cease. Enough of the illusion that
the problems of the world can be solved by nuclear weapons. Bombs
may kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant, but bombs cannot
kill hunger, disease and ignorance. Nor can bombs kill the righteous
rebellion of the people."
Thank you very much.
, I would have guessed we needed to hear your comments so we know what you are after
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