Distinguished Ministers and Heads of Delegation, Delegates, Observers and Guests,
Allow me to thank the authorities and the people of the Republic of Azerbaijan for the warm and generous hospitality they have provided us since our arrival, and congratulate the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for leading the work of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Our Movement continues to be the main forum for consensus of the countries of the South and despite the present complex international scenario, it maintains its activism in the main processes underway in the different multilateral headquarters.
But the challenges remain and worsen: international peace and security are increasingly uncertain and precarious; imperialism persists in hindering the peaceful solution of conflicts and maintains its aggressive and unilateral behavior.
The essence of Non-Alignment implies the unequivocal rejection of the use or threat of the use of force against any of our Member States. We are guided by the ten founding principles of Bandung and the Purposes and Principles agreed upon at the 14th Summit in Havana. Even though we recognize the existence of differences between us that, by the way, should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation in the light of International Law, for the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries the threat of military intervention or destruction against any of its members is unacceptable.
We reject the military threat, hostility and economic aggression of US imperialism against Venezuela. We condemn the unilateral, unjust and arbitrary coercive measures and the external interference against the Bolivarian process that threaten peace and dialogue among Venezuelans, with destabilizing purposes. We reiterate our unwavering solidarity with the Bolivarian and Chavista people and government, and with their civic-military union, led by the constitutional president Nicolás Maduro.
Mr. Chairman,
The results obtained by the Movement have been important, but they are still insufficient in comparison with the enormous challenges that lie ahead.
The eradication of hunger, poverty and social exclusion continue to be a challenge. We cannot continue to live in a world where 155 million children under the age of five suffer from delays in growth and billions of people are pushed into unemployment and extreme poverty; where nature is destroyed, water is polluted and the irrational consumerism generated in developed countries threatens vital resources for the human species, polluting the atmosphere and, thereby, fueling climate change.
While the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has no means of implementation due to lack of political will and selfishness of the industrialized countries, the global military expenditures exceed 1.7 trillion dollars, including the modernization of nuclear weapons. These weapons should not be used again by anyone, under any circumstances. For this we fought for the approval of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Faced with this reality, our Movement must continue struggling for a new participatory, democratic, equitable and inclusive international economic order. After centuries of exploitation and looting, the industrialized countries have a moral duty and a historical responsibility to the countries of the South. The effective realization of the Right to Development is essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
At a time when the digital divide between rich and poor countries is growing, we advocate the use of information and communication technologies to promote peace, human well-being, development, knowledge, social inclusion and economic growth. The Movement must firmly pronounce itself for the peaceful use of ICTs and reject its covert and illegal use to attack other States, in a clear violation of International Law. We reiterate our call for the establishment of a new world information and communications order.
Mr. Chairman:
We reaffirm our rejection of manipulation, politicization and double standards in the treatment of human rights. The UN machinery has been unable to promote and protect the realization of all human rights for all, based on respect and adherence to the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity.
We reject the use of concepts such as "limited sovereignty", "humanitarian intervention", "preventive war" or "responsibility to protect". They may serve the petty interests of a country or group of countries and violate sovereignty and territorial integrity, seize resources and mutilate the independence of our countries. We must not allow the noble ideal of the promotion and protection of human rights to be deprived of its real essence, and the intention of turning them into an instrument of pressure against our peoples and for the imposition of punitive actions, frequently aimed at promoting “regime change”, violating the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
We witness with concern how the Human Rights Council, which at the time of its creation we saw with hope as a means of avoiding double standards, politicization and discrimination, has been transformed to become, once again, a forum plagued by direct attacks against countries and as a means to attempt to carry out interventionist policies. Our Movement must work to put an end to such harmful practices.
Mr. Chairman:
The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, throughout its history, has contributed significantly to the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism, and apartheid; and has battled for the national liberation of peoples under foreign domination.
It is unacceptable that the Palestinian people continue to be victims of occupation and violence; and that the exercise of their inalienable right to self-determination, and to have a free and independent State, within the pre-1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem, is impeded. Cuba reiterates its deepest concern and rejection for the unilateral declaration of the President of the United States of the city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, which constitutes a serious and flagrant violation of the UN Charter, International Law and resolutions of the United Nations.
We reaffirm the inalienable right of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence. We stand in solidarity with its people facing a difficult humanitarian situation after the passage of Hurricane Maria.
The question of Western Sahara requires an effort in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations, so that the Saharawi people are guaranteed the exercise of self-determination and their legitimate right to live in peace in their territory.
Cuba reaffirms its support for the search for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the war in Syria, without external interference and with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that sister country.
Mr. Chairman:
While we strengthen the bonds of cooperation with the rest of the world, the Government of the United States of America intensifies its criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade against our country, including its extraterritorial dimension. It has imposed new obstacles to the limited possibilities that its businessmen had to trade and invest in Cuba and additional restrictions to the travel of its citizens to the Island, at the same time that it uses a rhetoric against Cuba worthy of the Cold War.
The blockade is a unilateral policy, which causes immense human and economic damage to the Cuban people. Its sole objective is to destroy the model of society that we have freely chosen. Cuba and the United States can cooperate and live together civilly, respecting differences and promoting everything that benefits both parties, but Cuba should not be expected to make concessions inherent to its sovereignty and independence.
Our people are grateful for the solidarity that they have always received from the members of the Movement in our struggle against the blockade.
Despite the difficulties we face, we will continue to advance steadily on the path of revolutionary transformations decided by the Cubans themselves to perfect our socialism.
The principles and purposes of our Movement will continue to be the pillar of Cuba's international relations. Respect for sovereignty, self-determination, non-interference in the internal affairs of States, equality of rights, peaceful settlement of disputes, defense of peace, rejection of unilateral coercive measures and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, the defense of multilateralism and solidarity among peoples, will continue to guide Cuban action in the international scene.
We will continue defending the postulates of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace signed by the Heads of State and Government of our region, at the II Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
In this first meeting of the Movement after the physical disappearance of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, I would like to conclude with a phrase of the statement he pronounced at the VI Summit of the Movement in Havana in 1973 and that today is fully valid:
"Peace, with the immense risks that threaten it, is not a matter that should remain exclusively in the hands of the great military powers. Peace is possible, but world peace can only be guaranteed as long as all countries have the conscience and the decision to fight for it. Peace, not only for part of the world. Peace, for all peoples."
Thank you
Source: CubaMINREX