Statement by Ambassador Pedro L. Pedroso, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations Office at Geneva and international organizations in Switzerland, at the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development
Geneva, April 29, 2019
Mr. President,
More than 30 years after its adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations, the effective implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development remains an unfulfilled one.
The right to development constitutes a universal and inalienable right, and it is a right of both individuals and peoples. It is a collective right that we should all enjoy, and, in accordance, promote and respect.
The great inequality between rich and poor nations, and also within the countries themselves, with enormous economic, social and cultural implications, is still one of the main obstacles that threaten the realization of the right to development.
Cuba opposes any attempt to reinterpret the right to development. It is not about the operationalization of human rights in development, or simply to incorporate a human rights approach into the agenda for sustainable development. It is about operationalizing this right in the policies and activities of governments and international organizations and institutions.
The lack of political will of many developed countries that deny the collective right to development is regrettable, and year after year they hinder the progress of its implementation and its legal recognition in international organizations.
Cuba reaffirms that if there were political will from developed countries, and with relatively few resources, much could be done for the right to development of States and billions of people around the world.
Mr. President,
The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba, constitutes the main obstacle to the realization of the right to development of the Cuban people. This genocidal policy, which is being applied against our country for almost 60 years, is also a flagrant violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.
On April 17, the current government of the United States announced the adoption of new measures of aggression against Cuba. The Helms-Burton Act, which contravenes the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of International Law, as proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and the decision to operationalize its Chapter III, which constitutes an unprecedented legal aberration is a desperate attempt to surrender the Cuban people and violate their right to development according to the model they have sovereignly decided.
Cuba rejects in the strongest terms this decision and the intensification of the blockade. Cuba also repudiates the decision to once again limit the remittances that Cuban residents in the US send to their relatives, to further restrict the travel of US citizens to Cuba, the application of additional financial sanctions, and numerous measures against companies and entrepreneurs from third countries.
The US government tries to justify his actions, as is customary, with lies and blackmail.
Cuba calls on all members of the international community, and the mechanisms of the United Nations, to stop the irrational escalation and the policy of hostility and aggression by the US government, which has been rejected, almost unanimously, by the General Assembly of the United Nations for 27 consecutive years.
Mr. President,
At the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the NAM held in Havana, it was agreed to "Urge the United Nations human rights mechanism to guarantee the implementation of the right to development as a priority, among other things, through the preparation of a Convention on the Right to Development ".
After more than 10 years, Resolution 39/9 of the Human Rights Council decided that the Working Group, at its twentieth session, "initiates the debate to draft a legally binding instrument on the right to development through a process of collaboration and participation ". We cannot let more time go by without implementing this mandate.
Cuba ratifies its commitment to the work of the Working Group and its willingness to exchange constructively with all the delegations in order to obtain a positive result and concrete progress in this session.
Thank you.