New York, 22 October 2019.In her statement at the thematic debate on "Other weapons of mass destruction" of the First Committee of the United Nations, the Cuban representative, Third Secretary Yailin Castro Loredo, reiterated her country's call for the total and complete prohibition and elimination of all weapons of mass destruction; as the only assurance to prevent the acquisition and use of these weapons, even by terrorists. She stressed that her country does not possess, nor does it intend to possess, any kind of weapon of mass destruction and firmly rejects the use of such weapons by any actor in any circumstance.
The diplomat recalled that the island is a State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, strictly complying with their provisions. It therefore fully supports existing multilateral regimes prohibiting weapons of mass destruction.
She regretted that the Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention ended without the adoption of a final report; while she rejected selective, biased and politically motivated approaches to the implementation of the Convention and the creation of mechanisms and procedures outside its scope, which modify the technical mandate of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
As an example, she again condemned the attack by the United States together with some of its allies against military and civilian facilities in the Syrian Arab Republic on April 13, 2018, using as a pretext the alleged use by the Syrian government of chemical weapons against civilians in Duma; which was a unilateral action –outside the United Nations Security Council, and prior to an investigation by the OPCW-- in flagrant violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
The Cuban representative called for the elimination of all types of chemical weapons; and specifically for the United States, the only State in possession of these types of weapons that has not completed the destruction of its declared stockpiles, to complete this process without further delay, under international verification.
Castro Loredo also recognized that the only truly effective and sustainable way to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention and ensure its comprehensive and balanced implementation is through the adoption of a legally binding Protocol that prohibits them and includes a verification mechanism. She noted that had it not been for the fierce opposition of the United States in 2001, such an instrument would already be in place.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations