New York, 18 February 2022.- Ambassador Pedro L. Pedroso Cuesta, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, was elected today as Vice-chair of the Special Committee on Decolonization. At the installation ceremony, attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Pedroso Cuesta expressed his gratitude for the confidence placed in Cuba, which he represents, and emphasized that the mandate given to the Committee is unaccomplished.
Sixty-one years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, 17 territories continue to be subjected to colonial servitude, including Puerto Rico, the Saharawi Arab Republic and the Falkland Islands, to name but a few in Latin America.
The Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples is also known as the Special Committee on Decolonization or C-24. It was established in 1961 by the General Assembly as a subsidiary organ devoted to issues related to decolonization, pursuant to General Assembly resolution 1654 (XVI) of 27 November 1961.
The bureau of C-24 is composed of one Chair, Vice-Chairs and one Rapporteur. In addition to the election of the Permanent Representative of Cuba as Vice-Chair, the following were elected: Grenada as Chair; Sierra Leone and Indonesia as Vice-Chairs; and Syria as Rapporteur.
Pedroso Cuesta stressed, on behalf of Cuba, that they will not relent in their efforts to advance decolonization and to banish from international relations the practices of colonialism that still persist.
( Cubaminrex-Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations)