New York, 9 September 2019.In his statement at the First Substantive Session of the Open-ended Working Group of the UNGA on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security, the Cuban representative Miguel Gutiérrez Rodríguez, General Director for Information Technology of the Ministry of Communications of Cuba, warned that the growing development of cyber-offensive capabilities and operations could turn cyberspace into a new conflict scenario, for this reason, the international community must pay special attention to the misuse of information and communications technologies (ICT).
Within this framework, he added, the United Nations should assume a pivotal role and establish itself as a permanent forum for dialogue, consultation and cooperation among Member States, and as a focal point for the exchange of information on cyber incidents among States. He further reiterated that the use of ICTs must be fully consistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, especially the principles of sovereign equality; the peaceful settlement of international disputes; abstention from resorting to the threat or the use of force, in international relations, against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state; and the non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states.
The representative of the island denounced the seriousness inherent to the already published United States Department of Defense Cyber Strategy, which authorizes the use of offensive cyber weapons and cyber-offensive operations, including the possibility of launching preventive cyber-attacks to deter adversaries. He warned that such aggressive doctrines, containing a warmongering and threatening philosophy, constitute an attempt to turn cyberspace into a theatre of military operations and to legitimize, in that context, unilateral acts of force by States that deliberately claim to be victims of unverified illicit uses of information and communication technologies.
Gutiérrez Rodríguez also took the opportunity to denounce the unilateral measures that prevent universal access to the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies, particularly the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the government of the United States against Cuba.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.