New York, 29 November 2018. Today, Cuba presided over the Regional Interactive Dialogue of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on the priorities of the region with a view to holding the Second High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation, held at the premises of the global organization.
During her statement, the Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Ambassador Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo, argued that this Regional Dialogue is in compliance with the mandate granted by the Member States under Resolution 730 (XXXVII), approved during the 37th session of ECLAC, which took place in Havana, Cuba, from 7 to 11 May of this year, and ratified through an Agreement of the 8th Meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Committee on South-South Cooperation (SSC) on 3 October held at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
The senior official indicated that the primary objective of the Dialogue is to contribute to the negotiating process of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) and to provide the regional perspective to the strengthening of South-South Cooperation, thus contributing to the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as to the empowerment of the countries of the South.
She added that the Second High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (BAPA plus 40) will be the moment to reaffirm the validity of the international commitments and goals undertaken, especially by developed countries in relation to financing for development; as well as to strengthen and improve the functions of the United Nations Organization in relation to development.
The meeting was marked by the absence of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of the Republic of Cuba, Mrs. Ileana Núñez Mordoche, who was to preside over the dialogue in her capacity as Chair of the ECLAC Committee on South-South Cooperation. Unfortunately, the disrespectful and mishandling by the United States Government of its obligations as the host country, by unreasonably delaying the granting of her entry visa to the United States, which had been duly processed, prevented her from participating in the meeting.
In this regard, Cuba and its Permanent Mission to the United Nations expressed their strong rejection of this act, which violates the obligations of the United States under the United Nations Headquarters Agreement and is yet another example of the disrespect of that Government towards multilateral organizations and their member States.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.