Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, Inés María Chapman Waugh, firmly leads our Island's delegation at the crucial Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development. This gathering, extending until July 3rd, is not just another event on the multilateral agenda; it represents the culmination of a persistent struggle by the Global South, championed for decades by the Group of 77 and China, of which Cuba is an active and committed member.
The core of this meeting is as longstanding as it is urgent: the demand for a new international financial architecture. A system that, far from perpetuating asymmetries and conditionalities, genuinely responds to the financing needs, sustainable development, and poverty eradication efforts of the Global South. Cuba has been, since the dawn of this debate, a clear and unwavering voice in this demand. Our participation, then as now, is defined by the uncompromising defense of the interests of developing nations.
In Seville, Cuba carries a clear message, heir to principles and struggles:
End Economic Aggression: The imperative call for the immediate elimination of unilateral coercive measures, illegal and genocidal policies like the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States against our people. These policies not only strangle Cuba but constitute the primary external obstacle to the development of numerous countries and violate International Law. Their elimination is a sine qua non requirement for any real progress in development financing.
Just Debt Governance: The insistence on the need to initiate a transparent and inclusive intergovernmental process for the sustainable management and restructuring of sovereign debt. The current architecture favors creditors and suffocates the most vulnerable nations, requiring fair mechanisms based on cooperation, not imposition.
Cuba's presence at this Conference is laden with historical symbolism. It was our Commander-in-Chief, Fidel Castro Ruz, who personally headed the Cuban delegation to the first International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey (2002), laying the foundations for our solidarity-based and anti-imperialist stance. Today, the continuity of that commitment is reinforced. It is no coincidence that the call for this Fourth Conference took place precisely during Cuba's successful Presidency of the Group of 77 and China in 2023, a period in which our country worked tirelessly to advance this priority agenda of the South.
Alongside Vice Prime Minister Chapman, a high-level technical delegation ensures Cuba's voice is heard with authority in all forums. It includes comrade Ana Silvia Rodríguez Abascal, Deputy Director General of Multilateral Affairs and International Law at MINREX (Ministry of Foreign Affairs); William Díaz Menéndez, Director General of International Cooperation at MINCEX (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment); Susset Rosales Vázquez, Director General of Planning and Development at MEP (Ministry of Economy and Planning); and Dayamis Ohilsa Muñoz Riverón, Director General of Economic Policy at BCC (Central Bank of Cuba), alongside other officials from the Foreign Ministry, our Embassy in Spain, and the Permanent Mission to the UN.
From Seville, Cuba reiterates its conviction: only an international financial system that is democratic, just, and oriented towards human development can guarantee a sustainable future for all. The elimination of the blockade against Cuba and the relief of the financial suffocation of the South are not mere political demands; they are ethical imperatives and essential conditions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The Cuban delegation will work tirelessly during these crucial days to achieve concrete agreements reflecting these urgent needs of the developing world. The hope of the South, once again, has a place in this forum, and Cuba will be on the front line defending it.