Mr. President,
The promotion and protection of all human rights currently face an extremely complex situation. Conflicts and threats to peace persist. Unilateral coercive measures are multiplying. Actions to halt the destruction of the planet remain insufficient.
The current international economic order continues to reproduce deep inequalities. The international financial architecture is unjust and undemocratic. Data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) confirm that more than half of developing countries face unsustainable debt levels.
Added to this is the persistent scourge of hunger. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more than 735 million people suffer from hunger in the world. This figure reflects the deep structural flaws of the international economic system and the urgency of transforming its rules.
At the same time, neo-fascist and xenophobic platforms are strengthening. Hate speech is being normalized. In several developed countries, there is a worrying regression in fundamental rights, including women's equality, sexual and reproductive rights, and the rights of people of African descent, ethnic minorities, and migrants.
The Human Rights Council cannot remain impassive in the face of these realities. The peoples of the world demand concrete actions, not mere declarations.
While we hold this debate, the United States and Israel are dropping bombs on Iran, President Nicolás Maduro lies in a cell after his kidnapping, and the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip continues to suffer devastating attacks that have caused tens of thousands of casualties and mass displacement.
The Council cannot remain silent in the face of these grave violations of international law.
Cuba will continue to denounce, time and again, the criminal economic blockade imposed on us by the government of the United States and its most recent escalation of aggressiveness. This policy is a flagrant violation of the human rights of all Cubans and must cease.
Our country will promote in this Council genuine international cooperation based on the indivisibility of human rights, non-selectivity, and non-politicization.
We will always advocate for respectful and constructive dialogue, as opposed to punitive approaches.
In this session of the Council, Cuba will present three draft resolutions under agenda item 3, relating to the right to food, cultural rights, and the negative impact of external debt on human rights.
We thank in advance the valuable support and co-sponsorship of these Cuban proposals.
Thank you very much.