Only multilateralism and diplomacy for peace will give way to a democratic and just international order, says Cuba at the UN.

New York, 24 April 2019. "The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace cannot not be taken as a mere celebration, but as a reaffirmation of our duty and collective responsibility to preserve peace. As we approach the commemoration of the 74th anniversary of the United Nations Organization, Cuba as a founding member ratifies its commitment to the defense and promotion of multilateralism," said Ambassador Ana Silvia Rodríguez Abascal, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. and Deputy Permanent Representative of Cuba to the world organization.

In her statement at the High-Level Event of the General Assembly to commemorate the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, the diplomat of the island emphasized that within a global context marked by growing threats to international peace and security due to unconventional warfare and blatant violations of the sovereignty of States, multilateralism is the only possible response to find a solution to this situation, through strict respect for the principles of International Law and the Charter of the United Nations.

The Caribbean representative called for an end to manipulation, politicization and indecent double standards on issues of global significance, including human rights. She also rejected the enactment and implementation of extraterritorial laws, such as the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States Government against Cuba for more than 60 years, in a flagrant violation of International Law, the Charter of the United Nations as well as the 27 resolutions adopted by the General Assembly demanding its immediate lifting.

She added that current policies, such as the recent decision of the United States Government to allow, hereinafter, that legal actions against Cuban and foreign companies outside US jurisdiction can be brought before US courts and  tighten impediments to the entry into the United States of executives and their relatives from companies that legitimately invest in Cuba, in properties that were nationalized undermine multilateralism and pose huge challenges and threats to international law and to the principles of peaceful coexistence among States.

Cuba, she said, has had a revolutionary foreign policy, whose backbone has been internationalism, anti-imperialism, solidarity and unity among third world countries. As a result, the island reiterates its unavoidable commitment to continue to work together with the United Nations and its member states, for the establishment of a democratic and just international order consistent with the call for peace, development and justice of the peoples around the world to ensure the preservation and strengthening of multilateralism, she concluded.

Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations