The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, will speak in the High Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament, to be held from February 22 to 26, 2021, in Geneva. Cuba's participation in this event corresponds to its commitment to the international disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control regime.
The High Level Segment will be chaired by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations and President of the Conference, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve.
The Conference, as a result of the first Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly in 1978, was recognized as “the unique forum for multilateral negotiations on disarmament”.
At this conference, instruments such as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction have been successfully negotiated; Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Storage and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
The historical position of Cuba that considers that the mere existence of nuclear weapons constitutes a threat to international peace and security should be highlighted. Using a tiny part of the nuclear arsenal would have catastrophic consequences for our planet. It is everyone's responsibility to preserve the existence of the human being against the threat of nuclear weapons.
Cuba's position is based on the humanist thought of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, a tireless fighter for nuclear disarmament, who stated that: "In a nuclear war the collateral damage would be the life of humanity."
Let us remember the historic speech delivered by our Commander-in-Chief on October 12, 1979, at the General Assembly of the United Nations. Fidel said: "I have not come here as a prophet of the revolution; I have not come to ask or wish the world to convulse violently. We have come to speak of peace and collaboration between the peoples, and we have come to warn that if we do not resolve peacefully and wisely the current injustices and inequalities the future will be apocalyptic. The noise of weapons, threatening language, arrogance on the international scene must cease. Enough of the illusion that the world's problems can be solved with nuclear weapons. The bombs will be able to kill the hungry, the sick, the ignorant, but they cannot kill hunger, disease, ignorance. They cannot kill the just rebellion of the peoples and in the holocaust the rich will also die, who are those who have the most to lose in this world. Let us say farewell to arms and devote ourselves in a civilized way to the most pressing problems of our Era. That is the responsibility and the most sacred duty of all statesmen of the world. That is also the indispensable premise of human survival”.
Among the principles of the foreign policy of the Republic of Cuba, included in the Constitution promulgated on February 24, 2019, it is reaffirmed that: “it promotes general and complete disarmament and rejects the existence, proliferation or use of nuclear weapons, of extermination en masse or others with similar effects, as well as the development and use of new weapons and new ways of waging war, such as cyberwar, that violate International Law.
Cuba, together with the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, has firmly and systematically demanded the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons.
The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, including International Humanitarian Law, and cannot be justified under any security concept or doctrine.
Cuba participated in the celebration for the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on October 2, 2020, during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly. There he endorsed that these weapons are inhumane, immoral, and ethically indefensible.
Cuba will continue with Fidel's legacy, it will continue with its multilateral commitments in the interests of compliance with international law, social justice, the well-being of the peoples and human survival.
(Embacuba Grecia and Cubaminrex)