New York, September 24, 2018. The President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, addressed for the first time the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, held on the day before the high-level general debate of the 73rd Session of the UNGA.
The Cuban leader acknowledged it was comforting that the United Nations General Assembly could meet at a Peace Summit and that the Summit precisely bears the name of Nelson Mandela, who led the noble struggle for justice and equality among all the men and women of South Africa, where a white minority subjected the black majority to the shame of segregation. "Cuba is honored to remember that it shared its struggles, in the front lines, together with its African brothers from Angola and Namibia," said the Cuban leader. He also stated that for Cubans there was no greater recognition than the embrace of a free Nelson Mandela to our historic leader Fidel Castro Ruz, in Cuban territory.
Diaz-Canel recalled in his statement that Raul Castro Ruz, described Mandela as "a prophet of unity, reconciliation and peace"; while the Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, defined him as an example of "an absolutely honest man (...), unwaveringly firm, courageous, heroic, serene, intelligent, capable ...".
He also referred to the recent announcement of increased military spending, which will launch the world into a new arms race, to the detriment of the enormous resources needed to build a world of peace; while reaffirming the indelible relationship among peace, stability and development. Therefore, he said, "there can be no peace and security for people with high levels of poverty, chronic hunger and malnutrition, poor health, poor access to drinking water, illiteracy, high rates of infant mortality, deaths from preventable diseases and low life expectancy ".
The Cuban president called on the international community to work for a future of peace and to fully honor the unforgettable Mandela, whom the historic leader of the Cuban revolution called the "Apostle of Peace."
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations