New York, September 26, 2017. Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, Director General for Multilateral Affairs and International Law at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meber of the Cuban delegation to the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, participated in the High-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the “International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons”. The event served as a reminder of Cuba's historic position against such weapons and their tests, best reflected in the mythical speech delivered by the then-President Fidel Castro in 1979 on the same rostrum.
The Cuban representative called for the mobilization of the international community as a next step to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons, following the adoption in July of this year of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty constitutes a rule of international law establishing the prohibition of nuclear weapons in all circumstances, and has not only endorsed their inhuman, immoral and ethically indefensible character; but also that from now on they will be illegal.
Reyes Rodríguez reflected on how millions of dollars are spent in weapons, including in the modernization of nuclear weapons, and not enough resources are mobilized for the international cooperation needed to fight poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals contained in the 2030 Agenda.
He recalled that since 1967, with the adoption of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, or the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the region has been mobilized in favor of nuclear disarmament and the maintenance of international peace and security. Added to this is the recent Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which includes the firm commitment of the 33 signatory states to the promotion of nuclear disarmament as a priority objective.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations