New York, October 13, 2017.During her statement on item 17 of the agenda of the UN Second Commission on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Development, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Ambassador Ana Silvia Rodriguez Abascal, stated that progress in connectivity, innovation and access to ICTs do not reach everyone equally, with a large digital divide remaining among and within countries, between urban and rural areas, and among developing and least developed countries, which are particularly at disadvantage.
The Cuban diplomat stressed that these deep inequalities, as a result of the unjust global development model, prevent developing countries from having full access to and enjoyment of these technologies, which are so necessary today for the development and achievement of the SDGs adopted by the General Assembly.
In like manner, she stated that ICTs should be used to increase people's capacities to achieve economic and social development, to promote peace and knowledge, to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and social exclusion, on the basis of strict respect for the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, and they should never be instruments to promote war, interventionism, destabilization, subversion, unilateralism or terrorist actions.
Rodriguez Abascal explained that Cuba works to develop the computerization of society and to extend the use of the Internet to all, facilitating an effective, universal and accessible insertion of Cubans in that space. All these despite the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba, which has caused a loss to the sector of 68, 922,110 dollars, only from April 2016 to April 2017, she added.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.