Mr. President,
The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded inequalities between developed and developing countries and has put the spotlight on the need to transform the unjust, unequal and undemocratic international financial architecture.
Developing countries face the challenge of coping with increasing health expenditures, economic downturn, widening of fiscal deficits, foreign debt, food insecurity, unemployment and poverty, all of which jeopardizes the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
By contrast, some powers squander trillions of resources on military expenditures, fail to meet their commitment to donate 0.7% of their GDP to the Official Development Assistance and impose unilateral coercive measures, in violation of the UN Charter and International Law.
Cuba has suffered the most protracted economic, commercial and financial blockade in history, imposed by the successive US governments and intensified to unprecedented levels, even amid the pandemic, with the approval of over 240 measures by the outgoing administration, measures which are still in force. This criminal and illegal policy, which is rejected by the international community, constitutes the main hindrance to the sustainable development of my country.
Mr. President,
Twenty-five years after the establishment of the World Trade Organization, the Doha Development Round is at a standstill and special and differential treatment for the countries of the South remains a pipe dream. We are moving further and further away from fulfilling the commitments contained in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
The efforts of nations must be supported by concrete actions in terms of technology transfer, external financing under fair conditions, market access, capacity building and North-South cooperation.
There is an urgent need for an immediate solution to the problem of the growing foreign debt, already paid in full, and whose disproportionate amount impacts on the efforts of the countries of the South to focus on their development.
It is time for high-income countries to pay their historical debt to humanity for the colonialism, the unjust wars and the plunder of natural resources and environmental spoliation. Immediate and lasting solutions are needed to enable a prosperous, equitable and sustainable future.
We all have the commitment to pass confidence in the future on the new generations and show them that a better world is possible.
Thank you very much.