Mr. President,
Cuba considers timely and necessary this debate on a matter of the utmost urgency. Latin America and the Caribbean is currently facing threats unprecedented in recent decades.
The ostensible, excessive, and unjustified military deployment of the United States in the Caribbean Sea and its constant threatening pronouncements and actions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are the prelude to what would constitute an aggression as illegal as it is irresponsible.
In its new National Security Strategy, the United States government declares as a priority the imposition of its influence and control in Latin America and the Caribbean, including over the natural resources of our region.
The infamous Monroe Doctrine, with an even more aggressive approach, has reappeared as a central element of that country's policy. As a result of the application of this sinister doctrine, the nations of our region have suffered countless interventions and abuses in the past. We cannot allow this to be the case in the future as well.
The assault and seizure last week of an oil tanker by U.S. military forces, which demonstrates the true intentions of the military deployment, is a vile act of piracy, maritime terrorism, and theft of the Venezuelan people's resources.
It was the most recent episode in an alarming sequence of attacks against small vessels and extrajudicial killings of more than 90 people, based on accusations that have never been proven. These murders, which flagrantly violate International Human Rights Law, have been documented by United Nations experts and rapporteurs.
Now the United States government is demanding that Venezuela hand over its natural resources, and to achieve this outrageous goal, it has announced the imposition of a naval blockade.
This constitutes another grave violation of international law, contravening the principles of freedom of navigation and free trade, and harming not only Venezuela but the international community as a whole, including the member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
We are sovereign states. The natural resources of our countries belong to our people, to no one else.
Every nation has the right to freely dispose of and trade its resources as it sees fit, without interference or hegemonic ambitions from any other country, however powerful it may be.
We are witnessing a frontal assault on the principles and rules of the WTO, the organization responsible for preserving a universal, rules-based, non-discriminatory, and equitable multilateral trading system. A system based on International Law, not on the Law of the Jungle.
Key provisions of the multilateral trading system cannot be violated with impunity. These include Article XI of the GATT on the Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions; Article III on National Treatment; Article V on Freedom of Transit; the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; and the fundamental principle of non-discrimination, to name just a few.
We call on the international community to unequivocally reject the illegal actions of the United States and to uphold respect for the UN Charter and the rules of this Organization.
We urge the WTO to demand the restitution of all assets that have been arbitrarily seized and fair and proportionate compensation for the substantial economic and commercial damages caused by these actions.
The freedom of trade and navigation enshrined in international law must be protected. It is also a priority to defend the legitimate right of Latin America and the Caribbean to be a Zone of Peace.
Thank you very much.