Mr. President;
Distinguished Heads of State and Government;
Distinguished delegates:
New York, 25 September 2019. Four years have elapsed since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the prevailing international order continues to be unjust, unequal and exclusive. For 40 consecutive years, developed countries have failed to meet their Official Development Assistance commitments. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption linger on, leading the world to the imminent destruction of the conditions for life on the planet.
Contrary to what was endorsed in the 2030 Agenda, the world faces an international system in which wars of conquest and unconventional wars promoted by the U.S. imperialism proliferate.
Mr. President,
For almost six decades, Cuba has been a victim of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States, which constitutes the main obstacle to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In recent months, this genocidal and illegal policy has been brutally intensified with the full implementation of the Helms-Burton Act and other measures of economic pressure and piracy, applied by the U.S. government in order to paralyze Cuba's economic development and cause hunger and discouragement among its population in an attempt to obtain unattainable political concessions. They have reached the point where they have resorted to persecution, surveillance and the imposition of sanctions against companies that supply and transport fuel to Cuba.
In addition, the U.S. government is attempting to thwart the South-South cooperation projects between Cuba and countless countries to improve the health conditions of millions of people. This interference negatively affects the countries benefiting from this medical cooperation, directly undermining the 2030 Agenda.
Mr. President, Cuba moves forward with determination in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Thanks to the efforts carried out, our country boasts social indicators comparable to those of many developed countries.
Thus, for example, Cuba is the fifth country among the top 14 countries that have eliminated hunger and malnutrition and that show satisfactory rates, according to the 2018 Global Food Policy Report. In 2017, we also maintained the lowest infant mortality rate in our history and in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, at 4.0 per 1,000 live births.
Mr. President,
There is an urgent need to count on the real political will of the developed states. ! Let us change the existing unjust international order that benefits a few above many others!
As the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, expressed, and I quote: "End the philosophy of plunder and the philosophy of war will cease!".
Thank you very much.