Mr. president,
Distinguished representatives,
In the current complex international scenario, our nations face serious security challenges.
Multilateralism is weakened and the United Nations disarmament machinery is increasingly eroded.
Unconventional wars are intensifying and more and more is being spent on weapons. World military spending has been growing rapidly in the last seven years and already exceeds 2.1 trillion dollars, an alarming record.
While exorbitant resources are wasted on sophisticated killing devices, official development aid commitments are not met and millions of people around the world continue to suffer from hunger and poverty.
Madam president,
Cuba supports the important mandate of the Conference on Disarmament as the only multilateral body responsible for negotiating legally binding instruments in the field of disarmament.
It is urgent that the Conference resume its substantive work and fulfill its negotiating mandate.
We will continue to support the adoption of a comprehensive and balanced work program that responds to the demands for peace and stability of the contemporary world.
Moving towards nuclear disarmament in a transparent, verifiable and irreversible manner is the highest priority.
We regret that the 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has concluded without any results, for the second consecutive time.
Fortunately, the successful celebration of the First Meeting of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN) brings us closer to some extent to the ideal of a world free of nuclear weapons, which we aspire to and need, for the good of all. present and future generations.
We are proud to be part of the region that has the largest number of States Parties to said Treaty and that reaffirmed its invariable and solid support for nuclear disarmament, with the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, signed by the Chiefs of State and Government in Havana, in 2014.
This historical document, the only one of its kind in the world, will reach its tenth anniversary next year.
Madam president,
Our country advocates for a world of justice, dignity and peace, which will only be possible by changing the unjust and undemocratic prevailing international order; and guaranteeing respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.
We reiterate our rejection of unilateral coercive measures, such as the criminal and illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Cuban people for more than six decades.
We also condemn the illegitimate and arbitrary inclusion of Cuba on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism that the State Department unilaterally draws up.
I conclude by quoting the Commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, an active defender of disarmament: Peace, détente, peaceful coexistence, disarmament must be demanded, must be demanded, must be conquered, since they will not arise by spontaneous generation. and in today's world there is no other alternative, if we want to preserve the life of humanity.
Thank you so much