Mr. President,
The inextricable link between peace, security and development was recognized in the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development.
Peace cannot be built on poverty, exclusion and underdevelopment perpetuated by the existing unjust international order.
Nor can development take place amid armed conflicts, threats of the use of force, or economic and political coercion.
Although both realities have been widely recognized in subsequent international documents, concrete actions fall short of commitments and rhetoric. The paradox is undeniable: humanity spends 16 times more on destruction than on development.
In 2025, global military expenditure reached 2.8 trillion US dollars, the highest figure recorded in the current decade, accounting for 2.5% of global GDP and representing the highest level since 2009.
Meanwhile, development financing is reaching its lowest historical levels this year, with just 174.3 billion US dollars allocated to meeting Official Development Assistance commitments.
This situation is unsustainable. No strategy that prioritizes military spending at the expense of development can guarantee the preservation of humanity.
Mr. President,
A silent genocide is taking place in Cuba today as a consequence of the extreme intensification of the multidimensional war imposed by the Government of the United States.
A brutal energy blockade and the imposition of secondary sanctions for more than ten months have caused deaths, as reflected in the doubling of the infant mortality rate, from 4.4 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births, and in the decline in the survival prospects of children with cancer, from 85% to 65%.
Between 2025 and 2026 alone, the United States economic, commercial and financial blockade caused losses estimated at 8 billion US dollars. The cumulative damage caused by this policy amounts to 3 trillion US dollars.
Experts agree that, had the blockade not existed, Cuba's GDP at current prices in 2025 would have been 10.8% higher than the value estimated for that year. How much more could Cuba have achieved in pursuit of sustainable development without the constant pressure and suffocation imposed by this illegal policy?
Mr. President,
Under the pretext that Cuba constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat, the Government of the United States has threatened military aggression against Cuba, in total disregard for international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
A military adventure against Cuba would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe, cause bloodshed, destabilize our region and have incalculable consequences.
This is unacceptable. Cuba has the right to live and develop in peace.
Cuba is not a threat; the blockade is.
It is our shared responsibility to put an end to the abuses that threaten and harm peoples and undermine the sovereign prerogatives of all States.
The Global South should strive to achieve this goal and protect itself collectively against those who seek, through external interference and destabilization, to prevent peoples from exercising their right to development.
Thank you very much.