On Tuesday, Ambassador Daylenis Moreno Guerra, Cuba's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, spoke at the 22nd session of the High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation.
The diplomat stressed the need to strengthen alliances among Southern countries based on solidarity, complementarity, and respect for national priorities. She described this as an essential issue at a time when multilateralism faces enormous challenges.
He also emphasized that South-South Cooperation is a strategic development tool. At the same time, he emphasized Cuba's unwavering commitment to cooperation, even under the most challenging conditions imposed by the U.S. government's economic, commercial, and financial blockade. "Despite this, and despite our limited resources, we have maintained and strengthened our cooperation programs in key sectors such as health, education, human capital formation, science, technology, and disaster response," he said.
He denounced the U.S. government's attacks on Cuba's medical cooperation programs, which currently provide more than 24,000 collaborators in 56 countries. He described this as an immoral act on the part of the United States, which is withdrawing from the World Health Organization and suspending its financial contributions, thus affecting the WHO's ability to support countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
"Cuba's solidarity activities are fully consistent with the principles of South-South Cooperation and the WHO's and PAHO's international standards. These activities are based on intergovernmental agreements between Cuba and the recipient country and respect the sovereignty and internal affairs of each country. Therefore, the U.S. government's offensive against Cuban international cooperation is unacceptable," said Moreno Guerra.
On the other hand, he reiterated Cuba's firm support for strengthening development cooperation and for an international architecture that recognizes the voice of the South. He emphasized the importance of recognizing South-South cooperation as a valuable complement to, rather than a substitute for, North-South cooperation, as well as the commitment of developed countries to their historical responsibilities.
Finally, he reaffirmed Cuba's support for the mandate and catalytic role of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations