Mr. President,
The current global financial architecture is not designed to address the urgent needs of countries of the South. For Cuba, an inclusive reform of this system is a longstanding demand, aimed at ensuring respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
Developing nations, including many in Latin America and the Caribbean, continue to allocate more resources to servicing external debt than to essential investments in health, education, and social welfare. This financial burden not only constrains national efforts but, in many cases, renders them unfeasible.
Today, 52 developing countries face a severe debt crisis, despite the fact that the principal of their debts has already been repaid multiple times. While certain initiatives have attempted to ease this situation, their reach remains insufficient. It is essential that private creditors become involved, that these initiatives be expanded within a multilateral framework to include more countries—including middle-income ones—and that they be extended to Small Island Developing States, which face additional challenges.
Cuba supports the initiatives undertaken to broaden the scope and conditions of debt relief, although they are still insufficient.
Our country has consistently advocated for the establishment of a multilateral mechanism for sovereign debt renegotiation, in which countries of the South have a fair and decisive role, enabling equitable solutions oriented toward sustainable development.
The ad hoc architecture used to address debt crises disproportionately favors creditors and imposes pro-cyclical austerity policies that exacerbate the chronic financial vulnerabilities of the South.
In this context, Cuba has joined, as part of the preparatory process for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, the call on public, multilateral, and private creditors to refinance debt through credit guarantees, lower interest rates, and longer maturity periods. These facilities must be extended to middle-income countries, which include many of the nations most vulnerable to climate change.
It is necessary to redesign debt contracts and instruments to incorporate automatic relief clauses that allow for immediate responses when a country is affected by natural disasters, macroeconomic shocks, or events that directly impact its Gross Domestic Product growth prospects, thereby protecting its development outlook.
However, reducing, restructuring, or cancelling external debt will be insufficient unless it is accompanied by a redesign of the current operating patterns of the global economy, trade, and finance.
The existing governance system, created nearly a century ago, no longer reflects the realities of today’s multilateral structures. In this regard, Cuba calls for progress in the following areas:
- Reform of the governance structure of international financial institutions, particularly the International Monetary Fund, to eliminate the voting system based on economic and financial power, which is no longer sustainable.
- Creation of a more equitable global financial architecture, with meaningful participation of developing countries.
- Establishment of inclusive and effective platforms within the framework of the United Nations for designing and debating international financial norms and regulations that serve the interests of all countries.
External debt must not become an instrument of domination or a mechanism to perpetuate historical inequalities. Cuba reaffirms its commitment to global economic justice and international cooperation to guarantee the right to development for all peoples.
Thank you.