Havana, January 12, 2023.- The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified this Thursday that the country assumed the presidency of the Group of 77 + China, which had been occupied in 2022 by Pakistan.
At the inauguration meeting, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla recognized the importance for Cuba of presiding over this representative space of nations.
"We are highly honored to represent this group, diverse and thriving, in times of monumental challenges for developing countries," declared the Cuban president during the ceremony on the occasion of the formal transfer of the presidency of the Group.
Pointing out that nations "carry on their shoulders the consequences of the multiple crises and inequalities derived from the unjust international order in force," the dignitary said that it is imperative to achieve "a consensus on issues that affect us as countries and as a group."
"We are talking about a profoundly anti-democratic order designed to perpetuate the imbalance that, despite the historical demands of the countries in this Group, sustains the wealth of a few at the cost of the impoverishment of the majority," he stressed.
The Head of State also recognized the role that the South has played as a cornerstone of bilateral development negotiations.
“We have acted together. And it is with the strength of those two thirds of the world that we represent that we have managed to advance certain objectives and ideals”, he highlighted.
The Cuban president ratified his belief in multilateralism and in the power of unity in diversity and maintained his commitment to work, together with all the members of the Group, in defense of the interests of the nations that comprise it.
A year of great challenges
For his part, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla recognized Pakistan's work towards the Group in 2022 and pointed out that "the great challenges that the current economic order has generated for the developing world reach their most acute expression in these times of systemic crisis ”.
“Unequal access to vaccines, the digital divide, the burden of foreign debt, the structural reform of the international financial architecture, financing flows for development, food insecurity, restrictive trade measures, climate finance and capacity building continues to be left unaddressed today in all its dimension”, stated the minister.
When analyzing the difference between developing and developed countries, Bruno Rodríguez listed some of the consequences.
(TeleSur)