New York, February 20th, 2023.- By assuming the Presidency of the Group of Friends of Spanish, GAE, for the period 2023, Cuba today renewed its commitment to multilingualism, and to the appropriate and increasingly effective use of the Spanish language in the work of the United Nations.
Ambassador Pedro Luis Pedroso Cuesta, permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, expressed his conviction that multilingualism constitutes the basis of effective multilateralism, which guarantees inclusion, transparency and dialogue among member states.
At the same time, he highlighted that it is a necessary tool to maintain language balance and equality, under the premise that the preservation of different cultures and languages are essential to promote tolerance and a culture of peace.
Pedroso highlighted that since Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, its effectiveness for the dissemination of information in our language and its equal use in the work of the UN are confirmed.
The Cuban representation invited the outstanding Cuban writer living in the United States, Sonia Rivera Valdés, winner of Casa de las Américas in 1997 and honored with the Distinction for National Culture in 2022, for the occasion.
In an entertaining dissertation, Sonia said that, from her experience as a Spanish teacher for more than forty years, in schools and universities in New York City, she not only learned more than she taught, but in every meeting with the students she transmitted to them the need to defend language as an integral part of each one.
The Group of Friends of Spanish created in 2013 is made up of 20 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela and Cuba.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations