Statement by the Cuban Delegation to the 64th Session of the Preparatory Commission of the CTBTO
Mr. Chairman:
We congratulate you on your work at the 64th session of the Preparatory Commission and express our full cooperation.
We thank Dr. Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary, for his opening remarks and the presentation of his report, as well as the Provisional Technical Secretariat for the documents prepared for this meeting, of which we take note.
My country reaffirms its historic commitment to nuclear disarmament and the complete and effective prohibition of all nuclear tests, including those conducted by explosion, subcritical and all those conducted by sophisticated methods.
The universalization of the CTBT and the rest of the instruments of the international nuclear disarmament architecture should be a common and permanent aspiration.
We welcome the preparations for the 2025 Conference on Science and Technology and the 14th Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT, both in September 2025.
Cuba reiterates that the full participation of the States in the work of the Organization, which contemplates a balance among the three fundamental pillars, must be guaranteed. However, the application of unilateral coercive measures affects that collective aspiration, fundamentally, of developing countries. In the case of Cuba, the difficulties aggravated by the economic, commercial and financial blockade and the inclusion in the unilateral list of State Sponsors of Terrorism; impedes, among other issues, our access to all the benefits derived from the work of the Organization.
Mr. Chairman:
My country expresses its position of support for initiatives that promote geographic representation, the promotion of multilingualism and gender equality as principles that should be present at all levels of operation of the Provisional Technical Secretariat, the Preparatory Commission and its subsidiary bodies.
We highlight, in this regard, the holding of the Regional Workshop for Signatory States held in Jamaica on April 3 and 4 and urge the Secretariat to continue to deploy initiatives of this type in the region. We also recognize the positive value of the Support and Participation Program for Technical Experts from developing countries and we advocate for its continuity.
In addition, we thank the Provisional Technical Secretariat for the actions coordinated with my country, including the successful visit to Cuba by the Executive Secretary in April, which allowed them to verify the national implementation actions and the benefits derived from cooperation with the Organization.
Mr. Chairman:
For Cuba, it is crucial that the CTBT enters into force immediately and joins other instruments that are part of the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime, such as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In addition, cooperation and work between the different mandates must be complemented to ensure the existence of a world free of nuclear danger, especially in a complex international situation in which the current non-proliferation and disarmament regime is being violated.
The future of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty depends on the political will of the international community to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
Thank you very much.