New York, 1st September, 2026. - Cuba reaffirmed this Tuesday at the International Meeting on Victim Assistance and Environmental Remediation for Member States affected by the use or testing of nuclear weapons, held at the UN headquarters in New York, its commitment to the complete elimination of such weapons and to the comprehensive care to the communities that are still suffering from their human and environmental effects.
Cuba’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán recalled that the atomic bombings against Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought about 210 dead and mortal wounded people, in addition to the sanitary, environmental and economic consequences that have transcended generations. He stressed that the damage arising from the use and testing of nuclear weapons are indiscriminate, uncontrollable, irreversible, trans generational, and persistent.
Soberón Guzmán warned that, in a context in which the U.S. government seeks to impose peace through force, the security of all peoples is at risk. He denounced the contradiction that Washington unjustifiably labels Cuba as a threat to its national security, while intensifying the economic, commercial, and financial blockade against the Cuban people to unprecedented levels, maintaining a cruel energy blockade for the past eight months, and frequently and systematically resorting to threats of direct military aggression against the country.
The Cuban diplomat highlighted the significance of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN) as the first international legal instrument to categorically prohibit these weapons and incorporate a strong humanitarian dimension. Cuba reiterated its call for the universalization of the Treaty and for the effective fulfillment of obligations regarding assistance to victims and the remediation of contaminated areas, with special attention to affected communities and full respect for the sovereignty of States.
Likewise, Cuba recognized the contribution of the structures of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization and highlighted the complementarity between the TPAN and the CTBT. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the opening for signature of the latter, it urged States that have not yet signed or ratified it to do so without further delay.
As part of the first densely populated region on the planet to be declared a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone and also proclaimed a Zone of Peace, Cuba reaffirmed at the United Nations its commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons, based on cooperation, solidarity, and unrestricted respect for the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter and international law. “Nuclear disarmament is a matter of human survival,” the Cuban delegation reaffirmed.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.