United Nations, New York, 16 September 2026. - During the celebration of the International Day of Science, Technology, and Innovation for the South, held within the framework of the G77 and China, Cuba called for bridging the persistent scientific and technological gaps between the North and the South and for ensuring more equitable access to the knowledge, technologies, and resources necessary for development.
Speaking at the meeting, Cuba’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, recalled that this initiative was adopted by the Heads of State and Government during the G77 and China Summit held in Havana, in September 2023. He added that the enormous technological gaps continue to widen while developing countries face constraints in financing, difficult access to technology and knowledge, loss of highly qualified professionals and insufficient Official Development Assistance for strengthening capacities in science and technology.
Soberón Guzmán highlighted that achieving the 2030 Agenda requires strengthening the scientific research and technological capacities of developing countries. The Cuban Ambassador advocated more solidarity and international cooperation to address climate change, pandemics, food insecurity, poverty, and digital divides, as well as sharing knowledge, technologies and experiences, strengthening South-South cooperation and building alliances based on equality and respect for sovereignty in the face of new forms of dependence.
The Cuban diplomat stressed that, despite more than six decades of blockade, Cuba has developed treatments for cancer, diabetes, meningitis, and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as its own COVID-19 vaccines. He also recalled that since 1963, more than 600,000 Cuban health workers have provided services in 165 countries, and tens of thousands of professionals from other countries, primarily from the Global South, have been trained in Cuba.
The Permanent Representative denounced that these efforts are met with extreme obstacles as a result of the multidimensional war against Cuba, which combines the intensified blockade with an energy siege and secondary measures. It also includes latent threats of aggression under unfounded pretexts. These policies, he said, further constrain the country’s possibilities for development and for sharing scientific and technological capacities.
In closing, the Cuban diplomat reaffirmed that these circumstances will not divert Cuba from its longstanding commitment to solidarity and international cooperation, and that “the South will always be able to count on Cuba.”
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations