London, 12 November 2020.- The Cuban Ambassador to the UK, Bárbara Motalvo Álvarez, addressed the Parliamentary Webinar hosted by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament based on the UK under the theme “Global Nuclear Abolition: Why ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is vital for peace.”
Montalvo highlighted that the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, at the UN on July 7, 2017, was a milestone in history in favour of general and complete disarmament. “With this Treaty, the international community makes it clear that nuclear weapons are not only inhuman, immoral, and ethically unacceptable; as of now, they are also illegal”, expressed the Ambassador. Montalvo also reminded that millions of dollars are spent on modernizing nuclear weapons, to the detriment of international cooperation and the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
While stressing that Cuba stands for the general and complete disarmament of all weapons, the Ambassador stated that the Covid-19 pandemic has reflected the fragility of a world with no guaranteed access to universal basic health services for all, while nuclear arsenals continue to be expanded.
Guest speakers included Alexander Kmentt, Austrian Representative, Ghana’s Acting High Commissioner Matilda Osei-Agyeman and Kate Hudson, General Secretary of CND. The Webinar was co-chaired by Baroness Jenny Jones, Green Party and Kirsten Oswald MP, Scottish National Party. The Counsellor Julio Pujols, Second Head of Mission of the Embassy of Cuba to the UK, also took part.