Mr. President,
My delegation thanks you for convening this High-level Debate.
The United Nations Convention against Corruption, also known as the "Merida Convention", is the relevant legal instrument for analyzing issues relating to the prevention and fight against global corruption. It is the only binding instrument of almost universal scope for this issue.
Cuba signed the Convention on 9 December 2005 and ratified it on 9 February 2007.
We believe it is important to preserve and uphold the fundamental principles of the Convention and its Review Mechanism, in particular its intergovernmental, non-punitive nature based on cooperation and exchange of experiences and good practices.
In 2013, Cuba successfully completed the first cycle to review the implementation of the Convention, which demonstrated the strong commitment of our State, Government and people in fighting this scourge. We are currently in the preparatory stage for our second review cycle, scheduled for the second half of 2018. We are committed to the successful development of this new cycle.
Cuba reaffirms its commitment to the objectives and purposes of the Convention and its Review Mechanism.
Thank you very much