Distinguished President designated Do Hung Viet,
Distinguished Head of delegations,
Excellencies:
We support the intervention of South Africa on behalf of the States parties and signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and of Indonesia on behalf of the Group of Non-Aligned Movement States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
I extend our congratulations to the president-designate on his appointment and ratify Cuba’s firm commitment to advance the work of the 11th Review Conference.
Excellencies:
The world is facing an extraordinarily dangerous context, with high risks and unpredictable consequences for the very survival of humanity.
We are witnessing the rollback of the modest and insufficient progress that had been achieved in the area of arms control and limitation, as well as of the minimal consensus related to nuclear disarmament commitments.
Doctrines that attempt to justify the possession of nuclear weapons persist, and, worryingly, the modernization of arsenals continues, made more complex by the use of emerging technologies in the critical functions of weapons systems, including nuclear ones, unleashing an unprecedented arms race, encouraged by the trajectory and rhetoric of the United States government, its threats of aggression and use of force against sovereign States, as well as its contempt for multilateralism and its withdrawal from and non-compliance with disarmament and arms control commitments.
The non-renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) by the United States constitutes yet another manifestation of its insecurity policies, based on the use of force and the undermining of measures agreed upon within this framework.
It is urgent that nuclear-weapon States fulfill the commitments undertaken in the area of disarmament, in the shortest possible time, in an irreversible, verifiable, and transparent manner; and that the universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons be promoted, as a natural evolution in the implementation of Article 6 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
We must not forget that non-proliferation is not an end in itself, but rather a necessary step on the path toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons.
We must continue promoting the inalienable right of our States to cooperation for the exclusively peaceful uses of nuclear energy, without conditions of any nature.
We condemn in the strongest terms the aggression by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which took place exactly two months ago, which violates Iranian sovereignty and territorial integrity, in flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.
Any concern associated with nuclear non-proliferation must be resolved by peaceful means, through dialogue and diplomacy, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, International Law, and the relevant international instruments.
Excellencies:
Despite the enormous difficulties Cuba is facing due to the prolonged economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States, its arbitrary inclusion on the unilateral List of States Allegedly Sponsoring Terrorism, and the energy siege imposed through the Executive Order issued by the United States government on January 29; our country remains committed to international efforts in favor of nuclear disarmament.
We advocate for cooperation and the promotion of the peaceful use of nuclear energy for the development of our peoples, for which unilateral coercive measures must be eliminated, as they constitute a flagrant violation of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Cuba has grounded its consistent demand for nuclear disarmament as the most urgent priority of this Conference, based on its historic humanist and peaceful stance, strengthened originally by the world’s first densely populated area free of nuclear weapons, also proclaimed as a Zone of Peace.
As long as a single child loses their future because of weapons, peace and the development of our peoples will remain an unfulfilled promise. Multilateral diplomacy is the noblest and most powerful tool we have to settle that debt and honor it with deeds.
Thank you very much.