New York, May 13th, 2024.
Mr. President:
We support the resumption of this 10th extraordinary special session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Cuba cohosted and supported the draft resolution 30/Rev1, which was recently adopted by this Assembly, to promote the admission of the State of Palestine as a full Member State of this Organization of United Nations.
The historic injustice which has prevented the participation with equal rights of the Palestinian brothers and sisters in the United Nations must be reverted without delay.
It is shameful and unacceptable that the US government, a self-proclaimed champion of democracy, once again abuses its antidemocratic veto power to continue to provide its complicit support to Israel and to block what is clearly the majority position of the international community.
The Security Council was conceived to act in the name of the UN Member States to maintain international peace and security and not to protect the hegemonic interests of the United States or the outrages of Israel.
¿Will the International Community allow this unsustainable situation to continue? ¿Will it continue to be a hostage to an arbitrary exercise like the veto power, which prevent it from acting as it should?
The admission of Palestine as a Member State of the United Nations is an urgent necessity and an essential step to advance toward a comprehensive, just and durable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This solution inexorably demands the real exercise of the inalienable right of the Palestine people to free determination and to establish its own independent, sovereign state within the pre-1967 borders and with its capital in East Jerusalem.
There is no other effective way to stop, once and for all, this spiral of violence, to save human lives and to chart a viable course for peace.
We are 144 countries already, which recognize the State of Palestine, and this number will continue to grow.
The State of Palestine is an active member of the international community, the multilateral fora and is subject to rights and obligations in various international instruments.
The draft resolution which has been adopted does justice by recognizing that Palestine meets the requisites for its admission as a member of the United Nations.
Mr. President:
Cuba demands, once more, an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
We demand to put an end to violence and the warmongering rhetoric. The Palestinian people must be guaranteed urgent and sufficient humanitarian aid. It has become urgent to prevent the forceful displacement of Palestinians from the land which, in their own right, belongs to them.
We categorically condemn the murder of civilians, especially of women, children and humanitarian workers from the UN system.
The indiscriminate bombing against the Gaza population and the destruction of houses, hospitals and civilian infrastructure, as well as the deprivation of essential services to the population, greatly worsen the precarious humanitarian situation resulting from the blockade on the Gaza Strip, and flagrantly violate the Humanitarian International Right.
Nothing can justify such actions, which constitute a collective punishment and are war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Those who oppose, under various pretexts, to a cease of violence in Gaza as an urgent matter, will have to assume the responsibilities of the grave consequences this implies.
Every moment of inaction will cost more innocent lives. History will not forgive those being indifferent and Cuba will never be among them.
We reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Cuba will continue to contribute by doing everything it can to the legitimate international efforts to put an end to this barbarity being suffered today by the Palestinian people.
Thank you.