Mr. President:
We congratulate you on assuming the great responsibility of chairing this Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). We also congratulate the Vice-Presidents-elect.
We have made progress in institutionalizing the Treaty since its entry into force and following the two previous meetings of States Parties. On this occasion, it is our job to take decisions that will consolidate our progress and contribute to the promotion of the Treaty. You can count on Cuba in this endeavor.
We come to this meeting just a few months before the 80th anniversary of the atrocities committed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The atomic bombs dropped by the United States on those Japanese cities not only killed hundreds of thousands of people, but left a legacy of suffering and destruction that continues to this day. We listened to the testimony of some survivors, which complements the scientific evidence.
However, the lessons of this horror continue to be ignored as nuclear weapons continue to be modernized and new applications of emerging technologies add to the concerns. At the same time, military doctrines based on nuclear deterrence are enthroned and exorbitant resources continue to be wasted on the arms race, as evidenced by the alarming increase in global military spending for the ninth consecutive year. Many of these resources are spent on maintaining and improving nuclear arsenals, rather than on ensuring a dignified life for all people and achieving sustainable development.
The NPT is a beacon of hope in this bleak picture. As the first international legal instrument to categorically prohibit nuclear weapons in all circumstances, it represents an unprecedented breakthrough in the struggle for nuclear disarmament. The scope of this instrument, which complements the global disarmament architecture, is expanding as it receives new signatures and ratifications, each of which contributes to the ultimate delegitimization of nuclear weapons. We are therefore particularly pleased to take this opportunity to welcome Indonesia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone and the Solomon Islands as States Parties to the Treaty.
We pursue the universalization of this instrument with the utmost urgency. We recognize with pride the contribution of Latin America and the Caribbean to this effort. Our region, which has been declared a Zone of Peace and has pioneered the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in a densely populated area, has the largest number of States Parties to the NPT.
Mr. President:
The imminent danger of a repeat of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will remain latent as long as the more than 12,000 nuclear weapons still in existence in the world are not transparently, completely, irreversibly and verifiably eliminated. The very existence of these weapons constitutes a permanent threat to life on the planet. As the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, has warned on numerous occasions, this threat will only disappear with the total elimination of these weapons.
In the context of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, we insist on nuclear disarmament as an urgent and imperative task. Obligations under international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation treaties must be strictly adhered to, and global commitments to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation must be respected. We cannot afford to go backwards in this endeavor, we can only go forwards. We therefore call for a redoubling of efforts to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons for the sake of present and future generations. Nuclear disarmament is a matter of survival.
Thank you