Mr. President, dear Ambassador:
We commend your leadership at the helm of this third session of the Preparatory Committee for the Eleventh Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and reiterate our full support for your work. The Cuban delegation will contribute to the work of achieving results that will promote the success of the 2026 Review Conference.
We endorse the statement made by Uganda on behalf of the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement that are parties to the NPT. We endorse the working documents submitted by the Movement.
In a little more than three months, it will be 80 years since humanity first learned of the destructive power of nuclear weapons through the U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Unfortunately, the lessons learned from these horrific events and their catastrophic effects, backed by scientific evidence, have not created sufficient awareness to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons, where nuclear energy is used only for peaceful purposes.
That is why Cuba seizes every opportunity to reiterate that, as long as this type of weapons and the doctrines that seek to justify their indefinite possession persist, the risk of their proliferation and use will remain latent. The only absolute guarantee against any use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is their total elimination.
However, 55 years after its entry into force, Article VI of the NPT remains unfulfilled. The nuclear weapon states are modernizing and expanding their arsenals, devoting substantial and growing resources to fueling the war machinery in an arms race encouraged by the warmongering policies and rhetoric of the United States. This contrasts with the reality of millions of people on the planet suffering from hunger and poverty, and distances us from the hope of achieving sustainable development for our peoples.
The commitments made at NPT Review Conferences, including the Resolution on the Middle East adopted at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference, the 13 Practical Steps of 2000, and the 2010 Plan of Action, have not been implemented, nor has it been possible to achieve consensus results at the review conferences convened after 2010.
Faced with this scenario, Cuba will continue to work tirelessly for a world free of nuclear weapons, as a State Party to the NPT, the Treaty of Tlatelolco and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We also do so on the basis of our commitment to the proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, which reaffirms the priority that our region gives to nuclear disarmament.
We urge all states that have not yet done so to accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The universalization of the NPT would be an effective contribution to nuclear disarmament. By establishing a categorical prohibition of nuclear weapons in all circumstances, the NPT delegitimizes the existence of these weapons and offers a path to their total elimination, thus contributing to the fulfillment of the objectives of the NPT, in particular Article VI.
Given the credibility crisis of the NPT, its States Parties cannot afford another failure. This Committee must conclude with consensual substantive recommendations for the Eleventh Review Conference. In this regard, we reiterate our call to agree on concrete, measurable and time-bound measures for the total elimination of nuclear weapons in an irreversible, transparent and verifiable manner.
Political will is urgently needed to achieve the highly acclaimed balance between the three pillars of the NPT and to finally prioritize the most relegated pillar: nuclear disarmament.
Thank you