Statement by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla in the Security Council open debate on “Defending the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and strengthening the UN-centered international system”, New York, May 26, 2026.
Mr. President, distinguished Permanent Representatives:
We highly value the leadership of the People's Republic of China in upholding international peace and security, upholding international law, preserving, strengthening, and appropriately reforming the United Nations, particularly the democratization, transparency, and effectiveness of the Security Council and the empowerment of the General Assembly, as well as in building a multilateral international order based on sovereign equality, fairness, and democracy.
Proof of this, are the global initiatives promoted by President Xi Jinping, which we support, to address current challenges through genuine multilateral cooperation. The convening of this open debate further demonstrates this.
On September 26, 1960, at the UN General Assembly, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz declared: "Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and the philosophy of war will have disappeared!" We vividly remember him in the year of his centenary.
Mr. President:
How can we refer to defending the central role of the United Nations, promoting peace and development, and safeguarding the international order based on international law and the basic norms of international relations, in order to prevent new conflicts where the strong prevail over the weak, without mentioning the genocide against Palestine or the imperialist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the war in the Middle East?
The United States government, in fact, is in a position of undermining international peace and security and violating International Law and International Humanitarian Law with respect to the Republic of Cuba.
The indictment of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, is a morally infamous and legally arbitrary act due to the abuse of the jurisdiction of the US courts, the manipulation of the location of the downing of the planes that occurred in the airspace and maritime territory of Cuba; the terrorist and illegal missions that these frequently carried out, in violation of US laws, due to the impunity and complicity of authorities of that country and due to the disregard for the right of legitimate self-defense of States.
It is a politically motivated, fraudulent decision aimed at deceiving American and foreign citizens, 30 years after the events, with the vile purpose of getting them to support a military adventure against Cuba to achieve a “regime change” or “nation building,” as they euphemistically call it now.
The oil or energy blockade that the United States applies to Cuba is equivalent in its effects to a naval blockade, which is an act of war and genocide that subjects the Cuban population to conditions that threaten its integrity and existence and constitutes a cruel and indiscriminate "collective punishment" that today causes deaths, as reflected in the doubling of the infant mortality rate, from 4.0 to 9.2 per thousand live births or the reduction of the life expectancy of children with cancer from 85 to 65%.
A military aggression against Cuba would provoke a bloodbath. Thousands of Cubans would die defending their homeland and sacred values and principles, and young Americans would also perish, without a cause or ideal to defend, dragged into violence by an imperialist, neo-fascist policy of domination, plunder, and conquest.
I address myself, in particular, to the citizens of the United States, especially to its youth, and I appeal to their human values, their pacifist and noble sentiments, and I ask them to seek the truth and not allow themselves to be deceived or manipulated by an elitist, corrupt, and powerful clique in Miami, which is not representative of the American people or of the Cubans residing in this country, who overwhelmingly oppose the barbarity of the war and the energy blockade.
The President who gave that order for a military attack, and the Secretary of State and Secretary of War who instigated it, would go down in history as war criminals, direct perpetrators of crimes against humanity. No justification can be offered for such aggression or similar coercive, inhumane acts, given their humanitarian impact. Let Cuba live in peace!
For more than six decades, the U.S. government has fabricated pretexts to try to justify its criminal conduct. It has used the absurd argument of presenting the small but symbolic island as a supposed threat to the national security of the nuclear superpower, an idea that defies logic and common sense, and rests on totally mendacious claims and insinuations.
As President Miguel Díaz-Canel has reiterated, Cuba is not and cannot be a threat. It is not an enemy of the United States, nor does it wish to be, despite significant differences with its government. Cuba has deep and fraternal ties with the American people and culture. We will continue to warmly and hospitably welcome American travelers, even though their government restricts their freedoms; and we will continue to welcome American businesspeople and companies with competitive projects to participate, without any discrimination, in our economic development, even though the blockade hinders it.
However, now a corrupt and immoral plutocracy wields the myth of our government's incompetence and alleged corruption, along with the supposed danger of a "humanitarian crisis," as justification for foreign intervention. This is cynically stated by the very executioner who, in a cold, malevolent, and deliberate manner, provokes devastating effects with his actions, the same effects they would have in any country in the world, regardless of its economic potential, level of development, or the nature of its political system.
Despite the lack of progress and goodwill, and the lack of seriousness and consistency on the part of the United States, we remain willing to continue talks; to address bilateral issues without interference in our internal affairs, our political system, or our elections; and to seek ways of civilized behavior and multifaceted cooperation, particularly in matters of terrorism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, regular and safe migration, human trafficking, mutual economic compensation, and others.
This is an unprecedented and completely unjustified unilateral aggression. Through intimidation and “secondary” sanctions, applicable to third parties, the United States government intends to force all states to participate, against their will, in its atrocious policies against Cuba, which will not happen.
I call on the international community to mobilize to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that could be imposed, either by force of arms or by means of energy blockades and the extreme tightening of the blockade, which also kill and cause suffering. I urge Latin America and the Caribbean to take action to preserve its status as a Zone of Peace and avoid adverse consequences that would destabilize the region. It is time for a broad international effort, above political differences, ideological approaches, and historical disputes, to put a stop to and prevent the excesses that threaten and damage national interests, peoples, and the sovereign prerogatives of all States. The Global South should fight for this and collectively protect itself from any reprisals, through collective voice and action and mutual cooperation. I humbly ask: the time has come for solidarity with Cuba, which has always been solidarity with everyone, never hesitating to consider risks, sometimes deadly; nor interests nor material scarcity.
I cannot find a way to refer to the defense of the central role of the United Nations and the promotion of Peace and Development and the primary responsibility of the Security Council in the maintenance of International Peace and Security and its contribution to dialogue and the promotion of political solutions; without asking this Security Council to realistically at least attempt to fulfill its primary and supreme mandate with regard to the military threat and the energy blockade against Cuba; nor can I refrain from encouraging the United Nations General Assembly to use, in any case, its broad and decisive powers, its moral, legal and democratic authority conferred upon it by the peoples, with determination in the situation of Cuba.
Let no one doubt that, when a moment arrives that we hope will never come, the people of Cuba will fight to the bitter end.
Homeland or death, we will win!
Thank you so much.
(Cubaminrex)