Kazan, Russia
October 22-24, 2024
Your Excellency Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation:
Excellencies Heads of State and Government:
Distinguished Heads of Delegations and Delegates:
The difficult electro-energy contingency and the simultaneous impact of a hurricane in our country have prevented Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez from attending this important Forum, as planned.
For five days, our country has suffered a massive disconnection from the national electro-energy system, caused primarily by a lack of fuel and the paralysis of generation plants, as well as technological difficulties in restoring it due to associated breakdowns and its precarious state.
This is a direct consequence of the extreme economic warfare measures applied by the U.S. government since 2019, specifically designed to prevent the supply of fuel and parts and pieces for technical maintenance and investment, targeting suppliers, carriers, and insurers. In just one year, the U.S. government penalized 53 vessels and 27 companies.
The deprivation of financial resources and the obstacles to our banking transfers due to the blockade and the list of supposed State Sponsors of Terrorism, as well as difficult weather conditions for navigation and ship-to-ship unloading, which is often imposed on us, created the conditions for the disruption of the supply chain.
The consequences have not been more severe thanks to the dedication of the 52,000 electrical workers, engineers, and managers; the conscious participation and popular mobilization supporting recovery; the understanding and complete tranquility of the citizenry; and the effective management of the government.
I wish to express my gratitude for the numerous expressions of solidarity and the offers of cooperation, which we appreciate and greatly need.
For Cuba, it is an extraordinary honor to participate in this Meeting of Leaders of the Member States in the expanded BRICS format, successfully held in the multicultural and hospitable city of Kazan. On behalf of the Cuban President and people, I would like to thank the generous invitation extended by the President of the Russian Federation.
Due to its political, economic, and demographic weight, BRICS has emerged as a fundamental actor of growing relevance, authority, and leadership in the global geopolitical landscape and a real hope for the countries of the South in their complex path toward achieving a fairer, more democratic, equitable, and sustainable international order.
From this podium, we reiterate Cuba’s resounding rejection of any attempt to impose what has been called an "rules-based" international order, as an alternative to International Law, whose norms and principles underpin international relations.
We especially value the Group’s contribution to the urgent and profound reform of the international financial system, which is outdated, unfair, speculative, and exclusionary.
For its part, the New Development Bank of BRICS plays an increasingly decisive role as an important alternative for the nations of the South, allowing them to access financial resources under fairer conditions.
By launching the broad-based foreign currency reserve mechanism and establishing credit lines in local currencies, BRICS contributes to the formation of a new, necessary, and inclusive international financial architecture.
Its expansion to other countries would help mitigate the effects of the current unjust and unbalanced international monetary system and reduce the influence of the U.S. dollar, which is often used as a tool of pressure, negatively impacting the quality of life of many of our peoples.
Excellencies:
Cuba shares views similar to those expressed in the declaration of this 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, as well as the contents of the Joint Communiqué of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in June 2024.
We are pleased that BRICS prioritizes addressing the current global food and energy crises, with very positive experiences whose results have been validated in many of its member states, including the increased use and generation of renewable energies in development projects, matters of vital importance for the nations of the South as a whole.
My country maintains historic relations with all BRICS member countries, as well as with the nations invited to this important meeting, with whom we have shared positions and proposals at numerous events organized by the Group.
We have successfully joined many initiatives promoted by Group member countries, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Global Development Initiative proposed by China; and the Eurasian Economic Union, which we have joined as an Observer.
Cuba’s presence in Kazan today embodies our commitment to deepening this path, in the pursuit not only of cooperation and mutual benefits, but also of joining, as formally requested to the Russian Federation in its capacity as the Group’s Pro Tempore President, as a “Partner Country,” for which we hope to count on all your support.
We also come to share and make available to you our experiences and achievements in various fields such as the biopharmaceutical industry, health, education, and science and innovation.
Our country has significant infrastructure and highly qualified human resources that favor the development of cooperation in various productive and investment sectors, further supported by policies and regulations to make them increasingly favorable.
Considered the Key to the Gulf due to its strategic position in the Caribbean Sea, Cuba can facilitate BRICS countries' access to important markets in Latin America and the Caribbean and establish strategic partnerships for the benefit of our countries.
Excellencies:
For more than 60 years, Cuba has faced a fierce economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by successive U.S. administrations, further exacerbated in an extreme, unprecedented, and cruel manner since 2019, even during the COVID pandemic, and worsened by the infamous and unfounded inclusion of our country in the spurious list of states allegedly sponsoring terrorism, which very negatively affects the quality of life of all Cubans and causes severe humanitarian damages, shortages, and suffering.
The dignified, victorious, and creative resistance of the Cuban people has been encouraged and supported by many of the countries gathered in this room, and by the international community, a gesture we deeply appreciate.
Excellencies:
Like BRICS, Cuba shares deep concern and condemnation of the genocide in Palestine and the escalation in the Middle East, resulting from the aggressiveness and impunity of Israel, supported militarily, logistically, financially, and politically by the U.S. government.
To achieve peace in the Middle East, it is urgent to reach a comprehensive, lasting, and just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which includes the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and guarantees for the return of refugees. Additionally, Palestine must be granted immediate full membership in the UN.
Excellencies:
Cuba also reiterates its support for the joint proposal presented by China and Brazil to achieve a serious, constructive, realistic, and peaceful diplomatic solution to the current conflict in Ukraine, in strict compliance with International Law, and with security and sovereignty guarantees for all parties involved. We oppose NATO’s conduct, driven by the U.S. government, to become directly involved in the conflict, which threatens international peace and security, with devastating consequences.
The proliferation of unilateral coercive measures against Russia and the supply of arms and funds to fuel the war must cease.
Likewise, Cuba extends its solidarity to Sandinista Nicaragua and President Comandante Daniel Ortega in their struggle against interference in their internal affairs.
Excellencies:
I wish to express our full and deep solidarity in the face of unilateral coercive campaigns and measures against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the leadership of its Constitutional President Nicolás Maduro Moros.
I am pleased to reiterate to the Russian Federation our best wishes for success during this Summit and our sincere gratitude for your kind hospitality.
Thank you very much.
(Cubaminrex)