Dear Mr. Voronkov and guests attending this event,
We congratulate you and your team for the work carried out at the helm of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, and we take this opportunity to extend my country's support to your leadership.
The head of our delegation could not access the Interprefy platform from Havana because Cuban IP addresses have restricted access to that application arising from the illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government against my country, which was condemned by the overwhelming majority of the international community last week.
We remind the Secretariat that it is their responsibility to ensure access to all member States on equal footing.
Cuba has had a laudable performance in the fight against terrorism. It has fulfilled and will continue to honor the commitments undertaken in this area. It is a State Party to the 19 international conventions relating to terrorism, and has put in force measures to confront this scourge. Cuba's commitment to combat terrorism was accorded constitutional status in 2019.
We strongly condemn all terrorist acts, methods and practices in all their forms and manifestations by whomever, against whomever, and wherever they are committed, whatever their motivations, including those in which there are States directly or indirectly involved. We denounce the unilateral measures and acts of certain governments, such as that of the United States, which takes upon itself the right to issue lists of designated countries as a means of political coercion.
These actions undermine the fundamental authority of the General Assembly in the fight against terrorism and hinder international cooperation in this field. We strongly reject the inclusion of Cuba on the U.S. State Department's list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism. This designation is a slanderous, hypocritical and opportunistic move.
It is demagogic that this government refuses to label as terrorist the gun attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington on April 30, 2020, thus failing to comply with the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents", to which it is a party.
We have been the victim of terrorist acts perpetrated from the United States, which have claimed the lives of 3,478 and disabled 2,099 Cuban citizens.
We are concerned about the misuse of information and communications technologies to commit, instigate, recruit, finance or plan terrorist acts, in violation of the United Nations Charter and International Law.
Terrorism cannot be linked to any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group. It must be fought in a comprehensive manner, with direct actions which encompass prevention to eradicate its root causes.
We reaffirmed the significance of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the primary responsibility of States to implement it transparently and with balance among its four pillars. We actively participated in its seventh review process so as to achieve a balanced text which would meet the demands and concerns of all.
We reiterated our commitment to the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that includes State terrorism and overcomes the existing legal loopholes and normative dispersion. We urge that negotiations leading to this objective be resumed without delay.
Thank you very much