Madam Chair,
I wish to thank Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, for her presence at this important meeting of the Committee on Decolonization, and through her, the Secretary-General for his unequivocal support for the decolonization process and the work of this Committee.
I take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to Ambassador Keisha McGuire, Permanent Representative of Grenada, on her re-election as Chair of the Committee, and to my colleagues, Ambassadors of Sierra Leone and Indonesia, who have also been re-elected as Vice-Chairs.
I thank the members of the Committee for the confidence placed in me by electing me as Vice-Chair of this important forum. You may rest assured that, like my predecessors, we will work with a renewed commitment to fulfill the mandate granted to the Committee by the General Assembly.
More than sixty years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, the process of global decolonization has not been completed and the goals set forth in the Declaration are yet to be met. The Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, recently declared by the General Assembly at its 75th session, constitutes an impetus to the common aspiration of all Member States to completely eradicate colonialism.
Along with the actions of the Committee, cooperation between the Member States and the Secretariat is essential in order to deliver on the promise of leaving no one behind, including the 17 territories under colonial domination and Puerto Rico.
Madam Chair,
Allow me to conclude by renewing my country´s full support for your Chairmanship and reiterating the historic commitment of Cuba to the eradication of colonialism.
Thank you.