- 9/19/2023
Speech by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the High-Level Political Forum of the 78th UN General Assembly. teleSUR
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00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 - Welcome back to Tell Us Our English.
00:04 Now we go live to New York to broadcast live
00:07 the United Nations session of debate
00:10 as the President of Cuba, Miguel DÃaz-Canel,
00:11 addresses the floor.
00:13 - Leaders and other high representatives
00:15 of the G77 in China,
00:18 which is the most representative, broad,
00:21 and diverse representation that exists
00:23 in the multilateral arena.
00:24 During those two virtually tireless days,
00:29 more than 100 representatives from 134 nations
00:33 making up the group raised their voices
00:36 to call for changes that can no longer be postponed
00:40 in the midst of this unjust, irrational,
00:43 and abusive international economic order
00:46 that year after year has deepened the enormous inequalities
00:50 between a minority of well-developed nations
00:54 and a majority that has not managed
00:56 to get rid of the euphemism of developing nations.
01:00 Worse still, as was recognized
01:03 by the United Nations Secretary General
01:04 at the Havana summit,
01:06 the G77 was founded six decades ago
01:10 to repair centuries of injustice and abandonment.
01:14 And in today's convulsive world,
01:16 they are entangled in a host of world crises
01:21 where poverty is on the rise and hunger is even greater.
01:25 We are united by the need to change,
01:28 which has not been resolved,
01:30 and by the condition of being the main victims
01:32 of the current global multidimensional crisis,
01:36 abusive, unequal exchange,
01:38 scientific and technological gaps,
01:41 and the degradation of the environment.
01:43 But we are also united,
01:46 and have been for more than half a century now,
01:48 by the inescapable challenge and the determination
01:52 to transform the current international order,
01:55 which as well as being exclusionary and irrational,
01:57 is unsustainable for the planet
02:00 and is not viable for the well-being of all.
02:02 The countries represented at the G77 and China,
02:07 where more than 80% of the population lives,
02:10 do not only have the challenge of development,
02:14 they also have the responsibility
02:15 of modifying those structures
02:17 which marginalizes from social progress
02:20 and turn many peoples of the South
02:23 into laboratories for new renewed forms of domination.
02:28 A new and more just global contract is imperative.
02:31 President, only seven years ahead of the deadline
02:36 established to implement the promising 2030 agenda,
02:39 the panorama is bleak.
02:42 This august institution has already recognized it.
02:45 At the current pace, none of the 17 SDGs will be achieved.
02:52 And over half of the 169 agreed targets will not be met.
02:57 In the midst of the 21st century,
03:00 the fact that almost 800 million people suffer from hunger
03:05 in a planet that produces enough to feed all is outrageous.
03:10 Equally outrageous is the fact that in the era of knowledge
03:14 and accelerated development of ICTs,
03:17 more than 760 million people, two third of them women,
03:22 do not know how to read or write.
03:25 The efforts of developing countries are not enough
03:30 to implement the 2030 agenda.
03:32 They must be supported by concrete actions
03:35 to provide access to markets,
03:38 financing under fair and preferential conditions,
03:42 technology transfer and North-South cooperation.
03:46 We're not begging for arms or asking for favors.
03:50 The G77 calls for rights and will continue to demand
03:55 a profound transformation of the current
03:57 international financial architecture
04:01 because it is deeply unjust, anachronistic and dysfunctional
04:05 because it was designed to profit
04:08 with the reserves of the South
04:10 to perpetuate a system of domination
04:12 that increases underdevelopment
04:13 and replicates a pattern of modern colonialism.
04:16 We need and demand financial institutions
04:21 in which our countries have true decision-making capacity
04:26 and access to financing.
04:28 A recapitalization of multilateral development banks
04:34 is imperative to radically improve their lending conditions
04:38 and to meet the financial needs of the South.
04:42 The member countries of this group
04:44 were forced to allocate $379 billion from their reserves
04:49 to protect their currencies in 2022,
04:52 almost twice as much the amount of special drawing rights
04:55 allocated to them by the IMF.
04:58 A rationalization, review and change of role
05:04 of credit qualifying agencies is needed.
05:08 Equally imperative is to establish criteria
05:10 that would go beyond the GDP,
05:13 to define the access of developing countries
05:16 to financing under favorable conditions
05:18 and with adequate technical cooperation.
05:20 While the richest countries fail to meet the commitment
05:25 of allocating at least 0.7% of the GDP
05:30 to official assistance for development,
05:34 the nations of the South need to spend up to 14%
05:37 of their incomes to pay the interests
05:39 associated with external debt.
05:41 Most of the G77 nations are forced to allocate
05:45 more resources to servicing debt
05:48 than to investments in health or education.
05:52 What sustainable development can be achieved
05:55 with that noose around their necks?
05:58 The group today reiterates its call
06:00 to public multilateral and private creditors
06:03 to refinance the debt through credit guarantees,
06:06 lower interest and longer expiration deadlines.
06:10 We insist on the implementation of a multilateral mechanism
06:15 to reschedule the sovereign debt
06:18 with an effective participation
06:20 of the countries of the South
06:21 that will allow for a fair, balanced
06:24 and development-oriented treatment.
06:26 It is imperative to redesign once and for all
06:30 the debt instruments and to include activation provisions
06:34 to alleviate and reschedule as soon as a country
06:37 becomes affected by natural catastrophes
06:40 and problems, microeconomic problems
06:44 that are so common amongst the vulnerable nations.
06:47 President, no one in their right mind
06:49 is denying now that climate change
06:52 threatens the survival of all with irreversible effects.
06:55 It is also a secret to no one
06:58 that those who are least responsible for climate change
07:01 are those who are suffering the most from its effects,
07:04 particularly small island developing states.
07:08 Industrialized countries, meanwhile,
07:11 are the voracious predators of resources
07:13 and of the environment,
07:14 but they elude their greatest responsibility
07:16 and fail to comply with their commitments
07:19 and the Framework Convention on Climate Change
07:23 and the Paris Agreement.
07:24 Just to mention one example,
07:25 it is profoundly disappointing
07:28 that the goal of mobilizing
07:29 no less than $100 billion a year up to 2020
07:34 as climate financing has never been met.
07:37 On the eve of the 28th COP,
07:42 the G77 countries will have as a priority
07:48 the exercise of the global balance,
07:51 the implementation of the loss and damage fund,
07:54 the definition of the framework for the adaptation goal,
07:57 and the establishment of the new climate financing goal,
08:02 which fully abides by the principle of common
08:05 but differentiated responsibilities.
08:08 The G77 is convening a summit of leaders of the South
08:13 to be held on the 2nd of December
08:16 in the context of COP28 in Dubai.
08:20 This initiative is unprecedented
08:22 in the context of a conference of the parties
08:24 and will be a forum to articulate positions
08:27 within our group at the highest level
08:29 in the context of climate negotiations.
08:32 COP28 will show whether or not, beyond speeches,
08:38 there is a real political will
08:40 on the part of developed nations
08:43 to achieve the agreements required in this field
08:46 that cannot be postponed for any longer.
08:49 President, for the G77, the priority is to change
08:54 once and for all the paradigms of science,
08:57 technology, and innovation,
08:59 which is limited to the environment
09:02 and perspectives of the North,
09:03 thus depriving the international scientific community
09:05 of a considerable intellectual capital.
09:08 The successful Havana summit launched an urgent appeal
09:12 to concentrate science, technology, and innovation
09:15 around the sustainable development goals.
09:17 There, we decided to resume the work
09:21 of the Consortium of Science, Technology,
09:23 and Innovation for the South
09:25 with the purpose of promoting joint research projects
09:27 and promoting the joining up of production systems
09:31 so that they could reduce their dependence
09:33 on the markets of the North.
09:35 We also agreed to promote a call for convening in 2025
09:39 a high-level meeting of the United Nations
09:41 General Assembly on Science, Technology,
09:44 and Innovation for Development.
09:46 The 17 cooperation projects that Cuba has designed
09:51 in the context of its chairmanship of the G77
09:55 will contribute to channeling the potentials
09:58 of South-South and triangular cooperation.
10:01 We call on the richest nations and on international bodies
10:05 to participate in these initiatives.
10:08 Cuba will not falter in its efforts
10:12 to promote the creative potential, influence,
10:15 and leadership of the G77.
10:18 Our group has a lot to contribute to multilateralism,
10:21 stability, justice, and the rationality
10:24 that the world requires today.
10:26 Excellencies, added to the problems and challenges
10:31 characterizing the reality of our nations
10:33 and mobilizing peoples
10:35 are the unilateral coercive measures,
10:39 euphemistically called sanctions,
10:41 which have become a practice of powerful states
10:45 that intend to act as universal judges
10:49 and to weaken and destroy economies
10:51 and isolate and subject sovereign states.
10:54 Cuba is not the first sovereign state
10:58 against which measures of that sort are applied,
11:01 but it is the one being subjected to them
11:04 for the longest period of time, despite world condemnation,
11:07 which is expressed almost unanimously
11:09 every year in this assembly,
11:10 but which is disrespected and goes unheard
11:14 by the government of the biggest economic,
11:17 financial, and military power in the world.
11:21 We were not the first and we are not the last.
11:24 Pressures to isolate and weaken economies
11:27 and sovereign states are also today
11:29 affecting Venezuela, Nicaragua,
11:32 and both before and after,
11:35 these have been the prelude to invasions
11:37 and the overthrowing of uncomfortable governments
11:39 in the Middle East.
11:41 We reject unilateral coercive measures in countries
11:46 such as Zimbabwe, Syria,
11:47 the Democratic Republic of Korea,
11:51 and Iran, amongst many other countries
11:53 whose people have been suffering
11:55 from the negative impacts of these measures.
11:58 We reiterate our solidarity with the Palestinian cause
12:01 and support the right to self-determination
12:03 of the Sahrawi people.
12:05 Let us all struggle for a world of peace
12:08 without wars or conflicts.
12:10 Five years ago, I spoke for the first time
12:14 from this rostrum that had been taken before
12:17 by the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution,
12:20 Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz,
12:22 and Army General Raul Castro Ruz,
12:25 to speak these truths and to speak the ideals of peace
12:28 and justice of a small archipelago
12:30 that has resisted and will continue to resist,
12:33 to live up to the dignity, courage,
12:37 and unbreakable strength of its people and history.
12:40 But I cannot stand at this global tribune
12:44 without denouncing once again the fact
12:45 that for 60 years now,
12:47 Cuba is suffering from an asphyxiating economic blockade
12:51 designed to depress its income and living standards,
12:54 to promote a continued scarcity of food, medicines,
12:57 and other basic inputs,
12:59 and to damage its development potential.
13:01 That is the nature,
13:05 and those are the objectives of the economic coercion
13:08 and the great pressure applied by the United States government
13:12 against Cuba in violation of international law
13:16 and the UN Charter.
13:18 Cuba has not implemented a single measure or action
13:23 aimed at damaging the United States
13:25 or its economic sector or its trade or social fabric.
13:29 Cuba has not engaged in any action
13:32 threatening the United States' independence,
13:34 harming their sovereign rights,
13:37 interfering in its internal affairs,
13:39 or affecting the well-being of its people.
13:44 United States behavior is absolutely unilateral
13:48 and unjustified.
13:49 The Cuban people is resisting and overcoming isolation
13:54 day after day creatively against this merciless economic warfare,
13:59 which since 2019, in the midst of the COVID pandemic,
14:01 was opportunistically escalated to an extreme,
14:05 cruel, and inhumane dimension.
14:06 The effects are brutal.
14:10 The United States government is pressuring entities
14:14 for them not to provide the oxygen of medicine,
14:17 which are needed in Cuba to face the pandemic.
14:23 Our Cuban scientists created vaccines
14:26 and developed the ventilators,
14:29 which were needed to save the country
14:31 and which we put at the disposal
14:33 of other countries of the world as well.
14:35 With surgical and vicious precision,
14:39 they calculated both in Washington and Florida
14:41 how to inflict the greatest possible damage
14:43 to Cuban families.
14:45 The United States continues its actions
14:47 and has tried to prevent the supply of fuel
14:49 and lubricants to our country,
14:51 which would be unthinkable in times of peace.
14:54 In a globalized world, it is not only absurd,
14:58 but criminal to prohibit access to technologies,
15:02 including medical equipment,
15:04 which have over 10 percent of United States components.
15:08 It is shameful the action against medical cooperation
15:13 provided by Cuba to numerous nations.
15:15 It even goes so far as to openly threaten
15:17 sovereign governments for requesting this contribution
15:20 and meeting the needs for public health
15:23 amongst their populations.
15:24 The United States is depriving its citizens
15:28 of the right to travel to Cuba,
15:29 defying its own constitution.
15:31 The intensification of the blockade
15:36 has an impact on migratory flows in our country
15:39 over the last few years,
15:41 which means a painful cost for Cuban families
15:44 and has demographic and economic consequences
15:47 of an adverse nature for the nation.
15:50 The government of the United States lies
15:52 and causes great harm to international efforts
15:55 to combat terrorism when it accuses Cuba
15:58 in an utterly baseless way
16:00 of being a sponsor of this scourge.
16:05 Under the shield of this arbitrary and fraudulent accusation,
16:09 they extort hundreds of banking and financial entities
16:12 throughout the world and force them to choose
16:16 between continuing their relations with the United States
16:19 or maintaining their links with Cuba.
16:21 Our country is truly under siege.
16:25 It's suffering from a cruel, silent,
16:28 extraterritorial economic war.
16:30 This is accompanied by a powerful political machinery
16:33 for destabilization with vast funds
16:36 approved by the United States Congress
16:38 with the aim of capitalizing on the shortfalls
16:41 caused by the blockade
16:42 and undermining the constitutional order
16:44 of the country and its people's serenity.
16:46 Despite the hostility of its government,
16:50 of this government, we will continue to build bridges
16:53 with the people of the United States
16:55 as we do with all peoples of the world.
16:57 We will strengthen still further the links
17:02 with Cuban immigrants in any part of the world.
17:05 President, promoting and protecting human rights
17:09 is a shared ideal,
17:11 which requires a genuine spirit of respect
17:14 and constructive dialogue between states.
17:16 Regrettably, 75 years since the adoption
17:20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
17:22 reality is very different from this.
17:26 This has become a political weapon for powerful nations
17:31 who seek to force their geopolitical designs
17:34 upon independent nations,
17:36 mainly those from the South.
17:37 No country is immune from challenges,
17:41 and none has the authority to consider itself
17:44 an example in terms of human rights
17:46 and to stigmatize other models, cultures, or sovereign states.
17:50 We defend dialogue and cooperation
17:54 as effective ways to promote and protect human rights
17:58 without any politicization or selectivity,
18:00 without applying double standards,
18:03 conditions, or pressure.
18:05 In this spirit, Cuba has presented its candidature
18:10 to the Human Rights Council for 2024 to 2026.
18:14 In the elections which will take place on the 10th of October,
18:18 we are grateful in advance for the trust of those countries
18:22 which have already provided their valuable support.
18:26 If we are elected, the voice of Cuba
18:28 will continue to stand up for a universal vision,
18:31 as seen from the South,
18:33 of the legitimate interests of developing countries,
18:37 including constructive commitment
18:40 and the unavoidable responsibility
18:43 to the full achievement of all human rights for all.
18:47 Cuba will continue to bolster its democracy
18:51 and its socialist model, which, although it is buffeted,
18:54 has shown what a developing country can do,
18:57 even if it is small in size and with scant natural resources.
19:02 We will continue our transformative efforts
19:04 to seek exits from the siege
19:07 which is imposed upon us by the United States imperialism
19:10 and ways to achieve the prosperity
19:13 with social justice that our people deserve.
19:15 In this endeavor, we will never renounce
19:18 the right to defend ourselves.
19:20 President, distinguished heads of delegation,
19:23 and other representatives,
19:25 I conclude by extending an invitation to all of you
19:28 to work to overcome differences
19:31 and to address shared challenges urgently.
19:36 To do this, the United Nations and this General Assembly,
19:41 including with all their limitations,
19:44 are the most powerful instrument that we have.
19:46 You can always count upon Cuba to defend multilateralism
19:50 and together to promote peace
19:53 and sustainable development for all.
19:55 It will always be an honor to fight for justice,
19:59 sharing the difficulties and challenges
20:02 with the peoples of the South who are ready to change history.
20:07 We will prevail. Thank you very much.
20:10 (Applause.)