Above photo: Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez.
Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, at the Ministerial Preparatory Meeting of the XIX Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM):
Your Excellency General Odongo Jeje Abubakhar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda;
Dear Ministers and Heads of Delegations and distinguished Delegates and Guests:
I thank the authorities and the people of the Republic of Uganda for their warm welcome and wish you every success in leading the Movement.
We congratulate the Republic of Azerbaijan for its commendable work as Chairman in the context of a complicated international situation.
We welcome the accession of the Republic of South Sudan as a new member of our Movement, which now numbers 121 states.
Allow me to begin by reiterating our solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people, who are suffering the terrible consequences of the genocide committed by Israel with absolute impunity. What is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories is a disgrace to humanity and must stop immediately.
The protection of the civilian population is an absolute priority. Cuba proposes that the Non-Aligned Movement support the urgent dispatch to the Gaza Strip an international protection mission, authorized by the United Nations General Assembly, with a mandate to ensure the safety and protection of the civilian population and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and food.
Our country supports the convening of an International Peace Conference with the fundamental purpose of contributing to the protection of the rights of the Palestinian people, and establishing the sovereign State of Palestine.
We also support the early accession of the State of Palestine as a Member State of the United Nations.
We support the lawsuit of the Republic of South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice, in relation to its violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The NAM must speak out with a united and strong voice to demand a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the conflict, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and the return of refugees.
Excellencies:
The global situation imposes enormous challenges on us that only together can we face.
As the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro stated 45 years ago, when referring to the NAM, and I quote, “we remain associated in the endeavor to change the current system of international relations, based on injustice, inequality and oppression.”
It is now up to us, together with the Group of 77 and China, to lead effective actions to address the legitimate claims of the countries of the South.
We must also lead efforts to strengthen multilateralism and ensure full respect for the United Nations Charter and international law.
We reiterate our firm rejection of the application of unilateral coercive measures imposed against several member states of our Movement.
Cuba reiterates its support for the right to self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.
We also express unequivocal support for the exercise of self-determination and independence by Puerto Rico.
Excellencies:
Cuba appreciates the Movement’s valuable support for its just demand for the end of the illegal U.S. blockade that flagrantly violates the human rights of all Cubans, and has been recrudesced to extreme levels since 2019.
I am equally grateful for the Movement’s united stand against the infamous inclusion of Cuba in the spurious unilateral list of State sponsors of terrorism, a fallacy that has a suffocating impact on our economy.
Excellencies:
We have full confidence that His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the sister nation of Uganda will know how to guide the Movement with their leadership, experience and wisdom.
In this endeavor, and in all the struggles of the Movement, you can always count on Cuba.
Thank you very much.