http://www.granma.cu/ingles/news-i/22-septiembre-cuba.html
Havana. September 17, 2010 Cuba will do even the impossible for the survival of the human race ? Speech given by Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, foreign minister of the Republic of Cuba, at the UN General Assembly High-Level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals. New York, September 21, 2010 Mr. President: In Cuba, the goals laid out in the Millennium Declaration have almost all been met in their entirety and, in some cases, have been overwhelmingly surpassed. Our commitment goes beyond the borders of the country and has permitted us to contribute to the social development of other nations in the Third World. This is the direct result of a Revolution that has made a priority the well-being of the population, in a climate of equality and social justice. It is the fruit of the society that we have constructed, based on solidarity. It is also a success achieved in spite of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the Cuban people for half a century by the government of the United States. Mr. President: We are encouraged and content with the high indices achieved by the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, thanks to the profound social policies developed by President Chávez, despite attempts to destabilize this sister nation that is battling ahead and advancing. We also feel profound satisfaction at the significant results presented by Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador through the commitment and action of their governments. The CARICOM member states have also made advances. The solidarity-driven levels of cooperation and integration within ALBA have been a positive factor in this context. The government of President Lula in Brazil has likewise reaped tangible results in the social sphere that merit recognition. However, this progress has not been dependent on international aid from developed countries - which is practically non-existent - nor on positive changes in the world economic order, which continues to be overwhelmingly unjust and exploitative, to the benefit of the rich countries. The facts speak for themselves: unequal exchange has increased; official development assistance has been reduced in real terms; the transfer of technology continues to be extremely limited and strictly conditioned; the markets of the most advanced economies remain restricted in terms of exports from poor countries; the foreign debt has been paid back several times over but continues to multiply, and financial deregulation and corruption in developed countries have caused a global crisis with consequences that are particularly negative for underdeveloped economies. Consequently, it is shameful to acknowledge that the number of people living in extreme poverty increased by 36 million between 1990 and 2005. The number of people suffering from hunger at worldwide level increased by 842 million in the period between 1990 and 1992, reaching the record figure of 1.02 billion people in 2009, while two billion people are suffering from malnutrition. In Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, poverty and hunger remain at levels which make it very difficult to reduce them. It is thus possible to ask ourselves, to what international cooperation are we referring when it does not even remotely reach the commitment of 0.7% of the GDP of the developed countries as Official Development Assistance, while those same countries are principally responsible for a worldwide military spending that amounts to the horrifying figure of $1.4 billion, equivalent to 2.4% of the world's GDP. What development goals are we discussing when, due to an absence of political will on the part of the developed countries, it is not even possible to agree on a substantial commitment to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that are placing the climatic equilibrium of the planet in danger and constitute the most significant threat to the very survival of our species? Can we ignore the worsening of the food and water crisis in the face of the world demographic explosion? How can we talk of development and examining whether the modest goals set in 2000 have been met, without recalling that at the Millennium Summit we also adopted a commitment to peace? What hope can we harbor of fulfilling these goals by 2015 if, as Fidel Castro has warned, references are increasing to the possibility of a military aggression on Iran which, if it occurred, would lead to millions of deaths, affect the lives of billions of people and would intensify hunger and poverty on the planet? What has happened to the commitments to complete nuclear disarmament, beyond the manipulation aimed at reducing the dimension of the non-proliferation treaty? What is the logic that dictates the conservation and constant development of 25,000 nuclear warheads that have a destructive capacity 440,000 times greater than those which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What will be the consequences of a nuclear conflict, even a local or regional one, for life on the planet? The absence of a solution to the most serious development problems and the suffering of the billions of people living in conditions of poverty and underdevelopment will also affect - as is already occurring - industrialized societies, where the numbers of unemployed are growing and brutal immigration policies are being expanded. It will affect everyone, whether it be through uncontrolled and unmanageable migratory flows, diseases and epidemics occurring as a consequence of conflicts generated by poverty and starvation, or as a result of events that are unpredictable today. The United Nations will betray its raison d'être if it does not realize these realities and act now. We have the profound conviction that, in order for the human race to survive, we have to construct a new economic order and international policy based on the principles of solidarity, social justice, equality and respect for the rights of the peoples and of every human being. It is still possible to do that by combining forces. For that, Cuba will even do the impossible. Thank you very much. Translated by Granma International [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
