HAVANA, Cuba, April 29 (acn) Cuban President Raul Castro said that the united and coordinated action by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in the face of current challenges is now more vital and crucial than ever before.
We are facing a deep economic, social, food, energy and environmental crisis that has global character, said the Cuban head of state during the inauguration on Wednesday of the Ministerial Meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau, underway in Havana.
International debates multiply but without the participation of all countries, said Raul Castro, and noted that there is growing awareness about the need to short-term solutions, though fair and lasting solutions are still to be reached. “If we do not take the required firm and urgent action, our peoples will again undergo for a longer time the consequences of the crisis,” he said.
The current unjust and irrational consumption patterns are impossible to maintain said Raul and pointed out that such patterns were the foundations of today’s international order.
The Cuban President stressed that a global order inspired on hegemonic interests and selfishness is neither legitimate nor ethically acceptable and he added that a system that is destroying the environment and empowers unequal access to wealth.
The situation has dramatically worsened, said Raul and went on to explain that annual military expenditures surpass one trillion dollars; however, he said that the unemployed world population could increase to 230 millions in 2009. He said that the number of hungry people in the world last year increased to 963 millions up from 854 millions.
He said that the High-Level Conference of the United Nations on the economic and financial crisis and its impact on development, scheduled for June 1-3 this year constitute a crucial scenario to discuss and search for solutions under consensus about the serious situation. In that
direction Raul said that the Non-Aligned Movement should support the holding of the conference.
Raul Castro also expressed his thankfulness to the Non-Aligned Movement for its firm position of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution. He also extended his gratefulness to the NAM for its permanent support of the demand that Washington lift its economic, commercial and financial
blockade of Cuba.
The recent measures announced by US President Barack Obama, although positive are limited in scope, said the Cuban President. The blockade is intact although there is no other political or moral pretext that justifies the continuity of that US anti-Cuba measure.
Cuba has not imposed any sanctions on the United States or on any of its citizens; Cuba is not the country banning US entrepreneurs from doing business on the island or chasing financial transactions by US banks, he stressed.
Cuba is not the country that maintains a military base in US territory against the will of the American people, Raul Castro added and went on to say that for those reasons it is not Cuba that has to make some gestures.
He reiterated that Havana is willing to address all issues with the US administration under equal conditions, but that does not imply any negotiation of Cuba’s sovereignty, its political or social system, its right to self-determination and its internal affairs.
The Cuban President noted that the strength of the Non-Aligned Movement lies on its unity within diversity, which has been the main pillar of Cuba’s nearly-three year mandate.
“I do not have the slightest doubt that the Non-Aligned Movement will continue to be a crucial and constructive factor in international debates, he concluded.
(Reafirma Raúl importancia de unidad para los No Alineados)
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario