MIGUEL DÍAZ-CANEL BERMÚDEZ, President of Cuba, citing Che Guevara, said he brought the voice of the “exploited and the humiliated” to the General Assembly, adding:  “We are a diverse group of nations sharing the same problems.” Pointing out that many countries have not managed to get rid of the euphemism “developing countries”, he said they are the main victims of the global multidimensional crisis, the abusive unequal exchange and the scientific and technical gap.  “We have been united for half a century by the inescapable challenge and the determination to transform the current international order,” he stressed, spotlighting that the “Group of 77” and China Member States represent 80 per cent of the global population.

“The efforts of developing countries are not enough to implement the 2030 Agenda,” he underscored, calling for transformation of the international financial architecture — designed to profit on the reserves of the South — that increases underdevelopment and replicates modern colonialism.  Recalling the Group’s member States were forced to allocate $379 billion from their reserves to protect their currencies in 2022 — almost twice as much as IMF’s drawing rights allocated — he also said that, while the richest countries fail to allocate 0.7 per cent of their gross national income for development assistance, the nations of the South need to spend 14 per cent of their incomes to pay for foreign debt interests.  In this regard, he called for redesigning the debt instruments and including activation provisions to alleviate and reschedule it once the country is affected by natural catastrophes.

Turning to climate change, he expressed regret that the goal of mobilizing $100 billion a year up to 2020 in climate financing has never been met.  On the eve of the twenty-eighth Climate Change Conference, the Group of 77 will prioritize the implementation of the loss and damage fund and the establishment of new climate financing goals.  He underscored the need for changing science, technology and innovation paradigms — limited to the perspectives of the North — that deprive the international scientific community from intellectual capital, also announcing that the Group of 77 has decided to resume the Consortium of Science, Technology and Innovation for the South to promote joint research projects.  More so, the 17 cooperation projects, designed by Cuba in its Group of 77 Chairmanship, will contribute to South-South and triangular cooperation.

He went on to recall that his country has been suffering from the economic blockade for 60 years, while stressing that Havana has not implemented a single measure aimed at damaging the economic sector or social fabric of the United States.  Recalling that Washington, D.C., pressured entities not to provide medicine, needed in his country to face the pandemic, he observed that Cuba’s scientists created vaccines and developed ventilators that it provided to other countries.  In a globalized world, it is not only absurd but also criminal to prohibit access to technologies and medical equipment that have over 10 per cent of United States components, he stressed, adding that despite Washington, D.C.’s hostilities, Cuba will continue building bridges with its people.