Global emergency by COVID-19 appeals to the world's awareness, Diaz-Canel asserts at UN

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 3 (ACN) The world emergency in which COVID-19 has sunk us is like a new call to the world's conscience; let's listen this time, it is possible and Cuba is the proof, affirmed Thursday president Miguel Diaz-Canel when he addressed the 31st special session of the UN general assembly, in response to the current pandemic.

Intervention for the 31st Special Session of the UN General Assembly, in response to the COVID-19
Mr. Secretary General;
Mr. President;
Distinguished Heads of State and Government;
Heads of Delegations:
I would like to thank the Republic of Azerbaijan, which chairs the Non-Aligned Movement, for the initiative to convene this special session of the General Assembly.

A coordinated response to the COVID-19 and its impact, in line with the protocols and good practices of the World Health Organization, can only be achieved on a large scale by this most universal and representative body of the United Nations.

It is a sad but irrefutable fact that the pandemic has aggravated the serious problems and colossal challenges that mankind already faced before its outbreak.

We speak of wars, including non-conventional ones; of the use and threat of the use of force and the application of unilateral coercive measures, but also of the absence or precariousness of health, education and social security services, under the indiscriminate rules of the market and unequal exchange that prevail in the world.

The signs of what some experts call the worst economic recession since World War II are dramatically evident at present, and no one questions that the greatest burden of the crisis will fall on the countries of the South, already affected by neoliberal abuse, which has deepened the scourge of poverty.

The foreign debt of the developing countries, paid several times over and increased by the pandemic, chopping off the aspirations of economic and social well-being, is unpayable and must be forgiven.
In the present conditions, it is urgent to establish a just, democratic and equitable international order. This is a condition for the survival of the species in an increasingly interconnected and paradoxically unequal world.
COVID-19 has revealed the human cost of this inequality and shown the urgent need to strengthen national health systems, encourage universal and free access to basic medical services, and guarantee the equitable distribution of vital resources.

The world stares in amazement, for example, at how the United States, responsible for 38% of global military spending, is unable to respond to the more than 11 million infected and the more than 238,000 deaths from COVID-19 in that country.

One question arises when one looks at the harsh picture of contagion, outbreaks and collapses in the health services of nations of remarkable prosperity: Why isn't the enormous budget that is being wasted today on the arms race being used to tackle this and other older pandemics such as hunger and poverty?
Mr. President:

Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and the threat of it becoming a pandemic, Cuba has developed a National Plan for its prevention and control. Its implementation is based on the strengths of our health system, of proven quality and universal scope, and on the scientific development of the country.

With modesty and also with healthy pride, today we can explain to the world how it was possible.

In Cuba we have implemented a government management system based on Science and Innovation, which has enriched the interconnections between the knowledge, productive, service and social sectors.
It is an inclusive, participative, systemic, transdisciplinary and intersectoral system, which consolidates and achieves its best result in the robustness of the protocols applied in the confrontation with COVID-19 and in the responsibility shown by our people.

In other words, what we do is a concrete expression of how Cuba's social system works, capable of solving or successfully facing very complex problems, focusing the government's work on the human being as a priority.
The role of science and its link with government management has been crucial. The relevant achievements reached in the medical-pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology, allow us to face the disease in better conditions. Two Cuban vaccine candidates in phase of clinical trials are included among the 47 registered by the World Health Organization.

Faithful to our humanist vocation, 53 medical brigades have supported the fight against the disease in 39 countries and territories, which were joined to those already serving in 59 nations.
This has been possible even under the heavy burden of the criminal and unjust blockade imposed by the United States government, its unprecedented upsurge and a cynical campaign of discredit against our international medical cooperation.

We denounce here that aggressive behavior towards Cuba and other sovereign nations and the announced attempt to reimpose the Monroe Doctrine, breaking International Law and the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

Our commitment to the purposes and principles that originated this Organization remains unchanged. The will to continue working for multilateralism, solidarity, human dignity and social justice is firm and resolute.
The global emergency into which COVID-19 has drawn us is a new call to the world's awareness. Let us listen this time. Yes, we can. Cuba is the proof.
Thank you very much