Cuba reiterates its commitment to preventing and confronting corruption

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 3 (ACN) Gladys María Bejerano Portela, Comptroller General of the Republic of Cuba, spoke at the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Corruption, where she reiterated the commitment of the island with the prevention and confrontation of this type of acts.

Bejerano Portela said that the Cuban government's policy to prevent and confront such acts is defined on the basis of the rule of law, transparency in the exercise of public functions and citizen participation through accountability processes and the right to address complaints and petitions to state bodies and entities and the obligation of the latter to offer them due response.

The Political Declaration resulting from this Special Session, she said, reaffirms the common and shared responsibility to face the challenges associated with this crime, as well as the need to implement preventive and proactive measures to combat it and to strengthen international cooperation among States.

Furthermore, she added, it ratifies that the United Nations Convention against Corruption is the relevant legal instrument for analyzing issues related to these matters at a global level, with a binding character of almost universal scope.

The Comptroller General stated that Cuba reaffirms its commitment to the objectives, principles and purposes of said Convention and its Review Mechanism, particularly its intergovernmental, non-punitive nature, based on cooperation and exchange of experiences and good practices.
In this regard, the Cuba has satisfactorily concluded the first cycle and received the in-situ visit corresponding to the second cycle, which is about to conclude.

Both processes motivated the participation of broad sectors and organizations of the Cuban society and demonstrated the high commitment of the State, the Government and the Cuban people in the fight against corruption, she said.

She also stressed that the creation of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic was an important step in the process of strengthening the institutional framework, the fight against corruption, the promotion of integrity, transparency and proper management of public resources.

This body works in favor of improving state management, supports the process of economic and social updating of the country, acts in coordination with other national bodies, agencies and entities, and maintains a constant work of study and analysis of the causes, vulnerabilities and risk factors at all levels of society, whose results feed and strengthen prevention, education, guidance and control.

The Special Session, which dealt with the challenges and measures to prevent and combat corruption and the strengthening of international cooperation, was held in virtual format from the United Nations headquarters in New York.