Speech by Cuban President at 17th BRICS Summit

Havana, July 7 (ACN) Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, spoke today at the BRICS Summit.

Due to its importance, we are transmitting the Cuban Head of State's speech in full, published on the Presidential website.

Dear President Lula,

Dear leaders and heads of delegations:

I believe I should begin by expressing my gratitude, on behalf of my country and my people, for joining the BRICS as a partner. BRICS today is synonymous with hope.

The hope that multilateralism will be saved from the chaos and ineffectiveness into which the arrogance of a few has plunged the UN, which was established 80 years ago to prevent war from being an alternative for conflict resolution, and which is in urgent need of profound reforms that the Global South has demanded for more than half a century.
The octogenarian organization is dangerously fragmented and seriously threatened by a progressive erosion of multilateralism, which results into elevated risks for international peace and security.

The horror of recent weeks and months clearly shows where diplomacy by force leads. The United States government, using and abusing its undoubted military, economic, financial, and all other types of power, except moral, constantly acts with absolute disregard for the principles and norms of international law and the United Nations Charter.

It withdraws from different international organizations and forums; It declares plans for land grabs and territorial annexation; it justifies and promotes supremacist ideas; it carries out massive, violent, and racist deportations of migrants, and it no longer even hides its ambitious and spurious geostrategic interests.

This is the same power that supported the Israeli government's recent aggressions against Iran and carried out a direct attack on the Persian nation with the bombing of three nuclear facilities.

Cuba reiterates its solidarity with the people and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of Israel's aggression and strongly condemns the attack launched by the United States, as these acts constitute a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, and a serious breach of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
We also reiterate our strongest condemnation of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, also perpetrated by Israel, with the permanent political, military, and financial support of the United States, whose government guarantees the impunity of the Zionist regime and obstructs, through its undemocratic veto power, the action of the United Nations Security Council.

A comprehensive, just, and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an indispensable prerequisite for bringing peace to the Middle East region at this delicate moment in international relations.

As long as this barbarity is not halted, we will be living in the prehistory of what once created something as promising for peace as the so-called United Nations. That is why I have spoken of hope.

Faced with the threatening scenario described above, the BRICS have emerged, whose member and partner countries, so different and so unequal in their levels of development, are advancing by promoting common ideals of peace, dialogue, mutual respect, cooperation, and solidarity.

The group's commitment to building a more just and inclusive international order is deeply inspiring. Without it, it will not be possible to achieve the sustainable development we all deserve, and which has been so long postponed for nations bound by the curse of underdevelopment left by centuries of colonialism and neocolonialism.

In this endeavor, it is urgent to fundamentally reform the current international financial architecture and its opaque and undemocratic institutions, designed to perpetuate the exclusion and exploitation of the nations of the South.

A more inclusive and democratic governance of Artificial Intelligence is also an essential premise, ensuring all countries' access to its benefits and preventing its use contrary to peace and international law.

Present and future generations have the right to live in a world of peace and security, where social justice, respect for cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity, and democratic access to science and technology prevail.

A world where all human rights for all are achievable without politicization or double standards, based on cooperation and respect for the right of each country to choose its political, economic, and social system, without external interference.

A world without cruel blockades or unilateral coercive measures, contrary to international law.

After six decades of an economic blockade transformed into the laws of a foreign country, which has been reinforced time and again with the sole and declared purpose of provoking a social uprising,

Cuba faces today a new act of imperial arrogance contrary to international law.

We arrive at this Summit with the news that a new package of coercive measures, entirely aimed at the economic suffocation of the country, has been added to the historic blockade, through a Presidential Memorandum.

The document revives the old imperial pretense that it is up to them to determine who and how the destiny of our nation should be led.

And all in the name of so-called democracy! No other country has had to build its social and development project under the prolonged, cruel, and systematic application of an economic, commercial, and financial siege by the greatest power in history.

The blockade is an act of aggression, the offensively extraterritorial application of which harms the sovereignty of all states. Its purpose is anchored in the past, has no sense or justification, and must cease.

In the 21st century, there is no place for unilateral listings and certifications based on unfounded criteria, such as the unjust and arbitrary designation of Cuba on the list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism, which extends the siege to the rest of the world.

The United States has no moral authority or international mandate to certify Cuba or any other country.

To face common challenges, humanity does not need blockades, false supremacies, and appetites for domination and exploitation. What the human species urgently needs to survive is greater respect for our legitimate differences, greater dialogue, cooperation, and integration.

A firm and renewed commitment to multilateralism is urgently needed to guarantee peaceful coexistence and promote sustainable, equitable, and inclusive development for all peoples.

It is therefore urgent to nourish and strengthen the BRICS, which we are honored to join with the noble aspiration of contributing and learning. In this endeavor, Cuba can always be counted on!
Thank you very much (Applause).
(Taken from the Presidency)